Effect of Previous Cyclic Shearing on Liquefaction Resistance of Mississippi River Valley Silt
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 10
Abstract
Liquefied silty soil can experience repeated liquefaction as a result of aftershocks or other subsequent earthquake events, which can be considered to be previous cyclic loading. The effect of previous cyclic loading on the liquefaction resistance of low-plasticity silt is investigated in this paper. The experimental program included cyclic triaxial tests conducted on reconstituted Mississippi River Valley (MRV) silt specimens in the laboratory. Two major types of tests were conducted, in which: (1) specimens were loaded until full liquefaction; and (2) loading was stopped before liquefaction occurred. For the specimens loaded until full liquefaction, test results indicated that the rates of development of excess pore pressure and axial strain were greater in extension than in compression during the repeated liquefaction tests. Significant increases in liquefaction resistance were obtained, only as the relative density of specimens approached 100% after more than four liquefaction and reconsolidation tests. For the specimens not loaded until liquefaction occurred, maximum liquefaction resistance was attained when the cyclically induced axial strain was approximately 0.20%. Based on these findings, ground improvement techniques were proposed to improve liquefaction resistance.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51208516) and Postdoctoral Foundation Program of Central South University and comments from Prof. Ronaldo Luna at Missouri University of Science and Technology are appreciated. Additionally, the authors are grateful to the Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology for the excellent facilities for this research.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 10 • October 2013
Pages: 1415 - 1423
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 7, 2012
Accepted: Sep 26, 2012
Published online: Oct 1, 2012
Discussion open until: Mar 1, 2013
Published in print: Oct 1, 2013
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