Dynamic Properties of Naturally-Cemented Silts

Large deposits of naturally-cemented soils occur in the semi-arid regions of the Southwest, United States. Some of these soils have relatively large void ratios and often exhibit unique characteristics under static and dynamic loads. The dynamic properties of these cemented soils with large void ratios have received little attention in technical literature, mainly due to the difficulty associated with recovering undisturbed specimens of this type of material. This paper presents the results of a cyclic triaxial test program performed on relatively undisturbed samples of cemented silts obtained from block samples. Tests were carried out both under natural moisture contents and after saturation. The results of this study show that the Young's modulus of the soil increases with the degree of cementation, while the damping ratio is relatively insensitive to the degree of cementation.