Cyclic Behavior and Liquefaction Resistance of Loose Ground Improved by Granular Columns
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 11
Abstract
A series of undrained cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on loose sand specimens, including encased and non-encased granular columns, to evaluate the cyclic behavior and liquefaction resistance of the ground improved by granular columns. It was found that using geogrid encasements could effectively reduce cumulative settlements and mitigate the liquefaction potential when its tensile stiffness was high enough. Another finding was the inefficiency of flexible geosynthetic encasements to delay and mitigate the liquefaction in granular columns with the possibility of clogging. Findings indicated that the improvement of a loose ground with encased granular columns not only decreased the liquefaction-induced ground deformation but also significantly reduced the effect of earthquake magnitude on the ground deformation. It was also found that using the granular column and encasing it with a high-stiffness encasement not only slowed down the rate of ground softening during the cyclic loading experience but also decreased the dissipation of energy.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request. All data used to generate figures and tables in this paper are available.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Geotechnical Center at the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- Ar
- area replacement ratio (dimensionless);
- CSLcyc
- cyclic critical state line;
- D
- column diameter (m);
- De
- equivalent diameter (m);
- Dr
- relative density (dimensionless);
- d
- size of the granular material (m);
- ES1
- secant deformation modulus at Cycle 1;
- ES1
- secant deformation modulus at ɛa = 1%;
- ESN
- secant deformation modulus at Cycle N;
- ICSR
- CSR improvement factor (dimensionless);
- IS
- stiffness improvement factor (dimensionless);
- J
- geosynthetic tensile stiffness per unit width (kN/m);
- M
- scale factor between prototype and physical model (dimensionless);
- Mcsl
- slope of CSL (dimensionless);
- MCSL(cyc)
- critical ratio;
- N
- number of loading cycle (dimensionless);
- PTcyc
- cyclic phase-transformation;
- p′
- mean effective principal stress (kPa);
- q
- deviator stress (kPa);
- RS
- stiffness reduction factor (dimensionless);
- ru
- excess pore pressure ratio (dimensionless);
- S
- spacing of the columns (m);
- Vs
- shear-wave velocity (m/s);
- δ
- degradation index (dimensionless);
- Δuc
- accumulated pore pressure (kPa); and
- ɛa
- axial strain (dimensionless).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24 • Issue 11 • November 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 11, 2024
Accepted: Jun 11, 2024
Published online: Sep 13, 2024
Published in print: Nov 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 13, 2025
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Clays
- Cyclic strength
- Design (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Granular materials
- Granular soils
- Laboratory tests
- Load and resistance factor design
- Load factors
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- Soil liquefaction
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soils (by type)
- Strength of materials
- Structural behavior
- Structural design
- Structural engineering
- Tests (by type)
- Triaxial tests
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