Laboratory Investigation on Assessing Liquefaction Resistance of Sandy Soils by Shear Wave Velocity
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 8
Abstract
Shear wave velocity offers engineers a promising alternative tool to evaluate liquefaction resistance of sandy soils, and the lack of sufficient in-situ databases makes controlled laboratory study very important. In this study, semitheoretical considerations were first given based on review of previous liquefaction studies, which predicted a possible relationship between laboratory cyclic resistance ratio and normalized with respect to the minimum void ratio, confining stress and exponent of Hardin equation. Undrained cyclic triaxial tests were then performed on three reconstituted sands with measured by bender elements, which verified this soil-type-dependent relationship. Further investigation on similar laboratory studies resulted in a database of 291 sets of data from 34 types of sandy soils, based on which the correlation between liquefaction resistance and was established statistically and further converted to equivalent field conditions with well-defined parameters, revealing that will vary proportionally with . Detailed comparisons with -based site-specific investigations show that the present lower-bound curve is a reliable prediction especially for sites with higher or . The framework of liquefaction assessment based on the present laboratory study is proposed for engineering practice.
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Acknowledgments
Much of the work described in this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 10372089 and 50538010, and also partly by the Y. C. TANG Disciplinary Development Fund, Zhejiang University. These financial supports are gratefully acknowledged. The writers thank Dr. Han Ke of Zhejiang University, Professor Vincent P. Drnevich of Purdue University, and Professor James K. Mitchell of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for their valuable exchanges of ideas about this study. Also, special thanks go to Professor Ronald D. Andrus and Professor C. Hsein Juang of Clemson University, and Professor Yao-Chung Chen of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology for their warm encouragement. Professor Jonathan P. Stewart of University of California (UCLA) and the anonymous reviewers are greatly appreciated for their insightful comments and suggestions that have led to a substantial improvement of this paper.
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Received: Aug 10, 2004
Accepted: Oct 11, 2006
Published online: Aug 1, 2007
Published in print: Aug 2007
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