Pore Pressure Generation of Silty Sands due to Induced Cyclic Shear Strains
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 12
Abstract
It is well established that the main mechanism for the occurrence of liquefaction under seismic loading conditions is the generation of excess pore water pressure. Most previous research efforts have focused on clean sands, yet sand deposits with fines are more commonly found in nature. Previous laboratory liquefaction studies on the effect of fines on liquefaction susceptibility have not yet reached a consensus. This research presents an investigation on the effect of fines content on excess pore water pressure generation in sands and silty sands. Multiple series of strain-controlled cyclic direct simple shear tests were performed to directly measure the excess pore water pressure generation of sands and silty sands at different strain levels. The soil specimens were tested under three different categories: (1) at a constant relative density; (2) at a constant sand skeleton void ratio; and (3) at a constant overall void ratio. The findings from this study were used to develop insight into the behavior of silty sands under undrained cyclic loading conditions. In general, beneficial effects of the fines were observed in the form of a decrease in excess pore water pressure and an increase in the threshold strain. However, pore water pressure appears to increase when enough fines are present to create a sand skeleton void ratio greater than the maximum void ratio of the clean sand.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support was provided by the National Science Foundation under the CAREER Grant No. NSFCMS-9875430. This support is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 12 • December 2009
Pages: 1892 - 1905
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 5, 2008
Accepted: May 11, 2009
Published online: May 16, 2009
Published in print: Dec 2009
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