Drained Seismic Compression of Unsaturated Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 5
Abstract
Seismic compression of unsaturated soils occurs due to particle rearrangement during large-strain cyclic shearing, which may be resisted by interparticle stresses that depend on the matric suction and degree of saturation. Due to the high rate of shearing in earthquakes, seismic compression is expected to be an undrained phenomenon with changes in total volume, matric suction, and degree of saturation along with an evolution in soil hydromechanical properties during cyclic shearing. To simplify this problem and better understand the mechanisms of seismic compression, this study seeks to isolate the effect of matric suction through a series of drained cyclic simple shear tests on unsaturated sand subjected to different shear strain amplitudes. These tests were performed in a cyclic simple shear apparatus with suction-saturation control using a hanging column and suction monitoring using an embedded tensiometer. Matric suction values in the funicular regime had the greatest effects on the magnitude and rate of development of seismic compression with cyclic shearing, and values in the capillary regime were similar to those in dry and saturated conditions. The volumetric contractions also caused the soil-water retention curve and suction stress characteristic curve to shift toward higher suctions during cyclic shearing.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge partial financial support provided by the Department of Transportation in California (Caltrans) Project No. 65A0556 and from the University of California San Diego Academic Senate Grant No. A050757.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 5 • May 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 27, 2019
Accepted: Dec 6, 2019
Published online: Mar 11, 2020
Published in print: May 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Aug 11, 2020
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