Technical Papers
Nov 27, 2021

Centrifuge Shake Table Tests on the Liquefaction Resistance of Sand with Clayey Fines

Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 2

Abstract

A series of centrifuge shake table tests were carried out to investigate liquefaction resistance of sand deposits with different fines content. The effects of clayey fines on the generation and dissipation of excess pore water pressure, acceleration record, surface settlement, and stress-strain behavior were investigated. It was found that for the same initial relative density, liquefaction resistance increased as fines content increased from 0% to 10% and then decreased with a further increase in fines content from 10% to 20% in the centrifuge tests. For all tests, a reduced acceleration within the soil was observed after a certain number of cycles due to the onset of liquefaction. Dilative tendencies are different for all tests, but the sand with 10% clay test showed the most obvious dilative behavior during the cyclic mobility stage. The total ground surface settlement and the time for a complete dissipation of excess pore water pressure increased with increasing fines content. Shear strains in the sand deposits increased as the clay content increased from 0% to 20%. Moreover, cone penetration tests were performed before and after shaking to study the effect of fines on penetration resistance. At the same depth across all tests, the penetration resistance before shaking decreased with increasing clay content. However, the penetration resistance after shaking increased with increasing clay content from 0% to 10% and then decreased with increasing clay content from 10% to 20%. When compared with the before-shaking profile, the percentage change in penetration resistance after shaking increased with clay content at the same depth.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

The work presented in this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51822809 and 41772283), the International Joint Research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, all of which are gratefully acknowledged.

References

Andrews, D. C., and G. R. Martin. 2000. “Criteria for liquefaction of silty soils.” In Proc., 12th World Conf. on Earthquake Engineering. Upper Hutt, New Zealand: New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering.
Bastola, A., X. Gu, and K. Zuo. 2021. “Numerical investigations on liquefaction potential of saturated silty sands.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 147 (Aug): 106799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2021.106799.
Beroya, M. A. A., A. Aydin, and R. Katzenbach. 2009. “Insight into the effects of clay mineralogy on the cyclic behavior of silt–clay mixtures.” Eng. Geol. 106 (3–4): 154–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2009.03.006.
Bolton, M. D., M. W. Gui, J. Garnier, J. F. Corte, G. Bagge, J. Laue, and R. Renzi. 1999. “Centrifuge cone penetration tests in sand.” Géotechnique 49 (4): 543–552. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.1999.49.4.543.
Boulanger, R. W., and I. M. Idriss. 2016. “CPT-based liquefaction triggering procedure.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 142 (2): 04015065. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001388.
Boulanger, R. W., M. W. Meyers, L. H. Mejia, and I. M. Idriss. 1998. “Behavior of a fine-grained soil during the Loma Prieta earthquake.” Can. Geotech. J. 35 (1): 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1139/t97-078.
Bray, J. D., and R. B. Sancio. 2006. “Assessment of the liquefaction susceptibility of fine-grained soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 132 (9): 1165–1177. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2006)132:9(1165).
Brennan, A. J., N. I. Thusyanthan, and S. P. Madabhushi. 2005. “Evaluation of shear modulus and damping in dynamic centrifuge tests.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 131 (12): 1488–1497. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2005)131:12(1488).
Carraro, J. A. H., P. Bandini, and R. Salgado. 2003. “Liquefaction resistance of clean and nonplastic silty sands based on cone penetration resistance.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 129 (11): 965–976. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2003)129:11(965).
Cetin, K. O., T. L. Youd, R. B. Seed, J. D. Bray, R. Sancio, W. Lettis, M. T. Yilmaz, and H. T. Durgunoglu. 2002. “Liquefaction-induced ground deformations at Hotel Sapanca during Kocaeli (Izmit), Turkey earthquake.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 22 (9–12): 1083–1092. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0267-7261(02)00134-3.
Chang, W.-J., and M.-L. Hong. 2008. “Effects of clay content on liquefaction characteristics of gap-graded clayey sands.” Soils Found. 48 (1): 101–114. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf.48.101.
Chen, G., Q. Qu, K. Zhao, Z. Shen, and J. Yang. 2020. “A binary packing material-based procedure for evaluating soil liquefaction triggering during earthquakes.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 146 (6): 04020040. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002263.
Darby, K. M., R. W. Boulanger, J. T. DeJong, and J. D. Bronner. 2019. “Progressive changes in liquefaction and cone penetration resistance across multiple shaking events in centrifuge tests.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 45 (3): 04018112. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001995.
Dobry, R., S. Thevanayagam, W. El-Sekelly, T. Abdoun, and Q. Huang. 2019. “Large-scale modeling of preshaking effect on liquefaction resistance, shear wave velocity, and CPT tip resistance of clean sand.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 145 (10): 04019065. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002080.
Dobry, R., S. Thevanayagam, C. Medina, R. Bethapudi, A. Elgamal, V. Bennett, T. Abdoun, M. Zeghal, U. El Shamy, and V. M. Mercado. 2011. “Mechanics of lateral spreading observed in a full-scale shake test.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 137 (2): 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000409.
Ecemis, N., and M. Karaman. 2014. “Influence of non-/low plastic fines on cone penetration and liquefaction resistance.” Eng. Geol. 181 (Oct): 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2014.08.012.
Garnier, J., C. Gaudin, S. M. Springman, P. J. Culligan, D. Goodings, D. Konig, B. Kutter, R. Phillips, M. F. Randolph, and L. Thorel. 2007. “Catalogue of scaling laws and similitude questions in geotechnical centrifuge modelling.” Int. J. Phys. Modell. Geotech. 7 (3): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1680/ijpmg.2007.070301.
Ghahremani, M., and A. Ghalandarzadeh. 2006. “Effect of plastic fines on cyclic resistance of sands.” In Proc., Soil and Rock Behavior and Modeling, 406–412. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Ghahremani, M., A. Ghalandarzadeh, and M. Moradi. 2006. “Effect of plastic fines on the undrained behavior of sands.” In Proc., Soil and Rock Behavior and Modeling, 48–54. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Goudarzy, M., M. M. Rahman, D. König, and T. Schanz. 2016. “Influence of non-plastic fines content on maximum shear modulus of granular materials.” Soils Found. 56 (6): 973–983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2016.11.003.
Gratchev, I. B., K. Sassa, and H. Fukuoka. 2006. “How reliable is the plasticity index for estimating the liquefaction potential of clayey sands?” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 132 (1): 124–127. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2006)132:1(124).
Gu, X., J. Yang, M. Huang, and G. Gao. 2015. “Bender element tests in dry and saturated sand: Signal interpretation and result comparison.” Soils Found. 55 (5): 951–962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2015.09.002.
Guo, T., and S. Prakash. 1999. “Liquefaction of silts and silt-clay mixtures.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 125 (8): 706–710. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(1999)125:8(706).
Hwang, J.-H., and C.-W. Yang. 2001. “Verification of critical cyclic strength curve by Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake data.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 21 (3): 237–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0267-7261(01)00002-1.
Ishihara, K., and M. Yoshimine. 1992. “Evaluation of settlements in sand deposits following liquefaction during earthquakes.” Soils Found. 32 (1): 173–188. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf1972.32.173.
Ishikawa, A., Y.-G. Zhou, Y. Shamoto, H. Mano, Y.-M. Chen, and D.-S. Ling. 2015. “Observation of post-liquefaction progressive failure of shallow foundation in centrifuge model tests.” Soils Found. 55 (6): 1501–1511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2015.10.014.
Kamai, R., and R. W. Boulanger. 2010. “Characterizing localization processes during liquefaction using inverse analyses of instrumentation arrays.” In Meso-scale shear physics in earthquake and landslide mechanics, edited by Y. H. Hatzor, J. Sulem, and I. Vardoulakis, 219–238. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Kim, S.-N., J.-G. Ha, M.-G. Lee, and D.-S. Lee. 2020. “LEAP-UCD-2017 centrifuge test at KAIST.” In Model tests and numerical simulations of liquefaction and lateral spreading LEAP-UCD-2017, edited by B. Kutter, M. Manzari, and M. Zeghal. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Kim, U., D. Kim, and L. Zhuang. 2016. “Influence of fines content on the undrained cyclic shear strength of sand-clay mixtures.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 83 (Apr): 124–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2016.01.015.
Kokusho, T. 1980. “Cyclic triaxial test of dynamic soil properties for wide strain range.” Soils Found. 20 (2): 45–60. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf1972.20.2_45.
Kuerbis, R., D. Negussey, and Y. P. Vaid. 1988. “Effect of gradation and fines content on the undrained response of sand.” In Hydraulic fill structure, 330–345. New York: ASCE.
Kutter, B. L. 1995. “Recent advances in centrifuge modeling of seismic shaking.” In Vol. 2 of Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, 927–942. Rolla, MO: Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology.
Kutter, B. L. 2013. “Effects of capillary number, bond number, and gas solubility on water saturation of sand specimens.” Can. Geotech. J. 50 (2): 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2011-0250.
Kutter, B. L., and D. W. Wilson. 1999. “De-liquefaction shock waves.” In Proc., 7th US–Japan Workshop on Earthquake Resistant Design of Lifeline Facilities and Countermeasures Against Soil Liquefaction. Tech. Rep. MCEER-99-0019, edited by T. D. O’Rourke, J. P. Bardet, and M. Hamada, 295–310. Buffalo, NY: State Univ. of New York.
Lee, C. J., H. T. Chen, H. C. Lien, Y. C. Wei, and W. Y. Hung. 2014. “Centrifuge modeling of the seismic responses of sand deposits with an intra-silt layer.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 65 (Oct): 72–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2014.06.002.
Lee, C. J., Y. C. Wei, and Y. C. Kuo. 2012. “Boundary effects of a laminar container in centrifuge shaking table tests.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 34 (1): 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2011.10.011.
Liu, Q. B., and B. M. Lehane. 2012. “The influence of particle shape on the (centrifuge) cone penetration test (CPT) end resistance in uniformly graded granular soils.” Géotechnique 62 (11): 973–984. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.10.P.077.
Maharjan, M., and A. Takahashi. 2013. “Centrifuge model tests on liquefaction-induced settlement and pore water migration in non-homogeneous soil deposits.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 55 (Dec): 161–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2013.09.002.
Mesri, G., T. W. Feng, and J. M. Benak. 1992. “Post-densification penetration resistance of clean sands.” J. Geotech. Eng. 118 (3): 511–513. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1992)118:3(511.2).
Ministry of Water Resources of China. 2019. Standard for soil test method. [In Chinese.] GB/T50123-2019. Beijing: China Planning Press.
NASEM (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine). 2016. State of the art and practice in the assessment of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction and its consequences. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Okamura, M., O. Matsuo, and S. Tamoto. 2001. “A high frame rate image acquisition system for dynamic centrifuge tests.” Int. J. Phys. Modell. Geotech. 1 (1): 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1680/ijpmg.2001.010108.
Papadopoulou, A., and T. Tika. 2008. “The effect of fines on critical state and liquefaction resistance characteristics of non-plastic silty sands.” Soils Found. 48 (5): 713–725. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf.48.713.
Park, S. S., and Y. S. Kim. 2013. “Liquefaction resistance of sands containing plastic fines with different plasticity.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 139 (5): 825–830. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000806.
Polito, C. P., and J. R. Martin. 2001. “Effects of nonplastic fines on the liquefaction resistance of sands.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 127 (5): 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2001)127:5(408).
Price, A. B., R. Boulanger, and J. T. Dejong. 2019. “Centrifuge modeling of variable-rate cone penetration in low-plasticity silts.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 145 (11): 04019098. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002145.
Sadek, S., and M. Saleh. 2007. “The effect of carbonaceous fines on the cyclic resistance of poorly graded sands.” Geotech. Geol. Eng. 25 (2): 257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-006-9108-1.
Seed, H. B. 1976. “Evaluation of soil liquefaction effects on level ground during earthquakes.” In Proc., Problems in Geotechnical Engineering, 1–105. New York: ASCE.
Seed, H. B., and I. M. Idriss. 1982. Ground motions and soil liquefaction during earthquakes. Oakland, CA: Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
Singh, S. 1996. “Liquefaction characteristics of silts.” Geotech. Geol. Eng. 14 (1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431231.
Thevanayagam, S., and N. Ecemis. 2008. “Effects of permeability on liquefaction resistance and cone penetration resistance.” In Proc., Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics Congress IV, 1–11. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Thevanayagam, S., N. Ecemis, T. Kanagalingam, and G. R. Martin. 2006. “Effects of fines on liquefaction screening using penetration resistance.” In Vol. 10 of Proc., 8th US National Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, 5697–5706. Red Hook, NY: Curran Associates.
Thevanayagam, S., V. Veluchamy, Q. Huang, and U. Sivaratnarajah. 2016. “Non-plastic silty sand liquefaction, screening, and remediation.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 91 (Dec): 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2016.09.027.
Ueda, K., K. Uratani, and S. Iai. 2019. “Influence of inherent anisotropy on the seismic behavior of liquefiable sandy level ground.” Soils Found. 59 (2): 458–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2018.12.006.
Ueng, T. S., C. W. Wu, H. W. Cheng, and C. H. Chen. 2010. “Settlements of saturated clean sand deposits in shaking table tests.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 30 (1–2): 50–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2009.09.006.
Wang, B., K. Zen, G. Q. Chen, Y. B. Zhang, and K. Kasama. 2013. “Excess pore pressure dissipation and solidification after liquefaction of saturated sand deposits.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 49 (Jun): 157–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2013.02.018.
Wang, J., M. Xiao, J. C. Evans, T. Qiu, and S. Salam. 2019. “Time-dependent cone penetration resistance of a postliquefaction sand deposit at shallow depth.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 145 (6): 04019021. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002049.
Wang, W. S. 1979. Some findings in soil liquefaction. Beijing: Water Conservancy and Hydroelectric Power Scientific Research Institute.
Wei, Y. C., C. J. Lee, W. Y. Hung, and H. T. Chen. 2010. “Application of Hilbert-Huang transform to characterize soil liquefaction and quay wall seismic responses modeled in centrifuge shaking-table tests.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 30 (7): 614–629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2010.02.005.
Wichtmann, T., I. Kimmig, K. Steller, T. Triantafyllidis, M. Back, and D. Dahmen. 2019. “Correlations of the liquefaction resistance of sands in spreader dumps of lignite opencast mines with CPT tip resistance and shear wave velocity.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 124 (Sep): 184–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2019.05.002.
Xenaki, V. C., and G. A. Athanasopoulos. 2003. “Liquefaction resistance of sand-silt mixtures: An experimental investigation of the effect of fines.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 23 (3): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0267-7261(02)00210-5.
Yang, J., and X. Q. Gu. 2013. “Shear stiffness of granular material at small strain: Does it depend on grain size?” Géotechnique 63 (2): 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.11.P.083.
Yang, J., and X. Liu. 2016. “Shear wave velocity and stiffness of sand: The role of non-plastic fines.” Géotechnique 66 (6): 500–514. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.15.P.205.
Youd, T. L., et al. 2001. “Liquefaction resistance of soils: Summary report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998 NCEER/NSF workshops on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 127 (10): 817–833. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2001)127:10(817).
Youd, T. L., and B. L. Carter. 2005. “Influence of soil softening and liquefaction on spectral acceleration.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 131 (7): 811–825. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2005)131:7(811).
Zeghal, M., and A. W. Elgamal. 1994. “Analysis of site liquefaction using earthquake records.” J. Geotech. Eng. 120 (6): 996–1017. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1994)120:6(996).
Zeghal, M., A. W. Elgamal, H. T. Tang, and J. C. Stepp. 1995. “Lotung downhole array. II: Evaluation of soil nonlinear properties.” J. Geotech. Eng. 121 (4): 363–378. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1995)121:4(363).
Zeghal, M., A. W. Elgamal, X. Zeng, and K. Arulmoli. 1999. “Mechanism of liquefaction response in sand-silt dynamic centrifuge tests.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 18 (1): 71–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0267-7261(98)00029-3.
Zhou, Y. G., T. Liang, Y. G. Li, D. S. Ling, Y. M. Chen, A. Ishikawa, and Y. Shamoto. 2013. “Dynamic centrifuge tests on liquefaction of clayey sand ground.” [In Chinese.] Chin. J. Geotech. Eng. 35 (9): 1650–1658.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148Issue 2February 2022

History

Received: Jun 18, 2020
Accepted: Aug 23, 2021
Published online: Nov 27, 2021
Published in print: Feb 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Apr 27, 2022

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Xiaoqiang Gu [email protected]
Professor, Dept. of Geotechnical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji Univ., Shanghai 200092, China (corresponding author). Email: [email protected]
Deshun Wu
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Geotechnical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji Univ., Shanghai 200092, China.
Kangle Zuo
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Geotechnical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji Univ., Shanghai 200092, China.
Anthony Tessari, M.ASCE
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Univ. at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260.

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

  • Centrifuge Modeling of Fines Content Influence on Liquefaction Behaviors of Loose Gravelly Soils, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-10947, 149, 3, (2023).
  • Exploring packing density, critical state, and liquefaction resistance of sand-fines mixture using DEM, Computers and Geotechnics, 10.1016/j.compgeo.2023.105278, 156, (105278), (2023).

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share