Postcyclic Stiffness Behaviors of Laterite Clay under Various Conditions
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23, Issue 4
Abstract
The changes in mechanical behaviors of soils after cyclic loading will lead to the generation of additional settlements. The postcyclic stiffness characteristics of soils are usually analyzed by using conventional cyclic triaxial tests, in which only cyclic deviator stress is applied under undrained conditions; however, the cyclic variations of both axial stress and horizontal stress under traffic loading were observed. Moreover, the pore water was permitted to drain under cyclic loading. Therefore, cyclic triaxial tests under partially drained conditions were performed to investigate the postcyclic stiffness characteristics of remolded laterite clay. The influences of variables, such as the cyclic deviator stress, number of cycles, cyclic confining pressure, and degree of reconsolidation, were evaluated. The postcyclic elastic modulus increases as the cyclic deviator stress, number of cycles, and degree of reconsolidation increase, while it decreases as the cyclic confining pressure increases. Nevertheless, the ratio of the postcyclic elastic modulus with and without cyclic confining pressure decreases as the cyclic confining pressure increases; the postcyclic elastic modulus ratio of the degree of reconsolidation to without reconsolidation increases linearly with the increasing degree of reconsolidation. Based on the result, an empirical formula for the postcyclic elastic modulus, considering the effects of both cyclic confining pressure and the degree of reconsolidation, was proposed. The predicted results match the measured data well, indicating that the formula is valid for the prediction of the postcyclic elastic modulus of laterite clays after cyclic loading.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51909259, 52079135), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (No. 2021325), and the Open Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection (No. SKLGP2022K010).
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- A, B, α, λ, and κ
- fitting parameters;
- (Eo)cy
- postcyclic elastic modulus for specimens with cyclic loading history (MPa);
- postcyclic elastic modulus for specimens without reconsolidation (MPa);
- postcyclic elastic modulus for specimens under various conditions (MPa);
- (Es)cy
- postcyclic secant modulus for specimens with cyclic loading history (MPa);
- N
- number of cycles;
- pampl
- amplitude of the cyclic mean principle total stress (kPa);
- initial effective mean principal stress (kPa);
- pu
- back pressure applied to the specimens during reconsolidation (kPa);
- q
- deviator stress during the postcyclic shearing process (kPa);
- qampl
- amplitude of the cyclic deviator stress (kPa);
- Ur
- degree of reconsolidation (%);
- VCP tests
- cyclic triaxial tests with variable confining pressures;
- Δucy
- excess pore-water pressure induced during the cyclic loading process (kPa);
- Δure
- dissipated excess pore-water pressure during the reconsolidation process (kPa);
- ɛ
- axial strain induced during the postcyclic shearing process (%);
- η
- slope of stress path;
- amplitude of the cyclic first principal stress (kPa); and
- amplitude of the cyclic confining pressure (kPa).
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Received: May 1, 2022
Accepted: Nov 12, 2022
Published online: Jan 18, 2023
Published in print: Apr 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jun 18, 2023
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