Cyclic undrained behavior of silty sand

Laboratory cyclic triaxial tests were performed to investigate the effect of fine content on the pore pressure generation in sand. Strain-controlled, consolidated undrained tests have been performed with a cyclic shear strain range of 0·015-1·5%. These tests were carried to 1000 cycles or to initial liquefaction, which ever occurred first. Triaxial tests were performed on pure sand silt specimens and specimens with silt additions of 10, 20, 30, and 60% by weight. Two types of silt, a non-plastic silt and a low plasticity silt (PI 10) were used as control materials. The main parameters varied in this study were the amount of silt, the plasticity index of silt, and the void ratio where the observed parameter was the pore pressure generation. For all silt contents, silt plasticity and the number of loading cycles have no significant effect at strain levels below 0·01%. Therefore, threshold strain for silty sands have approximately the same value as sands. For both non-plastic and low plasticity silts, there is a significant increase in the generated pore pressure at high strain levels.     

Effect of non-plastic silt content on the liquefaction behavior of sand–silt mixture

To identify the effect of non-plastic silt on the cyclic behavior of sand–silt mixtures, total sixty undrained cyclic triaxial stress-control tests were carried out on sand–silt mixtures. These tests were conducted on specimens of size 71 mm diameter and 142 mm height with a frequency of 1 Hz. Specimens were prepared at a constant relative density and constant density approach. The effect of relative density, confining pressure as well as magnitude of cyclic loading was also studied. For a constant relative density (D_r=60%) the effect of limiting silt content, pore pressure response and cyclic strength was observed. The rate of generation of excess pore water pressure with respect to cycles of loading was found to initially increase with increase in silt content till the limiting silt content and thereafter it reverses its trend when the specimens were tested at a constant relative density. The cyclic resistance behavior was observed to be just opposite to the pore pressure response. Permeability, CRR and secant shear modulus decreased till limiting silt content; after that they became constant with increasing silt content.     

Influence of fines content on liquefied strength of silty sands

Critical state soil mechanics is a useful framework to understand sand behavior. In this paper, a relationship is developed for estimating undrained critical shear strength of sands based on the critical state framework. The relationship is validated by comparison with laboratory test results and sand liquefied strength from field liquefaction failure case histories. Using this relationship, the influence of fines content on undrained critical shear strength is studied for different combinations of effective stress and density. The parametric study indicates that depending on soil void ratio, effective stress, and the shape and mineralogy of the fine particles, undrained critical strength may increase, remain the same, or decrease as the amount of fines content increases. Both the susceptibility to liquefaction and the severity of strain-softening are affected by adding fines. It is suggested that the critical state parameter is inadequate for describing the behavior of liquefiable sands and sand shearing-compressibility should be taken into account in liquefaction analysis.     

Dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio characteristics of undisturbed marine soils in the Bohai Sea,China

This paper presents results from a series of stress-controlled undrained cyclic triaxial tests on the undisturbed marine silty clay,silt,and fine sand soils obt...     

Effects of gravel and sand mulches on dew deposition in the semiarid region of China

Information regarding dew deposition on the stone-covered surface is scarce. The effects of gravel and sand mulches on dew condensation were studied during the late summer and fall of 1999 in the semiarid loess region of China. The results indicated that there were significant difference in daily dew amount between gravel mulch, sand mulch and dry loess soil (control). The average dew amount for gravel mulch was 0.071 mm d⁻¹ with extreme 0.022 and 0.20 mm d⁻¹. The average values for sand mulch and dry loess soil was 0.12 and 0.15 mm d⁻¹, respectively. The minimum dew amount was 0.048 mm d⁻¹ for sand mulch and 0.071 mm d⁻¹ for dry loess soil, and the maximum dew amount was approximate 0.25 mm d⁻¹ for both treatments. The results suggest that surface stone mulch can reduce dew deposition as compared to sand and dry loess soil.     

The effects of frequency on damping properties of sand

In this study the effects of frequency on damping behavior of dry sand were examined. To study the effects of frequency, two mechanical models were proposed and evaluated for interpretation of the cyclic torsional shear testing results. Cyclic torsional shear tests were performed on dry sand specimens for the frequency range of 0–1–20 Hz. It is found that the frequency effect on damping properties of sand is relatively significant, and thus the damping appears to be nonhysteretic. Finally, a new combined damping model is proposed for describing the damping behavior of dry sand observed in this research.     

饱和砂土不排水单调剪切特性试验研究——考虑剪切过程中变化的总主应力方向的影响

利用土工静力-动力液压三轴-扭转多功能剪切仪,针对相对密度Dr=30％的福建标准砂,进行了不排水条件下的单调剪切试验。在剪切过程中,控制平均固结应力和中主应力系数保持不变,而总主应力方向不固定。与剪切过程中总主应力方向固定不变条件下的单调剪切试验进行了对比分析。试验研究表明,当饱和砂土试样具有水平沉积面时,初始固结主应力方向与剪切方向的不同组合,导致单调剪切过程中总的主应力方向的不断变化,从而显著地影响着饱和砂土不排水单调剪切特性。总的主应力方向是影响饱和砂土不排水单调剪切特性的最根本原因。     

Effects of plastic fines on the instability of sand

The effects of plastic fines on the instability of sand were studied in this article. For this purpose, the results of undrained monotonic triaxial compression tests conducted on specimens of sand with variation in fines content from 0% to 30% are presented. The specimens were prepared in two different initial dry unit densities and were subjected to two different confining pressures. The results of the tests are shown in four groups. They demonstrate that an increase in plastic fines leads to an increase in the instability, followed by a decrease with a further increase in fines content. It is also seen that the slope of the steady-state lines in p’-q space increases with increase in fines content, but after certain fines content, it begins to decrease. A reverse trend is observed for the slope of instability lines; it decreases at lower fines content, followed by an increase with a further increase in fines content.     

铁尾砂抗剪强度参数随固结度变化规律研究

为了探究铁矿尾矿砂抗剪强度参数随固结度的变化规律,分别对不同固结度、不同干密度的铁矿尾矿砂进行三轴固结不排水试验(CU试验),以总应力法和有效应力法得到尾矿砂的抗剪强度参数及有效抗剪强度参数.分析表明,对于同一干密度的尾矿砂,随着固结度的增加,抗剪强度指标及有效抗剪强度指标均逐渐增加.固结度的变化对黏聚力c及有效黏聚力...     

Cyclic and post-cyclic shear behavior of low-plasticity silt with varying clay content

This paper investigates the cyclic and post-cyclic shear behavior of low-plasticity silt and the impact of additional clay content. Bentonite clay was added to the low-plasticity Mississippi River Valley (MRV) silt (PI=6) to increase the clay content of the soil. A series of triaxial tests were conducted in the laboratory to examine the shear and pore pressure behavior during and after cyclic loading. As the bentonite content in the reconstituted specimens increased, the excess pore pressure developed at a slower rate and the total excess pore pressure decreased at the end of cyclic loading. In contrast to the MRV silt, the specimens modified with bentonite experienced cyclic softening rather than initial flow liquefaction. The cyclic shear strength increased with an increase in bentonite content. The post-cyclic reconsolidation behavior was a similar to a virgin compression process, and not recompression. Adding bentonite to the MRV silt results in changes in permeability, compressibility, undrained shear strength, and initial stiffness. Additionally, the cyclic loading had a marked effect on the shear behavior of low-plasticity soil with a PI<6, but not noticeable with a PI>6. This study suggests that the behavior of the Mississippi River Valley silt changes from contractive sand-like material to clay-like behavior at a PI≈6 due to the addition of clay.     

含砾黏土压实及强度特性的实验研究

采用室内重型击实实验对含砾黏土的压实特性进行分析,结合CT断层扫描研究材料整体干密度、最优含水率及黏土的压实程度与掺砾量、含水率等因素之间的关系。根据无侧限抗压强度实验结果,比较不同掺砾量和不同含水率下的无侧限抗压强度大小。结果表明:掺砾量较低时砾粒与黏土之间就已出现粒间空隙;含水率较高时,这些空隙及黏土孔隙中的水在击实过程中难以排出,同时水还阻碍了封闭气泡的逸出,造成黏土的压实效果明显降低;随着含砾量的增加砾粒逐渐起到骨架作用,减小了作用在黏土上的击实能量,也造成黏土的压实程度差于纯黏土。含砾黏土的无侧限抗压强度主要由黏土成分的密实程度控制,因而受到砾粒含量和含水率的影响,整体上随着含砾量的增加而降低,含水率较高时的下降幅度更明显。     

Modelling spiky acceleration response of dilative sand deposits during earthquakes with emphasis on large post-liquefaction deformation

The acceleration records at some liquefied sand deposits exhibit a distinctive spiky waveform, characterized by strong amplification and high-frequency components. A comprehensive constitutive model was used to analyze the mechanism of such spiky acceleration responses. An idealized single-degree-of-freedom (SDF) system was constructed, in which the force-displacement relation of the spring follows the stress-strain behavior of saturated sand during undrained shearing. The SDF system demonstrated that the spikes are directly related to the strain-hardening behavior of sand during post-liquefaction cyclic shearing. Furthermore, there exists a threshold shear strain length, which is in accordance with the limited amplitude of the fluid-like shear strain generated at instantaneous zero effective stress state during the post-liquefaction stage. The spiky acceleration can only occur when the cyclic shear strain exceeds the threshold shear strain length. It is also revealed that the time intervals between the acceleration spikes increase gradually along with the continuation of shaking because the threshold shear strain length increases gradually and then more time is needed to generate larger shear strain to cause strain hardening. Records at the Kushiro Port site and Port Island site during past earthquakes are simulated through the fully coupled method to validate the presented mechanism.     

Luminescence dating of cobbles from Pleistocene fluvial terrace deposits of the Ara River,Japan

Constraining the ages of fluvial terraces is essential to understanding fluvial responses to climate and sea-level changes and estimating uplift/incision. Luminescence dating of sand or silt grains from fluvial terrace deposits in Japan is difficult because sand layers are often absent from gravelly deposits, quartz grains are typically dominated by medium/slow components and/or contaminated by feldspars, and short transport distances and short residence times in riverbeds result in poor bleaching of luminescence signals. Luminescence dating of cobbles may overcome these difficulties, but few studies have applied this technique to fluvial terrace deposits. Here, we examine the utility of luminescence dating applied to three granodiorite cobbles from a late Pleistocene fluvial terrace deposit of the Ara River, Japan. We investigated variations of the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and post-IR IRSL signals with depth in each cobble. The IRSL and post-IR IRSL signals generally increase with depth, indicating that the cobbles were not completely bleached before deposition. Nonetheless, the IRSL ages of the cobble surfaces (19–17 ka) are consistent with the age of a tephra layer (16–15 ka) at the base of loess deposits overlying the terrace. In contrast, IRSL ages of sand-sized feldspar grains overestimate the depositional age because of incomplete bleaching, whereas silt-sized quartz grains greatly underestimate the depositional age, likely because of the thermal instability of the medium component. Our results demonstrate that luminescence dating of cobbles could provide a better understanding of fluvial systems in which luminescence dating of sand grains is difficult.     

砂土自由场地震响应的离心机试验研究

离心机模型试验是研究岩土地震工程问题的有效手段。本文使用层状剪切箱,通过干落法制备了均匀的砂土模型,进行了离心机振动试验;观测了振动过程中孔隙水压力的发展,土体的加速度响应、侧向变形以及竖向沉降。结果表明,土体的运动和变形与孔隙水压力的发展密切相关,但离心机中的试验现象和现场观测的现象存在显著区别。研究结果增强了对振动过程中土-水之间相互作用机理的理解,同时为自由场地震响应分析方法的验证提供了基础数据。     

Gross erosion,net erosion and gross deposition of dust by wind: field data from 17 desert surfaces

Wind erosion measurements were carried out in Nellis Dunes Recreation Area, southern Nevada, USA. Gross erosion (the total mass of sediment effectively blown away from a surface), gross deposition (the total mass of sediment effectively depositing on a surface) and net erosion (the difference in sediment mass before and after an event) were measured for 1 year, on 17 different types of surfaces developed on loose dune sand, compacted sand, loose silt, compacted and/or aggregated silt, rock‐covered sands and silts, mixtures of sand, silt and clay, exposed petrocalcic horizons, gravelly substrata and bedrock. Results showed that net erosion, which is the type of erosion measured in field and laboratory experiments, strongly differs from gross erosion. Activity on a surface is much higher than classic net erosion measurements suggest. Future studies on wind erosion should better acknowledge the distinction between the two types of process. Also, a grain diameter of maximum susceptibility to wind erosion (‘optimum deflation diameter’) near 70 µm as proposed by the aeolian literature only exists for net wind erosion. No such optimum diameter was found for gross wind erosion within the particle range 0–100 µm delineating the transport modes of suspension and modified saltation. In addition, desert surfaces predominantly composed of sand did not show an optimum deflation diameter (for net erosion) around 70 µm. Instead, there was a preferential grain size around 15 µm at which particles were most vulnerable to net emission. Desert surfaces poor in sand showed the classic value of 70 µm. This suggests that interactions exist between the type of surface and the susceptibility of particles to wind erosion. This study is solely based on field data. Although results are supported by two previous wind tunnel studies, more wind tunnel experiments documenting the interactions between gross erosion and gross deposition are necessary. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pre-shear effect on liquefaction resistance of a Fujian sand

Pre-shear history has been shown to be a critical factor in the liquefaction resistance of sand. By contrast to prior experimental studies in which triaxial shear tests were used to examine the effects of pre-shear on the liquefaction resistance of sand, hollow cylinder torsional shear tests were used in this study to avoid the influence of the inherent anisotropy that is inevitably produced during the sample preparation process because of gravitational deposition. A series of cyclic undrained shear tests were performed on sand samples that had experienced medium to large pre-shear loading. The test results showed that the liquefaction resistance of sand can be greatly reduced by its pre-shear history, and a pre-shear strain within the range from 0.1% to 5% can cause sand to be more prone to liquefaction. During the cyclic shear tests, the samples that had experienced pre-shear loading exhibited different behaviors when cyclic shear loading started in different directions, i.e., the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction. If the cyclic loading started in the identical direction as the pre-shear loading, then the mean effective stress of the sand was almost unchanged during the first half of the loading cycle; if the cyclic loading started in the direction opposite to that of the pre-shear loading, then the mean effective stress decreased significantly during the first half of the loading cycle. However, this anisotropic behavior was only remarkable during the first loading cycle. From the second cycle onward, the speeds of the decrease in the mean effective stresses in the two types of shear tests became similar.     

Behavior of stratified sand–silt–gravel composites under seismic liquefaction conditions

Laboratory seismic liquefaction studies have generally dealt with homogeneous soil conditions only, although stratified soils exist for various soil deposits. The main objective of this research project was to compare the behavior of stratified and homogeneous sand–silt–gravel composites during seismic liquefaction conditions for various silt and gravel contents. An experimental program was undertaken in which a total of eighty stress-controlled undrained cyclic triaxial tests were performed. Two methods of sample preparation were used for each soil type. These methods included moist tamping (representing homogeneous soil conditions) and sedimentation (representing layered soil conditions). The silt contents ranged from 0 to 50%, and soils with 10 and 30% gravel contents were tested. The confining pressure in all test series was 100 kPa. The results indicate that the liquefaction resistances of layered and uniform soils are not significantly different, despite the fact that the soil fabric produced by the two methods of sample preparation is totally different. This finding justifies applying the laboratory tests results to the field conditions for the range of variable studied.     

PERMEABILITY AND CONSOLIDATION OF SEDIMENT MIXTURES AS FUNCTION OF SAND CONTENT AND CLAY MINERALOGY

The current study is the first step in a systematic experimental research on the erosion behaviour of sand-mud mixtures. It concerns the effect of a varying sand content and clay mineralogy on the porosity, structure, strength and permeability of artificially generated sediment mixtures. The permeability of a sediment mixture is an especially significant parameter concerning the type of erosion that occurs. It determines if the erosion of the bed is either a drained or an undrained process, respectively indicating surface erosion or mass erosion. Measurements on various mixtures concerning the consolidation coefficient and the permeability have been executed. Results show a distinct transition of behaviour between a sand-silt dominated network structure and a clay-water matrix. The occurrence of these two types of structures appears to depend on the porosity of the volume fraction of sand related to silt, which is, therefore, an important parameter concerning the type of erosion. Finally, the study provides a valuable data set that can be used as a reference for following stages of this research on the erosion behaviour of natural cohesive sediments.     

Clogging of saturated porous media by silt‐sized suspended solids under varying physical conditions during managed aquifer recharge

Managed aquifer recharge is an effective method for utilizing excess flood flows, but clogging of porous media is a limiting factor in the implementation of this water storage technique. In recent years, much research on the physical clogging of porous media during artificial recharge has been conducted. However, the understanding of clogging due to silt‐sized suspended solids (SS) is still inadequate, especially under varying physical conditions. Here, we subjected sand columns to controlled rates of flow and SS suspensions to investigate the influence of media size, SS size, SS concentration, and flow velocity on the clogging of porous media by silt‐sized SS. The results show that the diameter ratio of SS particles to sand grains is the dominant factor influencing the position of physical clogging. As pore velocity increased, the mobility of silt‐sized SS was enhanced and retention in the porous media decreased noticeably. The spatial retention profiles in the porous media were found to vary greatly at different flow velocities. The SS concentration of the infiltrating suspension also dramatically influenced the mobility and deposition of silt‐sized SS particles, such that high concentrations accelerated the clogging process. As the different physical factors changed, the breakthrough curves and retention profiles of silt‐sized SS particles changed obviously and the mechanisms of retention differed. On the whole, clogging position is mainly determined by particle size ratio, but clogging rate is dominated by a variety of factors including particle size ratio, SS concentration, and flow velocity.     

Postcyclic behavior of low-plasticity silt with limited excess pore pressures

This paper investigates the postcyclic behavior of low-plasticity silt with excess pore pressure ratio (R_u) less than 1. The testing specimens were prepared from Mississippi River Valley (MRV) silt. Full and no reconsolidation were allowed after specimens were subjected to various excess pore pressure ratios due to cyclic loading in a cyclic triaxial cell, and then monotonic shear tests were conducted. The effect of the R_u on shear strength and stiffness at small and large deformation was investigated. It was found that a R_u greater than 0.70 is a prerequisite of large increase in volumetric strain and undrained shear strength for specimens with full reconsolidation. In contrast, a significant decrease in yield shear strength and initial stiffness was noted for specimens without reconsolidation. In comparison to published data for sands, the silt experienced significant volumetric strain due to reconsolidation at lower R_u, indicating that the specimen fabric was modified or strained at lower R_u.