A laboratory study of the initial structure and the overconsolidation effects on the undrained monotonic behavior of sandy soil from Chlef region in northern Algeria

The effects of initial state of the samples and the overconsolidation ratio (OCR) on the behavior of Chlef sand were studied in this article. For this purpose, the results of two series of undrained monotonic triaxial compression tests on medium dense sand are presented. In the first test series, the influence of the specimen's fabric and confining pressure has been studied. The tests were conducted at initial confining pressure of 50, 100, and 200 kPa. Two methods of sample preparation, which included the dry funnel pluviation and the wet deposition, were utilized. All the samples were subjected to a monotonic loading after consolidation phase. The results of the tests demonstrate that an increase in initial confining pressure leads to an increase in the resistance to liquefaction. The results also show that the samples prepared with the dry funnel pluviation method exhibit a greater resistance to liquefaction than those prepared with the wet deposition method. In the second series of tests, the overconsolidation influence on the resistance to the sand liquefaction has been realized on samples at an effective stress of 100 kPa for OCR varying between 1 and 8. The tests show that the increase of OCR improves the stiffness of sand and accelerates the appearance of dilatancy.     

Undrained behaviour of polypropylene fibre reinforced sandy soil under monotonic loading

Soil improvement using fibres is widely used in soil stabilisation to prevent sand liquefaction. In order to study the undrained behaviour and liquefaction resistance of sand reinforced with polypropylene fibres, a series of triaxial compressive tests were conducted on unreinforced and reinforced Chlef sand with different contents of polypropylene fibres (0, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8%). Samples were prepared at 30% and 80% relative densities representing loose and dense states respectively, and triaxial tests were performed at confining pressures of 50, 100 and 200 kPa. Tests results show that fibre inclusion has a significant effect on the shear strength and dilation of sandy soil. The increase in strength is function of fibre content, relative density and confining pressure. The maximum strength improvement for both loose and dense fibre-reinforced sand is more pronounced at higher confining pressure and at higher fibre content.     

Effect of fines content and void ratio on the saturated hydraulic conductivity and undrained shear strength of sand–silt mixtures

The hydraulic conductivity represents an important indicator parameter in the generation and redistribution of excess pore pressure of sand–silt mixture soil deposits during earthquakes. This paper aims to determine the relationship between the undrained shear strength (liquefaction resistance) and the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the sand–silt mixtures and how much they are affected by the percentage of low plastic fines (finer than 0.074 mm) and void ratio of the soil. The results of flexible wall permeameter and undrained monotonic triaxial tests carried out on samples reconstituted from Chlef river sand with 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 % non-plastic silt at an effective confining pressure of 100 kPa and two initial relative densities (D _r = 20, 91 %) are presented and discussed. It was found that the undrained shear strength (liquefaction resistance) can be correlated to the fines content, intergranular void ratio and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The results obtained from this study reveal that the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k _sat) of the sand mixed with 50 % low plastic fines can be, in average, four orders of magnitude smaller than that of the clean sand. The results show also that the global void ratio could not be used as a pertinent parameter to explain the undrained shear strength and saturated hydraulic conductivity response of the sand–silt mixtures.     

Effect of grading characteristics on the undrained shear strength of sand: review with new evidences

In this paper, the shear strength of saturated pure sand and sand–silt mixture is evaluated by monotonic undrained triaxial tests that were carried out on reconstituted specimens at same relative densities and a constant confining pressure (σ ₃?=?300 kPa). The test results were used to conclude on the effect of low non-plastic contents (0–20 %) and grading characteristics on the liquefaction resistance of the sand. The test results indicate that the undrained residual strength reduced with the increase of non-plastic fine content. Also, shear strength of gap-graded sand mixed with low non-plastic fine content increases with decrease in effective size (D ₅₀). In other words, in this state, we can use the D ₅₀ as a parameter to control of silty sand’s undrained resistance. Besides, the undrained residual strength of pure sand specimens with same effective size increases due to increase of coefficient of uniformity (C _u).     

南京砂强度特征与静态液化现象分析

在松散、中密和密实状态下,以南京粉细砂三轴固结不排水试验结果为基础,进行了强度、变形与静态液化特征的分析。松散南京砂强度特性表现出典型的应变软化,当轴向变形小于1 %时强度达到最大值,而后急剧降低;在50,100 kPa围压时发生了静态液化。但随着固结压力的增大,静态液化消失。与南京砂具有相同土骨架的松散纯净砂却在低围压下未出现静态液化,其形成机制是：粉粒的存在未使土体孔隙比发生较大变化,却引起更大的体缩性;中密和密实南京粉细砂表现出加工硬化的强度特征,临界应力状态线倾角高达55°,具有较高的抗静态液化能力。     

钙质砂与硅质砂液化特性对比试验研究

钙质砂颗粒具有形状不规则、多孔隙、强度低、易破碎等特点,较硅质砂表现出更为复杂的液化变形特性.本文对相同级配的钙质砂和硅质砂进行了物性试验、不排水循环三轴试验、轻型动力触探试验,研究两种砂在物理性质、抗液化能力和贯入阻力三方面的差异,分析实验结果得到结论如下:(1)钙质砂比硅质砂具有更大的孔隙比和内摩擦角,这与钙质砂颗...     

Laboratory Investigation into the Effects of Silty Fines on Liquefaction Susceptibility of Chlef (Algeria) Sandy Soils

In a number of recent case studies, the liquefaction of silty sands has been reported. To investigate the undrained shear and deformation behaviour of Chlef sand–silt mixtures, a series of monotonic and stress-controlled cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on sand encountered at the site. The aim of this laboratory investigation is to study the influence of silt contents, expressed by means of the equivalent void ratio on undrained residual shear strength of loose, medium dense and dense sand–silt mixtures under monotonic loading and liquefaction potential under cyclic loading. After an earthquake event, the prediction of the post-liquefaction strength is becoming a challenging task in order to ensure the stability of different types of earth structures. Thus, the choice of the appropriate undrained residual shear strength of silty sandy soils that are prone to liquefaction to be used in engineering practice design should be established. To achieve this, a series of undrained triaxial tests were conducted on reconstituted saturated silty sand samples with different fines contents ranging from 0 to 40 %. In all tests, the confining pressure was held constant at 100 kPa. From the experimental results obtained, it is clear that the global void ratio cannot be used as a state parameter and may not characterize the actual behaviour of the soil as well. The equivalent void ratio expressing the fine particles participation in soil strength is then introduced. A linear relationship between the undrained shear residual shear strength and the equivalent void ratio has been obtained for the studied range of the fines contents. Cyclic test results confirm that the increase in the equivalent void ratio and the fines content accelerates the liquefaction phenomenon for the studied stress ratio and the liquefaction resistance decreases with the increase in either the equivalent void ratio or the loading amplitude level. These cyclic tests results confirm the obtained monotonic tests results.     

Shear strength and pore-water pressure characteristics of sandy soil mixed with plastic fine

Recent earthquake case histories have revealed the liquefaction of mixtures of sand and fine particles during earthquakes. Different from earlier studies which placed an emphasis on characterisation of liquefaction in terms of the induced shear stress required to cause liquefaction, this study adopted a strain approach because excess pore-water pressure generation is controlled mainly by the level of induced shear strains. The current study includes the results of a set of laboratory tests carried out on sand specimens with the same relative densities and variation in the plastic fines (kaolinite or bentonite) contents ranging from 0 to either 30 % and consolidated at mean confining pressure of 100, 200 and 300 kPa using static triaxial test apparatus, in order to study the influence of fine content and other parameters on the undrained shear strength and liquefaction potential of clayey sand specimens; also, pore-water pressures in the specimens are discussed. Results of tests show that the peak strength decreases as the fines (kaolinite or bentonite) content increases up to a threshold content of fines (FC_th) after which, increases in plastic fine content lead to improve the peak shear strength of specimens, and also the ultimate steady-state strength has been improved due to the increased in plastic fines content. Also, pore pressure build-up in clayey sands is generally slower than that observed in pure sand.     

黄河三角洲饱和粉质土液化性能试验研究

在黏粒含量和干密度恒定的情况下,进行了一系列重塑黄河三角洲饱和粉质土不排水动三轴试验,试样直径为50 mm、高为100 mm,重点研究了有效围压、动荷载和粉粒含量等因素对饱和粉质土液化特性的影响。试验结果表明:（1）在粉粒含量不小于50%的情况下,粉粒含量的增加降低了黄河三角洲饱和粉质土的液化势;（2）重塑黄河三角洲饱和粉质土的动强度随有效围压的增大而增大,与初次液化振动次数的对数近似呈线性关系;（3）与砂土相比,粉质土的动孔压很难达到有效围压,并且随有效围压的增大,相同条件下动孔压达到有效围压的比率降低;随粉粒含量的增加,其对动孔压的影响有减小的趋势;粉粒含量的增大减缓了动孔压的增长;（4）根据本次试验结果,给出了重塑黄河三角洲饱和粉质土的动孔压计算模型及相关参数取值。     

Laboratory assessment of saturation and sample molding effects on shear resistance and mechanical characteristics of sandy soil

In order to evaluate shear resistance characteristics of sand, which has previously experienced liquefaction, two series of drained and undrained monotonic triaxial compression tests on medium dense sand were carried out. In the first test series, the influence of the specimen preparation method and confining pressure has been studied. It was found that there was a marked difference in the behavior even though the density and stress conditions were identical. The conclusion was that the soil fabric was responsible for this result. In the second series of tests, the saturation influence on the shear resistance of the sand was examined. The results showed that the decrease in Skempton's pore pressure coefficient B improves the shear resistance and increases the friction angle of the sand.     

纤维加筋砂土抗液化试验与数值模拟

砂土液化是导致重大地震灾害的主要原因之一。本研究探讨了天然纤维加筋砂土在循环荷载作用下的抗液化性能。在不排水条件下,对具有不同纤维含量的加筋砂土试样进行了一系列循环三轴试验,研究了饱和砂土的液化特性以及循环剪应变幅值、纤维含量对饱和砂土抗液化性能的影响。此外,通过模拟已完成的循环三轴试验,建立了二维有限元数值模型,并对具有不同纤维含量的加筋砂土进行了参数标定。研究结果表明:(1)增加循环剪应变幅值将促进超孔压累积,使得滞回曲线斜率和平均有效应力减小速度加快;(2)纤维的存在能够减缓超孔压的累积,随着纤维含量增加,加筋砂土抗液化能力得到明显提高;(3)标定后的本构模型参数能可靠地用于模拟纤维加筋砂土的液化响应。研究结果为饱和砂土抗液化问题与纤维加筋砂土的数值模拟提供了有价值的参考。     

Undrained monotonic response of sand–silt mixtures: effect of nonplastic fines

The effect of non-plastic fines (silt) on the undrained monotonic response of saturated and isotropically consolidated sand specimens prepared to various measures of their density was studied in detail through various approaches namely gross void ratio approach, relative density approach, sand skeleton void ratio approach, and interfine void ratio approach. Specimens of 50 mm in diameter and 100 mm in height were tested at a rate of loading of 0.6 mm/min for this purpose. The limiting silt content and the relative density of a specimen were found to influence the undrained monotonic response of sand–silt mixtures to a great extent. Undrained monotonic response was observed to be independent of silt content at very high relative densities; however the presence of fines significantly influenced this response of loose to medium dense specimens. Individual and combined analyses of undrained monotonic peak strengths which are closely related to the liquefaction related problems have been done in this paper to assess the variation patterns.     

Time-Dependent Behaviour and Static Liquefaction Phenomenon of Sand

Recent laboratory and field experiments have confirmed that sand does indeed exhibit time-dependent behaviour. Based on these findings, it was considered necessary to revisit some of the published experimental results on the static liquefaction phenomenon of loose anisotropic Hostun RF sand. Time-dependency might have had a significant influence on the observed undrained response of anisotropic consolidated sand specimens. Specific triaxial tests have been performed and a qualitative analysis is presented in this paper. It is shown that, despite the differences on the anisotropic consolidation path employed, different specimens show qualitatively identical undrained responses if creep periods are performed at identical test stages or if the anisotropic consolidation takes place very slowly. With time, the undrained stiffness and strength are considerably improved and this may explain why the static liquefaction phenomenon is not as common in practice as could be predicted based on an instability line concept. Whereas the original instability line concept was developed independently of time-dependency, in field situations, the liquefaction resistance of the sand can increase with time.     

Effects of initial static shear on cyclic resistance and pore pressure generation of saturated sand

In practical engineering, cyclic shear stresses induced by earthquakes, traffic, and waves are superimposed on the initial static shear stress in sand fills or deposits, leading to complex responses of soils such as their deformation characteristics, pore pressure generation, and susceptibility (or cyclic resistance) to liquefaction. To experimentally investigate the undrained cyclic response of saturated sand, a series of triaxial tests were performed, covering a broad range of initial static and cyclic deviatoric stress levels. The results indicate that different stress conditions lead to two types of cyclic behavior: cyclic mobility and residual deformation accumulation. The compressional static stress is beneficial to the cyclic resistance of the dense sand, whereas the extensional static stress is regarded as detrimental as it tended to reduce the cyclic strength. Moreover, by comparing the available test data obtained from the same sand with varying initial densities and confining pressures, the static shear effect on cyclic resistance was found to be dependent on the state of the sand. Compared to the interpretation made using the limiting pore pressure-based criterion, the conventional failure criterion using a cyclic axial strain of 5% may lead to a substantial overestimation of the cyclic resistance, thus resulting in unsafe assessment and design. Hence, by employing the pore pressure criterion, the pore pressure generated in the cyclic tests was investigated and was found to be significantly influenced by the static shear stress. A pore pressure generation model is proposed to obtain the pore pressure characteristics of sand under various static shear stress conditions.     

Undrained Cyclic and Monotonic Strength of Sand-Silt Mixtures

In an attempt to correlate the monotonic peak strength and the cyclic strength of sand-silt mixtures over a wide range of parameters and to clarify some of the existing confusing conclusions in the literature regarding the undrained strength response of sand-silt mixtures, a series of stress controlled cyclic and strain controlled monotonic triaxial tests was carried out on sand-silt mixture specimens of 50 mm diameter and 100 mm height with varying silt content. In these experiments, various measures of sample density was adopted through different approaches such as constant gross void ratio approach, constant relative density approach, constant sand skeleton void ratio approach, and constant interfine void ratio approach. Also the effect of relative density and confining pressure on these strengths was studied. It is observed that the limiting fines content and the relative density of a specimen play the key role in deciding the cyclic and monotonic resistance of sand-silt mixtures when studied through any approach. For any silt content with relative density more than 70%, cyclic and monotonic resistances are observed to be independent of silt content. When the undrained cyclic strengths of these specimens are plotted against their respective undrained monotonic peak strengths, it is observed that there exists a definite exponential relationship between the two with an excellent correlation coefficient. An expression is proposed in this regard to help engineers assess the cyclic strength of sand-silt mixtures from monotonic test results.     

Simulation of liquefaction of unsaturated soil using critical state soil model

Several researchers have reported that the mean effective stress of unsaturated soils having a relatively high degree of saturation gradually decreases under fully undrained cyclic loading conditions, and such soils can be finally liquefied like saturated soils. This paper describes a series of simulations of fully undrained cyclic loading on unsaturated soils, conducted using an elastoplastic model for unsaturated soils. This model is a critical state soil model formulated using effective stress tensor for unsaturated soils, which incorporates the following concepts: (a) the volumetric movement of the state boundary surface containing the critical state line owing to the variation in the degree of saturation; (b) the soil water characteristic curve considering the effects of specific volume and hydraulic hysteresis; and (c) the subloading surface concept for considering the effect of density. Void air is assumed to be an ideal gas obeying Boyle's law. The proposed model is validated through comparisons with past results. The simulation results show that the proposed model properly describes the fully undrained cyclic behavior of unsaturated soils, such as liquefaction, compression, and an increase in the degree of saturation. Finally, the effects of the degree of saturation, void ratio, and confining pressure on the cyclic strength of unsaturated soils are described by the simulation results. The liquefaction resistance of unsaturated soils increases as the degree of saturation and the void ratio decrease, and as the confining pressure increases. Furthermore, the degree of saturation has a greater effect on the liquefaction resistance than the confining pressure and void ratio. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of liquefaction behaviour of granular materials using Discrete Element Method

In this paper, numerical simulation of 3-dimensional assemblies of 1000 polydisperse sphere particles using Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to study the liquefaction behaviour of granular materials. Numerical simulations of cyclic triaxial shear tests under undrained conditions are performed at different confining pressures under constant strain amplitude. Results obtained in these numerical simulations indicate that with increase in confining pressure there is an increase in liquefaction resistance.     

常剪应力路径下含气砂土的三轴试验

天然气水合物完全分解时,产生的气体使得能源土孔隙压力急速增加,有效应力减小,进而引起土体液化破坏。此时深海能源土斜坡的应力状态与静力液化失稳过程可简化为含气土在常剪应力排水(或不排水)应力路径下的破坏问题。以此为背景,提出了制备含气砂土试样的改进充气管法,并开展了含气砂土的常剪应力路径三轴试验。22组试验结果表明:同一孔隙比的含气密砂在不同围压与常剪应力下具有相同的失稳线;含气砂土试样失稳时的应力比和体变均随初始相对密实度的增大而增大;含气密砂在常剪应力路径下饱和度对失稳特征影响的规律性在排水与不排水条件下均不明显,但在不排水条件下含气砂土的孔压(或体变)对变形的敏感性降低;含气密砂在常剪应力路径到达失稳点之后,排水条件下是瞬变的液化鼓胀破坏,不排水条件下是渐变的剪切破坏。     

Experimental Study of Undrained Shear Strength of Silty Sand: Effect of Fines and Gradation

Two strong earthquakes occurred in the region of Chlef (north western part of Algeria) during the last century. From the geological context, there were several great masses of sandy soil ejections on to the ground surface level and severe damages to civil and hydraulic structures. These damages were due to the soil liquefaction phenomenon. The objective of this laboratory investigation is to study the effect of low plastic fines and gradation characteristics on the undrained shear strength (liquefaction resistance) response of sand-silt mixture samples. For this purpose, a series of undrained monotonic triaxial tests were carried out on reconstituted saturated silty sand samples with different fines content ranging from 0 to 50?% at two initial relative densities (D_r?=?20 and 91?%). The initial confining pressure was kept at 100?kPa. The evaluation of the data indicates that the undrained shear strength at the peak (q_peak) can be correlated to the undrained residual strength (S_us), the excess pore pressure (Δu), the fines content (F_c) and the intergranular void ratio (e_s). The test results indicate also that the undrained shear strength at the peak decreases with the increment of the coefficient of uniformity and fines content as well as with the decrement of the mean grain size in the range of 0–50?% fines content for both relative densities (D_r?=?20 and 91?%).     

基于单相流的减饱和砂土流固耦合改进算法

减饱和法是一种通过减小饱和砂土地基中水的饱和度来处置可液化砂土地基的方法。基于单相流-固耦合理论,将减饱和砂中水-气两相流体等效为单相流体,提出一种可以考虑加载过程中孔隙流体体积模量变化的减饱和砂土静态液化的单相流改进算法,用其进行单调荷载作用下三轴不排水压缩试验数值模拟研究,分析了不同饱和度条件下的减饱和砂土的不排水反应并与饱和砂土三轴不排水试验结果进行对比。研究结果表明,单相流改进算法能够很好地反映减饱和法的抗液化特性。此外,对比不同数值分析方法模拟结果,得出以下结论：采用单相流简化算法分析减饱和砂土的不排水反应时,因为不考虑加载过程中的孔隙流体体积模量变化,所以初始的流体体积模量取值会影响减饱和砂土的强度,初始围压为100 kPa、饱和度为96%的减饱和砂土在单调荷载作用下,气体体积模量取值从100 kPa增加至200 kPa时,减饱和砂试样的峰值偏应力会减小约30%,孔隙压力会增加约40%;通过对比同等条件下的单相流改进算法和两相流算法的应力-应变关系曲线以及饱和度和体积应变变化曲线,两者结果相近,误差在5%以内。综上所述,单相流改进算法是一种较为合理而简洁地模拟减饱和砂土静态液化的计算方法。