Experimental investigation of the effect of relative densities and type of loading on sand liquefaction under irregular earthquake loading

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University

3 School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The cyclic triaxial test has been widely used to evaluate the liquefaction potential of soil over the past few decades. When a specimen is subjected to repeated shear loading, the sand particles tend to rearrange their stacking into a denser state. While drainage is prevented, pore pressure generation and loss of effective stress have resulted. This paper presents a systematic experimental investigation into the liquefaction behavior of saturated sand subject to seismic loading with various relative densities such as 30, 50 and 70 percent. Dynamic triaxial tests were run on saturated firozkooh sand using irregular time history loads that were recorded during the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan. The records could be classified as shock and vibration type waveforms. The effect of each type of waveform and relative densities of sand samples on the liquefaction potential of sand was also evaluated in order to compare these results with previous studies, some cyclic tests have been done with various relative densities 30, 50 and 70 percent. The triaxial test results indicate that the pore pressure generation and liquefaction resistance of sand are influenced by the relative densities and the type of irregular loadings. Also, with the increasing duration of the records in the same PGA, the vibration waveform have more liquefaction potential than the shock waveform.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume 54, Issue 1
April 2022
Pages 3-20

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