Determination of the Cyclic Properties of Silty Sands

Abstract

Liquefaction may be triggered by cyclic loading on saturated silty sands, which is responsible of severe geotechnical problems. Development of excess pore water pressure in soil results in a liquid-like behavior and may be the reason of unavoidable superstructural damage. In this study, in order to investigate the behavior of saturated silty sands exposed to cyclic loading under undrained conditions, a systematic testing program of stress-controlled cyclic triaxial tests was performed on specimens of different silt contents, under different loading conditions and environment. The effect of parameters such as silt content on the liquefaction behavior of specimens was studied. Pore water pressure and shear strain curves were obtained for the silty sands. Furthermore, the boundaries existing in the literature on sands are compared with the results current research, on silty sands. Conclusively, the outcomes of this study were useful to develop insight into the behavior of clean and silty sands under seismic loading conditions.