Cyclic Liquefaction Resistance of an Alluvial Natural Sand: A Comparison between Fully and Partially Saturated Conditions

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022-01-10

Authors

A. Viana da Fonseca (Author) FEUP; Sara Rios (Author) FEUP; Diana Cordeiro (Author) FEUP; Fausto Molina-Gomez (Author) Other; Cristiana Ferreira (Author) FEUP

Journal

The Journal is awaiting validation by the Administrative Services.

Title: Geotechnics

Vol. 21

Pages: 1-13

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 9 Citations

Scopus - 12 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00X-KC3

DOI: 10.3390/geotechnics2010001

Abstract (EN): Earthquake-induced liquefaction is one of the major causes of building damage as it decreases the strength and stiffness of soil. The liquefaction resistance of soils increases significantly as the degree of saturation decreases, making soil desaturation an effective measure for the mitigation of this phenomenon. This paper presents a comparative analysis of liquefaction resistance of an alluvial sand from Aveiro (Portugal) under fully and partially saturated conditions. For this purpose, an in situ characterisation based on CPTu and a laboratory series of cyclic triaxial tests were carried out. The cyclic triaxial tests were conducted under undrained conditions on remoulded specimens with different degrees of saturation, including the full saturation. On the other hand, the triaxial apparatus was instrumented with Hall-effect transducers to accurately measure the strains during all testing phases. In addition, it was equipped with piezoelectric transducers to measure seismic waves velocities, namely P-wave velocity, for evaluation of the saturation level of the specimen in parallel with the Skempton¿s B parameter. Hence, relations between the B-value, and P-wave velocity and cyclic strength resistance are presented. The number of cycles to trigger liquefaction, considering the pore pressure build-up criterion, is presented for the different degrees of saturation. Results confirmed the increase in liquefaction resistance for lower degrees of saturation in this soil.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 13