Cyclic loads induced consolidation deformation of PVD unit cells

Consolidation behaviors of a mini-PVD unit cell under cyclic loads were investigated experimentally and analytically. Two key influential factors investigated are frequency of a cyclic load and Delta t(l)/T (T is period and Delta t(l) is loading time increment during a cycle) ratio of an intermittent cyclic load. The test results indicate: (1) For continuous and fixed Delta t(l)/T (>1/10) ratio intermittent cyclic loads, with the conditions tested (frequency < 2 Hz), frequency had no considerable influence on the consolidation rate as well as consolidation settlement of the mini-PVD unit cell; (2) for intermittent cyclic loads, the magnitude of consolidation settlement is a function of Delta t(l)/T (<0.5). The smaller the Delta t(l)/T, the smaller the consolidation settlement. A hand calculable method has been developed for calculating consolidation settlement curves induced by both continuous and intermittent cyclic loads. The calculated settlement curves generally agree well with the test results, and it is suggested that the method can be used in engineering design.