Effect of stress-induced anisotropy on shear modulus response of compacted coal ash under small-strain dynamic loading conditions

Un-utilized coal ash is commonly used as fill material for the construction of highway and railway embankment, which experiences different anisotropic stress conditions under different types of loading conditions. This study investigated the shear modulus of compacted coal ash under different anisotropic stress conditions simulating highway and railway embankment stress states. The small-strain shear modulus was obtained by performing the bender element tests under consolidation and shearing stages of consolidated undrained (CU) triaxial testing. The effect of different consolidation stress paths on the small-strain shear modulus of coal ash was evaluated using experimental data obtained from a bender element system affiliated with a stress-path controlled advanced triaxial setup. The small-strain shear modulus of coal ash at different ranges of mean effective stresses (at the end of consolidation) was also determined under various anisotropic stress conditions. The measured shear modulus (Gmax) of compacted coal ash under small-strain dynamic loading conditions was determined to be the function of mean effective stresses and deviatoric stress. At the later stage of shearing, the shear modulus was observed to attain a constant value subjected to large strain levels.