Characteristics of Cyclic Shear Behavior of Sandy Soils: A Laboratory Study

This paper presents a laboratory study of the influence of relative density on the liquefaction potential of a sandy soil using the triaxial apparatus. The study is based on undrained triaxial tests performed on samples at an initial relative density RD=15, 50 and 65% under a confining pressure of 100 kPa using a dry deposition method. Samples were subjected to quasi-static undrained cyclic tests. The paper is composed of three parts. In the first part the used materials and their characteristics are presented. The second part is devoted to the experimental procedures and the device used. The third part investigates the influence of relative density on the liquefaction potential of the three sands (Hostun Rf, Chlef and Rass). This study also explores the influence of particle size on the liquefaction potential. The test results indicate that consistent results were obtained and show clearly that increasing the relative density leads to an important improvement in the liquefaction resistance of sand. This effect is very pronounced when the initial relative density increases from 50 to 65 %.