Effects of Particle Grading and Stress State on Strain-Nonlinearity of Shear Modulus and Damping Ratio of Sand Evaluated by Resonant-Column Testing

The effects of particle grading characteristics, pressure level, and anisotropic stress state in triaxial compression on the decrease in the normalized shear modulus and the increase in the damping ratio of sand when the shear strain amplitude increases from 0.001% to 0.1% were evaluated conducting tests with a fixed-partly fixed resonant column. Specimens having different grading characteristics were reconstituted using crushed rock particles. The results show noticeable effects of the coefficient of uniformity, the mean confining pressure and the stress ratio on the shear strain-nonlinearity of shear modulus and damping ratio over the strain range examined.