Liquefaction Resistant of Monterey No. 0/30 Sand in Cyclic Triaxial and Cyclic Hollow Cylinder Tests

Abstract

Liquefaction is the most detrimental ground failure caused by strong earthquakes. Ground liquefaction leads to associated foundation and superstructure failures due to loss of bearing capacity and excessive deformation and an appropriate assessment of liquefaction is critical to the seismic safety evaluation of foundations and super structures. Cyclic triaxial tests (CTT) are traditionally used in experimental evaluation of liquefaction resistance. However, ground motion propagates from the soil-bedrock interface to ground surface in the form of cyclic simple shear, which can be more ideally simulated in a cyclic hollow cylinder (CHC) test than in a cyclic triaxial test. With appropriate dimensions, the distribution of stresses and strains in CHC sample is more uniform than that of cyclic triaxial test and CHC is an ideal substitute for CTT is evaluation of liquefaction during the earthquake shaking. While CHC is more ideal than CTT for evaluation of liquefaction resistance, CTT is much more prevalent due to its simplicity, and CHC is used to evaluate the reduction factor, Cr as recommended by Seed and Idriss (1979).