ISSN: 0149-6115
Published Online: 17 October 2008
Page Count: 9

Estimation of the Apparent Permeability in the Dynamic Centrifuge Tests

Su, Dong
Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Durability of Civil Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University,

Li, Xiang-Song
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,

Xing, Feng
Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Durability of Civil Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University,

(Received 26 December 2006; accepted 16 September 2008)

Abstract

Centrifuge model tests have been widely used to validate analytical procedures, with the assumption that variations of parameters from the prototype to the model are governed by the scaling law. However, the coefficient of permeability in dynamic centrifuge tests seems to be much larger than the value calculated from the scaling law. Permeability may significantly affect the rate of pore-pressure buildup in liquefiable soil and associated deformation during earthquake loading. Therefore, proper estimation of the actual coefficient is very important in interpreting experimental data and validating analytical procedures. Based upon the physical law of conservation of mass, this paper presents an approach for backanalysis of the permeability of saturated sand in the dynamic centrifuge test. The ability and necessity of such an approach was demonstrated by comparing the experimental and numerical results.

Keywords:
apparent permeability, dynamic centrifuge test, agitation, conservation of mass, Darcy’s law

Paper ID: GTJ100972
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ100972
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