ISSN: 1945-7545
CODEN: GTJODJ
Page Count: 11

Effect of Boundary Conditions Upon Centrifuge Experiments Using Ground Motion Simulation

Whitman, RV
Professor of civil engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Lambe, PC
Assistant Professor of civil engineeringMember of ASTM, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Abstract

Two containers were used to hold a simulated stratum of sand during dynamic base shaking experiments aboard a centrifuge: a stack of rings and a box with rigid walls. Criteria for a satisfactory stacked-ring device are discussed, and details are presented for the design adopted. Results from several series of tests using stacked rings with different dimensions and aspect ratios are examined. While the overall performance of the stacked-ring confinement is satisfactory, there is evidence of deviations from the condition of simple shear, and also of arching. Almost certainly the rings did not exactly follow the motions of the soil. A few results are presented from tests using a box as the soil container. There is evidence that even distant walls can influence results when liquefaction phenomena are being observed.

Keywords:
centrifuges, model tests, earthquakes, liquefaction, pore pressure

Paper ID: GTJ11031J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ11031J
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