ISSN: 1945-7545
Published Online: 25 August 2004
Page Count: 7

Evaluation of Liquefaction Potential and Dynamic Properties of Silty Sand Using Cyclic Triaxial Testing

Sitharam, TG
Associate Professor, IISc, Bangalore,

GovindaRaju, L
Research Scholar, IISc, Bangalore,

Srinivasa Murthy, BR
Professor, IISc, Bangalore,

(Received 10 February 2003; accepted 8 March 2004)

Abstract

The recent earthquake that struck the Bhuj area of Gujarat State in India on 26 January 2001 has caused almost a total devastation of several hundred buildings in villages and cities. Liquefaction triggered by this earthquake caused major damage to structures resting on Loose to medium dense sands. This earthquake provides grave illustrations of the importance of understanding the seismic response of such deposits. Recent developments in numerical analyses for nonlinear dynamic responses of ground due to strong earthquake motions have increased the demand for dynamic soil properties corresponding not only at small strain level but also at large strain level. In this paper, the results of cyclic undrained tests are presented for liquefied soil close to the epicenter of the Bhuj earthquake. From these tests the dynamic properties were estimated at large strain levels of 0.5 % to 4 %. The modulus and damping estimated using cyclic triaxial testing at large strain levels might serve as a key factor for assessment of ground response due to earthquakes.

Keywords:
cyclic stress ratio, liquefaction, pore water pressure, relative density, shear modulus, shear strain

Paper ID: GTJ11894
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ11894
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