Residual Strains in Calcareous Sand due to Irregular Cyclic Loading

Abstract

This paper describes a procedure for predicting the residual strains developed in calcareous sand under irregular cyclic triaxial loading conditions. The rates of accumulation of volumetric and shear strains are treated separately, with the volumetric strain response being used as the basis for characterizing the effects of cyclic loading. The residual volumetric strain developed as a result of repeated loading is related to the mean and the amplitude of the cyclic deviator stress. Thus, by using empirical correlations between the applied deviator stresses, the number of cycles, and the measured residual strains, the effect of cyclic loading under one set of cyclic loading conditions can be expressed in terms of an equivalent number of cycles under a different set of cyclic loading conditions. By using this equivalent number of cycles for the cyclic loading stresses, the residual strains developed as a result of further loading are then determined, so that the residual strains developed at any stage during irregular cyclic loading can be evaluated.