Centrifuge Modeling of a Saturated Clay Ground under Cyclic Loading

Abstract

To study the effects of traffic loading, three centrifuge tests were carried out on the response of a saturated clay ground under sinusoidally cyclic vertical loading. The clay ground was overconsolidated at its top to simulate a crust. The overconsolidation ratio of the crust and the loading frequency were varied among the three tests. Excess pore pressures were measured both along the horizontal and vertical directions. The settlement of the pavement was measured by a laser transducer, and the displacement field was captured by the technology of particle image velocimetry, based on which volumetric strains were calculated. The evolutions of excess pore pressures and volumetric strains were shown to be consistent. Among the several conclusions to be drawn from the test results, it was found that a stiff crust made the excess pore pressures under the load more difficult to dissipate and the high loading frequency made the effect of the vertical cyclic loading less significant for the saturated clay ground.