Saturation and Preloading Effects on the Cyclic Behavior of Sand

Abstract

In order to study pore water pressure response and liquefaction characteristics of sand, which has previously experienced liquefaction, two series of cyclic triaxial tests were run on medium dense sand specimens. In the first test series the influence of the soil saturation under undrained cyclic loading has been studied. It summarizes results of cyclic triaxial tests performed on Hostun-RF sand at various values of the Skempton’s pore-pressure coefficient. Analysis of experimental results gives valuable insights on the effect of soil saturation on sand response to undrained cyclic paths. In the second series of tests, the preloading influence on the resistance to the sands liquefaction has been realized on samples at various histories of loading. It was found that a large preloading induces a reduction of the resistance of sands to liquefaction.