Pore-Pressure Generation of Sands Subjected to Cyclic Simple Shear Loading: An Energy Approach

Abstract

The energy-based approach to assess the residual pore water pressure build-up and the cyclic liquefaction resistance of sandy soils is receiving increasing attention in the last years since it has been found to better capture the effect of irregular loading cycles compared to the conventional equivalent stress-based methods. This paper reports the results of an experimental study carried out on two sands (Ticino and Emilia) under undrained cyclic simple shear loading with a focus on the development of specific correlations between residual pore water pressure (PWP) build-up and dissipated energy (W_S) up to the onset of liquefaction. Tests were carried out on specimens reconstituted at various relative densities (D_R) and subjected to various cyclic stress ratios (CSR). The results obtained were compared with two energy-based PWP models provided by other researchers leading to positive conclusions as for the general trend of W_S with the main influencing factors. A new simple energy-based PWP model was also proposed for sands and the good performance of the model for cyclic simple shear experiments was shown.