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Visualized liquefaction behavior of sandy soil deposited in water under undrained cyclic shearing

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Abstract

Water films probably form beneath less-permeable interlayers in liquefiable deposits during an earthquake, further resulting in devastating disasters. However, the development of such water film and its effect on the liquefaction behavior of stratified deposits are still unclear. Herein, a water sedimentation method was developed in laboratory to reproduce the layered structure of sandy soil deposited in water during land reclamation. Undrained cyclic torsional shear tests were conducted to visualize the evolution of localized liquefaction behavior incorporating an image-based measurement technique. The test results indicate that the liquefaction resistance of layered specimens with less-permeable fine layers was similar to that of specimens without fine layer, which was possibly due to the lower liquefaction resistance of the sand layer compared to the fine layer. Large local strains periodically observed at the bottom of fine layer during undrained cyclic shearing implied that pore water concentrated into thin zones, which was also directly proven by the differential pore pressures in the sand and fine layers within the layered specimen. Moreover, large local strains also manifested a relatively lower liquefaction resistance of specimen compared to that evaluated by global strains. As specimen was closely liquefied, a hydraulic gradient significantly higher than its critical value to drive upward particle migration was formed at the fine layer, which overcomes the resultant force of gravity and buoyancy acting on soil particle. This hydraulic gradient and the less-permeable fine layer provided the formation conditions of a subjacent water film.

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Abbreviations

\({G}_{s}\) :

Specific gravity

\({D}_{50}\) :

Mean diameter of Katori sand

\({D}_{10}\) :

10% Of the particles finer than this size

\({e}_{max}\) :

Maximum void ratio

\({e}_{min}\) :

Minimum void ratio

H :

Height of specimen

\({D}_{i}\) :

Inner diameter of hollow cylindrical specimen

\({D}_{o}\) :

Outer diameter of hollow cylindrical specimen

\({\rho }_{{d}_{overall}}\) :

Overall dry density

\({e}_{overall}\) :

Overall void ratio

\({D}_{{r}_{overall}}\) :

Overall relative density

\({R}_{i}\) :

Inner radius of hollow cylindrical specimen

\({R}_{o}\) :

Outer radius of hollow cylindrical specimen

\({F}_{c}\) :

Fine content

\(\upgamma\) :

Shear strain

\(\uptau\) :

Shear stress

\({\tau }_{d}\) :

Amplitude of shear stress

\(p_{o}^{\prime }\) :

Initial effective mean principal stress

\({p}^{^{\prime}}\) :

Effective mean principal stress

\(\Delta u\) :

Excess pore water pressure

\(\Delta {u}_{d}\) :

Differential excess pore water pressure

\({u}_{sand}\) :

Pore water pressure in sand layer

\({u}_{fines}\) :

Pore water pressure in fine layer

\(\theta\) :

Rotation angle of specimen top cap

\({T}_{t}\) :

Torque measured by load cell

\({T}_{m}\) :

Torque applied to the membrane

T :

Torque effectively applied to the specimen

\({t}_{m}\) :

Thickness of membrane

\({E}_{m}\) :

Young’s modulus of membrane

\({i}_{c}\) :

Critical hydraulic gradient

n :

Porosity

\({\gamma }_{w}\) :

Specific gravity of water

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their highest appreciation to Prof. Junichi Koseki, Mr. Takeshi Sato and Dr. Yukika Miyashita, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo for their guidance and assistances. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52008369), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2019M662057) and Chinese Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to University (the 111 Project, B18047).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Hypergravity Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Chuang Zhao

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8654, Japan

    Chuang Zhao & Usama Juniansyah Fauzi

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  1. Chuang Zhao
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  2. Usama Juniansyah Fauzi
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Correspondence to Chuang Zhao.

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Zhao, C., Fauzi, U.J. Visualized liquefaction behavior of sandy soil deposited in water under undrained cyclic shearing. Acta Geotech. 17, 3143–3160 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-022-01508-6

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