Pore water pressure increment model for saturated Nanjing fine sand subject to cyclic loading

Abstract

Three groups of dynamic triaxial tests were performed for saturated Nanjing fine sand subjected to uniform cyclic loading. The tested curves of the excess pore water pressure (EPWP) ratio variation with the ratio of the number of cycles are provided. The concept of the EPWP increment ratio is introduced and two new concepts of the effective dynamic shear stress ratio and the log decrement of effective stress are defined. It is found that the development of the EPWP increment ratio can be divided into three stages: descending, stable and ascending. Furthermore, at the stable and ascending stages, a satisfactory linear relationship is obtained between the accumulative EPWP increment ratio and natural logarithm of the effective dynamic shear stress ratio. Accordingly, the EPWP increment ratio at the number of cycles N has been deduced that is proportional to the log decrement of effective stress at the cycle number N-1, but is independent of the cyclic stress amplitude. Based on the analysis, a new EPWP increment model for saturated Nanjing fine sand is developed from tested data fitting, which provides a better prediction of the curves of EPWP generation, the number of cycles required for initial liquefaction and the liquefaction resistance.