Cyclic Behavior of Sand under Traffic Loading with ‘Inclined’ Consolidation

Abstract

To investigate the vertical strain development of sand under traffic loading after the process of ‘inclined’ consolidation, a series of cyclic drained tests were carried out by using a hollow cylinder apparatus. Three parameters were considered in this paper: initial consolidation angle, vertical cyclic stress ratio and cyclic torsional stress ratio. Test results show that the vertical strain under traffic loading path is larger than that of specimens whose cyclic torsional stress ratio is equal to 0 in the same situation. Furthermore, the vertical stain will decrease with the increase of consolidating inclination in the situation of same values of vertical cyclic stress ratio and cyclic torsional stress ratio. When initial consolidation angle is equal to 0° and 22.5°, the vertical strain will increase with increasing value of cyclic torsional stress ratio, while the effect of cyclic torsional stress ratio on vertical strain will be less significant when initial consolidation angle is equal to 45°. Moreover the trend that vertical strain increases with increasing value of cyclic torsional stress ratio will be more significant for a larger value of vertical cyclic stress ratio.