Development of an Energy-based EPWP Generation Model under Different Drainage Conditions

Abstract

Drainage conditions have significant influence on the liquefaction behaviour of soil. In this study, cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on saturated Fujian standard sand under different drainage conditions. A new infiltration device was designed to simulate the different drainage conditions by controlling the permeability coefficient of the silt inside. Permeability coefficient ratio (kp) is introduced to measure the effect of different drainage conditions (kp = ki/ko, where ki is the permeability coefficient of the silt at different dry density; ko is the permeability coefficient of the saturated sand specimen). A series of cyclic triaxial tests were conducted to evaluate the response regularity of excess pore water pressure (EPWP) of saturated sand under different drainage conditions. Test results indicate that different drainage conditions have obviously effects on the EPWP generation. Based on the strain energy concept, an EPWP generation model is developed by considering the effect of drainage condition and it shows good agreement with the test observations.