Dynamic Behavior of Granular Soils at Shallow Depths from 1 g Shaking Table Tests

Abstract

Very few studies have investigated soil shear modulus and damping characteristics at very shallow depths (<3 m). In this study, average shear stress and strain histories are determined from reduced-scale shaking table model experiments at small confining stresses (<20 kPa). Shear modulus reduction of sands becomes more nonlinear at reduced confining stress levels, whereas sand damping ratio increases with decreasing effective confining stress and increasing initial driving shear stress. A modified hyperbolic relationship is evaluated that provides a good estimate of the modulus reduction data for sands and gravels at shallow depths.