Abstract
The usability of the clay fraction as one of the criteria in the assessment of liquefaction susceptibility is questionable since year 2001. The use of plasticity index to replace clay fraction as a controlling parameter in the criterion is proposed. This paper aims to compare the usability of different parameter in describing the cyclic behaviour of sand-fines mixtures with various plasticity characteristics. The sand-fines mixtures were reconstituted by mixing clean sand with two types of plastic fines at different percentages by weight, at a standardized ratio of 80% of clean sand with 20% of plastic fines. All soil samples were mixed using the dry tamping method to achieve a constant relative density of 20% throughout the specimen. The soil specimens are tested with stress controlled cyclic triaxial apparatus under consolidated undrained condition, with an effective confining pressure of 100kPa. The soil specimens were considered liquefy when the value of pore pressure is equivalent to the initial cell pressure, resulting zeroes effective stress in soil specimen. The results showed that the liquefaction resistance of the sand-fines mixtures increased as the value of plasticity index increased. The plasticity index is a better indicator to describe the liquefaction susceptibility of sand-fines mixtures compare to clay content, plastic limit and activity.
Highlights
Chinese Criteria [1] is the best known liquefaction susceptibility criteria that established after the Haichang Earthquake and the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake
The soil specimens were considered liquefy when the value of pore pressure is equivalent to the initial cell pressure, resulting zeroes effective stress in soil specimen
The typical test results of undrained cyclic triaxial loading tests were plotted in Fig. 3, the deviator stress and the pore pressure development of clean sand specimen until the initiation of liquefaction
Summary
Chinese Criteria [1] is the best known liquefaction susceptibility criteria that established after the Haichang Earthquake and the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake. Researchers have hypothesized that plasticity index may be an accurate indicator in substituting percentage of clay-size particle amount in characterizing liquefaction susceptibility. Most of earlier laboratory based researches are in a great deal with the effects of fines content toward liquefaction susceptibility, and only a minority of them included the plasticity characteristics of fines in their analysis.
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