Effects of initial stress anisotropy on the onset of undrained instability for Guamo sand

Abstract

Undrained instability is a failure mode that has been observed in many sandy slopes. However, the highly anisotropic stress states caused by the geometry of the slope have not been duly considered from the experimental point of view. This article studies the influence of the initial stress anisotropy of laboratory samples on the static undrained instability of the Colombian reference sand. Forty-five consolidated undrained triaxial tests were performed, prescribing combinations of different initial void ratios, mean confining pressure, and initial stress ratios. Experimental results allow concluding that: a. the size of the instability zone on the p′ − q plane becomes smaller for larger initial anisotropic stress ratios; b. a novel undrained instability plane can be proposed in the p′ − q − e space to set a boundary between stable and unstable undrained loading conditions; c. mean confining pressure plays a vital role in the estimation of undrained instability for Guamo sand samples under low and medium confining stresses; d. despite multiple factors that influence the onset of undrained instability, a relation can be derived between the undrained instability susceptibility of sandy slopes and the initial stress ratio η0.