Energy dissipation in engineered sand of large damping ratio

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Many geotechnical problems such as seismic resistant designs and machine vibrations require the installation of dampers or isolators to control the amplitude of vibrations. Engineered fills designed with increased capability of dissipating energy can provide a more economical approach to control excessive vibrations. This study presents a novel technique to increase the damping ratio of sand without affecting its stiffness and shear strength. The increase in damping ratio is evaluated by performing resonant column tests on the engineered sand. The damping ratio of the sand is increased by adding a controlled amount of viscoelastic material to the voids. The resonant column tests indicate that the damping ratio of the sand can be increased manifold without affecting the shear modulus. The micromechanical evaluation of the results shows a good correlation between the particle surface area in contact with the pore-mixture and the damping ratio of the sand. The suitability of engineered sand as foundation material is also evaluated by performing direct shear tests. The direct shear tests on mixtures indicate similar or better shear strength parameters compared to pure sand.