Mechanical behavior and earthquake-induced failures of volcanic soils in Japan

Abstract

This paper summarized the earthquake-induced damages and mechanical properties of volcanic soils, especially volcanic coarse-grained soils and volcanic ash soils distributed over Japan. Site investigations were conducted at various volcanic soil grounds of Japan. In addition to these in-situ tests, a series of laboratory tests on undisturbed and disturbed samples was also carried out to obtain the mechanical properties which are necessary to establish a seismic design standard for volcanic grounds. From the results of static triaxial compression test, plane strain compression test and cyclic undrained triaxial test on volcanic soils, it was understood that the effect of particle crushing on the cyclic and static strength–deformation behaviors of volcanic coarse-grained soils could not be ignored. Furthermore, particle breakage, cementation and sedimentary environment and their effects on the correlation between the sounding data and deformation-strength parameters evaluated from laboratory tests were also discussed.