Soil Densification Effect on the Behaviour of Chlef Sand (Algeria) under Static and Cyclic Loading: A Laboratory Investigation

Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory investigation on soil densification effect on the behaviour of Chlef sand (Algeria). The study is carried out via a series of monotonic and cyclic tests in drained and undrained conditions using the triaxial apparatus. It’s conducted in three stages: the first consists on the study of the sand behaviour under monotonic loading in drained conditions. Effects of the confining pressure and of the relative density Dr on the sand’s shear strength are observed. In the second step, the undrained behaviour of the studied sand under monotonic loading is studied, and finally the last step deals with the sand undrained behaviour under cyclic loading. In each step, sand samples with different values of relative density that are ranging from loose, medium and dense state are tested (Dr = 10%, 15, 18%, 50%, 65% and 80%). The obtained results show a significant upgrading of the mechanical properties of the sand samples proportionally to the densification rise. The aim of the study is to highlight the improvement that can bring soil densification process on the behaviour of Chlef sand, and therefore its use as a soil reinforcement technique to solve soil deformations in the study area, which is a prone zone to seismic risk.