Strain rate effect on static and dynamic behaviors of eastern Canada fine-grained soils

Abstract

The assessment of the strain rate effect on the geotechnical properties of soils constitutes an important step toward a more accurate analysis of their response. This study presents the experimental results of monotonic and cyclic simple shear tests performed to examine the strain rate ([Formula: see text]) effect on the behavior of eastern Canada soils. Nine natural soils sampled from different locations in eastern Canada were used in this study. The tests were performed on a simple shear device using a strain-controlled mode. In addition to the obtained experimental results, published data in the literature were used to draw the conclusions of this study. Analysis of the data indicates that the undrained shear strength (τf) increases proportionally with the strain rate by approximately 6%–17% per log cycle of [Formula: see text]. The results also show that the secant shear modulus G increases with the strain rate, especially at large strain amplitudes. Moreover, the analysis of the data revealed that the extent of the strain rate effect seems to be correlated with the shear strain amplitude (γc) and plasticity index (Ip). A practical application of the outcomes on the backbone curves is given, illustrating the influence of Ipand γcon the effect of strain rate.