A COMPILATION AND ANALYSIS OF CYCLIC TRIAXIAL TEST DATA

The Civil Engineering Laboratory, (CEL) has been involved in seismically induced soil liquefaction studies for several years, both for the Navy and for other organizations. As a result of these previous studies it became apparent that a data base of cyclical soil strength would be of significant assistance in many phases of site evaluation where detailed complete cyclical soil testing was not available or could not economically be obtained. As an example, in planning stages when several sites are under consideration for locating a structure, detailed site soil exploration and testing data are not available. Thus, the liquefaction potential of cohesionless material must be evaluated from limited data such as general soil classification, or possibly from standard penetration data, if available. For many structures costing $100,000 to $200,000 a detailed soil testing program may not be economically possible since a series of triaxial tests involving sampling, sample preparation, testing and data reduction is quite costly. The objective of this study was to develop a partial data base for determining the seismic strength of saturated cohesionless materials and using this data base, to analyze the results to broaden understanding of the mechanism of seismically induced soil liquefaction. The study is in support of efforts to mitigate the effects of earthquakes through improved methods for determining the seismic strength of soils. To assist in this problem, cyclic triaxial test data was compiled from published literature and from commercial and research laboratories involved in cyclic testing of cohesionless soils; the data was organized, reviewed and evaluated. Results were grouped by soil type (unified classification system). This data may assist geotechnical engineers to evaluate the seismic strength of cohesionless materials. A foundation engineer can use the compendium knowing the type of soil, relative density and confinement for each layer in soil profile and obtain a range of the cyclic soil strength as a function of the number of cycles of applied loading (earthquake duration).

• Corporate Authors:

  Naval Construction Battalion Center

  Civil Engineering Laboratory, Point Mugu
  Port Hueneme, CA  United States  93043
• Authors:
  • Ferritto, J M
  • Forrest, J B
• Publication Date: 1977-8

Media Info

• Pagination: 73 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cohesionless materials; Databases; Earthquakes; Liquefaction; Repeated loads; Saturated soils; Seismology; Soil penetration test; Strength of materials; Triaxial shear tests
• Uncontrolled Terms: Site investigation
• Old TRIS Terms: Liquefaction (Soil)
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00178789
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-77-129 Final Rpt., FCP 35A2-082
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-5-3-0208
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 27 1978 12:00AM