A Comparison between Simple Shear and Triaxial Tests for Evaluating the Variations of G and D with Matric Suction

Abstract

Shear modulus (G) and damping ratio (D) are both well known as principal soil dynamic parameters. In the present study, cyclic triaxial and simple shear tests are performed on Firuzkuh silica sand at various shear strain amplitudes using the developed testing devices and peripherals. It is well-understood that degrading curvature of G with shear strain appears in both triaxial and simple shear results. Nevertheless, mean confining stress has dissimilar effects in each of the two tests that does not provide comparable empirical correlations. It is noticed that the variations of G and D with suction stress in triaxial differs from those in simple shear. On the basis of cyclic simple shear results, the increase in suction pressure from zero to the end of transition zone in SWCC leads to increase in G values. In triaxial method, on the other hand, similar increase occurs only up to the inflection point in SWCC, starts reducing afterwards down to a limit value at residual water content. The damping ratio variations with shear strain are generally ascending despite local drops at the strain order of 0.1%, which has appeared in both triaxial and simple shear results.