Experimental Investigation on Small-Strain Stiffness of Marine Silty Sand

Abstract

The significance of small-strain stiffness (Gmax) of saturated composite soils are still of great concern in practice, due to the complex influence of fines on soil fabric. This paper presents an experimental investigation conducted through comprehensive bender element tests on Gmax of marine silty sand. Special attention is paid to the influence of initial effective confining pressure ( σ c 0 ′ ), global void ratio (e) and fines content (FC) on Gmax of a marine silty sand. The results indicate that under otherwise similar conditions, Gmax decreases with decreasing e or FC, but decreases with increasing FC. In addition, the reduction rate of Gmax with e increasing is not sensitive to σ c 0 ′ , but obviously sensitive to changes in FC. The equivalent skeleton void ratio (e*) is introduced as an alternative state index for silty sand with various FC, based on the concept of binary packing material. Remarkably, the Hardin model is modified with the new state index e*, allowing unified characterization of Gmax values for silty sand with various FC, e, and σ c 0 ′ . Independent test data for different silty sand published in the literature calibrate the applicability of this proposed model.

New Advances in Marine Engineering Geology

“…Wu et al [12] present an experimental investigation on the small-strain stiffness of marine silty sand. They conducted a series of bender element tests on marine silty sand with fines content ranging from 0% to 30% under isotropic consolidation.…”

“…The issue collected 14 papers that cover different aspects of marine engineering geology and geotechnics using different approaches. Some of them used numerical simulations [1][2][3][4][5], some conducted laboratory experiments [6][7][8][9][10], and others acquired and analyzed field or laboratory tests to establish a theoretical modeling framework for predicting marine sediment properties and the potential hazards [11][12][13][14]. Moreover, with a timely and well-organized publication, it is believed that the state-of-the-art data, analyses, and methodologies presented in this Special Issue could be of great interest to all readers of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.…”

Prediction the shear strength and shear modulus of sand-clay mixture using bender element

“…Qiu et al [14] presented a good correlations between the maximum shear modulus toward both density and applied pressure. The effect of the fine-grained , void ratio and applied stress were studied separately by Wu et al [15] using marine sand. Finally, Kulkarni et al [16] compared the shear wave velocity and maximum shear modulus toward density, moisture content, applied pressure, and the undrained shear strength separately.…”

Experimental Study of the Dynamic Shear Modulus Ratio and Damping Ratio of the Quaternary Sedimentary Soils in the Offshore Areas of the Yellow Sea

“…Morsy et al evaluated the dynamic characteristics of Egyptian calcareous sand in the range of small and medium shear strains [10]. Wu et al researched the small-strain stiffness of marine silty sand [11]. Senetakis and Payan conducted smallstrain resonant column tests in torsional and flexural modes of vibration which quantified two types of damping ratios [12].…”