Influence of silt size and content on liquefaction behavior of sands

Abstract

This study investigates the fines content influence on liquefaction potential of a single base sand mixed with three different essentially nonplastic silts through strain-controlled monotonic undrained triaxial compression tests. Confining stress (30 kPa) and deposition method (dry funnel deposition) were kept the same, while fines content was varied, to solely focus on how different silts and their contents influence the undrained response of the sand under comparable conditions. It was found that if the mean grain diameter ratio (D_50-sand/d_50-silt) of the sand grains to silt grains is sufficiently small, the liquefaction potential of the sand increases steadily with increasing fines content for the studied range (0%–20%). As D_50-sand/d_50-silt increases, the liquefaction potential of the silty sand might actually be less than the liquefaction potential of the clean sand. Test results also revealed that commonly used comparison bases (i.e., void ratio, intergranular void ratio, relative density) are not sufficient for assessing the influence of fines on liquefaction potential of silty sands. Finally, relative size of the silt grains should also be considered in geotechnical engineering practice in addition to content and plasticity of fines to characterize the influence of silt on liquefaction potential of sands.