Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Presentation Date
06 Apr 1995, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Abstract
Many studies have been conducted on the effects of cyclic loading on homogeneous saturated deposits of sand, and to a lesser extent on silt and clay. In contrast, very little research has been performed on the effects of cyclic loading on saturated sand lenses located within clay masses. Sand lenses and thin discontinuous layers of loose sand are frequently encountered in saturated clay or silt deposits located in areas of the United States prone to earthquakes. Sand lenses are also frequently associated with hydraulic fill structures, which are known to perform poorly during earthquake loading. The liquefaction and failure of sand lenses has been identified as a major factor in the Turnagain Heights Landslide during the 1964 Alaska Earthquake and lateral spreading landslides in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, among others. A major obstacle to laboratory testing of sand lenses is the modeling of a sand lens or lenses within a clay deposit or block, and finding equipment that can subject the sample to cyclic loading. Until now, only theoretical analyses of sand lens failure have been performed, with the most promising method utilizing the principles of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) theory. This study developed a method of constructing one or more sand lenses within a block of clay and then applying a uniform cyclic loading with a shaking table. For clay blocks with a single sand lens and with two sand lenses, behavior was closely monitored during the cyclic loading to the point of failure. The results of the testing verified that the principles of the LEFM theory can be used to determine the mode of failure of a sand lens or lenses due to cyclic loading.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
3rd International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1995 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Holchin, J. D. and Vallejo, L. E., "The Liquefaction of Sand Lenses Due to Cyclic Loading" (1995). International Conferences on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. 14.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icrageesd/03icrageesd/session03/14
Included in
The Liquefaction of Sand Lenses Due to Cyclic Loading
St. Louis, Missouri
Many studies have been conducted on the effects of cyclic loading on homogeneous saturated deposits of sand, and to a lesser extent on silt and clay. In contrast, very little research has been performed on the effects of cyclic loading on saturated sand lenses located within clay masses. Sand lenses and thin discontinuous layers of loose sand are frequently encountered in saturated clay or silt deposits located in areas of the United States prone to earthquakes. Sand lenses are also frequently associated with hydraulic fill structures, which are known to perform poorly during earthquake loading. The liquefaction and failure of sand lenses has been identified as a major factor in the Turnagain Heights Landslide during the 1964 Alaska Earthquake and lateral spreading landslides in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, among others. A major obstacle to laboratory testing of sand lenses is the modeling of a sand lens or lenses within a clay deposit or block, and finding equipment that can subject the sample to cyclic loading. Until now, only theoretical analyses of sand lens failure have been performed, with the most promising method utilizing the principles of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) theory. This study developed a method of constructing one or more sand lenses within a block of clay and then applying a uniform cyclic loading with a shaking table. For clay blocks with a single sand lens and with two sand lenses, behavior was closely monitored during the cyclic loading to the point of failure. The results of the testing verified that the principles of the LEFM theory can be used to determine the mode of failure of a sand lens or lenses due to cyclic loading.
