Dynamic properties of fine liquefiable sand and calcareous sand from resonant column testing

Abstract

The study of the dynamic properties of two specific kinds of granular soils is performed using torsional resonant column testing. The sandy soils are: (1) liquefiable sand from Christchurch, New Zealand, and (2) calcareous sand from Puerto Rico. The effects of isotropic effective confining pressure, shear strain amplitude, void ratio, and total unit weight on the small-strain and nonlinear dynamic properties of both types of sand are presented and discussed. Empirical models from previous studies are examined to determine how well the models fit the test results.