The drained deformation characteristics of sand subjected to lateral cyclic loading

Drained cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on a saturated sand to examine its deformation characteristics under either axial or lateral cyclic loading condition. To apply lateral cyclic loading, the cell pressure was cycled while maintaining a constant vertical stress. The strain accumulations and flow direction in the soil were presented and discussed considering various initial stress ratios (η₀), cyclic stress amplitudes and cyclic stress paths. The results indicate that axial strain accumulation shows an exponential increase with the maximum stress ratio (η^max). The initial deviatoric stress has comparable effects with lateral cyclic stress amplitude on the accumulated axial strain. In contrast, the accumulated volumetric strain is directly proportional to the lateral cyclic stress amplitude but not much affected by η₀ values. Due to the anisotropy of the soil, the accumulated axial and lateral bulging strains are greater in lateral cyclic loading when compared to axial cyclic loading even though η^max is the same. It is also found that η^max affects soil's lateral deformation and increasing the ratio could change the lateral deformation from contraction to bulging. The flow direction depends on η^max in the sand under lateral cyclic loading, regardless of η₀ values and the cyclic stress amplitudes, and a large η^max could lead to great deviatoric strain but a little volumetric strain accumulation.