• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.175-183
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• 1999

Recently, problems related to vibrations of decomposed granite soils have acquired increasing attention in Korea because those soils cover approximately one third of the country. Both resonant column and cyclic triaxial test were performed to investigate deformation characteristics of unsaturated and cement-mixed decomposed granite soils in Suwon region. The important soil parameters in this respect are the shear moduli, dynamic moduli of elasticity and damping ratios. The dynamic parameters are influenced by variables such as strain amplitude, ratio of loading cycles, and degree of saturations, etc. Test results and data have shown that the optimum degree of saturation to the maximum shear modulus due to a capillary menisci effect was about 17~18 % at low strain amplitude and 10~15 % at intermediate strain amplitude. This paper suggests the range of threshold strain and mean shear modulus of decomposed granite soils in Suwon region. It also proposed the empirical relationship between the dynamic parameters for cement-mixed and non-mixed decomposed granite soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.147-158
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• 2004

Laboratory dynamic tests are carried out to assess the liquefaction potential of saturated sands in most countries. However, simple results such as the maximum cyclic shear stress and the number of cycles at initial liquefaction are used in the experimental assessment of liquefaction potential, even though various results can be obtained from the dynamic test. In addition, it seemed to be inefficient because more than three dynamic tests with different stress ratio have to be carried out to draw a liquefaction resistance experimental curve. To improve the present assessment method fur liquefaction potential, a new critical resistible characteristic far soil liquefaction is proposed and verified through conventional cyclic triaxial tests with Jumunjin sand. In the proposed method, various experimental data such as effective stress path, stress-strain relationship, and the change of excess pore water pressure can be used in the determination of cumulative plastic shear strains at every 1/4 cycle. Especially, the critical cumulative plastic shear strain to initiate liquefaction can be defined in a specific point called a phase change point in the effective stress path and it can be calculated from a hysteric curve of stress-strain relationship up to this point. Through this research, it is found that the proposed cumulative plastic shear strain can express the dissipated energy to resist dynamic loads and consider the realistic soil dynamic behavior of saturated sands reasonably. It is also found that the critical plastic shear strain can be used as a registible index of soils to represent the critical soil dynamic state, because it seems to include no effect of large deformation.