Small strain shear modulus for compacted sand-clay mixtures

The dynamic properties of soils are required to analyze their behavior under earthquake loading. Shear modulus is the important input parameter in dynamic analysis. A series of resonant column tests was carried out on pure clays and sand-clay mixtures prepared at different densities to investigate the effects of sand content, clay plasticity and void ratio on the shear modulus in small and medium shear strain. On the basis of the resonance column test results, a mathematical model was developed for the maximum shear modulus. The reduction in shear modulus with increasing shear strain for mixture with different sand content studied. In addition the effect of clay plasticity on shear modulus reduction curves in small and medium shear strain investigated. G/Gmax was expressed by function of  as G/Gmax=1/[1+(d)] for sand-clay mixture used in this study.

Keywords:

Shear Modulus , Damping Ratio , Sand-clay Mixture , Small Strain