What is it about?
It is generally established that the specimen preparation method affects the dynamic response of sands measured in the laboratory. However, in this work we demonstrate that as the density of sand increases, the effect of specimen preparation on the measured volumetric strain decreases, both under uni-directional and bi-directional shear.
Featured Image
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
Why is it important?
We demonstrate that for very dense sand, and for the specimen preparation techniques considered, volumetric strain is the same independent of the method of specimen preparation. This is in contrast to the response of medium dense sands observed by the authors and established in the literature. These findings are demonstrated for unidirectional shear loading that is generally used, and also for more realistic bidirectional shear loading.
Perspectives
Writing this article that introduces data from the new Illinois multidirectional simple shear device has been exciting. Effects of specimen preparation methods have been thoroughly studied in the realm of loose and medium dense sands. Extending that to very dense sands that form the foundation of many critical structures, including Nuclear Power Plants, will potentially lead to increase research in the area, improving the design and thus safety of such critical structures.
Lopamudra Bhaumik
Hatch Mott MacDonald
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effect of Specimen Preparation on Volumetric Behavior of Sands under Cyclic Multidirectional Shear, Geotechnical Testing Journal, December 2019, ASTM International,
DOI: 10.1520/gtj20190008.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
