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Fear 1995
Fear 1995
from in situ tests, which combines the theory of critical state soil mechanics with shear wave
velocity measurements, is presented. For a particular direction of undrained loading, samples of a
given sand at a constant void ratio will reach the same S,, despite the magnitude of the initial
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effective confining stresses. Unique S,lp' or S,/u: ratios for a given direction of loading exist for a
particular sand only if state parameter is constant throughout the deposit. Normalized shear wave
velocity, V,,, can be correlated with void ratio and is therefore used to estimate S, for a given initial
state and direction of loading. Strengths in triaxial compression are examined in this paper; however,
the same framework can be used to estimate strengths under other directions of loading. The
S,-V,, relationship is shown to be relatively sensitive and should be used more as a screening tool
rather than an accurate means of predicting S,. V,, is converted to equivalent values of SPT (NL)60
and CPT q,,, and the results are compared with the current methods of estimaiing S,.
Key words:in situ testing, liquefaction, sand, undrained strength.
RbumC : L'on prCsente un schbme de rCfCrence pour estimer la resistance au cisaillement non
drain6 ultime B 1'Ctat permanent du sable (S,) en partant d'essais in situ qui combinent la thkorie
For personal use only.
de mCcanique des sols B 1'Ctat critique avec les mesures de,la vitesse de l'onde de cisaillement.
Pour une direction particulibre de chargement non drain& des Cchantillons d'un sable donnC a un
indice de vide constant va atteindre le m&meS,, quelles que soient les valeurs des contraintes
effectives de confinement. Des rapports uniques de SUlp1ou S,/u: pour une direction donnCe de
chargement n'existe pour un sable particulier que si le parambtre d'Ctat est constant B travers tout
le dCpBt. La vitesse normalisCe de l'onde de cisaillement, V,, peut &trecorrClCe avec l'indice de
vide et est en consCquence utilisCe pour estimer S , pour un Ctat initial et une direction de
chargement donnCs. Des rCsistances en compression triaxiale sont examinCes dans cet article;
cependant, le m&me schbme de rCfCrence peut &treutilisC pour estimer les rCsistances dans
d'autres directions de chargement. L'on montre que la relation S,-V,, est relativement sensible et
devrait &treutilisCe plus comme outil de sClection que comme un moyen prCcis de prCdire S,. V,,
est converti en des valeurs Cquivalentes de SPT (N,),, et CPT q,, et les rCsultats sont comparCs
aux mCthodes courantes d'estimer S,.
Mots cle's : essais in situ, liquefaction, sable, rCsistance non drainCe.
[Traduit par la rCdaction]
engineers to use the lower bound line, which may result ics framework. The ultimate steady state line (SSL) for a
in unnecessary expenditures. given sand can be plotted in p'-q-e space (see Fig. la),
Stark and Mesri (1992) provide an alternative approach where e is void ratio and p ' and q are defined as follows:
to estimating S, and present a relationship between
undrained strength ratio and equivalent (N,),, in clean
sand. The undrained strength ratio is defined as the mobi-
lized S, divided by the initial vertical effective stress, o:.
This relationship is based on the Seed and Harder (1990) When this line in p'-q-e space,,is projected onto the
case histories plus three additional ones. The Stark and e-p' plane and the p' axis is plotte"d on a logarithmic scale,
Mesri (1992) relationship also consists of upper and lower the SSL can be approximated as a straight line over a given
bound lines. The work by Stark and Mesri (1992) followed stress range (see Fig. lb). The SSL in the e-p' plane can be
the approach taken by Jefferies et al. (1990), which sug- defined by two parameters, r and A,,. r is the void ratio
gested that the shear strength ratio was a function of nor- on the SSL at p ' = 1 kPa, and A,, is the slope of the SSL
For personal use only.
malized CPT resistance. This idea was based on the view when the p ' axis is plotted 'on a natural logarithm scale.
that shear strength ratio is a function of state parameter The SSL in e-ln p' space is therefore defined as follows:
(JI) and the previous work by Been et al. (1986 and 1987), [3] e = r - A,, In(pr)
which proposed that state parameter was a function of nor-
malized CPT resistance. Within the critical state soil mechanics framework, it is
Robertson (1990) presented a review of the relation- possible to calculate S, for a soil with a given void ratio
ship between S, and normalized penetration resistance for when loaded in undrained shear, assuming no pore pressure
four sands using relative density correlations with SPT redistribution and therefore no change in void ratio. The
(N,),,, correlations between normalized CPT q,, and SPT concept (shown in Fig. 1) is that a sand which has an ini-
(N,),,, published data on steady state relationships, field tial state given by (p', q, e) and is loaded in undrained
studies, and large calibration chamber test results. Robertson shear will reach the same S, as the point on its SSL with the
(1990) found that Ottawa sand appeared to provide the same void ratio @:, q,,, e). Therefore, S, can be deter-
minimum steady state strength correlation and that the mined as follows:
correlation by Seed (1987) represented a conservative
lower bound correlation, especially at large values of (N,),,.
The other sands that were studied (Monterey, Ticino, and
Hilton mines) all possessed much higher values of S, at
a given penetration resistance than the Seed (1987) cor- where
relation would suggest, thus indicating that there appears to
be no unique relationship between S, and penetration resis-
tance for all sands.
Robertson (1990) also investigated the correlation
in triaxial compression (Wood 1990)
between normalized ultimate undrained strength (SJp')
and normalized CPT resistance (q, - p)lpf, based on state
parameter, as suggested by Been and Jefferies (1985),
where p' is the mean normal effective stress. Robertson
(1990) recognized that these correlations were approxi- in triaxial extension (Wood 1990)
mate in nature due to limited test data, but the results +isis the steady state friction angle;
clearly suggested the lack of a unique relationship for all Xi, is the slope of the SSL in e-ln p ' space;
sands, with Ottawa sand representing the minimum rela-
[61 $ = e - e,, (Been and Jefferies 1985)
tionship when compared with the other sands (Reid Bedford,
Hilton Mines, Oilsand, Ticino, and Monterey). JI is the initial state parameter;
The approach used to estimate S, at Duncan Dam (Byrne e is the initial void ratio; and
et al. 1994) was an alternative to the in situ penetration e,, is the void ratio of the point on the SSL with the
methods discussed above. High-quality undisturbed samples same p ' as the initial state.
Fear and Robertson
s
For a given sand (i.e., constant M and A,,), S, is a func- Fig. 1. Critical state soil mechanics concepts illustrated
+,
tion of both initial state parameter, and initial p' because by ( a ) an e-p'-q diagram with ( b ) projections onto the
e-ln p' plane.
defining these two parameters for a given SSL determines
the void ratio of the sand. Rearranging eq. 4 produces the
following equation for SUlp1:
Sand
Ottawa and Alaska sand (Cunning 1994) and Ottawa sand with added kaolinite
fines (R. Skirrow, personal communication)
Ottawa 30.5 0.926 0.032 385.5" 261.8
Alaska 36.5 1.485 0.117 319.5~ 178.7
Ottawa + 5% fines 29.5 0.809 0.029 c c
Ottawa + 7.5% fines 29.6 0.835 0.052 C c
Ottawa + 10% fines 29.4 0.930 0.103 c' c
~aolin~ 25 1.92 0.181 C c
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Examining eq. 10, it is clear that for a given material under sand on an e-ln p' plot, relative to the ultimate SSLs for the
a particular direction of undrained loading (constant A, B, other sands from Sasitharan et al. (1994). It can be seen that
na, M, r, and A,,) and for a given KO,S, is uniquely a Alaska sand clearly represents an upper bound SSL up to
function of V,,. However, eqs. 11 and 12 show that nei- a p' approximately equal to 55 kPa (at which point, Lornex
ther S,lpr nor S,/u: is a unique function of V,,, even for a sand becomes the upper bound), while Ottawa sand is one
given material and KO.Rather, SUlp1and S , / u ~remain a of the lower bound SSLs.
function of u: as well. Table I also contains the material properties for clean
Ottawa sand with various amounts of added kaolinite fines
Application of the proposed approach from R. Skirrow (personal communication) and for kaolin
for two sands (i.e., fines content of loo%), based on Atkinson (1993).
R. Skirrow (personal communication) found that the SSL
Test program became steeper (i.e., larger A,,) as the fines content was
Ottawa sand and a compressible tailings sand from Alaska increased from 0 to lo%, but that the value of remained r
(herein referred to as Alaska sand) were selected for use in relatively similar to that for clean Ottawa sand. This can be
this study as they appeared to represent two extremes seen in Fig. 26. Pitman (1993) noted that the position of the
encompassing most sands that could be encountered in SSL for a particular initial stress ( p ' = 350 kPa) moved
practice. Laboratory data were available for both sands downwards as the percentage of fines added was increased
(Sasitharan 1994; Cunning 1994), and field data (SPT, up to 20%; however, the SSL moved back upwards as the
CPT, and V, logs) were available for Alaska sand. Ottawa fines content was increased above 20%. The position of
sand is a clean, uniform, subrounded quartz sand that is the SSL for kaolin (100% fines) in Fig. 2b, which is well
relatively incompressible. Alaska sand contains approxi- above that for Alaska sand, is consistent with this finding.
mately 30% fines (passing the No. 200 sieve), composed of When testing the two sands, Cunning (1994) found that
a large amount of carbonate shell material, which signifi- the best-fit values for (nu + nb) were 0.266 for Ottawa
cantly increases the compressibility of the sand. sand and 0.260 for Alaska sand. Although it appears that the
Table 1 presents the material properties for Ottawa and stress exponents are dependent on the type of sand, this
Alaska sand, together with the values for other sands as study adopted the historical value for (na +
nb) of 0.25
tabulated by Sasitharan et al. (1994). Note that the material as representing a generalized value that could be applied to
properties for Syncrude sand have been recently updated by all sands. This was divided equally with na and nb assigned
Cunning et al. (1995). Also note that the parameters r and equal values of 0.125. The values of A and B for Ottawa
A,, are significantly different for Ottawa and Alaska sand, and Alaska sand given in Table 1 are based on this assump-
reflecting the major differences in fabric and compress- tion and therefore differ from the values given by Cunning
ibility in hydrostatic loading (p'), respectively. Figure 2n et al. (1995) which were based on the sand-specific val-
presents the ultimate SSLs for both Ottawa sand and Alaska ues of (na + nb). Specific values of A and B were not
Fear and Robertson
- -Clean Ottawa
- Alaska
Erksak
- - - - - - - - - Toyoura(p'd00)
--- Lornex
Brenda
- - - - - - - Syncrude
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--- Nerlerk
- - - - Leighton
Buzzard
- -Clean Ottawa
- - - 5% fines
----- 7.5% fines
For personal use only.
and V,, for other sands compared with Ottawa sand and
Alaska sand.
100
I
that for Ottawa sand. Alaska sand has a more gradual rela,
tionship than any of the other sands. This is because most
of the other sands plotted here have A,, values similar to that
for Ottawa sand, whereas the value for Alaska sand is an
order of magnitude greater. Comparing Leighton Buzzard
and Ottawa sand, which have similar values of XI,and +is
(see Table I), it can be seen that Leighton Buzzard sand,
which has a higher value of T, plots to the left of Ottawa
sand, although the lines for both sands have similar shapes.
The relative shapes and positions of the S,-Vs, relation-
ships for the various sands parallels the relative slopes
and positions of the SSLs in e-p' space for the various
sands (see Fig. 2a).
Figure 7 illustrates the effect of adding fines to clean would move back to the left and eventually, at 100% kaoli-
Ottawa sand on the relationship between S, and V,, in tri- nite, to approximately the location of the relationship for
axial compression, relative to clean Ottawa sand and Alaska kaolin. This would be consistent with the observation made
sand for KO = 0.4. Also included in Fig. 7 is the relation- earlier that the S,-Vsl plot parallels the SSL plot in e-p'
ship for kaolin. It can be seen that increasing the percent space (see Fig. 2b).
kaolinite from 0 to 10% moves the S,-Vsl relationship to
the right of the line for clean Ottawa sand. However, if larger Conversion of Vs, to SPT (N,),, and CPT q,,
percentages of kaolinite were added (greater than 20%) the To compare the proposed shear wave velocity method of
SSL moves upward to higher void ratios (Pitman 1993) and estimating S,, SUlpr,and S,,/o:with existing methods, V,,
it would be reasonable to expect that the Su-V,, relationship must be converted to equivalent SPT (N1)60and equivalent
Fear and Robertson
3
CPT q,,. Using a modified version of Yoshida et al. (1988)'s Fig. 7. Relationship between S, in triaxial compression
relationship between V, and N, the relationship between and V,, for Ottawa sand with fines and kaolin compared
V, and q, suggested by Robertson et al. (1992b), and nor- with Ottawa sand and Alaska sand.
malizing V, to V,,, N to (N,),,, and q, to q,, (see equa-
tions given in List of Symbols), the following conversion
equations were obtained:
0 5 10 15 20 25
(N1)60
determined from V,,
For personal use only.
respectively. Seed (1987) explained that these were ten- histories, as in the Seed and Harder plot, but is also com-
tative values, but that judgement should be exercised in pounded by the fact that S J u ~and (N,),, are not related
applying the corrections due to differences between dif- by a unique relationship, even for a given sand and KO con-
ferent soils. Although not explained as such by Seed (1987), dition. Two case histories involving similar types of sands
it is felt by the authors that these correction factors were an and KO conditions, would not plot in the same place on
attempt to account for the increased compressibility of the plot if the stress levels were different. As for the Seed
sand with fines relative to clean sand. Looking at the results and Harder (1990) plot, Stark and Mesri's (1992) plot is for
of this study for Alaska sand, which has a fines content the equivalent (N1),O in clean sand. The same comments,
of about 31%, it can be seen that the difference between the outlined above, regarding the relationship between com-
Alaska (I) results and the Alaska ( C ) results varies with pressibility and fines content also apply here.
(N,),, and KO, but has an average A(N,),, of approxi- Figure 10 presents the results of S , in triaxial com-
mately 3. This is consistent with the correction factors pression versus equivalent q,, using the results of Fig. 5 and
suggested by Seed (1987). Note that, although fines content eq. 14 for clean Ottawa sand and eq. 18 for Alaska sand.
may be an indirect measure of compressibility, clean sands The other sands from Sasitharan et al. (1994) and Ottawa
may also be compressible. For these sands, such as clean sand with the various percentages of kaolinite cannot be
carbonate sands, seed (1987) would not recommend a cor- included here since no data are available to allow for con-
rection factor, whereas the method followed here would versions from V,, to q,, in such materials. However, it
directly incorporate the compressibility of the sand into would seem reasonable to hypothesize that the S,-q,, lines
the relationship between S, and (N,),,. for Ottawa sand plus kaolinite would plot to the left of
Figure 9 presents the results of S,/u; in triaxial com- clean Ottawa sand, since one would expect to record lower
pression versus equivalent (N1),@determined by combining cone tip resistances in a material with a higher fines content.
eq. 12 with eq. 13 for clean Ottawa sand and with eqs. 13 Superimposed on Fig. 10 are the results from Robertson
(the incompressible correlation, referred to as Alaska (I)) (1990), which he suggested were approximate in nature
and 17 (accounting for compressibility, referred to as due to the limited test data and the complex series of
Alaska (C)) for Alaska sand. For the reasons explained assumptions required. The results of this study and those
above, the other sands from Sasitharan et al. (1994) and from Robertson (1990) both indicate that there is a unique
Ottawa sand plus kaolinite are not included on this fig- relationship between S, and q,, for a given sand at a given
ure. Superimposed on Fig. 9, for purpose of comparison, are KO. The lines for Ottawa sand from this study and from
the upper bound, lower bound, and average lines relating Robertson ( 1 9 9 0 ) are both lower bounds for the given
Sulu; to (N1)60from Stark and Mesri (1992). It can be seen sands; however, there are some differences. The line for
that, contrary to the suggestion by Stark and Mesri, there Alaska sand falls in the range of other compressible sands
is no unique relationship between S,/u: and (N,),,. Although such as Hilton Mines tailings.
the 20 case histories in Stark and Mesri's plot appear to Figure 11 presents SUlp1in triaxial compression versus
follow a trend, there is a lot of scatter. This is likely due to normalized CPT penetration resistance, ( q , - p)lpl for
differences in compressibility, fabric and KO between case both Ottawa sand and Alaska sand calculated for KO = 0.5,
,! i
Fig. 11. Relationship between SJp' in triaxial compression Fig. 12. Contractant-dilatant boundary lines for Ottawa
and (q, - p)lpl for Ottawa sand and Alaska sand compared sand and Alaska sand compared with results from Baziar
with results from Robertson (1990). and Dobry (1995).
(Nl)60
0 5 10 15 20
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For personal use only.
Assumptions for Ottawa and Alaska: GWT @ 1.0 m;Unit weight of soil = 18 kNIm3.
with the results of this study, especially for compressible Been, K., Jefferies, M.G., Crooks, J.H.A., and Rothenburg, L.
sands loaded in triaxial compression with high values of A,, 1987. The cone penetration test in sands: part 11, general
r
and and for site conditions producing low values of KO. inference of state. GCotechnique, 37(3): 285-299.
Been, K., Jefferies, M.G., and Hachey, J. 1991. The critical
This study has also demonstrated that it is unlikely to
have a unique relationship between Su/o: and (N1)60,as state of sands. GCotechnique, 41(3): 365-38 1.
Byrne, P.M., Imrie, AS., and Morgenstern, N.R. 1994. Results
suggested by Stark and Mesri (1992), or between S U l p r and implications of seismic performance studies for Duncan
and normalized CPT resistance, as suggested by Jefferies Dam. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 31: 979-988.
et al. (1990). The empirical case histories do suggest such Cunning, J.C. 1994. Shear wave velocity measurement of cohe-
a relationship, in that the general trend is an increase in sionless soils for evaluation of in situ state. M.Sc. thesis,
S u / o : o r S U l p f as ( N , ) , , o r normalized C P T resistance Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alberta,
increases. However, encompassed in the empirical case Edmonton.
histories is the fact that the relationships are stress-level Cunning, J.C., Robertson, P.K., and Sego, D.C. 1995. Shear
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by YORK UNIV on 11/24/14
dependent for a given sand, in addition to being depen- wave velocity to evaluate in situ state of cohesionless soils.
dent on compressibility and differences in KO between Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 32: 848-858.
sands. A constant SUlp1or Su/u: ratio can only be used on Ishihara, K. 1993. Liquefaction and flow failure during earth-
a site-specific basis for a particular direction of loading quakes. The 33rd Rankine Lecture. GCotechnique, 43(3):
when JI is a constant. 351-415.
Jefferies, M.G., Been, K., and Hachey, J.E. 1990. Influence of
Finally, the application of the proposed method relies
scale on the constitutive behaviour of sand. Proceedings of
on laboratory work to determine the parameters of the SSL the 43rd Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Laval University,
(+is, I?, A,,) and the parameters relating V,, to e for a par- Vol. 1, pp. 263-273.
ticular sand ( A and B). Although the method appears quite Negussey D., and Islam, M.S. 1994. Uniqueness of steady state
promising, it is not without drawbacks. The level of accu- and liquefaction potential. Canadian Geotechnical Journal,
racy in estimating S, using shear wave velocity may present 31: 132-139.
some problems and should be considered when applying the Pillai, V.S., and Salgado, EM. 1994. Post-liquefaction stability
method. If the SSL of a sand is relatively flat (A,, < 0.035), and deformation analysis of Duncan Dam. Canadian Geo-
technical Journal, 31: 967-978.
For personal use only.
formulas of SPT blow-counts for gravely soils. Proceedings &imate undrained steady state shear strength of
of the 1st International Symposium on Penetration Testing sand
ISOPT-1, Orlando. Balkema, Rotterdam, Vol. 1, pp. 381-387. raw shear wave velocity
normalized shear wave velocity, V,, = la^)""+"^
List of symbols fines content correction proposed by Seed (1987)
intercept of Vs, axis at e = 0 on a Vsl-e plot, in mls void r a t i o intercept of t h e S S L in e-ln p' o r
slope of Vsl-e plot, in mls e-log p' space at p' = 1.0 kPa
void ratio slope of the SSL in e-In p' space, in llln (kPa)
energy ratio of SPT, in % steady state drained fridion angle
void ratio on the SSL for the same p' as the initial major principal effective stress
state minor principal effective stress
ratio of ah to a: vertical effective stress
ratio of q to p' along the SSL = qsslpHs horizontal effective stress
For personal use only.