The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Liquefaction of gravelly soils under cyclic loading conditions

Wong, Robert T.; Seed, H. Bolton; Chan, Clarence K.

UCB/EERC-74/11, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1974-06, 46 pages (475/W62/1974)

The results of cyclic loading tests on gravelly soils using a 12-in. diameter triaxial test apparatus are described. The cyclic stresses required to cause plus or minus 2.5% and plus or minus 10% strain of saturated samples of gravelly soils are shown to be somewhat higher than those causing similar strains in sands. However, part of this increase may be due to the effects of membrane penetration and compliance in the test system. It is suggested that the superior field performance of gravelly soils over sands is probably due in large measure to the higher permeability of gravelly soils which will often permit sufficient drainage to occur to prevent the development of high pore water pressures or liquefaction.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-74-11.pdf (1 MB)