Dynamic Properties of Rubber Specimens

Resonant column and bender element tests were conducted on rubber specimens to study their dynamic properties, namely, shear modulus (G), damping ratio (D) and Poisson’s ratio (ν). It was found that similar to soil specimens, with an increase in strain level, the shear modulus of rubber decreases continuously whereas the damping ratio increases. The tests were also carried out to find the effect of confining pressures on the rubber specimens. It was observed that for the rubber with the lesser hardness, there was a slight increase in the shear modulus and a decrease in the damping ratio values as the confining pressures (σ3) was increased from 50 kPa to 500 kPa. This type of trend was, however, not observed for the rubber having greater hardness. Using bender and extender elements test, with the measurements of the travel times of the shear (S) and primary (P) waves, the variation of Poisson ratio (ν) was determined for the rubber specimens with respect to change in confining pressures (σ3). No significant change in the values of ν was found for both the rubber specimens with respect to change in σ3

Damping of sands for varying saturation

A series of resonant column tests have been performed in the torsional mode of vibration to assess the effect of saturation, starting from the near dry state to the fully saturated state, on the damping ratio of sands corresponding to the threshold strain level. Tests were carried out on three different gradations of sand for various combinations of relative density and effective confining pressure. For fine sands, a certain optimum degree of saturation exists at which the damping ratio minimizes; it is known that a decrease in SrSr from a fully saturated state leads to a continuous increase in the matric suction. With an increase in the relative density, the optimum degree of saturation for fine sand increases marginally from 1.38 to 1.49%, but does not show any dependency on the effective confining pressure. In contrast, the minimum values of the damping ratio for medium and coarse sands are found to always correspond to the near dry state. The damping ratio decreases continuously with increases in relative density and effective confining pressure. The threshold strain level has been found to decrease continuously with increases in relative density and effective confining pressure.<br/

Uplift resistance of strip and circular anchors in a two layered sand

The vertical uplift resistance of shallow strip and circular plate anchors buried horizontally in a two layered sand has been determined by using the upper bound theorem of limit analysis. Uplift factors f(y) and f(q) due to the effects of soil unit weight and surcharge pressure, respectively, have been established. For a given thickness of the two layers, the uplift factor f(y) is found to be comparatively greater when the anchor is embedded in dense sand underlying a loose sandy layer. However, the factor f(q) remains unaffected by the layers' relative positions. As compared to available experimental results, the theory provides a slight overestimation of the uplift resistance especially for greater embedment ratios

Seismic passive earth pressure coefficients for sands

By taking the failure surface as a combination of the arc of a logarithmic spiral and a straight line, passive earth pressure coefficients in the presence of horizontal pseudostatic earthquake body forces have been computed for an inclined wall placed against cohesionless backfill material. The presence of seismic forces induces a considerable reduction in the passive earth resistance. The reduction increases with an increase in the magnitude of the earthquake acceleration. The effect becomes more predominant for loose sands. The obtained results compared well with those reported in the literature using curved failure surfaces. However, the results available in the literature on the basis of a planar failure surface are found to predict comparatively higher passive resistance

A study on determining the theoretical dispersion curve for Rayleigh wave propagation

A method has been presented to establish the theoretical dispersion curve for performing the inverse analysis for the Rayleigh wave propagation. The proposed formulation is similar to the one available in literature, and is based on the finite difference formulation of the governing partial differential equations of motion. The method is framed in such a way that it ultimately leads to an Eigen value problem for which the solution can be obtained quite easily with respect to unknown frequency. The maximum absolute value of the vertical displacement at the ground surface is formed as the basis for deciding the governing mode of propagation. With the proposed technique, the numerical solutions were generated for a variety of problems, comprising of a number of different layers, associated with both ground and pavements. The results are found to be generally satisfactory. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Static and seismic passive earth pressure coefficients on rigid retaining structures: discussion

The author needs to be commended for his computational efforts in determining the passive earth pressure coefficients for both the static case as well as in the presence of pseudostatic earthquake forces. The upper bound theorem of limit analysis with the use of a kinematically admissible translational failure mechanism was formed as the basis for solving the problem. In this discussion, the passive earth pressure coefficients given by the author have been compared with those obtained on the basis of the limit equilibrium technique by employing the composite logarithmic spiral failure surface both for the static (Kumar and Subba Rao 1997) and the pseudo-static cases (Kumar 2001). The comparison of all of the results is given in Tables D1 and D2. The two approaches compare well with each other. The passive earth pressure coefficients generated on the basis of the upper bound limit analysis in most of the cases are found to be either almost the same or only marginally greater (for larger values of d) than those computed with the limit equilibrium approach. However, compared to the limit equilibrium technique, the limit analysis has an obvious advantag

Effect of sample torsional stiffness on resonant column test results

A number of resonant column tests were conducted in torsion on aluminium cylindrical bars. By changing the length to diameter ratio of these specimens, the resonant frequency was varied between 52 and 332 Hz. The values of the shear wave velocity (VS) and damping ratio (D) determined from these tests were found to remain acceptable up to a resonant frequency of about 175 Hz. Thereafter, with an increase in the torsional stiffness of the specimen, there was a significant decrease in VS of up to 32.2%, corresponding to a resonant frequency of 332 Hz, and a considerable increase in the damping was noticed. An apparent increase in the mass polar moment of inertia of the driving mechanism was also observed at a greater resonant frequency. The study reveals that, even for a stiff specimen, it is possible using the resonant column tests to accurately determine the dynamic properties of the specimen, provided that the length to diameter ratio of the specimen is increased so that the resonant frequency remains smaller than 175 Hz

Penetration Rate Effect on Miniature Cone Tip Resistance for Different Cohesionless Materials

Cone penetrometer tests were carried out in a 140 mm diameter triaxial chamber by using a miniature cone of diameter 19.5 mm. The rate of cone penetration was varied from 0.01 mm/s to 0.1 mm/s. Tests were performed in (i) clean sand, (ii) silty sand, and (iii) sand added with fly ash. Two different effective vertical pressures (sigma(nu)), 100 kPa and 300 kPa, were employed. It was noted that for clean and silty sand, the effect of penetration rate on the ultimate tip resistance (q(cu)) of the cone was found to remain only marginal. On the other hand, for sand added with 30% fly ash, the variation in q(cu) values with penetration rate was found to become quite significant. The effect of penetratio rate on q(cu) in all the cases was found to increase with a decrease in the rate of cone penetration. It was noted that with an increase in sigma(nu), the effect of penetration rate on q(cu) was found to become smaller. The effect of the cone penetration rate on q(cu) generally reduces with an increase in the relative density of the material