The Shear Strength of Granular Soils under the Influence of Vibration

• Author / Creator

  Taslagyan, Karen

• For some geotechnical design projects where soils are exposed to vibration, it becomes necessary to evaluate the strength and deformation characteristics of the soil under existing and/or anticipated vibrations.
  This thesis presents a summary of an experimental program performed to investigate the influence of vibration on the strength and deformation characteristics of dry granular media with no cementation bonds. A new vibrating direct shear apparatus is designed and built to evaluate the mentioned characteristics under a wide range of vibrational accelerations. The apparatus is used throughout the research project to investigate the behavior of dry granular materials at their residual strength states under the influence of vibration with different intensities. The impact of vibration on the overburden (normal) stress and the peak strength of granular materials is evaluated. Experiments have also been conducted to study the post-vibration behavior of granular materials, as well as the particle shape effect on the strength loss and deformations of the granular media during vibration. Finally, the behavior of the shear zone in the granular materials before, during and after the application of vibration at the pre-peak and residual strength states is investigated.
  About 200 samples of different granular materials have been tested by using the new vibrating direct shear apparatus with different testing modes, procedures, normal stresses and vibration intensities. A number of plots are presented that show the behavior of the granular materials under the impact of vibration in different testing conditions. The Mohr-Coulomb equation for granular materials has been modified to account for the effect of vibrational fluidization. A new pattern of the shear zone in granular media is provided, which outlines the deformation and shear resistance before, during and after the application of vibration.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Granular
  • Strength
  • Soil
  • Shear
  • Vibration
  • Fluidization

• Graduation date

  Fall 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CW9N

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.