Influence of Pore Fluid Viscosity on the Dynamic Properties of an Artificial Clay

This paper presents the results of vane shear, laboratory compaction, isotropic consolidation, cyclic triaxial, bender element, and resonant-column tests that were performed to characterize the dynamic properties of an artificial soil called modified glyben. Modified glyben comprises a mixture of glycerin, water, and bentonite that can be used in scaled model tests performed at 1G or nG in a centrifuge to study seismic soil-structure interaction. The results described in this paper show that the vane shear strength, coefficient of consolidation, dynamic modulus, and damping ratio are strongly influenced by the viscosity of the pore fluid which can be varied by altering the ratio of glycerin-to-water. In addition, the properties of modified glyben are stable during prolonged exposure to air and multiple largestrain load cycles making it a suitable model soil for scaled model tests involving seismic soil-structure interaction. DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000550. (C) 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.