Effect of non-plastic fines on liquefaction characteristics of sandy soils under cyclic loading

In this paper, a series of undrained cyclic torsional shear loading tests was carried out on sandy soils with non-plastic fines to investigate the effect of fines properties on the liquefaction characteristics. The features of the cyclic failure modes of sandy soils with non-plastic fines at different initial densities are presented and the effects of both fines properties and initial relative density of the soil on the liquefaction strength and the development rates of both pore water pressure and shear strain during cyclic loading are discussed. As the results, the liquefaction strength slightly decreases as increasing non-plastic fines content in sandy soils and the rates of development of both pore water pressure and shear strain during cyclic loading increase as increasing non-plastic fines content and initial relative density of the soil.