Soil fabric of coarse-grained soils sedimented under water and its relation to relative density and excess pore water pressure

Abstract The soil fabric varies significantly depending on the deposition process that forms the grain skeleton. Each deposition method produces a specific type of soil fabric, which can be linked to a particular soil density. When represented as relative density, determined using limit densities from standard index tests, a wide range of relative densities can be observed for different sands produced by the same deposition method. The influence of this variation in relative density, resulting from a single deposition method, on the development of the excess pore water pressure (PWP) should be further investigated. A fast testing of the excess PWP accumulation in sandy soils during undrained cyclic shearing can be easily performed using the newly developed PWP Tester. In the PWP Tester, specimens are prepared through sedimentation in water, which yields a comparable fabric in different sands but significantly different relative densities. Despite these relative density differences, the rate of the excess PWP evolution during undrained shearing is remarkably similar among different sands. This indicates that relative density should not be regarded as a primary factor influencing the development of the excess PWP and that the soil fabric plays equal or even a greater role.