Mechanical behaviour of Australian superfine silica sand: from monotonic to high-cyclic loading

Abstract The present paper summarises the findings of an experimental investigation into the mechanical behaviour of Australian superfine silica sand under both monotonic and cyclic loading conditions. The study comprised oedometric compression tests on samples ranging from loose to very dense states, as well as a series of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests under both drained and undrained conditions by evaluating the shear strength, stiffness, and susceptibility to processes such as liquefaction or, strain accumulation, the study provides a valuable dataset for the calibration and validation of constitutive models. Particular emphasis is placed on the response of the soil under long-term cyclic loading, as determined by drained cyclic triaxial tests with $$10^5$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:math> uniaxial stress cycles applied at varying initial densities, average stresses, amplitude levels and loading frequencies. In this context, the parameters of a hypoplastic model and a high-cycle accumulation model for sand are determined and their performance at the element test level is assessed, highlighting their advantages and limitations.