A comparative study on seismic liquefaction potential of calcareous and siliceous sands using an energy-based interpretation

This study presents the experimental results from undrained cyclic simple shear tests using an energy-based framework to explore the influence of cyclic stress ratio (CSR), relative density (Dr), initial vertical effective stress (σ'v0) and static shear stress (SSR) on cyclic liquefaction resistance of a calcareous sand. The results were compared with those inferred from a siliceous sand having similar grain-size features. The results indicated that normalised capacity energy at cyclic failure (Wnf) is significantly influenced by Dr, SSR and σ′v0 while CSR exerts little impact. It was observed that calcareous sand exhibits higher Wnf values than do siliceous sand, indicating a higher liquefaction resistance. Useful correlations for estimating Wnf from in situ cone penetration tests or alternatively from undrained cyclic resistance (CRR) were established for both siliceous and calcareous sands, providing a consistent framework for assessing liquefaction susceptibility using the energy-based approach. Finally, a two-parameter model was proposed to relate residual pore water pressure ratio build up of calcareous sand to normalised dissipated energy under different static shear stress levels (i.e. sloping ground conditions). The empirical parameters of the model were derived as a function of SSR, Dr and σ'v0.