Vill CPMSIF - PCSMFE, 16:21 AGOSTO 1987 - CARTAGENA -COLOMBIA Plate Tests on Gravels Ensayos de Placa en Gravas eee P.Origoes Profestor of Cit Engines E.Reunal Frotesor a Ci Wen Pro fesse oof Civil E IDLEM, Universty of Ctite, Chil i Engineering, IDIEM, Universty of Chile, Chile cetlng DIUM, Univenity ot Chile, nite, The necessity to get stress-strain pacameters of the soil for static and dynamic analysis, especially in diffieult surroundings, in ecoar~ Se granular so{la or when small gol coheston prevents the extraction of “ondisturbed" somplen, {x compelling to develop in-sleu seasure~ ment techniques which include wave propagation velocities, place loa~ ding tests and pressureneter tests. This work presents results of pla fe tests en coarse granular soils carried out for determining static and cyelie shear moduli, creep coefficients and for getting residual settlements regarding shallow foundations aubjected to vertical cyclic stresges. ERODUCTION When modelling a soil subjected to starie and cyclic loads, one of the main parameters are the static modulus, Ee, and the cyclic shear modu lus, Ge, respectively. Values of Ge become sualler as the cyclic shear strains, Yc, induced in the soil become larger. The funetion Ge(ye) is traditionally determined through laboratory tests or through {feld tests sueh as the steong impulse cross-hole method. Wowever, in many instances at 19 very expensive or practically impossible to per form lab teats on undisturbed samples; then, in-situ plate tests appear as an alternative procedure for obtaining Ee values or Ge(¥c) functions. This 48 accomplished by applying cycAic stresses of constant amplits— de, Gc, and low frequency, around different wtatic mtresses, be, du- ring the plate Lest. The method provides Ge(¥e) functions for "repre entative" cyclic shear strains under the plate larger than 107!x, covering the strain range for most soil dynamic problems, capecially the shear strain range asscciated with the strong motion zone of {m- portant earthquakes. Another problem that has deserved a certain amount of attention is the appraisal of residual settlements of ehallow feundatione subjected ro cyclic stresses. For pure cauon of soil=structure interaction with predominance of cyclic vertical loads, $€ dn powstble to uae. eyelteplate tests for obtaining residual settlements. To accomplish this an analogy ds established between plate settlements and those that Would originate in the foundation, The method has the advantage of using an {n-sftu test, though it 1s Iimited to cases were the di monsfonless frequency of the vertical streaves acting on the founda tion 1s smaller that 0.25, This condition is rulfiiied in most shallow foundatdons of conventional civil constructions, impaying that the pe- tied] Glapheieyeite dead fauaciuodiaeger Evan Zon VeTcn vhece & te the equivalent radius of the foundation and the density of the bearing soil. ‘he analogy has been established for partially saturated granu lar soils; for saturated granular soils it would apply as long as the lfquefaction potential is less than 402-602. This work presents results from plate teste on sandy gravels ind gra~ velly sands regarding static modulus, creep cocfficdents, cyel de shear modulus and eyelle residual wettienenta on shallow foundations, The Santiago fluvial gravel from the Napoeho river deposit at downtoun was selected. Typical gravelly soils from the north of Chile were also covered by including Petreri}los avd Chuqud codluvial deposits. Results from compacted fille are alse reported, PLATE TESTS AND SOKL CHARACTERISTICS Steve analysis for the natural and artificsatly compacted coarse granu lar softs subjected to plate tests are presented on Fig.l. Curves on this figure exclude so11 particles greater than 3" (boulders) which ac tually exdet at the Santiago, Potrerillos and some Chuqui gravels. Percentage and maximun size, Twax, of boulders are shown on this figu- re. Other soll characteristics and those associated with the perfor - sed plate tests are summarized on Cable I: diameter of the rigid pla- tor the etatie stress, oo, selected for the application af the constant amplitude cyclic stress, Gc; the cyclic stress ratio, de/de; and the pattern of the constant cyclic stress (symetric ,asymnetric loading at and coymetric unloading A~)+ dlnoat all the teste on Table I reached a uaximum static stress, Gey, equal Co 400 kPa, Kost of them reached C—eq * 8U0 kPa and some of tiem 0g," 200 or 3,250 kPa. The most important definitions reparding plate tests are shown on Fig.2(a) for the static branch of the tests and on Fige2(b) through 2(f) for the cyelic branch, Figure 2(a) defines a bilinear behavior for the static modulus which was a characteristic feature of the slight to medium cemented Potreriilos gravel and Chugui sandy gravels or gra velly sands natural deposits. For artifiedally compacted gravels and for the Santiago pravel natural deposit an almost !4near behavior was observed from zero to dea, Actually, from the set of teste reported on Table I only ‘one of Liem, performed on the vld depoute of the Santiago gravel using an 84 cn diameter plate, reached the maxinun, vertical contact stress de2= 3,250 kPa; linear behavior was observed Until og = 2,000 kPa and further a curvature was detected forecast - ng a Faflure contact stress of about 4,000 kPa,109) Chuqui gravelly sands at concentrator} ‘Chuqui gravelly tance at tailing tanket {B0| Sendy gravel from Chuqui borrow — Sandy gravel from Huasco BOrOW, Tiyan 4’ sandy grovel ‘at Hospital area (6 - 10% is boulders, Tmax 5°” 8") Potcerillos sandy gravel (isolated L boulders, Trax 8") Santiggo sandy gravel d {10.2% pouldery Tmax 129) 200 100 50 40 20 104 OS ASTM MESH FIG, 1, SIEVE ANALYSIS ON COARSE GRANULAR SOILS SUBJECTED TO PLATE TESTS, % FINER BY WEIGHT PLATE ~ SOIL ® CONTACT STRESS 9 is ‘et, PLATE SETTLEMEN’ (b) Constant asymetrie cyclic fe) Constant (a) Static modulus definitions stress (A) type ‘stress (A) p. p (4) Constant symetrie cyclic stvess (eo) Variable symetic cyclic stress (I) Variable stress oading “Elastic’’ cyclic deformation PB ¢ = Untoading “Elastic” cyclic deformation Pe = Residual cyclic settlement FIG. 2. PLATE TEST DEFINITIONSTABLE I: PLATE TESTS WITH CONSTANT AMPLITUDE CYCLIC STRESSES UPON NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALLY COMPACTED COARSE GRANULAR SOLIS. a ype of | viate pian] static stxene | stress ratio ‘ (kPa) SRLSe'T SSP vie i earn eee Rae colours! teary vf oor qa | Soba? ove fant ago Sandy, craved ¥y esarte 180 meee Toot ke ri 405 Eby! eenaentustor Aatiavpercioal| Vv cs 309 Sibs'te ose? cme qenaity aya vies exe ogee | ERS GS guerre area, Ghuqui + ci bot Gui ttpasticmer | ata | aiceol . [ateraitieen | id'etaew ar yp = hots Prot i Piatlciy ives, vin wovileai platajesae’ m= horiontar piece lrzidecrlecnaes ee grosses crttot this on lint incehains (i OSnal(n/-Yaaans abveaicte Pel Leubarseinceesatieresrslbizelaabisa cane venta, Gerevineleasialcalaepelue ser auear| S011 MOMULUS FOR STATIC LOADS Figure 3 shows the static modulus at different testing depths. For sandy gravels compacted at 95% Modified Proctor the static modulus Be equals a design value of 700 kefem? at the fill curface. For the Santfago gravel natural deposit it 1a possible to ecatablish a confi- dent design relation ae follows (Kort et al, 1979): 1g = 2x 108 E] O88 eee w10° STATIC MODULUS, E, {kPal 2 «10° 310° 4x108 Teo Ra TF Compact fs zg = & ‘ |—From triaxial texts on undisturbed = samples at Sontiogo gravel 10} = SF corer a, 1975) =] Na 125) = = a = 151 oth NOTE: Scattering for natural sandy gravels and gravelly sands at Potrerillos and Chuqui area mainly due to ditforent degrees of salt cormentation; cementation ranges from slight to mediaim, © Sondy gravel from Chuqui borrow compacted at 90% MP, Sanity gravel {ton Chuqui borrow: compacted at 95% MP Shel von Lancet on eS compacted at 93% MP Pottrilos dandy jyavel © Gravelly sands at Chuqui concen— teator Gravelly sands at Chuqui Tailing Vans fa Sendy grovel at Chuqui Hospital o a Santiago. sandy gravel FIG.3. @ on w co) Fo. Ey iy z 0-3 foe Re STATIC MODULUS FROM PLATE TESTS UPON NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALLY COMPACTED COARSE GRANULAR SOILS, From building settlernent measurements at Santiago gravel with o4q> 400 KP. IPoblete etal, 1981). Santiago gravel transition zone devosit = Water impound prior the test = Soluble salt percentage |4= Static modulus from zero too) =400 KPa Pee ciielen wales) Coon! Soret a Fou — Fo-9 0-12 3vhere 09 = mean confining pressure computed using a neasured at rest coefficient Ko = 0.25 and a soil unit wetghe Y = 2.3 t/m? Oq = atmospheric pressure. Valuce of C= 1,0 applies for the old Aeposit of the Santfago gravel which exhibits a very high conpact- ness and contains plastic fines which improve the mechanical proper ~ cies of the gravel. For the recent deposit fines have a low plas- tiedty which decreases soil rigidity; for thie deposit a C value of 0.7 should be used. However, for the natural sandy gravels and gravelly xands at Potreriiios and Chugut, besddes the ment toned bilinear behavior for the static modulus, a great variation of this nodulus vas observed. These variations are mainly originated by di- fferent degrees of salt cementation in the soil mass, which ranges from slight to medium. Sone of the plate tests on the cemented natural depontes at Potrert= Mos and Chuqui vere performed by impounding water during 24 hours prior the tests. A dramatic degradation on che static modulus was observed for the Chuguit soils duc to the soluble salts which were oc- Cing as a cement agent during the dry state, For the Potrerillos gra vel modulus degradation was negligible due to the small percentage of soluble salts, for artif{elally conpacted deposits this phenomenon docs not occur and for the Santiago gravel most of the tests vere perforned at a medium to high water content. Additionally, for this gravel no s9 Iuble salts or any othor kind of cement agents were detected in the soll mass, Table Il presents the static modulus degradation for Ghu- qui gravelly sols, This data chow a relatively poor correlation bet ween the soluble salt percentage and the modulus degradation, mainly~ because a 24 hours period does not nevessuryly produec a complete solu- tion of the total salt amount, which in turn fe a function of the nal type, salt distribution within the soil skeleton, coil compact ness Wl soon. Furthermore, we have to recognize those errors associated with sampling and lab procedures used on soluble salt determinations Finally, (t {8 worthuile to pofne out that efmflar Be values were ob= tained when using vertical and horizontal place tests performed at the sane depth below the soil surface (actually the Santiago and the Po- trerillos gravels were selected to check this behaviour). The horizog tal tests were carried out on the vertical tostpit valls, providing an easter procedure for obtaining mechanical propertion of the soil. CREEP COEFFicrENrs load increments for the static branch of the tests were mantained du- ring 2 hours as a maximum, llowever, some tests on the Santiago gra- vel were perfarmed to Inventinate creep effects ending up with the £9 towing expression: = 0.0027 pe S$ tog ®- 5 t = 2 houre @) es & where p, " creep vettlenents py = computed static settlements Oe = Static stress acting at the foundation level; t = time greater than 2 hours. Equation (2) could be used in the appraisal ef creepsettlements for shallow foundations om gravelly solls us those repor- ted on this work. Appropiate Ee values should be used on fg computa tions. TABLE 11: STATIC MODULUS DEGRADATION DUS To WATER INVILTRATION ow SALT CEMENTED NATURAL DEPOSITS AT CHUQUI-DATA FROM PLATE thst. stetite Tl] *htrase canoe cae som, salts ae wee i o= wae 7 at lospital area 3.8: aot 0 -1200 a Weothered, Hineral Withee o> we ° Gravelly Sande ae ee oetinae ‘Tailing Concentrator eco | ic zing & 61 em dianete: Thick detected at th Figure 4 shows the classical coefficient Kz plotted as a function of the cyclic shear strain, Yc, uhore kp relates the cyclic shear mo - ulus, Cc, with the moan principal confining stress, do. The rela- thon Kz va ye vas obtained with a nonlinear finite element analysis (Caballero et al, 1986) using the Duncan hyperbola in order to model the soil under a rigid circular plate (type of plate normally used in che tests). for symetric and asymetric constant amplitude cyclic Stresses, according to the definitions on Figs. 2(b), (c) and (d) the following expressions were reported by Caballero et al: Ge nv yee Q) : Ye = 0.63 Pete. “ = 0-42 Gee - 11 (eta 100 kPa (a) 00 = 0242 dee (sb) Kp = —-SS—— 5 Ge and oy in (kPa) (6) 219 FG"q © Sandy gravel from Chuaui 1 borrow at 90% MP D- ss 9 Sandy gravel from Chugui borrow nt 95% MP. A Sandy gravel from Huasco h borrow at 93% MP Gravely sand at Choc wa cretion Sandy gravel at Chugui 250) 1h OF VALUES 2 Hospital area Ky | prom 29 netmacrion 1) Santian sandy oral Seevers) att savage re et im W Water impound ior the 200] —Ss4iEs_ capevene et atten NV] Wels -| LOWER FOUND-+|-— ne SAND WITH ISOLATED: a GRAVEL AND BOULDERS | 109}- oH SO} DENSE CLEAN cee ay Serelgs 2 8 «feveelg; 2 9 +s Oras eveLIe SHEAR STRAIN, )2 FIG. 4. CYCLIC SHEAR MODULUS COEFFICIENT, Ky ~ PLATE TESTS WITH CONSTANT AMPLITUDE CYCLIC STRESS UPON NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALLY COMPACTED. COARSE GRANULAR SOILS. where Vv» Poisson ratéo of the sof] (0.25 to 0.30 should be used); R= plate radius: Poy, = average "elastic" cyclic deformation after R= 20-30 cycles of stress applications computed using both elastic loading and clastic unloading deformations; Ye * eyelte shear strain for a representative clement Jocated in the plate axis at a depth equal to 1-58; dag = uquivalent ceatic stress at the plote-sofl con tact aren computed a8 Qe¢ ~ Og for ayaetric cyclic loads, : Sen = Ye + Uc LOK cyelie load of (A)* type and Gee ~ og ~ o¢ for (A) type: Og = static contact stress selected for the application of de} Go = equivalent octahedrical stress defined as 0.33( Ady + 2huy)s AGy and Ady ave the induced vertieal and horizontal stresses on the representative clement due to dee, which were computed by means of the nonlinear analysis already mentioned. Equation (3) 4 a classical expression baked on the theory of elasti- city, but gives Ge values sinilar to those obtained with the nonli — near analysis for the representative clement. Equation (5a) applies for natural deposits and eq.(5b) for plate tests perforned at thesurface of compacted fills, The later equation takes into account the residual horizontal streos acting at the representative depth 1.58, with a typical value of about 15 kra (Ortigesa and Mezo, 1980). When using eqs. (Sa) and (5h) the weight of the soil is not included on valuing dg, because it is a non-relevant parameter for the plate dia- meters commonly uscd in practice, This consideration was extended to the horizontal cyeite plate tests performed against the walln of the Bo11 exploration pits, in spite of betng a more crude approximation. Nowever, the data plotted on Fig.4 includes results fron both verti- eal and horizontal cyclic place tests, showing a fatrly good trend between Kz and Ye. Most of the scattering observed on this figure should be attributed to different degrees of soil cementation, which Seems to be a more relevant factor for eyelle shear strains helow 10-'x, Finally, 4¢ 48 interosting to point out that K2 values for the tested gravelly soils are at least 3 times larger than those re~ ported by Seed and Tdries (1970) for dense to very dense clean sands. LUC LOADING For rigid shallow foundations on granular soils subjected to vertical cyclic stresses of constant amplitude, de,and a dimenatonless frequen cy vmaller than 0.25, the reg{dual eyelie settlement, fe, can be ex= pressed as (Ortigosa et al, 1985) jf Oe Tp fe = Be a where Op “ static settlement of the foundation obtasued with the ex- presudons given by the theory of elastlelty, using an appropfate Eq value and the foundation static contact stress, de; me = residual settlement coeffictent and Ip = foundation shape factor. When using eq. (7) for symetric or asymetric constant amplitude cyclic stresses, it ds necessury to Cake Into account o, definitions on Pixs. 2(b),(e) and (a). By aeans of eq.(7) and using data from cyelle tests on rigid circular plates (Ip = %/4) values of m. as a function of the applied number of les were computed. Figure 5 shows the variation of ac va N for 50 cycles for N > 50 cyclem regultu from Fig.5 can be plotted ag Straight lines on a log-log graph,ehich permits an easy way to ex- trapolate the me vs N function to 2 larger number of cycles. As ra~ gards to the smaller ac values for the Chuqui Hospital gravel shown on Pig.5, dt ean be attributed to the larger amount of cementation de tected on thie gravel. The dnfluence of thie larger amount of cemen= tation wie also dbserved on Fig.4 where Kz valuce for the Chuqui Mos pital gravel are located on the upper bound or even over this bound For symetric cyelle loads with varfable amplitudes (see Fig.2c) it ts possible to set up a simplified procedure to obtain residual sectle- nente (Ortigoea ot al, 1985). Fron Fig.5 dt follows chat for a given gravelly soil the me va N function can be expressed as me = AcNB. By Be defining Ao = Ae ZEp- and using eq.(7) we get pe = ApdcH®. By Cate? ae oe!Mi Sony gravel at Chuqui Hospital area (2 tests), EY Santiago sandy gravel (5 tests) Gravelly sond ot Chuaui concentrator (8 tess). I Poterillos sandy. gravel EXSandy gravel from Chugui borrow compacted [J Asymetric cyclic stess (A)~ on sandy gravel at at 90% MP (3 tests). Chuqui Hospital area (4 tests). * Sandy gravel from Chuqui borrow compacted —-— Asymetric cyclic stress (A)+ on Chuqui atQ5 % MP (5 tests). borrow (one test for cach compaction degree) Sony aravel from Huaseo borrow compacted AC 9% MP (4 tests). W Water impoune! prior the test Cyelic stresses ara symetric unless (A) oF (AA) is shown 16 14 UPPER BOUND 1.0 BOUND, RESIDUAL SETTLEMENT COEFFICIENT. me ° @ 60 70 N, CYCLES: FIG. 5. RESIDUAL SETTLEMENT COEFFICIENT vs NUMBER OF CYCLES ~ PLATE TESTS WITH CONSTANT SYMETRIC CYCLIC STRESS UPON NATURAL AND ARTIFI— CIALLY COMPACTED COARSE GRANULAR SOILS.35 ieeoonl(enena a 1c 4 | lt 20kPe| + 40kPa— [+20kPa | : i i i 1 Predicted from 40; +} x0} symetric | | ‘ constant ne tet gg lke ile aa come | er 1 : ! 2 Bll Gada weap asl 2 One ws) 2 t i = 2 £ é 4 4 < 5 b e 10 A re Voriable Asymetrie 5 contantog texts. — | cycle ress \ 0,7 100K Po | abe ‘Actual tests is a i a : Son=AoDkPa | gl I | 04 8 12 16 20 26 2 o 4 8 12 6 20 2 N,CYCLES N,cycLes FIG.6 RESIDUAL CYCLIC SETTLEMENT ON FIG 7. RESIDUAL CYCLIC SETTLEMENT ON A SANDY GRAVEL FROM CHUQU! NATURAL SANDY GRAVEL — cHUGUI BORROW COMPACTED AT 95% MP. ELECTRICAL TRANSFER STATION. computing dec/aN and eliminating the term N we end up with the fold wing expression: p Rowe doe = talact lan ien ac [gee |tre ° By replacdng Win the differential equation and letting dN * 1 cycle we get the increment of the residual settlement, Soc, in cycle N+l, which fe a function of the residual settlement at the end of N cycle Wat Teely "+ Wely * E [eet 0) net [Poly By using eq (9) and taking into account that for the first cycle the value of Ape 18 equal to Agd,,, it is possible fo obtain the evolu ~ tian of pe va N for a symceric a, history with varinble amplitude, Figure 6 shows a comparigon detucen the results obtained using eq. (9) and the results directly obtained from plate tests with symetric va~ riable cyelic stress application. The testa were made on a fill using narerial from the Chuqui Barrow compacted at 95% MP, where resultsfeou constant O, plate teste vere available (Fig+3). By means of these constant ‘og rears 4¢ was possible to define the Ac, B and Ao fonstants present in che computational model. The results are satis~ faceory, eavecially 4f taking into account sod! variations among the different suefoce points of the compacted 112 on which the plate tests were performed. for asymetric cyetic loads with varinble amplitude (see Fig.2f) te ts fesaible to predict residual settlements uning doth (rom plate teste Dien syaetric constant cycle stresses (Quiroz, 1986}. This data can Darespveseed’ se wacisIAcENDCC andimed = AcauSed for the Leeding toc and the unloading -dc cyclic stress, respectively, The mec and, Bed coaffdesents can be obtained through eq-(7) using Dec * E Peet and pea = ¥ Peat instead of pe. The meaning of Peet and deat 18 show on Fig. 2 Bue LE also applicn For plate tests with conseane oy Pelt eeewe anplitede, Once the Acc» Bcc» eg and Bed parameters are Gatined, we use eq. (9) Introducing the variable asymetric stress his- tory for compucsng Pec and Neg Ing up with the residual settlenent oO eee eee eee Becee pad: “1A comparison between predicted reaults coetthose fron actual tents 18 present on Fig.7, showing an overpre- diction for NOB cycles. CONCLUSLONS A conventional plate test with cyclic stress applications at diffe- Tone weatic streas Jevelo during the test, appears as an alternati— ve approach for defining soi} rigidity fer otatie and cyclic Load Ti eeetie wereon nppiteation alse cavers the computation of reasdual detelements for rigid shallov foundations subjected to predominantly Sertical cyclic tresses with constant or variable amplitudes. — For the gravelly soils reported on this work, horizontal plate teats againet the pit walls show similar resulta te thoge obtained with Yer qetal plate tests, providing an easier procedure for obtaining mecha” nical properties of the soil. ACKNONLEDOMENTS The authors acknoviedse the use of valuable field data provided by rhe tg) Chiles Chuquicamata Division and El Salvador Division, and by Ceoeiitiean Pacific Steel Go.; grateful apprectation ie due to Engineer file Gubeiela Eguiluz for lier support on the data process. This work has been partdally financed by FONDECYT Project N° 0190-84.REFERENCES: Acevedo, Pa, Avendaflo, M.S. and Araneda, Me (1973). “Dynamic Proper= ties of Santiago Gravels", Rovieta del 1DLEM, Vol. 12, N74, December 1973 (in spanish). Caballers, J.¢., Medina, F-, Ortigosa, P. and Musante, H. (1985). "Thoeretfeal Auadyuts Cor Sotlw subjected to Tnte Teste”, bron grees Report N*S, FONDECY? Reacarch Project N°0190-84, May 1986 (Cin spanish). Kort, I., Musante, H. and Fahrenkrog, ¢. (1979). “In situ Mechani- cal Properties Measurements of Gravelly Soll vsed in an Interac — tion and Foundation Model for the Santiago Metro". Proc. VE Pana~ merfean Conference on Soll Mechanics and Found. Bng., Lina, Pers, December 1979 (in spanish). Ortigosa, P. and Meza, M. (1980), “Lateral Pressures against Earth Retaining Structures due to Fill Compaction", Revista del IDLEM, Vol. 19, N"3, December 1980 (in spanish). Ortigoss, P-, Musante, H. and Retamal, E. (1985). “Cyclic Place Tests on Granular Sails", Proc. XI Int. Conf, on Soil Mechanics and Found, Eng.) San Francisco, Auguat 1985. Foblete, M., Ortigosa, f., Cadozzi, P. and Scholz, A. (1981). “Elas- tic Characteristics of the Santiago Fluvial Cravel from Settlement measurements on High Buildings", Revdeta del IDIEM, Vol. 20, N‘2, September 1981 (dn apaniah). Quiroz, A. (1986), "The Compactdan Funetion for Granular Selle Using Cyclic Plate Tests", Civil Engineer Thesis, School of Engincering Univ. of Chile-FONDECYT Research Project N°0190-85 (in spanish). Seed, .B. and dries, L.M. (1970), "S041 Moduli and Damping Factors for Dynamic Response Analysis" Report EERC 70-10 Univ. of Cali- fornia, Berkeley.