Cyclic Simple Shear Test

INTRODUCTION

Need and Scope:

Cyclic Simple Shear test is used to investigate the dynamic behavior of soils. It has some advantages over
the cyclic triaxial testing as loading mechanism better simulates the earthquake conditions. Also the
consolidation is anisotropic thereby simulating the at rest conditions in the field. The test is used to study
the cyclic response of both the fine grained and coarse grained soils. The cyclic behavior can be
investigated either by keeping the vertical stress constant or consolidated height constant during the cyclic
loading.

Concept:

Cyclic simple shear test has been predominantly used to study the liquefaction characteristics under
constant volume drained conditions wherein the any change in normal stress is equivalent to the change in
effective stress and is equal to the excess pore water pressure that would occur in an otherwise truly
undrained test. Dynamic properties are evaluated in either undisturbed or reconstituted states by using
either stress or strain controlled cyclic simple shear device.

Unsymmetrical wave forms under both the stress and strain control, non-uniformity of pulse duration, load
fall-off at large strains must not exceed tolerances.
Experimental Setup:

Cyclic Simple Shear Setup

1. Shear Load Cell
2. Horizontal LVDT
3. Vertical Load Cell
4. Axial LVDT
5. Axial LVDT (Long Range)

1
4

Solid cylindrical specimen surrounded by rings

Testing procedure (ASTM D 6528-07):

 The test can be performed on both the intact and reconstituted specimens
 Intact specimens should be trimmed to the lateral dimension of confinement device (70 mm)
 Reconstituted specimens prepared at the required density can be tested both at unsaturated and
saturated conditions
 Saturation of the specimens can be achieved by pushing water through the bottom of the specimen
under a hydrostatic head of up to 1 m
 Anisotropic consolidation of the specimens is achieved under a desired vertical stress by creating
Advanced Shear Box stage in GDSLAB Device Module and the change in height is measured by the
axial LVDTs
 Consolidated specimens are then subjected to
o Strain Control
o Stress Control
Under
o Constant consolidated height
o Constant vertical stress

At a desired loading frequency (0.0001 to5 Hz) and loading amplitude (± 8mm fort strain control and 5 kN
for stress control)

 The test stops itself as per the inputs given during creation of various stages (max. test time, Mac.
Vertical stress, Number of cycles, Max. shear strain)

Strain Control Cyclic Simple Shear Testing

Input Loading

Horizontal displacement= 0.12 mm

𝜎v = 100 kPa
Frequency= 0.1 Hz

0.14
0.12
0.1
0.08
Shear displacement, mm

0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02 0 20 40 60 80 100
-0.04
-0.06
-0.08
-0.1
-0.12
-0.14
Time in sec.
Output Loading

0.08

0.06
Horizontal load, kN)

0.04

0.02

0
-0.15 -0.05 0.05 0.15

-0.02

-0.04
Horizontal displacement,mm

0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
Normal load, kN

0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Time in sec
Analysis Output Loading

20

15
Shear stress,  (kPa)

10

0
-0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

-5

-10
Shear strain,  (%)

100
Equivalent excess pore water pressure

90
80
70
60
(kPa)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Number of cycles, N
Stress Control Cyclic Simple Shear Testing

Input loading

CSR = 0.15
𝜎v = 100 kPa
Frequency = 0.1 Hz

20

15

10
Horizontal load, kPa

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
-5

-10

-15

-20
Time in sec

Output Loading

0.08

0.06

0.04
Horizontal Load, kN

0.02

0
-10 -5 0 5 10
-0.02

-0.04

-0.06

-0.08
Horizontal displacement, mm
 0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
Normal Load ,kN 0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Time in sec

Analysis Output Loading

20

15

10
Shear stress,  (kPa)

0
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
-5

-10

-15

-20
Shear strain,  (%)
 100

Equivalent excess pore water pressure

90
80
70
60
(kPa)
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Number of cycles, N

DATA ANALYSIS
Observation Sheet for controlled Cyclic Simple Shear Test (Constant volume):

Weight of Sample:………………………… In-situ Density:………………………

Initial Water Content:………………………
Diameter:…………………………………… Area (A):………………………………
Volume:……………………………
Axial Displacement during consolidation (H) :…….
Height after consolidation: Hc= (H0-H)

Frequency of cyclic loading (Hz):……….

Amplitude of cyclic loading for strain/stress control: ….mm/…..kN
Normal Stress (v)=…….

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9
Time No. of Horizontal Normal Horizontal Shear Shear Normal Pore
cycles Load (kN) Load Displacement Stress Strain Stress pressure=
(kN) (mm) =(C3/A) =(C5/Hc) =(C4/A) v -C8
Calculation of Dynamic Properties

Gs=c/c

Damping ratio (D) = Al/ (4πAt)

RESULTS
Graphs:

Input data:

For Strain controlled cyclic simple shear test

Horizontal displacement versus Time
For Stress controlled cyclic simple shear test
Horizontal load versus Time

Output data:
For Strain controlled cyclic simple shear test
Horizontal load versus horizontal displacement
Normal load versus Time
For Stress controlled cyclic simple shear test
Horizontal load versus horizontal displacement
Normal load versus Time

Analysis of the cyclic simple shear test data:

Shear stress versus Shear strain curve (Hysteresis loop)
Equivalent excess pore pressure versus Number of Cycles
Example:

A cyclic simple shear test was performed on silty-sand. The in-situ density and in-situ water content was
1.6 gm/cc and 8 % respectively. The shear strength parameters was c=0 & Φ = 29 deg. The strain controlled
cyclic simple shear test was performed on specimens at 0.1 Hz frequency and 0.12 mm displacement
amplitude. The size of the specimen was 70 mm diameter and 20 mm height. The specimen was
consolidated at vertical pressure of 100 kPa and

Input curve: Horizontal displacement versus Time

0.14
0.12
0.1
Horizontal displacement, mm

0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02 0 20 40 60 80 100
-0.04
-0.06
-0.08
-0.1
-0.12
-0.14
Time in sec.

Output curve: Horizontal load vs horizontal displacement

0.08

0.06
Horizontal load, kN

0.04

0.02

0
-0.15 -0.05 0.05 0.15

-0.02

-0.04
Horizontal displacement,mm
 Normal load versus time
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
Normal load, kN

0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Time in sec

Analysis of cyclic triaxial test data

i. Shear stress versus Shear strain (Hysteresis loop)

20

15
Shear stress,  (kPa)

10

0
-0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

-5

-10
Shear strain,  (%)
ii. Equivalent excess pore pressure versus Number of cycles
(pore pressure ratio = equivalent excess pore pressure/initial vertical stress;
th
At 20 cycle, pore pressure ratio is 1, which indicates that soil has liquefied.)

100
Equivalent excess pore water pressure

90
80
70
60
(kPa)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Number of cycles, N

Results:
The first five cycles are usually considered for calculating shear modulus and damping ratio. The values
for the first cycle are:
G = 2385 kPa
D = 35 %

The specimen exhibited cyclic liquefaction in 20 cycles. The pore water pressure reached the vertical
normal stress of 100 kPa indicating a state of zero effective stress. The soil showed liquefaction in 20
cycles for cyclic simple shear loading of 0.12 mm horizontal displacement amplitude at 0.1 Hz
frequency. Shear strain corresponding to 0.12 mm horizontal displacement is 0.6 %.