Threshold Shear Strain for Cyclic Pore-Water Pressure

in Cohesive Soils
Chu-Chung Hsu, M.ASCE1; and Mladen Vucetic, M.ASCE2

Abstract: Threshold shear strain for cyclic pore-water pressure, ␥t, is a fundamental property of fully saturated soils subjected to
undrained cyclic loading. At cyclic shear strain amplitude, ␥c, larger than ␥t residual cyclic pore-water pressure changes rapidly with the
number of cycles, N, while at ␥c ⬍ ␥t such changes are negligible even at large N. To augment limited experimental data base of ␥t in
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cohesive soils, five values of ␥t for two elastic silts and a clay were determined in five special cyclic Norwegian Geotechnical Institute
共NGI兲-type direct simple shear 共NGI-DSS兲, constant volume equivalent undrained tests. Threshold ␥t was also tested on one sand, with the
results comparing favorably to published data. The test results confirm that ␥t in cohesive soils is larger than in cohesionless soils and that
it generally increases with the soil’s plasticity index 共PI兲. For the silts and clay having PI⫽14–30, ␥t = 0.024– 0.06% was obtained. Limited
data suggest that ␥t in plastic silts and clays practically does not depend on the confining stress. The concept of evaluating pore water
pressures from the NGI-DSS constant volume test and related state of stresses are discussed.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1090-0241共2006兲132:10共1325兲
CE Database subject headings: Clays; Cyclic loads; Laboratory tests; Shear tests; Shear strain; Stress analysis; Atterberg limit;
Cohesive soils.

Introduction and Objectives
The threshold shear strain for cyclic pore-water pressure, ␥t, is a
fundamental property of the cyclic behavior of fully saturated
soils subjected to undrained cyclic loading. The cyclic shear strain
amplitude ␥t divides the domains of permanent cyclic pore-water
pressure development and practically no development at all. At
cyclic shear strain amplitude, ␥c, larger than ␥t, the residual cyclic
excess pore-water pressure, ⌬uN, accumulates continuously and
relatively rapidly with the number of cycles, N. As opposed to
that, if ␥c ⬍ ␥t such accumulation of ⌬uN is negligible even after
large N. Knowing ␥t is therefore essential for the understanding
and solving soil dynamics problems involving the development of
cyclic pore-water pressures and associated cyclic stiffness degra-
dation. Such problems include the cyclic pore-water pressure due
to earthquake loads, ocean storm wave loads, pile driving vibra-
tions, machine foundation vibrations, and other problems with
similar sources of cyclic loads. Although the concept of ␥t is
relatively new and hence not widely adopted by practicing engi-
neers, it has been given respectable coverage in the textbooks
on geotechnical earthquake engineering and soil dynamics by
Ishihara 共1996兲, Kramer 共1996兲, and Santamarina 共2001兲 pub-
lished relatively recently.
1
Lecturer, Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., Univ. of
California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1593 共corresponding author兲. E-mail:
Chungh@seas.ucla.edu
2
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., Univ. of
California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1593.
Note. Discussion open until March 1, 2007. Separate discussions must
be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing Editor.
The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible
publication on May 21, 2005; approved on December 7, 2005. This paper
is part of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineer-
ing, Vol. 132, No. 10, October 1, 2006. ©ASCE, ISSN 1090-0241/2006/
10-1325–1335/$25.00.
As summarized in Kramer 共1996兲, ␥t and its concept are es-
sential components of the so-called cyclic strain approach to soil
dynamics problems. In this approach introduced by Dobry et al.
共1982兲, besides the number of loading cycles, the cyclic shear
strain amplitude is the principal parameter governing the changes
in the soil microstructure due to cyclic loading. For example,
one of the first methods based on the cyclic strain approach that
includes ␥t is the pore-water pressure model for cyclic straining
of sand by Dobry et al. 共1985兲 which has been incorporated by
Vucetic and Dobry 共1986兲 into the nonlinear site response model
by Lee and Finn 共1978兲. Subsequently, Matasovic and Vucetic
共1992, 1995兲 presented the cyclic pore-water pressure and degra-
dation models for clay that also include ␥t as one of their critical
components. These models for clay have also been incorporated
by Matasovic and Vucetic 共1993兲 into the nonlinear site response
model by Lee and Finn 共1978兲.
The magnitude of ␥t and the factors affecting it have been
thoroughly and systematically investigated for many sands
共Dobry et al. 1981; 1982; Dyvik et al. 1984; Ladd et al. 1989兲 and
gravel 共Hynes-Griffin 1988兲, but not for the cohesive soils. The
literature review revealed reliable values of ␥t for just three clays
in the publications by Matsui et al. 共1980兲, Ohara and Matsuda
共1988兲, and Andreasson 共1979, 1981兲, while no data for elastic
silts were found. It is interesting to note that in these studies
on clays ␥t was not specifically investigated and the name thresh-
old shear strain was not even used, because the entire ␥t con-
cept was still in its infancy. The values of ␥t in clays from
these publications were subsequently organized and compared by
Vucetic 共1994兲 to the values for sands. For comparison purposes,
relevant results from the publications mentioned above are listed
in Table 1. Table 1 encompasses both cohesive and cohesionless
soils and ␥t values obtained in both cyclic triaxial and simple
shear tests. How to compare the cyclic pore-water pressures and
thresholds obtained from the triaxial and simple shear tests can be

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 Table 1. Summary of Previous Studies Containing Explicit Values of ␥t for Cyclic Pore-Water Pressure, or Cyclic Pore-Water Pressure Results Indicating
Existence of ␥t
Cyclic
threshold
Plasticity shear strain
index, PI range, ␥t
Study conducted by Soil description 共%兲 共%兲 Type of test Comment
Andreasson 共1979, 1981兲 Fully saturated clay 40–50 0.040–0.100 Resonant column on solid None
and hollow cylinder specimens
Matsui et al. 共1980兲 Fully saturated clay 55 ⬃0.100 Undrained cyclic triaxial Normally
consolidated
Ohara and Matsuda 共1988兲 Fully saturated kaolinite clay 25 0.080–0.100 Truly undrained cyclic OCR= 1 – 6
simple shear
Dobry et al. 共1981兲 Fully saturated clean sand NPa 0.012–0.028 Undrained cyclic triaxial Dr = 60%; OCR= 1 – 8
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Dobry et al. 共1982兲;
Ladd 共1989兲
Dyvik et al. 共1984兲
NRC 共1985兲;
data compiled by Dobry
Hynes-Griffin 共1988兲
a
NP⫽nonplastic soil, which for the purposes of comparison is considered to have PI⫽0.
Three different fully NP 0.010–0.015 Undrained cyclic triaxial Dr = 45– 80%
saturated clean sands
Two different fully saturated NP 0.007–0.015 Undrained cyclic triaxial Dr = 45– 80%
clean sands
Eight different fully saturated NP 0.010–0.015 Undrained cyclic triaxial Loose to dense;
clean and silty sands different specimen
preparation methods
Fully saturated gravel NP 0.005–0.020 Undrained cyclic triaxial Dr = 25– 45%

found in Vucetic and Dobry 共1986, 1998a兲 and can also be de-
rived from the work by Prevost 共1977兲.
Table 1 does not include the results from studies and publica-
tions dealing with other types of cyclic threshold shear strains,
namely the cyclic threshold shear strain for cyclic settlement, cy-
clic degradation, and cyclic stiffening. These other types of cyclic
threshold shear strains are beyond the scope of this paper. The
results of some relatively recent experimental investigations 共e.g.,
Hsu and Vucetic 2002, 2004; Kim et al. 1991; Tabata and Vucetic
2004兲 suggest that the magnitudes of different types of cyclic
threshold shear strains are not necessarily the same for the same
soil, as might be concluded from some published charts 共e.g.,
Vucetic 1994兲. Consequently, to determine the differences be-
tween the different types of cyclic threshold shear strains, they
need to be tested separately and accurately for various types of
soils. Such a narrowly focused testing has been conducted for the
threshold shear strain for cyclic pore-water pressure in the inves-
tigation described in this paper.
In the history of soil mechanics, the knowledge and under-
standing of the stress–strain behavior of soils has been con-
tinuously broadened and revised by precise, innovative and
well-focused laboratory testing. Given its fundamental nature, it
is therefore critically important to also test ␥t and establish a solid
data base for it, the data base that will include a variety of silts
and clays and also cover the factors affecting it. Along these lines,
in the investigation described in this paper five values of ␥t for
two elastic silts and one clay were determined in five special
cyclic direct simple shear 共DSS兲 constant volume equivalent und-
rained tests. This seems to be the first such investigation focusing
exclusively on ␥t for cyclic pore-water pressure in cohesive soils.
To confirm the validity of the testing method employed, ␥t for a
clean sand was also tested with the results comparing satisfacto-
rily with the published data on sands.
Accordingly, the objectives of this paper are: 共1兲 to provide
estimates of ␥t for three cohesive soils and in this way expand
considerably the existing ␥t database; 共2兲 to compare five new ␥t
values for cohesive soils to the existing three values for clays and
the existing range of values for sands; 共3兲 to examine possible
influence of the effective vertical consolidation stress, ␴⬘vc, on
␥t for cohesive soils; 共4兲 to present a method for the testing of ␥t
for cyclic pore water pressure in the Norwegian Geotechnical
Institute 共NGI兲 type of DSS device by which ␥t for a given soil
can be evaluated from a single cyclic multistage test; and also
共5兲 to explain to the readers who are not fully familiar with the
NGI-DSS constant volume testing what the state of stresses dur-
ing shearing is and how the pore-water pressures are evaluated.
Concept of ␥t for Cyclic Pore-Water Pressure
The meaning of ␥t is illustrated in Fig. 1. When a fully saturated
soil is subjected in undrained conditions to moderate or large
cyclic shear strain amplitudes, ␥c, the existing pore-water pres-
sure, u = u0, changes with the number of cycles, N, by ⌬u into
u = u0 + ⌬u, where u0 is the initial hydrostatic pore-water pressure.
The cyclic pore pressure ⌬u is called the excess pore-water pres-
sure, because it is the pressure in the excess of u0. When the
cycling stops, ⌬u that remains at the end of cycle N is called the
residual cyclic excess pore water pressure, ⌬uN. In Fig. 1, typical
results of three undrained cyclic strain-controlled DSS tests con-
ducted on three fully saturated specimens of the same soil are
sketched. The cyclic variations of shear strains, ␥, with time, t,
are presented in Fig. 1共a兲 for the three different levels of ␥c ap-
plied in the three tests. The resulting variations of the excess
pore-water pressure, ⌬u, are presented in Fig. 1共b兲. The relation-
ship between ␥c, residual cyclic excess pore-water pressure, ⌬uN,
and the number of cycles, N, is presented in Fig. 1共c兲. The pres-
sure ⌬uN is expressed in Fig. 1共c兲 in the normalized form
with respect to the effective vertical consolidation stress,
⌬u*N = ⌬uN / ␴⬘vc. The type of the relationship sketched in Fig. 1共c兲
was obtained, for example, by Ohara and Matsuda 共1988兲 in a
series of truly undrained DSS tests on a clay having plasticity
index PI= 25, a component of which is presented in Fig. 2. The
most interesting feature of the relationships in Figs. 1共c兲 and 2 is
that below certain small ␥c the residual cyclic excess pore-water

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Fig. 1. Sketch of typical results of three undrained cyclic simple
shear strain-controlled tests on fully saturated specimens of same soil
with definition of cyclic threshold shear strain for pore-water pressure
pressure, ⌬uN, practically does not accumulate with N 共i.e.,
⌬u*N = ⌬uN / ␴⬘vc ⬇ 0兲, while above it ⌬uN accumulates significantly.
The cyclic shear strain amplitude ␥c that divides the domains of
no pore-water pressure accumulation and significant accumula-
tion is called the cyclic threshold shear strain, ␥t 共Dobry et al.
1982兲. Considering the intimate relationship between the ten-
dency towards volume change and the cyclic pore-water pressure
development, the cyclic threshold shear strain has also been
called the volumetric cyclic threshold shear strain 共Vucetic 1994兲.
In Fig. 2 the magnitude of ␥t ranges narrowly between 0.08 and
0.10%.
In conclusion, the cyclic shear strain amplitude ␥t represents
the boundary between two fundamentally different types of cyclic
soil behavior. When soil is subjected in undrained conditions to
␥c ⬎ ␥t, soil particles are irreversibly displaced with respect to
each other. Under the action of the existing confining stresses
such displacements then allow the development of the tendency
Fig. 2. Variation of ⌬u*N with number of cycles, N, in fully saturated
normally consolidated clay in undrained cyclic direct simple shear
tests 共adapted from Ohara and Matsuda 1988兲
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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 2006.132:1325-1335.
toward permanent volume change, the volume change that would
have actually occurred had the conditions been drained. In un-
drained conditions such a tendency toward volume change
translates into the development of permanent, residual cyclic
pore-water pressures, ⌬uN. Below ␥t, the soil particles are not
displaced with respect to each other and the tendency towards
permanent volume change and associated ⌬uN do not develop.
Testing Program and Soils Tested
The testing program is summarized in Table 2. It includes three
tests on two elastic silts, two tests on one clay, and one test on
sand performed for comparison purposes. Table 2 lists the classi-
fication properties, specimen preparation techniques, specimen
conditions prior to cyclic shearing, and the measured ranges of ␥t
for the six tests conducted. It should be noted that the kaolin
共Tests 3 and 4 in Table 2兲 plots in the Casagrande’s plasticity
chart slightly below the A-line and slightly to the right of the
LL= 50 line, i.e., in the domain of high plasticity silts, MH. Ac-
cording to the Unified Soil Classification System this soil is there-
fore classified as the plastic silt, although in the literature kaolin is
often referred to as clay. All specimens were tested fully satu-
rated. To examine the influence of the effective vertical consoli-
dation stress, ␴⬘vc, on ␥t, the clay and one of two silts were tested
at two very different levels of ␴⬘vc.
NGI-DSS Apparatus, Principles of Constant Volume
Testing, and Corresponding State of Stresses
The type of the DSS apparatus used in this study was originally
developed at the NGI in the 1960s by Bjerrum and Landva 共1966兲
for the testing of highly sensitive Norwegian quick clays. This
makes this NGI-DSS apparatus a very fine tool for the testing of
less sensitive soils, such as the soils listed in Table 2. The speci-
mens had a shape of a short cylinder 66.7 mm in diameter and
18– 19 mm high. During the testing, each specimen was confined
in a wire-reinforced rubber membrane. Such membrane greatly
restricts 共nearly prevents兲 radial deformations 共lateral strains兲 dur-
ing consolidation and shearing, while allowing vertical deforma-
tions during consolidation and shear deformations during cyclic
shearing. The standard NGI trimming apparatus was employed
for the trimming of the intact and laboratory made specimens, as
well as for the preparation of compacted specimens. Details about
the specific NGI-DSS shear and trimming devices used are pro-
vided in research report by the writers 共Hsu and Vucetic 2002兲.
Every test was a typical NGI-DSS constant volume equivalent
undrained test. Considering that the volume of specimen in a truly
undrained test on fully saturated soil is constant, in the constant
volume equivalent undrained DSS test the undrained conditions
during cyclic shearing are simulated by maintaining the volume
of the specimen constant. While the volume is maintained con-
stant, the specimen drains are open and the actual pore-water
pressure in the specimen is always zero. Under such conditions,
the change of the vertical stress, ⌬␴⬘v, required to maintain the
volume of the specimen constant during shearing is equivalent to
the pore-water pressure change, ⌬u, that would have developed in
a truly undrained test. This means that the vertical stress reduc-
tion, ⌬␴⬘v, is equivalent to the pore-water pressure increase ⌬u,
i.e., ⌬u = ⌬␴⬘v, and that ⌬u in the forthcoming plots and analyses
is actually ⌬␴⬘v that was required to maintain the volume of the
tested specimens constant. Furthermore, because the actual pore-
 Table 2. Characteristics of Soil Samples Tested and Cyclic Threshold Shear Strains Obtained
Cyclic
threshold Initial
Soil shear effective
description Plasticity Liquid strain vertical Moisture
Unified soil and ASTM index, limit range, stress, Void content, Preparation
Test Test classification standards 共PI兲 共LL兲 ␥t ␴⬘vc ration, w of
number symbol Description symbol Group name 共%兲 共%兲 共%兲 共kPa兲 e 共%兲 specimen
1 Nev-100 Nevada sand SP Yellowish white NPa — 0.012–0.016 98 0.60 22.6 Wet
poorly graded sand compaction
2 Irvine Silt from Irvine ML-MH Light gray 14 50 0.040–0.060 446 0.90 34.0 Trimming of
silt–elastic silt intact sample
3 Kao-108 Commercial MH White elastic silt 20 53 0.024–0.033 108 1.06 40.0 Trimming of
kaolinite laboratory
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made clay
4 Kao-220 Commercial MH White elastic silt 20 53 0.026–0.040 220 1.07 40.4 Trimming of
kaolinite laboratory
made clay
5 SC-222 Southern CH-CL Dark gray fat 30 50 0.030–0.060 222 0.68 25.7 Wet
California clay clay–lean clay compaction
6 SC-666 Southern CH-CL Dark gray fat 30 50 0.030–0.050 666 0.58 21.9 Wet
California clay clay–lean clay compaction
a
NP⫽nonplastic soil, which for the purposes of comparison is considered to have PI⫽0.

water pressure in the specimen is always zero, the vertical stresses
applied via the top specimen cap and the horizontal stresses gen-
erated by the confinement of the wire-reinforced rubber mem-
brane are always the effective stresses: ␴⬘v = ␴⬘vc − ⌬␴⬘v and
␴⬘h = ␴⬘hc − ⌬␴⬘h. Here ␴⬘vc and ␴⬘hc are the vertical and horizontal
initial effective consolidation stresses, while ⌬␴⬘v and ⌬␴⬘h are the
reductions of the vertical and lateral effective stresses during
shearing, respectively. The variations of the field total stresses
␴v = ␴⬘v + u and ␴h = ␴h⬘ + u simulated in the NGI-DSS test in this
manner can then be expressed considering that the initial hydro-
static pore-water pressure in the field is u0, the initial total vertical
and lateral stresses are ␴vc = ␴⬘vc + u0, ␴hc = ␴⬘hc + u0, and u = u0
+ ⌬u = u0 + ⌬␴⬘v. Stresses ␴v and ␴h are then ␴v = ␴⬘vc + u0 = ␴vc
and ␴h = 共␴⬘hc + u0兲 + 共⌬␴⬘v − ⌬␴⬘h兲 = ␴hc + ⌬␴v. It can be seen that
during shearing ␴v = ␴vc is constant, while ␴h changes by
⌬␴h = ⌬␴⬘v − ⌬␴⬘h.
The above described concept of the pore-water pressures simu-
lation and associated variation of the effective and total stresses is
the key concept of the NGI-DSS testing of fully saturated soils.
This concept has been experimentally verified by Dyvik et al.
共1987兲 for clays subjected in the NGI-DSS device to monotonic
loading. The concept has also been experimentally verified by
Berre 共1981兲 for triaxial conditions in both compression and ex-
tension 共see Vucetic and Lacasse 1984兲. Furthermore, simulta-
neous measurements of the cyclic pore-water pressures in the
undrained triaxial and NGI-DSS constant volume equivalent und-
rained tests on the same sands yielded practically identical cyclic
strain-controlled pore-water pressure models, which confirms that
the concept is also applicable to the cyclic testing of liquefiable
sands 共Vucetic and Dobry 1986, 1988a兲. The development, mean-
ing, and interpretation of the horizontal stresses within this con-
cept, which are governed by the membrane confinement and the
ability of the soil to transmit vertical stresses in the lateral direc-
tion under such confinement, have been described in another body
of research papers, as summarized below.
Dyvik and Zimmie 共1982兲 and Dobry et al. 共1981兲 measured
lateral stresses and their variation, ⌬␴⬘h, in both static and cyclic
NGI-DSS constant volume tests on normally consolidated 共NC兲
clays. They performed these unique measurements by means of
the calibrated wire reinforcement of the NGI membranes that op-
erated on the strain gage principle. The analysis of their results
can show that when the vertical stress is being reduced during
shearing by ⌬␴⬘v to maintain the volume of the specimen constant,
the lateral stress is reduced by ⌬␴h⬘ such that the ratio of total
stresses 共␴h / ␴v兲 approaches unity. They also showed that during
monotonic loading the ratio of effective stresses 共␴h⬘ / ␴⬘v兲 ap-
proaches unity, while during cyclic loading 共␴⬘h / ␴⬘v兲 may become
larger than 1.0. Independent of these studies with the NGI-DSS
device, Ishihara et al. 共1977兲 conducted cyclic tests on fully satu-
rated normally consolidated and overconsolidated sands in a spe-
cial hollow cylinder test with no lateral strains allowed. They
showed explicitly that when the lateral strains are zero, 共␴h / ␴v兲
approaches 1.0 during cyclic loading, and in fact becomes 1.0
when the sand eventually liquefies.
All these laboratory findings reveal somewhat complex but
logical development of the vertical and horizontal stresses and
their relationship in the horizontally layered fully saturated soil
deposits sheared horizontally in undrained conditions with no lat-
eral strains 共Vucetic 1984兲. As the pore-water pressure builds up
during shearing the soil softens, thus allowing easier transmission
of the vertical stresses in the lateral direction. In the extreme case
of softening when the soil liquefies, the ratio 共␴h / ␴v兲 must equal
1.0. Accordingly, while under such conditions the vertical total
stress is by definition constant, i.e., ␴v = ␴vc, the lateral total
stress, ␴h, must change during the shearing by certain ⌬␴h.
In conclusion, the NGI-DSS constant volume test simulates
properly the stress–strain conditions in the horizontally layered
fully saturated soil deposits sheared horizontally in undrained
conditions, and the threshold shear strains presented in this paper
correspond to such conditions. Triaxial and regular hollow cylin-
der tests cannot simulate such conditions. In these two tests the
lateral radial stresses are imposed 共typically maintained constant兲
while the radial deformations are allowed to freely develop. In
relation to that, it should be noted that as a consequence of the
variation of ␴h during shearing the total stress path in the

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 NGI-DSS test is a curve, unlike the straight line at 45° in a typical
triaxial test 共Vucetic 1984兲.
In the present study, the volume of the specimen was main-
tained constant by just keeping its height constant, considering
that the radial deformations of the specimen confined in a prop-
erly selected wire-reinforced rubber membrane are negligible.
This approach has been verified as sufficiently accurate by
Iversen 共1977兲 who compared the tests with the volume control
and just the height control. Such a procedure is standard at NGI
and other laboratories conducting typical NGI-DSS tests and is
particularly acceptable at small shear strains around ␥t 共Vucetic
1984兲.
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Testing Procedure and Data Interpretation

Upon the completion of primary consolidation under desired ␴⬘vc

each specimen was sheared cyclically in 3–6 cyclic strain-
controlled stages of ten or more cycles each. During the cyclic
shearing, throughout all of the stages the specimen height was
maintained constant automatically with the help of a closed-loop
height-control device driven by an electrical motor. In each cyclic
stage, the cyclic shear strain amplitude, ␥c, was maintained con-
stant as much as possible with the help of a closed-loop, servo
hydraulic load application system. In each consecutive cyclic
stage the amplitude ␥c was larger than in the previous stage, in-
creasing from stage to stage from slightly below to slightly above
the anticipated ␥t. The test parameters were measured with elec-
tronic load cells and displacement transducers and subsequently
processed with a modern data acquisition system. Other details
about the testing can be found in a research report by the writers
共Hsu and Vucetic 2002兲.
The testing in the cyclic strain-controlled stages described
above was done to maximize the ␥t data output and minimize the
cost of the testing program. As shown in Fig. 1共c兲, ␥t can be
evaluated in a straightforward manner from three or more cyclic
strain-controlled tests in the context of the cyclic pore-water pres-
sure model presented. However, it can be seen in Fig. 1共c兲 that
this method may be quite approximate, unless several cyclic
strain-controlled tests are conducted in the neighborhood of ␥t,
such as was done, for example, by Ohara and Matsuda 共1988兲. In
this investigation another approach tailored specifically for the
testing of ␥t was taken. In it, ␥t is evaluated from a single multi-
stage cyclic strain-controlled test. The equivalent approach was
used extensively and very successfully by Dobry et al. 共1982兲 and
Dyvik et al. 共1984兲 for the testing of ␥t in sands in the cyclic
triaxial device. It has been also used successfully by the writers
for the testing of the threshold shear strain for cyclic settlement in
the NGI-DSS device 共Hsu and Vucetic 2004兲.
As shown in Table 2, the multistage testing method was used
to obtain six values of ␥t from six NGI-DSS cyclic tests. The
specific principles of the testing ␥t in the multistage cyclic strain-
controlled test and procedure for evaluating its magnitude are
illustrated in Fig. 3. A typical pattern of the shear strain cycles
applied in three consecutive cyclic strain-controlled stages with
three constant amplitudes ␥c is presented in Fig. 3共a兲. In this
example each stage has ten cycles. The corresponding equivalent
excess pore-water pressures, ⌬u, are sketched in Fig. 3共b兲. From
this figure the equivalent residual cyclic excess pore water pres-
sures, ⌬uc, can be determined at the end of each cycle. The results
from Figs. 3共a and b兲 are plotted in Fig. 3共c兲 in the ⌬u*c − ␥c − Ni
format. Here, ⌬u*c = ⌬uc / ␴⬘vc is the normalized equivalent residual
cyclic excess pore-water pressure accumulated throughout all
Fig. 3. Sketch of cyclic excess pore-water pressure results obtained
in cyclic multistage NGI direct simple shear test and their
interpretation to determine ␥t: 共a兲 strain-time history of cyclic
multistage strain-controlled constant volume test; 共b兲 variation of
equivalent excess pore-water pressure, ⌬u, with time; 共c兲 relationship
between normalized equivalent residual cyclic excess pore-water
pressure, ⌬u*c = ⌬uc / ␴⬘vc, cyclic shear strain amplitude, ␥c, and
number of cycles, Ni; and 共d兲 relationship between normalized
equivalent residual cyclic excess pore-water pressure in individual
stages, ⌬uN−i
*
= ⌬uN−i / ␴v⬘−i, cyclic shear strain amplitude, ␥c, and
number of cycles, Ni, obtained by transforming data presented in 共c兲
above
cyclic stages, cycle after cycle, while Ni is the cycle number in
stage i. The Ni = 0 line in Fig. 3共c兲 connects the points of the
residual cyclic excess pore-water pressures at the beginning of
cyclic stages, which coincide with the pore-water pressures at the
ends of the corresponding previous stages. In this plot, ␥t corre-
sponds to the point at which the Ni lines branch out. However,
␥t can be evaluated more accurately if the plot in Fig. 3共c兲 is
converted into the ⌬uN−i *
− ␥c − Ni chart shown in Fig. 3共d兲. This
chart is obtained by shifting the Ni lines in Fig. 3共c兲 downward
such that the Ni = 0 line coincides with the horizontal axis. Here,
⌬uN−i
*
= ⌬uN−i / ␴v⬘−i, where ⌬uN−i is the equivalent residual cyclic
excess pore-water pressure developed only in stage i at cycle Ni,
while ␴v⬘−i is the effective vertical stress at the beginning of
stage i. Accordingly, stress ␴v⬘−i is ␴⬘vc reduced by the equivalent
residual cyclic excess pore-water pressure developed before the
beginning of stage i.
The chart in Fig. 3共d兲 is similar to the chart in Fig. 1共c兲 and
can therefore be used in the same manner to evaluate ␥t. How-

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 Table 3. Results of Cyclic Multistage Strain-Controlled Constant Volume Test Kao-220 共PI= 20; ␴⬘vc = 220 kPa兲
Cumulative Equivalent
equivalent residual Normalized
residual cyclic cumulative Normalized
Fluctuation cyclic excess Vertical equivalent equivalent
about excess pore-water effective residual cyclic residual cyclic
Variation Average average Fluctuation pore-water pressure stress at excess excess
of cyclic cyclic cyclic shear about Cycle pressure in a the pore-water pore-water
shear shear strain average ␥c Number number from stage single beginning pressure pressure
strain strain amplitude, in percent, of in a to stage, stage, of the from stage in a
Stage, amplitude amplitude, 共␥c ± ⌬␥c兲 关共⌬␥c / ␥c兲x 100兴 cycles, stage, ⌬uc ⌬uN−i stage, ␴v⬘−i to stage, single stage,
i 共%兲 ␥c共%兲 共%兲 共%兲 N Ni 共kPa兲 共kPa兲 共kPa兲 ⌬uc = ⌬uc / ␴⬘vc ⌬uN−i = ⌬uN−i / ␴v⬘−i
* *

1 0.008–0.010 0.009 0.009± 0.001 11 10 10 2 2 220 0.009 0.0091

2 0.018–0.022 0.020 0.020± 0.002 10 10 10 4 2 218 0.018 0.0092
3 0.048–0.062 0.055 0.055± 0.007 13 10 10 11 7 216 0.050 0.0324
4 0.075–0.115 0.095 0.095± 0.020 21 10 10 25 14 209 0.114 0.067
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5 0.165–0.255 0.210 0.210± 0.045 21 16 10 57 32 195 0.259 0.164

— — 16 66 41 — 0.300 0.210
6 0.560–0.720 0.640 0.640± 0.080 12 11 10 125 59 154 0.568 0.383
— — 11 130 64 — 0.591 0.416

ever, strictly speaking, this is appropriate only if the soil condi-

tions at the beginning of all cyclic strain-controlled stages are
very similar and the existing dissimilarities do not significantly
affect the ␥t magnitude. This basically means that ␥t can be esti-
mated with confidence from the ⌬uN−i *
− ␥c − Ni relationship only if
the soil microstructures, void ratios, e, and the initial effective
vertical stresses, ␴v⬘−i, at the beginning of cyclic stages are either
very similar, or their dissimilarities from stage to stage have neg-
ligible effects on ␥t.
Since the test is of the constant volume type, e should be by
definition the same in all cyclic stages. Furthermore, in the stages
with ␥c ⬍ ␥t the microstructure remains practically unchanged and
consequently the residual equivalent excess pore-water pressures
are basically zero. This also means that if ␥c ⬍ ␥t the vertical
stress remains essentially the same. If ␥c ⬎ ␥t the microstructure is
altered. However, if ␥c is just slightly larger than ␥t such alter-
ations are very small, considering that cyclic degradation due to a
relatively small number of cycles of small ␥c is very small 共see,
Vucetic and Dobry 1988b; Vucetic 1992兲. Consequently, ⌬uc is
then relatively small too and the differences between ␴v⬘−i are also
small. Furthermore, at least for sandy soils it has been verified by
Dyvik et al. 共1984兲 that the effect of even large variation of ver-
tical stress on ␥t is relatively insignificant. The same insensitivity
of ␥t on the vertical stress change has also been obtained for the
two cohesive soils tested in the present investigation, as shown
below. In conclusion, ␥t can be evaluated reliably from the mul-
tistage cyclic test described above using the procedure depicted in
Fig. 3.
The validity of such a multistage test in evaluating ␥t can be
actually justified in a much simpler manner. In such a test the soil
and its properties practically do not change in the cyclic stages
with ␥c ⬍ ␥t. As soon as ␥c exceeds ␥t, pore pressures ⌬uc will
start changing visibly and it will be detected unmistakably from
the test results. The threshold shear strain ␥t is then somewhere
between the stage exhibiting such noticeable changes of ⌬uc and
the previous stage with practically no such change, i.e., between
the two consecutive cyclic stages surrounding ␥t. A value or a
narrow range of ␥t can then be determined rather precisely from
the trend of ⌬uN−i in the pore-water pressure relationship Fig. 4. Results of cyclic multistage strain-controlled constant volume
⌬uN−i
*
− ␥ c − N i. test Kao-220

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Fig. 5. Evaluation of cyclic threshold shear strain, ␥t, from results of
cyclic multistage strain-controlled constant volume test Kao-220: 共a兲
relationship between ⌬u*c = ⌬uc / ␴⬘vc , ␥c and Ni; 共b兲 scaled up view of
共⌬uN−i / ␴v⬘−i兲 − ␥c − Ni relationship in neighborhood of ␥t
Results from Multistage Cyclic Test
and Their Analysis
To fully understand the results of the multistage cyclic strain-
controlled tests, as well as their sensitivity, accuracy, and the way
they are analyzed, the results of one representative test are
presented in Table 3 and Figs. 4 and 5, and are described below
in detail. This is Test 4 共Kao-220兲 on kaolinite elastic silt
having PI= 20, which was consolidated prior to the cyclic shear-
ing to ␴⬘vc = 220 kPa. Six consecutive cyclic strain-controlled
stages of ten or more cycles each were applied in this test. The
shear strain–time histories and corresponding time histories of
the equivalent excess pore-water pressures, ⌬u, are presented in
Fig. 4. The average amplitude ␥c ranged from 0.009% in Stage 1
to 0.64% in Stage 6.
As shown in Fig. 4, the cyclic shear strains were not perfectly
symmetric in all cyclic stages. Rather, the cyclic strain ampli-
tudes varied by ⌬␥c around the average values, ␥c, as specified in
Table 3. This asymmetry occurred due to the closed loop system
displacement transducer being located outside of the load transfer
mechanism that has certain compliance. Nevertheless, the shear
strains presented in Fig. 4 are accurate because they were re-
corded by another high-precision displacement transducer bridged
directly between the bottom and top caps of the specimen 共see
details in Hsu and Vucetic 2002兲. In the forthcoming analysis, the
average values of cyclic shear strain amplitudes, ␥c, are used
as the representative values. This means that the values of ␥t
derived below could be larger or smaller by no more than ⌬␥c. As
shown in Table 3, the variation of ⌬␥c about ␥c was in the first
three stages 13% or less and in the last three stages up to 21%.
The same degree of variation was more or less obtained in five
other tests. Considering that ␥t generally increases ten times
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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 2006.132:1325-1335.
共1,000%兲 as the soil changes from clean sands to clays having
PI= 60 共Vucetic 1994兲, the overestimation or underestimation of
␥t by ⌬␥c is practically insignificant. It is certainly small enough
to have no affect on the ␥t trends and conclusions derived below.
Moreover, it should be noted that ␥t falls in the domain of the first
few cyclic stages where the variation of ⌬␥cwas the smallest.
As shown in Table 3, in Test Kao 220, in Stage 1 ⌬uc in-
creased in ten cycles on average for 2 kPa, which represents only
0.9% of ␴⬘vc = 220 kPa and is therefore negligible. In Stage 2, the
increase in ⌬uc was practically the same, approximately 2 kPa. In
Stage 3 however, ⌬uc suddenly increased in ten cycles for 7 kPa,
which is 3.6% of ␴⬘vc, while in Stage 4 it increased even more
and faster for 14 kPa, which represents 6.4% of ␴⬘vc. In the last
two stages, the increase of ⌬uc in ten cycles was consistently
larger, i.e., 32 and 59 kPa, corresponding to 14 and 27% of
␴⬘vc = 220 kPa, respectively. From these data it can be concluded
that␥t is somewhere between Stages 2 and 3, i.e., between
␥c = 0.02 and 0.055%.
The raw data presented in Fig. 4 are transformed in Fig. 5共a兲
into the relationship between the normalized equivalent residual
cyclic excess pore-water pressure accumulated throughout the en-
tire test, ⌬u*c = ⌬uc / ␴⬘vc, the amplitude ␥c, and the number of
cycles applied in each stage, Ni. This ⌬u*c − ␥c − Ni relationship is
equivalent to the sketch in Fig. 3共c兲. In Fig. 5共b兲, the data are
transformed further into the ⌬uN−i *
− ␥c − Ni relationship, which is
equivalent to the sketch in Fig. 3共d兲. In Fig. 5共b兲, the effective
vertical stresses at the beginning of each stage, ␴v⬘−i, are indicated
above the Ni = 10 line. From this plot, a narrow range of ␥c where
⌬uN−i
*
starts to increase markedly can be easily identified. This
range represents the range of ␥t, which in this particular case is
estimated as ␥t = 0.026– 0.04%.
It is evident that the same ␥t range could have been obtained
from just the first four cyclic stages, between ␥c = 0.009 and
0.095%. In these four stages ␴v⬘−i decreased from ␴⬘vc = 220 kPa at
the beginning of Stage 1 to ␴v⬘−i = 209 kPa at the beginning of
Stage 4, which is a decrease of merely 6%. Such a small decrease
of ␴v⬘−i indicates that the cyclic degradation and associated
changes of soil microstructure during these four stages were very
small. Accordingly, for all practical purposes it can be considered
that the estimated range of ␥t = 0.026– 0.04% pertains to the origi-
nal specimen microstructure and vertical consolidation stress
␴⬘vc = 220 kPa.
Before the results of other tests are presented, the relatively
low frequencies applied in the tests need to be discussed. For
example, the frequency of cyclic straining in the Kao-220 test
was around 0.01 Hz, which is quite low in comparison to the
frequencies in typical soil dynamics problems. In five other tests
the frequencies were similarly low. The low frequencies were
applied in order to control the testing conditions in the sensitive
small-strain testing environment. For example, the data in Fig. 4
reveal that in Stage 1 the cyclic displacement amplitude was
共0.009% ⫻ 19 mm兲 = 0.0017 mm, which is a very small displace-
ment indeed. Furthermore, during cyclic shearing low frequencies
enabled precise maintenance of the constant height of the NGI-
DSS specimen with the NGI closed-loop height-control device
driven by electrical motor, i.e., precise measurement of the
equivalent cyclic excess pore-water pressures, ⌬u. In spite of
such low frequencies, the writers believe that the results obtained
in this study are applicable to higher frequencies, because no
effect of the frequency on any type of cyclic threshold shear strain
has been observed in the past investigations 共e.g., Vucetic 1994;
Hsu and Vucetic 2002, 2004; Tabata and Vucetic 2004兲. However,
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Fig. 6. Relationship between ⌬uN−i

*
, ␥c and Ni in neighborhood of ␥t obtained from five cyclic multistage strain-controlled constant volume tests

to find out definitely if and in what manner ␥t depends on the
frequency of cyclic loading, especially on the very high frequen-
cies, should be still investigated.
␥t Results and Their Comparison
with Published Data
The ⌬uN−i*
− ␥c − Ni relationships obtained in five other tests are
presented in Fig. 6. The estimated ranges of ␥t spanning the am-
plitudes of ␥c at which the equivalent residual cyclic excess pore-
water pressures started to build up significantly can be easily
recognized in plots 共a兲, 共c兲, and 共e兲, and they are marked accord-
ingly. In plot 共b兲, displaying the results on silt from Irvine, the ␥t
range is evaluated by extrapolating the Ni lines to ⌬uN−i *
= 0 axis.
In plot 共d兲, the buildup of ⌬uN−i
*
in the domain of very small ␥c is
not as consistent as in other cases. Nevertheless, it is clear that
below ␥c = 0.03% the pore-water pressure ⌬uN−i *
is negligible,
while above ␥c ⬇ 0.06% it starts to build up rapidly. Conse-
quently, ␥t = 0.03– 0.06% is estimated. The estimated values of ␥t
obtained from all six tests have been already listed in Table 2.
The results obtained in the present study and the results ob-
tained in the previous investigations listed in Table 1 are plotted
together in Fig. 7 against the plasticity index of the soil, PI. The
newly obtained ␥t ranges are presented with solid symbols con-
nected with horizontal bars, while the old data from previous
investigations are plotted with open symbols also connected with
horizontal bars. For convenience, in Fig. 7 the cohesionless soils
are included as having PI= 0.
It can be seen that the range of ␥t obtained for Nevada sand

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Fig. 7. Effect of plasticity index, PI, on threshold shear strain for
cyclic pore-water pressure, ␥t
共Test 1兲 falls practically in the middle of the range of ␥t values for
many different sandy soils obtained previously with the help of
triaxial tests. This basically confirms that evaluating ␥t for cyclic
pore-water pressure with the help of the NGI-DSS constant vol-
ume test is a valid alternative to the undrained triaxial testing.
Because previous investigations on ␥t cover extensively only
cohesionless soils and just few clays, but do not include elastic
silts, the results on two silts obtained in the present study are
rather unique. It can be seen in Fig. 7 that they tend to close the
gap between clays and cohesionless soils. The chart in Fig. 7
also includes the general data band and average line proposed by
Vucetic 共1994兲 for all types of cyclic threshold shear strains, in-
cluding the cyclic threshold shear strains for pore-water pressure,
cyclic settlement, cyclic degradation, and cyclic stiffening. This
data band is very general and hence fairly wide, apparently mask-
ing subtle differences between various types of threshold shear
strains. As already mentioned above and shown recently by the
writers 共Hsu and Vucetic 2004兲 and Tabata and Vucetic 共2004兲,
the magnitudes and correlations with PI of different types of cy-
clic threshold shear strains are not necessarily the same, and more
refined trends with PI can be obtained by means of well focused
and precise testing.
The newly obtained data in Fig. 7 are obviously in broad
agreement with the previously published ␥t results and their trend
with PI. They also fall right within the data band for other types
of threshold shear strains. However, either alone or in combina-
tion with the previous results, the new data still do not refine the
␥t–PI data trend. This may indicate that either ␥t for cyclic pore-
water pressure is not that sensitive to the variation of PI, or more
soils need to be tested to obtain a narrower ␥t − PI data band.
Nevertheless, the new data successfully fill the void between high
plasticity clays 共CH兲 and sands. It is interesting to note, however,
that in Fig. 7 no ␥t data plot beyond 0.1%. This peculiarity needs
to be addressed in the future by a precise testing of ␥t for highly
plastic clays.
The ranges of ␥t obtained in tests Kao-108 and Kao-220 on the
same elastic silt at essentially the same initial void ratios,
e = 1.06 and 1.07, respectively, but two substantially different ver-
tical consolidation stresses, ␴⬘vc = 108 and 220 kPa, respectively,
are almost the same. Similarly, the ranges of ␥t obtained on
the same clay in Tests SC-222 and SC-666 at two different void
ratios, e = 0.68 and 0.58, respectively, and two very different lev-
els of ␴⬘vc = 222 and 666 kPa, respectively, are also practically
identical. This suggests that ␥t in silts and clays does not depend
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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 2006.132:1325-1335.
significantly on ␴⬘vc, just like in sands. For example, for sandy
soils it has been fully demonstrated by Dobry et al. 共1982兲 that for
all practical purposes ␥t does not depend on ␴⬘vc 关see also results
by Dobry in “Liquefaction of soils during earthquakes” 共NRC
1985兲兴. However, to examine thoroughly the relationship between
␥t and ␴⬘vc in silts and clays, more tests on a variety of silts and
clays at much larger ranges of ␴⬘vc will have to be conducted.
Similarly, the effects of some other potentially important factors
on ␥t in silts and clays, such as the overconsolidation ratio, void
ratio, and the specimen fabric, still need to be investigated in the
manner similar to what was done in the investigations on sands by
Dobry et al. 共1982兲 and Dyvik et al. 共1984兲
Summary and Conclusions
Six cyclic NGI-type DSS constant volume equivalent undrained
tests were conducted on the specimens of one sand, two elastic
silts, and one clay to evaluate their cyclic threshold shear strains
for cyclic pore-water pressure, ␥t. The threshold strain ␥t is the
cyclic shear strain amplitude, ␥c, below which the residual cyclic
excess pore-water pressure, ⌬uN, does not accumulate with the
number of cycles, N, and above which a significant and continu-
ous accumulation of ⌬uN occurs. Each test included several cyclic
strain-controlled stages with ␥c magnitude varying from stage to
stage from slightly smaller to slightly larger than ␥t, such that a
narrow range of ␥t could be assessed from a single test. Tests at
different vertical consolidation stresses, ␴⬘vc, were conducted on
one of the silts and the clay, thus allowing preliminary assessment
of the effect of ␴⬘vc on ␥t. The following conclusions can be de-
rived from the results of the tests:
1. Cyclic threshold shear strain, ␥t, can be obtained for a given
soil from a single, multistage cyclic strain-controlled NGI
type DSS constant volume equivalent undrained test. Obtain-
ing ␥t from a single cyclic test is more convenient and cost
effective than the conventional approach of conducting three
or more tests;
2. The literature survey revealed only three studies containing
just three ranges of ␥t for three different clays. This makes
the five new values of ␥t obtained for three cohesive soils a
significant contribution to the ␥t data base;
3. The new data confirm that ␥t in cohesive soils is larger than
in cohesionless soils. For silts and clay having PI= 14– 30,
␥t = 0.024– 0.06% was obtained, while for sands and gravels
␥t usually ranges between 0.01 and 0.02%;
4. The test results are spread within a fairly wide data band
describing a general trend between the different types of
threshold shear strains and plasticity index of the soil, PI,
including the cyclic threshold shear strains for pore-water
pressure, cyclic settlement, cyclic degradation, and cyclic
stiffening. This means that ␥t for cyclic pore-water pressure
is either not very sensitive to the variation of PI, or more
soils need to be tested to obtain a narrower ␥t–PI data trend;
5. The values of ␥t obtained on two elastic silts, classified as
ML-MH and MH, are rather unique because no ␥t data on
such cohesive silts have been found in the literature. The new
data on elastic silts fill a large part of the gap between sands
and higher plasticity clays in the ␥t–PI trend; and
6. Limited data suggest that for all practical purposes ␥t in silts
and clays does depend significantly on the vertical consoli-
dation stress, ␴⬘vc. To examine thoroughly the relationship
between ␥t and ␴⬘vc additional research is still needed.
 Acknowledgments
The experimental investigation described in this paper was
conducted at the Soil Dynamics Laboratory of the University
of California at Los Angeles 共UCLA兲, and was supported in part
by several organizations and agencies. These are: the National
Science Foundation 共NSF兲 and the California Department of
Transportation 共Caltrans兲 through the project titled “The Resolu-
tion of Site Response Issues from the Northridge Earthquake”
共ROSRINE兲, and the University of California Office of the Presi-
dent 共UCOP兲 and Caltrans grants administered through the Pacific
Earthquake Engineering Research 共PEER兲 Center established by
NSF. This financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
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Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
Dr ⫽ relative density;
e ⫽ void ratio;
i ⫽ cyclic strain-controlled stage number;
K ⫽ lateral pressure coefficient;
K0 ⫽ coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest;
LL ⫽ liquid limit;
N ⫽ cycle number or number of cycles;
Ni ⫽ cycle number or number of cycles only in
stage i;
OCR ⫽ overconsolidation ratio;
PI ⫽ plasticity index;
t ⫽ time;
u ⫽ pore-water pressure;
u0 ⫽ initial hydrostatic pore-water pressure;
w ⫽ moisture content;
␥ ⫽ shear strain;
␥c ⫽ cyclic shear strain amplitude;
␥t ⫽ threshold shear strain for cyclic pore-water
pressure;
⌬u ⫽ excess or equivalent excess pore-water
pressure during cyclic loading 共in excess of
initial hydrostatic pore-water pressure兲;
⌬uc ⫽ residual or equivalent residual cyclic excess
pore-water pressure accumulated throughout
multistage cyclic test;
⌬u*c = ⌬uc / ␴⬘vc
⫽ ⌬uc normalized by ␴⬘vc;
⌬uN ⫽ residual or equivalent residual cyclic excess
pore-water pressure at end of cycle N;
⌬u*N = ⌬uN / ␴⬘vc
⫽ ⌬uN normalized by ␴⬘vc;
⌬uN−i ⫽ equivalent residual cyclic excess pore-water
pressure only in stage i at end of cycle Ni;
⌬uN−i
*
= ⌬uN−i / ␴v⬘−i
⫽ ⌬uN−i normalized by ␴v⬘−i;
⌬␴h⬘ ⫽ horizontal stress change 共positive means
reduction兲;
⌬␴⬘v ⫽ vertical stress change 共positive means
reduction兲 required to maintain volume
of specimen constant;
␴h ⫽ total horizontal stress;
␴⬘h ⫽ effective horizontal stress;
␴⬘hc ⫽ effective horizontal consolidation stress;
␴v ⫽ total vertical stress;
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␴⬘v ⫽ effective vertical stress;
␴⬘vc ⫽ effective vertical consolidation stress; and
␴v⬘−i ⫽ effective vertical stress at beginning of
stage i.
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