Ashraf A.
Ibrahim and Takaaki Kagawa
Microscopic Measurement of Sand Fabric from Cyclic Tests
Causing Liquefaction
REFERENCE: Ibrahim, A. A. and Kagawa, T., "Microscopic Meas-
urement of Sand Fabric from Cyclic Tests Causing Liquefaction,"
Geotechnical Testing Journal, GTJODJ, Vol. 14, No. 4, December
1991, pp. 371-382.
ABSTRACT: An experimental study was made to clarify and confirm:
(1) the effects of a specimen preparation method on the fabric of
sand; and (2) the change of sand fabric due to cyclic loading leading
to liquefaction. Microscopic observations were made on the thin sec-
tions produced from sand specimens prepared by dry pluviation, dry
vibration, and wet tamping methods. This study showed that dry
pluviation tends to produce more "random" particle orientations and
larger deviation of local void ratios than wet tamping. On the other
hand, the dry vibration method produced intermediate results. This
difference in fabric has the key impact on the liquefaction resistance
of specimens prepared by different methods. Application of cyclic
shear tends to alter the initial fabric of sand. For a "randomly"
arranged sand mass, cyclic shear tends to line up the orientations of
sand particles, resulting in less random arrangement of sand particles.
For a "regularly" arranged sand mass, cyclic shear tends to diverge
the orientations of sand particles. These findings help explain various
static and cyclic behavior of sand.
KEY WORDS: sand, fabric, liquefaction, cyclic loading
"Liquefaction" has been used to describe various forms of
unstable behavior of saturated sands. Slope failure, including
flow slides, settlement and tilting of foundations due to "quick-
sand" conditions in bearing stratum, embankment spreading,
and uplifting of buried storage tanks and swimming pools, have
all been attributed to liquefaction.
Liquefaction often leads to the development of instabilities in
large masses of soil. This has been observed in both man-made
and natural soil deposits. Since Hazen (1920) first used the term
liquefaction to describe the 1918 failure of Calaveras Dam in
California, flow slides resulting from liquefaction have been ob-
served in a number of hydraulically filled earth dams (Hazen
1920; Middlebrooks 1942) and in several similarly constructed
tailing dams (Jennings 1979; Kleiner 1976). Flow slides due to
liquefaction have also been observed repeatedly in coastal and
offshore areas (Andersen and Bjerrum 1968; Bjerrum 1971; Kop-
pejan et al. 1948). We cannot also forget the severe damage due
to liquefaction in Niigata, Japan 1964 (Japan National Commit-
1Project engineer, Applied Science, Inc., 1300 East Lafayette, Suite
M-12, Detroit, MI 48207.
2Associate professor, 2150 Engineering Bldg., Department of Civil
Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202.
© 1991 by the American Society for Testing and Materials
371
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tee 1965; Seed and Idriss 1967); Alaska (Grantz et al. 1964); the
Lower Van Norman Dam during the 1971 San Fernando earth-
quake; the 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake; the 1985 Mexico
earthquake; and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
A large number of studies have been conducted to clarify the
mechanism of liquefaction. Such studies have demonstrated that
the liquefaction characteristics of a sand depend on many factors:
(1) density, (2) degree of saturation and drainage condition, (3)
grain-size distribution, (4) soil structure and fabric, (5) confining
stress, (6) nature of applied load, (7) prior stress and strain
history, and (8) age.
Besides the other factors, fabric appears to have an important
role controlling the behavior of sand. Among these factors, how-
ever, effects of soil structure and fabric on the liquefaction sus-
ceptibility of sand have been studied least. Fabric refers to the
arrangement of particles, particle groups, and pore spaces in a
soil. Fabric is usually defined as the spatial arrangement of par-
ticles, which includes the orientation of the particle's axes, the
average number of contacts for each particle (coordination num-
ber), the distribution of the contact normals, and the distribution
of void ratios. On the other hand, structure is often used inter-
changeably with fabric. Structure, however, usually has a broader
meaning of th.e combined effects of fabric, composition, and
interparticle forces.
Two types of causes that determine the fabric of sand mass
are often identified when describing the response of sand. Initial
fabric arises during specimen preparation and deposition proc-
esses. For example, a specimen formed under an isotropic con-
fining stress from spherical particles does not have inherent fabric
(Nemat-Nasser and Takahashi 1984), but it may be rendered
anisotropic when it is subjected to shearing. The particles rear-
range themselves during loading. This results in the alteration
of the initial fabric.
A number of studies have demonstrated the impact of initial
fabric on the static and cyclic response of sand. For example
Mahmood, Mitchell, and Lindblom (1976) studied the compress-
ibility of sand specimens prepared by vibration and by pluviation
in a dry state. They measured orientation of sand particles. Their
study showed that the specimens densified by vibration were less
compressible than those prepared by pluviation. They also found
that the sand particles were randomly oriented in both specimens
but that the frequency distribution of void ratio was different in
these specimens.
Inspections made by Oda (1972, 1977, 1982) indicated that the
frequency distribution of void ratio within a specimen depends
372 GEOTECHNICALTESTING JOURNAL

on the method of specimen preparation. Therefore, the cyclic
strength of sand specimens prepared by different methods are
expected to be different. Mulilis, Seed, Chan, Mitchell, and Aru-
lanandan (1977) indeed have shown that specimen preparation
methods have a significant effect on the liquefaction behavior of
sands. They concluded that the effects are due to different ar-
rangements of particles produced by different specimen prepa-
ration methods.
Previous studies generally support that the fabric of sand has
an important impact on its static and cyclic behavior. No exten-
sive measurements, however, have been made to quantify: (1) the
effects of the specimen preparation method on the fabric of sand;
and (2) the evolution of sand fabric during cyclic loading. Studies
on these subjects will help clarify the role of fabric in the stress-
strain behavior of sand. This paper summarizes the key findings
from an experimental study that focused on these two subjects.
Experimental Investigation
Introduction
A variety of methods, both direct and indirect, have been used
to study the fabric of soils, as summarized in Table 1. Optical
and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and pore-size dis-
tribution offer the advantages of providing direct data on specific
fabric features provided that the specimens studied are repre-
sentative and that specimen preparation has not significantly
modified the original fabric. On the other hand, these techniques
are destructive to soil fabric. The other techniques are nonde-
structive, but they can only be used for an indirect qualitative
study of changes in the fabric of specimens subjected to shear.
In this study we made up hardened thin sections of freshly
prepared specimens and of liquefied specimens to measure their
fabric parameters by a microscopic technique. Some details of
our experimental investigation are presented below.
Testing Apparatus
The testing apparatus used in this study was a cyclic torsional-
shear system that mounts a hollow cylindrical soil specimen.
Cyclic loading to the apparatus was provided by an MTS loading
system and a PC-based data-acquisition and control system. A
specimen was formed in the lateral confining rings that consisted
of inner and outer rings with diameters of 10.0 and 12.5 cm and
with a thickness of 0.625 cm. The inner and outer diameters of
hollow cylindrical specimens used in this study were 9.93 and
12.3 cm, and the average height of the specimens was 8.13 cm.
In the present test setup, an AT-compatible microcomputer sends
a signal command through its digit-to-analog (D/A) convertor
board to the feed-back circuit of the MTS system. Output signals
from displacement and load transducers are received by the
A/D convertor board in the PC. The input and output signals
are continuously monitored and stored in a data file on the hard
disk in the PC. The details of the apparatus used in the exper-
imental work are documented by Ibrahim (1991). A schematic
cross-sectional view of the hollow cylindrical specimen setup is
shown in Fig. 1.

TABLE 1-- Techniquesfor study of soil fabric.

Method Basis Features Disernable

Optical microscrope Direct observation of fracture sur- Individual particles of silt size and larger clay
faces or thin sections. particle groups, preferred orientation of clay,
homogeneity on a millimeter scale or larger,
large pores, shear zones.
Electron microscope Direct observation of particles or Resolution to may be about 100/~. Direct obser-
fracture surfaces. Observation of vation of particles; particle groups and pore
surface replicas. space; details of microfabric.
X-ray diffraction Groups of parallel clay plates pro- Best for single mineral clays.
duce stronger diffraction than
randomly oriented plates.
Pore-size distribution Forced intrusion of nonwetting fluid
(usually mercury) and capillary
condensation.
Acoustical velocity Particle alignment influences veloc- Anisotropy. Measures microfabric averaged over
ity. a volume.
Dieletric dispersion and Variation of dieletric constant and Anisotropy. Flocculation and deflocculation.
electric conductivity conductivity with frequency. Measures microfabric averaged over a volume.
Thermal conductivity Particle orientations influence ther- Anisotropy. Measures microfabric averaged over
mal conductivity. a volume.
Magnetic susceptibility Variation in magnetic susceptibility. Anisotropy. Measures microfabric averaged over
a volume.
Mechanical properties Properties reflect influences of fab- Microfabric averaged over a volume. Anisotropy.
Strength and modulus ric.
Permeability
Compressibility
Shrinkage and swell

NOTE: After Mitchell, 1976.

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 IBRAHIM AND KAGAWA ON SAND FABRIC 373

StackedInnerRings

0 Ring /
To UpperPressureInterfaceDevice

Membrane
Pore PressureGauge
StackedOuterRings -~ i':..':| i':": To Lower
~ ".';I n:'."
"..:'1 [ ~ .-.-.--ira,- PressureInterface
".':I
j',,:,:
Device

I ":
o,o ~7
l
J
HollowCylindrical
Specimen
lllr 7'i-: Valve
Mixtureof
Resin

PorousStone
FIG. 1--Hollow cylindrical specimen and resin injection system.

Sample Preparation and Test Methods Three different specimen preparation methods were employed
to achieve different initial fabrics at desired densities (relative
Sand specimens were prepared from the Detroit River sand,
densities of 50, 60, and 70%): (1) dry pluviation, (2) dry vibra-
which consists of angular to subrounded particles (Fig. 2). The
tion, and (3) wet tamping. The dry pluviation method involved
specific gravity of the test sand was determined in accordance
raining oven-dried test sand from a constant height of about 15
with ASTM specifications [ASTM Test Method for Specific Gravity
cm; the dry vibration method employed high frequency (60 Hz)
of Soils (D 854-83)] to be 2.65. The maximum and minimum
horizontally applied to a dry specimen; and the wet tamping
void ratios were 0.905 and 0.475. The aspect ratio of the test
method formed a specimen by tamping moist test sand in three
sand (equals the ratio between the longer and shorter axes) was
2.5-cm layers. These specimens were used for microscopic ob-
typically 2.0. The gradation curve of the Detroit River sand is
servations of their fabrics. Also, the specimens prepared by the
shown in Fig. 3. The uniformity coefficient of this test sand is
three methods at a relative density of 50% were subjected to
1.87.
cyclic shear with a cyclic shear stress ratio (CSR = the ratio
between cyclic shear stress amplitude and initial effective vertical
stress) of 0.15, 0.25, and 0.35 until the specimens developed
100% excess pore pressures. Table 2 summarizes the test con-
ditions employed in this study.
For specimen saturation, carbon dioxide was first percolated
through a specimen with a small pressure of 7 to 14 kPa for about
30 rain. Specimens were then saturated with deaired water until
D value exceeded 0.98, where D represents the ratio between
the change in the induced pore-water pressure and the change
in the applied vertical stress. During saturation, the specimen
was consolidated in stages by gradually increasing the vertical
stress. The initial vertical stress before any testing was chosen
to be 57.4 kN/m 2 (1.2 kips/ft2). The saturation process required
typically 2 h.

Preparation o f Thin Sections

The thin-section method employed by Oda (1972) was used
to examine the initial fabric and the fabric after liquefaction of
FIG. 2--Photo of the Detroit River sand. the test sand. A special mixture of resin was first percolated into

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374 GEOTECHNICAL TESTING JOURNAL

100

.~ 8(3
03

i
~ 60
o3 .....................................................................................................
li................................................................................................................
/ ii[................................................................................................................
t-

~ 40
.......................................................................................................
i......................................
/ .....................................................................
i.................................................................................................................
0
o
iI...................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................
i
o_ 20

i t

0 , , , , , , , ,I . . . . . , , i , , , , , , , ,
0.01 0.1 1
Grain Size, Millimeters
FIG. 3 - - G r a i n - s i z e distribution o f test sand.

a specimen to harden it. For this purpose a small resin tank was After the specimen was hardened, an electric diamond saw
connected to the bottom side of the specimen as shown in was used to cut the specimen into vertical and horizontal sections.
Fig. 1. The mixture of resin was percolated into the specimen Silicon graphite of sizes 200,400, and 600 (the higher the number,
with a small differential pressure of 7 to 14 kPa after the satu- the smoother the surface) was used to obtain a well-finished and
ration of the specimen with water. The volume change during leveled surface. A transparent epoxy and catalyst were then used
hardening of the resin mixture was measured in our preliminary to fix the sections onto a transparent glass to grind the sections
tests and was found to be negligible. After the specimen was into desired thickness (1 mm). When the thickness was less than
sufficiently rigid, the specimen was removed from the hollow this, sand particles tended to be scraped off from the section,
torsional-shear cell. Hardened specimens were then ground into
thin sections for microscopic observations of their fabric.
Section Analysis Procedures
The mixture of resin used in this study was designed to take
2 to 3 h for primary harde~ning. After several trials, we found After the horizontal and vertical thin sections were obtained,
the following mixture to be suitable for our testing: 83 wt% of the contact-plane angles between sand particles and the distri-
Kopper polyester resin (186-480), 10 wt% of MEK (methyl-ethyl butions of local void ratios within the thin sections were meas-
ketone) peroxide (DDM9) and 7 wt% of inhibiter (Q6919). The ured.
MEK and the inhibiter were purchased from Lucidol Company. An electronic microscope was first used to take enlarged color
The resin had a very low viscosity of 50 cP, where the viscosity slides of the thin sections. A magnification of 25 was selected to
of water is 1 P. retain at least 100 sand particles in a slide. A typical thin section

TABLE 2--Test cases f o r this study.

After Preparation After Liquefaction (D, = 50%)

Methods of Preparation D, = 50% D, = 60% D, = 70% CSR = 0.15 CSR = 0.25 CSR = 0.35

Pluviation (P) A50HP A60HP A70HP B50HP C50HP D50HP

A50VP A60VP A70VP B50VP C50VP D50VP
Wet Tamping (T) A50HT A60HT A70HT B50HT C50HT D50HT
A50VT A60VT A70VT B50VT C50VT D50VT
Vibration (V) A50HV A60HV A70HV B50HV C50HV D50HV
A50VV A60VV A70VV B50VV C50VV D50VV

Note: (1) A60VP

[[1 .-- Preparation Method (Pouring)
~- Section I.D. (Vertical Section)
Density (60% Relative Density)
Test Series I.D.
(2) CSR = cyclic stress ratio (= cyclic shear stress amplitude/initial effective vertical stress)

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 IBRAHIM AND K A G A W A ON SAND FABRIC 375

obtained in this study is shown in Fig. 4. The color slide was
then projected onto a white screen, and the contact-plane angles
between sand particles were measured. In each thin section, 100
contact-plane angles were randomly selected and their values
measured with 1° accuracy. Definitions of the horizontal and
vertical sections of specimens and the sign convention of the
contact-plane angles with respect to the geometry of the specimen
are shown in Fig. 5. For each specimen, the above measurement
was repeated for two independent horizontal and vertical sections
to cover statistical uncertainties. Also, these thin sections were
taken from the midportions of the horizontal and vertical sections
("abcd" or " A B C D " in Fig. 5) to observe the sand particles that
contribute most to the shearing resistance of the specimen.
The distributions of local void ratios within the thin sections
were determined by the technique proposed by Oda (1976). It
consists of dividing a thin section into polygons enclosed by straight
lines connecting the centers of gravity of the particles (Fig. 6).
particles are mostly parallel to the radial direction of the spec-
imen (i.e., parallel to the side "ab" or "cd" in Fig. 5). Pouring
action, the aspect ratio of the test sand, and the geometrical
shape of the specimen must be responsible for this result. The
randomness of the frequency distributions of the contact-plane
angles, however, is clearly demonstrated in Fig. 7 for vibration
and wet tamping cases.
The vertical sections tend to have preferred orientation angles
at 90 and 270 °. Strong peaks occur at these angles in the wet-
tamping cases, and rather random distributions of contact-plane
angles are produced in the dry-pluviation cases. The vibration
method produced intermediate behavior. These findings are not
necessarily consistent with previous findings. For example, Mu-
I
!

The areas occupied by the solid particles and by the voids within
a polygon were measured to calculate the void ratio of the portion
of the thin section covered by the polygon. This process was D
repeated for all the polygons in the thin section.

Test Results
abcd = Horizontal Section
Observations made on the horizontal and vertical sections of
freshly prepared specimens will be highlighted first. This will be
followed by a summary of the fabric after liquefaction. ABCD = Vertical Section

Initial Fabric
.)C
Figure 7 summarizes the frequency distributions of the contact-
plane angles of the horizontal and vertical thin sections of the
specimens prepared by the three different methods at 50% rel- B
ative density.
Horizontal sections tend to have strong peaks at 90 and 270 °
for the dry pluviation method, and no strong preferred angles
(a) Horizontal & Vertical Sections
are seen for the vibration and wet tamping cases. It should be
noted that the frequency of occurrence of the contact-plane
angles repeats with a period of 180° when a sufficiently large
number of contact-plane angles is sampled. The strong preferred A (or a) D (or d}
angles in dry pluviation indicate that the longer axes of sand

tl' Clockwise
Positive

B (or b) C (or c)

(b) Definition of Contact-Plane Angle

FIG. 4--A typical thin section. FIG. 5--Definitions of thin sections and contact-plane angles.

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376 GEOTECHNICALTESTING JOURNAL
J curred at 90 and 270° for dry pluviation, but no preferred angles
> tamping and the least for the specimens prepared by dry pluvia-
I gether due to capillarity, leading to the formation of "regular"
Area of Solid Particles, As
Area of Voids, Av
FIG. 6--Local void ratio (after Oda 1976).
lilis, Chan, and Seed (1975) reported that the specimen formed
by dry pluvial compaction method had the lowest distribution of
normals to interparticle contact planes in the vertical direction,
the specimen formed by moist tamped compaction had the high-
est distribution of normals to interparticle contact planes in the
vertical direction, and the specimen formed by dry vibratory
compaction had a distribution of normals to interparticle contact
planes in the vertical direction intermediate between that of spec-
imens formed by dry pluviation and moist tamping. The aspect
ratio of the Monterey No. 0 sand used by Mulilis, Chan, and
Seed (1975) was 1.4 with round to subrounded particles, while
the Detroit River sand had an aspect ratio of 2.0 with angular
to subrounded particles. These differences might be responsible
for the difference in observed distributions of contact-plane
angles.
Figure 8 shows the distributions of local void ratios within the
horizontal and vertical thin sections of the specimens prepared
by the dry-pluviation and wet-tamping methods at 50% relative
density. The average void ratio of the specimens with this relative
density was 0.53. This figure indicates that dry pluviation tends
to produce less pronounced concentration around the mean of
local void ratios than wet tamping.
Similar data were obtained also for relative densities of 60 and
70%. These data demonstrated the same observations summa-
rized above. Therefore, density between 50 to 70% appears to
have a small effect on the initial fabric of the test sand.
The specimen preparation method has a clear impact on the
orientation of sand particles. During specimen preparation the
longer axes of sand particles tend to lie in the horizontal plane
and the shorter axes of sand particles are in the vertical plane.
This is due to the static stability of sand particles under the action
of gravitational force.
The initial fabrics created by the three specimen preparation
methods also support this idea. The test sand had angular to
subrounded particles with an average aspect ratio of 1.5 to 2.0.
Therefore, the longer axes of the same particles were forced to
be horizontal. For the horizontal sections, the predominant peaks
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of the frequency distributions of the contact-plane angles oc-
were found for vibration and wet tamping cases. On the other
hand, the vertical sections tend to have peaks at 90 and 270° .
This tendency is the largest for the specimens prepared by wet
tion. This indicates that the shorter axes of sand particles were
mainly vertical in the case of wet tamping. The vertical sections
prepared by dry pluviation and vibration exhibited rather uni-
form distributions of the contact-plane angles. The moisture of
the sand mass in wet tamping might have helped the shorter axes
of the sand particles "stand up" vertically by sticking them to-
and "stable" fabric.
This study has also shown that wet tamping tends to produce
distributions of local void ratios with well-defined peaks near the
average void ratio compared to dry pluviation. This implies that
the specimens prepared by wet tamping have a smaller deviation
of local void ratios than those prepared by dry pluviation. Thus,
tamping in the wet condition produced more homogeneous fabric
than that by dry pluviation.
Fabric after Liquefaction
Application of cyclic shear tends to alter the initial fabric of
sand, as most previous studies found. The frequency distributions
of the contact-plane angles within the horizontal and vertical
sections of the specimens that experienced initial liquefaction are
shown in Fig. 9. Cyclic loading was terminated with zero torsional
stress immediately after the initial liquefaction was achieved. The
initial liquefaction in this study represents the condition in which
the excess pore pressure reached the initial effective vertical
stress. The initial relative density of these specimens was 50%,
and the results in Fig. 9 are for specimens liquefied with a cyclic
stress ratio of 0.25. Typically, the specimens prepared by wet
tamping reached initial liquefaction (100% excess pore pressure
development in this study) in 15 cycles, while those prepared by
dry pluviation achieved the initial liquefaction in 10 cycles. The
cyclic strain amplitude at the initial liquefaction was about 0.09%
for the specimens prepared by wet tamping and about 0.05% for
those prepared by dry pluviation.
The horizontal sections by dry pluviation and vibration show
that the frequency distributions of the contact-plane angles tend
to be more random than those of freshly prepared specimens
(see Fig. 7). The specimens prepared by wet tamping, on the
other hand, tend to have stronger preferred angles at 90 and
270 ° after initial liquefaction. The vertical sections by dry plu-
viation and vibration show that the frequency distributions of
the contact-plane angles tend to have stronger peaks at 90 and
270 ° than those of freshly prepared specimens. The specimens
prepared by wet tamping, on the other hand, tend to show less
concentrations at 90 and 270 ° after liquefaction.
Similar information was obtained also for the specimens with
the initial relative densities of 60 and 70% and for specimens
liquefied at cyclic stress ratios of 0.15 and 0.35. These data dem-
onstrated the same trends summarized above. The distributions
of the contact-plane angles for the specimens with the initial
relative density of 50% and liquefied at a cyclic stress ratio of
0.35 are shown in Fig. 10 demonstrate our findings. Therefore,
the density and cyclic stress ratio for the ranges tested appears
 IBRAHIM AND KAGAWA ON SAND FABRIC 377

Occurrence in %

90 deg. 0 5 10
[ J J I J

Radial Distance Scale

9Odeg. 90 deg

0 deg. 0 deg.
0 deg.
180 deg. 180 deg. 180 deg.

270 deg. 270 deg.

270 deg.

Pluviation Vibration Tamping

(a) Horizontal Sections

Occurrence in %

0 5 10

90 deg.
Radial Distance Scale

90 deg.
90 deg.

0 deg. 0 deg, 0 deg.

180 de 180 deg. 180 deg.

270 deg. 270 deg.

270 deg.

Pluviation Vibration Tamping

(b) Vertical Sections

FIG. 7--Frequency distributions of contact-plane angles for a freshly prepared specimen at 50% relative density.

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378 GEOTECHNICAL TESTING JOURNAL

(a) Horizontal Section Fabric and Physical Properties of Sand

40.
The "randomness" of particle orientations and the degree of
o~
4- deviation of local void ratios within a sand mass may be consid-
30 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................

.c_ ered to affect various aspects of physical behavior of the sand.

m
0
Observations made by various investigators may be explained in
C 20 ................................................................................................................................................................................
the light of the findings from this study.
L., • +-
¢J
1 o ........................................................
~- .....................................................................................................................................
0 4- • m+ Static Strength
• 4- •
+ • • m m • • +
Mogami (1965) theoretically demonstrated that the internal
o'.0 014 018 112 116 2.0 angle of friction of a granular assembly depends not only on the
Local Void Ratio mean void ratio but also on the standard deviation of local void
ratios within the assembly. A granular assembly with larger
standard deviation from the mean was shown to have a smaller
friction angle than that with smaller deviation. Using a micro-
scopic observation method, Oda (1972) showed that the speci-
(b) Vertical Section
40 mens prepared by tapping (which tends to produce "random"
distributions of contact-plane angles) have smaller static strength
than those prepared by plunging (which produces more "regu-
30
.c_ ...........................................................................................................................................................................................
larly" arranged fabric). These findings may be qualitatively sup-
÷
ported by the findings of this study. This study showed that the
20 .......................................
~ ............................................................................................................................ specimens prepared by wet tamping resulted in "regular" fabric
¢D
and stronger cyclic resistance than those by dry pluviation and
¢.) 10 ........................
~ ................................
n .................................................................................................. vibration. Therefore, the specimens prepared by wet tamping
O + •
• ÷ n
+ m • • are expected to have higher static strength than those by dry
÷ m ÷ +m
• + + m
pluviation and vibration.
0.0 014 018 1'2 116 2.0
Local Void Ratio
Shear Modulus
Chen and Ishibashi (1990) showed from a numerical experi-
I - Dry Pluviation + Wet Tamping I ment that the shear modulus of a granular mass increases with
increase in its coordination number. The coordination number
FIG. 8--Frequency distributions of local void ratios for a freshly pre- is the average number of contact points per sand particle. A
pared specimen at 50% relative density. granular mass with a large standard deviation of local void ratios
has a smaller coordination number than a granular mass with a
smaller standard deviation of local void ratios. Therefore, the
to have a small effect on the alteration of the initial fabric of the granular mass with randomly arranged particles is expected to
test sand. have smaller shear modulus than a "regularly" arranged granular
Comparison of Figs. 7, 9, and 10 reveals several important mass. This implies that the specimens prepared by wet tamping
observations regarding the impact of cyclic loading on the initial have higher shear moduli than those by dry pluviation and vi-
fabrics of the test sand. The randomness of the contact-plane bration at the same density.
angles of the vertical sections by dry pluviation and dry vibration
reduces due to the application of cyclic loading to initial lique- Electrical Resistance
faction. These vertical sections after liquefaction have strong
peaks at 90 and 270° . This indicates that the shorter axes of the Mulilis, Seed, Chan, Mitchell, and Arulanandan (1977) re-
sand particles rotated and became predominantly vertical as a ported that the specimens prepared by wet tamping have higher
result of cyclic loading. On the other hand, the vertical sections electrical resistance than those prepared by dry pluviation. This
due to wet tamping appear to increase the randomness of the study clearly demonstrated that the specimens prepared by wet
contact-plane angles as a result of liquefaction. These observa- tamping have more "regularly" arranged fabrics than those pre-
tions suggest that the particle arrangement produced by wet pared by dry pluviation. Therefore, this difference in electrical
tamping is most stable among the arrangements produced by the resistance may be attributed to the difference in the randomness
three preparation methods. of fabrics.
Change of the distributions of local void ratios was also stud-
ied. For the specimens prepared by dry pluviation and dry vi-
Liquefaction Resistance
bration, the distributions had less deviation after liquefaction.
The distributions of local void ratios of the specimens prepared Mulilis, Seed, Chan, Mitchell, and Arulanandan (1977) showed
by wet tamping, however, were nearly identical to those of the that the specimens prepared by wet tamping have significantly
initial states. These findings appear to confirm the observations higher resistance to liquefaction than those prepared by dry plu-
made on the change of the contact-plane angles due to cyclic viation. From the present discussions it is also clear that the
loading. specimens prepared by wet tamping have higher friction angles,

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 IBRAHIM AND KAGAWA ON SAND FABRIC 379

Occurrence in %
5 10 90 deg.
I I I I

Radial DistanceScale

90 deg. 90deg.

I I
0 deg. ~ 0 deg. 0 deg.

180deg. ~ 180 deg.

u ~

[
270 deg. 270 deg.

270 deg.

Pluviation Vibration Tamping

(a) Horizontal Sections

Occurrence in %
5 10
I l I I

Radial DistanceScale 90 deg.

90 deg. 90deg.

o,e 0 deg. 0 deg.

180 deg. 180 deg, 180 deg.

270 deg. 270 deg.

270 deg.

Pluviation Vibration Tamping

(b) Vertical Sections

FIG. 9--Frequency distributions of contact-plane angles for specimens with 50% relative density after initial liquefaction with CSR = 0.25.

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380 GEOTECHNICAL TESTING JOURNAL

Occurrence in %
0 5 10
[ I I I I
90 deg.
Radial Distance Scale
90 deg.
90deg.
I t

0 deg. ~ ~ 0 deg. 0 deg.

180 deg. 180 deg. ~ 180 deg.

I 270 deg.
270 deg,
270 deg.

Pluviation Vibration Tamping

(a) Horizontal Sections

Occurrence in %
0 5 10
I I I I I 90 deg.
Radial Distance Scale
90 deg.
90 deg.

0 deg. 0 deg. 0 deg.

8o, 0 180 deg. 180 deg. S ill

270 deg.
270 deg.

270 deg.

Pluviation Vibration Tamping

(b) Vertical Sections

FIG.lO--Frequency distributions of contact-plane angles for specimens with 50% relative density after initial liquefaction with CSR = 0.35.

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higher shear stiffness, and higher electrical resistance than those
prepared by dry pluviation due to the difference in fabric. The
studies by Mulilis, Seed, Chan, Mitchell, and Arulanandan (1977)
and Arulmodi, Arulanandan, and Seed (1985) demonstrated that
the electrical resistivity may be used as basis to determine the
liquefaction resistance of sand. Other studies have shown that
the liquefaction resistance of sand may be judged based on its
shear-wave velocity (i.e., Stokoe and Nazarian 1985). The find-
ings from the present study tend to support these efforts since
the difference in the fabric of sand has been shown to affect such
physical properties.
Resistance against Reliquefaction
Effects of liquefaction on the reliquefaction resistance of sand
may also be explained based on the findings of this study.
Previous studies have shown that undrained prestraining pro-
ducing liquefaction and limited flow deformation leaves a fabric
highly susceptible to liquefaction even after reconsolidation (Youd
1977; Seed et al. 1988). In the present study the specimens pre-
pared by wet tamping tended to have "randomly" arranged fab-
rics after liquefaction which were similar to the initial fabrics
produced by dry pluviation and dry vibration. Therefore, these
liquefied specimens are expected to have significantly less resist-
ance to liquefaction after reconsolidation than freshly prepared
ones. The previous studies also pointed out that undrained pres-
training producing liquefaction and large flow deformation leaves
a fabric less susceptible to liquefaction after reconsolidation. This
can also be explained in light of our findings. The specimens
prepared by dry pluviation and dry vibration had relatively "ran-
dom" arrangements of particles and of local void ratios. This
randomness reduced after initial liquefaction. The fabrics of these
specimens after liquefaction were similar to the initial fabrics of
the wet tamping cases. Therefore, these specimens are expected
to have significantly higher resistance to liquefaction after re-
consolidation than freshly prepared ones,
Concluding Comments
The major findings from this study and related comments are
itemized below:
1. Dry pluviation tends to produce more "random" particle
orientations and larger deviation of local void ratios than wet
tamping. The dry vibration method, on the other hand, resulted
in intermediate results. The specimens prepared by dry pluvia-
tion had the least resistance to liquefaction, whole those prepared
by wet tamping had the largest resistance. Therefore, the dis-
tributions of the contact-plane angles among sand particles and
the distributions of local void ratios strongly affect the liquefac-
tion resistance of sand.
2. Density has a negligible effect on the initial fabric of the
test sand for a range of relative density (Dr) being 50 to 70%.
3. Application of cyclic shear tends to alter the initial fabrics
of sand. For a "randomly" arranged sand mass, cyclic shearing
tends to line up the orientations of sand particles. For a "reg-
ularly" arranged sand mass, cyclic shearing tends to destroy its
preferred orientation of sand particles.
4. Static and cyclic behavior of sand may be explained by its
fabric.
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IBRAHIM AND KAGAWA ON SAND FABRIC 381
Results of this study are based on one specific sand, the Detroit
River sand. Some conclusions may not apply to other sands with
different characteristics, such as aspect ratio and gradation. More
studies of this type are needed to accumulate conclusive results
on this subject of study. Also, extensive future efforts, of course,
are needed to develop techniques to identify the fabrics of in
situ soils and to quantitatively relate such fabrics to their liq-
uefaction resistance.
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