Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):948–962

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-020-00433-3

ORIGINAL PAPER

Evaluation of Dynamic Properties of Partially Saturated Sands

Using Cyclic Triaxial Tests
Pradipta Chakrabortty1 • Aaditaya Raj Roshan2 • Angshuman Das1

Received: 15 November 2019 / Accepted: 27 April 2020 / Published online: 12 May 2020
Ó Indian Geotechnical Society 2020

Abstract A series of strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests Keywords Partially saturated  Dynamic properties 
were conducted to estimate the dynamic properties and the Strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests 
cyclic behaviour of partially saturated synthetic fine- and Skempton’s coefficient B  EPWP model
medium-grained sand. The soil samples were prepared for
the cyclic triaxial test at low (RD B 20%) and high relative List of Symbols
density (RD C 60%). The test results of fine- and medium- AD Area of the triangle
grained sand revealed that both shear modulus and damp- Arect Area of the rectangle
ing ratio reduces with the increase in the initial degree of AL Loop area
saturation (expressed in terms of Skempton’s coefficient ASRpeak Peak average stress ratio
B). The maximum excess pore water pressure (EPWP) ratio B Skempton’s coefficient for pore water pressure
development at initial cycles follows an increasing trend parameter
with the increase in the B coefficient. The studied fine sand Ba Pore air pressure coefficient
is found to be affected more by the initial degree of satu- Bw Pore water pressure coefficient
ration due to more voids present in it. Another novel aspect Cc Coefficient of curvature
documented here is the effect of initial soil saturation on Cu Coefficient of uniformity
the Dobry’s EPWP model parameter F. The model D Damping ratio
parameter F has been modified depending on the initial D50 Mean diameter of soil
degree of saturation, relative density and grain size of the Esec Secant Young’s modulus
soil sample. Esec,initial Initial secant Young’s modulus
Ginitial Initial shear modulus
Gmax Maximum shear modulus
Ks Bulk modulus of sand
Kw Bulk modulus of water
N Number of cycles
& Pradipta Chakrabortty NL Number of cycles required for liquefaction
pradipt@iitp.ac.in n Porosity
Aaditaya Raj Roshan p0 Mean effective stress
f2016785@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in patm Atmospheric pressure
Angshuman Das q0 Deviatoric stress
dasangshuman6@gmail.com ru Excess pore water pressure ratio
1 Sr Initial degree of saturation
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Indian
Institute of Technology Patna, Bihta, Bihar 801106, India ua Pore air pressure
2 uw Pore water pressure
Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of
Technology and Science Pilani, Pilani, Rajasthan 333031, r03 Effective confining pressure
India rd Deviatoric stress

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Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):949–962 949

r0 Confining stress considering saturated, and partially saturated soil

sc Cyclic shear stress [2, 14–17]. However, liquefaction in the soil is a large
l Poisson’s ratio strain phenomenon. A very limited number of studies are
e Axial strain available in the literature regarding the saturation effect on
c Shear strain the soil responses at high strain levels [8, 18, 19].
cc Cyclic shear strain The soil conditions are described using the terminology
ctvc Threshold cyclic shear strain ‘unsaturated’, ‘partially saturated’ and ‘fully saturated’
cd;min Minimum dry density based on the degree of saturation (Sr). The distinction
cd;max Maximum dry density between unsaturated, partially saturated and fully saturated
w Matric suction conditions can be illustrated using Fig. 1 [20]. In the
unsaturated soil, matric suction (w) (defined as the differ-
Abbreviations ence between the pore air and water pressure) significantly
ASHL Asymmetric hysteresis loop controls the behaviour of soil [20–24]. Large matric suction
comp Compression comes into effect due to the surface tension developed at
CRD Constant relative density the pore air and water interfaces within soil structures in
EPWP Excess pore water pressure the soil layer located above the groundwater table. In that
ext Extension soil layer, there are continuous air phases within soil
FS Fine sand structures, as shown in Fig. 1. The confining stress ðr0 Þ
MS Medium sand increases with the increase in depth, which ultimately
RD Relative density increases in pore air and water pressures. The pore pressure
SHL Symmetric hysteresis loop coefficients (Ba ¼ ddrua and Bw ¼ ddurw ) can express the rates
0 0
of increases. In the partially saturated soil occluded air
bubbles become predominant. This transition from unsat-
Introduction urated to partially saturated condition is most likely to
occur above the groundwater table. At some point the
Extensive loss of life and damages of important structures matric suction becomes negligible, which makes two-pore
during earthquakes in the past (e.g. 1964 Nigata earth- pressure coefficients equal (Ba  Bw ). However, the pore
quake) and also in the recent times (e.g. 2019 Ridgecrest water pressure coefficient Bw is lower than 1 due to the
earthquakes) increase necessitate the knowledge about the presence of occluded air bubbles. This assumption is
seismic ground response of a site. Earlier studies reported impractical for silts and clays, but is fairly reasonable for
that seismic ground response could vary depending on the sands. The pore water pressure ultimately becomes equal to
inherent dynamic properties of soil. Shear modulus and 1 at full saturated condition [22]. In addition, Jafarzadeh
damping ratio (two important dynamic properties) are often and Sadeghi [19] concluded in their study that at a higher
significantly influenced the seismic ground response. Those saturation level (degree of saturation is more than 75%),
dynamic properties as well as the cyclic behaviour of soil the effect of degree of saturation was found to be signifi-
largely depend on various parameters such as frequency of cant on the dynamic behaviour of soil. However, the
loading, grain size distribution parameters, applied stress/ quantification of the degree of saturation effect on dynamic
strain amplitude (depending on the type of test), effective response is not available in the literature.
confining pressure, relative density and degree of saturation Therefore, this present study emphasizes on quantifica-
[1–3]. tion of saturation effect on the dynamic properties and the
Dynamic properties and cyclic behaviour of soil were cyclic behaviour of partially saturated fine- and medium-
estimated in previous studies using different testing meth- grained sand at different relative densities and initial
ods such as bender element test, resonant column test, degree of saturation (varies from 86 to 99%). Fine- and
cyclic triaxial test, cyclic simple shear test [4–8]. In some medium-grained sand for the present study were collected
of those studies, experiments were conducted for a wide from the locally available natural sand. The soils were
strain range. A considerable variation in the dynamic collected and separated using different aperture sieves. A
properties as well as in the cyclic behaviour of soil at series of strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests (r03 constant,
different strain levels had been reported [9–12]. This pore water-undrained and pore air-undrained condition)
variation of cyclic resistance at high strain (shear strain were performed (± 0.5 mm cyclic axial displacement
C 0.01%) compared to that at small strain was mainly due amplitude) on both fine- and medium-grained partially
to the damping ratio of soil which increases as the induced saturated soil samples prepared at different relative densi-
strain level increases [13]. The dynamic behaviour of soil ties. Skempton’s pore pressure parameter (B-value) has
at small strain was already reported in some studies been used to indicate the achieved degree of saturation in

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Fig. 1 a Conceptual interpretation of fully saturated, partially saturated and unsaturated soil deposits, b the field condition of the soil elements
above and below the groundwater table
soil samples. The discussion on the cyclic triaxial test
results shows that the shear modulus and cyclic resistance
decrease with the increase in the initial degree of saturation
in both medium and fine-grained sands, independent of its
relative density. Also, an effort has been initiated to
quantify the effect of the initial degree of saturation on
EPWP model parameter F (as proposed by [25]). This
proposed model has been modified in previous studies
[26, 27] to model EPWP generation in partially saturated
soil also. It can be concluded from the results that
parameter F increases with the increase in Skempton’s
coefficient B. However, further research has been needed to
validate this proposed modification of the parameter F for
various types of soil.
Research Significant
The primary focus of this study was to quantify the effect
of the initial degree of saturation on the dynamic properties
of sandy soils. The following findings are highlighted in
this manuscript:
1. The shear modulus and damping ratio both reduce with
the increase in the initial degree of saturation due to the
decrease in the compressibility of the pore fluid
containing air bubbles.
2. The damping ratio has been calculated using three
different methods, and it has been found that SHL
methods can underestimate the damping ratio com-
pared to the other two methods (ASHL and modified
ASTM method).
3. Due to high initial degree of saturation, the final EPWP
developed in most of the sand sample is near to unity
after the completion of tests. However, the EPWP
development at initial cycles decreases with the
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Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):950–962
decrease in the initial degree of saturation due to the
higher compressibility of the pore fluid in the presence
of the air bubble in it.
4. Design recommendations are provided on EPWP
development in the partially saturated soil. A mathe-
matical model has been proposed based on Vucetic and
Dobry model [25] to calculate the EPWP development
numerically. A novel aspect of this study is the
proposed modification of EPWP model parameter F
based on the initial degree of saturation.
Material Characteristics
Natural sand available at the campus has been used in the
present study. The collected sand was first oven-dried and
then segregated into fine sand (FS) and medium sand (MS),
using a different aperture of sieves. The sand passing
through 2 mm sieve and retained on 425 lm sieve was
considered as medium sand, and the sand passing through
425 lm sieve and retained on 75 lm sieve was considered
as fine sand [28]. The grain size distribution parameters and
index properties of both fine- and medium-grained sand are
given in Table 1. Grain size distribution curves for FS and
MS, obtained from dry sieve analysis, are shown in Fig. 2.
From the particle size distribution curve, both sands can be
classified as poorly graded sand. The figure also shows that
both grain size distribution curves of FS and MS lie in the
severely liquefiable zone, as suggested in the previous
study by Tsuchida [29].
Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):951–962
Table 1 Physical properties of locally available sand segregated into
fine- and medium sands
Properties
Specific gravity
cd;max (g/cc)
cd;min (g/cc)
D50 (mm)
Coefficient of uniformity (Cu)
Coefficient of curvature (Cc)
100
Finer by weight (%)
80
60
40
20
Medium sand
0
Fine sand
10 1 0.1
Particle size (mm)
Fig. 2 Gradation curve of tested fine and medium sand
Testing Methodology
A series of strain-controlled cyclic triaxial experiments
were conducted using an automated hydraulic-controlled
cyclic triaxial apparatus at the soil dynamics laboratory in
IIT Patna. The guidelines provided in ASTM D-5311-11
[30] were followed to perform all experiments. Sample
preparation in triaxial tests is considered as an important
step. Because the soil fabric and its changes taking place
during sample preparation and saturation play a paramount
role in the mechanical behaviour of cohesionless soil
[31, 32]. All soil samples for this study were prepared
using a 38 mm diameter and 76 mm long split mould. The
mould was fixed with the base using a removable clamp.
The assembly was connected to a vacuum during the
placing of the membrane to prevent necking during sample
preparation [33]. The dry pluviation method using the fixed
diffuser technique was used in this study to prepare the
sample [34, 35]. The pluviator was shaken by hand in the
horizontal direction during sample preparation, as recom-
mended by Presti et al. [36] so that the soil particles do not
concentrate along the circumference of the mould. The
sand particles were allowed to fall freely from a pre-de-
cided height through the diffuser to achieve the target soil
density. From the weight of particle poured into the mould
and the volume of the sample, the actual density was
951
calculated. A relation between the height of fall and rela-
tive density was estimated for fine- and medium-grained
Fine sand Medium sand sand which were used further in sample preparation. The
soil samples were prepared at low relative density (RD
2.69 2.7
B 20%) and high relative density (RD C 60%). The suc-
1.60 1.65 tion of 10 kPa was applied until the starting of saturation to
1.38 1.42 remove the air present in the voids. The sample was sat-
0.23 0.55 urated by passing de-aired water through the back-pressure
1.86 1.28 line. After the target saturation was achieved or the B-value
1.04 0.96 reached equal to the target value, the specimens were
isotropically consolidated under effective confining pres-
sure of 150 kPa. The test parameters used in the experi-
ments are given in Table 2. In the strain-controlled triaxial
tests a sinusoidal motion with axial displacement amplitude
Boundaries for most
of ± 0.5 mm (axial strain ea = ± 0.66%, shear strain =
liquefiable soil (as
per Tsuchida 1970) ± 0.99%) and frequency of 1 Hz was applied which
replicate the large strain cyclic loading on soil.
Initial Degree of Saturation
The degree of saturation for a sample is defined as the ratio
0.01 between the total volume of water present in the voids and
the total volume of voids. The estimation of the degree of
saturation during testing is necessary to study the beha-
viour of partially saturated sands. Unfortunately, measuring
the degree of saturation at the end of the consolidation
stage is very difficult because it often leads to the
destruction of a sample [37]. So, for ease of the study
various relationships were established between Skempton’s
coefficient B (can be easily measured from the increase in
the confining pressure and corresponding EPWP incre-
0
ment; B ¼ Du=Dr3 ) and degree of saturation. In this study
the following expression was used to correlate the B and
initial degree of saturation (Sr):
1
Bð u w Þ ¼ ð1Þ
1 þ nSKrwKs þ uwnK
þpatm ð1  Sr Þ
s
where n is the porosity of the soil, Kw and Ks are the bulk
modulus of water and sand in kPa, uw and patm indicates the
pore pressure in soil and the atmospheric pressure conse-
quently and can be expressed in kPa. Figure 3 illustrates
the relationship between B and Sr for both fine- and med-
ium-grained sand. It can be observed from the figure that
the Sr varies from 86 to 99% in fine-grained sand. How-
ever, for medium-grained sand, it varies from 92 to 99%
for similar B-value variation.
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Table 2 Cyclic triaxial test parameters for analysis of sand samples
Sand type Particle size Relative density
Fine sand 425–75 lm Loose (RD B 20%)
Dense (RD C 60%)
Medium sand 2 mm–425 lm Loose (RD B 20%)
Dense (RD C 60%)
Effect of Initial Degree of Saturation on Dynamic
Properties and Behaviour of Fine- and Medium-
Grained Sand
Shear modulus and damping ratio are two fundamental
dynamic properties, and that control the cyclic behaviour
of soil significantly. Both shear modulus and damping ratio
were calculated from the hysteresis loop formed during the
cyclic triaxial tests using the expression illustrated in
Fig. 4. From the figure, it can be observed that the shear
modulus of soil is independent of the shape of the hys-
teresis loop (symmetric or asymmetric). However, the
damping ratio depends on the shape of the hysteresis loop.
From the literature, three methods for estimation of
damping ratio were used in the present study. The first
method as suggested in ASTM- D3999 and followed in
some studies [9, 10, 38], the damping ratio was calculated
considering the symmetrical hysteresis loop (as shown in
Fig. 4a). The method is referred to as the symmetrical
hysteresis loop (SHL) method in this present study. How-
ever, the hysteresis loops obtained from cyclic triaxial tests
are not always symmetric [10, 39–41]. This asymmetry in
the hysteresis loops was considered in the other two
regenerated methods and mentioned in this study as
asymmetric hysteresis loop (ASHL) method and modified
ASTM method (as shown in Fig. 4b, c, respectively).
(a)
1 1
Skempton's coefficient B
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2 Fine sand
Medium sand
0 0
85 90 95
Degree of saturation (Sr in %)
Fig. 3 Relationship between Skempton’s coefficient B and Sr in fine- and medium-grained sand a loose condition, b dense condition
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Skempton’s coefficient B Effective Cyclic axial displacement
confining stress (kPa) amplitude (mm)
0.13, 0.33, 0.47, 0.68, 0.84 150 ± 0.5
0.12, 0.23, 0.52, 0.73, 0.85
0.12, 0.34, 0.56, 0.7, 0.87
0.11, 0.31, 0.58, 0.74, 0.87
Effect on Shear Modulus
Figure 5 illustrates the influence of the initial degree of
saturation on shear modulus developed in fine and medium
sand at the 5th and 10th loading cycles. The results high-
light the reduction in the shear modulus of partially satu-
rated sands with an increase in the initial degree of
saturation. The reason behind this reduction in shear
modulus with the increase in B-value could be due to the
fact that the air bubbles are entrapped in the partially sat-
urated sand voids. It is assumed that the occluded air
bubbles in the pores are much more compressible than
water itself because of the air dispersed in the water
[22, 42, 43]. When the load has been applied to the par-
tially saturated sand, the stress transmitted to the pore
water containing air and gradually to the soil skeleton.
Since matric suction is negligible for partially saturated soil
[44, 45]; therefore, the combined pore (water and air)
pressure has been measured in the present study as pore
water pressure. Due to the increase in the compressibility
of the pore fluid in the presence of occluded air bubbles,
the excess pore water pressure generated in the partially
saturated sand at any loading cycle becomes less than that
in fully saturated sands. Lower EPWP development means
higher stiffness of the soil. Therefore, the shear modulus is
reduced with the reduction in amount of occluded air
bubbles in the sand. It can be also observed from Fig. 5,
that fine sand is more influenced by the degree of saturation
compared to medium sand. After 5th loading cycle, the
(b)
Skempton's coefficient B
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2 Fine sand
Medium sand
100 85 90 95 100
Degree of saturation (Sr in %)
Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):953–962 953

Fig. 4 Three different methods for calculating dynamic properties of soil a symmetric hysteresis loop (SHL), b asymmetric hysteresis loop
(ASHL), c modified ASTM method

(a) (b)
12 12
Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%) 10th loading cycle
Shaer mdoulus (MPa)

Shaer mdoulus (MPa)

10 Fine sand (RD ≥ 60%) 10

Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)
8 Medium sand (RD ≥ 60%) 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
5th loading cycle
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Skempton's coefficicent B Skempton's coefficicent B

Fig. 5 Variation of shear modulus with Skempton’s coefficient B in fine and medium sand with very loose and very dense relative compaction
condition at a 5th loading cycle, b 10th loading cycle

change in the shear modulus is about 85% in fine sand with
the change in the B value. But, for medium sand it is about
60% at loosely compacted condition. The reason behind it
could be the presence of more voids in fine sand compare
to that in medium sand. So, the influence of occluded air
bubbles is more prominent in fine sand.
Further, it can be observed at a lower Sr (Fig. 6a), the
initial slope of the stress path (h) is close to 45°. It can also
be observed from Fig. 6 that at a higher Sr continuous
decrease in the mean effective stress occurs followed by a
dilation as observed in the case of limited liquefaction [46]
condition. It can be inferred from the figure that in loose

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fine sand, the threshold limit of Skempton B-value is pre-
sent somewhere between 0.47 and 0.68 where the soil
shows ‘‘flow’’ condition (contractive or limited liquefaction
behaviour) instead of ‘‘no flow’’ (dilative behaviour) con-
dition under cyclic loading. A similar observation was also
reported in the literature for loosely compacted Toyoura
sand under triaxial compression test [22]. Therefore, it can
be concluded that the dynamic behaviour of soil can
change drastically depending on the Sr under the same
cyclic loading and the soil resistance decreases with the
increase in Sr (shown in Fig. 6f).
The effect of Sr and grain size on shear modulus
degradation is shown in Fig. 7. It can be inferred from
results that as the Sr reduces, it takes a large number of
cycles to degrade the shear modulus. The reason behind
this has already been explained in the previous section
using the soil skeleton-void formation in the partially
(a)
(c)
(e)
Fig. 6 Effective stress path of loose fine sand for different initial degree of saturation a Sr = 87%, b Sr = 94%, c Sr = 96%, d Sr = 98%,
e Sr = 99%, f q0max variation with number of loading cycles
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saturated sand. More amounts of occluded air bubbles are
present in the sand with a lower degree of saturation. This
hinders the generation of EPWP in partially saturated soil.
Therefore, it has been taking more number of cycles to
degrade the shear modulus. Also, it can be observed in
Fig. 7b that the medium sand shows high resistance com-
pared to fine sand irrespective of its relative density. The
reason behind it is the larger grain size of MS, which shows
more resistance towards the cyclic load compares to FS.
Figure 5a, b also illustrate the effect of relative density on
the shear modulus developed in fine- and medium-grained
sand. It can be proclaimed from the figure that at a par-
ticular initial saturation value the shear modulus is high in
dense sand as compared to loose sand (also see Fig. 7b),
due to an increase in the inter-particle contact stress. A
similar observation was also documented in the literature
[44].
(b)
(d)
(f)
Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):955–962
(a)10
Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)
B=0.13
Shear modulus (MPa)
B=0.33
8 B=0.47
B=0.68
6 B=0.84
4 4
2 2
0 0
1 10 100
Number of cycles
Fig. 7 Shear modulus degradation with the number of loading cycles a effect of Sr, b effect of soil grain size and density
Effect on Damping Ratio
The damping ratio is another important dynamic property
of the soil, which indicates the energy dissipated in each
cycle as the loading progresses. The changes in the
damping ratio of fine sand with the change in Skempton’s
coefficient B are significant (about 24% decrement in the
damping ratio for the variation of Skempton’s coefficient
B from 0.1 to 0.9 at 5th loading cycle) as compared to that
for medium sand (about 9% decrement in the damping ratio
for the same variation of Skempton’s coefficient B) (shown
in Fig. 8a). The reason is already elaborated earlier during
the discussion on the variation of shear modulus with the
degree of saturation for fine and medium sand (discussion
on Fig. 5). However, the interesting fact is that the change
in the damping ratio with the B-value is not in conjugation
with the change in the stiffness. As reported in a recent
study by Jafarzadeh et al. [8], this is also another experi-
mental proof that in addition to shear modulus which is
inversely proportional to damping ratio, other mechanisms
like lubrication also have a notable contribution in damping
characteristics of the soil. As the degree of saturation
increases, inter-particle lubrication tends to facilitate slip-
page and relative displacement between sand particles
under cyclic loading. This mechanism implies that water
lubrication should result in a reduction in the damping.
These two opposite contributors, i.e. stiffness and lubrica-
tion, result in the lower damping at a higher degree of
saturation than that corresponding to the maximum shear
modulus [47].
Figure 9 illustrates the comparison of the calculated
damping ratio of soil in loose fine and medium sand at a
lower and higher Skempton’s coefficient B. It can be
observed from the figure for both fine- and medium-grained
sand, that the SHL underestimates the damping ratio of soil
compare to ASHL and modified ASTM method. It is due to
the fact that asymmetricity has been considered in both
ASHL and modified ASTM methods. At large strain, the
hysteresis loop becomes ‘‘S-shape’’ (where strain exceeds
955
(b) 10
B ≈ 0.5 Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)
Shear modulus (MPa)
Fine sand (RD ≥ 60%)
8 Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)
Medium sand (RD ≥ 60%)
6
1 10 100
Number of cycles
approximately 1%) instead of the ‘‘spindle-shape’’ which
has been observed at small strain [48]. Therefore, the
regenerated asymmetric model represents the damping
ratio more accurately at large strain. It can also be inferred
from the figure that the damping ratio decreases with the
increase in saturation in both fine- and medium-grained
sand. Brennan et al. [49] in their study also reported that
under large strain, the soil has immediately been taken into
a state of complete liquefaction. In that state, the frictional
energy loss in the soil skeleton is significantly reduced, and
soil particles lose contact with each other. In this present
study, the soil approaches similar states of complete liq-
uefaction very quickly as the Sr increases and thus, the
damping ratio of soil reduced.
Effect on EPWP Development
This subsection briefly discusses the degrees of saturation
effect on EPWP development and initiation of liquefaction
in soil. From the discussion of previous subsections, it is
evident that the presence of the occluded air bubbles in the
pore water plays a vital role in the deformation mechanism
under cyclic load at different degrees of saturation in par-
tially saturated soil. This occluded air bubbles increase the
compressibility of pore water and thus significantly con-
trols the EPWP developed in the soil under cyclic loading.
Figure 10 illustrates the effect of Sr and soil type on the
maximum EPWP ratio developed at various loading cycles.
It can be inferred from the figure that the maximum EPWP
development in each cycle increases with the degree of
saturation. The maximum EPWP signifies the maximum
EPWP developed at a particular cycle, as shown in the
inset figure in Fig. 10a. Faster and higher maximum EPWP
is developed in fine sand compared to that in medium sand.
The compressibility of the pore water is higher at a lower
degree of saturation due to the presence of occluded air
bubbles in the pore water. Because of this, less maximum
EPWP has been developed at a lower Sr compared to that at
a higher degree of saturation in any particular cycle.
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(a) (b)
35 35
5th loading cycle 10th loading cycle
Damping ratio (%)

Damping ratio (%)

30 30

25 25

20 20

15 Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%) 15 Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)

Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)
10 Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)
10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.5 1
Skempton's coefficient B Skempton's coefficient B

Fig. 8 Variation of damping ratio (calculated as per modified ASTM method) with the Skempton’s coefficient B for loose medium and fine sand
at a 5th loading cycle, b 10th loading cycle

(a) 40 (b) 40
Damping ratio (%)

Damping ratio (%)

30 30

20 20

10 10

Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%) Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)

0 0
1 10 1 10
Number of cycles Number of cycles

SHL (B=0.13) SHL (B=0.84) SHL (B=0.12) SHL (B=0.87)

Modified ASTM (B=0.13) Modified ASTM (B=0.84) Modified ASTM (B=0.12) Modified ASTM (B=0.87)
ASHL (B=0.13) ASHL(B=0.84) ASHL (B=0.12) ASHL(B=0.87)

Fig. 9 Variation in damping ratio with the number of loading cycles at lower (B & 0.1) and higher (B & 0.9) initial degree of saturation for
a loose fine, b loose medium sand

Figure 11 shows the effect of Sr on maximum EPWP
development with the number of loading cycles. It can be
inferred from the figure that sand density does not have
much effect on maximum EPWP development for FS
(Fig. 11a) in initial loading cycles. It can also be inferred
from the figure that the maximum EPWP developed at the
initial cycle increases more with the Sr in FS as compared
to that in MS. The reason behind it could be the presence of
fewer voids in coarser MS compared to that in FS. The
effect of relative density on liquefaction strength of fine

(a) (b)
1 1
B≈0.3 B ≈0.9
Maximum EPWP ratio
Maximum EPWP ratio

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6
Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)
0.4 0.4
Fine sand (RD ≥ 60%)
0.2 0.2 Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)
Medium sand (RD ≥ 60%)
0 0
1 10 100 1 10 100
Number of cycles Number of cycles

Fig. 10 Initial degree of saturation effect on the EPWP development in fine and medium sand a B & 0.3, b B & 0.9

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(a) 1 (b) 1

Maximum EPWP ratio

Maximum EPWP ratio

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.5 1
Skempton’s coefficient B Skempton’s coefficient B
Loose: Cycle 1 Loose: Cycle 3 Cycle 1 Cycle 3 Cycle 5
Loose: Cycle 5 Loose: Cycle 10
Cycle 10 Cycle 20 Cycle 50
Loose: Cycle 50 Dense: Cycle 1
Dense: Cycle 50

Fig. 11 Development of maximum EPWP as a function of initial degree of saturation a fine sand, b medium dense sand

ratio as well as the soil type. The strength of the soil

Number of cycles required for

Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)

100 expressed here in terms of developed peak average stress
Fine sand (RD ≥ 60%)
liquefaction (NL, ru=0.8)

ratio (ASRpeak). The ASRpeak is defined here as the average

Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)
of the two maximum stress ratios obtained from the
Medium sand (RD ≥ 60%)
strain-controlled cyclic triaxial test under compression
10 and extension
   loading condition (i.e.
rd max rd max
Comp ext
0 þ 0
2r 2r
3 3
ASRpeak ¼ 2 ). The developed stress
ratio at each cycle was plotted against the developed
1 maximum EPWP ratio at each cycle, as shown in Fig. 13.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
It can be observed that as the developed maximum EPWP
Skempton's coefficient B
increases with the increase in the number of loading cycles,
Fig. 12 Variation in the number of cycles required for liquefaction the ASR decreases and ultimately causes liquefaction. The
with the initial degree of saturation (in terms of Skempton’s figure also illustrates the effect of saturation on the cyclic
coefficient B) in fine and medium sand at different relative resistance of the soil. At a lower degree of saturation, slow
compaction conditions
degradation in the cyclic resistance due to less develop-
ment in EPWP at initial cycles was observed in both FS
and medium sand at various degrees of saturation can be
and MS. The reason is the increase in the compressibility
observed from Fig. 12. It depicts that MS is less susceptible
of pore water due to the presence of occluded air bubbles in
to liquefaction compared to FS as the number of cycles
it. In this study, some correlations have been established
required for initiating liquefaction in MS is higher irre-
between this degradation in cyclic resistance with the
spective of its relative density. As the Sr increases, the
maximum EPWP development for various sands studied
number of cycles required for initiating liquefaction redu-
here (as shown in Table 3 for MS and Table 4 for FS).
ces significantly (e.g. for dense MS, NL reduces from about
These equations can be used further for liquefaction
180 to 10 as the Skempton’s coefficient B value changes
strength calculation for identical soil type, site condition
from 0.12 to 0.84). The above results show the depen-
and motion characteristics. It can be concluded that the
dencies of liquefaction strength on the degree of saturation.
grain size and relative density are directly proportional to
If the soil is partially saturated, then the same soil can have
the cyclic resistance of soil at a particular degree of
high strength against liquefaction during an earthquake.
saturation.
Degradation of Stress Ratio Because
of the Development of EPWP

As discussed in the above section, the resistance against

liquefaction of the soil depends on the developed EPWP

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958 Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):958–962

(a) 0.8 (b) 0.8

Fine sand (RD ≥ 60%) Fine sand (RD ≤ 20%)
ASRpeak 0.6 0.6

ASRpeak
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2
B=0.12 B=0.52 B=0.85 B=0.13 B=0.47 B=0.84
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Maximum EPWP ratio Maximum EPWP ratio
(c) 1.2 (d) 1.2
Medium sand (RD ≥ 60%) Medium sand (RD ≤ 20%)
1 1
0.8 0.8

ASRpeak
ASRpeak

0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 B=0.11 B=0.58 B=0.87 0.2
B=0.12 B=0.56 B=0.7
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Maximum EPWP ratio Maximum EPWP ratio

Fig. 13 Variation in the degradation of peak ASR with the maximum EPWP ratio developed at each cycle in a dense fine sand, b loose fine sand,
c dense medium sand, d loose medium sand at various initial degree of saturation

EPWP Model Parameters with an Emphasis
on the Degree of Saturation
As discussed in the previous subsection, liquefaction
strength depends on the amount and rate of EPWP devel-
opment in various types of soils. Dobry et al. [25] proposed
a mathematical model for calculating the EPWP ratio as a
function of the number of loading cycles. This EPWP
model has been updated in previous studies [26, 27] to
propose a model for partially saturated soil. In one of that
study, the degree of saturation was varied from 40 to 90%
(unsaturated and partially saturated condition) [27].
However, in the present study, the initial degree of satu-
ration has been varying between 86 and 99% (partially
saturated condition). Eseller-Bayat [26] also showed that
the degree of saturation varies negligibly (during the cyclic
shear load) with the number of cycles (very minimal
change in Sr in more than 200 cycles) for medium to large
strain range. Also, according to Fredlund and Rahardjo
[23], the excess air and water pressure generated in the
voids will be equal if the surface tension between air and
water is neglected due to air being in bubble form in partial
saturation condition. When an external load is applied, air
and water in the pores will experience the same excess

Table 3 Correlations between peak ASR and maximum EPWP ratio developed at each cycle in medium sand for different relative densities at
different degrees of saturation
B-value Correlation R2

Medium dense sand (RD C 60%)

0.11 ASRpeak ¼ 1:11ru2max þ 0:06rumax þ 1:02 1
0.58 ASRpeak ¼ 2:16ru2max þ 1:80rumax þ 0:30 0.99
0.87 ASRpeak ¼ 2:09ru2max þ 1:78rumax þ 0:19 0.99
Medium loose sand (RD B 20%)
0.12 ASRpeak ¼ 1:22ru2max þ 0:59rumax þ 0:59 0.99
0.56 ASRpeak ¼ 1:23ru2max þ 0:81rumax þ 0:40 1
0.7 ASRpeak ¼ 1:17ru2max þ 0:89rumax þ 0:23 0.99

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Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):959–962 959

Table 4 Correlations between peak ASR and maximum EPWP ratio developed at each cycle in fine sand for different relative densities at
different degrees of saturation
B-value Correlation R2

Fine dense sand (RD C 60%)

0.12 ASRpeak ¼ 0:9ru2max þ 0:2rumax þ 0:71 1
0.52 ASRpeak ¼ 1:23ru2max þ 0:81rumax þ 0:4 0.99
0.85 ASRpeak ¼ 1:63ru2max þ 1:66rumax  0:06 0.99
Fine loose sand (RD B 20%)
0.13 ASRpeak ¼ 0:79ru2max þ 0:44rumax þ 0:43 1
0.47 ASRpeak ¼ 1:04ru2max þ 0:78rumax þ 0:24 0.99
0.84 ASRpeak ¼ 0:92ru2max þ 0:71rumax þ 0:19 0.98

pressure increment [23, 26]. Therefore, the pore air and
pore water pressure measured in terms of EPWP ratio (ru )
in the present study. This maximum EPWP ratio value at
end of the test reaches almost near unity in each test
(shown in Fig. 10). So, the Dobry ‘s EPWP model is fol-
lowed and the EPWP parameter F (shown in Eq. 2) has
been modified in the present study based on the initial
degree of saturation. The proposed mathematical equation
for the model can be further rearranged as follows
[25, 50, 51]:
1 1 1 study that shows the direction for the use of the proposed
¼ þ
ru p pFfN ðcc  ctvc Þs
where p, F and s are the model parameters, f = 1 or 2
depending on whether the loading is one or two-directional,
cc = cyclic shear strain amplitude and ctvc = threshold
cyclic shear strain amplitude. Based on the literature, it has
been observed that the reciprocals of maximum EPWP
ratio and the number of cycles followed a linear
relationship between them [51]. Eq. 2 can be represented
using the following expression:
1 1
¼a þb
ru N
where ru is the maximum EPWP ratio in each loading
cycles, and N is the number of loading cycles. The intercept
b is almost equal to 1 as the maximum EPWP ratio
development in all the cyclic triaxial tests reaches close to
unity at the end of the test. However, the slope a was
different for different B-values and also for different sands
studied here. Figure 14 shows the linear relationship for the
loose fine sand, where the Skempton’s coefficient B varies
from 0.13 to 0.84. In the present study, as the loading was
1-dimensional, f = 1 was taken into consideration. The
other two parameters, s, and ctvc were assumed as 1 and
0.015%, respectively [52, 53]. The value of parameter p,
which is reciprocal of b, was obtained very close to 1 for
each B-value and also considered as unity in the previous
study [54]. Further, from the a value, the model parameter
F can be determined. The value of F can vary depending on
the grain size and relative density of the sand, as shown in
Fig. 15. In the previous study, this model parameter F was
found to be varying with shear wave velocity, relative
density, SPT blow count or normalized cone resistance
[51, 55]. However, the value of F has been expressed as a
function of the initial degree of saturation, relative density
and grain size of the soil in the present study (shown in
Fig. 15). This is a significant contribution of the present
ð2Þ EPWP model in partially saturated soil.
Conclusions
A series of strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests (r0 con-
stant, pore water-undrained and pore air-undrained condi-
tion) were conducted on the partially saturated fine- and
medium-grained sand samples. The samples have been
prepared either at a very loose compacted condition (RD
B 20%) or at dense relative density (RD C 60%), to
ð3Þ quantify the effect of Sr on the dynamic behaviour of
cohesionless soil. The Skempton’s coefficient B for these
triaxial tests varies from 0.11 to 0.87, which represents the
variation in the Sr ranging from 86 to 99%. From the detail
discussion on these test results, various conclusions were
drawn in this study.
Shear modulus at large strain for both fine- and medium-
grained soil decreases with the increase in the degree of
saturation. As a possible reason, the presence of occluded
air bubbles in the pore water of partially saturated fine- and
medium-grained sand was briefly discussed. The fine-
grained sand was found to be more affected due to the
change in the Sr as compared to medium-grained sand
because of the presence of more voids in the soil structure.
However, both sands show dilative behaviour (‘‘no flow’’
condition) under cyclic load at a lower Sr instead of very

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960 Indian Geotech J (December 2020) 50(6):960–962

(a) 16 (b) 3
B=0.13, R-square=1 B=0.47, R-square=0.95
B=0.33, R-square=0.99 2.5 B=0.68, R-square=0.93
12
B=0.84, R-square=0.95
2
1/ru

1/ru
8
1.5
4
1
0 0.5
0 0.5 1 0 0.5 1
1/N 1/N

Fig. 14 Relationship between 1/ru and 1/N for loose fine sand at different Skempton’s coefficient B a lower saturation, b higher saturation

(a) (b)
2.5 1

EPWP model parameter

EPWP model parameter

RD ≤ 20%, R-square=0.97 RD ≤ 20%, R-square=0.98

2 RD ≥ 60%, R-square=1 0.8
RD ≥ 60%, R-square=1
1.5 0.6

(F)
(F)

1 0.4

0.5 0.2
Fine sand Medium sand
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.5 1
Skempton's coefficient B Skempton's coefficient B

Fig. 15 Relationship between EPWP model parameter (F) and Skempton’s coefficient B at different relative densities for a fine sand, b medium
sand

low relative density. At a higher Sr (above the threshold
limit of Skempton’s B-value) both sands show a limited
liquefaction behaviour (‘‘flow’’ condition) under cyclic
loading.
The damping ratio was also affected due to the variation
in the degree of saturation. A decreasing trend in the
damping ratio was found for both medium and fine-grained
sand with the increase in Skempton’s coefficient B. This
phenomenon was observed due to the contribution of the
inter-particle water lubrication mechanism at different
saturation condition. Three different methods were used for
the estimation of the damping ratio. It can be concluded
from the results that the ASHL method gives a higher
damping ratio compared to the other two methods when the
hysteresis loop becomes ‘‘S-shape’’ (at higher strain)
instead of ‘‘spindle-shape’’.
A mathematical model has been proposed, based on
Dobry’s EPWP model, for partially saturated sands (con-
sidering the effect of occluded air bubbles in the pore
water). This study incorporates the effect of Sr on the
EPWP model parameter F. The EPWP model parameter
(F) was proposed as a function of Skempton’s coefficient
B for the studied sands (FS, and MS). Apart from providing
the model, the Sr effect on EPWP development and ASR
degradation were also studied. The relations for obtaining
peak ASR in each cycle as a function of the EPWP ratio
developed were proposed for the studied sands. It can be
proclaimed from this study that the model parameter F can
be modified depending on the degree of saturation, relative
density and grain size of the sand.
Acknowledgements The author(s) greatly acknowledge to IIT Patna
and Department of Higher Education (Govt. of India) for providing
the funding for present research work to carry out the doctoral
research study of third author for which no specific grant number has
been allotted.
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