Cyclic liquefaction behaviour of a moderately cemented grouted sand under repeated loading

• Mineral–based grout is an effective method to reduce liquefaction risk of sands.
• The improvement is dependent on void ratio of sand and effective vertical stress.
• A beneficial effect of a cyclic large preshearing on riliquefaction was also found.
• Pore water pressure generation models for treated sand samples were proposed.

The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the effects of a previous cyclic history “triggering” full liquefaction on the subsequent undrained cyclic behaviour of a moderately cemented grouted sand in terms of strength, deformability and pore pressure response. The research was conducted on sand specimens stabilized by a commercial mineral based chemical grout (“Silacsol”), capable of imparting unconfined compression strength (UCS) values ranging between 500 kPa and 700 kPa. Monotonic shear strength parameters of treated specimens were preliminary assessed through a series of isotropically consolidated drained triaxial tests (TX-CID). Afterwards, stress-controlled undrained cyclic simple shear (SS) tests were conducted on both treated and untreated sand specimens in order to evaluate the improvement provided by the grout on the liquefaction resistance of the sand. A significant beneficial effect of the grout was observed, regardless of the initial density of the pure sand. Finally the influence of a cyclic large preshearing on the undrained cyclic behaviour of the grouted sand was investigated by subjecting the specimens to a sequence of two cyclic loadings with the same stress ratio (CSR). After the first loading in which specimens were brought to full liquefaction, they were allowed to reconsolidate in approximately K0 conditions and then subjected to the second loading. An increase in liquefaction resistance induced by cyclic history was clearly apparent on treated specimens.Excess pore pressures build-up during the first cyclic loading on treated specimens followed a different trend compared to that observed on untreated ones. A significant difference was also observed on the excess pore pressure trends developed in the second loading compared to that developed in the primary loading. A simple model for the prediction of pore water pressure build-up of grouted sands during cyclic loading is proposed.