An experimental study of the liquefaction strength of silty sands in terms of the state parameter

An elaborate program of monotonic and cyclic triaxial laboratory tests on mixtures of sand and silt with fines content 0%, 15% and 25% was performed to investigate the effect of density, consolidation stress and non-plastic fines on the liquefaction strength. The monotonic tests illustrated that the critical state lines of all mixtures do not cross each other, and are, approximately, parallel to each other. The results of the cyclic tests illustrated that the relationship between the cyclic strength and the state parameter does not depend on the consolidation stress, the soil density and the silt content. Analysis in terms of the state parameter showed that: (i) as the consolidation stress increases, the cyclic strength decreases and this effect is more pronounced as the specimens become denser, especially as the fines content increases and (ii) the cyclic strength decreases as the fines content increases and this effect is more pronounced as the specimens become denser.