Soil Liquefaction Assessment by Anisotropic Cyclic Triaxial Test

Liquefaction of saturated sandy soils is one of the most significant aspects of earthquake triggered natural hazards. The main mechanism deals with the loss of effective stress due to rapid pore water pressure generation during earthquake shaking. This chapter involves with the fundamental mechanism and impacts of liquefaction. Liquefaction susceptibility of geological environments are briefly represented for preliminary assessment. Standard procedures of liquefaction are summarized. The dynamic response of sands are also reviewed. A case of anisotropic loading is considered, using three different particle sized sands below a shallow footing. Such sandy soils are subjected to anisotropic consolidation before performing undrained cyclic triaxial testing along limited cycles. Variation of axial strain, pore water pressure and related parameters are investigated. Main outcome of this study is to review the initial liquefaction state of sands by anisotropic loading case.