Cyclic Degradation Characteristics of Undisturbed Soft Clay considering Anisotropy

The stress‐strain characteristics of soil depend primarily on the previous stress history and stress path, thus related to both the stress magnitude and direction. To have a better understanding of the response of soft clay under heart‐shaped stress paths, 18 cyclic hollow cylinders tests were performed on undisturbed Hangzhou soft clay under different cyclic stress ratios, deviatoric consolidation ratios (K0), and loading frequencies. The result shows that as the vertical dynamic stress amplitude, K0 value, and loading frequency increase, the degradation index gradually decreases. Moreover, the degradation index of the soil under the cyclic torsion shear (CTS) test is always higher than that under the cyclic triaxial (CT) test. The increase in the amplitude of the cyclic stress ratio (CSR), K0 value, and the decrease in the loading frequency will promote the initial accumulative plastic strain and accelerate the failure rate of the soil sample; it shows that the effects of cyclic stress ratio amplitude, deviatoric consolidation ratios K0, and loading frequency on the accumulative plastic deformation of soil cannot be ignored. On the basis of the test results, a logarithmic relationship between the degradation index and the loading frequency is determined. A new empirical formula of accumulative plastic strain degradation of soft clay has been established, and its accuracy has been further verified by test data. The research results can provide theories for predicting and calculating the long‐term settlement and deformation of clay foundation.