Effects of Strain Amplitude on the Shear Modulus of Soils

Abstract : One hundred twenty-three simple shear tests of 24 different soils were conducted. Most were constant-amplitude repeated load tests. A few of the tests involved mixed amplitudes of loading with rest periods between loads. Based on the results, a practical procedure for reducing the shear modulus of soils with increasing strain amplitude was developed. It was shown that for a wide variety of soil types and conditions the procedure gives reasonably accurate results compared to values measured in the laboratory. The study of mixed amplitudes and rest periods indicated that the procedure can be applied to mixed traffic conditions.