CORRELATION BETWEEN LIQUEFACTION RESISTANCE AND SHEAR WAVE VELOCITY OF SAND CONTAINING NON-PLASTIC FINES

Soil liquefaction is one of the most complex and destructive geotechnical phenomena and, therefore, several methods have been used for the evaluation of liquefaction potential, among which the simplied method is mostly used. In this method, which is mainly based on the standard penetration test (SPT), cone penetration test (CPT) and shear wave velocity (Vs) measurement, a boundary curve is provided to separate liqueable and non-liqueable soil zones. Shear wave velocity measurement is a good alternative method to penetration-based methods (SPT and CPT tests). This is especially true in micro-zonation of the liquefaction potential. Although relatively large studies have been carried out to establish the correlation between shear wave velocity and liquefaction resistance for sands; there are uncertainties about the eects of non-plastic nes on the correlation. The objective of this research is to study the eects of nes on the correlation of shear wave velocity and liquefaction resistance. In this regard, cyclic triaxial and bender elements tests have been performed, and shear wave velocity and the liquefaction resistance of clean sand, and combinations of this sand with non-plastic nes up to 25%, have been measured. A simple, semi-empirical, semi-analytical method is proposed to establish a correlation between shear wave velocity and liquefaction resistance. The eects of non-plastic nes on the shear wave velocity and liquefaction resistance of silty sands have been examined in this study, and the eects of nonplastic nes on the correlations between these two parameters are considered. The results in this study show that an increase in the ratio of silt to sand will result in a decrease in shear wave velocity and liquefaction resistance. Based on these results, it is argued that the correlation between the shear wave velocity and liquefaction resistance of various combinations of sand and non-plastic nes is soil specic. Also, based on the results of this study, it is found that existing methods of liquefaction potential evaluation based on shear wave velocity may underestimate or overestimate the liquefaction resistance of silty sands.