An experimental investigation of the consolidation process under triangular cyclic loading

When saturated, clayey soils are subjected to compressive stress and there is a time lag between the applied stress and the extrusion of pore water; there is thus a lag in the settlement. Soils under structures such as silos, tanks and so on may be subjected to cyclic loading. The theories that can be used for the calculation of consolidated settlement under cyclic loadings, such as triangular cyclic loading, contain errors due to the assumptions used in the derivations of mathematical equations. Thus, using these theories can create significant errors. The characteristics of the cyclic load, the surcharge and the specimen can affect the consolidation settlement as well as the time to achieve a steady state. Thus, in this research, one-dimensional consolidation of clay subjected to triangular cyclic loading was experimentally investigated under several conditions. The results showed that the ultimate consolidation settlement of a clay layer and the time to reach this state decreased with an increase in surcharge and an increase in cyclic time. Furthermore, the experimental results showed significant differences from the results obtained using theoretical methods.