EFFECT OF FINE CONTENT ON SOIL DYNAMIC PROPERTIES

Dynamic properties of soil have attracted an increasing attention among geotechnical engineers in Malaysia owing to the frequent earthquake incidents reported recently and the demand of high speed railway infrastructures. The present study investigated the effect of fine content on the soil dynamic properties based on three selected soils in Malaysia. One sand mining trail (i.e. silty sand) and two tropical residual soils (i.e. sandy clay and sandy silt) were tested on a 1 g shaking table. The experimental shear moduli were compared with the established degradation curves of sandy and clayey soils obtained from literature. The shear moduli attenuated with the increase of shear strain amplitude for the three soil samples. The amount of fine content in the soil was found to be a more dominant factor affecting the dynamic properties of soil compared with the plasticity and geological characteristics of the soil. The experimental shear moduli of sandy silt were similar to that of sandy clay. It may be attributed to the fact that the two studied residual soils have a similar amount of fine content. In addition, the shear moduli of the studied residual soils could not be fitted to the degradation curves of sand and clay which have been well studied in the past. The residual soils constituted unique dynamic properties that worth further investigation.