Liquefaction of Cohesive Soils

Abstract

Liquefaction of sand, clean or with some fines content, has been extensively studied over the last three decades and is currently a phenomenon reasonably predictable. The study of cohesive soils behavior during and immediately after cyclic loading is especially difficult because of their structure variability and the major influence of structural characteristics on dynamic properties, which makes testing of reconstituted samples of little interest in evaluation of natural deposits. There are several categories of cohesive soils potentially liquefiable, which are considered in this paper: clayey silts or silty clays of low plasticity meeting the "Chinese Criteria"; highly sensitive clays; collapsible loess. Data from literature for better understanding of their susceptibility to liquefaction (triggering, post-cyclic strength) are summarized.