Experimental Investigation on Dynamic Characterization of Equi-Proportionate Silt–Sand Range Pond Ash at High Strain

Abstract

In the present study, it was attempted to investigate the cyclic resistance of equi-proportionate silt-sand range pond ash (with 50% fines) at relatively high shear strains using the strain-controlled cyclic triaxial test. The cyclic triaxial tests have been performed considering the effect of relative compaction (97-99%), cyclic shear strain (0.6-1.35%), frequency of loading (0.3-1 Hz) and effective confining pressure (50-100 kPa) on cyclic resistance of pond ash. Dynamic characteristics such as dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of equi-proportionate silt-sand range pond ash was evaluated for all the parameters considered at high shear strain. The maximum value of the dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of pond ash observed in this study was 6534.8 kPa and 23.64%, respectively. The dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of pond ash was decreased from 6534.8 to 5023.87 kPa and 23.64 to 14.17% with the increase in shear strain amplitude from 0.6 to 1.35%. Besides, few relationships were established between the amount of energy dissipated until liquefaction and parameters influencing liquefaction using an energy concept. Keywords Pond ash • Cyclic resistance • High shear strain • Strain-controlled cyclic triaxial test • Dynamic shear modulus • Damping ratio This the 13th PAPER of Special Issue (SI) to be published as the ORIGINAL PAPER S.I.: Materials and Processes for Ground Engineering Infrastructure.

Experimental investigation on dynamic behavior of silt-rich fly ash using cyclic triaxial and bender element tests

“…The rise in pore pressure has a tendency to reduce the effective stress, which ultimately reduces the shear modulus. The results obtained in the present analysis were found in good agreement with the previous study [30].…”

“…Based on the strain, the modulus reduction curve is divided into three zones, i.e., A, B, and C, which classify the soil characteristics as linear elastic, nonlinear elastic, and elasto-plastic [85]. A wide range of strain between 0.01 and 1.35% has been taken by many researchers [16,30,86] and found comparable to the present study.…”

“…Hence, it is necessary to characterize each fly ash before utilizing as geo-material as it exhibits a distinct engineering performance from place to place, unlike soil. Past study discusses the dynamic behavior of coal ash in medium-to-large strain only [20,29,30]. Generally, the particle size of fly ash is finer than that of pond ash and bottom ash.…”

Special Issue on “Materials and Processes for Ground Engineering Infrastructure”

“…The topics of this special issue cover various aspects, including laboratory testing and evaluation of material properties, field monitoring of ground improvement practices, data processing techniques, theoretical and numerical modelling, and supporting technologies and methodologies in ground engineering infrastructure. This special issue contains several papers dealing with the usage of new materials ranging from fibres to powderbased materials (waste marble, eggshell, flyash, and biochar) and pre-fabricated drains from different perspectives (freeze-thaw, dry-wet resistance, dynamic shear, compressive and tensile loading as well as gas flow) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Coir and hemp fibres along with fly ash based alkaline binders are found to have profound effect on geotechnical properties of soils, such as tensile strength under the condition of freeze-thaw cycles [1].…”

“…The internal mechanism reveals that for the ESP-FA geopolymer, cementitious products are formed at a given optimum activator ratio and heat condition [7]. In addition to static loads, sustainable materials, such as pond ash, have been found to be effective in enhancing stiffness of silty soil at large displacements [8].…”