AUTHOR=Wang Shengnian , Gao Xinqun , Ma Wei , Li Guoyu , Shi Chong , Zhang Peng 

TITLE=Empirical Formulas of Shear Modulus and Damping Ratio for Geopolymer-Stabilized Coarse-Grained Soils

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2021.754377

DOI=10.3389/fphy.2021.754377

ISSN=2296-424X

ABSTRACT=<p>The contribution of gravel fraction on the maximum shear modulus (G<sub><italic>max</italic></sub>), dynamic shear modulus ratio (G/G<sub><italic>max</italic></sub>), and damping ratio (λ) of cementitious coarse-grained soils has not been fully understood yet. Large-scale triaxial cyclic tests for geopolymer-stabilized coarse-grained soils (GSCGSs) were conducted with different volumetric block proportions (VBPs) under various confining pressures (CPs) for investigating their dynamic behaviors and energy dissipation mechanisms. Results indicate that the <italic>G</italic><sub><italic>max</italic></sub> of GSCGS increases linearly with VBPs but nonlinearly with CP. High VBPs will probably result in a gentle decrease in <italic>G</italic>/<italic>G</italic><sub><italic>max</italic></sub> and a rapid increase in normalized <italic>λ</italic> (<italic>λ</italic><sub><italic>nor</italic></sub>), while the opposite is the case for a high CP. With the shear strain amplitude being normalized, the <italic>G</italic>/<italic>G</italic><sub><italic>max</italic></sub> and <italic>λ</italic><sub><italic>nor</italic></sub> are distributed in a narrow band with low dispersion and thus can be well-described by empirical functions of the normalized shear strain amplitude.</p>