What is it about?

Induced partial saturation is an alternative solution for minimizing the detrimental effects of earthquake-induced liquefaction. Particularly, the use of sodium percarbonate to reduce the degree of saturation of liquefiable sand is promising due to the considerable reduction of cost and applicability to the existing structures. This study shows the importance of the selection of a suitable sample preparation method for partially saturated samples prepared with this chemical substance and tested in cyclic triaxial apparatus.

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Why is it important?

The increasing liquefaction resistance of sand with decreasing degree of saturation has been documented since the early days of liquefaction studies. In recent years, a few researchers have benefited from this feature of sand and attempted to explore the technical feasibility of methods that can reduce the degree of saturation through the artificial generation of gas bubbles in sand deposits. The use of a chemical component (e.g., sodium percarbonate) is one of these methods. Although this alternative method show promise as a way of mitigating liquefaction risk, it is still quite new. There is a pressing need for further investigation and development to clarify the doubtful aspects of this method and gain a full understanding of its seismic performance. Only in that case, can it be reliably implemented in practice. Cyclic triaxial testing is one of the most useful research tools to study such a problem. Although the previous studies have offered useful insights into the use of sodium percarbonate in the field and laboratory tests (e.g., shaking table and simple shear), very little guidance exists regarding the use of this substance for cyclic triaxial tests. Particularly, the effects of sample preparation on the liquefaction resistance have yet to be investigated. The experimental study presented in this paper has provided useful data on important aspects of sample preparation procedure in cyclic triaxial tests and offered recommendations for geotechnical problems involving the chemical treatment of liquefiable sand. The results will be expected to reinforce and build on the previous studies and clarify some aspects of this procedure, offering valuable guidelines to researchers and practitioners who will use induced partial saturation techniques to mitigate the properties of sand. I believe these findings will be of interest to the readers of your journal.

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This page is a summary of: Suggested Method of Specimen Preparation for Triaxial Tests on Partially Saturated Sand, Geotechnical Testing Journal, January 2022, ASTM International,
DOI: 10.1520/gtj20210168.
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