Sandoval-Vallejo, Eimar

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Resistencia a licuación de las arenas calcáreas de Cabo Rojo
(2008-05) Sandoval-Vallejo, Eimar; Pando-López, Miguel A.; College of Engineering; Suárez, Luis E.; Ramos, Ricardo; Department of Civil Engineering; Schroder, Eduardo
A large extension of the coastal beach deposits of Puerto Rico are comprised of calcareous sands. These sands are unique in terms of particle characteristics including mineralogy, shape, intraporosity, among others. The high seismicity of the island of Puerto Rico, coupled with its coastal environment, makes liquefaction an important design consideration for structures founded on these sands. This research entailed a detailed experimental program to study the liquefaction resistance of calcareous sands from southwestern Puerto Rico (Cabo Rojo). This investigation involved sand characterization, steady state line evaluation, and 31 undrained cyclic triaxial tests on isotropically consolidated reconstituted samples of calcareous sands, tested at three different densities and confining stresses. For comparison purposes, this study also involved eight tests on Ottawa # 20-30 silica sand. The results of this study have shown that the Cabo Rojo calcareous sands have a higher liquefaction resistance than the Ottawa silica sand tested under similar initial conditions. The research also revealed important differences in pore pressures generation and axial strain development.