Undrained instability of very loose Hostun sand in triaxial compression and extension .1. Experimental observations

The undrained behavior of very loose Hostun RF sand in triaxial compression and extension tests is described. The samples are consolidated isotropically or anisotropically along constant effective stress ratio paths. Very loose sand exhibits partial liquefaction, deviator peak stress at relatively low to very low axial strain, gradual post-peak stress reduction to a small residual value at large strains, sharp loss of effective mean pressure due to generation of large pore pressure and overall volume reduction. The instability line of Lade is examined in the case of extension tests and extended for anisotropic samples. It is shown that monotonic and anisotropic consolidation strongly influences the instability concept. A higher positive anisotropic consolidation level produces a greater slope of the instability line in compression and a reverse trend can occur in extension. Complex stress history can develop a fossilized instability line depending on the amount of axial strain attained. Effective strain ratio increment at peak has an asymptotic stabilization effect. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.