Abstract
Of a great interest for loess is the wide distribution over the seismic region in China and it is vulnerable to seismic-hazard under the earthquake loads. Evaluation and understanding the dynamic properties of loess is therefore a matter of concern at both academic and practical levels. This paper presents results from a series of cyclic triaxial tests on loess samples that were obtained from two boreholes of different depths at Lingshi County in Shanxi Province, in which the characteristics of shear modulus (G) and dam** ratio (D) were both examined. It was found that the shear modulus decreases with void ratio, yet the influence becomes less profound at a higher shear strain level. As compared with the water content, the changes of shear modulus yield a better correlation with the void ratio. Besides, the normalized shear modulus (G/G 0 ) and the dam** ratio (D) of loess were also examined. At the same shear strain level, the modulus reduction curve of loess is higher than that of sand, while under otherwise similar conditions the dam** ratio of loess becomes lower.
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Acknowledgement
Financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41630634) and the China Geological Survey Project “Investigation on Urban Geo-hazards in Lvliang Mountainous Area” (No. 121201011000150018) is gratefully acknowledged.