Laboratory Characterization of a Compacted–Unsaturated Silty Sand with Special Attention to Dynamic Behavior

The dynamic properties of compacted non-cohesive soils are desired not only because of the risk of natural sources of dynamic excitations such as earthquakes, but mostly because of the anthropogenic impact of machines that are working on such soils. These soils are often unsaturated, which positively affects the soil’s mechanical properties. The information about the values of these parameters is highly desirable for engineers. In this article, we performed a series of tests, including oedometric tests, resonant column tests, bender element tests, and unsaturated triaxial tests, to evaluate those characteristic parameters. The results showed that sandy silt soil has a typical reaction to dynamic loading in terms of shear modulus degradation and the damping ratio curves’ characteristics, which can be modeled by using empirical equations. We found that the compaction procedure caused an over-consolidation state dependent on the moisture content during compaction effort. The article analyzed the soil properties that impact the maximum shear modulus G0 value. Those properties were suction s, confining pressure σ3, and compaction degree represented by the void ratio function f(e).