EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON STRENGTH AND TIME-DEPENDENT DEFORMATION BEHAVIOURS OF HOSTUN SAND UNDER SHEAR

Abstract

Hostun sand is widely adopted as a standard sand used in various laboratory stress-strain tests in geotechnical engineering research. In this study, the effects of temperature on the shear strength and time-dependent deformation behaviours of Hostun sand are of interest. A comprehensive series of temperature-controlled triaxial compression tests were performed on air-dried Hostun sand sample. During the drained heating stage, the sample was heated to different target temperatures (i.e., 30, 45 and 60°C), after which the temperature was held constant. Then, the sample was sheared under constant cell pressure and temperature. Small strain-amplitude cyclic loading and sustained loading were successively applied at different shear stress levels for investigating equivalent elastic Young’s modulus ( ) and creep behaviour. The following were found. Shear strengths, both at the peak sand residual stages, decrease with increasing temperature. The E_eq increases with increasing shear stress level, but at the same shear stress level, it decreases with increasing temperature. The  can be expressed as a function of the shear stress level and temperature. The axial creep strain increases with increasing shear stress level and temperature.