Effect of non-plastic fines on the anisotropic small strain stiffness of a calcareous sand.

This study investigates the effect of non-plastic fines on the anisotropic smalls strain stiffness of a calcareous sand by conducting multidirectional bender element tests. G H H , G H V and G V H are evaluated on both horizontal and vertical planes and the stiffness anisotropy, considering the effect of fine content, is studied. The models for predicting small strain shear modulus G 0 of the calcareous sands are modified. Test results show that G 0 decreases with the increase of the fine content until a threshold fine content is reached. The stiffness anisotropy drops with the increases of the fine content. The modified Hardin equation provides a better prediction than the modified Wichtmann equation and the Payan equation. • The effect of non-plastic fines on the small strain stiffness of a calcareous sand is investigated. • The stiffness anisotropy decreases with the increase of the fine content. • The stress history and fine content are introduced the Hardin model for predicting the small strain shear modulus of the calcareous sand. • The modified Hardin model shows better prediction ability than other two models in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]