A New Biaxial Laminar Shear Box for 1g Shaking Table Tests on Liquefiable Soils

In this paper, the design of a new laminar shear box at the Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering and Dynamic Analysis (L.E.D.A.) of the University of Enna “Kore” (Sicily, Italy), has been presented. The laminar box has been developed to investigate the liquefaction phenomenon and to validate advanced numerical models and/or the numerical approaches assessed to simulate and prevent related effects. The paper describes in detail the types of soil container that have been used in the last three decades. Particular attention has been paid to the laminar shear box and liquefaction studies. Moreover, the most important factors that affect the performance of a laminar shear box are reported. The last part of the paper describes components, properties and design advantages of the new laminar shear box for 1g shaking table tests at L.E.D.A. The new laminar box is rectangular in cross section and consists of 16 layers. Each layer is composed of two frames: an inner frame and an outer frame. The inner frame has an internal dimension of 2570 mm by 2310 mm, while the outer frame has an internal dimension of 2700 mm by 2770 mm. Between the layers, there is a 20 mm gap making the total height of 1.6 m. Aluminum is chosen in order to reduce the inertial effect of the frame on the soil during shaking. Each internal frame is supported independently on a series of linear bearings and rods connected to the external frame, while each external frame is supported independently on a series of linear bearings and rods connected to the surrounding rigid steel walls. Shaking table tests will be carried out on saturated sandy soils using the 1g 6-DOF 4.0 m × 4.0 m shaking tables at L.E.D.A.