Uniform cyclic direct simple shear tests on Ottawa F65 sand, in Direct simple shear testing on Ottawa F65 sand under uniform and irregular cyclic loading

Uniform cyclic Direct Simple Shear (DSS) experiments were conducted on reconstituted specimens of Ottawa F-65 sand. Ottawa F-65 sand is classified as a poorly graded sand (SP, classified in accordance with ASTM 2017), with a median grain size (D50) of 0.20 mm, a coefficient of uniformity (Cu) of 1.47, a coefficient of curvature (Cc) of 0.88, and no fines (Carey et al. 2020). In this study, values of emin and emax of 0.51 and 0.78, respectively, were selected as more reliable based on the statistical analysis of the properties of Ottawa F-65 sand by Carey et al. (2020). An electromechanical dynamic cyclic simple shear (EMDCSS) device manufactured by GDS Instruments was utilized to perform constant-volume (equivalent undrained) cyclic DSS tests. The active height control system implemented in the EMDCSS device allowed constant-volume DSS tests to be performed with vertical strains below threshols suggested in the literature.

Data raw files include four space separated columns of shear strain (%), shear stress (kPa), vertical stress (kPa), and axial strain (%). Users can plot stress strain loops, stress paths, loss of vertical stress vs strain, the evolution of equivalent pore pressure pressure (not measured directly but extrapolated as loss of effective stress), and check for vertical compliance.