The New Empirical Equation Describing Damping Phenomenon in Dynamically Loaded Subgrade Cohesive Soils

Abstract

The damping ratio (D) is one of the key soil parameters in geotechnical issues where the soil is subjected to dynamic loads, like machines foundation, city tram and subway traffic, and driving of sheet pile or precast pile. Each of the abovementioned geotechnical problems is connected with significant damping, so its effect should be included in the dynamical analysis. Therefore, this article focuses on the damping phenomenon in cohesive soils from the capital of Poland, which is described by damping ratio (D). In this research, a set of the damping tests by free vibration method in resonant column device were conducted, and the influence of four selected factors, i.e., shear strain (γ), effective stress (p’), plasticity index (PI), and void ratio (e) on damping ratio in wide strain range was investigated and discussed. Based on the laboratory tests, the shear strain has the most impacts on the damping ratio characteristics; the plasticity index and the effective stress also have a significant influence. Based on the performed analysis, the authors propose the empirical equations with two sets of variables, the first for low and medium cohesive soil (PI < 20%) and the second for very cohesive soils (PI > 20%).