The effect of nano-Kaolinite on liquefaction resistance of liquefiable sand

This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of the nano-kaolinite concentration on the liquefaction resistance of liquefiable sand from Gorgan city of Iran. To examine the influence of the nano-kaolinite concentration on the liquefaction resistance of nano-kaolinite-sand mixtures, three different nano-kaolinite concentrations: 3%, 6% and 9% were prepared. Cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on pure sand and nano-kaolinite-sand mixtures. Triaxial test was repeated two times for each nano-kaolinite-sandy soil mixtures and the mean values and standard deviation was obtained. Based on the obtained results, nano-kaolinite concentration has a contradictory effect on the liquefaction resistance of the studied soil. It was found that the influence of nano-kaolinite concentration on liquefaction resistance of the sand should be evaluated using a critical value of nano-kaolinite concentration. Below critical value (under 3% nano-kaolinite content), liquefaction resistance decreases with the increase of nano-kaolinite concentration. Above this value, liquefaction resistance enhances with the increase of nano-kaolinite concentration. The results showed that the liquefaction resistance of 9% nano-kaolinite-sand samples was higher than pure sand sample. It was found that at the same cyclic stress ratio, liquefaction resistance and axial strain of samples decreases with the increase of the confining pressure.