Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of initial static shear stress (ISSS) on cyclic softening of non-plastic silt using volume decrease potential. Through comparing results from cyclic direct simple shear (DSS) tests, it was known for non-plastic silt that (1) although cyclic strength was smaller, cyclic softening of strength was faster, (2) maximum stiffness of non-plastic silt was not smaller than others, but decrement of stiffness with increasing the number of load cycles was more eminent, and the influence of ISSS on stiffness degradation was the largest among them, and (3) liquefaction feasibility of silty soils was explained in terms of the volume decrease potential as well as relative density.
