Abstract
When a saturated clay is subjected to the seismic cyclic shear, excess pore water pressure is produced. After the dissipation of the accumulated excess pore pressure, the void ratio may become so small that the clay layer settles considerably. The characteristics of the settlement under these conditions should be clarified to estimate the long term behavior of the structures constructed on the soft clayey ground. In this paper, two-way strain controlled cyclic simple shear tests under the undrained condition are carried out for normally consolidated and overconsolidated Kaolinite clay. Subsequently, the excess pore water pressure are dissipated and then the settlement are measured. From the results, it is clarified that 1) the excess pore water pressure produced during cyclic shear depends on the amplitude of cyclic shear strain, number of cycles and the overconsolidation ratio, 2) the seismic settlement of the clayey ground depends on the excess pore water pressure accumulated during cyclic shear, and the overconsolidation ratio, 3) the seismic settlement is considerably large compared with the settlement produced by the secondary compression.
