Abstract
To investigate the effect of major principal stress direction angles on the cyclic response of soft marine clays, a series of directional shear tests with different major principal stress direction angles on undisturbed Wenzhou marine clay were conducted in the undrained condition by using a hollow cylinder testing apparatus. The dynamic responses of the marine clays were analysed, along with the shear stress-strain relationship, octahedral strain and excess pore water pressure. Results indicate that the specimens exhibit remarkable anisotropic deformation under various major principal stress direction angles, and a larger angle causes a smaller octahedral strain of specimen under the same cyclic stress level. With the increase in the major principal stress direction angle, the excess pore water pressure decreases. At β > 45°, the increment shear stress starts dominating, which causes the sign of generated pore water pressure to change from negative to positive.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.