Dynamic response of anisotropic foundation under earthquake: Experimental research on centrifuge model

Intrinsic anisotropy caused by the contact normal distribution and particle shape may have obvious effect on the seismic response of the foundation. To examine the effect of intrinsic anisotropy on seismic response of earth layer, a special rigid container was made to control different directions of soil deposition, simulate the anisotropy of the sand and reproduce the effect of the intrinsic anisotropy on dynamic behavior of the sand, including acceleration, velocity, displacement and super pore water pressure through a series of model tests. Test results show that the effect is obvious especially in the saturated condition, while the liquefaction resistance capability of the sand sample modeled with 90° deposition direction is less obvious, which would lead to large settlement. To better predict the dynamic behavior of structures in seismic area, it is suggested to consider the effect of the intrinsic anisotropy of the sand in engineering.