Comparison Study of the Dynamic Loading Characteristics between Peat and Sand Based on its Physical Properties

Abstract

Peat soils are challenging soils which are a problem for many geotechnical engineers especially in the design of shallow foundations and road constructions. The engineering properties of peat are dependent on the nature of its physical properties. Micro structural studies done on the soil shows that it consists of fibres which cause the soil to be highly compressible resulting in excessive settlement when they are subjected to moderate load increments or vibrations produce by traffic. In this paper, dynamic testing was done to approximately simulate traffic loading characteristics on peat taken from Parit Nipah and Pontian, Johor using a cyclic triaxial testing with 1Hz loading frequency. The results were compared with soil that has a stiffer particulate nature such as sand. The comparison showed that the dynamic loading parameters of dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of peat was dependent on the fiber content and was very much lower than that of well graded and uniform sands. This can be an important indication to understand the key parameter behaviour of peat that must be taken into account when designing and managing infrastructures on peat soils.