Abstract: In order to investigate the effect of fine content (FC) on liquefaction resistance (CRR) of saturated sandy soils with different densities, three cases are categorized: 1) at a constant relative density 50%; 2) at a constant void ratio e = 0.90; 3) at a constant skeleton void ratio 1.20. A series of undrained cyclic triaxial tests were performed on sandy soils with different FC and density state ( , e and ). The test results show that an increase in FC causes a decrease in CRR of sandy soils at a constant or e. and the CRR of sandy soils at a constant will increase with the increase of FC. There is no clear correlation between , e or and CRR for saturated sandy soils with different FC. Moreover, the test data in this study reveal that the CRR of sandy soils with different FC and density decease with the increase of the . A power relationship between a decrease in CRR and an increase in indicates that the fraction of the fines contributes to the formation sustaining the loads can be used as an index to uniquely evaluate the CRR of different kinds of sandy soils. By comparing the published results of the other sandy soils, it is found that the sand grain is an important factor affecting the CRR of sandy soils, and the overall CRR of the sandy soils will increasing as grain shape changing from spherical to angular.

Key words: sandy soils, liquefaction resistance, fines content, density state, equivalent skeleton void ratio