Abstract: The calcareous sand particles have irregular shapes and are interlocked, which has a greater impact on the transmission of earth pressure. This paper carried out a model test on the dynamic response of earth pressure of the calcareous sand foundation with different degrees of compaction under cyclic loading, and revealed the response characteristics and attenuation law of the earth pressure of the calcareous sand foundation under the cyclic loading. The test results show that the dynamic response of earth pressure at each point near the end under cyclic loading is obvious. As the embedment depth increases, the peak earth pressure at each point decreases exponentially. The farther the horizontal distance from the central axis, the smaller the impact from dynamic response. The attenuation of earth pressure at 4 times of the load width below the square load surface is attenuated, and the vibration frequency has a certain effect on the peak earth pressure at the near end, but the effect on the far end is not obvious, and the relative densities of soil 50 cm away from the load center before and after loading show small variation. After increasing the relative density of sample, the soil particles are tightly interlocked, reducing the relative movement during loading, and increasing the impact depth of cyclic loading.

Key words: calcareous sand foundation, cyclic load, dynamic response, model test