Experimental analyses of the behaviour of saturated granular materials during axisymmetric proportional strain paths

Instability of granular materials is usually studied using undrained triaxial compression tests or constant shear drained tests. These tests are usually performed on fully undrained or fully drained samples respectively. In this paper, experimental investigations of the behaviour of loose saturated sand under proportional strain paths performed by imposing a partial drainage condition are presented. Partially drained conditions observed in situ are due to potential pore pressure variations. Different drainage condition changes can lead to different stress-strain responses, and it is shown that the strength mobilisation for expansive drainage conditions is lower than what is usually obtained for undrained conditions. The stability analyses based on experimental results have shown that the second order work criterion, rewritten using the relevant control parameters, is a good tool to investigate the onset of instability.