Key definitions
- Cyclic load - A load which is applied over and over to the soil sample at a fixed frequency and amplitude.
- Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR) - Ratio of maximum cyclic shear stress to initial effective confining stress.
- Gel time - When laponite is first added to water it will first form a low viscous solution. After a period of time it will suddenly turn into a high viscous gel. This period of time is known as the gel time.
- Laponite - A layered silicate manufactured from naturally occurring inorganic mineral sources.
- Liquefaction - Liquefaction is the rapid loss of shear strength in saturated, cohesionless soils subjected to dynamic loading, such as from an earthquake.
- Monotonic loading - A load gradually applied to the soil. Unlike cyclic loading there is no unloading and reloading.
- Nanoparticles - A particle with a size between 100 and 1 nanometers.
- Poorly-graded - All particles within the sand sample are approximately the same size
- Rheological properties (of the laponite solution) - Rheological properties are the flow properties of fluids. In this investigation the viscosity of the laponite solution is of primary interest.
- Rheometer - A device that can be used to calculate the viscosity of the laponite solution. It can also record how the viscosity of the solution changes with time.