Stress densification and its evaluation

Stress densification occurs in natural soils as well as manmade embankments and physical model tests. Such densification can increase stability and liquefaction resistance. One-dimensional compression test data from eight sands were examined. From these data a stress densification equation is developed to estimate the density increase due to applied stress changes. It is found that stress densification can lead to erroneous conclusions if not taken into consideration when evaluating physical model test results.