ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Earth and Planetary Materials
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1687402
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Structure, Characterization, and Failure Mechanisms of Geomaterials: Theoretical, Experimental, and Numerical ApproachesView all 18 articles
Anisotropy of intact loess under dynamic and static loads: insights from macroscopic and microscopic tests
Provisionally accepted- 1School of Geography Science and Tourism, Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, China
- 2Qinghai University, Xining, China
- 3Jilin Communications Polytechnic, Changchun, China
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To deeply investigate the anisotropic mechanical properties of intact loess under static and dynamic loads, static and dynamic triaxial tests were conducted on samples with different deposition directions (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°). Combining macroscopic mechanical tests with microstructural analysis, the anisotropic response mechanisms were systematically revealed. The study results indicate that under both static and dynamic loads, the stress-strain relationship curves of intact loess at different sampling angles exhibit significant anisotropy. Both the deviatoric stress at failure and the initial dynamic elastic modulus display anisotropy. The nonlinear pattern with varying angles is as follows: the maximum value occurs at 0°, followed by sequential decreases at 30°, 60° (slightly lower than 30° in some cases), and 45°, with the minimum value appearing at 90°. The consolidation effect of confining pressure weakens the original structural strength of loess, leading to a decrease in the initial dynamic elastic modulus as confining pressure increases, but the anisotropic characteristics remain pronounced. After the tests, the pore structure of loess changed from a large-pore, weakly cemented open structure to a fine and dense interlocking structure. The particle morphology transformed from single-grain and angular to flocculent and ellipsoidal. These microstructural evolutions constitute the intrinsic mechanism of the macroscopic mechanical responses. The findings of this study provide important experimental evidence and theoretical support for the design, construction, and disaster prevention of complex engineering projects in loess regions.
Keywords: intact loess, Anisotropy, Stress-strain relationship, initial dynamicelastic modulus, microstructure
Received: 17 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wen, Li, Yin and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shaojie Wen, wenshaojie0601@163.com
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