Instability Conditions of Loose Sand in Plane Strain

When a loose sand specimen is loaded under an undrained condition, it may become unstable. The instability conditions may be specified by an instability line determined using undrained tests. However, the instability behavior of sand has seldom been studied under plane-strain conditions. Experimental data obtained under both triaxial and plane-strain conditions are presented in this paper to define the instability conditions of loose sand under plane-strain conditions. Using the state parameter, a unified relationship can be established between the normalized slope of instability line and the state parameters for both axisymmetric and plane-strain conditions. Using this relationship, the instability conditions established under axisymmetric conditions can also be used for plane-strain conditions.