Experiment and analysis of the formation,expansion and dissipation of gasbag in fine sediments based on pore water pressure survey

Deep-seated gas in seabed sediments migrates upwards from effect of external factors,which easily accumulates to form gasbags at interface of shallow coarse-fine sediments.Real-time monitoring of this process is important to predict disaster.However,there is still a lack of effective monitoring methods,so we attempt to apply multi-points pore water pressure monitoring technology when simulating forming and dissipation of gasbags in sediments through laboratory experiment.This study focuses on discussion of sensitivity of pore water pressure monitoring data,as well as typical changing characteristics and mechanisms of excess pore water pressure corresponding to crack generation,gasbag formation and gas release.It was found that the value of excess pore water pressure in sediments is negatively correlated with vertical distance between sensors and gas source,and the evolution of gasbag forming and dissipation has a good corresponding relationship with the change of excess pore water pressure.Gasbag formation process is divided into three stages:transverse crack development,longitudinal cavity expansion,and oblique crack development.Formation of gasbag begins with the transverse crack at the interface of coarse-fine sediments while excess pore water pressure attenuates rapidly and then drops,pressure remains almost unchanged when cavity expanses longitudinally,oblique crack appeared in final stage of gasbag evolution while excess pore water pressure accumulated and dissipated again.The variation curve of excess pore water pressure in gas release stage has saw-tooth fluctuation characteristics,and the value and time of pressure accumulation are also fluctuating,indicating the uncertainty and non-uniqueness of gas migration channels in sediments.

Simulation of Excess Pore Water Pressure During Deep Soil Mixing Columns Installing

Most of current studies of deep soil mixing (DSM) methods are focused on the soil strength improvement and soil treatment effectiveness. But the DSM installation leads to excess pore water pressure and soil disturbance, which will bring great harm to adjacent structures, such as shell tunnels and historic buildings. The procedure of excess pore water pressure buildup while large number DSM columns are installed is complicated. In order to find methods to predict and simulate the excess pore water pressure during DSM column installation, the complicated dissipation and buildup of excess pore water pressure through in-situ test are studied in this paper. In-situ test was conducted in soft clay near the Huangpu River in Shanghai. The pore water pressure was investigated by an automatic monitoring system. Test results indicate that the excess pore water pressure induced by one DSM column installation is composed of the compaction pressure and the reversing pressure. The empirical equations of excess pore water pressure dissipation and buildup were built by mathematical fitting methods. A compound method is proposed to simulate the excess pore water pressure due to DSM installation. Using this method to predict the excess pore water pressure in the situ test, results show a well agreement between the prediction and the measurements.

The Mechanism Analysis of Seafloor Silt Liquefaction Under Wave Loading

The sediment in Chengbei area of the Huanghe (Yellow River) subaqueous delta is the object of a reseach project in this article. The accumulating and dissipating effects following the change of time are considered first in the study area and the distributing curves of excess pore water pressure along with time and depth in the soil stratum are gained; the possibility of silt liquefaction is evaluated using the computing values and the affecting depth of liquefaction is given. This paper quantitatively analyzes the dynamic response of seafloor soil under the cyclic loading of waves and makes an inquiry into the instable mechanism of soil.

Behavior of large post-liquefaction deformation in saturated Nanjing fine sand

Laboratory tests on the large post-liquefaction deformation of saturated Nanjing fine sand were performed by using a hollow cylinder apparatus. The stress-strain responses and the characteristics of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction were studied. It was found that the relationship between deviatoric stress and axial strain presented a sigmoid curve, and there was a good linearity relationship between normalized pore water pressure and deviatoric stress. On this basis, a constitutive model of stress-strain responses and a dissipation model of excess pore water pressure were established. It was found that the results predicted by the two models were in good agreement with the experimental data. The influence of relative densities and confining pressure on the characteristics of liquefied soil were studied, The results showed the relative densities and initial effective confining pressure all had an important influence on the stress-strain responses of liquefied saturated Nanjing fine sand. However, the dissipation model of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction was only affected by the confining pressure.

Electrical resistivity change of saturated sand during reliquefaction under hammering loading

The electrical resistivity method was verified as an optional technique to monitor the change of mesostructure of saturated soils.To investigate the change laws of resistivity and analyze the reliquefaction meso-mechanism during the consecutive liquefaction process,five successive impact liquefaction tests were performed in a one-dimensional cubical chamber.The resistivity variation and excess pore water pressure(EPWP)were measured.The results indicate that the excess pore water pressure experienced four stages:quick increase stage,slow dissipation stage,rapid dissipation stage,and stability stage.Meanwhile,a swift decrease of resistivity emerged before the start of the rapid dissipation stage of EPWP,and then an increasing trend of resistivity is demonstrated with the densification of soil.It is proved that the vertical pore connectivity of liquefied sand is better than its random deposit state,based on a comparative study of porosity calculated from the settlement and resistivity of sand after each test.

Evaluation of train-induced settlement for metro tunnel in saturated clay based on an elastoplastic constitutive model

In this study,a two-dimensional(2D)soil–water coupling dynamicfinite element(FE)analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of repeated train vibrations on the long-term settlement of a metro tunnel in saturated clay.Particular attention is paid to the leakage prob-lem of the metro tunnel by assuming different permeability conditions,namely fully permeable,fully impermeable,and partially perme-able,on the periphery of the tunnel for simplicity.The train vibration load isfirst evaluated using a rail–fastener–tunnel–subgrade model and averaged over a characteristic length for 2D numerical analysis.Cyclic Mobility model is used to simulate the mechanical behaviors of saturated soft clay in the FE analysis.Excess pore water pressure(EPWP)and associated tunnel settlement in trial operation and normal operation are calculated using the FE code DBLEAVES for different permeability conditions.It is found that a very low EPWP is generated in the trial operation,which then increases rapidly to peak values at the early days of normal operation.Afterward,the EPWP diminishes gradually as the train vibration continues.The permeability of the tunnel lining plays a significant role in the distri-bution of EPWP around the tunnel but produces a minor influence on the development of tunnel settlement.The train-induced tunnel settlement is mainly caused by the static settlement resulting from the EPWP dissipation during train interval,while the dynamic settle-ment arising from dynamic consolidation in each train vibration only accounts for a small portion.According to the 2D dynamic FE analysis,thefinal train-induced settlement of the metro tunnel in saturated clay is estimated to reach 160 mm while the peak EPWP value can reach 26.55 kPa.The settlement discrepancies between the numerical method and empirical method are discussed in detail.