Limit analysis method for active earth pressure on laggings between stabilizing piles

Stabilizing pile is a kind of earth shoring structure frequently used in slope engineering. When the piles have cantilever segments above the ground,laggings are usually installed to avoid collapse of soil between piles. Evaluating the earth pressure acting on laggings is of great importance in design process.Since laggings are usually less stiff than piles,the lateral pressure on lagging is much closer to active earth pressure. In order to estimate the lateral earth pressure on lagging more accurately,first,a model test of cantilever stabilizing pile and lagging systems was carried out. Then,basing the experimental results a three-dimensional sliding wedge model was established. Last,the calculation process of the total active force on lagging is presented based on the kinematic approach of limit analysis. A comparison is made between the total active force on lagging calculated by the formula presented in this study and the force on a same-size rigid retaining wall obtained from Rankine's theory. It is found that the proposed method fits well with the experimental results.Parametric studies show that the total active force on lagging increases with the growth of the lagging height and the lagging clear span; while decreases asthe soil internal friction angle and soil cohesion increase.

Shear behaviour of a rock bridge sandwiched between incipient joints under the influence of hydraulic pressures

The rock bridges sandwiched in incipiently jointed rock mass were considered as barriers that block the fluid seepage,and provide certain shear strength reservation.For better revealing the influence of hydraulic pressure on the failure behaviour of rock bridges,direct shear tests were carried out through a newly proposed method on rock samples that contain two parallel incipient joints.By developing the gypsum-silicone pad coupling samples,a conventional triaxial test system was qualified to implement direct shear tests with satisfied sealing capability.The results showed that the rock bridges could be failed through the tensile failure,shear failure and mixed failure mechanism.The hydraulic pressure would facilitate the tensile failure mechanism and induce rougher fracture surfaces;while the normal stress would facilitate the shear failure mechanism and induce less rough fracture.The hydraulic pressure reduced the global shear strength of the rock block through reducing the efficient normal stress applied on the rock bridge area,which was highly dependent on the joint persistence,k.Moreover,because of the iterating occurrence of the hydraulic pressure lag with the fracture propagation,the rock bridge failure stage in the shear stress-shear displacement curves displayed a fluctuation trend.