Numerical Analysis of Settlement Response of Shallow Footing Subjected to Heavy Rainfall and Flood Events

The US and many parts around the world have experienced prolonged periods of heavy rainfall, severe floods, and droughts over the past 50 years. This study investigates the impacts of extreme hydrological events such as heavy rainfall and flood on the settlement behavior of continuous footing installed in unsaturated soil using a coupled Geotechnical-Hydrological finite element software, PLAXIS 2D. Initially, the effect of different degrees of saturation on the settlement behavior of the continuous footing of widths 1.5 m, 3.0 m, and 4.5 m was analyzed by applying a mechanical load. Then the settlement behavior of the footing was analyzed by applying heavy rainfall of intensity 102 mm/day for six days. Finally, the settlement behavior of the footing was analyzed by applying a flood head of 2.5 meters for seven days. The results indicated that the wetting front movement during heavy rainfall and flooding led to the weakening of soil strength and stiffness and induced additional settlements. The additional settlement induced by the flood was significantly higher than the heavy rainfall. The differential settlement was higher when the rainfall was applied on one side of the footing. The rebound of the elastic settlement was uniquely noticed when the flood head receded with time. The results indicated that not all the settlements were induced by the soil saturation but also due to the hydrostatic loading due to the flood head. The settlements induced by the flooding exceeded the allowable settlement of 25 mm, resulting in failure. These additional settlements caused by heavy rainfall and flood will lead to poor serviceability of the structures and cause the failure of the footing.

Development of Shallow Footing Anti-Ram Bollard System Through Modeling and Testing

In past terrorist attacks, vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) have been the primary manner of attacking buildings and infrastructures. Preventing unauthorized vehicles from approaching a protected area with anti-ram systems would maintain an established standoff distance against moving and stationary vehicles and consequently reduce blast and debris threats. This strategy has been considered the first line of defence against terrorists. Several types of anti-ram devices have been developed in accordance with U. S. Department of State K-rating criteria, for example, wedge barriers, rising beams, sliding/swing gates, and drop arms. However, these devices typically need a deep foundation for installation and can't be implemented into many locations where a depth of excavation is limited in order to protect utility lines of buildings and infrastructures. This paper presents a recent development of a series of shallow footing anti-ram bollard systems (SFABS) that can satisfy K-12 rating with only five-inch thick footing. A high-fidelity physics based finite element technique with a vehicle crash model is used for predicting anti-ram capacity and determining design parameters of the SFABS. Full-scale vehicle crash tests of the developed SFABS systems have been carried out to validate the design and analysis.