Fractional description of mechanical property evolution of soft soils during creep

The motion of pore water directly influences mechanical properties of soils, which are variable during creep. Accurate description of the evolution of mechanical properties of soils can help to reveal the internal behavior of pore water. Based on the idea of using the fractional order to reflect mechanical properties of soils, a fractional creep model is proposed by introducing a variable-order fractional operator, and realized on a series of creep responses in soft soils. A comparative analysis illustrates that the evolution of mechanical properties, shown through the simulated results, exactly corresponds to the motion of pore water and the solid skeleton. This demonstrates that the proposed variable-order fractional model can be employed to characterize the evolution of mechanical properties of and the pore water motion in soft soils during creep. It is observed that the fractional order from the proposed model is related to the dissipation rate of pore water pressure.

Time-dependent deviation of bridge pile foundations caused by adjacent large-area surcharge loads in soft soils and its preventive measures

Time-dependent characteristics(TDCs)have been neglected in most previous studies investigating the deviation mechanisms of bridge pile foundations and evaluating the effectiveness of preventive measures.In this study,the stress-strain-time characteristics of soft soils were illustrated by consolidation-creep tests based on a typical engineering case.An extended Koppejan model was developed and then embedded in a finite element(FE)model via a user-material subroutine(UMAT).Based on the validated FE model,the time-dependent deformation mechanism of the pile foundation was revealed,and the preventive effect of applying micropiles and stress-release holes to control the deviation was investigated.The results show that the calculated maximum lateral displacement of the cap differs from the measured one by 6.5%,indicating that the derived extended Koppejan model reproduced the deviation process of the bridge cap-pile foundation with time.The additional load acting on the pile side caused by soil lateral deformation was mainly concentrated within the soft soil layer and increased with the increase in load duration.Compared with t=3 d(where t is surcharge time),the maximum lateral additional pressure acting on Pile 2#increased by approximately 47.0%at t=224 d.For bridge pile foundation deviation in deep soft soils,stress-release holes can provide better prevention compared to micropiles and are therefore recommended.

Reinforcement Technology for Soft Soil Roadbed in the Widened Section of Expressway Expansion

This article examines the soft soil roadbed reinforcement technology for widened sections of highways in a specific project.It provides an overview of the project,the principles of soft soil roadbed reinforcement technology for wide sections,and its practical application.The analysis aims to offer guidance on applying soft soil roadbed wide section reinforcement technology and enhancing the overall quality of similar projects.

Experimental Study on Clogging Characteristics of Silt Soft Soil in Nansha District of Guangzhou

The silt soft soil in Nansha District of Guangzhou was the softest soft soil in China. It had the characteristics of high natural water content, high compressibility, long consolidation time, and complex layered distribution of soil layers. These characteristics formed the clogging characteristics of silt soft soil, which greatly increased the construction difficulty and hindered the construction progress. Therefore, based on the basic physical and mechanical properties of silt soft soil in Nansha District of Guangzhou, this paper evaluated the clogging characteristics of three silt soft soil areas in Nansha District of Guangzhou through long-term permeability test, and carried out scanning electron microscope test to explore the influence of different parameters and microstructure on the clogging difficulty of silt soft soil. The results showed that the silt soft soil Zone I and Zone II (shallow layer) in Nansha District of Guangzhou were divided into slight siltation levels, and the silt soft soil Zone III (deep layer) was mild siltation level. Large pores were widely distributed in shallow silt soft soil, while the continuity of large pores in deep silt soft soil was poor. The migration of fine particles that failed to establish contact with surrounding particles in the soil blocks the small pores of seepage and thus produces siltation.

A practical ANN model for predicting the excavation-induced tunnel horizontal displacement in soft soils

The objective of this study is to propose an artificial neural network(ANN)model to predict the excavation-induced tunnel horizontal displacement in soft soils.For this purpose,a series of finite element data sets from rigorously verified numerical models were collected to be utilized for the development of the ANN model.The excavation width,the excavation depth,the retaining wall thickness,the ratio of the average shear strength to the vertical effective stress,the ratio of the average unloading/reloading Young’s modulus to the vertical effective stress,the horizontal distance between the tunnel and retaining wall,and the ratio of the buried depth of the tunnel crown to the excavation depth were chosen as the input variables,while the excavation-induced tunnel horizontal displacement was considered as an output variable.The results demonstrated the feasibility of the developed ANN model to predict the excavation-induced tunnel horizontal displacement.The proposed ANN model in this study can be applied to predict the excavation-induced tunnel horizontal displacement in soft soils for practical risk assessment and mitigation decision.

Laboratory study for effects of vacuum preloading on physical and mechanical properties of soft clayey soils

A new triaxial apparatus was designed and manufactured. It is able to applysurcharge and combined vacuum-surcharge pressures on soil samples, and allows for monitoring ofexcess pore-water pressure, axial strain or settlement, and volumetric strain during the process ofconsolidation. Tests were performed using the apparatus on undisturbed soft clayey soil samples,which were collected from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, at average natural water content 72. 5%. The consolidation behavior of theclay has no rigorous difference, whether it is consolidatedunder the vacuum, surcharge, or combined vacuum-surcharge preloading. The study shows that somephysical properties of the soft clayey soils are changed and mechanical properties are improved tosupport excessive loads transferred to the soil foundation due to construction.

Finite Element Modeling of Geotextile Reinforced Embankments on Soft Clay

The use of geotextiles as a reinforcement material for improving the factor of safety against slope failure in embankments built on soft clay is becoming a common practice. This work is intended to help understand the effect of the geotextile reinforcement has on such embankments and to provide a design aid for civil engineers that enables them to quickly estimate the factor of safety against slope failure. Seventy four different cases were modelled and analyzed using a finite element software, GeoStudio 2018 R2. The results showed that the optimum improvement was achieved when using a single layer of geotextile reinforcement placed at the base of the embankment, by which the factor of safety increased by up to 40%. Adding a second layer, a third layer and a fourth layer, increases the safety factor by 2.5%, 1% and 0.5% respectively. Different charts for different heights of embankments were presented to aid in finding the most suitable slope angle and number of reinforcement layers required to achieve a certain safety factor.

Numerical Comparative Study on the Effective Replacement Thickness of Traditional Stone Coarse Aggregate or Steel-Slag Aggregate Mixtures in Improved Soft Fine Soils

This study uses Steel Slag Coarse Aggregate (SSCA) as a mixture replacement, preamble material to improve soft soils, which is economic, and has good effect environment. Recently, the development and utilization of by-product, waste and recycle materials must be studied and investigated as a source of improved material for soft soils as, an economic and good effect environmental. The study analyzes effects of both replaced mixtures, (SSCA) or (TSCA) on improved soil bearing capacity and expected settlement after verifying the model. Numerical modeling of the one of real store loaded strip using, PLAXIS, 2D, strain deformation behavior to achieve field visible and measured deformations of untreated soft soil. Numerical studies were devolved to investigate geomechanics parameters improved to compare between using (SSCA) or (TSCA) as, replacement mixture. Results demonstrate that using (SSCA) improved compressibility and strength of shallow soft soil layer significantly than using (TCSA) mixture, while (SSCA) improved strip footing ultimate bearing capacity, (UBC), by 84.4% compared with increase of 20.5% when using (TCSA) mixture at the same thickness. In addition, the study highlights the effective (SSCA) replacement thickness ranges between (0.65 ~ 0.80) footing width.

Earthquake response of wrap faced embankment on soft clay soil in Bangladesh

A wrap-faced embankment model on soft clay soil subjected to earthquake motion was investigated in this study.The study was conducted both experimentally using a shaking table and numerically using PLAXIS 3D software.The amplification of acceleration,displacement,pore water pressure,and strain response were measured while varying input accelerations and surcharge pressures.Time histories of the Kobe record of the 1995 Hanshin earthquake were used as the input seismic motion.The input acceleration was 0.05 g,0.1 g,0.15 g,and 0.2 g,and different surcharge pressures were 0.70 kPa,1.12 kPa,and 1.72 kPa with relative density of Sylhet sand fixed to 48%.The output data from the shaking table tests and the numerical analysis performed through the PLAXIS 3D software were compared,and these findings were also compared with some earlier similar studies.The acceleration amplification,displacement,pore water pressure,and strain(%)changed along the elevation of the embankment and acceleration response increased with the increase in base acceleration.The increase was more noticeable at higher elevations.These findings enrich the knowledge of predicting the dynamic behavior of wrap-faced embankments and enable the design parameters to be adjusted more accurately.

Pseudo-Static Elasto-Plastic Cyclic Creep Model and Cyclic Stability of Offshore Soft Foundation

The accumulative shear deformation of soft clays under cyclic loads is considered as pseudo-static creep. A pseudo-static elasto-plastic cyclic creep model is developed based on the visco-elasto-plastic theory. The parameters in the model are determined by cyclic triaxial soil tests. A method for analyzing the stability of offshore soft foundation under wave loads is given by combining the model with pseudo-static creep analysis. An example is analyzed by the method. The results show that the horizontal and vertical stability of foundations under wave loads can be analyzed by it and the analytical results are qualitatively consistent with the observed failure modes of shallow foundations.

ANALYSIS OF GEOSYNTHETICS REINFORCED EMBANKMENT ON SOFT SOIL BY FEM

The reinforcement effects of geosynthetics in thick soft subsoil case and thin soft subsoil case are studied in this paper,and a Duncan Chang nonlinear numerical model based on the finite element method (FEM) is developed.Moreover,an important conclusion that the thickness of soft subsoil affects greatly the geotechnical behavior of geosynthetic reinforced embankments is drawn.A series of embankment built on soft subsoil is calculated using the FEM program.The results of the computer program,such as the lateral displacements,settlements,and stress level and shear stresses in the subsoil,are presented in great detail and the comparison of those results disposes clearly the huge discrepancy of reinforce benefit between the thick subsoil embankment and thin subsoil embankment.Reinforcement mechanism of geosynthetics is also discussed in this paper and several conclusions are reached.This paper also gives recommendations for design.

NORMALIZED RELATION OF CYCLIC DEGRADATION BEHAVIOUR ON SOFT CLAYS

The effect of the consolidation stress σc and the consolidation ratio kc on the cyclic degradation relation is studied by cyclic triaxial tests of soft clay. The results show that the normalized relation among the cyclic modulus, the damping ratio, the accumulative deviatoric strain and the cyclic degradation parameter can be established if the cyclic stress ratio and initial shear stress ratio are used as normalized parameters. Thereby the reasonable method is supplied to measure and apply cyclic parameters of soft clay.

Research of deformation prediction method of soft soil deep foundation pit

In view of the characteristics of soft soil deep foundation pit for the construction and geotechnical characteristics of the special medium,it is difficult to calculate theoreti- cally accurately structural deformation of the foundation pit,so in the course of excavation on the construction of the information is particularly important.The analysis and compari- son of several popular non-linear forecasting methods,combined with the actual projects, set up a grey theoretical prediction model,time series forecasting model,improved neural network model to predict deformation of the foundation pit.The results show that the use of neural network to predict with high accuracy solution,it is the foundation deformation prediction effective way in underground works with good prospects.

Microscopic analysis of saturated soft clay in Pearl River Delta

A series of researches were carried out for the soil samples in the Pearl River Delta under the action of consolidation loads,such as the quantitative analyses of the pore scale,shape and size distributions of micro-structure units,with an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM),a mercury intrusion analyzer and a mineral diffractometer. The experimental results show that the consolidation pressures remarkably change the pore sizes and distribution characteristics of the silt,thus changing its compressibility and permeability. This can be proved by the fact that,in the earlier stage with a consolidation pressure of p<200 kPa,the pore sizes are greater and the compressibility and permeability coefficients are larger. However,they rapidly decrease with the increase in consolidation pressure. And in the later stage with a consolidation pressure of p>200 kPa,the pore sizes are smaller and the compressibility and permeability coefficients are less. Therefore,the empirical formulas of compression coefficient and permeability coefficient vs consolidation load and average pore diameter are deduced.

Review of research on high-speed railway subgrade settlement in soft soil area

Construction issues of high-speed rail infrastructures have been increasingly concerned worldwide,of which the subgrade settlement in soft soil area becomes a particularly critical problem.Due to the high compressibility and low permeability of soft soil,the post-construction settlement of the subgrade is extremely difficult to control in these regions,which seriously threatens the operation safety of high-speed trains.In this work,the significant issues of high-speed railway subgrades in soft soil regions are discussed.The theoretical and experimental studies on foundation treatment methods for ballasted and ballastless tracks are reviewed.The settlement evolution and the settlement control effect of different treatment methods are highlighted.Control technologies of subgrade differential settlement are subsequently briefly presented.Settlement calculation algorithms of foundations reinforced by different treatment methods are discussed in detail.The defects of existing prediction methods and the challenges faced in their practical applications are analyzed.Furthermore,the guidance on future improvement in control theories and technologies of subgrade settlement for high-speed railway lines and the corresponding challenges are provided.

Consolidation of soft clay foundation improved by geosyntheticreinforced granular columns:Numerical evaluation

Soft clays are problematic soils as they present high compressibility and low shear strength.There are several methods for improving in situ conditions of soft clays.Based on the geotechnical problem’s geometry and characteristics,the in situ conditions may require reinforcement to restrain instability and construction settlements.Granular columns reinforced by geosynthetic material are widely used to reduce settlements of embankments on soft clays.They also accelerate the consolidation rate by reducing the drainage path’s length and increasing the foundation soil’s bearing capacity.In this study,the performance of encased and layered granular columns in soft clay is investigated and discussed.The numerical results show the significance of geosynthetic stiffness and the column length on the embankment settlements.Furthermore,the results show that granular columns may play an important role in dissipating the excess pore water pressures and accelerating the consolidation settlements of embankments on soft clays.

Design parameter optimization of beam foundation on soft soil layer with nonlinear finite element

Finite element method was performed to investigate the influences of beam stiffness, foundation width and cushion thickness on the beating capacity of beam foundation on underlying weak laminated clay. The comparison between numerical results and results from field test including plate-bearing test and foundation settlement observation shows reasonable agreement. According to the numerical results, the beam width, length, cross section and cushion thickness were optimized. The results show that the stresses in subgrade soil decrease greatly with increasing the cushion thickness and width of foundation. However, the foundation settlement and influencing depth of displacement also increase correspondingly under conditions of relatively thinner cushion thickness. For the foundations on underlying weak layer, increasing foundation width merely might be inadequate for improving the bearing capacity, and the appropriate width and cushion thickness depend on the response of subgrade. A comparison between rigid and flexible beams was also discussed. The influence of a flexible beam foundation on subgrade is relatively smaller under the same loading conditions, and the flexible beam foundation appears more adaptable to various subgrades. The proposed flexible beam foundation was adopted in engineering. According to the calculation results, beam width of 2.4 m and cushion thickness of 0.8 m are proposed, and a flexible beam foundation is applied in the optimized design, which is confirmed reasonable by the actual engineering.

Influence of sand content on the flow characteristics of soft soil under cyclic and high-frequency vibration

The flow characteristics of foundation soils subjected to train loads can present engineering hazards in highspeed railways.In order to verify the feasibility of blending coarse sand in modifying soft subsoil,undrained pulling sphere tests were carried out and the train loads were simulated through localized and cyclic vibration at various frequencies.Laboratory testing results indicate that the fl ow characteristics of soft soil can be signifi cantly enhanced by high-frequency vibration;meanwhile the continuous increase in fl ow characteristics caused by cyclic vibration may be an important reason for the long-term settlement of soft subsoil.The infl uence of sand content on fl ow characteristics is also studied in detail,and it is shown that the addition of coarse sand can weaken the fl ow characteristics of soft soil induced by sudden vibration at lower than 50 Hz.Under the condition of cyclic vibration,the growth of the fl ow characteristics of sand-clay mixtures is mainly caused by the fi rst-time vibration in the cycle,and the increase in sand content can make the fl ow characteristics present a faster convergent tendency.

Radial consolidation characteristics of soft undisturbed clay based on large specimens

In recent years, reconstituted small samples have often been used to assess the performance of radial consolidation due to prefabricated vertical drains(PVDs), but the permeability and compressibility of samples of undisturbed soil often differ from those of the remoulded ones. The problem seems more complex in marine environment due to the presence of random coarse particles including gravels, shells and natural partings. Performing small-scale laboratory experiment with reconstituted samples, especially in marine environment, cannot predict the exact soil behaviour in the field. This paper describes an experimental programme that measures radial consolidation using a conventional Rowe cell and a largescale consolidometer, where the samples of undisturbed soil obtained from a site along the Pacific Highway(north of Sydney) were compared using measured settlements and excess pore pressures.Moreover, this paper highlights the implications of the smear effect and sample size influence, which are imperative in translating the laboratory testing practices to actual real-life behaviour. The effect of vacuum pressure on the coefficient of radial consolidation of a large-scale undisturbed test specimen is also discussed. The paper demonstrates that the extent of smear zone in the field can be very similar to the large-scale laboratory consolidation test using a scaled-down drain and mandrel, but considerably different from the data obtained for small laboratory specimens.

Engineering Geological Zoning of Soft-Soil Foundation Based on Combination Weighting and Extension Methods

Different criteria and factors are used in different methods of soft soil foundation settlement calculation and engineering geological zoning.The methods used are not universally suitable for complex geological environments.The post-construction settlement of soft soil foundations are especially large and difficult to calculate.In addition,there are many deficiencies in the current methods used for engineering geological zoning.Focusing on the need of establishing engineering geological zoning for areas with soft soil foundations in the Tianjin Marine Economic Area,combination weighting and extension methods were introduced.An evaluation model for the settlement of soft soil foundations was established using multiple factors and large amounts of data.This evaluation model is accurate and objective for delineating engineering geological zoning.These methods eliminate deficiencies by considering both objective and subjective factors,and help obtain an objective and accurate result.