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.

An improved Mesri creep model for unsaturated weak intercalated soils

The weak intercalated soils in redbed soft rocks of Badong formation have obvious creep characters. In order to predict the unsaturated creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils, an unsaturated creep model was established based on the unsaturated creep tests of weak intercalated soils by using GDS triaxial apparatus. The results show that the creep behaviors of intercalated soils are apparent and significantly affected by matric suction. Based on this, an empirical Mesri creep model for intercalated soils under varying matric suctions was built. The fitting results show that the parameters Ed and m of this model are in good power relations with matric suction s and stress level Dr, respectively. An improved Mesri creep model was established involving stress-matric suction-strain-time, which is more precise than the Mesri creep model in predicting the unsaturated creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils.

Unsaturated Creep Behaviors of Weak Intercalated Soils in Soft Rock of Badong Formation

The cutting slopes in soft rock of redbed appeared in Yichang-Badong highway often suffer from the instability along weak intercalations, so the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils are crucially important for the stability of cutting slopes. Because the deformation of weak intercalated soils is significantly affected by water content due to the strong water sensitivity, it is necessary to study the influence of matric suction on the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils. In order to find out the unsaturated creep characters of weak intercalated soils, a GDS unsaturated triaxial apparatus was used. Then the triaxial creep experiments on weak intercalated soil samples under varying matric suction were conducted to obtain the unsaturated creep curves. The results show that the weak intercalated soils have obvious creep behaviors, and the creep strain is in nonlinear relationship with stress and time. When the matric suction is constant, a larger deviator stress will lead to a larger creep strain; When the deviator stress is constant, a smaller matric suction will lead to a larger creep strain. Based on the Mesri creep model, an improved creep model for weak intercalated soils under varying matric suction was established, in which the relationship of stress-strain was expressed with a hyperbolic function, and the relationship of strain-time was expressed with power functions in stages. Then an unsaturated creep model including stress-matric suction-strain-time for weak intercalated soils was established based on the power function relationship between matric suction and Ed(a parameter of the improved creep model). The comparison of the calculated values of creep model and the experimental values shows that the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils can be predicted by the unsaturated creep model by and large.

Creep model for unsaturated soils in sliding zone of Qianjiangping landslide

The mechanical behavior of sliding zone soils plays a significant role in landslide. In general, the sliding zone soils are basically in unsaturated state due to rainfall infiltration and reservoir water level fluctuation. Meanwhile, a large number of examples show that the deformation processes of landslides always take a long period of time, indicating that landslides exhibit a time-dependent property. Therefore, the deforma- tion of unsaturated soils of landslide involves creep behaviors. In this paper, the Burgers creep model for unsaturated soils under triaxial stress state is considered based on the unsaturated soil mechanics. Then, by curve fitting using the least squares method, creep parameters in different matric suction states are obtained based on the creep test data of unsaturated soils in the sliding zones of Qianjiangping landslide. Results show that the predicted results are in good agreement with the experimental data, Finally, to fur- ther explore the creep characteristics of the unsaturated soils in sliding zones, the relationships between parameters of the model and matric suction are analyzed and a revised Burgers creep model is developed correspondingly. Simulations on another group of test data are performed by using the modified Burgers creep model and reasonable results are observed,

Shear creep parameters of simulative soil for deep-sea sediment

Based on mineral component and in-situ vane shear strength of deep-sea sediment, four kinds of simulative soils were prepared by mixing different bentonites with water in order to find the best simulative soil for the deep-sea sediment collected from the Pacific C-C area. Shear creep characteristics of the simulative soil were studied by shear creep test and shear creep parameters were determined by Burgers creep model. Research results show that the shear creep curves of the simulative soil can be divided into transient creep, unstable creep and stable creep, where the unstable creep stage is very short due to its high water content. The shear creep parameters increase with compressive stress and change slightly or fluctuate to approach a constant value with shear stress, and thus average creep parameters under the same compressive stress are used as the creep parameters of the simulative soil. Traction of the deep-sea mining machine walking at a constant velocity can be calculated by the shear creep constitutive equation of the deep-sea simulative soil, which provides a theoretical basis for safe operation and optimal design of the deep-sea mining machine.

Evaluation of creep models for frozen soils

To model the creep behavior of frozen soils, three creep stages have to be reasonably described （i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary stages）. Based on a series of uniaxial creep test results, three creep models were evaluated. It was shown that hypoplastic creep model has high prediction accuracy for both creep strain and strain rate in a wide stress range. The elementary rheological creep model can only be used for creep strains at low stress levels, because of the restraints of its mathematical construction. For the soft soil creep model, the progressive change from the primary to secondary and tertiary stages cannot be captured at high stress levels. Therefore, the elementary rheological and soft soil creep models can only be used for low stress levels without a tertiary stage; while the hypoplastic creep model is applicable at high stress levels with the three creep stages.

Effects of stress conditions on rheological properties of granular soil in large triaxial rheology laboratory tests

In order to study the rheological properties of red stone granular soil,a series of rheological experiments were executed on large tri-axial rheological apparatus.Under 100,200 and 300 kPa confining stress conditions,the rheological tests were carried out.These experiment results showed that the stress conditions,especially the stress level were the critical influencing factors of the rheological deformation properties.Under the low stress level(S=0.1),the granular soil showed the elastic properties,and there was no obvious rheological deformation.Under the middle stress level(0.2<S≤0.6),creep curves showed the linear viscoelastic rheological properties.However,under the high stress level(S>0.8) creep curves showed the non-linear viscous plastic rheological properties.Especially,under the stress level of S=1.0,the accelerated rheological phase of creep curves occurred at early time with a trend of failure.The stress level had obvious effects on the final rheological deformation of the soil sample,and the final rheological deformation increments nonlinearly increased with stress level.The final rheological deformation increment and step was little under low stress level,while it became large under high stress level,which showed the nonlinearly rheological properties of the granular soil.The confining pressure also had direct effects on final rheological deformation,and the final rheological deformation linearly increased with confining pressure increments.

Coupled model of consolidation and creep for consolidation test

For most soft soil,the consolidation process and the creep process were coupled and the character of settlement time curve was obtained by the consolidation test at the same time.A simple and continuous function was presented to express the whole process of consolidation including immediate settlement stage,the primary consolidation stage and the secondary consolidation stage.And the features of the continuous function were analyzed.The results of the long-term(duration to 18 months) consolidation test on clays from the Chek Lap Kok formation proved the rightness of the method.In the end,the parameter meanings of the continuous function were discussed.

Consolidation and Creep Behaviors of Two Typical Marine Clays in China

This paper presents an experimental investigation into the deformation characteristics of two typical marine clays obtained from Dalian and Shanghai, respectively, in China. Three kinds of laboratory tests, i.e. conventional oedometer tests, one-dimensional and triaxial creep tests were carried out. The results obtained from consolidation tests demonstrate linear e−logσv relationships for Shanghai clay at normally consolidated state, while partly or even global non-linear relationships for Dalian clay. The compression index Cc for both clays follows the correlation of Cc = 0.009(wL −10) where wL is the liquid limit of soil. The relationship between logkv (kv is the hydraulic conductivity of soil) and void ratio e is generally linear and the hydraulic conductivity change index Ckv can be described by their initial void ratio for both clays. The secondary compressibility of Dalian clay lies in medium to high range and is higher than that of Shanghai clay which lies in the range of low to medium. Furthermore, based on drained triaxial creep tests, the stress-strain-time relationships following Mesri’s creep equation have been developed for Dalian and Shanghai clays which can predict the long-term deformation of both clays reasonably well.

Investigation on relations between grain crushing amount and void ratio change of granular materials in one-dimensional compression and creep tests

Grain crushing plays an important role in one-dimensional (1D) compression and creep behaviors of granular materials under high stress. It is clear that the macro-properties of granular materials are closely related to the micro-fracture properties of grains in 1D compression and creep tests. In this paper, a series of 1D compression and creep tests were performed on Ottawa sand to investigate the deformation and grain crushing properties of granular materials, and it shows that the void ratio is correlated to the grain crushing amount (the quantity of crushed grains) for granular materials subjected to grain crushing. The test results, combining with the existing test data related to grain crushing of granular materials, were used to verify the relation. Moreover, the implications of these relations on the yield of granular material, and the equivalent effect of stress and time in changing soil fabric are presented.

基于含冰量的冻结砂土-混凝土接触面蠕变特性

保证高含冰量冻土区桩基础的长期稳定性是多年冻土区桥梁桩基础安全服役中的关键问题,为研究含冰量对冻土-混凝土接触面蠕变特性的影响,采用自行研制的大型蠕变剪切仪,在−2℃条件下开展含冰量为6%、12%、16%、23%、36%、60%、80%的冻结砂土与混凝土接触面蠕变试验.试验结果表明:在恒定的剪应力作用下,除含冰量为6%试样出现加速蠕变外,其他试样仅出现衰减蠕变及稳定蠕变2个阶段;随含冰量的增大,试样黏性变形占比增大,含冰量为80%试样的黏性变形超过总变形量的80%;稳定蠕变速率受到干密度及含冰量的综合影响,含冰量为16%时稳定蠕变速率最小;Burgers黏弹性模型能较好地模拟高含冰量冻结砂土-混凝土接触面蠕变曲线;随着含冰量的增大,初始剪切模量和稳定蠕变阶段黏滞系数先增大后减小,初始蠕变阶段的渐进剪切模量呈幂函数减小,初始蠕变阶段黏滞系数呈幂函数增大.

一种适用于细粒土的新型叠片式单剪仪研制与应用

研制了一种适用于细粒土的新型叠片式单剪仪。该单剪仪试样室采用若干内部尺寸长×宽为100 mm×40 mm的回字形叠片,有效地减小了常规圆形叠环式单剪仪压力室剪切时试样侧倾、受力严重不均的问题。销钉式变形控制杆能使试样剪切变形均匀,叠片试样室外围的导向侧板控制了剪力的方向性,新型的杠杆支点结构有效解决杠杆倾斜时加载杆力传递变化的问题。该单剪仪结构稳定、易于操作,集应力/应变控制式功能于一身,可实现对细粒土的均匀剪切。基于该单剪仪对某黏土进行了抗剪强度和剪切蠕变试验,分析了黏土的抗剪强度参数和剪切蠕变规律,初步验证了该单剪仪的优良工作性能。

纤维加筋膨胀土的蠕变规律及模型预测

膨胀土是具有流变性质的灾害性土,其蠕变行为直接影响到工程结构的稳定性和安全性。为探究剑麻纤维加筋膨胀土的蠕变特性及应力-应变数学模型,采用室内固结排水三轴蠕变试验,分别进行了不同含水率、不同围压和不同偏应力条件下素膨胀土和剑麻纤维加筋膨胀土的蠕变特性研究,根据蠕变特征曲线提出了基于Mesri蠕变经验模型的剑麻纤维加筋膨胀土的修正蠕变模型。结果表明:相同条件下,剑麻纤维加筋土的蠕变变形量明显小于素土的蠕变变形量,说明掺入剑麻纤维可有效提高膨胀土的结构性能和抗变形能力;素土和剑麻纤维加筋土的蠕变变形量随含水率增大而增大,而随围压的增大呈减小趋势;素土和剑麻纤维加筋土在受到偏应力时均会产生瞬时应变量和蠕变变形量,其蠕变变形量随偏应力的增大而增大;素土和加筋土的蠕变曲线分4个阶段,分别为弹性变形阶段、稳态蠕变阶段、衰减蠕变阶段和加速蠕变阶段;高偏应力下,基于传统Mesri蠕变经验模型的剑麻纤维加筋土蠕变预测误差高达37.95%,对Mesri蠕变经验模型进行修正后预测误差降至1.5%内,说明修正模型能较好地描述剑麻纤维加筋土的蠕变特性。此研究结果可为膨胀土工程提供理论参考。

软黏土基坑开挖诱发坑外地表沉降的时效解

对比理论和实测研究成果,发现既有坑外地表沉降计算方法不适用于蠕变效应显著的软土基坑。借助Lame方程和三参量黏弹性地基模型,推导得到柔性挡墙任意变位诱发坑外地表沉降的时效半解析解;将理论计算方法应用于杭州软土地区的两个深基坑工程实例,分析了从基坑开挖到地下室回筑的施工全过程中坑外地表沉降的发展规律。结果表明:(1)软土蠕变诱发不依赖于挡墙附加侧移的地表沉降,不仅导致软土基坑开挖期间的地表最大沉降与挡墙最大侧移之比远大于非软土基坑,而且引起坑外土体在地下室回筑期的持续沉降;(2)软土蠕变诱发的地表沉降随挡墙侧移的增大而增大,表现为凹槽沉降模式;(3)深厚软土深基坑的地表最大沉降与挡墙最大侧移之比主要受软土蠕变性和施工时间等因素的影响,与挡墙侧移量的关系不明显。

碱渣土蠕变特性试验及数值模拟研究

碱渣土孔隙比大、含水量高、压缩性大,研究其蠕变特性对于准确预测碱渣土地基长期沉降、确保上部结构长期稳定性具有重要意义。以天津港碱渣土为研究对象,采用分级加载-卸载的方式对不同深度处碱渣土进行一维压缩固结试验(包括卸荷回弹与再压缩试验)。通过试样孔隙比随上部固结压力的变化曲线分析了碱渣土的压缩特性;利用“陈氏法”对分级加载过程的应变-时间试验数据进行处理,得到不同深度处碱渣土在不同固结压力下的应变-时间蠕变曲线。在此基础上,根据蠕变曲线衰减稳定规律以及应力-应变等时曲线所反映的非线性蠕变特征,提出采用Merchant元件模型对蠕变试验曲线进行拟合,并确定模型中3个参数的经验计算公式,建立碱渣土非线性蠕变模型。最后,通过编制有限元子程序实现数值开发,将数模计算值与蠕变试验数据、天津港碱渣土地基沉降实测值进行对比,验证所开发数值模型的合理性。

加载与干湿循环作用下土石混合料蠕变特性试验

土石混合料在干湿循环作用下具有显著的蠕变性,其对高填方工程蠕变变形的影响不可忽略。为了研究了不同干密度及荷载水平对土石混合料湿化蠕变变形的影响,开展了9组土石混合料干湿循环作用下的压缩蠕变试验。结果表明,土石混合料的湿化蠕变变形随荷载水平的提高而增大,随干密度的提高而显著减小,但随着干密度进一步提高,湿化蠕变变形的减小幅度则明显弱化。土石混合料在干湿循环作用下的湿化蠕变变形与干湿循环次数对数之间较好地满足线性发展规律,初次湿化应变及湿化蠕变速率均同荷载水平及干密度之间符合幂函数特征,在此基础上提出了考虑不同干密度及荷载水平的土石混合料干湿循环蠕变经验模型。

考虑固结全过程的实用沉降预测方法

中国大量交通基础设施修筑在软土地基上,建立能够适用深厚软土地基的沉降预测方法具有重要意义。在实际监测过程中,深厚软土的主固结时间漫长,实测数据包含了主固结变形与蠕变变形。大多数沉降预测模型基于瞬时加载,没有考虑非线性的固结全过程。考虑固结变形全过程,采用新的曲线表达式反映一维固结曲线在不同阶段的非线性,将瞬时变形和延时变形均按非线性处理,建立考虑固结全过程的实用沉降预测方法。以常用的3种曲线拟合方法作为参照对象,根据大阪关西国际机场的监测数据进行曲线拟合与预测对比。结果表明,扩展蠕变沉降算法能够更准确、更可靠地预测软土地基的沉降。

长期服役高桩码头岸坡-结构体系侧向变形实测与数值模拟

长期服役高桩码头的侧向变形会导致桩顶变位,进而影响桩帽与横梁之间的连接,使得码头的工程安全处于危险状态。依托天津港某长期服役码头,开展结构位移和地基深层土体水平位移长期监测,在监测结果的基础上开展数值模拟分析,研究长期服役高桩码头岸坡-结构体系在蠕变影响下土体水平位移、沉降以及桩身水平位移、沉降等相应规律,并且研究岸坡后方不同填土厚度对岸坡-结构体系侧向变形的影响。结果表明,土体蠕变是长期服役高桩码头岸坡-结构体系侧向变形的一个重要影响因素,土体的蠕变变形主要集中于后方堆场沉降和坡面表层淤泥质黏土的竖向位移。岸坡土体的蠕变速率随时间增大而减小。桩身的竖向位移从桩顶到桩底不断减小;码头结构的受力最不利位置处于桩顶附近,各排架桩基在水平位移方面差异明显,越靠内侧越大。随着填土厚度不断增大,岸坡-结构体系侧向变形不断增大。

超载预压施工过程软土固结变形特征研究

超载预压法作为一种有效的软土地基处理方法,常被广泛应用于对工后沉降有严格要求的软基处理工程。为研究软土在超载预压、卸荷回弹、再加载(运营)各个阶段的次固结变形特征,尤其是超载卸除后土体的回弹、次固结变形特征,模拟超载预压处理软土地基施工过程现场土体受压工况,重塑洞庭湖安乡软土进行一维固结蠕变试验。研究结果表明,超载预压阶段,软土的压缩曲线主、次固结分界明显,次固结阶段的压缩曲线近似直线。随着预压荷载增大,次固结系数呈逐渐减小。卸荷回弹阶段,回弹峰值及达到回弹峰值所需时间与预压卸荷增量比呈线性递增关系,并提出了相应的计算公式。卸除超载可延缓但不能阻止土体次固结变形,次固结系数受预压荷载影响明显,随着预压荷载增加,呈现出逐渐增大的趋势。再加载阶段,主、次固结阶段曲线连接线逐渐平缓,次固结系数随着施加荷载增加呈逐渐减小的趋势。经超载预压处理软土的次固结系数明显降低,超载预压法能有效控制工后沉降。

不同含盐量条件下硫酸盐渍土蠕变特性与微观孔隙变化

为了探究不同含盐量条件下硫酸盐渍土的蠕变特性以及微观孔隙变化规律,采用自制一维蠕变仪对宁夏红寺堡地区的硫酸盐渍土进行蠕变试验,并对试验后的土样进行扫描电镜试验。结果表明:经历一维蠕变后,土体最终蠕变量随含盐量的增大而增大,随温度的降低而减小,蠕变速率随时间的增长而减小,且随含盐量的增大、温度的升高,土体经历衰减蠕变的时间越长,进入稳定蠕变的时间越晚;一维蠕变后,随含盐量的增加,大孔隙和中孔隙的数量减小,小孔隙和微孔隙的数量增加,孔隙形状以近椭圆形为主,复杂度增加,孔隙形状趋于复杂化,孔隙分形维数增大。