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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Response of Surface Soft Soil and Fine-Grained Sand Layers to Seismic Waves

Shanghai is located in eastern China and is built on overburden soil layers. It can be seen from the Mexico M S=8.1 earthquake on September 19, 1985 and the Hanshin M S=7.4 earthquake on January 17,1995 that heavy casualties and property losses have a direct relationship with overburden soil layers. Ground motions caused by earthquakes are significantly amplified when passing through the soil layers. Under the influence of these amplified motions, building structures, whose nature frequency is within the frequency band of soil amplification response, will experience more severe damage than those built on bedrock. Therefore, engineering seismologists have paid considerable attention the amplification responses in the Shanghai overburden soil layers. The amplification responses of soil and sand layers in this paper are given by the M L=4.1 earthquake in Nantong, Jiangsu Province on December 25, 2001 at 31.8° N, 120.9° E. It can be seen that the responses of soil and sand layers are very different. That is important.

Collapse of a Deep Excavated Foundation Pit in the Soft Soils by 3-D FEM

In view of the collapse of a deep excavated foundation pit of the Xianghu subway underground station in Hangzhou of China,the main features of the accident are analyzed,and the induced factors of the accident are summarized. Then,a 3-D FEM analysis model is created to demonstrate the soil-support structures interaction system,and the effect of the main factors,such as the volume replacement ratio of the bottom soil reinforcing,the asymmetric ground overload,the embedded depth of the diaphragm wall,the shear strength of the bottom soils disturbed by the construction,and the excessive excavation of the bottom soil,are analyzed and compared. The results show that the ineffective original reinforcement plan for the bottom soft soil is the most prominent factor for the accident,and the disturbance effect of the deep excavation on the shear strength of the bottom soft soil is another significant factor for the accident. Meanwhile,if the reinforcement of the bottom soft soil is canceled,an appropriate extension of the diaphragm retaining walls to the under lying harder soil layer can also effectively prevent the collapse of the deep excavated foundation pit. In addition,the partly excessive excavation in the process has a great influence on the axial force of the most nearby horizontal support but few effect on the stability of the diaphragm wall. Thus,the excessive excavation of the bottom soils should not be the direct inducing factor for the accident. To the asymmetric ground overload,it should be the main factor inducing the different damage conditions of the diaphragm walls on different sides. According to the numerical modeling and actual engineering accident condition,the development process of the accident is also identified.

A 3D Numerical Simulation of Sand Drain Element in the Soft Soil of Guangzhou-Zhujiang Highway,China

The behavior of sand drain was estimated so that the size of very large load-pressure could be eliminated by changing the configuration of the sand drain elements into sand wall.A 3D mathematical model was formulated to transform the configuration of a sand drain into a sand wall to minimize or eliminate the excessive stress and primary settlement on the road base.This was barely considered in the past. According to soil mechanics theory and seepage characteristics of sand drain in road base foundations, a 3D sand drain element in FEM format was generated,and a matrix expression was formulated which was introduced into 3D Biot Consolidation

Composite Consolidation Coefficient Analysis of Soft Soil with Drainage Water

The consolidation coefficient is the most basic parameter to calculate the consolidation rate of soil layer, and the horizontal consolidation coefficient controls the radial water flow into the drainage well. Based on the background of the soft soil in Shantou, Guangdong Province, a series of experimental studies on the consolidation characteristics were carried out by using the modified consolidation instrument. And the concept of the composite consolidation coefficient of the drained water body was put forward. The composite consolidation coefficient reflects the consolidation characteristics of soft soil with drainage water, The test results showed that: 1) The consolidation test with drainage plate is basically consistent with the load compression curve, but its consolidation rate is fast, which is reflected by the composite consolidation coefficient. 2) In the consolidation test of water bodies with drainage, the vertical consolidation coefficient and radial consolidation coefficient are calculated by “three-point method”, and then the composite consolidation coefficient is obtained. The composite consolidation coefficient decreases with the increase of drain spacing ratio, effective drainage diameter and drainage height, which is basically consistent with the theoretical formula. 3) The vertical consolidation coefficient and radial consolidation coefficient decrease with the increase of the diameter of the sample, and the difference is obvious when the load is large. The large-size model with a diameter of 100 mm and a height of 100 mm is about 1.35 times of the vertical consolidation coefficient of the conventional consolidation test.

Soft soil Treatment for Large Coal-fired Power Plant

This paper describes the engineeringapplication of soil improvement in manylarge coal-fired power plants designed byEast China Electric Power Design Institute.Soil improvement technology is especiallysuitable for strengthening soft soil. Exceptfor increasing soil bearing capacity andcontrolling soil deformation, it can also beused to eliminate loose sand liquefactionunder seismic loading, or to strengthen slopestability. The applications introduced in thispaper include dynamic consolidation,drained consolidation, stone pile, soil-cement mixed pile, jet grouting andcompacting grouting, reinforced earth, etc.The kinds of soil layer to be improvedinclude typical Shanghai soft soil, loose siltand silt sand, miscellaneous fill andhydraulic filled soil. As a result of thetreatments described in this paper, nobuilding fissures caused by soil differentialsettlement had ever occurred in the powerplants engineered by ECEPDI andconstructed in 1990s.

Deformation characteristics of ultra-deep circular shaft in soft soil:A case study

A circular shaft is often used to access a working well for deep underground space utilization.As the depth of underground space increases,the excavation depth of the shaft increases.In this study,the deformation characteristics of a circular shaft with a depth of 56.3 m were presented and analysed.The main monitoring contents included:(1)wall deflection;(2)vertical wall movement;(3)horizontal soil movement;(4)vertical surface movement;and(5)basal heave.Horizontally,the maximum wall deflection was only 7.7 mm.Compared with the wall deflection data collected for another 29 circular excavations,the ratio of maximum wall deflection to excavation depth of this shaft was smaller due to a smaller ratio of diameter to excavation depth.The wall deflection underwent two stages of deformation:the first stage was mainly circumferential compression caused by the mutual extrusion of joints between walls,and the second stage was typical vertical deflection deformation.The horizontal soil movement outside the shaft was greater than the wall deflection and the deep soil caused great horizontal movement because of dewatering at confined water layers.Vertically,a basal heave of 203.8 mm occurred in the pit centre near the bottom.Meanwhile,the shaft was uplifted over time and showed 3 stages of vertical movement.The surface outside the shaft exhibited settlement and uplift deformation at different locations due to different effects.The basal heave caused by excavation was the dominant factor,driving the vertical movement of the shaft as well as the surrounding surface.The correlation between the wall deflection and the surface settlement outside the shaft was weak.

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.

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.

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.

Seismic responses of subway station with different distributions of soft soil in Tianjin

In connection with the practical project of Kunming Road station of Tianjin subway Line 3, the paper established a two-dimensional finite element model with visco-elastic boundary by using ANSYS and analyzed seismic responses of subway station with different distribution of soft soil. The nonlinear dynamic properties of soft soils are modeled by the KINH. And obtain the response rules about displacement and internal force on subway station in the general field soil and five different distributions of soft soil. Provide reference for improving the seismic performance of subway stations in Tianjin soft soil.

Soil Microstructure Evolution and Macro Deformation Mechanism for Controlling Construction Disturbance in Shanghai Soft Soil

Abundant practical evidences have indicated that the soil progressively loses its structural configuration under construction disturbance and this can result in long-term macro deformation.The fundamental understanding of soil microstructure evolution subject to construction disturbance is necessary for controlling disturbance in excavation projects and minimizing ground settlement.The microstructure of Shanghai soft soil is investigated in this study.The laboratory isotropic compression tests are respectively performed on the virgin soil and the reconstructed Shanghai soft soil to investigate the macro deformation of soil under disturbance.Discrete element method model is used to study the micro particle level responses of soil under disturbance.The laboratory tests and numerical simulations provide theoretical basis for construction disturbance mitigation to ensure safety and stability of excavation projects.

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.