Deformation and failure modes of composite foundation with sub-embankment plain concrete piles

With the development of high-speed railway in China, composite foundation with rigid piles has become a stamdard solution of meeting the high requirements of stability and post-construction settlement of embankment on soft subgrade. Among several im- provement pattems, plain concrete piles have been extensively used to treat soft ground supported embankment. To investigate the deformation and failure modes of unimproved soft ground and soft ground reinforced by sub-embankment plain concrete piles, and to learn the influences of track and vehicle load, the effect of pile spacing, as well as the compression moduli of soil layers and upper load condition on the failure modes, a series of centrifuge model tests were performed. Test results indicate that the dis- placement of unimproved soft ground under the embankment increases continuously as embankment, track and train loading, and slip circle failure takes place. The deformation law of soft ground reinforced by sub-embankment plain concrete piles depends on pile spacing, compression modulus of the soft ground, and loading conditions. It was also found that plain concrete piles show displacement and failure patterns depending on its location, compression modulus of soft soil around the pile, and loading condi- tions. Furthermore, the evaluation of improved ground stability as well as the model test procedure is also presented.

Assessment of the ballistic response of honeycomb sandwich structures subjected to offset and normal impact

In the present study,experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to examine the behavior of sandwich panels with honeycomb cores.The high velocity impact tests were carried out using a compressed air gun.A sharp conical nosed projectile was impacted normally and with some offset distance(20 mm and 40 mm).The deformation,failure mode and energy dissipation characteristics were obtained for both kinds of loading.Moreover,the explicit solver was run in Abaqus to create the finite element model.The numerically obtained test results were compared with the experimental to check the accuracy of the modelling.The numerical result was further employed to obtain strain energy dissipation in each element by externally running user-defined code in Abaqus.Furthermore,the influence of inscribe circle diameter and cell wall and face sheet thickness on the energy dissipation,deformation and failure mode was examined.The result found that ballistic resistance and deformation were higher against offset impact compared to the normal impact loading.Sandwich panel impacted at 40 mm offset distance required 3 m/s and 1.9 m/s more velocity than 0 and 20 mm offset distance.Also,increasing the face sheet and wall thickness had a positive impact on the ballistic resistance in terms of a higher ballistic limit and energy absorption.However,inscribe circle diameter had a negative influence on the ballistic resistance.Also,the geometrical parameters of the sandwich structure had a significant influence on the energy dissipation in the different deformation directions.The energy dissipation in plastic work was highest for circumferential direction,regardless of impact condition followed by tangential,radial and axial directions.