Numerical study on settlement of high-fill airports in collapsible loess geomaterials:A case study of Lüliang Airport in Shanxi Province,China

Foundation settlement is of great significance for high-fill engineering in collapsible loess areas.To predict the construction settlement of Lüliang Airport located in Shanxi Province,China,a plane strain finite element method considering the linear variation in the modulus,was carried out in this paper based on the results of geotechnical tests.The stress and deformation of four typical sections caused by layered fill are simulated,and then the settlement of the high-fill airport is calculated and analyzed by inputting three sets of parameters.The relative soft parameters of loess geomaterials produce more settlement than the relatively hard parameters.The thicker the filling body is,the greater the settlement is.The filling body constrained by mountains on both sides produces less settlement than the filling body constrained by a mountain on only one side even the filling thickness is almost the same.The settlement caused by the original subbase accounts for 56%−77%of the total settlement,while the fill soils themselves accounts for 23%−44%of the total settlement,which is approximately consistent with the field monitoring results.It provides a good reference for predicting the settlement of similar high-fill engineering.

Impact of permafrost degradation on embankment deformation of Qinghai-Tibet Highway in permafrost regions

Based on long-term monitoring data, the relationships between permafrost degradation and embankment deformation are analyzed along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway(QTH). Due to heat absorbing effect of asphalt pavement and climate warming,permafrost beneath asphalt pavement experienced significant warming and degradation. During the monitoring period, warming amplitude of the soil at depth of 5 m under asphalt ranged from 0.21 °C at the XD1 site to 0.5 °C at the KL1 site. And at depth of 10 m, the increase amplitude of ground temperature ranged from 0.47 °C at the NA1 site to 0.07 °C at the XD1 site. Along with ground temperature increase, permafrost table beneath asphalt pavement decline considerably. Amplitude of permafrost table decline varied from 0.53 m at the KL1 site to 3.51 m at the NA1 site, with mean amplitude of 1.65 m for 8 monitoring sites during the monitoring period. Due to permafrost warming and degradation, the embankment deformation all performed as settlement at these sites. At present, those settlements still develop quickly and are expected to continue to increase in the future. The embankment deformations can be divided into homogeneous deformation and inhomogeneous deformation. Embankment longitudinal inhomogeneous deformation causes the wave deformations and has adverse effects on driving comfort and safety, while lateral inhomogeneous deformation causes longitudinal cracks and has an adverse effect on stability. Corresponding with permafrost degradation processes,embankment settlement can be divided into four stages. For QTH, embankment settlement is mainly comprised of thawing consolidation of ice-rich permafrost and creep of warming permafrost beneath permafrost table.