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.

Dynamic soil arching in piled embankment under train load of high-speed railways

Piled embankments have many advantages that have been applied in high-speed railway construction engineering.However,the load transfer mechanism of piled embankments,such as soil arching and tension membranes,is still unclear,especially under dynamic loads.To investigate the soil arching and tension membrane under dynamic train loads on high-speed railways,a large-scale piled embankment model test with X-shaped piles as vertical reinforcement was performed,in which twenty-eight earth pressure cells were installed in the piled embankment and an M-shaped wave was adopted to simulate the high-speed railway train load.The results show that dynamic soil arching only occurs when two bogies of a carriage pass by and disappears at other times.The dynamic soil arching and membrane effect are the most significant under the concrete base.The arching height,stress concentration ratio and pile-soil load sharing ratio have a minimal value at 25 Hz.The dynamic soil arching degrades severely at 25 Hz,whose height at 25 Hz is only 0.35 times that at 5 Hz.The arching height fluctuates over a narrow range with increasing loading amplitude.The stress concentration ratio and the pile-soil load sharing ratio increase monotonically as the loading amplitude increases.

Centrifugal Model Tests on Railway Embankments of Expansive Soils

Based on the centrifugal model tests on railway embankments of expansive soil in Nanning Kunming railway,the author studied several embankments under different physical conditions. The stress and strain states and settlement of the embankments were analyzed, and the obtained results can be used as a reference to field construction.

Dynamic compaction treatment technology research of red clay soil embankment in southern mountains

High liquid limit soil generally adopted in expressway embankment construction of southern mountains, which often expresses some characteristics including high moisture content, high porosity ratio, low permeability, high compressibility, certain disintegration, and so on. Spring soil phenomenon and inhomogeneous compaction have effects on the quality of embankment construction, just because the water in soil is difficult to evaporate. Based on the study of reinforcement mechanism for high liquid limit soil, in situ tests for dynamic compaction treatment in Yizhang-Fengtouling expressway embankment were developed. The reliable and economical dynamic compaction treatment methods and the construction technology for large range high liquid limit soil embankment in southern mountains expressway were discussed. In the process, convenient measurement methods were adopted to evaluate the treatment effects. The test results show that the dynamic compaction method has good treatment effects on the local red clay embankment. The embankment compaction degree is improved with compactness coming to 90% around tamping pits and compactness over 95% in tamping pits interior after tamping. The bearing capacity, the physical mechanic-property and the shear strength for soil are obviously improved, which are enhanced with cohesive strength increasing over 10 kPa and compression modulus increasing over 3 MPa.

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.

Analysis of the Cooling Mechanism of a Crushed Rock Embankment in Warm and Lower Temperature Permafrost Regions along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

Based on data monitored in situ and theoretical analysis,the characteristics of the temperature field and mechanism of thermal conduction of a crushed rock embankment were studied along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.The results of experi-ments in the field revealed that the cooling effect of a crushed rock embankment is influenced mainly by the natural con-vection in winter and shield effect in summer,the ventilation of crushed rocks,and the ground temperature regime be-neath the embankment.Consequently,these three factors should be taken into account in numerical simulations,but it is as a result of natural convection only.

Calibrating partial factors for Danish railway embankments using probabilistic analyses

High costs are connected with upgrading railway embankments throughout Denmark using the partial factors for geotechnical design calibrated for general application. One way to reduce the costs is reliability-based calibration of the partial factors to a reasonable safety level taking into account the specific design situations and uncertainties relevant to railway embankments. A reliability-based design has been investigated, resulting in an optimal partial factor for the considered subsoil. With a stochastic soil model to simulate the undrained shear strength of soft soil deposits, the partial factor is calibrated using asymptotic sampling for the reliability assessment. The calibration shows that the partial factor can be reduced significantly compared to the value specified in the Danish National Annex to DS/EN 1997-1 （2007）, Eurocode 7.

A simplified method for prediction of embankment settlement in clays

The prediction of embankment settlement is a critically important issue for the serviceability of subgrade projects,especially the post-construction settlement.A number of methods have been proposed to predict embankment settlement;however,all of these methods are based on a parameter,i.e.the initial time point.The difference of the initial time point determined by different designers can de?nitely induce errors in prediction of embankment settlement.This paper proposed a concept named"potential settlement"and a simpli?ed method based on the in situ data.The key parameter"b"in the proposed method was veri?ed using theoretical method and?eld data.Finally,an example was used to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method by comparing with other methods and the observation data.

Performance of fixed geosynthetic technique of GRPS embankment

增强 Geosynthetic 、支持堆积(GRPS ) 堤逐渐地在过去的十年在很多区域并且为大量工程被构造了。然而，许多劣势在 GRPS 堤(叫的 CT 堤) 的常规技术上通过很多应用被暴露，即，不堪忍受的解决和侧面的排水量，低 geosynthetic 效率，等等。鉴于这些劣势， GRPS 堤(叫的 FGT 堤) 的固定 geosynthetic 技术在这个工作被开发。在这个系统， geosynthetic 被钢酒吧支点和具体的固定的顶在堆积头上修理。涉及 FGT 堤的原则和构造技术第一被描述。然后，数字分析方法和二阶段的分析方法被用来分别地学习 FGT 堤的表演。FGT 堤能提供一种更好的改进技术在软地面上构造一个高堤，这被显示出。

Delta River Swampy Areas Earth Fill Embankments Primary Consolidation Management Issues

It is well known that soft silty clayey and even peaty soils especially existing in Great River Deltas Swampy Areas,under important Earth Fill Embankment Construction experience huge and hardly bearable primary consolidations settlements along with the minor but not negligible consequent secondary consolidation effects.In order to properly manage these particular huge settlements environments,it is very important to follow up the settlements monitoring data,by a macroscopic soil volume interpretation along with some amendments namely some mathematical added variabilities of the classic Terzaghi Primary Consolidation Equation,which are examined in a companion paper recently published in this Journal.In this paper some indications are given about how to face the macroscopic soil volume primary consolidation settlements,and especially it is suggested how to interpret the misleading laboratory consolidation test values of the coefficient of consolidation.Moreover,some design alternative solutions are examined to grasp both the potential technical and economic benefits along with their consequent disadvantages.Finally,this paper underlined the primary role of the supervision engineer to get a good estimate in the settlements forecasting and his related ability to understand the meaning of anomalous monitoring data and to timely make and match the primary consolidation settlements forecasting calculation adjustments.

Numerical analysis of pile lateral behavior of pile supported embankment

A finite difference numerical method was adopted to evaluate the pile lateral behavior of pile supported embankment. A published case history was used to verify the proposed methodology. By simulating the case history, the determination of parameters needed were verified. Then three embankments constructed on different ground conditions with different soil-pile relative stiffnesses were analyzed to study pile lateral behaviors including pile deflection and bending moment. The results show that pile deflections and bending moments induced by soil lateral deformation and embankment vertical load are different for piles at different positions under the same embankment. The relative stiffness between pile and soil affected by the properties of different reinforcing piles such as concrete pile and deep mixing method pile exert important effects on the pile lateral behavior and the pile's failure modes. Consequently, it is necessary to consider the different piles lateral behaviors and possible failure modes at different positions and the different piles proprieties with different reinforcing methods in the embankment stability analysis.

Thermal features of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Embankment with Crushed-stone Slope Protection in Permafrost Regions

The Embankment with Crushed-Stone Slope Protection(ECSSP) in permafrost regions is an effective measure to cool subgrade and protect permafrost.It can mitigate the engineering hazards of the Qinghai-Tibet railway in the permafrost regions. Considering the influence of the noctumal cold air during summer months in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau。

Analysis of the effects of rising temperature for embankments under seismic loads in cold regions

The effect of temperature rising for frozen soil because of dynamic load was investigated by indoor tests.Roadway and railway embankments are always loaded by dynamic loads such as earthquakes and vehicles.Because the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is a re-gion where earthquakes occur frequently,it is essential to consider the temperature-rising effect of earthquakes or vehicles on railway and road embankment.In this paper and according to the theories of heat transfer and dynamic equilibrium equations,as-suming frozen soil as thermal elastic-viscoplastic material,taking the combination of thermal and mechanical stresses into account,we present the numerical formulae of this dynamic problem,and the computer program of the two-dimensional finite element is written.Using the program,the dynamic response analyses for embankments loaded by earthquake are worked out.Analysis in-dicated that the temperature-rising effect result from earthquakes for embankment in nonuniform distribution in some small areas,the maximum rising temperature is 0.16 ?C for consideration in this paper.

Mechanical analysis of fixed geosynthetic technique of GRPS embankment

To overcome the deficiencies of conventional geosynthetic-reinforced and pile-supported (GRPS) embankment, a new improvement technique, fixed geosynthetic technique of GRPS embankment (FGT embankment), was developed and introduced. Based on the discussion about the load transfer mechanism of FGT embankment, a simplified check method of the requirement of geosynthetic tensile strength and a mechanical model of the FGT embankment were proposed. Two conditions, the pile cap and pile beam conditions are considered in the mechanical model. The finite difference method is used to solve the mechanical model owing to the complexity of the differential equations and the soil strata. Then, the numerical procedure is programmed. Finally, a field test is conducted to verify the mechanical model and the calculated results are in good agreement with field measured data.

Impact of mica on geotechnical behavior of weathered granitic soil using macro and micro investigations

The micaceous weathered granitic soil(WGS)is frequently encountered in civil engineering worldwide,unfortunately little information is available regarding how mica affects the physico-mechanical behaviors of WGS.This study prepares reconstituted WGS with different mica contents by removing natural mica in theWGS,and then mixes it with commercial mica powders.The geotechnical behavior as well as the microstructures of the mixtures are characterized.The addition of mica enables the physical indices of WGS to be specific combinations of coarser gradation and high permeability but high Atterberg limits.However,high mica content in WGS was found to be associated with undesirable mechanical properties,including increased compressibility,disintegration,and swelling potential,as well as poor compactability and low effective frictional angle.Microstructural analysis indicates that the influence of mica on the responses of mixtures originates from the intrinsic nature of mica as well as the particle packing being formed withinWGS.Mica exists in the mixture as stacks of plates that form a spongy structure with high compressibility and swelling potential.Pores among the plates give the soil high water retention and high Atterberg limits.Large pores are also generated by soil particles with bridging packing,which enhances the permeability and water-soil interactions upon immersion.This study provides a microlevel understanding of how mica dominates the behavior of WGS and provides new insights into the effective stabilization and improvement of micaceous soils.

Mechanical behaviors of warm and ice-rich frozen soil stabilized with sulphoaluminate cement

The warm and ice-rich frozen soil is characterized by high unfrozen water content, low shear strength and large compressibility, which is unreliable to meet the stability requirements of engineering infrastructures and foundations in permafrost regions. In this study, a novel approach for stabilizing the warm and ice-rich frozen soil with sulphoaluminate cement was proposed based on chemical stabilization. The mechanical behaviors of the stabilized soil, such as strength and stress-strain relationship, were investigated through a series of triaxial compression tests conducted at -1.0℃, and the mechanism of strength variations of the stabilized soil was also explained based on scanning electron microscope test. The investigations indicated that the strength of stabilized soil to resist failure has been improved, and the linear Mohr-Coulomb criteria can accurately reflect the shear strength of stabilized soil under various applied confining pressure. The increase in both curing age and cement mixing ratio were favorable to the growth of cohesion and internal friction angle. More importantly, the strength improvement mechanism of the stabilized soil is attributed to the formation of structural skeleton and the generation of cementitious hydration products within itself. Therefore, the investigations conducted in this study provide valuable references for chemical stabilization of warm and ice-rich frozen ground, thereby providing a basis for in-situ ground improvement for reinforcing warm and ice-rich permafrost foundations by soil-cement column installation.

Effects of site preparation methods on soil physical properties and outplanting success of coniferous seedlings in boreal forests

This study assessed the effect of patch scarification and mounding on the physical properties of the root layer and the success of tree planting in various types of forests.This study was conducted on 12 forest sites in taiga forests of the European part of Russia.A total of 54 plots were set up to assess seedling survival;root collar diameter,height,and heigh increment were measured for 240 seedlings to assess growth.In the rooting layer,240 soil samples were taken to determine physical properties.The study showed that soil treatment methods had no effect on bulk density and total porosity in Cladina sites.However,reduced soil moisture was noted,particularly in mounds,resulting in increased aeration.In Myrtillus sites,there were increased bulk density,reduced soil moisture,and total porosity in the mounds.Mounding treatment in Polytrichum sites resulted in reduced soil moisture and increased aeration porosity.In the Myrtillus and Polytrichum sites,patch scarification had no effects on physical properties.In Polytrichum sites,survival rates,heights,and heigh increments of bareroot Norway spruce seedlings in mounds were higher than in patches;however,the same did not apply to diameter.In Cladina and Myrtillus sites,there was no difference in growth for bareroot and containerised seedlings with different soil treatments.Growing conditions and soil types should be considered when applying different soil treatment methods to ensure high survival rates and successful seedling growth.

Behavior of materials for earth and rockfill dams:Perspective from unsaturated soil mechanics

The basis of the design of earth and rockfill dams is focused on ensuring the stability of the structure under a set of conditions expected to occur during its life.Combined mechanical and hydraulic conditions must be considered since pore pressures develop during construction,after impoundment and in drawdown.Other instability phenomena caused by transient flow and internal erosion must be considered.The prediction of the hydromechanical behavior of traditional and non-traditional materials used in the construction of dams is therefore fundamental.The materials used for dam’s construction cover a wide range from clayey materials to rockfill.In a broad sense they are compacted materials and therefore unsaturated materials.A summary of the current level of knowledge on the behavior of traditional materials used in the construction of dams is presented in the paper.Regular compacted materials(with a significant clay fraction),rockfill and compacted soft rocks are studied with more detail.The latter are non-traditional materials.They are analysed because their use,as well as the use of mixtures of soil and rock,is becoming more necessary for sustainability reasons.

Reliability-based settlement analysis of embankments over soft soils reinforced with T-shaped deep cement mixing piles

This paper presents a reliability-based settlement analysis of T-shaped deep cement mixing(TDM)pile-supported embankments over soft soils.The uncertainties of the mechanical properties of the in-situ soil,pile,and embankment,and the effect of the pile shape are considered simultaneously.The analyses are performed using Monte Carlo Simulations in combination with an adaptive Kriging(using adaptive sampling algorithm).Individual and system failure probabilities,in terms of the differential and maximum settlements(serviceability limit state(SLS)requirements),are considered.The reliability results for the embankments supported by TDM piles,with various shapes,are compared and discussed together with the results for conventional deep cement mixing pile-supported embankments with equivalent pile volumes.The influences of the inherent variabilities in the material properties(mean and coefficient of variation values)on the reliability of the piled embankments,are also investigated.This study shows that large TDM piles,particularly those with a shape factor of greater than 3,can enhance the reliability of the embankment in terms of SLS requirements,and even avoid unacceptable reliability levels caused by variability in the material properties.

Visualization of the formation and features of soil arching within a piled embankment by discrete element method simulation

Piled embankments are widely used in highway and railway engineering due to their economy and efficiency inovercoming several issues encountered in constructing embankments over weak soils. Soil arching, caused by the pile-subsoilrelative displacement （△s）, plays an important role in reducing the embankment load falling on weak soil, however, the funda-mental characteristics （e.g., formation and features） of soil arching remain poorly understood. In this study, a series of discreteelement method （DEM） modellings are performed to study the formation and features of soil arching with the variation of As inpiled embankments with or without geosynthetic reinforcement. Firstly, calibration for the modelling parameters is carried out bycomparing the DEM results with the experimental data obtained from the existing literature. Secondly, the analysis of the macro-and micro-behaviours is performed in detail. Finally, a parametric study is conducted in an effort to identify the influences of threekey factors on soil arching： the friction coefficient of the embankment fill （f）, the embankment height （h）, and the pile clear spacing（s-a）. Numerical results indicate that △s is a key factor governing the formation and features of soil arching in embankments. Tobe specific, soil arching gradually evolves from two inclined shear planes at a small △s to a hemispherical arch at a relatively largeAs. Then, with a continuous increase in △s, the soil arching height gradually increases and finally approaches a constant value of0.8（s-a） （i.e., the maximum soil arching height）. For a given case, the higher the soil arching height, the greater the degree of soilarching effect. The parametric study shows that the friction coefficient of the embankment fill has a negligible influence on theformation and features of soil arching. However, embankment height is a key factor governing the formation and features of soilarching. In addition, pile clear spacing has a significant effect on the formation of soil arching, but not on its features.