Analysis of beams on tensionless reinforced granular fill‐soil system

In this paper, a beam subjected to end concentrated loads has been modeled and analyzed to estimate its flexural response. The beam has been assumed to rest on reinforced earth beds with reinforcing elements having some finite bending stiffness. The reinforcing elements have been idealized as beams with smooth surface characteristics. The foundation system has been assumed to react only in compression (tensionless foundation), i.e. the separation between the upper beam and the ground surface has been taken into consideration. Winkler springs of different stiffnesses have been used to idealize the upper dense and lower poor soils. As the analysis considers the separation between the upper beam and the soil, the weight of the upper beam has been taken into account. The governing differential equations have been derived and presented in a non‐dimensional form. These equations have been solved using finite difference method with the help of appropriate boundary and continuity conditions. The response of the foundation system has been compared with the case when the beam is in perfect contact with the ground surface. The parametric study shows that the response of the model is greatly affected by the length ratio of beams, ratio of stiffness of upper and lower soil layers, ratio of flexural rigidity of upper and lower beams and weight of the upper foundation beam. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear analysis of footings on granular bed–stone column improved soft soil

In this paper, a model for the analysis of footings having finite flexural rigidity resting on a granular bed on top of stone columns improved saturated soft (clayey) soil has been proposed. Soft soil has been modeled as a Kelvin–Voigt body to represent its time dependent behavior. Pasternak shear layer has been used to represent the granular layer and the stone columns have been idealized by means of nonlinear Winkler springs. Nonlinear behavior of granular fill, soft soil and stone columns has been invoked by means of hyperbolic constitutive relationships. Governing differential equations for the soil–foundation system have been obtained and finite difference method has been adopted for solving these, using the Gauss-elimination iterative scheme. Detailed parametric study for a combined footing has been carried out to study the influence of parameters, like magnitude of applied load, flexural rigidity of footing, diameter of stone column, spacing of stone column, ultimate bearing capacity of granular fill, poor foundation soil and stone column, relative stiffness of stone columns and degree of consolidation, on flexural response of the footing.     

Dynamic Response of Footing and Machine with Spring Mounting Base

The effect of the spring mounting cushion inserted in between a machine base and its concrete footing has been examined experimentally by conducting a number of block vibrations tests. The machine was subjected to steady state vertical harmonic loading. Experiments were performed with two different stiffness values of the spring mounting cushion. The employment of the spring mounting cushion, with the stiffness much smaller than that of soil strata, offers a drastic reduction in the resonant displacement amplitudes of the footing. It also results in a significant decrease in the resonant frequency of the foundation. The resonant displacement amplitudes of both the footing and the machine were found to become lower with the smaller stiffness value of the springs. The resonant frequency for the machine base, in all the experiments, was found to be invariably the same as that of the footing.     

Modeling of granular bed‐stone column‐improved soft soil

The present study pertains to the development of a mechanical model for predicting the behavior of granular bed‐stone column‐reinforced soft ground. The granular layer that has been placed over the stone column‐reinforced soft soil has been idealized by the Pasternak shear layer. The saturated soft soil has been idealized by the Kelvin–Voigt model to represent its time‐dependent behavior and the stone columns are idealized by stiffer Winkler springs. The nonlinear behavior of the granular fill has been incorporated in this study by assuming a hyperbolic variation of shear stress with shear strain as in one reported literature. Similarly, for soft soil it has also been assumed that load‐settlement variation is hyperbolic in nature. The effect of consolidation of the soft soil due to inclusion of the stone columns has also been included in the model. Plane‐strain conditions are considered for the loading and foundation soil system. The numerical solutions are obtained by a finite difference scheme and the results are presented in a non‐dimensional form. Parametric studies for a uniformly loaded strip footing have been carried out to show the effects of various parameters on the total as well as differential settlement and stress concentration ratio. It has been observed that the presence of granular bed on the top of the stone columns helps to transfer stress from soil to stone columns and reduces maximum as well as differential settlement. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Response of multilayer geosynthetic-reinforced bed resting on soft soil with stone columns

In the present study, a mechanical model has been developed to study the behavior of multilayer geosynthetic-reinforced granular fill over stone column-reinforced soft soil. The granular fill and geosynthetic reinforcement layers have been idealized by Pasternak shear layer and rough elastic membranes, respectively. The Kelvin–Voight model has been used to represent the time-dependent behavior of saturated soft soil. The stone columns are idealized by stiffer springs and assumed to be linearly elastic. The nonlinear behavior of the soft soil and granular fill is considered. The effect of consolidation of soft soil due to inclusion of the stone columns on settlement response has also been included in the model. Plane strain conditions are considered for the loading and reinforced foundation soil system. An iterative finite difference scheme is applied for obtaining the solution and results are presented in nondimensional form. It has been observed that if the soft soil is improved with stone columns, the multilayer reinforcement system is less effective as compared to single layer reinforcement to reduce the total settlement as there is considerable reduction in the total settlement due to stone column itself. Multilayer reinforcement system is effective for reducing the total settlement when stone columns are not used. However, multilayer reinforcement system is effective to transfer the stress from soil to stone column. The differential settlement is also slightly reduced due to application of multiple geosynthetic layers as compared to the single layer reinforcement system.     

Nonlinear analysis of multilayer extensible geosynthetic-reinforced granular bed on soft soil

The paper presents a model for the analysis of granular foundation beds reinforced with several geosynthetic layers. Such reinforced granular beds are often placed on soft soil strata for an efficient and economical transfer of superstructure load. The granular bed is modeled by the Pasternak shear layer and the geosynthetic reinforcement layers by stretched rough elastic membranes. The soft soil is represented by a series of nonlinear springs. The reinforcement has been considered to be extensible and it is assumed that the deformation at the interface of the reinforcements and soil are same. The nonlinear behavior of the granular bed and the soft soil is considered. Plane strain conditions are considered for the loading and reinforced foundation soil system. An iterative finite difference scheme is applied for obtaining the solution and results are presented in nondimensional form. The results from the proposed model are compared to the results obtained for multilayer inextensible geosynthetic reinforcement system. Significant reduction in the settlement has been observed when the number of reinforcement layer is increased. In case of inextensible reinforcements as the number of reinforcement layer is increased the settlement is decreased with a decreasing rate, but in case of extensible reinforcement the reduction rate is almost constant. Nonlinear behavior of the soft soil decreases as number of reinforcement layer is increased. The effect of the stiffness of the geosynthetic layer on the settlement response becomes insignificant for multilayer reinforced system, but the mobilized tension in the reinforcement layers increases as the stiffness of the geosynthetic layers increases.     

Discrete element method simulations of the seismic response of shallow foundations including soil‐foundation‐structure interaction

A novel three‐dimensional particle‐based technique utilizing the discrete element method is proposed to analyze the seismic response of soil‐foundation‐structure systems. The proposed approach is employed to investigate the response of a single‐degree‐of‐freedom structure on a square spread footing founded on a dry granular deposit. The soil is idealized as a collection of spherical particles using discrete element method. The spread footing is modeled as a rigid block composed of clumped particles, and its motion is described by the resultant forces and moments acting upon it. The structure is modeled as a column made of particles that are either clumped to idealize a rigid structure or bonded to simulate a flexible structure of prescribed stiffness. Analysis is done in a fully coupled scheme in time domain while taking into account the effects of soil nonlinear behavior, the possible separation between foundation base and soil caused by rocking, the possible sliding of the footing, and the dynamic soil‐foundation interaction as well as the dynamic characteristics of the superstructure. High fidelity computational simulations comprising about half a million particles were conducted to examine the ability of the proposed technique to model the response of soil‐foundation‐structure systems. The computational approach is able to capture essential dynamic response patterns. The cyclic moment–rotation relationships at the base center point of the footing showed degradation of rotational stiffness by increasing the level of strain. Permanent deformations under the foundation continued to accumulate with the increase in number of loading cycles. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Axi-symmetric Analysis of Geosynthetic-reinforced Granular Fill-soft Soil System with Group of Stone Columns

The paper presents a mechanical model to predict the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced granular fill resting over soft soil improved with group of stone columns subjected to circular or axi-symmetric loading. The saturated soft soil has been idealized by spring-dashpot system. Pasternak shear layer and rough elastic membrane represent the granular fill and geosynthetic reinforcement layer, respectively. The stone columns are idealized by stiffer springs. The nonlinear behavior of granular fill and soft soil is considered. Consolidation of the soft soil due to inclusion of stone columns has also been included in the model. The results obtained by using the present model when compared with the reported results obtained from laboratory model tests shows very good agreement. The effectiveness of geosynthetic reinforcement to reduce the maximum and differential settlement and transfer the stress from soft soil to stone columns is highlighted. It is observed that the reduction of settlement and stress transfer process are greatly influenced by stiffness and spacing of the stone columns. It has been further observed that for both geosynthetic-reinforced and unreinforced cases, the maximum settlement does not change if the ratio between spacing and diameter of stone columns is greater than 4.     

Analytical solutions for Euler‐Bernoulli Beam on Pasternak foundation subjected to arbitrary dynamic loads

In this paper, the dynamic response of an infinite beam resting on a Pasternak foundation and subjected to arbitrary dynamic loads is developed in the form of analytical solution. The beam responses investigated are deflection, velocity, acceleration, bending moment, and shear force. The mechanical resistance of the Pasternak foundation is modeled using two parameters, that is, one accounts for soil resistance due to compressive strains in the soil and the other accounts for the resistance due to shear strains. Because the Winkler model only represents the compressive resistance of soil, comparatively, the Pasternak model is more realistic to consider shear interactions between the soil springs. The governing equation of the beam is simplified into an algebraic equation by employing integration transforms, so that the analytical solution for the dynamic response of the beam can be obtained conveniently in the frequency domain. Both inverse Laplace and inverse Fourier transforms combined with convolution theorem are applied to convert the solution into the time domain. The solutions for several special cases, such as harmonic line loads, moving line loads, and travelling loads are also discussed and numerical examples are conducted to investigate the influence of the shear modulus of foundation on the beam responses. The proposed solutions can be an effective tool for practitioners. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new model for geosynthetic reinforced soil

It is common to use geosynthetics to reinforce soft-soils or peat with a view to improve their load — settlement response. A new foundation model element — the rough membrane, is proposed to represent the response of the geofabric. Combining this element with Winkler springs and Pasternak shear layers to model respectively the soft soil and the granular fills, a new foundation model is presented for the geosynthetic — granular fill — soft soil system. Analysis of results at small displacement indicates the effect of granular fill to be more and significant than that of the membrane thus confirming large scale model test results of Jarrett and results based on F.E.M. (Boutrup and Holtz). The effect of the membrane increases with the load or decreasing soil stiffness.     

Probabilistic Analysis and Design of a Strip Footing on Layered Soil Media

In the present paper, the analysis of a strip footing resting on a layered soil system has been carried out considering the elastic moduli of soil layers as random variables. Three layers of soil have been considered and the analysis employs Monte Carlo simulation. The modulus of elasticity has been considered as random variable having lognormal distribution. Factors of safety with respect to settlement of footing and the interfacial stresses have been determined and have been related to the associated risk factor and coefficient of variation of the random variable. A detailed parametric study revealed that for a given risk level, the factors of safety is strongly dependent on the coefficient of variation of elastic modulus and only mildly upon other parameters of the soil?Cfoundation system. This facilitated the development of closed form equations for the upper bounds on factors of safety only in terms of allowable risk of failure and the coefficient of variation of elastic modulus.     

Dynamic response of double beam rested on stochastic foundation under harmonic moving load

This paper deals with the dynamic response of infinite double Euler–Bernoulli beam supported by elastic foundation with stochastic stiffness subjected to an oscillating moving load, which is the first research in relevant literature review. In this matter, equations of motion for double beam are formulated in a moving frame of reference. Moreover, by employing the first order perturbation theory and calculating contour integration, the response of double beam is obtained analytically and validated by a stochastic finite element model. Sensitivity analyses on the various parameters of closed form solution such as velocity, load frequency, coefficient of variation of soil foundation and rail and slab bending stiffness show the significant effect of load frequency on the dynamic response of the doubled beam. From practical point of view, the obtained results of the present study can be utilized efficiently in analysis and design of slab track systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Torsional piles in non-homogeneous media

The torsional response of a pile exhibits features which are a mixture of those for axial and lateral response. At low load levels, the response is dominated by interaction with the upper soil layers and by the pile rigidity itself, similar to laterally loaded piles. However, failure will generally occur by the whole pile twisting, and so the latter part of the response incorporates the integrated effect of all soil penetrated by the pile, as is the case for axial loading.

In view of the above, solutions for the torsional response of pile must endeavour to incorporate accurate modelling of the soil stiffness profile, and also pay appropriate attention to the gradual development of slip (relative twist) between pile and soil. The paper presents analytical and numerical solutions for the torsional response of piles embedded in non-homogeneous soil, where the stiffness profile follows a simple power law with depth. The solutions encompass: (1) vertical non-homogeneity of soil expressed as a power law; (2) non-linear soil response, modelled using a hyperbolic stressstrain law; (3) effect of relative slip between pile and soil for non-homogeneous stiffness and limiting shaft friction; (4) expressions for the critical pile slenderness ratio (or length) beyond which the pile head response becomes independent of the pile length.

The solutions are developed using a load transfer approach, with each soil layer acting independently from neighbouring layers, and are expressed in terms of Bessel functions of non-integer order, and as simple non-dimensionalised charts. The solutions are applied to two well-documented case histories in the latter part of the paper.     

Analysis of rectangular piles subjected to lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soil using a Winkler model approach

An analytical approach using a Winkler model based on two lateral soil displacement components in a three‐dimensional soil is investigated to provide analytical solutions of horizontal response of a rectangular pile subjected to lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soil. The two lateral displacement components of a soil surrounding the rectangular pile are represented by the Fourier series of displacement potential functions in the elastic three‐dimensional analysis. The lateral stiffness coefficient of the rectangular pile shaft in nonhomogeneous soil is derived from the rocking stiffness coefficient taking into account rocking rotation of a rigid pile shaft. The relationship between horizontal displacement, rotation, moment, and shear force for the rectangular pile subjected to horizontal loads in nonhomogeneous soil is obtainable in the form of the recurrence equation. The formulation of lateral displacement and rotation for a rectangular pile subjected to lateral loads on the pile base in nonhomogeneous soil is proposed by taking into account Mindlin's equation and the equivalent thickness for soil layers in the equivalent elastic method. The difference of lateral behavior between square and circular piles subjected to lateral loads is insignificant. The effect of aspect ratio of the rectangular pile on the lateral behavior is great for the lower stiffness ratio between pile and soil and the larger length–equivalent diameter ratio. The effect of the value of Poisson's ratio of soil on lateral stiffness coefficient is relatively small except Poisson's ratio close to 0.5. The comparison of the results calculated by the current method for a rectangular pile subjected to lateral loads in nonhomogeneous soil has shown good agreement with those obtained from the analytical methods and the finite element method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of a rigid footing lying on three-layered soil using the finite difference method

A numerical procedure is described for the analysis of the vertical deformation and the stress distribution of the strip footings on layered soil media. Three layers of soil with different stiffness are considered with the middle soil layer the thinnest and most stiff layer. The soil media is discretized and using the theory of elasticity, the governing differential equations are obtained in terms of vertical and horizontal displacements. These equations along with appropriate boundary and continuity conditions are solved by using the finite difference method. The vertical and horizontal displacements, strains and stresses are found at various nodes in the soil media. Parametric studies are carried out to study the effect of the placement depth of the middle soil layer, the relative ratios of the moduli of deformation of the soil layers on the vertical displacement of the footing and the vertical stress distribution. These studies reveal that the middle thin but very stiff layer acts like a plate and redistributes the stresses on the lower soft soil layer uniformly. The displacement on the top and bottom of the middle soil layer is almost the same showing that the compression of the middle layer is negligible as it is very stiff.     

成层饱和土中考虑横向惯性的单桩纵向振动

基于饱和多孔介质理论,研究了成层饱和黏弹性土层中端承桩的纵向振动特性。首先利用Novak薄层法,得到了土层对纵向振动桩的动力阻抗。其次,将桩等效为Rayleigh-Love杆,给出了成层饱和黏弹性土中端承桩纵向振动的一般分析方法和桩头动力复刚度的解析表达式。具体分析了两层饱和黏弹性土中端承桩的纵向振动特性,得到了桩头动刚度因子和等效阻尼随频率的响应特征,讨论了物理和几何等参数对动刚度因子和等效阻尼的影响。结果表明：桩长径比、土层模量比以及桩土模量比等对桩头动刚度因子和等效阻尼有显著的影响。相比于均质土层中的桩,上层土越硬或下层为软弱土层,桩的动刚度因子和等效阻尼振动幅值增大,其周期随长径比显著变化,且对于大直径桩,动刚度因子和等效阻尼随频率呈振动变化。同时,土体与孔隙水相互作用系数和桩泊松比等的影响相对较小。其结果可作为桩基动力基础设计和动力检测等基础数据。     

水平荷载作用下现浇X形桩桩周土体响应理论分析

现浇X形桩是为了提高单位混凝土承载力性能而开发的一种新型异形横截面桩,但目前针对异形横截面桩在水平荷载作用下桩周土体力学性状的理论研究相对较少。基于保角变换的方法将X形桩孔映射到单位圆上,采用平面弹性力学的复变函数方法得到X形桩在水平荷载作用下桩周土体应力场与位移场分布的平面应变解。续而,基于文克尔地基模型,把桩周土离散为一系列独立的弹簧模型,弹簧的刚度系数采用平面应变解,然后根据欧拉-伯努利梁的挠曲线微分方程推导得到现浇X形桩在水平荷载作用下桩身的变形和内力的计算方法。通过建立的平面应变解计算普通圆形截面桩,并且与Baguelin推导的圆形截面桩在水平荷载作用下平面应变解进行对比分析,验证所建立理论方法的准确性和可靠性。最后,针对一算例进行分析,并与数值模型计算结果进行对比验证。研究结果表明,该理论方法能够较好地模拟水平荷载作用下现浇X形桩桩周土体的力学工作性状,尤其是小荷载作用条件下。     

Analysis of footing resting on non-homogeneous soil by double spline element

A numerical method is proposed for the analysis of rectangular footing resting on an elastic soil layer. The footing is represented by double spline elements and the elastic soil medium by finite layers. The effect of the rigidity of footing and the non-homogeneity of the soil on the behaviour of such foundation system is investigated, and the results are presented in form of design charts such that they may be used for hand calculation for the estimation of the settlement of footings for a wide range of practical cases.     

加筋材料动态松弛有限元模型的建立及应用

为分析加筋材料的抗弯刚度对加筋性能的影响,加筋材料采用梁单元形式。基于动态松弛法,通过定义梁单元的刚度矩阵,求解内力矢量,随后定义虚拟质量密度而建立总质量矩阵,将加筋材料的梁单元有限元模型嵌入到已有的动态松弛法求解程序中。通过对简支梁的简单加载模拟验证了该梁单元模型的准确性能。随后,将该有限元模型与已有的动态松弛法计算程序结合（含砂土本构及弱面单元模型）,对加筋砂土地基室内模型试验进行了数值模拟。将梁单元的模拟结果与杆单元（梁单元的特例）模拟结果进行了比较,并分别探讨了抗拉刚度和抗弯刚度对加筋砂土地基承载性能的影响。结果表明：抗拉刚度对承载能力的影响较小;抗弯刚度对承载力的影响程度与加筋材料的布置形式有关,特别是当加筋砂土中出现剪切带以后,其影响逐渐增大。因此,在分析加筋砂土结构的增强机制时,建议采用梁单元（具有一定的抗弯刚度）对加筋材料进行模拟。     

A simple model for inelastic footing response to transient loading

This paper presents a mechanical analogue which models the response of a rigid circular footing on an ideal elastoplastic half-space to transient loads. In the rational analysis of pile-driving dynamics, the response of soil at the base of a pile is often approximated by a footing on a semi-infinite half-space. Most existing base models employ the well-known Lysmer analogue to model the elastic response of the soil at the pile base, and account for the inelastic soil behaviour through the inclusion of a plastic slider with a slip load equal to the ultimate failure load of the footing. The improved model provides a force response which is significantly closer to the ideal response than existing models. The paper commences with a review of analytical solutions for the dynamic response of a rigid circular footing on an elastic half-space. Existing mechanical analogs for the system are reviewed, and an automatic matching process proposed which improves the accuracy of the analogs under transient loading. The inelastic response is then studied using the finite element method, and the mechanical analogs are modified to allow representation of the observed inelastic behaviour. Examples are presented illustrating close agreement between the proposed models and finite element analyses for a range of Poisson's ratio. The improved models have direct application for one-dimensional models of pile driving, particularly in the back-analysis of data from dynamic testing of piles. They are also applicable to studies of dynamic compaction.