波致粉质土海床剪切破坏及其强度演化的试验研究

本文以黄河三角洲粉质土为研究对象,开展了波致海床剪切破坏过程中孔压响应与土体强度变化的室内水槽试验研究,试验过程中,先后在模拟海床床上施加5、10、15cm波高的模拟波浪荷载,同步测量海床内不同深度处的孔压变化,并对海床进行贯入阻力测试和不排水抗剪强度测试。研究发现:海床中孔压响应过程的规律为孔压快速累积-孔压缓慢消散,在该过程中海床内最容易形成大幅度的孔压累积、孔压响应最强烈的位置,也是海床内土体强度的逐渐丧失以及土体剪切破坏是处开始发育的深度;波浪作用下粉质海床剪切破坏后会在海床内部一定深度处出现明显的弧形破坏界面,破坏土体沿界面随波浪作振荡运动,且破坏范围经历先扩展后回缩的过程,剪切破坏界面以下会有强度硬层的发育,强度硬层的形成与演化直接受剪切破坏过程控制,最终整个海床出现明显的强度非均质化;在孔压响应过程中孔压比即超孔压与上覆有效应力比值存在临界值K(本文水槽试验所得K=0.5),当超过K值时,土体贯入阻力和不排水抗剪强度降低,发生剪切破坏,这是波浪作用提供的剪切力以及超孔压累积导致海床内部抗剪强度降低共同作用的结果。     

动荷载作用下海底粉土的孔压响应及其动强度

本文选用近海分布较广的粉土为研究对象 ,利用室内动三轴试验结果 ,找出动荷载作用下粉土的动应力应变关系 ,分析模拟波浪荷载作用下粉土中的孔压响应、临界循环次数 ,确定波浪作用下粉土的应力状态、破坏临界循环次数 ,判断不同深度处的粉土发生液化的可能性及发生液化所需要的时间 ;研究粉土在动荷载作用下的强度降低 ,为海上工程设计和施工提供科学依据。     

循环荷载作用下粉土的动力学特征

选用近海分布广泛的粉土为研究对象,利用动三轴压缩试验结果得到了动荷载作用下粉土的应力-应变关系、孔压发展模式及动强度与临界循环次数之间的关系;探讨固结围压和固结比对粉土动力学性质的影响。动力学试验结果表明,动剪切模量随着固结围压的增大而增大,动阻尼比随动剪应变幅的变化关系受围压影响不大;不同围压对动剪应力的比值影响很小,同一围压下随着固结比的增大,动剪应力比也会随之增大;不同围压及不同固结比对以Nf表示的峰值孔隙水压力发展模式影响很小。     

曹妃甸吹填粉细砂液化特性研究

曹妃甸围海造陆区吹填了高厚度的粉细砂,粉细砂在地震荷载作用下可能发生液化,威胁吹填区码头和堆载场地的稳定性。采用等体积循环单剪试验,研究了吹填粉细砂在循环荷载作用下的强度和等效超静孔压发展。随着荷载循环次数的增加,粉细砂中超静孔压的发展呈现"快-慢-快"趋势。当累积孔压达到初始固结应力的80%时,超静孔压快速增加,土体达到破坏,液化的发生具有突发性。根据单调和循环单剪试验数据,提出了曹妃甸吹填粉细砂动强度的归一化表达式。结合场地液化评估简化方法,对曹妃甸场地进行了液化判别:在7级地震作用下,中密粉细砂场地的液化深度能达到10 m。     

黄河口粉质土沉积物侵蚀性动态变化试验研究

通过一系列室内试验,研究了黄河口粉质类沉积物在循环动荷载作用后侵蚀性的变化.在试验中,采用真空预压固结装置制备重塑土样,采用液压伺服土动三轴试验机实现了不同幅值及不同振次的动荷载作用条件,并通过动三轴静态试验及贯入强度测试,测定了动荷载作用后土样强度的变化.通过水槽冲刷试验测试了不同条件的动荷载作用后,土样抗冲刷能力的变化,并进行了临界剪切应力的计算.试验结果表明:对于黄河口粉质类沉积物,动荷载作用后其强度及抗侵蚀性均降低;沉积物强度指标(不排水剪切强度、残余强度、贯入阻力)、侵蚀性指标(起动流速、临界剪切应力、冲刷率)与动荷载幅值、动荷载振次均呈现出较好的线性相关性.     

饱和粉土在低围压下剪切特性的试验研究

通过室内静三轴试验,对黄河水下三角洲埕岛海域沉积物———粉土的剪切特性进行了研究。比较了粉土在低围压和高围压下的剪切变形特性和强度特性。试验结果表明,粉土在低围压(10,20,30,40 kPa)下的应力应变曲线和高围压下的应力应变曲线总体趋势基本一致,但在不同围压下其抗剪强度存在差别。     

波浪作用下海床孔压累积过程离散元数值模拟

海床土层在波浪的循环荷载作用下会逐渐累积孔压,降低土层的稳定性,并威胁海上工程。为了研究孔隙水压力的累积机制,本文提出离散元孔隙密度流方法,并改进研发离散元分析软件MatDEM,实现了海床沉积物孔压的累积过程模拟。基于现场试验装置及土体力学参数建立离散元模型,通过对比试验和数值模拟结果发现:对海床沉积物施加波浪荷载后,表层土体中产生较高孔压,并逐渐向深层传递;在循环波浪荷载作用下,土颗粒间孔压累积范围逐渐增加;当孔压累积时间足够长时,土层中孔压收敛于所施加最大荷载与最小荷载的平均值,此时若孔压达到初始有效应力,土体将发生液化,内部土颗粒成为再悬浮沉积物;在周期性波浪荷载作用下,土颗粒液化悬浮后发生移动,浅层颗粒位移量大,土体整体表现为圆弧形移动。     

波浪作用下粉土中的孔压响应及其在粉土海床稳定性评价中的应用

粉土在波浪等动荷载作用下极易发生液化破坏,而孔隙水压力在粉土动力学行为中扮演了一个很重要的角色,其发展变化会直接影响到土体的稳定性。因此,通过室内波浪作用下的粉土孔压响应模型试验探讨了孔压与波浪之间的响应情况,发现波浪能量的影响沿土层深度递减,水深条件相同时,响应的孔压随波高的增大而增加,当波浪作用足够长时间后粉土发生液化破坏,此时粉土内累积的孔压小于上覆土体的自重应力。根据结果提出了1种评价粉土海床稳定性的方法。     

饱和黏土的循环剪切变形特性

利用土工静力-动力液压三轴-扭转多功能剪切仪，针对饱和黏土，在不固结不排水（uu）条件下进行了应力控制式循环扭剪和竖向-扭转耦合试验，通过对试验结果的对比分析探讨了初始预剪应力和应力反向对应力-应变关系特性的影响。并阐述了不同循环应力模式下孔隙水压力发展特性。试验结果表明初始预剪应力对循环应力-应变关系的模式有明显的影响，当初始预剪应力较大且没有应力反向发生时，变形以累积效应为主，当初始剪应力为0时，变形以循环效应为主；不固结不排水条件下的循环孔隙水压力总是在围压附近波动，孔压的波动范围似乎随循环应力的增大而增大，但不具有孔压累积升高的特点。综合考虑剪切变形和正向偏差变形的共同效应，同时为了能够反映平均残余变形和循环变形的影响，建议了一个综合应变破坏标准的算式。进而通过利用试验数据与目前常用的应变标准比较，表明这种破坏标准具有普遍适用性和较好的稳定性，适用于判定各种应力条件下黏土试样破坏及其强度。     

波浪作用下液化粉土流动特性拖球试验研究

粉质土大量存在于黄河水下三角洲地区,粉土液化过程中具有类似流体的性质,可以把液化过程中的粉土视为黏性流体进行研究。基于流体力学中Stokes黏滞阻力原理,在波浪水槽试验基础上,设计了一套测量液化过程中粉土流变特性的拖球装置,并对其实用性进行验证。在铺设有粉土底床的波浪水槽中埋入可以水平滑动的小球,通过拖动小球在粉土中水平运动,测量小球所受阻力值的大小,用以计算液化粉土表观动力黏度。充分考虑试验中波浪要素、超孔压比等因素的影响。结果表明,该装置能够满足试验要求;波浪循环荷载作用下,观察到了孔压的累积至液化的过程;波浪参数对结果有较大影响,其中波高越大,表观黏度值越小;同一波高情况下,表观黏度随时间缓慢增加;随着超孔压比的升高,波浪作用下粉土表观黏度值逐渐减小。     

Effect of Cyclic Loading Frequency on Undrained Behaviors of Undisturbed Marine Clay

Based on a series of cyclic triaxial tests, the effect of cyclic frequency on the undrained behaviors of undisturbed marine clay is investigated. For a given dynamic stress ratio, the accumulated pore water pressure and dynamic strain increase with the number of cycles. There exists a threshold value for beth the accumulated pore water pressure and dynamic strain, below which the effect of cyclic frequency is very small, but above which the accumulated pore water pressure and dynamic strain increase intensely with the decrease of cyclic frequency for a given number of cycles. The dynamic strength increases with the increase of cyclic frequency, whereas the effect of cyclic frequency on it gradually diminishes to zero when the number of cycles is large enough, and the dynamic strengths at different frequencies tend to the same limiting minimum dynamic strength. The test results demonstrate that the reasons for the frequency effect on the undrained soil behaviors are beth the creep effect induced by the loading rate and the decrease of sample effective confining pressure caused by the accumulated pore water pressure.     

Stiffness Degradation of Undisturbed Saturated Soft Clay in Yangtze Estuary under Complex Stress Conditions

Stiffness degradation will occur due to the generation of accumulated pore pressure in saturated soft clays under cyclic loading. The soil static-dynamic multi-purpose triaxial and torsional shear apparatus in Dalian University of Technology was employed to perform different types of test on saturated soft marine clay in the Yangtze estuary. Undisturbed samples of the clay were subjected to undrained cyclic vertical and torsional coupling shear and cyclic torsional shear after three-directional anisotorpic consolidation with different initial consolidation parameters. Investigated were the effects of the initial orientation angle of the major principal stress, initial ratio of deviatoric stress, initial coefficient of intermediate principal stress and continuous rotation of principal stress axes on the stiffness degradation. It is found that the degradation index decreases (or degradation degree increases) significantly with increasing initial orientation angle of the major principal stress and initial ratio of deviatoric stress. Compared to the effects of the initial orientation angle of the major principal stress and initial ratio of deviatoric stress, the effect of initial coefficient of intermediate principal stress is less evident and this trend is more clearly reflected by the results of the cyclic torsional shear tests than those of the cyclic coupling shear tests. At the same cycle number, the degradation index obtained from the cyclic torsional shear test is higher than that from the cyclic coupling shear test. The main reason is that the continuous rotation in principal stress directions during cyclic coupling shear damages the original structure of the soil more than the cyclic torsional shear does. Based on a series of experiments, a mathematical model for stiffness degradation is proposed and the relevant parameters are determined.     

Numerical Analyses of Caisson Breakwaters on Soft Foundations Under Wave Cyclic Loading

A caisson breakwater is built on soft foundations after replacing the upper soft layer with sand. This paper presents a dynamic finite element method to investigate the strength degradation and associated pore pressure development of the intercalated soft layer under wave cyclic loading. By combining the undrained shear strength with the empirical formula of overconsolidation clay produced by unloading and the development model of pore pressure, the dynamic degradation law that describes the undrained shear strength as a function of cycle number and stress level is derived. Based on the proposed dynamic degradation law and M-C yield criterion, a dynamic finite element method is numerically implemented to predict changes in undrained shear strength of the intercalated soft layer by using the general-purpose FEM software ABAQUS, and the accuracy of the method is verified. The effects of cycle number and amplitude of the wave force on the degradation of the undrained shear strength of the intercalated soft layer and the associated excess pore pressure response are investigated by analyzing an overall distribution and three typical sections underneath the breakwater. By comparing the undrained shear strength distributions obtained by the static method and the quasi-static method with the undrained shear strength distributions obtained by the dynamic finite element method in the three typical sections, the superiority of the dynamic finite element method in predicting changes in undrained shear strength is demonstrated.     

Non-linear analysis of undrained cyclic strength of soft marine clay

Iwan models are used to simulate the non-linear and hysteretic behaviour of soils under cyclic loading conditions. However, the model in its original form cannot take into account the stiffness degradation which is observed during cyclic loading of soft clays. Studies show that the stiffness reduction (expressed as degradation index) can be represented as a function of the number of cycles and of a degradation parameter depending on the strain amplitude in the case of strain controlled cyclic loading tests. This degradation index has been incorporated into Iwan's series–parallel model as a single fatigue parameter to account for the degradation during cyclic loading. The comparisons made with the existing results of two marine clays tested under undrained cyclic triaxial and simple shear conditions provided an opportunity to understand the capability of the one dimensional model.     

Undrained strength behaviour of a cemented marine clay under monotonic and cyclic loading

The paper presents the results of a series of monotonic and cyclic triaxial shear tests carried out to study the influence of the strain effect and load cycles on the undrained shear strength of a cemented marine clay from the East coast of India. The undrained shear strength of Indian coastal marine clay has been established from a detailed shear testing carried out in three phases. Undisturbed soil samples taken out from the seabed were used in the test. In the first part, a comprehensive monotonic shear testing has been carried out under both stress-controlled and strain rate-controlled conditions. In the second phase on identical soil specimen, undrained cyclic shear tests were carried out at various cyclic stress ratios (CSR) and these stress levels are chosen in such a way so that no failure occurred during testing. In the final phase post cyclic monotonic shear testing was conducted to qualitatively evaluate the damage caused by cyclic loading. The monotonic shear test results bring out the influence of cementation that can be detected by the stress-controlled test. The cyclic stress results are analysed in terms of CSR. Further, the results are correlated in terms of stress path.     

Cyclic behavior of natural organic clay under variable confining pressure that match traffic loading conditions

ABSTRACT

One-way cyclic loading is more typical for traffic loading and cyclic triaxial test has been recognized as a useful method for solving many engineering problems. Under traffic loading, the influence of variable confining pressure on cyclic behavior of natural organic clay subjected to cyclic traffic loading is rarely reported in the literature. In this study, a laboratory investigation on undrained cyclic behavior of natural organic clay is presented and conducted by cyclic triaxial apparatus. Tests are conducted by both constant confining pressure and variable confining pressure, to simulate the loading conditions induced by passing vehicles in actual engineering. Different stress levels are also considered in this study. By comparing between the results of constant confining pressure tests and variable confining pressure tests, it shows that the one-way cyclic behavior of organic clay is influenced significantly by variation of confining pressure, in terms of pore water pressure, permanent axial strain and stress–strain hysteretic loops.     

Undrained behavior of natural marine clay under cyclic loading

To study the undrained behavior of natural marine clay under cyclic loading, two kinds of stress-controlled cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on natural K₀-consolidated Wenzhou clay. In the Series I tests, samples were cyclically sheared until failure, and the accumulative behavior was studied; based on the results, a suitable cyclic failure criterion is suggested for natural clays. The effect of loading frequency was also investigated, and it was observed that the loading duration t is a key factor in controlling the undrained cyclic behavior. In the Series II tests, cyclic undrained tests followed by strain-controlled monotonic compression tests were carried out, and special attention was given to changes in the undrained strength after cyclic loading. The degradation of the post-cyclic peak strength was affected by the accumulative behavior during cyclic shearing, but the deviatoric stresses at the critical state were nearly constant. Finally, the accumulative behavior of natural clays was simulated using a proposed anisotropic elastic viscoplastic model with a pseudo-static method of equivalent undrained creep, and the results indicate that this equivalent creep simplification is suitable in practice. By taking the apparent overconsolidation after cyclic loading into account, the post-cyclic strength degradation can also be explained by this model.     

Undrained monotonic shear behavior of marine soft clay after long-term cyclic loading

Abstract

In the coastal area, nearshore and offshore structures have been or will be built in marine soft clay deposits that have experienced long-term cyclic loads. Therefore, the mechanical behavior of marine clay after long-term cyclic loading needs to be investigated. In this research, a series of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests were carried out to investigate the postcyclic mechanical behavior of the marine soft clay. The postcyclic water pore pressure, shear strength and secant stiffness are discussed by comparing the results with the standard monotonic test (without cyclic loading). It is very interesting that the postcyclic behavior of marine soft clay specimen is similar to the behavior of overconsolidated specimen, that is, the specimen shows apparent overconsolidation behavior after long-term cyclic loading. Then relationship between the overconsolidation ratio and the apparent overconsolidation ratio is established on the basis of the theory of equivalent overconsolidation. Finally, a validation formula is proposed which can predict the postcyclic undrained shear strength of marine soft clay.     

Estimation of Undrained Bearing Capacity for Offshore Soft Foundations with Cyclic Load

The degradation strength of soils under cyclic loading is studied and a method for deter-mining the cyclic degradation strength with cyclic triaxial tests is given in the paper.Furthermore,a dum-my static method for estimating the undrained bearing capacity for offshore soft foundation under waveloads is developed.It can consider the effect of the difference of cyclic stress for different parts of the foun-dation on both the degradation strength of the foundation soil and the bearing capacity so that the esti-mated result can better reflect the real condition of foundation under cyclic loading.The method can be ap-plied to plane and space problem.     

The effect of cyclic loading on the undrained shear strength of a silty clay

Abstract

The strength of saturated clays subjected to low‐frequency cyclic loading is of considerable importance in the design of offshore structures. A series of postcyclic undrained triaxial strength tests were carried out on samples of a silty clay (Keuper Marl), which had not failed under cyclic loading, to investigate the effect of this loading on the postcyclic monotonie effective stress path and strength of the soil. Undrained cyclic loading of normally consolidated and lightly overconsolidated samples by generating positive pore pressures caused the apparent degree of overconsolidation to increase. Samples subsequently subjected to monotonie testing followed effective stress paths commensurate with this apparent overconsolidation and failed on the “Hvorslev” surface on the “dry” side of the stable state boundary surface rather than on the critical state as would be expected of samples of this initial stress history. Samples which were initially heavily overconsolidated did not generate large pore pressures under cyclic loading and did not therefore exhibit large changes in postcyclic monotonie strength. The reduction in strength after cyclic loading therefore is greater for normally consolidated and lightly overconsolidated samples. The pore pressures generated under postcyclic monotonie loading are related to the degree of apparent overconsolidation achieved during cyclic loading.