Settlement Analysis for An Embankment Considering Visco-Elasto-Plastic Characteristics

—In the paper.a visco-elasto-plastic constitutive model and a method for determining modelparameters for soft clay are presented.In this model total strain of soft clay is assumed to be divided intothree parts:instantaneous elastic.visco-elastic and visco-plastic.The characteristics of instantaneous andvisco-elastic deformation of soft clay are simulated by Merchant's model.the plastic is by a model withtwo yield surfaces.And related constitutive equation is conducted,A number of stress-controlled triaxialtests are performed to calculated the model parameters The visco-elasto-plastic model is used for analysisof the displacement of an embankment on soft ground by use of three-dimensional finite element method.The predicted settlements agree well with the measured data.It is indicated that the viscous characteristicsshould be taken into account in deformation analysis for soft clay.     

Secondary Compression Features of Jiangsu Soft Marine Clay

The results of one-dimensional compression tests conducted on undisturbed specimens of Jiangsu soft marine clay is presented. Because of its high in situ void ratios and natural water content, Jiangsu soft marine clay displays high values of both the virgin compression index, C_c, and the secondary compression coefficient, C_α. The laboratory data indicates that the value of the ratio C_α/C_c for Jiangsu soft marine clay is constant. However, neither C_α nor C_c are constant: they both depend upon the natural water content (or void ratio) and thus are also dependent on the deformation (or compression) of Jiangsu soft marine clay. Settlement analyses show that the secondary settlement of Jiangsu soft marine clay is a significant component of the field settlement. The concept of a constant value for C_α/C_c is used to predict the secondary settlement of a surcharged embankment founded upon Jiangsu soft marine clay. The predictions are in agreement with the limited post-construction field measurements of the embankment settlement.     

Field Evaluation of Undrained Shear Strength from Piezocone Penetration Tests in Soft Marine Clay

The use of the piezocone penetration test (CPTU) in a geotechnical site investigation offers direct field measurement on stratigraphy and soil behavior. Compared with some traditional investigation methods, such as drilling, sampling and field inspecting method or laboratory test procedures, CPTU can greatly accelerate the field work and hereby reduce corresponding operation cost. The undrained shear strength is a key parameter in estimation of the stability of natural slopes and deformation of embankments in soft clays. This paper provides the measurements of in situ CPTU, field vane testing and laboratory undrained triaxial testing of Lianyungang marine clay in Jiangsu province of China. Based on the literature review of previous interpretation methods, this paper presents a comparison of field vane testing measurements to CPTU interpretation results. The undrained shear strength values from both the field vane tests and cone penetration resistances are lowest at the mid-depths of the marine clay layers, and the excess pore water pressures are highest at the mid-depths of the marine clay layers, indicating that the marine clay layer is underconsolidated.     

自由落体式球形贯入仪在硬-软黏土中的贯入响应

自由落体贯入仪（free falling penetrometer,简称FFP）通过自由下落贯入土层中,由于其高效便捷的特性,越来越广泛地被应用于海底浅层土体原位勘察。采用耦合欧拉-拉格朗日（Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian,简称CEL）方法,进行了球形FFP在硬-软双层黏土中贯入的大变形有限元分析,考虑了土体的应变率和应变软化效应。与离心机试验、现场试验和数值模拟结果进行了对比,验证了模型的可靠性。分析了成层土对贯入过程的影响,发现FFP在贯入过程中上部硬黏土层形成空腔,且底部会伴随着土塞。通过广泛的变参数分析结果,拟合了球形FFP最终贯入深度与总能量之间的归一化表达式,建立了土体不排水抗剪强度、FFP直径和贯入速度与FFP在硬-软黏土层中最终贯入深度的关系。     

Cumulative Deformation of Soft Clay Under Cyclic Loading

Reconstituted specimens are prepared by means of vacuum preloading. Both static and cyclic triaxial tests are carried out, with the specimens consolidated under different principal stress ratios. A finite element method is put forward for calculating the cumulative deformation of soft clay under cyclic loading.     

A method analyzing deformation of anchor foundations in soft clay under static and cyclic loads

The paper presents a constitutive model to describe undrained cyclic stress-strain responses of soft clays based on the equivalent visco-elastic and creep theories. The hysteretic and nonlinear stress-strain responses of soft clays are described using the equivalent visco-elastic relationship and variations of the cyclic modulus and the damping ratio with the octahedral shear strain, respectively in the model. The cyclic accumulative strain is described using the Mises creeping potential function and the associated flow rule. The method determining the model parameters is given by static and cyclic triaxial tests. The finite element method to analyze deformation of anchor foundation in soft clay under static and cyclic loads is developed based on the model. For the method, a cyclic loading time history is divided into a series of incremental loading sub-processes which include one load cycle at least. The cyclic stress-strain responses of soil elements at any time are not tracked in detail and determined by the equivalent visco-elastic calculations for every loading sub-process. The accumulative deformation of anchor foundations is calculated using the initial strain algorithm. The method has been implemented in ABAQUS Software by developing interface programs. Model tests of the suction anchors are conducted and predicted using the method. Comparisons of predicted and model test results show that the method can be used to evaluate cyclic stability and reveal the failure process and mechanism of anchor foundations by analyzing deformation time-histories.     

Behavior of a helical anchor under vertical repetitive loading

Abstract

In the field of ocean engineering, anchors are used for several purposes. This article studies the behavior of a helical anchor embedded in soft marine clay under vertical repetitive loading. Helical anchors are simple steel shafts to which one or more helical plates are attached at regular intervals. The tests are conducted on a model helical anchor installed in a soft marine clay bed prepared in a test tank. Repetitive loading is applied using a pneumatic loading arrangement. Different cyclic load ratios and time periods are adopted. In each test, after the application of repetitive loading, poststatic‐pullout tests are conducted to observe the effect of repetitive loading on anchor behavior. From the test results, it is found that, up to a cyclic load ratio of 55%, there is no reduction in capacity. Instead, there seems to be a marginal increase in capacity and reduction in displacement. The reasons for this behavior are explained in terms of induced changes in strength and deformation behavior of marine clay under repetitive load. However, at higher cyclic load ratios, there seems to be reduction in pullout capacity of the anchor, and the reason for this is explained in terms of strain criteria. From this investigation, it can be concluded that the deep anchor is more suitable to a marine environment than a shallow anchor.     

Microstructure analysis on the dynamic behavior of marine clay in the South China Sea

Abstract

The aim of this article was to study the dynamic behavior and microstructural variation of undisturbed marine clay from the South China Sea. First, dynamic cyclic triaxial tests were employed to investigate the dynamic stress–strain-pore pressure paths of the undisturbed clay. Then, scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to measure the variations of the micromorphology and pore size distribution between before and after the dynamic cyclic tests. Through these tests, the dynamic failure process and microstructure variation of the marine clay were quantitatively analyzed. In particular, their relationships are qualitatively established from the macro-micro perspective. Furthermore, by comparing the tests of the remolded clay with those of the undisturbed marine clay, the influence of the microstructure on the dynamic behavior is systematically investigated. The results show that the microstructural variation of the marine clay is caused by the compression deformation of the mesopores among the granular clusters into the small pores between individual particles. The study provides an effective reference for the selection of the microstructural parameters of marine clay.     

Cover Placement on Dredged Marine Clay Reclaimed Deposit

This paper presents a case history of geotextile-reinforced dry cover placement on a reclaimed clay deposit treated by progressive trenching method. In order to investigate the effects of the cover material's characteristic of ensuring trafficability with respect to bearing failure and ground deformation, two types of covers were considered in pilot tests: a layer of weathered granite soil cover and a layer of weathered granite soil over stiff crushed stone. A number of in-situ plate load tests were conducted for various cover conditions to assess the bearing capacity of the reclaimed deposit and to determine the thickness and material compositions that satisfy the bearing capacity requirement. In full-scale pilot tests for cover placement, field monitoring was carried out for the surface settlement and pore pressure that developed in the reclaimed clay layer. The results of plate-loading tests and monitoring during staged cover placements are discussed and compared using numerical predictions obtained from both finite element analyses and undrained stability analyses. The comparison results showed that the drainage condition of the ground surface facing the dry cover is strongly related to the ground response and stability.     

Rate-Dependent and Long-Term Yield Stress and Strength of Soft Wenzhou Marine Clay: Experiments and Modeling

This paper focuses on the rate-dependent yield stress, undrained strength, and long-term undrained strength of clay. Various oedometer and triaxial tests were performed on Wenzhou marine clay. The uniqueness of rate-dependent and long-term yield stress and strength is discussed. A new anisotropic elastic viscoplastic model is proposed by adopting the concept of anisotropy and isotropy processes. The determination of model parameters is discussed, demonstrating how all model parameters can be determined in a straightforward way requiring the same basic tests as for the Modified Cam Clay model. Experimental verifications are carried out using the constant strain-rate and creep tests on the Wenzhou marine clay.     

A finite element approach for predicting the full resistance profile of a spudcan deeply penetrating in dense sand overlying clay

This paper presents a finite element approach to calculate the full resistance profile of a spudcan deeply penetrating in dense sand overlying clay, in which a potential for an installing spudcan to experience a sudden uncontrolled punch-through failure exists. A modified Mohr-Coulomb model characterized by incorporating a four-phase variation of the mobilized strength and dilation parameters with an equivalent accumulated plastic strain is developed and tested for the overlying dense silica sand. An extended Tresca model is used for the strain softening of the underlying clay. A series of large deformation finite-element (LDFE) analyses are carried out, varying the strength and dilation parameters as well as the spudcan geometries. A fairly good performance of the present approach is verified by validating against groups of centrifuge tests data, allowing the numerical study to be extended parametrically. The four-phase variation of the mobilized strength and dilation parameters involved in the progressive failure of the upper dense sand is parametrically studied and extended to cover the range of sand relative densities that are of practical interest. Additionally, comparisons with the typical existing LDFE analyses using both simple and sophisticated constitutive models are carried out. It shows that the present approach performs fairly well to calculate the full resistance profile of a spudcan deeply penetration in both thin and thick dense sand overlying clay, especially the peak and post-peak resistance, within around 5% of the corresponding centrifuge tests results.     

Prediction of Settlements of Soft Clay Subjected to Long-Term Dynamic Load

—Presented is the numerical analysis of settlements of soft soil by a 2-D dynamic effective stressFEM method.The model based on the results of cyclic triaxial tests on the reconstituted soft Ariake clay isused to predict the wave induced excess pore water pressure and residual strain of soft clay.The settle-ments of two types of breakwaters on the soft clay under ocean wave load,a low embankment subjected totraffic load and the tunnel surrounded by soft clay in Shanghai subjected to locomotive load are calculatedas examples.     

Physical and finite element modeling of lateral stability of offshore skirted gravity structures subjected to iceberg impact load

Static stability mainly against sliding of a typical, relatively large skirted gravity structure was investigated using three-dimensional finite element modeling. The numerical model was validated against centrifuge test results. A specific set of dimensions was chosen to model a typical skirted gravity structure in a centrifuge with two types of foundation soils: uniform saturated sand and a clay zone sandwiched between two sand layers. Soil shear strength parameters used in the finite element models were estimated from in-flight cone penetration resistance measurements obtained in the centrifuge. Numerical parametric studies were conducted using the validated finite element model. The parameters included were the depth and strength of the clay zone and the inclination of external load. It is shown that a relatively simple three-dimensional finite element model was effective in providing information that would be needed to design such a critical and expensive offshore structure. Basic Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters and moduli based on cone penetration resistance measurements and published empirical correlations were appropriate in modeling the soils in the finite element simulations.     

Evaluation of the uplift behavior of plate anchor in structured marine clay

The uplift behavior of a plate anchor in a structured clay (soft Ariake clay) is investigated through a series of laboratory tests and method of finite element analysis. The tests are adopted to identify the factors influencing the behavior of the anchor, including the thixotropic nature of Ariake clay, consolidation time, and embedment ratio of the anchor. A finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze and predict the uplift behavior of the anchor plate well in the elastic region and the yield load. The results from both the laboratory tests and the FEM analysis suggest that the embedment ratio for a deep anchor in Ariake clay is close to 4. Further increase in embedment ratio improves the capacity to a lesser extent. FEM overestimates the failure load of the uplift anchor in soft Ariake clay by about 20%. This may be ascribed to the hypothesis in the FEM analysis that there is continuous contact between the clay and the anchor until failure. Vesic’s theory for deep anchors, which may be used to predict the ultimate pullout resistance of the plate anchor in reconstituted Ariake clay, is verified to be applicable. In this paper, the plastic flow zone around the anchor is discussed using FEM which makes the behavior of anchor more understandable during the design stage.     

Two-Dimensional Large Deformation Finite Element Analysis for the Pulling-up of Plate Anchor

Based on mesh regeneration and stress interpolation from an old mesh to a new one, a large deformation finite element model is developed for the study of the behaviour of circular plate anchors subjected to uplift loading. For the deterruination of the distributions of stress components across a clay foundation, the Recovery by Equilibrium in Patches is extended to plastic analyses. ABAQUS, a commercial finite element package, is customized and linked into our program so as to keep automatic and efficient running of large deformation calculation. The quality of stress interpolation is testified by evaluations of Tresca stress and nodal reaction forces. The complete pulling-up processes of plate anchors buried in homogeneous clay arc simulated, and typical pulling force-displacement responses of a deep anchor and a shallow anchor are compared. Different from the results of previous studies, large deformation analysis is of the capability of estimating the breakaway between the anchor bottom and soils. For deep anchors, the variation of mobilized uplift resistance with anchor settlement is composed of three stages, and the initial buried depths of anchors affect the separation embedment slightly. The uplift bearing capacity of deep anchors is usually higher than that of shallow anchors.     

Rheological characteristics and one-dimensional isotache modelling of marine soft clays

Abstract

This paper presents a novel elasto-viscoplastic constitutive formulation based on the isotache concepts and the Nishihara model. Incorporating a novel viscoelastic body to include the delay elastic deformation of marine soft clays under the external load, the proposed model is used to evaluate the theories of consolidation-creep coupling, strain rate dependency and stress relaxation of saturated marine soft clays, and hence, the methodology used to determine the parameters of the model is discussed. Ningbo marine soft clay is selected as an example to interpret the determination of the model parameters on a field scale. A series of conventional oedometer tests are conducted as well. Eventually, we utilize the model to simulate several kinds of rheological tests, including one-dimensional (1-D) long-term compression tests on Ningbo marine soft clays, 1-D constant rate of strain (CRS) tests on Batiscan clays and 1-D stress relaxation tests on Hong Kong marine deposits. These findings indicate good agreement between the computational and experimental results, suggesting the given model can provide reliable forecasts for the rheological characteristics of marine soft clays.     

Degradation in Cemented Marine Clay Subjected to Cyclic Compressive Loading

The influence of cyclic loading on the strength and deformation behavior of cemented marine clay has been studied. This marine clay is of recent Pleistocene origin and deposited in a shallow water marine environment. Open pits were dug in sheeted enclosures and from these pits, undisturbed samples were taken for strength testing. A series of standard triaxial shear tests and stress controlled one-way cyclic load tests were conducted at consolidation stress ranges below and above the preconsolidation pressure. For the stress levels below the preconsolidation pressure, the cyclic loading has brought about the collapse of the cementation bond through an increase in strains, and at higher pressure ranges, the soil behaves like typical soft clay. This experiment studied the rate of development of strain and pore water pressure and shows that rate is a function of number of cycles, applied stress, and stress history. In addition, soil degradation during cyclic loading is studied in terms of Degradation Index. Attempt has been made to predict stain, pore water pressure, and degradation index through an empirical model.     

Lateral and consolidation behaviors of seabed-type breakwater for very soft ground

A seabed-type of breakwater applicable to very soft ground without the need for soil improvement is newly developed. This type of soft-ground breakwater is expected to ensure sufficient lateral resistance and prevent excessive consolidation settlement due to self-weight of the breakwater. In this paper, lateral and consolidation behaviors of soft-ground breakwater were investigated by performing model tests and finite element simulations. The results revealed that the bottom wall and buoyant box, which are the main features of soft-ground breakwater, contribute to the increase in lateral resistance and to the control of the consolidation settlements, respectively, and that Terzaghi's consolidation theory could be conservatively adopted in deriving the consolidation settlements of soft-ground breakwater proposed herein.     

Bearing capacity and critical punch-through depth of spudcan on sand overlying clay

Spudcan may experience punch-through failure on strong over weak layered soils, such as sand overlying clay. A large deformation finite element method （LDFE） is used to simulate the penetration process of spudcan into sand overlying clay. The sand is simulated by smoothed hyperbolic Mohr-Coulomb model, and the clay is simulated by a simple elasto-plastic model which obeys Tresca yield criterion. According to the LDFE results of a large amount of cases, the effects of the strength, unit weight and thickness of the top sand layer, as well as the effect of the strength of the underlying clay on the spudcan punch-through behavior, are investigated. The critical depth occurring punch-through and the critical bearing capacity are presented in charts. Fitting equations to calculate the critical punch-through depth and the critical bearing capacity are proposed for the convenience of engineering practice.     

Numerical Analysis of Gravity Coring Using Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method and a New Corer

The shortcomings of gravity corers in sampling marine sediments have been observed extensively in various field tests. In order to optimize the coring, this article provides an alternative numerical way to model the gravity coring and analyze the sampling effect. Based on this analysis, a new hydraulic hammer corer is devised. A coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian method with capability of simulating the problem involving extreme deformation, penetration is used to simulate the coring process. The results show that the hydrostatic pressure and deviator stress increase and reach their peak when the pile tip is slightly above or at the level of the observation point and then drop rapidly when the pile tip slides below the observation point. In addition, the stress path indicates that the soil element sustains plastic compression before yielding and then expands until recovering to the original state. The obvious “under-sampling” phenomenon is also well-captured by the finite element model.