Short-Term Stability Evaluation of an Embankment Constructed on Marine Clay Foundation at Kobe Airport

This article introduces the application of a stability analysis method that accounts for strength anisotropy on the embankment constructed at the Kobe airport. Shear strength anisotropy is induced by the in-situ state of stress along a potential slip surface of the embankment. In addition, the effects of the shearing rate on the undrained shear strength of the marine clay are examined in detail based on the results of a series of constant-volume direct shear box (DSB), triaxial compression (TC), and triaxial extension (TE) tests varying shearing rates. The most critical slip surface was selected from the deterministic slope stability analysis using unconfined compression tests of undisturbed clay samples from the field. For the most critical slip surface, the potential factor of safety of the embankment is estimated to be within the range of 1.21 to 1.28, as indicated by the results of the stability analyses using the strengths obtained from the DSB, TC, and TE tests and varying shearing rates.     

Reinforcement and Arching Effect of Geogrid-Reinforced and Pile-Supported Embankment on Marine Soft Ground

The effectiveness of constructing a geogrid-reinforced and pile supported embankment on soft ground to reduce differential settlement has been studied by pilot scale field tests and numerical analysis. Three-by-three pile groups with varying pile spacing were driven into a layer of soft ground, and a layer of geogrid was used as reinforcement over each pile group. Further, a 2-D numerical analysis has been conducted using the computer program FLAC 2D. The mechanisms of load transfer can be considered as a combination of embankment soil arching, geogrid tension, and stress transfer due to the difference in stiffness between pile and soft ground. Based on the pilot scale field tests and results of numerical analysis, we find that the geosynthetic reinforcement slightly interferes with soil arching, and helps reduce differential settlement of the soft ground. Also, the most effective load transfer and vertical stress reduction at the midspan between piles occurs when the pile cap spacing index D/b (D: pile cap spacing, b: diameter of pile) is 3.0.     

Reinforcement and Arching Effect of Geogrid-Reinforced and Pile-Supported Embankment on Marine Soft Ground

The effectiveness of constructing a geogrid-reinforced and pile supported embankment on soft ground to reduce differential settlement has been studied by pilot scale field tests and numerical analysis. Three-by-three pile groups with varying pile spacing were driven into a layer of soft ground, and a layer of geogrid was used as reinforcement over each pile group. Further, a 2-D numerical analysis has been conducted using the computer program FLAC 2D. The mechanisms of load transfer can be considered as a combination of embankment soil arching, geogrid tension, and stress transfer due to the difference in stiffness between pile and soft ground. Based on the pilot scale field tests and results of numerical analysis, we find that the geosynthetic reinforcement slightly interferes with soil arching, and helps reduce differential settlement of the soft ground. Also, the most effective load transfer and vertical stress reduction at the midspan between piles occurs when the pile cap spacing index D/b (D: pile cap spacing, b: diameter of pile) is 3.0.     

Evaluation of the Strength Increase of Marine Clay under Staged Embankment Loading: A Case Study

This article presents a case history of the performance of a full-scale test embankment constructed on a marine soft clay deposit improved by prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in the east of China. For analyzing the subsoil behavior, a 2D FEM model is established, in which the PVD-improved effect is considered by a simplified method of equivalent vertical hydraulic conductivity. The calculated results can predict the settlement behavior well; however, the FEM gives an underestimate for the value of excess pore pressures and it predicts similar values for the dissipation rate of excess pore pressures. The measured undrained shear strength of subsoil, C_u, is compared with the predicted value based on Ladd’s empirical equation and the Modified Cam-Clay model (MCC). The shear strength predicted by Ladd’s equation agrees well with the measured value, whereas the MCC overestimates the ability to improve subsoil shear strength during consolidation. The undrained shear strength of subsoil, C_u, increased as the construction progressed, and the shear strength incremental ratio, ΔC_u/Δp′, decreased slightly with the degree of consolidation, U.     

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.     

海相软土场地水泥土劣化机理室内试验研究

将水泥土和周围土体作为研究对象,利用室内化学分析试验得到了离子浓度的时空分布规律,并从腐蚀离子干预水化反应进程和分解水化产物两个过程揭示了海相软土场地水泥土劣化机理。Ca^2+由水泥土向土体中扩散,Mg^2+、SO42^-及Cl^-从土体向水泥土扩散;随着水化反应的进行,Ca^2+不断生成,水泥土中足够多的Ca^2+是保证水化反应进行并维持水化产物稳定的必要条件,Ca^2+不断向土体扩散是水泥土劣化的原因之一;水泥土内部的SO42^-及Cl^-在浓度较低(分别低于9和15 g/L)时有利于水泥土强度的提高,浓度较高时则导致水泥土发生胀裂;水泥土中Mg^2+的存在会阻碍水化产物的生成并分解水化产物,但浓度较低(低于3 g/L)时,影响不明显;土体中Mg^2+、SO42^-及Cl^-浓度高于水泥土中的浓度,在水泥土表层与水化产物反应生成胶结性差及膨胀性高的物质,促使水泥土劣化。     

Stability Study of a Tide Embankment Subjected to Sea Level Variations Using Centrifugal Model Tests

To investigate the behavior of dredged-sea-sand fill compacted inside tide embankments with a damaged geosynthetic mat, centrifugal model tests and numerical simulation were conducted, both considering variations in sea level. The results from the three centrifugal model tests demonstrate that the subsidence of the dredged-sea-sand fill inside tide embankments with a damaged geosynthetic mat was strongly affected by the loss of dredged-sea-sand into the filter layers with large particles and a decrease in the bearing capacity of the filter layers with small particles. In addition, a comparison of the test and simulation results confirms that the loss of sand into the filter layer and the subsidence of the dredged-sea-sand fill were well reproduced by the numerical simulation.     

原土环境下水泥土强度衰减过程室内试验研究

在水土耦合的室内原土环境中,通过微型贯入、扫描电镜(SEM)、能谱(EDS)分析、X射线衍射(XRD)、离子含量及pH值测试等多种试验手段,研究滨海相软土场地形成的水泥土强度的分布规律及其衰减过程,并阐明水泥土劣化层和未劣化层的发展规律。结果表明:水泥土劣化深度随养护时间的增长和水泥掺入比的减小不断增大,至360d时最大劣化深度达到11.9mm,明显大于同龄期海水环境中养护的水泥土的劣化深度;与未劣化层相比,劣化层的孔径增大,孔隙增多,水泥水化产物减少;经原土养护相同时间,水泥土中pH值及主要离子含量分布规律与室内海水环境中的水泥土相似,其中pH值和Ca^2+含量随着试样深度的增大而增大,而Mg^2+、SO4^2-、Cl^-含量随试样深度的增大而减小;水泥土中Ca^2+含量沿试样深度方向的分布规律与强度变化规律相似。在原土条件下,水泥土中Ca的溶出更加显著,导致后期水泥土强度衰减加剧。原土中水泥土强度衰减过程与海水中相同。     

Physical Modeling of a Footing on Soft Soil Ground with Deep Cement Mixed Soil Columns under Vertical Loading

Deep cement mixing (DCM) technique is a deep in-situ stabilization technique by mixing cement powder or slurry with soft soils below the ground surface to improve their properties and behavior. Some of DCM treated soft soil grounds are approximately in a plane-strain condition; for example, a fill embankment on DCM improved ground. In this study, a plane-strain physical model was created with instrumentation and used to investigate the bearing capacity and failure mode of a soft soil improved by an end-bearing DCM column group. This study focuses on the observed wedge-shaped shear failure of the model ground and attempts to give an account of the failure. Two different methods are used to calculate the bearing capacity of the model ground, and the computed values are compared with the measured ones. It is found that the simple Brom's method gives a better estimate of the bearing capacity of the present model ground. It is also found that measured data of pore water pressures at different locations in the soft soil indicate coupling between failure of columns and consolidation of the soft soil. This study has presented the first time that a wedge-shaped block failure was observed for pattern of DCM treated soil ground.     

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.     

高速公路软土地基沉降变形监测分析与预报

通过对高速公路软土地基沉降变形监测的非等步长观测序列进行数据处理后,变成等步长的数据序列,运用GM(1,1)模型进行变形分析与预报,得出了有益的结论。     

Effect of Scour on the Behavior of Laterally Loaded Single Piles in Marine Clay

Most offshore and coastal structures are supported by pile foundations, which are subjected to large lateral loads due to wind, wave, and water currents. Water currents can induce scouring around piles that reduces lateral capacity and increases lateral deflection of a pile. Current design methods mostly consider the complete removal of soil layers around piles by scouring. In reality, however, scouring creates scour holes at different shapes, sizes, and depths. Their effects on the behavior of laterally loaded piles are not well investigated. A numerical model of a single pile in soft marine clay was first calibrated against field test data without scour. Then several key factors of scour were analyzed, such as the depth, width, and slope of the scour hole and the diameter and head fixity of the pile. The relationships of the ultimate lateral capacity of the single pile with the depth, width, and slope angle of the scour hole were obtained. The numerical results show that the scour depth had more significant influence on the pile lateral capacity than the scour width. In addition, the pile with a free head was more sensitive to scour than the pile with a fixed head.     

Centrifugal test of a road embankment built after new dredger fill on thick marine clay

Abstract

The construction of a 100-km road network is planned on a land reclamation area in the Oujiang Estuary in China. The embankment had a height of 4 m and a base width of 60 m. The reclamation area is newly filled by a 3-m dredger fill on a 48-m thick layer of marine clay. Estimation of the settlement of the future road network is difficult. To guide the construction of the road network, a 1/100-scale centrifuge model test was performed with a marine clay sample from the construction site to simulate the layered settlements and evaluate the drainage effect of prefabricated vertical drains in the dredger fill in the following 10 years. The results of the centrifuge modeling test are verified by 10-month in situ monitoring, which shows agreement between the centrifuge modeling test results and the in situ results. The test results indicate that additional time is needed to reinforce the newly added dredger fill by the surcharge preloading method to uplift the elevation of the reclamation area with dredger fill.     

Behavior of Marine Clay Subjected to Cyclic Loading with Sustained Shear Stress

Foundations of offshore structures are designed to withstand a combination of static and cyclic loads due to ocean waves. Wave action on offshore structures can cause a significant amount of cyclic horizontal and vertical forces to be transmitted to the soil through the foundation. In all these cases, these cyclic loads are considered to be superimposed over the initial sustained static stress due to the self-weight of structures. This study considers various factors that influence the development of deformation and pore water pressure in a typical cemented marine clay. These results show that the sustained static shear stress significantly influences the strength and deformation behavior of marine clay under cyclic loading. Up to a certain range of sustained static stress, there is an improvement in strength during cyclic loading and the cyclic strains are greatly reduced.     

Behavior of Marine Clay Subjected to Cyclic Loading with Sustained Shear Stress

Foundations of offshore structures are designed to withstand a combination of static and cyclic loads due to ocean waves. Wave action on offshore structures can cause a significant amount of cyclic horizontal and vertical forces to be transmitted to the soil through the foundation. In all these cases, these cyclic loads are considered to be superimposed over the initial sustained static stress due to the self-weight of structures. This study considers various factors that influence the development of deformation and pore water pressure in a typical cemented marine clay. These results show that the sustained static shear stress significantly influences the strength and deformation behavior of marine clay under cyclic loading. Up to a certain range of sustained static stress, there is an improvement in strength during cyclic loading and the cyclic strains are greatly reduced.     

海洋工程地基处理问题的评述

本文阐述了海洋工程水下软土地基加固处理的实用方法:振冲法、真空预压法、高压旋喷法、爆破法、土工织物法、强夯法以及水泥石灰系拌和法.并对这些方法的施工研究及注意问题进行了专题详述.     

Loss with Time of Dredged Sea Sand in Tidal Embankment Subject to Sea Level Variation

In this study, loss with time of dredged sea sand in a tidal embankment subject to sea level variation was examined through the centrifugal model test. The experimental results demonstrate that a differential subsidence occurs on the surface of the dredged-sea-sand fill and that the largest subsidence was observed just above the damaged portion of the geosynthetic mat. In addition, image analysis provided the largest displacement vector at the damaged portion of the geosynthetic mat, the shear-strain localization from the damaged portion of the geosynthetic mat through the center of the slope surface, and the crest of the dredge-sea sand fill. These displacement vectors and shear strains occurred early in the experiment and increased over time. Therefore, the loss of dredged sea sand can occur rapidly with damage to the geosynthetic mat and can possibly induce differential subsidence and cracks at the surface of the dredged-sea sand fill.     

A Note on Soil Structure Resistance of Natural Marine Deposits

It has been well documented that natural normally-consolidated marine soils are generally subjected to the effects of soil structure. The interpretation of the resistance of soil structure is an important issue in the theory study and engineering practice of ocean engineering and geotechnical engineering. It is traditionally considered that the resistance of soil structure gradually disappears with increasing stress level when the applied stress is beyond the consolidation yield stress. In this study, however, it is found that this traditional interpretation of the resistance of soil structure can not explain the strength behavior of natural marine deposits with a normally-consolidated stress history A new interpretation of the resistance of soil structure is proposed based on the strength behavior. In the preyield state, the undrained strength of natural marine deposits is composed of two components: one developed by the applied stress and the other developed by the resistance of soil structure. When the applied stress is beyond the consolidation yield stress, the strength behavior is independent of the resistance of soil structure.     

Study on the Adsorption of Metal Ions by Immobilized Marine Algae with the Existence of Clay

The process of adsorption of metal ions by immobilized marine algae with the existence of clay was investigated. It can be noted from the results that, after mixing with clay, the adsorption rate increases rapidly with the increasing amount of the marine algae. When pH=5, the best ratio between the clay and the marine algae is 1：4 for Pb^2＋. The result of in situ handling of the waste water containing heavy metals shows that the average adsorption rates of heavy metal irons Cu^2＋, Cd^2＋, Pb^2＋ and Ni^2＋ are all over 70 %.     

考虑蠕变特性的斜坡堤软土地基变形数值分析

目前在防波堤设计和施工中,较少考虑软粘土的蠕变特性对软土地基长期变形的影响.为准确预测斜坡堤软土地基的变形水平,研究采用Plaxis二维有限元程序,利用不考虑蠕变的摩尔-库仑模型和能反映土体时间效应的软土蠕变模型,模拟某斜坡堤地基软土层施工期和工后的地基变形过程,对比分析了两种不同模型的计算结果,表明由软土蠕变模型得到...