Instrumentation and Numerical Analysis of Cylindrical Diaphragm Wall Movement During Deep Excavation at Coastal Area

The lateral deflection of a cylindrical diaphragm wall and the associated ground movement induced by deep excavation are analyzed by performing site instrumentations and numerical analyses in the coastal area of Korea. Wall lateral deflection, rebar stress, and pore water pressure were measured and analyzed in eight directions. Variations of soil properties with the decrease of confining pressure are compared by performing various in situ tests before ad after excavation. To calculate the wall lateral deflection accurately, the effects of small strain nonlinearity, confining pressure, and the hysteresis loading/unloading loop developed during excavation are considered in the proposed numerical analysis. By comparing numerical results with measured ones, the importances of considering small strain nonlinearity and confining pressure reduction in the nonlinear (FEM) are emphasized. Also, the effects of wall stiffness on the performance of cylindrical diaphragm walls are studied for future similar excavation in the coastal area.     

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.     

Extreme wave run-up and pressure on a vertical seawall

The performance of coastal vertical seawalls in extreme weather events is studied numerically, aiming to provide guidance in designing and reassessing coastal structures with vertical wall. The extreme wave run-up and the pressure on the vertical seawall are investigated extensively. A time-domain higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is coupled with a mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian technique as a time marching technique. Focused wave groups are generated by a piston wave-maker in the numerical wave tank using a wave focusing technique for accurately reproducing extreme sea states. An acceleration-potential scheme is used to calculate the transient wave loads. Comparisons with experimental data show that the extended numerical model is able to accurately predict extreme wave run-ups and pressures on a vertical seawall. The effects of the wave spectrum bandwidth, the wall position and the wave nonlinearity on the wave run-up and the maximum wave load on the vertical seawall are investigated by doing parametric studies.     

基于粘性流模型的筒型基础防波堤波浪力数值分析

筒型基础防波堤是一种新型港口海岸工程结构,其基础上部是由连续排列的圆筒构成的直立防浪墙.采用粘性流数值模型,研究连续圆筒防波堤上波浪力竖向分布、水平(沿圆筒环向)分布和波浪力合力特性,并对粘性流数值模型计算的平面直墙波浪力与海港水文规范方法计算结果;粘性流数值模型计算的连续圆筒墙面波浪力与平面直墙波浪力;无限长连续圆筒墙面波浪力与有限长连续圆筒墙面波浪力进行比较分析.针对所选工程算例,建议按<海港水文规范>中平面直墙波浪力计算方法确定连续圆筒防波堤上的波浪力时,波峰时考虑0.90左右的折减系数,波谷时考虑0.95左右的折减系数.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of a vertical wall response to wave impact

The laboratory and field experiments so far have shown that when a wave breaks directly on a vertical faced coastal structure, the resulting impact pressures may become very severe in magnitude and short in duration. Some experimental evidence in the literature suggests that the structural response to the extremely high magnitude impact forces is only limited. This study is mainly concerned with the comparison of the theoretical and experimental results of a vertical wall response under the wave impact loading. In the dynamic analysis of the wall the classical elastic plate theory is used and the numerical results for the dynamic values of the transverse displacement are obtained by employing the method of finite elements. In the theoretical analyses the experimental pressure histories are used and the theoretical wall deflection histories are compared with the experimental results. The computational and experimental deflection histories exhibit similar patterns. The theoretical maximum wall deflections are mostly found to be slightly smaller than the experimental values.     

Mechanical Behavior of Light-Weight Soil Under Consolidated Drained Shear Condition

To reveal the influence of material composition on mechanical properties of light-weight soil, stress-strain -volumetric strain characteristics and Poisson's ratio of mixed soil were researched by consolidated drained shear tests. The results show that light-weight soil is a kind of structural soil, so its mechanical properties are affected by mixed ratio and confining pressure, and mixed soil possesses structural yield stress. When confining pressure is less than the structural yield stress, strain softening occurs; when confining pressure is more than the structural yield stress, strain hardening is observed. There are two kinds of volume change behavior: shear contraction and shear dilatancy. Shear dilatancy usually leads to strain softening, but there isn't an assured causal relationship between them. Poisson's ratio of mixed soil is a variational state parameter with the change of stress state, it decreases with increased confining pressure, and it increases with increased stress level. When axial strain is near 5%, Poisson’ ratio is gradually close to a steady value. The main range of Poisson's ratio is 0.25～0.50 when confining pressure changes from 50 to 300 kPa. When unconfined compressive strength of mixed soil is less than 328 kPa, its stress-strain-volumetric strain characteristics can be predicted very well by Duncan-Chang model (E-B model). However, when the range of unconfined compressive strength is [328 kPa, 566 kPa], the model can't predict stress-strain characteristics accurately when confining pressure is under 200 kPa, and it also can't predict the strong shear dilatancy phenomenon of mixed soil under low confining pressure.     

Viscous free surface effect on coastal embankment hydrodynamics

A finite-differnece method was used to calculate the nonlinear hydrodynamic pressures acting on the coastal embankment faces by seismic-wave actions. The nonlinearity of free surface flow, convective acceleration, viscosity and surface tension of fluid are included in the analysis. The kinematic and dynamic free surface boundary conditions are employed for calculating the horizontal fluid velocity, pressure at the free surface and the surface profile of the fluid. The time-dependent water surface is transformed to the horizontal plane, and the flow field is mapped onto a rectangular, making it convenient to model the complex sea bottom geometry and the wavy water surface by the finite-difference method. Fully nonlinear and weakly nonlinear dynamic free surface conditions are used and compared. The effects of surface tension of fluid are also discussed. The nonslip boundary condition is applied on the most part of the interface between fluid and solid face, except the region near the intersection between free surface and wall face. The numerical results are presented for various water depths and ground motion intensities, and their associate viscous effects on coastal embankment hydrodynamics are discussed.     

Study of dilatancy behaviors of calcareous soils in a triaxial test

Abstract

In this article, the dilatancy of calcareous soil is studied systematically based on triaxial consolidation drainage shear tests, and the difference in dilatancy between calcareous soil and siliceous soil is also investigated. It was found that: ① Calcareous soil experience obvious dilated deformation. Dilatancy tendency increases with increasing related density and decreases with increasing confining pressure. ② The volumetric strain rate initially increases from negative to positive. After it reaches a maximum, there is a small decrease in the volumetric strain rate, but it is still greater than zero, and the stress-strain curves are of softening type. ③ For the same condition, the dilatancy deformation of calcareous sand begins later than that of siliceous sand, and the volume compression before dilatancy is also larger for calcareous sand. ④ The critical state alone cannot accurately describe the entire deformation process of soil, and it is proposed that the phase transformation state be added to the standard method used to assess soil dilatation and contraction. ⑤ Based on the statistical analysis of experimental data, mathematical relationships were established between void ratio, relative density, and effective confining pressure of phase transformation state and critical state, respectively.

• Highlights

• Reports results from a well-designed experiment that includes a good amount of samples and data.

• Effects of relative density and effective confining pressure on deformation mode and mechanical properties of calcareous sand are evaluated.

• The difference in dilatancy between calcareous sand and siliceous sand was compared

• The phase-transformation state and critical state were compared with the axial strain, volumetric strain and deviatoric stress.

• Using phase-transformation void ratio and critical void ratio to describe the whole deformation process of calcareous sand is proposed.

• The mathematical expressions of phase-transformation void ratio and critical void ration were given, respectively.

     

Analysis and optimization design of submarine tunnels crossing fault fracture zones based on numerical simulation

Abstract

Fault fracture zones have always been a key problem in the construction of submarine tunnels. To efficiently summarize the safety impact of different construction schemes on a submarine tunnel crossing a fault fracture, a theoretical model using numerical simulation has been established via the benching tunnelling construction method, three-step method, Center Diaphragm method (CD method), both sides heading method, Cross Diaphragm method (CRD method) and two kinds of supporting methods: pre-grouting and shotcreting. Numerical simulation studies on the excavation and support of submarine tunnels crossing fault fracture zones have been carried out. The research indicates: the fracture zone is the main area where sedimentation instability occurs; the CRD method has the lowest horizontal convergence under the support of the diaphragm; increasing the grouting strength is more effective in controlling the deformation of the surrounding rock than increasing the range of the pre-grouting and the thickness of the shotcrete in the initial support is increased, and its resulting effect is obvious. To optimize the construction scheme, we compared the settlement, horizontal convergence and surrounding rock stress of the tunnel according to the simulation results of different excavation support methods, which could provide theoretical guidance for better on-site construction techniques.     

Escape route analysis after water inrush from the working face during submarine tunnel excavation

More and more deep-seated long submarine tunnels are under construction, which greatly promotes the development of tunneling technology. The complex geological conditions and frequent geological disasters have become great challenges during submarine tunnel excavation. Among them, casualties and economic losses caused by water inrush are on the top levels in all kinds of tunnel geological disasters. Escape routes after water inrush from the working face during submarine tunnel excavation are investigated and optimized in the present study. Numerical simulations are performed using the FLUENT software to probe water flow characteristics after inrush. Two common cases of water inrush during double-line submarine tunnel excavation are researched. The variation rules of velocity and pressure in the tunnels after inrush are analyzed and discussed. The optimized escape routes are achieved. Finally, the water movement laws after inrush from the working face under different excavation situations are further discussed by comparing the two case studies. Water inrush of high velocity occurs on one working face of the double-line submarine tunnel, and the research results are as follows: (1) The velocity close to the tunnel side wall is the minimum, while it is the maximum in the middle position. (2) The pressure changes greatly at the intersection area of the cross passage and the tunnels. (3) The velocity and pressure nearby the working face without water inrush are both small. (4) The velocity at the high location of the cross passage is relatively small.     

Macro-and Micro-Properties of Two Natural Marine Clays in China

In this paper,macro- and micro- properties of natural marine clay in two different and representative regions of China are investigated in detail.In addition to in-situ tests,soil samples are collected by use of Shelby tubes for laboratory examination in Shanghai and Zhuhai respectively,two coastal cities in China.In the laboratory tests,macro-properties such as consolidation characteristics and undrained shear strength are measured.Moreover,X-ray diffraction test,scanning electron microscope test,and mercury intrusion test are carried out for the investigation of their micro-properties including clay minerals and microstructure.The study shows that:(1) both clays are Holocene series formations,classified as either normal or underconsolidated soils.The initial gradient of the stress-strain curves shows their increase with increasing consolidation pressure;however,the Shanghai and the Zhuhai clays are both structural soils with the latter shown to be more structured than the former.As a result,the Zhuhai clay shows strain softening behavior at low confining pressures,but strain hardening at high pressures.In contrast,the Shanghai clay mainly manifests strain-hardening.(2) An activity ranges from 0.75 to 1.30 for the Shanghai marine clay and from 0.5 to 0.85 for the Zhuhai marine clay.The main clay mineral is illite in the Shanghai clay and kaolinite in the Zhuhai clay.The Zhuhai clay is mainly characterized by a flocculated structure,while the typical Shanghai clay shows a dispersed structure.The porous structure of the Shanghai clay is characterized mainly by large and medium-sized pores,while the Zhuhai clay porous structure is mainly featreed by small and medium-sized pores.The differences in their macro- and micro- properties can he attributed to different sedimentation environments.     

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.     

低围压水平下砂的排水行为(英文)

采用干样沉降法制备样品 ,选用静三轴仪对松砂和密砂样在 10 k Pa至 10 0 k Pa的低围压下的排水行为进行了实验研究 ,并对实验结果作了橡皮膜校正 ,在围压为 10 k Pa的密砂实验中 ,轴向应力的校正值可达到 12 %。实验研究表明低围压下松砂的剪胀性非常明显 ,且存在剪应力极值 ;围压越低 ,松砂和密砂的剪应力极值越小 ,达到最大剪应力所对应的剪应变越小。同时还表明低围压范围内相对密度不同 ,砂的应力应变特性不同 ;此外 ,低围压下砂的内摩擦角高于高围压下的值 ,从而在工程上应重视低围压水平下砂土工程参数的合理选取     

Discrete-element numerical modelling method for studying mechanical response of methane-hydrate-bearing specimens

Abstract

It is important to understand the deformation mechanism of methane-hydrate specimens (MHSs) to avoid deforming the seabed during methane-hydrate production. For this purpose, discrete-element method (DEM) modelling is advantageous because it requires much less cost and effort compared to artificial specimens and in situ sediments. In this study, a method for generating DEM numerical simulation models of MHSs is proposed to study the deformation mechanism of MHSs. First, numerical models that consider the saturation of methane hydrate (S_MH), following which the bi-axial compression of these models is simulated. The mechanisms controlling the shear strength of MHSs are verified and modified by investigating the stress–strain response behavior, crack-development process, and evolution of the void change rate (E_change) of MHSs. The increases of the peak strength and secant elastic modulus of the MHS with the increment of confining pressure follow parabolic relationships. Under different loading rates, the peak strength tends to increase parabolically with the increment of loading rate, while the relationship between the secant elastic modulus and loading rate is linear. Based on the testing results, empirical formulas of peak stress and elastic modulus are proposed for different confining-pressure and strain-rate conditions.     

海洋井架结构非线性分析

根据海洋钻井井架实际结构特点,建立弹性基础上的三维有限元模型.按9种工况对某井架的有限元模型进行加载,并且在传统线弹性理论基础上加以改进,考虑非线性P-△效应的影响.应用有限元分析软件StruCAD进行分析计算,给出可靠的计算结果;并且系统分析结构的受力特点和影响因素,得出对于井架这类高耸结构应该考虑P-△效应的影响.     

A numerical investigation of influence of low-plasticity fines in sand on lateral response of piles

Abstract

Experimental evidence suggests that sands containing non-plastic or low-plasticity fines may show either decreasing or increasing shear strength with increasing fines content in certain situations. Accordingly, the presence of low-plasticity fines can significantly affect the ultimate lateral soil resistance; thus low-plasticity fines can affect the lateral response of piles. In this study, a quantitative method is proposed for determining the effect of low-plasticity fines in sand on the lateral response of piles in sand by combining a strain wedge model and a unified critical state compatible (UCSC) framework. An equivalent granular state parameter is employed in the UCSC framework to define the soil state uniquely in the strain wedge. The proposed quantitative method is incorporated in a finite element program. A series of numerical analyses are performed on a laterally loaded pile embedded in various relative densities of the base (clean) sand, to which various quantities of low-plasticity fines are added. The effect of low-plasticity fines on the lateral response is investigated. Furthermore, the effect of the low-plasticity fines on the response of the strain wedge is discussed.     

Buckling of multi-segment underwater pressure hull

Results of a numerical and experimental study into buckling performance of multi-segment pressure hull subjected to uniform hydrostatic pressure are discussed. Constituents of multi-segment configurations are bowed-out cylindrical shells with, and without flanges. Details about five collapse tests of laboratory scale mild steel, CNC machined models are given. Segments were about 200 mm diameter, 100 mm long and had uniform wall thickness of 3 mm. Experimental collapse pressures were in the range from 12 to 20 MPa. Numerical collapse pressures agreed well with those obtained during experiments.     

Breaking wave impact on vertical and sloping coastal structures

The results of laboratory experiments on the maximum and bottom impact pressures from waves breaking directly on vertical and sloping faced coastal structures are presented. Direct wave breaking on a wall is classified as early, late, and perfect breaking. Although the present study is aimed at dealing with the type of impact resulting from the perfect breaking, to some extent the occurrence of early and late breaking are unavoidable. The wave impact pressures, therefore, have a random nature of variation from impact-to-impact under the same conditions. The maximum and bottom impact pressures on walls are treated statistically. The effects of the wall angle and foreshore slope on these two quantities are examined. The results show that for practical applications, the still-water level can be taken as the acting place for the maximum impact pressure on the wall. Simultaneous impact pressure distribution below and above still-water level may be approximated as parabolic and linear, respectively. Finally, using a wall deflection criterion, a water depth region in front of the wall is defined, where the breaking wave forces may reach a critical level.     

受控三轴应力-应变下沉积物声速与物理力学性质的关系

对南海某海域深度100～400 m的海底浅层（约2 m埋深范围）沉积物柱状样在接近海底水压力下进行三轴应变-声学同步测量,结果表明沉积物纵波声速有两个特征:（1）从应变过程开始到结束,沉积物纵波声速不断变化;（2）平均声速随着平均静弹性模量的增加,由大变小又由小变大,存在声速最小值。这些结果与海底浅表层沉积物的物理力学性质、围压、颗粒的结合状态改变有关。此外,沉积物动弹性模量和孔隙度呈良好的负相关性,这与孔隙度增大含水量增大有关;动弹性模量是静弹性模量的10～100倍,这主要与三轴应变试验的应变数量级与声波振动产生的应变数量级的差异大有关。采用本论文实验测量的数据分别建立了双复合参数-声速和孔隙度-声速经验公式,分析结果表明双复合参数-声速公式声速预报误差约是孔隙度-声速公式的1/4,表明双复合参数-声速公式更加有效。     

Evaluation of vertically and laterally loaded bucket foundation in clay using a three-dimensional displacement approach

ABSTRACT

An investigation is made to present analytical solutions provided by a three-dimensional displacement approach for analysis of bucket foundations subjected to vertical and lateral loads in cohesive soils. The nonlinear vertical and lateral stiffness coefficients along the skirt of the bucket foundation in nonhomogeneous soil are presented using three-dimensional solutions for vertical and lateral loads and taking into account the dependence of stiffness coefficients on the shear strain. The vertical, lateral, and rocking stiffness coefficients on the base of the skirt of a bucket foundation are obtained from the solutions of hollow rigid cylindrical punch acting on the surface of a soil. The ultimate vertical stress of a soil under the base of a bucket foundation subjected to vertical and moment loads is presented analytically by considering only compression and ignoring tension on the base. The vertical and lateral yields along the skirt and the compression and shear failures on the base are taken into account in analysis of ultimate load capacities. Envelopes of the combined ultimate horizontal and moment load capacities of a bucket foundation in clay are shown. Relationships between ultimate lateral and moment load capacities and the embedment ratio (skirt length to diameter) are presented.