Installation effects of the post-grouted micropile in marine soft clay

The grouted steel pipe micropile is widely used as structural support and in situ improvement in China. This paper presents measurement of the radial soil stress and excess pore water pressure during the construction processes of the grouted steel pipe micropile (with an enlarged driving shoe) embedded in marine soft clay. Comparative analysis was conducted between the predictions by cavity expansion method (CEM) and maximum stress values in situ. The results show that the existence of the enlarged driving shoe has an effect on the stress change in the surrounding soils during penetration. The maximum radial total stress and excess pore water pressure generated during micropile penetration are approximately 4–6σ_v0′ and 1.5–2.5σ_v0′, respectively. The maximum radial total stress and excess pore water pressure, which appeared near the pile wall during the process of post-grouting, are approximately 5–7c_u and 4–6c_u, respectively. The predictions of CEM for pore water pressure during micropile penetration and post-grouting are in reasonable agreement with the field test data.

     

Constitutive modelling of fine-grained gassy soil: A composite approach

Fine-grained marine sediments containing large undissolved gas bubbles are widely distributed around the world. Presence of the bubbles could degrade the undrained shear strength (s_u ) of the soil, when the gas pressure u_g is relatively high as compared with the effective stress in the saturated soil matrix. Meanwhile, the addition of bubbles may also increase s_u when the difference between u_g and pore water pressure u_w becomes smaller than the water entry value, causing partial water drainage from the saturated matrix into the bubbles (bubble flooding) during globally undrained shearing. A new constitutive model for describing the two competing effects on the stress-strain relationship of fine-grained gassy soil is proposed within the framework of critical state soil mechanics. The gassy soil is considered as a three-phase composite material with compressible cavities, which allows water entry from the saturated matrix. Bubble flooding is modelled by introducing an additional positive volumetric strain increment of the saturated clay matrix, which is dependent on the difference between pore gas and pore water pressure based on experimental observations. A modified hardening law based on that of the modified Cam clay model is employed, which in conjunction with the expression for bubble flooding, can describe both the detrimental and beneficial effects of gas bubbles on soil strength and plastic hardening in shear. Only two extra parameters in addition to those in the modified Cam clay model are used. It is shown that the key features of the stress-strain relationship of three fine-grained gassy soils can be reproduced satisfactorily.     

Analytical solution for 1D consolidation under haversine cyclic loading

Presented and discussed in this paper is an exact analytical solution of the nonhomogeneous partial differential equation governing the conventional one‐dimensional consolidation under haversine repeated loading. The derived analytical solution to the 1D consolidation equation is compared with the numerical solution of the same consolidation problem via FEM. The series solution takes into account the frequency of repeated loading through a dimensionless time factor T₀. The paper reveals that an increase in the frequency of imposed repeated haversine loading (a decrease in period of repeated loading) causes an increase in the number of cycles required to achieve the steady state, whereas the effect of frequency on the maximum excess pore water pressure at the bottom of a clay layer with permeable top and impermeable bottom for the range of frequencies studied is generally insignificant. The effective stress at the bottom of the clay deposit with permeable top and impermeable bottom increases with time but with some fluctuations without changing the sign. These fluctuations become more pronounced for increasing values of T₀. An increase in T₀ also causes an increase in maximum effective stress. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

考虑循环载荷下饱和黏土软化的损伤边界面模型研究

研究表明,循环载荷作用下饱和黏土将发生软化,其机制主要有两个：一是孔压的积累;二是土体原有结构的不断损伤和新结构的不断重塑。针对上述机制,基于广义各向同性硬化准则建立了考虑饱和黏土循环软化的损伤单面模型。该模型在有效应力空间中引入损伤变量,表征土体结构的损伤和重塑程度,在连续的循环加载下,损伤不断累积,边界面则随着损伤的累积不断收缩,以模拟饱和黏土刚度和强度的软化;以应力反向点作为边界面的广义各向同性硬化中心和映射法则的映射中心,灵活地选择塑性模量的插值公式以模拟塑性变形和孔压的累积以及应力-应变的滞回特性。应用该模型对不排水循环三轴试验进行模拟,并且考查了循环周次、循环应力水平和固结历史对饱和黏土循环软化特性的影响,并与相关试验比较,验证了模型的有效性。     

Cone penetration-induced pore pressure distribution and dissipation

The excess pore water pressure distribution (u) induced by the penetration of a piezocone into clay and its dissipation behaviour have been investigated by laboratory model tests, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Based on the results of the tests and the analysis, a semi-theoretical method has been proposed to predict the piezocone penetration-induced pore pressure distribution in the radial direction from the shoulder of the cone. The method can consider the effect of the undrained shear strength (s_u), over-consolidation ratio (OCR) and rigidity index (I_r) of the soil. With a reliably predicted initial distribution of u and the measured curve of dissipation of pore water pressure at the shoulder of the cone (u₂), the coefficient of consolidation of the soil in the horizontal direction (c_h) can be back-fitted by analysis of the pore pressure dissipation. Comparing the back-fitted values of c_h with the values directly estimated by a previously proposed method indicates that the previously proposed method can be used reliably to estimate c_h values from non-standard dissipation curves (where u₂ increases initially and then dissipates with time).     

Models of compacted fine-grained soils used as mineral liner for solid waste

To prevent the leakage of pollutant liquids into groundwater and sublayers, the compacted fine-grained soils are commonly utilized as mineral liners or a sealing system constructed under municipal solid waste and other containment hazardous materials. This study presents the correlation equations of the compaction parameters required for construction of a mineral liner system. The determination of the characteristic compaction parameters, maximum dry unit weight (γ _dmax) and optimum water content (w _opt) requires considerable time and great effort. In this study, empirical models are described and examined to find which of the index properties correlate well with the compaction characteristics for estimating γ _dmax and w _opt of fine-grained soils at the standard compactive effort. The compaction data are correlated with different combinations of gravel content (G), sand content (S), fine-grained content (FC = clay + silt), plasticity index (I _p), liquid limit (w _L) and plastic limit (w _P) by performing multilinear regression (MLR) analyses. The obtained correlations with statistical parameters are presented and compared with the previous studies. It is found that the maximum dry unit weight and optimum water content have a considerably good correlation with plastic limit in comparison with liquid limit and plasticity index.     

Developing a Damage Model to Simulate Multiple-Step Loading Triaxial Compression Tests in Rocks

Multiple-step loading triaxial compression test (ML-TCT) method is a useful tool to evaluate strength parameters of rock samples using a single specimen applying several loading/unloading. However, because of accumulated damages in the specimen with repeated cycles of axial loading/unloading, the shear strength is prone to be underestimated. A multiple-step loading damage (MLD) model was proposed to simulate ML-TCT results. Two series of ML-TCTs were carried out on a sedimentary soft rock of mudstone. The first series was to determine the geotechnical parameters to describe the MLD model, and the second series was to verify the model. The results demonstrated that the proposed MLD model was powerful to simulate ML-TCTs on the mudstone and modify the results of carried out tests to generate more reliable results. Moreover, a generalized MLD model was constructed. This model allows prediction of peak deviator stresses and the relevant excess pore water pressures in a ML-TCT for rocks having different strength which generally are affected by the previous loading history. The generalized MLD model indicates that the margin between shear strength parameters obtained by single-step loading triaxial compression tests and ML-TCTs, increases with an increase in the rock strength. Moreover, upper bound values for effective cohesion, c′, and lower bound values for, effective friction angle, ?′, was obtained in a ML-TCT with increasing effective confining pressure, σ′_c. Whereas, upper bound values for ?′ and lower bound values for c′ predicted in a ML-TCT with decreasing σ′_c. It was concluded that, ML-TCT increasing σ′_c is preferable to ML-TCT decreasing σ′_c.     

Laboratory Investigation of the Resistance of Tailings and Natural Sediments to Cyclic Loading

A number of cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on mine tailings and natural sediment samples under undrained conditions to investigate their resistance to cyclic loading. The tests were performed on more than 100 samples with a cyclic shear stress ratio ranging from 0.10 to 0.40 under varying void ratio and the same confining pressure. It was observed that the axial strain and excess pore water pressure increased with the number of loading cycles while the effective stress decreased with increasing number of loading cycles. The liquefaction resistance of the tailings was also observed to be higher than that of natural soils with similar particle size distribution, void ratio and plasticity index. It was observed that the influence of specific gravity on the cyclic strength of mine tailings is significant. The results showed that the cyclic resistance of the tailings was not strongly influenced by plasticity index for low plasticity tailings. A boundary relationship between void ratio and normalized cyclic resistance ratio was established based on the results.     

Pore pressure generation in silty sands during cyclic loading

Recent developments in studies of soil response to earthquake loadings have made it possible to incorporate the rates of pore water pressure build-up in soils in to nonlinear response analyses of the grounds. Such pore pressure changes help in computing the changes in stress-strain behaviour of soils in the deposit progressively as the earthquake progresses. The rate and magnitude of pore pressure generation in soils during seismic loading will have important effects on the shear strength, stability, and settlement characteristics of a soil mass, even if the soil does not liquefy. The results in terms of pore pressure response in soils from a series of experimental investigations using strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests on soils samples collected from liquefied sites are presented in this paper. The effect of relative density, amplitude of cyclic shear strain, number of loading cycles, confining pressure and frequency of cyclic loading on the pore pressure build-up are studied. Analytical expressions are proposed using regression analysis to define mean relationships between normalized pore water pressure and normalized cycles for the prediction of pore water pressure build-up in silty sands. Also, the pore water pressure build-up in soils is independent of frequency of loading.     

Nonlinear radial consolidation of vertical drains under a general time‐variable loading

By incorporating the nonlinear variation of a soil's compressibility and permeability during the process of consolidation, an analytical solution for the radial consolidation of vertical drains has been developed for a general time‐variable loading. The general solution was verified for the cases of instantaneous loading and ramp loading. Detailed solutions were further derived for two special loading schemes: multistage loading and preloading–unloading–reloading. The nonlinear consolidation behavior of a vertical drain subjected to these two types of loading schemes was then investigated by a parametric study. The results show that the loading rate, the ratio of the compressibility index to the permeability index (C_c/C_k), and the initial stress state have a significant influence on the consolidation rate. A smaller value of C_c/C_k, a larger initial stress, or a fast loading rate always leads to a rapid consolidation rate. During the unloading period, a negative excess pore water pressure may occur, and a slower unloading rate may reduce this negative value. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multisurface kinematic hardening model for the behavior of clays under combined static and undrained cyclic loading

In dynamic geotechnical problems, soils are often subjected to a combination of sustained static and fast cyclic loading. Under such loading conditions, saturated and normally consolidated clays generally experience a build-up of excess pore water pressure along with a degradation of stiffness and strength. If the strength of the soil falls below the static stress demand, a self-driven failure is triggered. In this paper, a constitutive model is presented for the analysis of such problems, based on a general multisurface plasticity framework. The hardening behavior, the initial arrangement of the surfaces, and the nonassociated volumetric flow rule are defined to capture important aspects of cyclic clay behavior. This includes nonlinear hysteretic stress-strain behavior, the effect of anisotropic consolidation, and the generation of excess pore water pressure during undrained cyclic loading along with a degradation of stiffness and strength. The model requires nine independent parameters, which can be derived from standard laboratory tests. A customized experimental program has been performed to validate the model performance. The model predictions show a good agreement with test results from monotonic and cyclic undrained triaxial tests, in particular with respect to the strain-softening response and the number of loading cycles to failure. A procedure for a general stress-space implicit numerical implementation for undrained, total stress-based finite element analyses is presented, including the derivation of the consistent tangent operator. Finally, a simulation of the seismic response of a submarine slope is shown to illustrate a possible application of the presented model.     

A study on one‐dimensional consolidation of layered structured soils

The governing equations for one‐dimensional consolidation of layered structured soils under time‐dependent loading are established. Using simplified k‐σ′ and m_v‐σ′ models, n‐layered structured soils are transformed into (n + 1) or (n + 2)‐layered soils in which the thickness of upper and lower layers are gradually changing. The approximate solutions for the governing equations are then obtained under two types of boundary conditions, and the computer program is developed. Based on the solutions and computer program, the consolidation behavior of layered structured soils with soft interlayer is studied. It is shown that the permeability and compressibility of the soft interlayer have the greatest influences on the rate of settlement and rate of the dissipation of excess pore water pressure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

冻融循环过程中土体的孔隙水压力测试研究

冻融循环对土的结构以及物理力学性质有着重要影响,其变化与冻融过程中的孔隙水压力变化有密切关系。但土体冻结过程中的孔隙水压力测试一直是冻土土工测试试验的技术难题。针对这一难题,研发了一种适用于冻结土体孔隙水压力测试的探头,并对砂土和粉质黏土在冻融循环过程中的孔隙水压力发展变化进行了实时监测,获得了圆柱试样冻融循环过程中不同深度处的孔隙水压力变化过程。在冻结过程中,粉质黏土形成冻结缘区及可视的分凝冰,而砂土则无冻结缘及分凝冰的形成。冻融循环过程中土体内部的孔隙水压力变化受温度、冻结速率、冻融循环以及土质等因素的影响。孔隙水压力随温度的循环变化而经历周期性变化：冻结过程中,孔隙水压力不断下降,吸力不断增加;融化过程中,孔隙水压力增大。而冻结速率、冻融循环及土质主要对孔隙水压力降的幅值变化产生影响。此外,冻结锋面位置附近孔隙水压力的下降、吸力的增加,正是水分由未冻区向冻结区迁移的主要驱动力。根据以上试验结果及其理论分析发现,所研制的孔隙水压力探头具有一定的实用性。     

On the determination of a set of material constants for a high‐cycle accumulation model for non‐cohesive soils

The paper discusses the determination of a set of constants for the high‐cycle accumulation model (HCA) proposed by the authors. The HCA model predicts permanent strains or excess pore water pressures in non‐cohesive soils due to a cyclic loading with a large number of cycles and with small to intermediate strain amplitudes. The laboratory tests necessary for the determination of the material constants and their analysis are explained in detail in this paper. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improvement to the intergranular strain model for larger numbers of repetitive cycles

The analysis of geotechnical problems involving saturated soils under cyclic loading requires the use of advanced constitutive models. These models need to describe the main characteristics of the material under cyclic loading and undrained conditions, such as the rate of the pore water pressure accumulation and the stress attractors. When properly doing so, the models are expected to be reliable for their use in boundary value problems. In this work, an extension of the widely implemented intergranular strain model by Niemunis and Herle (Mech Cohes Frict Mater 2(4):279–299, 1997) is proposed. The modification is aimed to improve the capabilities of the model when simulating a number of repetitive cycles, where a proper reduction of the strain accumulation is expected. For validation purposes, the reference model and proposed improvement are compared against some monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests. The results indicate that the intergranular strain improvement model provides a more realistic prediction of the accumulation rates under cyclic loading, without spoiling the advantages of the original formulation.

     

Mechanical behaviour of expansive soils after several drying and wetting cycles

This paper presents results from an experimental study performed on natural and compacted expansive soils in different loose and dense states using principally osmotic oedometers. The loose soils showed significant shrinkage, while the dense soils produced a swelling accumulation during the suction cycles. These cycles induced an equilibrium stage, which indicates an elastic behaviour of the samples under suction cycles. At the end of suction cycles, a loading/unloading test was performed on all samples at different constant suctions to define LC (loading collapse) yield curve as well as the newly defined SC (saturation curve) yield curve. Generally, the suction cycles for the looser soils approached the LC and SC yield curves while they became the same at the equilibrium state. For the denser soils producing the swelling strain accumulation, the unique LC and SC curves were activated together. Additionally, we found that at the equilibrium stage, both initially loose and dense samples presented the same mechanical parameters. In other words, the LC or SC yield curves superimposed for different initial states of the samples at the equilibrium stage. Moreover, these compression curves provided sufficient data to propose a simplified model for the mechanical behaviour of the swelling soils at the equilibrium stage.     

Influence of initial state and intermediate principal stress on undrained behavior of soft clay during pure principal stress rotation

It is important to be fully aware of the dynamic characteristics of saturated soft clays under complex loading conditions in practice. In this paper, a series of undrained tests for soft clay consolidated with different initial major principal stress direction ξ were conducted by a hollow cylinder apparatus (HCA). The clay samples were subjected to pure principal stress rotation as the magnitudes of the mean total stress p, intermediate principal stress coefficient b, and deviator stress q were all maintained constant. The influences of intermediate principal stress coefficient and initial major principal stress direction on the variation of strain components, generation of pore water pressure, cyclic degradation and non-coaxiality were investigated. The experimental observations indicated that the strain components of specimen were affected by both intermediate principal stress coefficient and initial major principal stress direction. The generation of the pore water pressure was significantly influenced by intermediate principal stress coefficient. However, the generation of pore water pressure was merely influenced by initial major principal stress direction when b?=?0.5. It was also noted that the torsional stress–strain relationships were affected by the number of cycles, and the effect of intermediate principal stress coefficient and initial major principal stress direction on the torsional stress–strain loops were also significant. Stiffness degradation occur under pure principal stress rotation. Anisotropic behavior resulting from the process of inclined consolidation have considerable effects on the strain components and non-coaxial behavior of soft clay.

     

有明黏土中搅拌桩施工时的孔隙水压力

深层搅拌桩施工时,固化剂的注入与叶片的搅拌作用不可避免地会扰动周围土体,改变桩周土体中的应力状态,产生超静孔隙水压力。在高灵敏性的日本有明黏土中搅拌桩施工时对周围土体中的孔隙水压力进行了现场监测。监测结果表明周围土体中产生了很高的超静孔隙水压力,其量值较土体的初始上覆压力还要大,使土体中的有效应力为零,处于张拉状态,但是该超静孔隙水压力在初始阶段消散得非常快。为分析施工引起的超静孔隙水压力,将搅拌桩施工时和周围土体的相互作用采用受剪的孔穴扩张过程来模拟,提出一种简单的方法来计算搅拌桩施工时周围土体中的超静孔隙水压力,同时考虑了固化剂注入时的膨胀压力与旋转叶片在搅拌时所产生的剪切力的作用。超静孔隙水压力由土的不排水抗剪强度、剪切力、注浆压力和孔隙压力系数所确定。所提出的计算方法得到实测数据的验证。     

A new approximation for pore pressure accumulation in marine sediment due to water waves

The residual mechanism of wave‐induced pore water pressure accumulation in marine sediments is re‐examined. An analytical approximation is derived using a linear relation for pore pressure generation in cyclic loading, and mistakes in previous solutions (Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech. 2001; 25 :885–907; J. Offshore Mech. Arctic Eng. (ASME) 1989; 111 (1):1–11) are corrected. A numerical scheme is then employed to solve the case with a non‐linear relation for pore pressure generation. Both analytical and numerical solutions are verified with experimental data (Laboratory and field investigation of wave– sediment interaction. Joseph H. Defrees Hydraulics Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1983), and provide a better prediction of pore pressure accumulation than the previous solution (J. Offshore Mech. Arctic Eng. (ASME) 1989; 111 (1):1–11). The parametric study concludes that the pore pressure accumulation and use of full non‐linear relation of pore pressure become more important under the following conditions: (1) large wave amplitude, (2) longer wave period, (3) shallow water, (4) shallow soil and (5) softer soils with a low consolidation coefficient. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reexamination of effect of plasticity on liquefaction resistance of low-plasticity fine-grained soils and its potential application

The paper summarizes a compilation of existing cyclic experimental data on reconstituted and undisturbed specimens of low-plasticity fine-grained soils to assess liquefaction resistance. The authors normalized the data to reduce the effect of other relevant factors such as shear mode, density, effective confining stress and cyclic loading frequency. It is indicated that liquefaction resistance of the specimens reconstituted using slurry consolidation approach is lower than that of the undisturbed specimens. The liquefaction resistance for undisturbed specimens decreases with an increase in the plasticity index up to 4–5 and then increases with a further increase in plasticity index. A new correction factor K _PI to estimate the effect of plasticity index on cyclic resistance ratio is proposed for design purposes and added into the framework of liquefaction evaluation of claylike fine-grained soils with PI of 7–18 (change to 5–18, if ML–CL) on the base of the approach of Boulanger and Idriss. Because the effect of plasticity index on liquefaction resistance is slight when the plasticity index is <7, it is suggested that the liquefaction evaluation of sandlike fine-grained soils with PI of 0–7 (changed to 0–5, if ML–CL) follows the framework of simplified procedures using SPT and CPT data.