Identifying parameters controlling soil delayed behaviour from laboratory and in situ pressuremeter testing

The aim of this paper is to present a methodology for identifying the soil parameters controlling the delayed behaviour from laboratory and in situ pressuremeter tests by using an elasto‐viscoplastic model (EVP‐MCC) based on Perzyna's overstress theory and on the elasto‐plastic Modified Cam Clay model. The influence of both the model parameters and the soil permeability was studied under the loading condition of pressuremeter tests by coupling the proposed model equations with Biot's consolidation theory. On the basis of the parametric study, a methodology for identifying model parameters and soil permeability by inverse analysis from three levels of constant strain rate pressuremeter tests was then proposed and applied on tests performed on natural Saint‐Herblain clay. The methodology was validated by comparing the optimized values of soil parameters and the values of the same parameters obtained from laboratory test results, and also by using the identified parameters to simulate other tests on the same samples. The analysis of the drainage condition and the strain rate effect during a pressuremeter test demonstrated the coupled influence of consolidation and viscous effects on the test results. The numerical results also showed that the inverse analysis procedure could successfully determine the parameters controlling the time‐dependent soil behaviour. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Single‐and multi‐objective genetic algorithm optimization for identifying soil parameters

This paper discusses the quality of the procedure employed in identifying soil parameters by inverse analysis. This procedure includes a FEM‐simulation for which two constitutive models—a linear elastic perfectly plastic Mohr–Coulomb model and a strain‐hardening elasto‐plastic model—are successively considered. Two kinds of optimization algorithms have been used: a deterministic simplex method and a stochastic genetic method. The soil data come from the results of two pressuremeter tests, complemented by triaxial and resonant column testing. First, the inverse analysis has been performed separately on each pressuremeter test. The genetic method presents the advantage of providing a collection of satisfactory solutions, among which a geotechnical engineer has to choose the optimal one based on his scientific background and/or additional analyses based on further experimental test results. This advantage is enhanced when all the constitutive parameters sensitive to the considered problem have to be identified without restrictions in the search space. Second, the experimental values of the two pressuremeter tests have been processed simultaneously, so that the inverse analysis becomes a multi‐objective optimization problem. The genetic method allows the user to choose the most suitable parameter set according to the Pareto frontier and to guarantee the coherence between the tests. The sets of optimized parameters obtained from inverse analyses are then used to calculate the response of a spread footing, which is part of a predictive benchmark. The numerical results with respect to both the constitutive models and the inverse analysis procedure are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

冻土旁压试验与单轴试验对比

为了认识冻土旁压试验结果与常规试验结果之间的关系,在室内分别开展了冻结重塑黏土的旁压试验和单轴压缩试验,并对试验结果进行了对比分析。结果表明,在各级荷载作用下旁压曲线一般都呈现应变速率衰减的趋势,而单轴曲线在冻土破坏时会出现渐进流动阶段。旁压试验的应力-应变曲线呈现应变硬化型,而且出现初始拟弹性阶段;而单轴试验的应力-应变曲线则属于应变软化型,并在轴向应变大约为10%时达到剪应力峰值。温度相同时,旁压试验的剪切强度以及初始弹性模量都要大于单轴试验,且温度越低差值越大。     

A combined neural network/gradient‐based approach for the identification of constitutive model parameters using self‐boring pressuremeter tests

This paper presents a numerical procedure of material parameter identification for the coupled hydro‐mechanical boundary value problem (BVP) of the self‐boring pressuremeter test (SBPT) in clay. First, the neural network (NN) technique is applied to obtain an initial estimate of model parameters, taking into account the possible drainage conditions during the expansion test. This technique is used to avoid potential pitfalls related to the conventional gradient‐based optimization techniques, considered here as a corrector that improves predicted parameters. Parameter identification based on measurements obtained through the pressuremeter expansion test and two types of holding tests is illustrated on the Modified Cam clay model. NNs are trained using a set of test samples, which are generated by means of finite element simulations of SBPT. The measurements obtained through expansion and consolidation tests are normalized so that NN predictors operate independently of the testing depth. Examples of parameter determination are demonstrated on both numerical and field data. The efficiency of the combined parameter identification in terms of accuracy, effectiveness and computational effort is also discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element modelling of pressuremeter tests and footings on frozen soils

A finite element code is developed to model the structure-frozen soil/ice interaction using a time incrementing, fully implicit, iterative algorithm, and a constitutive model based on the concept that total strain tensor consists of an elastic and a creep component. The code is used to investigate the applicability and limitations of the power law as the creep model for frozen soil by simulating two pressuremeter tests. Two extended phenomenological models based on the generalized power law are used in axisymmetric finite element analyses to simulate two, long-term, stage-loaded pressuremeter tests, and comparison of results with test data indicates that one model demonstrates a better ability to approximate the actual response to subsequent load steps, under certain restrictions. Stress analyses demonstrate the ability of the constitutive model to show transient as well as subsequent quasi-stationary stress stages in creep analysis. Additional simulations of short-term pressuremeter tests on ice are performed to further illustrate some limitations of the power-law model. Examples for prediction of creep settlements on frozen geomaterials are demonstrated by considering the interaction of fully flexible circular footings and concrete cylindrical footings (of different embedment depths) with frozen sands.     

利用旁压试验的砂土初始状态反演分析

讨论了砂土旁压试验的反分析问题。建议利用旁压试验实测数据反演确定土体的初始状态而非材料参数,材料参数可以通过实验室常规试验确定。主要利用了新型的亚塑性本构模型参数不受土体状态影响的特点。主要内容包括：建立有限元数值模型,利用文献中的试验数据确定了特定砂土的材料参数;通过模拟砂土的实验室旁压试验,验证了数值模型;通过改变土体初始应力状态和相对密实度进行数值计算,并利用数值计算成果,建立了可适用于砂土初始状态反演分析的实测旁压荷载和土体中应力与相对密度的数学关系。     

Essential Findings in Pressuremeter Theories

The pressuremeter, used for in situ soil testing, has undergone significant development both in its technical applications and in the interpretation methods employed for a range of parameters. Several methods have been developed to evaluate the undrained strength of a soil using a pressuremeter. Test results based on these methods show distinctive discrepancies. Different methods for evaluating the limit pressure are also presented. The values of these limit pressure evaluations vary based on the evaluation method used. In any given test, the limit pressure results also affect the values deduced for undrained shear strength. The discrepancies in the undrained shear strength values exceeded 80 % for the same test when evaluations were made with different interpretation methods. Because of the large discrepancies in the results of the undrained shear strength when using different analysis methods, the Gibson and Anderson method is recommended as being most reliable in deducing undrained shear strength values from pressuremeter tests, particularly for use in the design of foundations.     

Undrained Shear Strength of Normally Consolidated and Overconsolidated Clays from Pressuremeter Tests: A Case Study

Undrained shear strength (s_u) of foundation soil of Marquette interchange near Milwaukee, Wisconsin was evaluated from the results of a number of pressuremeter tests conducted on normally consolidated (NC) organic silts and overconsolidated (OC) silty clay. The s_u-values were interpreted from traditional closed-form methods. The pressuremeter geometry and test sequence as well as response of the soil profiles were also simulated using axisymmetric finite element (FE) method with Cam-Clay soil model. The Cam-Clay model parameters were estimated from laboratory tests on undisturbed soil samples. Results show that the s_u estimated from the rate of cavity pressure change with volumetric strain (referred to as direct traditional method) is almost twice the s_u estimated from an indirect traditional method that estimates s_u from shear modulus, in situ horizontal stress, and ultimate cavity pressure obtained from the cavity pressure curves. The s_u-values predicted from the FE models are lower than those estimated from the traditional methods and shows that the assumption of infinite pressuremeter length in traditional methods results in overprediction of undrained shear strength by a factor of 1.5 for NC clay and 2.2 for OC clay. The results of finite element analysis considering Cam-Clay soil model and finite length for pressuremeters suggest the undrained shear strength of 63 ± 7 kPa for NC organic silt and 259 ± 68 kPa for OC silty clay.     

基于统计分析离子型稀土矿体力学参数的测点布置

基于统计分析结果合理布置测点,测试土体力学参数具有测试结果准确和经济快捷等优点。在赣南某稀土矿山非等间距布置6个测点,共计18个测试孔,通过旁压试验和钻孔剪切试验测试了离子型稀土矿体的旁压模量、变形模量、压缩模量、黏聚力和内摩擦角等力学参数,运用经典统计学方法和地质学统计方法分析矿体力学参数的空间变异性。研究结果表明:试验矿块内矿体的黏聚力和旁压模量属于强变异,黏聚力的变异系数为0.48,旁压模量的变异系数为0.36;内摩擦角属于弱变异性,其变异系数为0.067;假设由18个测试孔的测试数据计算得到各力学参数为真值,若15%为工程可接受的误差,运用经典统计学方法分析和地质统计学方法分析结果表明,对于试验矿块,在45 m范围内均匀布置5个测点,测试结果可有效估计矿块内黏聚力和旁压模量的平均值和变异系数。     

Forecast of creep settlements of heavy structures using pressuremeter tests

This paper presents a new method proposed for the prediction of long term settlement of very heavy structures based on a numerical interpretation of long term pressuremeter creep tests. The constitutive model used for the modelling of the soil creep is described. The constants of the constitutive model are determined by fitting a simulated curve, given by a simple Finite Element Method, to the results of a long term pressuremeter creep test. The calculation of long term settlement under nuclear power plants, using the soil parameters defined by this method, is presented and compared with the in situ measured values.     

青藏高原多年冻土钻孔旁压试验研究

In-situ borehole pressuremeter tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical behaviors of permafrost along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, and the test data were analyzed. The test results show that the short-term strength parameters of several types of frozen soils are linearly related to water content and soil temperature.     

高含盐粉土的力学特性试验研究

高含盐粉土不仅含盐量较高,而且黏粒含量极低,粉粒含量高,级配不均匀,导致难以压实,强度低。为了了解此类特殊粉土的力学特性,在室内物理化学性质分析的基础上,进行原位旁压试验和原状土样的三轴试验,充分分析了高含盐粉土的力学性质。高含盐粉土的可溶性盐含量高达2.9%,主要是高硅、铝,水溶盐以Cl－和Na+为主,属氯盐碱性土。旁压试验结果表明,临塑压力可取350 kPa、极限压力可取500 kPa、旁压模量Em可取1 750 kPa、剪切模量Gm可以700 kPa作为参考值。室内力学试验进一步分析表明,该土体具有较强的剪胀性,在轴向应变达到12%左右时,试样达到稳态状态。围压150 kPa下的峰值强度能达到600～800 kPa,残余强度也能达到450～550 kPa。     

红黏土地基承载力和变形参数的空间分布特征分析

为了获得红黏土地基承载力和变形参数在横向和垂向上的定量数据及分析它们的变化规律,选取厦门至成都高速公路湖南省郴州段典型横纵断面上的红黏土地层作为试验点,采用平板载荷试验、旁压试验等技术手段进行了原位测试。试验结果表明：红黏土地基承载力和变形模量在横向较小的范围内呈现较大幅度的变化,在垂向上则呈现先增大再减小的变化趋势,与红黏土赋存厚度、地形地貌、含水率等相关;旁压试验所测得的承载力特征值和平板载荷试验测得的承载力特征值之间存在一定的差异性;旁压模量与变形模量可以通过结构性系数联系起来,所得的结构性系数与Menard根据大量黏土试验资料对比所得到的结论较为一致。     

Mechanical and Physical Characterization of Tabriz Marls, Iran

Three types of marls can be found in the Tabriz area (Iran): yellow, green, and gray/black marls. In the present paper, strength and deformation characteristics of Tabriz marls and their stress–strain behavior are investigated by various in situ and laboratory tests. In order to study the deformation behavior of these marls, various experiments such as the pressuremeter test, plate loading test (PLT), seismic wave velocity test, uniaxial compression test, standard penetration test (SPT), and direct shear test were carried out. Ranges of strain at the elastic and failure points were determined. Young’s and shear modulus were obtained. Test results showed that the strength characteristics increase with depth. The value of deformation modulus determined by the pressuremeter test was in good agreement with those obtained from the PLT. This implies that pressuremeter is a suitable in situ test for characterizing the deformation modulus of marl. Deformation modulus obtained from pressuremeter and plate loading tests were approximately 4–5 times the results of uniaxial compressive test and the deformation modulus obtained from seismic data was about 30–50 times the static deformation modulus. Stress–strain curves showed that the maximum value of strain at the elastic and failure points and the minimum value of strength and deformation modulus are corresponding to the yellow marls while the minimum value of strain and the maximum value of strength and deformation modulus are corresponding to the gray/black marls. Some empirical relationships between different characteristics of Tabriz marls were also derived.     

Optimization techniques for identifying soil parameters in geotechnical engineering: Comparative study and enhancement

A comparative study of optimization techniques for identifying soil parameters in geotechnical engineering was first presented. The identification methodology with its 3 main parts, error function, search strategy, and identification procedure, was introduced and summarized. Then, current optimization methods were reviewed and classified into 3 categories with an introduction to their basic principles and applications in geotechnical engineering. A comparative study on the identification of model parameters from a synthetic pressuremeter and an excavation tests was then performed by using 5 among the mostly common optimization methods, including genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing, the differential evolution algorithm and the artificial bee colony algorithm. The results demonstrated that the differential evolution had the strongest search ability but the slowest convergence speed. All the selected methods could reach approximate solutions with very small objective errors, but these solutions were different from the preset parameters. To improve the identification performance, an enhanced algorithm was developed by implementing the Nelder‐Mead simplex method in a differential algorithm to accelerate the convergence speed with strong reliable search ability. The performance of the enhanced optimization algorithm was finally highlighted by identifying the Mohr‐Coulomb parameters from the 2 same synthetic cases and from 2 real pressuremeter tests in sand, and ANICREEP parameters from 2 real pressuremeter tests in soft clay.     

滨海沉积软土中旁压试验成果分析

运用旁压仪在长江入海口进行原位试验,获得了旁压试验各参数的变化规律。旁压试验结果表明：初始压力P0与土层随深度而线性增加;而临塑压力Pf、极限压力Pl 和旁压模量Em等试验参数受到土层性质影响十分显著,各参数在土层中变化趋势基本相同,总体趋势为：淤泥质黏土<黏土<粉质黏土<黏质粉土<粉砂;但同一土层中,各试验参数随深度呈线性增大。旁压试验在确定侧向基床反力系数Kh时土体处于似弹性阶段,水平变形约5～8 mm,同时受到排水条件的影响,导致计算的Kh值与规范参考值存在一定差异,在使用中应根据实际情况作适当修正。     

Distinctive Effects of Horizontal At-Rest Pressure on Conventional Limit Pressure Results

Pressuremeter testing plays an important role in the design of foundations, where several parameters can be deduced from a single test result. Conventional and theoretical limit pressures can be interpreted from pressuremeter tests and are considered key to bearing capacity calculations and shallow foundation designs. Limit pressure can be evaluated using different methods, all of which show discrepancies in values obtained from the same tests. Horizontal at-rest earth pressure can similarly be deduced from different methods of analysis, which also show distinctive differences in results for the same tests. This research explored the important finding that the values of the conventional limit pressure experience considerable discrepancies when using different values of the horizontal at-rest pressure. Values calculated for conventional limit pressure showed considerable increases when increasing the value of the horizontal at-rest pressure, but there was no effect on the theoretical limit pressure.     

Analysis of pressuremeter geometry effects in clay using critical state models

The conventional interpretation methods of pressuremeter testing effectively approximate pressuremeter membranes as infinitely long. As a result, the effects of the two‐dimensional geometry of pressuremeters are ignored, leading to an overestimation of soil shear strength by pressuremeter testing, as demonstrated in several previous studies. This paper presents results of a numerical study of two‐dimensional geometry effects on self‐boring pressuremeter tests in undrained clay. The results are obtained using critical state soil models with an effective stress formulation. This is in contrast to most (if not all) existing studies on pressuremeter geometry effects, which were based on perfectly plastic soil models (e.g. Yu (Cavity expansion theory and its application to the analysis of pressuremeters. DPhil Thesis, The University of Oxford, 1990), Yeung and Carter (Proc. 3rd Int. Symp. on Pressuremeters, 1990), and Houlsby and Carter (Géotechnique, 1993; 43 (4):567–576)). The present study suggests that the overestimation of soil strength due to the neglect of finite pressuremeter length is significantly affected by the soil model used in the calculations. It is found that for clays with a high overconsolidation ratio (OCR) the strength overestimation predicted using critical state soil models could be considerably smaller than that predicted using perfectly plastic soil models. The main conclusion of this numerical study is that care must be exercised before directly applying any numerically determined pressuremeter geometry correction factors in practice. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computer-aided calibration of a soil plasticity model

A non-linear optimization technique based on the quasi-Newton approach is employed to back-calculate certain model parameters of a simple, bounding surface, soil plasticity model from in situ pressuremeter data. The theoretical response corresponding to a given set of parameters is generated by finite element analysis. A semi-analytical procedure is developed for the accurate and efficient evaluation of the gradient of objective function with respect to the model parameters of interest. The BFGS update is used to update the Hessian. Results of a series of numerical experimentation using artificial pressuremeter responses is first reported and discussed. A set of laboratory cavity expansion data is then used to calibrate the constitutive model.     

求取现场黄土饱和渗透系数的双环入渗法

土体渗透性参数的测定是解决与水有关的岩土工程问题的关键所在。为使现场原状土体饱和渗透系数的测定更为准确,通过一种易于安装和固定的防蒸发型双环入渗仪,研究黄土的入渗规律与特点,试验结果表明:黄土的入渗分区可分为饱和区、湿润区与干土区,其中饱和区的入渗深度约占总入渗深度的1/2,而湿润区土体的饱和度在70%以上,这一特征与Green-Ampt入渗模型的假设较为接近,但在应用基于Green-Ampt模型的规范法（SL237-042-1999）求取黄土的饱和渗透系数时,发现该法会高估黄土的饱和渗透系数。因此,结合Green-Ampt入渗模型与土水特征曲线主要增湿路径的特点,提出了能合理测定现场黄土饱和渗透系数的双环入渗法,对Green-Ampt入渗模型参数加以修正,即直接采用干土区的初始基质吸力水头值,且该值由张力计实测或由主要增湿曲线求得;需采用入渗试验前期的平均入渗率;所对应的湿润锋发展深度需经由水分传感器实测而得。研究结果表明该法能合理估算现场黄土的饱和渗透系数。