Liquefaction remediation by vertical drains with varying penetration depths

Vertical drains have been used as remediation against earthquake-induced soil liquefaction for many years. These are seen to begin fluid dissipation from deeper deposits first. Drains are not necessarily installed to the full depth of the liquefiable layer. To determine the effect of this on the efficiency of drain systems, centrifuge test results are presented. It is seen that not installing all drains through the full liquefiable depth significantly retards their performance, due to the dominance of vertical dissipation. It will be shown that a standard design chart may over-predict an improvement in drain performance.     

Seismic response of earth dam with varying depth of liquefiable foundation layer

Earthquake induced liquefaction continues to be a major threat to many engineered structures around the world. Analysis of liquefaction becomes particularly difficult for two-dimensional (and 3D) problems such as dam/foundation systems. Predominantly, analyses for such systems are performed utilizing some type of finite element or finite difference procedure. Verification or validation of the analyses relies on very limited field performance data with reduced knowledge of the full scope of system conditions or loading conditions.Research reported in this paper represents a portion of ongoing work to obtain a database of information useful for numerical model calibration and to gain a better understanding of the complex dynamics of liquefying foundations under earth dams. Specifically, a highly instrumented model of an earth dam with clay core founded on a liquefiable foundation subjected to earthquake loading is being studied. Properties of the liquefiable foundation are varied to determine the related effects on the overlying earth dam. In this paper, results from three centrifuge physical models will be presented. The models are identical, with the exception of the location (depth) of a liquefiable layer in the foundation, and are subjected to the same dynamic excitation. Results and discussion related to the significance of the liquefiable layer location within the foundation and damage to the earth dam are presented.     

Seismic simulation of liquefaction-induced uplift behavior of a hollow cylinder structure buried in shallow ground

When designing buried structures using a performance-based framework, it is important to estimate their uplift displacement. A simplified method is proposed for predicting the uplift displacement of a hollow cylinder structure buried in shallow backfill based on the equilibrium of vertical forces acting on the structure during earthquakes. However, this method only provides the maximum value, which frequently is overestimated in practical applications. To offset this limitation, first, the uplift behavior of buried hollow cylinder structures subjected to strong earthquake motions was simulated. Then, two-dimensional effective stress analyses based on the multiple shear mechanism for soil were conducted, and the results were compared with the centrifuge test data. The soil parameters were evaluated based on laboratory test results. The seismic response data from 20 g centrifuge tests were analyzed, and the results were generally consistent with the results of centrifuge model tests. In particular, the effective stress model showed a reasonable ability to reproduce the varying degrees of uplift displacement depending on the geotechnical conditions of trench soils adjacent to the hollow cylinder structures buried in shallow ground.     

Numerical analyses of fault–foundation interaction

Field evidence from recent earthquakes has shown that structures can be designed to survive major surface dislocations. This paper: (i) Describes three different finite element (FE) methods of analysis, that were developed to simulate dip slip fault rupture propagation through soil and its interaction with foundation–structure systems; (ii) Validates the developed FE methodologies against centrifuge model tests that were conducted at the University of Dundee, Scotland; and (iii) Utilises one of these analysis methods to conduct a short parametric study on the interaction of idealised 2- and 5-story residential structures lying on slab foundations subjected to normal fault rupture. The comparison between numerical and centrifuge model test results shows that reliable predictions can be achieved with reasonably sophisticated constitutive soil models that take account of soil softening after failure. A prerequisite is an adequately refined FE mesh, combined with interface elements with tension cut-off between the soil and the structure. The results of the parametric study reveal that the increase of the surcharge load q of the structure leads to larger fault rupture diversion and “smoothing” of the settlement profile, allowing reduction of its stressing. Soil compliance is shown to be beneficial to the stressing of a structure. For a given soil depth H and imposed dislocation h, the rotation Δθ of the structure is shown to be a function of: (a) its location relative to the fault rupture; (b) the surcharge load q; and (c) soil compliance.     

Experimental p-y loops for estimating seismic soil-pile interaction

Seismic soil-pile interaction is evaluated in this study based on back-calculated p-y loops constructed from sampled data of pile bending moments. Fundamental properties of p-y loops are implemented to derive distributed springs and dashpots, thereby quantifying soil-pile interaction in the realm of a Beam on Dynamic Winkler Foundation modeling. The procedure is validated by means of well-documented centrifuge tests of a single pile supported structure founded on a two-layer soil profile that comprises of soft clay overlying dense sand. Two shaking levels of a real earthquake motion applied at the base of the soil profile were examined and the generated seismic p-y loops were compared to cyclic p-y curves commonly used in pile design practice. The results demonstrate the strong influence of intensity of the input motion on seismic p-y loops while cyclic p-y curves established for soft clays tend to overestimate soil stiffness under strong excitation. Typical sets of recorded and computed structural response are presented, denoting the ability of the BDWF model related to p-y loops in reproducing adequately fundamental aspects of seismic soil-pile interaction.     

Effect of polymer and fiber usage on dewatering and compressibility behavior of fly ash slurries

Coal ash producing is an increasing trend because of its high energy demand worldwide. For transportation, disposal, and reuse of the industrial waste materials, geotextile tube’s dewatering technology has been widely used over the last three decades, which helps to decrease the volume of the dewatered slurry. In this study, effect of usage of polymer and fibers on dewatering characteristic of fly ash slurries was investigated. For the experimental investigation, an anionic polymer and short nylon fibers were used. As a new concept, centrifuge test is introduced as an alternative for the widely used pressure filtration test (PFT). Centrifuge test was used to evaluate final solid content of the retained sediments and change in slurry volume of fly ash. Tests were conducted on unconditioned and anionic polyacrylamide and/or fiber conditioned fly ash slurries. Centrifuge test results were compared with PFT results with respect to final solid content. It was found that fiber and/or polymer usage has remarkable effect on the dewatering rate of fly ash slurry. It was also found that final solid content of fly ash slurries was decreased by inclusion of fibers and polymer, which indicates that fiber and/or polymer usage can create more permeable soil body.     

Evaluation of landslide triggering mechanisms in model fill slopes

Hong Kong is particularly susceptible to landslide risk due to the steep natural topography and prolonged periods of high intensity rainfall. Compounding the risk of slope failure is the existence of loose fill slopes which were constructed prior to the 1970s by end-tipping. A clear understanding of the underlying triggering mechanisms of fast landslides in fill slopes is required to analyse landslide risk and to optimise slope stabilisation strategies. The work described here had the objective of evaluating two candidate triggering mechanisms—static liquefaction and the transition from slide to flow due to localised transient pore water pressures—against observations of slope behaviour obtained from highly instrumented centrifuge model tests. These results indicate that static liquefaction is unlikely to occur if the model fill is unsaturated and the depth to bedrock large, as the high compressibility and mobility of air in the unsaturated void spaces allows the model fill slope to accommodate wetting collapse without initiating undrained failure. In contrast, high-speed failures with low-angle run-outs are shown to be easily triggered in model fill slopes from initially slow moving slips driven by localised transient pore water pressures arising from constricted seepage and material layering.     

Using centrifuge tests data to identify the dynamic soil properties: Application to Fontainebleau sand

Knowledge of the dynamic properties of the soil is of great importance as the dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio are necessary input data in finite element modeling programs. This paper presents a post-processing strategy to identify the shear modulus and damping ratio vs. shear strain curves using the experimental results of a dynamic centrifuge program. Application is presented for the Fontainebleau sand. The proposed methodology is fast, robust and able to capture the nonlinear hysteretic behavior of the material. Based on the results, specific parameters for the Fontainebleau sand are identified for the empirical equation of shear modulus and damping ratio proposed by Ishibashi and Zhang [1]. It is found that confining pressure has an important influence on both shear modulus evolution and damping ratio.     

Finite element analyses of two-tier geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls: Comparison involving centrifuge tests and limit equilibrium results

This study presents the procedure and results of the finite element (FE) analyses of a series of centrifuge tests on geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) two-tier wall models with various offset distances. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the applicability of FE for analyzing GRS two-tier walls with various offset distances and to investigate the performance and behavior of GRS two-tier walls in various stress states. The FE simulations were first verified according to the centrifuge test results by comparing the locations of failure surfaces. The FE results were then used to investigate the effective overburden pressure, mobilization and distribution of reinforcement tensile loads, and horizontal deformation at the wall faces. The interaction between two tiers was investigated based on the FE results, which were also used to examine the modeling assumption of reinforcement tensile loads in limit equilibrium (LE) analysis and to evaluate the design methods in current design guidelines. This study demonstrated favorable agreement between FE and the centrifuge model in locating the failure surface. The FE results indicated that as the offset distance increased, the reinforcement tensile load and wall deformation decreased in both the upper and lower tiers, suggesting the attenuation of interaction between the two tiers. The maximum tensile loads of all reinforcement layers at the wall failure predicted using FE analysis and LE method assuming uniform distribution of reinforced tensile loads were comparable. Compared with the FE results, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) design guidelines are conservative in determining the effect of overburden pressure, required tensile strength, location of maximum tension line (for designing the reinforcement length), and the critical offset distance. Furthermore, the FHWA design guidelines do not account for the influence of the lower tier on the upper tier that was observed in this study.