Monitoring Large-Scale Tests for Nuclear Waste Disposal

Two large-scale “in situ” demonstration experiments and their instrumentation are described. The first test (FEBEX Experiment) involves the hydration of a compacted bentonite barrier under the combined effect of an inner source of heat and an outer water flow from the confining saturated granite rock. In the second case, the progressive de-saturation of Opalinus clay induced by maintained ventilation of an unlined tunnel is analyzed. The paper shows the performance of different sensors (capacitive cells, psychrometers, TDR’s) and a comparison of fill behaviour with modelling results. The long term performance of some instruments could also be evaluated specially in the case of FEBEX test. Capacitive sensors provide relative humidity data during long transient periods characterised by very large variations of suction within the bentonite.     

Non-Linear Elasto-Plastic Behaviour of Lacustrine Clay

The paper presents the experimental investigation and analysis of the non-linear elasto-plastic stress–strain behaviour of normally consolidated lacustrine clay. Drained triaxial stress path tests were performed on natural block samples of Swiss lacustrine clay. Data were analysed using plasticity theory and the shape and extent of kinematic yield and bounding surfaces were determined and found to be elliptical but not congruent. Cross-anisotropic elasticity was used to quantify elastic strains to permit plastic strain increment vectors and hence a plastic potential surface to be defined.     

Simulation of debris flow on an instrumented test slope using an updated Lagrangian continuum particle method

We present an updated Lagrangian continuum particle method based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for simulating debris flow on an instrumented test slope. The site is a deforested area near the village of Ruedlingen, a community in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Artificial rainfall experiments were conducted on the slope that led to failure of the sediment in the form of a debris flow. We develop a 3D mechanistic model for this test slope and conduct numerical simulations of the flow kinematics using an SPH formulation that captures large deformation, material nonlinearity, and the complex post-failure movement of the sediment. Two main simulations explore the impact of changes in the mechanical properties of the sediment on the ensuing kinematics of the flow. The first simulation models the sediment as a granular homogeneous material, while the second simulation models the sediment as a heterogeneous material with spatially varying cohesion. The variable cohesion is meant to represent the effects of root reinforcement from vegetation. By comparing the numerical solutions with the observed failure surfaces and final free-surface geometries of the debris deposit, as well as with the observed flow velocity, flow duration, and hot spots of strain concentration, we provide insights into the accuracy and robustness of the SPH framework for modeling debris flows.

     

Analytical and 3D numerical modelling of full-height bridge abutments constructed on pile foundations through soft soils

The scope of this paper is the analysis of full-height bridge abutments on pile foundations, installed through soft soils, with a commercially available finite element software and soil model. Well-documented centrifuge test data were used as reference. Excess pore pressures developed in the clay layer, vertical and horizontal movements of the soft clay, pile displacements and bending moments, and abutment wall bending moments were chosen for comparison, since they are the most critical parameters for observation and design. Additionally, the validity of an analytical method (SIMPLE), which was proposed to analyse the piled abutments subjected to nearby surcharge loading, is discussed. This soil-structure interaction problem has been investigated over the last three decades, using either field or centrifuge tests, accompanied by FE analyses. Special modelling techniques and advanced soil models were used in these numerical studies to establish the most representative field behaviour. However, since the codes or techniques used in these advanced FE analyses are neither very practical nor easily accessible, it is difficult to employ them consistently in design. Thus, the results of this study are intended to provide some guidelines for designers, and to bring insight about the interacting mechanisms into the design process.     

Economic Sampling and Extraction of Undisturbed,High Quality Samples in Normally Consolidated Lacustrine Clays Using a Large Diameter Tube

This paper describes the development, design and use of a large diameter sampling tube. High quality test specimens are essential for the investigation of mechanical properties of a soil for high risk projects and when complex and expensive testing methods are to be used. Block sampling is recommended to give the highest sample quality for clayey soils, however, extracting blocks of normally consolidated lacustrine silty clay without excessive disturbance was challenging due to the inherent structure of the soft varved silty clay and difficulty in maintaining K_o conditions, as well as no vertical strain, in the sample. A new sample tube, with an inner diameter of 196 mm, an area ratio of 4% and an outer cutting-edge angle of 11° was designed to offer a larger cross sectional area than conventional thin walled sampling tubes, to provide the necessary side support and to prevent water ingress at the sides of the sample. The length-diameter aspect ratio was 1.275 to optimise the amount of clay sampled for subsequent testing and in an attempt to minimize the pressure in front of the tube. Samples were taken in initially newly excavated trenches at a depth of c. 1 m with this new sampler and with conventionally sampled soil specimens, prior to the main testing programme with samples from 6 m depth. A comparative study was then performed including preliminary unconsolidated unconfined compression tests followed by anisotropically consolidated undrained triaxial compression tests. It was important to establish whether this approach had led to an improvement in sample quality prior to embarking on an extensive triaxial stress path testing programme on this varved soil (Messerklinger, Non-linearity and small strain behaviour in lacustrine clay, 2006; Messerklinger and Springman, Geotech Test J 30(6), 2007; Messerklinger and Springman, Geotech Geol J, 2008). The results showed that the undrained shear strength of the specimens from the new sampler was consistently around 20% higher than that of specimens extruded from conventional thin walled tube samplers. This confirmed that samples with a significantly higher quality could be extracted from normally consolidated, fine grained, varved lacustrine deposits with this large diameter ‘block’ sampling tube.     

Precursors of instability in a natural slope due to rainfall: a full-scale experiment

A full-scale landslide-triggering experiment was conducted on a natural sandy slope subjected to an artificial rainfall event, which resulted in mobilisation of 130 m³ of soil mass. Novel slope deformation sensors (SDSs) were applied to monitor the subsurface pre-failure movements and the precursors of the artificially triggered landslide. These fully automated sensors are more flexible than the conventional inclinometers by several orders of magnitude and therefore are able to detect fine movements (<?1 mm) of the soil mass reliably. Data from high-frequency measurements of the external bending work, indicating the transmitted energy from the surrounding soil to these sensors, pore water pressure at various depths, horizontal soil pressure and advanced surface monitoring techniques, contributed to an integrated analysis of the processes that led to triggering of the landslide. Precursors of movements were detected before the failure using the horizontal earth pressure measurements, as well as surface and subsurface movement records. The measurements showed accelerating increases of the horizontal earth pressure in the compression zone of the unstable area and external bending work applied to the slope deformation sensors. These data are compared to the pore water pressure and volumetric water content changes leading to failure.     

Evaluation of bioavailable hydrocarbon sources and their induction potential in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

To realistically evaluate the consequences of exposure to a complex mixture, we modified a passive sampler technology, the semipermeable membrane device (SPMD), which absorbs the bioavailable hydrophobic organic compounds present in an environment. These samplers were deployed in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, at locations selected as potential sites of hydrocarbon deposition, as well as in random sites for regional assessment.Some of these sites were affected by previous human activity, such as canneries and salmon hatcheries, while others were sites of oil discharge as a consequence of the 1964 earthquake or the oil spill of T/V Exxon Valdez in 1989. The SPMDs were deployed for 27-28 d, processed, and then split, with one aliquot dedicated to chemical analysis and the other injected into juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), along with the proper controls including a solvent control, field blank, and positive control. Trout fry were sacrificed after 2 or 7d, and their livers assayed for CYP1A induction by the standard bioassay for hydrocarbon exposure, the ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD) assay. The results of this study were consistent and reproducible and showed that oil, whether deposited in 1964 or 1989, is still bioavailable as it can elicit as sustained response. Also, the same oil deposited in different sites of the same region has degraded differently, which is demonstrated by this method. Other putative sources of hydrocarbons, such as oil seeps, were dismissed as regional sources of induction agents as the responses following injection of modified SPMD extract from those sites did not differ significantly from the solvent control. This is a flexible, sensitive method that assesses the response to site-specific bioavailable contaminants and does so within the normal physiological response range of the target.     

3-D finite element modelling of pile groups adjacent to surcharge loads

The short-term behaviour of pile groups subjected to lateral pressures by deformation of a clay layer under an adjacent surcharge load was studied using three dimensional finite element analysis. The main aim of the analysis was to investigate the pile-clay interaction behaviour. A load-path-dependent, non-linear constitutive model was used to describe the clay, which required knowledge of in situ stresses and recent strain history. Numerical results compared well with those from a centrifuge model test. The effects of the different in situ stresses and strains likely in prototypes and centrifuge model tests were also studied with particular interest in the load-transfer relationships and soil deformation behaviour around the piles.     

Monitoring the Performance of Unsaturated Soil Slopes

Field monitoring is necessary for the geotechnical engineer to verify design assumptions. More importantly, the field data may also be assembled into a comprehensive case record that is available for use when checking validity of any analytical and numerical models. The ongoing process of back-analysis in unsaturated soil engineering can help to refine and improve our understanding, providing guidance for future designs, where the effects of soil suction and hydraulic hysteresis are still being explored. A range of recent field studies of the mechanisms of rainfall infiltration into slopes is presented. In addition, some physical simulations of unsaturated soil slopes subjected to rainfall, rising ground water table and changes of moisture in centrifuge model tests are reported.     

Semipermeable membrane devices link site-specific contaminants to effects: Part 1 - Induction of CYP1A in rainbow trout from contaminants in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Extracts from semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) deployed on beaches in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, were used to evaluate if complex contaminant mixtures from different sources can be distinguished by the resulting cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) activity in exposed test animals. Deployment sites included canneries, salmon hatcheries, and beaches where lingering oil remains from discharges during the 1964 earthquake or the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Other sites were selected at random to evaluate region-wide contaminant inputs or were located in salmon streams to evaluate contaminants carried and released by migrating salmon carcasses following reproduction. Following standard deployments of approximately 28 d, an aliquot of the accumulated contaminants was intraperitoneally injected without cleanup into juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). After 2 d and 7 d, the activity of CYP1A was measured by the ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD) assay. Exposure to extracts from the oiled sites and one hatchery site with numerous creosote pilings elicited strong EROD responses, whereas fish exposed to salmon stream extracts elicited weak but significant responses during late summer compared to late spring. Responses from the other sites were not significant, indicating contaminants from these sources are unlikely to cause CYP1A induction in resident biota. Rather than simply assessing extant contaminants, this method evaluates the potency of the different sites for bringing about aryl hydrocarbon receptor responses in resident biota.