Thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling of unsaturated soils using isogeometric analysis: Model development and application to strain localization simulation

This study presents a thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) model of unsaturated soils using isogeometric analysis (IGA). The framework employs Bézier extraction to connect IGA to the conventional finite element analysis (FEA), featuring the current study as one of the first attempts to develop an IGA-FEA framework for solving THM problems in unsaturated soils. IGA offers higher levels of interelement continuity making it an attractive method for solving highly nonlinear problems. The governing equations of linear momentum, mass, and energy balance are coupled based on the averaging procedure within the hybrid mixture theory. The Drucker-Prager yield surface is used to limit the modified effective stress where the model follows small strain, quasi-static loading conditions. Temperature dependency of the surface tension is implemented in the soil-water retention curve. Nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS) basis functions are used in the standard Galerkin method and weak formulations of the balance equations. Displacement, capillary pressure, gas pressure, and temperature are four independent quantities that are approximated by NURBS in spatial discretization. The framework is used to simulate strain localization in an undrained dense sand subjected to plane strain biaxial compression under different temperatures and displacement velocities. Results show that an increase in the displacement rate leads to reduction in the equivalent plastic strain while an increase in the temperature leads to an increase in the equivalent plastic strain. The findings suggest that the proposed IGA-based framework offers a viable alternative for solving THM problems in unsaturated soils.     

Effects of rainfall,geomorphological and geometrical variables on vulnerability of the lower Mississippi River levee system to slump slides

This study investigated the importance of rainfall and various geomorphological and geometrical factors to the vulnerability of earthen levees to slump slides. The study was performed using a database including 34 slump slides that occurred in the lower Mississippi River levee system from 2008 to 2009. The impact of rainfall within the six months prior to slide occurrence was studied for 23 slides for which an accurate occurrence date was available. Several variables were used to develop a logistic regression model to predict the probability of slump slide occurrence. The proposed model was verified for both slide and non-slide cases. The regression analysis depicts the impact of channel width, river sinuosity index, riverbank erosion, channel shape condition and distance to river. Excluding the sinuosity index, the impact of the other independent variables examined was found to be significant. Occurrence of riverbank erosion around the slide locations was the most significant predictor factor. A channel width of less than 1000?m was ranked as the second most significant variable. The proposed model can aid in locating high-risk areas on levees in order to take prompt protective measures, increase monitoring efforts and enable early response under emergency conditions.     

Macroscale friction of granular soils under monotonic and cyclic loading based upon micromechanical determination of dissipated energy

Macroscopic frictional behavior of granular materials is of great importance for studying several complex problems associated with fault slip and landslides. The main objective of this study is to model the macroscale frictional behavior of granular soils under monotonic and cyclic loadings based upon micromechanical determination of dissipated energy at particle contacts. This study is built on the general observation that the externally computed energy dissipation should be equal to the total internal energy dissipation derived from inter-particle sliding and rolling, energy losses from inter-particle collisions, and damping. For this purpose, the discrete element method is used to model a granular soil and determine the stored, dissipated, and damping energies associated with shear loading for applied monotonic and cyclic velocities. These energies are then related to the friction by an application of the Taylor-critical state power balance relationship. Also, the contributions of the different modes of energy dissipation (normal, shear, and rolling) to the total frictional resistance were studied. By changing the inter-particle friction, the simulations showed that the macroscopic friction was nearly constant, the slip friction increased almost linearly with increasing inter-particle friction, and the difference between the two was attributed to the non-energy dissipating dilatancy component. By providing a clear relationship between energy dissipated by micro-scale mechanisms versus the traditional engineering definition based on macro-scale (continuum) parameters, this study provides a means to develop a better understanding for the frictional behavior of granular media.

     

A Multi-Parameter Correlation for Predicting the Seismic Displacement of an Earth Dam or Embankment

Predictive displacement-based methods provide a useful index of the seismic performance of earth dams and embankments and can be used in preliminary assessments of these structures. In practice, simplified Newmark-type sliding block methods are commonly used for this purpose. Using a database of 122 previously published case histories of permanent deformations of earth dams and embankments, the performance of six simplified sliding block models was examined. The results show that all six simplified methods underpredict seismic displacement for many of the embankment and earth dam cases that were examined, sometimes by a significant amount. An empirical correlation was developed by performing linear multiple regression analysis utilizing multiple slope and ground motion input parameters. This approach is believed to more properly reflect strong ground motion characteristics than the use of a single ground motion parameter such as the peak ground acceleration, the approach that has been previously employed in other correlations of this type. After exploring numerous functional forms, the final resulting seismic displacement correlation that was proposed was determined to be a function of the critical acceleration, the critical acceleration ratio, the slope height, the peak ground acceleration, the peak ground velocity, the spectral acceleration, and the predominant period of earthquake shaking. The proposed empirical equation yields better correlation with the case history database than does other existing empirical correlations or simplified sliding block models.