Fast iterative solution of large undrained soil‐structure interaction problems

In view of rapid developments in iterative solvers, it is timely to re‐examine the merits of using mixed formulation for incompressible problems. This paper presents extensive numerical studies to compare the accuracy of undrained solutions resulting from the standard displacement formulation with a penalty term and the two‐field mixed formulation. The standard displacement and two‐field mixed formulations are solved using both direct and iterative approaches to assess if it is cost‐effective to achieve more accurate solutions. Numerical studies of a simple footing problem show that the mixed formulation is able to solve the incompressible problem ‘exactly’, does not create pressure and stress instabilities, and obviate the need for an ad hoc penalty number. In addition, for large‐scale problems where it is not possible to perform direct solutions entirely within available random access memory, it turns out that the larger system of equations from mixed formulation also can be solved much more efficiently than the smaller system of equations arising from standard formulation by using the symmetric quasi‐minimal residual (SQMR) method with the generalized Jacobi (GJ) preconditioner. Iterative solution by SQMR with GJ preconditioning also is more elegant, faster, and more accurate than the popular Uzawa method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

One‐dimensional dynamics of saturated incompressible porous media: analytical solutions and influence of inertia terms

The complexity of formulations for the hydromechanical coupled mechanics of porous media is typically minimised by simplifying assumptions such as neglecting the effect of inertia terms. For example, three formulations commonly employed to model practical problems are classified as fully dynamic, simplified dynamic and quasi‐static. Thus, depending on the porous media conditions, each formulation will have advantages and limitations. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of these limitations when solving one‐dimensional fully saturated porous media problems in addition to a new solution that considers a more general loading situation. A phase diagram is developed to assist on the selection of which formulation is more appropriate and convenient regarding particular cases of porosity and hydraulic conductivity values. Non‐dimensional formulations are proposed to achieve this goal. Results using the analytical solutions are compared against numerical values obtained with the finite element method, and the effect of porosity is investigated. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simplified approach for studying the influence of vertical accelerations on seismic response of slopes

ABSTRACT

A simplified approach is presented for estimating permanent displacements in slopes as a result of both vertical and horizontal seismic accelerations. A study of 52 earthquake records showed that the time difference between maximum horizontal and vertical accelerations varied between 0 and 10.3 s. The approach is illustrated for an earth dam embankment by analysing the effects of five of the above earthquake records. The approach combines a pseudo-static slope stability analysis for estimation of the critical (or yield) horizontal-vertical acceleration combinations, and a Newmark type displacement analysis. Guidelines are presented for conservative choice of soil strength parameters of saturated clays for use in the stability analysis. While permanent displacements of up to 40 cm were predicted without considering the vertical acceleration component, no additional displacement above 3.5 cm resulted when this component was included. The predicted additional displacement was consistently less than 10%, and in 50% of the analyses, vertical acceleration led to smaller predicted displacements. The simple approach may be applied in analysis for any slope using real earthquake records. Using existing, empirical expressions for permanent displacement, based only on horizontal accelerations, the effect of the vertical accelerations may be conservatively estimated by increasing the displacement by 10%.     

Nonparametric Estimation of Undrained Shear Strength for Normally Consolidated Clays

For decades, various well-known empirical correlations have been established and commonly used to estimate the undrained shear strength of normally consolidated clays in geotechnical practice. However, there are still many contradictory cases regarding the validity of these correlations, so their applicability and reliability are questionable. In this study, an extensive geotechnical database for normally consolidated clays has been compiled. Next, a Bayesian nonparametric method is exploited to identify the most critical soil index properties in inferring the undrained shear strength and a new predictive model is proposed. Finally, the performance of the proposed predictive model is assessed and compared with two well-known correlations using an independent testing database. It confirms that the proposed model not only possesses high predictability, but also provides superior performance over other existing empirical correlations.     

长期循环荷载作用下排水条件对饱和软黏土动力特性影响

由于软黏土渗透系数很小,目前针对饱和软黏土的循环荷载试验绝大多数都是在不排水条件下进行的。但对交通荷载而言,软黏土承受经年累月的长期循环荷载作用,实际的排水条件应该是部分排水的。基于此,通过对温州原状饱和软黏土进行不同循环应力比下的不排水和部分排水大周数（50 000次）循环三轴试验,分析了长期循环荷载作用下排水条件对饱和软黏土动力特性的影响。研究结果表明与不排水条件相比,部分排水条件下软黏土试样的动力特性表现出很大的不同。随着循环次数的增加,部分排水条件下的孔压随先增加后降低,存在一个峰值;经过较大的循环次数后,回弹应变逐渐减小,应力-应变滞回圈逐渐缩短,面积也明显减小。为了准确预测交通荷载作用下的长期沉降,采用部分排水条件进行试验是十分必要的。     

土层应力历史确定方法的研究

本文通过粘土压缩的弹塑性模型,建立了不排水强度与超固结比的关系。针对海洋土在目前取样技术条件下受到较大扰动的现状,选择了受扰动影响相对较小的不排水强度推求先期固结压力。该法主要步骤为(1)临界状态孔压系数∧。的确定;(2)原位不排水强度的推算。通过南海东部某海域的原状土样和实验室制备的重构土样试验结果验证,此法确定的先期固结压力,与传统的方法进行比较,表明结果比较一致。     

连云港海相软土不排水强度特征

连云港地区软土为碱性环境下沉积的非均质海积软土,软土抗剪强度具有固有各向异性。采用三轴不固结不排水剪切（UU）试验、无侧限抗压强度（UTC）试验、快剪试验和原位十字板剪切（FVT）试验4种方法,对连云港地区软土的不固结不排水抗剪强度特征进行了研究。结果表明：土体水平剪切面强度最低,竖直面抗剪强度最高;土体制样采用垂直方向的切取试样方式时,土体强度最高。根据三轴UU试验得出的黏聚强度和内摩擦角基于土体单元极限平衡理论恢复了土体剪切破坏时的应力状态,计算出土体实际抗剪强度。三轴UU试验得出的抗剪强度平均值约为13.13 kPa,试样破裂面与水平面的夹角在45.1°~45.7°区间最为集中。UTC试验测得的土体平均抗剪强度近似等于三轴UU试验测得的平均抗剪强度。FVT试验测得软土抗剪强度平均值为19.72 kPa,与三轴UU试验和UTC试验得出的抗剪强度平均值相比高了约6.60 kPa,这种现象与室内试验试样的机械扰动、土体应力状态改变和剪切面特征有关。     

花岗岩风化料弃土快速堆填过程中不排水抗剪强度评估

沿海沿江城市地下开挖产生的工程渣土含泥量大、含水率高且较松散,主要运往渣土场进行堆填处置。由于产量巨大而处置场地有限,许多渣土场在运营过程中存在堆填速度快、缺乏排水设施、超高超库容堆填等问题,容易引发堆填体失稳事故。目前对于非饱和工程渣土堆体在快速堆填过程中的失稳机制认识尚不清晰,尤其是对这一过程中的高饱和度工程渣土强度增长规律缺乏足够的认识。以深圳红坳渣土场填料——花岗岩风化料(CDG)填土为研究对象,对不同初始饱和度土样进行三轴不排水不排气等向压缩和剪切试验,结果表明:非饱和CDG填土不排水抗剪强度随围压增大呈非线性增长,增长速率与试样初始饱和度密切相关;当土样压缩后的饱和度超过0.7,不排水强度随围压的增长速率显著降低。基于有效固结应力法的原理,结合Hilf孔压公式和修正剑桥模型,提出了一种工程渣土不排水抗剪强度估算方法,并通过与试验结果对比验证了该方法对初始饱和度高于0.6的CDG填土的适用性。利用该方法确定的不排水强度cu与正应力σn的关系可应用于高饱和度工程渣土快速堆填中的稳定性分析。     

基于有效固结应力法确定结构性黏性土不排水抗剪强度

由于结构性的存在使得很多天然黏性土的强度和变形特性不同于重塑土和非结构性土。首先回顾了适用于确定重塑土和非结构性土不排水抗剪强度的有效固结应力法,并推导了相应的方程。在此基础上,对于结构性黏性土,采用两段不同斜率（内摩擦角正切）和截距（黏聚力）的直线模拟其抗剪强度包络线,建立了确定其不排水抗剪强度的有效固结应力法方程;当有效应力小于结构屈服应力时,有效固结应力方程中有效应力部分需乘以0.8的修正系数;只要已知剪切前的有效应力,利用相应的有效固结应力法公式,可确定结构性土体的不排水抗剪强度。利用连云港结构性软黏土的等压固结三轴试验数据,验证了有效固结应力法的适用性。分析表明：对于连云港软黏土的不排水抗剪强度,有效固结应力法的计算结果与试验结果吻合较好;对于结构屈服应力,有效固结应力法的预测结果与试验数据点的拟合结果有一定偏差,但并不明显。     

原状膨胀土剪切力学特性的应变速率效应

为研究应变速率对原状膨胀土力学性状的影响,通过GDS三轴试验系统进行了不同速率和围压下的固结不排水三轴剪切试验,分析了应力−应变曲线、孔隙水压力、剪切强度以及破坏模式随应变速率的变化规律。结果表明：不同应变速率下,膨胀土应力−应变曲线均呈应变硬化型。随着应变速率的增加,不排水剪切强度单调递增,引入应变速率参数ρ_0.9后发现,不排水强度增长率为14.3%～23.2%,平均值为18.4%。低围压下,应变速率对孔隙水压力影响较小,随着围压的增大,孔隙水压力的发展趋势由软化型转变为硬化型,孔隙水压力峰值随应变速率的增大而减小。原状膨胀土应变速率效应与其多裂隙性密切相关,破坏形式表现为小应变速率下主剪切带与次剪切带共存,大应变速率下仅有主剪切带,裂隙或多剪切带的出现强化了膨胀土强度的应变速率效应。