A bonding and damage constitutive model for lightly cemented granular material

The behaviour of cemented granular material is complicated by the fact that the eventual cemented properties depend on the conditions under which cement hydration (curing) takes place. There are a number of situations in industry where granular materials are mixed with small quantities of cement and deployed in highly transient curing environments. Understanding and predicting the responses in these situations requires a constitutive model where cemented properties are an output, rather than a pre-determined input. This paper presents a constitutive model that is capable of representing the formation and destruction of bonding in weakly cemented granular material in a transient stress environment.</p

Construction of simplified design <i>p-y</i> curves for liquefied soils

In practice, laterally loaded piles are most often modelled using a ‘Beam-on-Nonlinear-Winkler-Foundation’ (BNWF) approach. While well calibrated p-y curves exist for non-liquefied soils (e.g. soft clay and sands), the profession still lacks reliable p-y curves for liquefied soils. In fact, the latter should be consistent with the observed strain-hardening behaviour exhibited by liquefied samples in both element and physical model tests. It is recognised that this unusual strain-hardening behaviour is induced by the tendency of the liquefied soil to dilate upon undrained shearing, which ultimately results in a gradual decrease of excess pore pressure and consequent increase in stiffness and strength. The aim of this paper is twofold. First it proposes an easy-to-use empirical model for constructing stress-strain relationships for liquefied soils. This only requires three soil parameters which can be conveniently determined by means of laboratory tests, such as a cyclic triaxial and cyclic simple shear tests. Secondly, a method is illustrated for the construction of p-y curves for liquefiable soils from the proposed stress-strain model. This involves scaling of stress and strain into compatible soil reaction p and pile deflection y, respectively. The scaling factors for stress and strain axis are computed following an energy-based approach, analogous to the upper-bound method used in classical plasticity theory. Finally, a series of results from centrifuge tests are presented, whereby p-y curves are back-calculated from available experimental data and qualitatively compared with that proposed by the authors

Root reinforcement: continuum framework for constitutive modelling

The mechanical contribution of plant roots to soil strength has typically been studied at the ultimate limit state only. Since many geotechnical problems are related to serviceability, such as deformation of infrastructure, a new constitutive modelling framework is introduced. The rooted soil is treated as a composite material with separate constitutive relationships for soil and roots, and a comprehensive stress-strain relationship for the root constituent is presented.The model is compared to direct shear experiments on field soil reinforced with gorse, grass and willow roots, as well as an existing root reinforcement model based on Winkler-spring supported beam theory.The results show that both the newly developed model and the beam-type model yield good predictions for the evolution of root-reinforced shear strength as a function of increasing shear displacements. Both successfully capture the large deformations required to reach peak reinforcement, the reduction in reinforcement due to root breakage and the presence of significant reinforcement even after very large deformations, associated with root slippage.Since both fibre and beam models only require physically meaningful input parameters, they can be useful tools to study the mobilisation of rooted soil strength and simulate the response of rooted soil in continuum-based numerical simulations

Experimental investigation of wave propagation in three dimensions in unbounded particulate assemblies

Understanding wave propagation through soils is essential for site response analysis in earthquake engineering, interpretation of geophysical surveys and SASW (Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves), interpretation of laboratory bender element tests, etc. Analysis of wave propagation has largely been based on continuum descriptions and two dimensional analyses. This study presents recent developments in multiaxial testing that permit the combination of laboratory seismic testing with exploration of three-dimensional principal stress space. A Cubical Cell Apparatus with bender-extender piezoceramic elements fitted in all six faces are used so that wave propagation velocities of an analogue granular material can be determined. The results of a first series of wave propagation tests for a sample under isotropic confinement are presented

Root branching affects the mobilisation of root-reinforcement in direct shear

The contribution of roots to the mechanical behaviour of soil has typically only been studied for the ultimate limit state. In these approaches, roots are typically modelled as straight and unbranched structures. This approach overlooks the fact that roots may have to deform significantly to mobilise their strength, a process that will be influenced by root architecture effects such as branching, amongst others. Sequential mobilisation of roots affects the peak root-reinforcement, thus differences in mobilisation are important to consider when quantifying root-reinforcement. In this paper, the effect of root branching was modelled using a large-deformation Euler-Bernoulli beam-spring model. The effect of soil was incorporated using non-linear springs, similar to p-y and t-z theory used for foundation piles. By connecting multiple beams together (i.e. applying appropriate linked boundary conditions at root connection points) the effect of branching could be analysed. A soil displacement profile corresponding with direct shear loading was then imposed and the response of the root analysed. It was shown that adding branches led to a quicker mobilisation of root-reinforcement. Branches increased the axial resistance to root displacement and changed the shape of the deformed roots. The presence of branching counteracted root slippage, and thus increased reinforcement. Larger branching densities increased this effect. This analysis demonstrated that the architecture of the root system has a strong effect on the mobilisation of root strength, which directly affects the maximum amount of reinforcement the roots will provide. Future modelling of root-reinforcement, both at the ultimate and serviceable limit state, should account for this effect

An improved experimental test set-up to study the performance of granular columns

This paper describes an innovative design of a newly developed large test setup for testing the performance of footings supported on soft clay reinforced with granular columns. This advanced testing method is used to examine the settlement of footings supported on granular columns. Two important features of the equipment are (a) the axial loading system which allows samples to be consolidated under Ko condition while the load is applied onto a small foundation area of the sample, and (b) a relatively large sample size of 300-mm diameter and 400-mm high. The system is also equipped with pressure cells located beneath the footing and top cap to measure the pressure distribution with respect to foundation displacement and a lateral strain gage to monitor boundary effects. This paper reports on some of the early findings from the preliminary tests carried out using this equipment. Samples for testing were prepared by consolidating kaolin slurry in a large one-dimensional consolidation chamber. The granular columns were installed using the replacement method by compacting crushed basalt (uniformly graded with 90 % between 1.5–2-mm particle sizes) into a preformed hole. The preliminary tests have yielded promising results, validating the functionality of the equipment and support the prospect of increasing the knowledge with respect to settlement response and design of a footing supported on granular columns