Experimental Study of Axially Loaded Pile Group Near a Sloping Ground

Understanding the axial loading response of pile group located near the crest of the slope is of practical value to structural design. In this paper, a large-scale test setup (1.8 m × 0.90 m × 0.90 m) has been developed to investigate the response of pile group (2 × 2) located near the crest of the slope under axial loading. This paper presents a series of physical modelling tests performed to investigate the effects of slope angles, distance of the pile group from the slope crest, embedment length of the pile group and pile diameter on the axial loading response of pile groups. The results show that the response of pile group located near the crest of the slope approaches to the level ground condition with increasing edge distance from slope crest. In addition, the horizontal displacement of pile group towards the slope face increases with decreasing distance of pile group from the slope crest or embedded length of piles or with increasing slope angle. Furthermore, increasing pile diameter results in a low increase in the horizontal displacement for edge distances less than 3 dp (dp = pile diameter). However, the horizontal displacement is almost independent of pile diameter at edge distances greater than 3 dp. Higher embedded length results in the response of pile group approaches to the response of pile group located on the level ground at a shorter edge distance from the slope crest

Undrained Shear and Pore Space Characteristics of Treated Loose Sands with Lime-Activated Zeolite in Saturated Settings

This research investigates the mechanical behavior of artificially cemented sandy soils formed by lime alkali activation of natural zeolite under saturation settings. In order to verify the bar capability of cemented sands with this new method, an analysis of the undrained shear strength of the soil with pore water pressure ratio measurements was performed from the interpretation of the results of unconfined compression tests. The effect of zeolite-lime blend on treated sands was also visualized by scanning electron microscopy. For the studied soils, it was concluded from the unconfined compression stress values that the soil is fully capable of withstanding compressions due to overburden pressure. Additionally, this study seeks to evaluate the effect of the void ratio on the pore space and undrained shear strength. The results showed that pore water B-ratio increases with the decrease of the void ratio. Moreover, with the increase of zeolite content, confining pressure, and curing age, the peak failure strength increases. The results indicated a promising consistency of treated samples with lime and zeolite under various values of undrained shearing and B-ratios, making this method an ideal treatment for loose sand deposits