Performance of geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavements in full-scale field trials

The paper presents the results of a series of full-scale trials carried out in Thailand examining the performance of geosynthetics as reinforcement for flexible pavements. The geosynthetics were embedded at different pavement depths and the structural response was monitored across four test sections by means of strain gauges, pressure sensors, deflection points and deflection plates. The results show that all reinforcement configurations helped reduce the vertical static stresses developed at the base of the pavement by up to 66% and by up to 72% for dynamic stresses. The performance enhancement expected to prolong the lifespan of the base layers. The reinforcement layers closer to the base experienced the highest lateral strains of up to 0.13%, providing evidence that geosynthetics can also effectively reduce lateral spreading. All reinforcement configurations helped enhance rut resistance with maximum traffic benefit ratio (TBR) of 13.70, effectiveness ratio (EF) of 12.70 and minimum rutting reduction ratio (RRR) of 0.74. The best configuration included a geotextile within the asphalt concrete layer and a geogrid under the base layer. Non-linear finite element analyses of the test sections predicted very well the strains and stresses in the pavement. The study provides a benchmark for future studies in this field and concludes that geosynthetics can help increase maintenance periods and extend the lifetime of flexible pavements.     

三维有限元模型在柔性路面分析中的应用

根据当前经验——机械模型工具的发展,提出了一种不同于传统柔性路面分析的三维有限元新方法。另外,提出了将扩散角用于路面结构设计的建议。最后,根据现场实测数据,应用三维有限元模型对路面沥青层底部的最大拉伸应变和土基顶部的最大纵向压应力进行了预测。     

Numerical evaluation of a granular column reinforced by geosynthetics using encasement and laminated disks

Structures built on soft strata may experience substantial settlement, large lateral deformation of the soft layer and global or local instability. Granular columns reinforced by geosynthetic materials reduce settlement and increase the bearing capacity of the composite ground. Reinforcement is more common in the form of geosynthetic encasement, but laminated disks can also be used. This paper compares these two forms of reinforcement by means of unit cell finite element analyses. Numerical results were initially validated using field and experimental data, and parametric studies were subsequently performed. The parametric studies varied the geosynthetic interval and the geosynthetic tensile stiffness of the laminated disks as well as the length of the reinforced column. The analyses showed that in both modes; encasement and laminated disks; the geosynthetic increases the vertical stress mobilized on the reinforced column and reduces settlement on soft soil. It was also observed that in order to achieve the same performance as with encased column, the optimum interval between laminated disks is dependent on the stiffness of the geosynthetics and the column reinforced length.     

Bearing capacity of geogrid reinforced sand over encased stone columns in soft clay

Stone columns develop their load carrying capacity from the circumferential confinement provided by the surrounding soils. In very soft soils, the circumferential confinement offered by the surrounding soft soil may not be sufficient to develop the required load carrying capacity. Hence a vertical confinement would yield a better result. The load carrying capacity is further increased with the addition of a sand bed over the stone columns. In the present study, a series of laboratory model tests on an unreinforced sand bed (USB) and a geogrid-reinforced sand bed (GRSB) placed over a group of vertically encased stone columns (VESC) floating in soft clay and their numerical simulations were conducted. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed using a finite element package ABAQUS 6.12. In the finite element analysis, geogrid and geotextile were modeled as an elasto-plastic material. As compared to unreinforced clay bed, an 8.45 fold increase in bearing capacity was observed with the provision of a GRSB over VESC. The optimum thickness of USB and GRSB was found to be 0.2 times and 0.15 times the diameter of the footing. A considerable decrease in bulging of columns was also noticed with the provision of a GRSB over VESC. Both the improvement factor and stress concentration ratio of VESC with GRSB showed an increasing trend with an increase in the settlement. It was observed that the optimum length of stone columns and the optimum depth of encasement of the group of floating VESC with GRSB are 6 times and about 3 times the diameter of the column respectively.     

既有钢管混凝土拱桥桥动力测试和有限元分析

桥梁结构的动力特性(振型、频率和阻尼)是桥梁承载能力评定的重要参数,同时也是识别桥梁结构工作性能和桥梁抗震分析的重要参数。     

Tests and finite element analysis of pin-ended channel columns with inclined simple edge stiffeners

This paper presents an experimental investigation and a finite element analysis on cold-formed channels with inclined simple edge stiffeners compressed between pinned ends. Compression tests of pin-ended channel columns with inclined simple edge stiffeners have not been performed till now. A total of 36 channel specimens including three different cross sections with different edge stiffener inclined angles and column lengths were tested. Detailed measurements of initial geometric imperfections and material properties of the specimens were also conducted before the above tests. Failure modes include local buckling, distortional buckling, flexural buckling and interaction among these buckling modes were observed in tests. The results indicate that inclined angle and loading position significantly affect the ultimate load-carrying capacity and failure mode of specimens. Moreover, a non-linear finite element model was developed and verified against tests. Geometric and material non-linearities were included in the model. Results from the finite element analysis agree well with experimentally ultimate loads and failure modes. However, it should be improved on prediction for certain displacement.     

Seismic behavior of connections composed of CFSSTCs and steel-concrete composite beams — finite element analysis

Based on the experimental results of connections composed of concrete-filled square steel tubular columns (CFSSTCs) and steel-concrete composite beams with interior diaphragms, exterior diaphragms, or anchored studs, 3-D nonlinear finite element models were established to analyze the mechanical properties of these three types of connection using ANSYS. Finite element analyses were conducted under both monotonic loading and cyclic loading. The load-displacement and shear force-deformation curves of the finite element analyses are in agreement with those of the tests in terms of strength and unloading stiffness. Parametric analyses were conducted on the connections with exterior diaphragms under monotonic loading to investigate the influences of axial load ratio, width to thickness ratio, and dimensions of exterior diaphragms on the connection behavior. It was found that the strength and stiffness are less influenced by the axial load ratio and the dimensions of the exterior diaphragms, but more influenced by the width to thickness ratio of the steel tube under shear failure mode.     

A study of the thermal buckling behavior of a circular aluminum plate using the digital image correlation technique and finite element analysis

In this study, the thermal buckling behavior of a circular aluminum plate that results from thermal loading was investigated using a digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The aluminum plate was placed in a titanium ring and the structure was heated from room temperature 25 °C to 160 °C. Due to the differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) between aluminum and titanium, the aluminum plate buckles at a certain temperature. The buckling temperature was determined from the full-field deformation shape and temperature-displacement curve that were obtained using the DIC-based ARAMIS^® software. In order to obtain an appropriate full-field deformation, a polarized light filter was used to reduce the out-of-plane displacement error, which is an unavoidable error in the experiment. Using this method, the standard deviation of the z directional displacement was reduced from ±3.14 μm to ±2.70 μm. In addition, the results demonstrated that the measured buckling temperature was close to the theoretical buckling temperature of the circular plate in a simply supported boundary condition. In order to verify the proposed measurement method, a finite element analysis of the structure was performed using the ABAQUS software. The results of the DIC-based measurement and finite element analysis were in good agreement regarding the deformation curve tendency. The buckling temperature from the finite element method (FEM) was slightly larger than that from the experimental results due to the initial imperfections of the aluminum specimen. These results provide a good method for studying thermal buckling for the design and analysis of engineering structures in diverse fields such as aerospace engineering, oil refineries, and nuclear engineering.     

有限元法的特点及其在边坡工程中的应用实例

简述了在岩土工程中常用的有限元位移法的特点及计算步骤,对边坡分别在天然状态和坡顶均布荷载状态下的应力、应变作数值分析比较,分析结果显示在有荷载作用条件下边坡的塑性区贯通性强,相比天然状态下更易发生失稳破坏。     

碳纤维布加固T形梁抗弯试验及有限元分析

本文在碳纤维布加固钢筋混凝土T形梁抗弯试验的基础上,应用有限元方法对其进行了力学性能分析,并与试验结果进行了对比。结果表明：碳纤维布加固后,梁的屈服荷载和极限荷载均有所增长,特别是梁的极限荷载提高效果显著。     

矩阵位移法和有限元法在桁架结构分析中的区别

分析了矩阵位移法和有限元法两种理论,以及在实用结构中的应用计算,探索了两者之间的区别:矩阵位移法仅能应用在已知单元节点力、框架结构中单元节点间的关系,而不能应用在连续体结构中,提出两者的主要区别在于基本原理和分析方法。     

向量式有限元膜单元及其在膜结构褶皱分析中的应用

向量式有限元法是一种基于点值描述和向量力学理论的分析方法,可有效模拟结构的空间大位移、大转动行为。推导了三角形膜单元的向量式有限元基本公式,详细阐述了通过逆向运动获得单元节点纯变形位移以及在变形坐标系下求解单元节点内力的方法。在此基础上编制了膜单元的计算程序,并通过算例分析验证了理论推导的正确性及所编制程序的可靠性。进一步将向量式有限元引入膜结构的褶皱分析,采用主应力 主应变准则和修正本构矩阵方法处理膜结构的褶皱问题,对一典型膜结构在面外荷载作用下的力学行为及褶皱发展情况进行跟踪分析,成功捕捉了从褶皱出现、褶皱大范围扩展直至褶皱最终消失的全过程,证明了该方法在膜结构皱褶分析中可有效克服传统有限元方法存在的单元刚度矩阵奇异、迭代不易收敛等问题。     

Improvement in accuracy of the finite element method in analysis of stability of Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beams

The problem of buckling of the Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beams is analyzed by the finite element method. Significant improvement in accuracy of the method is obtained by replacing the discontinuous function of the bending moment related to the approximation of the eigenfunction obtained by FEM by a “smoothed” function in the Rayleigh quotient. The smoothed function is obtained by fitting the discontinuous one using the least square technique.     

混凝土箱梁浇筑温度场的实测分析及有限元模拟

对安登大桥主桥0号块混凝土箱梁的浇筑后温度场进行实测,得出了箱梁混凝土水化热温度场的一般规律.应用大型有限元分析软件ANSYS对该温度场进行仿真,结果表明,用本文建立的有限元模型可以较为精确的模拟实际温度场,为解决工程中的类似问题提供依据.     

Seismic bearing capacity of shallow strip foundations in the vicinity of slopes using the lower bound finite element method

The seismic bearing capacity of shallow strip foundations in the vicinity of slopes was investigated by the use of the lower bound limit analysis in conjunction with the finite element method and the linear programming technique. The combination of the most probable failure modes including slope instability and ultimate bearing capacity makes the problem difficult to solve by conventional approximate methods such as the limit equilibrium, the bound theorems of the limit analysis, and the slip line methods since these are based on assumptions about either kinematically admissible failure mechanisms or statically admissible stress fields. The pseudo-static seismic loading scheme was adopted in the presence of both horizontal and vertical acceleration fields, and the soil-foundation interface was assumed perfectly rough. Parametric analyses were conducted to evaluate the most effective factors in the form of the dimensionless strength and geometry parameters. The results of the current study were found comparable with those in the literature, and the consistency of the results confirmed the robustness of the extended finite element lower bound formulation. It was shown that the normalized limit pressure is dramatically reduced as the earthquake acceleration coefficients increases, and that it increases with higher the soil strength parameters. Moreover, the threshold distance at which the influence of the slope diminishes was found to be a function of the soil strength parameters and the slope geometry.     

Pillar design by combining finite element methods, neural networks and reliability: a case study of the Feng Huangshan copper mine, China

This paper presents a mine pillar design approach by combining finite element methods (FEMs), neural networks (NN) and reliability analysis. This practical approach is presented by examining an actual cylindrical mine pillar in a copper mine and taking into account uncertainties in ore pillar material parameters including modulus, Poisson's ratio, density and uniaxial compressive strength. The ore pillar had to be able to safely and effectively support a drilling room that occupied an open space of 3.8 m high and 55 m long and 20 m wide and at a depth of 360 m below ground surface. Three-dimensional FEM was used to simulate the mining operations and to estimate average pillar compressive stress at each operation step. A pillar performance function was established in implicit form taking into account pillar strength and pillar dimension. NN was incorporated in the FEM to substantially reduce the number of finite element calculations in establishment of the relationship between pillar compressive stress and basic random variables. Trained NN was then used to generate a database for the implicit performance function. The database was used to determine the reliability index and failure probability for each trial pillar diameter. Relationship between pillar reliability index and each of the coefficients of variation of the basic random variables was used for optimal design of pillar diameter. The optimal pillar design was used in the mining construction and functioned well.     

Quantification and localisation of damage in beam-like structures by using artificial neural networks with experimental validation

This paper presents a damage detection algorithm using a combination of global (changes in natural frequencies) and local (curvature mode shapes) vibration-based analysis data as input in artificial neural networks (ANNs) for location and severity prediction of damage in beam-like structures. A finite element analysis tool has been used to obtain the dynamic characteristics of intact and damaged cantilever steel beams for the first three natural modes. Different damage scenarios have been introduced by reducing the local thickness of the selected elements at different locations along finite element model (FEM) of the beam structure. The necessary features for damage detection have been selected by performing sensitivity analyses and different input–output sets have been introduced to various ANNs. In order to check the robustness of the input used in the analysis and to simulate the experimental uncertainties, artificial random noise has been generated numerically and added to noise-free data during the training of the ANNs. In the experimental analysis, two steel beams with eight distributed surface-bonded electrical strain gauges and an accelerometer mounted at the tip have been used to obtain modal parameters such as resonant frequencies and strain mode shapes. Finally, trained feed-forward backpropagation ANNs have been tested using the data obtained from the experimental damage case for quantification and localisation of the damage.     

Bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed piles in soft clay underlaid by stiff clay using lower-bound finite element limit analysis

Ensuring a safe foundation design in soft clay is always a challenging task to engineers. In the present study, the effectiveness of under-reamed piles in soft clay underlaid by stiff clay is numerically studied using the lower-bound finite element limit analysis (LB FELA). The bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed piles are estimated through non-dimensional factors N_cul and F_cul, respectively. These factors increased remarkably and marginally compared to N_cul and F_cul of the piles without bulbs when the bulb is placed in stiff and soft clay, respectively. For a given ratio of undrained cohesion of stiff to soft clay (c₂/c₁), the factors N_cul and F_cul moderately increased with the increase in the length-to-shaft-diameter ratio (L_u/D) and adhesion factors in soft clay (α_s1) and stiff clay (α_s2). The variation of radial stress along the pile–soil interface, distribution of axial force in the under-reamed piles, and state of plastic shear failure in the soil are also studied under axial compression and tension. The results of this study are expected to be useful for the estimation of the bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed piles in uniform clay and soft clay underlaid by stiff clay.