Required Unfactored Strength of Geosynthetic in Reinforced Earth Structures

Current reinforced earth structure designs arbitrarily distinguish between reinforced walls and slopes, that is, the batter of walls is 20° or less while in slopes it is larger than 20°. This has led to disjointed design methodologies where walls employ a lateral earth pressure approach and slopes utilize limit equilibrium analyses. The earth pressure approach used is either simplified (e.g., ignoring facing effects), approximated (e.g., considering facing effects only partially), or purely empirical. It results in selection of a geosynthetic with a long-term strength that is potentially overly conservative or, by virtue of ignoring statics, potentially unconservative. The limit equilibrium approach used in slopes deals explicitly with global equilibrium only; it is ambiguous about the load in individual layers. Presented is a simple limit equilibrium methodology to determine the unfactored global geosynthetic strength required to ensure sufficient internal stability in reinforced earth structures. This approach allows for seamless integration of the design methodologies for reinforced earth walls and slopes. The methodology that is developed accounts for the sliding resistance of the facing. The results are displayed in the form of dimensionless stability charts. Given the slope angle, the design frictional strength of the soil, and the toe resistance, the required global unfactored strength of the reinforcement can be determined using these charts. The global strength is then distributed among individual layers using three different assumed distribution functions. It is observed that, generally, the assumed distribution functions have secondary effects on the trace of the critical slip surface. The impact of the distribution function on the required global strength of reinforcement is minor and exists only when there is no toe resistance, when the slope tends to be vertical, or when the soil has low strength. Conversely, the impact of the distribution function on the maximum unfactored load in individual layers, a value which is typically used to select the geosynthetics, can result in doubling its required long-term strength.     

Analysis of Extensible Reinforcement Subject to Oblique Pull

A rational analysis of extensible sheet reinforcement subjected to an oblique end force has been presented that properly accounts for complex soil-reinforcement interaction and involves stress-deformation relationship implicitly. The results can be used for internal design of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls against pullout failure and tension failure. The pullout force and the end displacement at pullout for an extensible reinforcement are found to be almost the same as those for an inextensible reinforcement if the ratio of the reinforcement stiffness to the axial pullout capacity J* is greater than 15. With decrease in J* below 15, the maximum strain increases, the pullout failure becomes irrelevant, the tension failure dominates and the maximum allowable oblique force decreases. A minimum stiffness of about 25 times the axial pullout capacity is required to avoid the tension failure before the pullout provided the failure strain is 0.1. The predicted results have been calibrated against the finite-element analysis of pullout tests and detailed back analyses of published test data on model reinforced walls constructed with a wide range of extensible materials. The present analysis gives better predictions of the critical height against the pullout and the tension failure in model reinforced soil walls constructed with extensible reinforcements as compared to that of Rankine’s method.     

Performance of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Asphalt Pavements

This paper describes the performance of geosynthetic-reinforced asphalt pavement under monotonic, cyclic, and dynamic loading conditions. The study differed from current practice where geosynthetics are typically used as separators or to improve the bearing capacity of the subgrade. A geogrid layer was installed at the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer, along the asphalt-subgrade interface, to function as tensile reinforcement. The load was applied to the surface of the asphalt concrete layer using a rigid rectangular footing under plane strain conditions. The strains that developed along the geogrid over time and at different load levels were monitored. Two different types of geogrid reinforcements were used, and their restraining effects on the layered system were compared. The study showed that geosynthetic reinforcement increased the stiffness and bearing capacity of the asphalt concrete pavement. Under dynamic loading, the life of the asphalt concrete layer was prolonged in the presence of geosynthetic reinforcement. The stiffness of the geogrid and its interlocking with the asphalt concrete contributed to the restraining effect.     

Lateral Behavior of Vertical Pile Group Embedded in Stabilized Earth Slope

An experimental study of the lateral behavior of vertical pile groups embedded in reinforced and nonreinforced sandy earth slopes was carried out. The model tests include studies of group configurations, pile spacing, embedment length of pile, relative densities of sand, and location of pile groups relative to the slope crest. Several configurations of geogrid reinforcement with different lengths, widths, and number of layers were used to reinforce a sandy slope of 1 (V): 1.5 (H). Pile groups of 2×2 and 3×3 along with center-to-center pile spacing of 2D, 3D, and 4.5D and piles with embedment length to diameter ratios of L/D = 12 and 22 were considered. Based on test results, geogrid parameters that give the maximum lateral capacity improvement are presented and discussed.     

Exhumed Geogrid-Reinforced Retaining Wall

An instrumented geogrid-reinforced wall constructed on a highly compressible foundation was deconstructed 16 months after its completion, providing a unique opportunity to exhume and examine the instrumented geogrids that were used to construct the wall. The objectives of this post mortem study were: (1) to inspect the condition of the strain gauges that were attached to the geogrid layers before construction and to verify the reliability of their output; (2) to develop a procedure in which the residual (plastic) strains along exhumed geogrid panels could be determined; and (3) to assess the in situ strain and force distribution along geogrid panels based on the measured residual strains from the exhumed geogrids. After exhumation, it was observed that many of the attached strain gauges failed due to full or partial debonding from the geogrid, thus rendering outputs which potentially underestimated the actual strain. Combining aperture measurements of virgin and exhumed geogrids, all from the same manufacturing lots, enabled the assessment of residual strains following stress relaxation. Laboratory simulation of loading and unloading, including creep and relaxation, yielded a relationship between the measured residual strains and the in situ strain and force distribution; i.e., the residual strain fingerprint provided insight into the behavior of the geogrids within the wall prior to its deconstruction. The mobilized maximum tensile strains in the geogrid panels along the height of the wall were roughly uniform, in the range 4±1%. These findings imply that if the same type of reinforcement had been used throughout the height of the wall, the mobilized force along the height would have been relatively uniform. The back-calculated maximum force in the geogrids indicated that the factor of safety on the long-term strengths of the geogrids ranged from about 1.4 on the stronger/stiffer geogrid to about 1.8 on the weaker/softer geogrid.     

Experimental and Numerical Study of Eccentrically Loaded Strip Footings Resting on Reinforced Sand

An experimental and numerical study of the behavior of an eccentrically loaded strip footing resting on geosynthetic-reinforced sand is presented. Particular attention was given to simulate footings constructed on unsymmetrical geogrid layers with eccentricity either direction of the footing. Several configurations of geogrid layers with different number, length, layer eccentricity along with the effect of the sand relative density, and the load eccentricity were investigated. A numerical study on a plane strain prototype footing was performed using finite element analysis. Test results indicate that the footing performance could be appreciably improved by the inclusion of layers of geogrid leading to an economic design of the footing. However, the efficiency of the sand-geogrid system is dependent on the load eccentricity ratio and reinforcement parameters. A close agreement between the experimental and numerical trend lines is observed. Based on the numerical and experimental results, critical values of the geogrid parameters for maximum reinforcing effect are established.     

Kinematics of Overhanging Slopes in Discontinuous Rock

The kinematics of overhanging rock slopes and the mechanical constraints associated with this specific slope geometry were studied. Investigation of the problem began with a generalized rigid body analysis and was followed by a numerical discontinuous deformation analysis, both of which were performed in two dimensions. It was found that eccentric loading and hence the development of tensile stresses at the base of overhanging rock slopes control their stability. Global slope instability, which is typically manifested in a forward rotation failure mode, may ensue if a through-going vertical discontinuity, typically referred to as “tension crack,” transects the slope at the back. The transition from stable to unstable configurations depends on the distance between the tension crack and the toe of the slope. On the basis of the analysis, a simple threefold stability classification—stable, conditionally stable, and unstable—is proposed. In addition, geometrical guidelines, based on standard field mapping data, for the above stability classification are provided. Finally, the optimal reinforcement strategy for overhanging slopes is explored. The stability of overhanging slopes is determined by their eccentricity ratio, defined by the ratio between the base (B) and top (L) lengths: er = B/L. It was found that an overhanging slope with eccentricity ratio of er<0.38 is unstable and requires reinforcement. With an eccentricity ratio between 0.38相似文献   

Experimental Study of the Biaxial Cyclic Behavior of Thin-Wall Tubes of NiTi Shape Memory Alloys

Combined torsion-tension cycling experiments were performed on thin-wall tubes (with thickness/radius ratio of 1:20, similar to that found for stents) of nearly equiatomic NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs). Experiments were controlled by axial displacement and torsional angle with step loading involving torsional loading to a maximum strain, followed by tensile loading, and reverse-order unloading. The superelasticity of the material is confirmed by pure torsion and tension experiments at the test temperature. The evolution of equivalent stress-strain curves as well as the separated tensile and torsional stress-strain curves during cycling is analyzed. Results show that the equivalent stress increases greatly with a small amount of applied axial strain, and the equivalent stress-strain curves have negative slopes in the phase transformation region. The shear stress drops when the torsional strain is maintained at its maximum value and the tensile strain is increased. The shear stress increases with decreasing tensile strain, but it cannot recover to the original value after the complete unloading of the tensile strain. Attention is also paid to dissipated energy density and characteristic stress evolutions during cycling.     

Displacements of Reinforced Slopes Subjected to Seismic Loads

Traditional analyses of stability of slopes subjected to seismic loads entail global equilibrium considerations with seismic influence included as a quasi-static force. Such an analysis does not reflect the earthquake shaking process, and it does not provide any information about permanent displacements that may have occurred as a result of that process. Earthquake events in recent years have brought about renewed interest in analyses of slopes subjected to seismic loads. This paper focuses on displacement calculations of reinforced slopes. Design of reinforced slopes using the quasi-static approach may lead to an unrealistically long reinforcement for large ground accelerations. If slopes are allowed to move by even a small displacement, then the reinforcement length can be reduced significantly. Two mechanisms of failure of reinforced slopes subjected to seismic conditions are considered: (1) Rotational collapse; and (2) sliding directly over the bottom layer of reinforcement. Yield accelerations and integrals of seismic records are presented in charts for easy use in practical applications. An example is shown to illustrate the method.     

Analyzing Dynamic Behavior of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls

An advanced generalized plasticity soil model and bounding surface geosynthetic model, in conjunction with a dynamic finite element procedure, are used to analyze the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls. The construction behavior of a full-scale wall is first analyzed followed by a series of five shaking table tests conducted in a centrifuge. The parameters for the sandy backfill soils are calibrated through the results of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests. The wall facing deformations, strains in the geogrid reinforcement layers, lateral earth pressures acting at the facing blocks, and vertical stresses at the foundation are presented. In the centrifugal shaking table tests, the response of the walls subject to 20 cycles of sinusoidal wave having a frequency of 2 Hz and of acceleration amplitude of 0.2g are compared with the results of analysis. The acceleration in the backfill, strain in the geogrid layers, and facing deformation are computed and compared to the test results. The results of analysis for both static and dynamic tests compared reasonably well with the experimental results.     

Long-Term Reinforcement Load of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls

As increasing number of geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) retaining walls are built for permanent purpose, and their long-term behaviors have become one of the most critical issues in design. However, there has been very limited study on long-term reinforcement load and its relation to various parameters of GRS walls. A finite-element procedure for the long-term response of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures with granular backfills was first validated against the long-term model test. Extensive finite-element analyses considering the viscous properties of geosynthetic reinforcements were then carried out to investigate the load distributions in geosynthetic reinforcements of GRS walls under operational condition. Construction sequence was simulated and a creep analysis of 10?years was subsequently conducted on each model wall. The effects of wall parameters, including backfill soil, reinforcement length, reinforcement spacing, reinforcement stiffness, and creep rate of reinforcement were investigated. It is found from the analyses that: (1) the maximum reinforcement load of GRS walls under working stress condition was generally smaller than that estimated using the FHwA design but it is dependent on the global reinforcement stiffness Sglobal; (2) the surface of maximum reinforcement load did not coincide with the Rankine’s surface suggested by FHwA design guidelines for vertical GRS walls and it was affected by the strength of backfill soil, reinforcement length, reinforcement spacing, and reinforcement stiffness; (3) for GRS walls under operational condition, reinforcement loads were closely related to the mobilized stiffness of backfill soil; (4) isochrone curves can be used to interpret the effects of reinforcement stiffness and creep rate on both short-term and long-term performances of GRS walls under operational condition, and with an increase in the reinforcement stiffness, the maximum reinforcement load increased; and (5) the global reinforcement stiffness Sglobal, which is related to the isochrones stiffness of reinforcement as well as reinforcement spacing was related to the total reinforcement load Ttotalmax and with an increase in the global stiffness, the total reinforcement load increased.     

Geomembrane Strain Observed in Large-Scale Testing of Protection Layers

A method for estimating the local strain in a geomembrane due to the indentation of gravel particles is presented. The accuracy of various strain calculation methods is evaluated by a series of tests, and it is shown that the traditional arch elongation method provides only an approximate estimate of the magnitude of strain induced in the geomembrane due to indentation and does not adequately define the distribution of strain. Consideration of the combined membrane and bending strains as proposed here is shown to provide a better representation of the distribution of strains and enhances the evaluation of the peak strains in the geomembrane caused by local indentations. Large-scale tests are conducted using different protection layers, and the strains are reported based on both the arch elongation method and the combined bending and membrane theory. The results indicate that the best protection for the underlying geomembrane was provided by a sand-filled geocushion or a special rubber geomat, which limited strains induced by coarse (40–50 mm) angular gravel to 0.9% at 900 kPa and 1.2% at 600 kPa. The poorest performance was achieved using nonwoven geotextiles with a maximum strain of 8% being obtained with a 435 g∕m2 geotextile at 250 kPa and 13% with two layers of 600 g∕m2 geotextile at 900 kPa.     

Flow Characteristics of Skimming Flows in Stepped Channels

Skimming flows in stepped channels are systematically investigated under a wide range of channel slopes (5.7°?θ?55°). The flow conditions of skimming flows are classified into two flow regimes, and the hydraulic conditions required to form a quasi-uniform flow are determined. An aerated flow depth of a skimming flow is estimated from the assumption that the residual energy at the end of a stepped channel coincides with the energy at the toe of the jump formed immediately downstream of the stepped channel. In a quasi-uniform flow region, the friction factor of skimming flows is represented by the relative step height and the channel slope. The friction factor for the channel slope of θ=19° appears to have a maximum. The residual energy of skimming flows is formulated for both nonuniform and quasi-uniform flow regions. Further, a hydraulic-design chart for a stepped channel is presented.     

Continuous Interface Elements Subject to Large Shear Deformations

Abstract: In this paper, an interface or joint subject to large shear deformation is modeled. In the proposed algorithm, continuous interface elements with a finite thickness are reconstructed at every load step based on current interface configuration, by employing the concept of contact band element. Special strain expressions for the continuous interface elements are derived with regard to the characteristics of shear strain concentration along the interface. The elastic cross-anisotropic model with the special Mohr–Coulomb criterion is applied for the continuous interface elements in view of the anisotropy of interface materials. Simulation of a pullout test has shown that large pullout displacement and realistic structure configuration might be effectively modeled and smooth distributions of mobilized shear stresses along the interface and axial forces in the reinforcement can be obtained without any fluctuation for different interface element thicknesses. However, the stress and axial force distributions along the interfaces and the reinforcement, especially near left end of the reinforcement, vary with the interface thickness. It strongly implies that the continuous interface element with an appropriate thickness should be a good choice for a rock interface or joint with fillings in.     

Taylor’s Slope Stability Charts Revisited

Two design charts for computing the safety factor of soil slopes are presented here. The first one is for an undrained (?u = 0) soil slope, similar to the one proposed by Taylor, but with significant differences. Taylor’s work is based on three types of failure circles: toe circle, slope circle, and midpoint circle. It appears that there can also be compound circles that are made of two circular arcs separated by a straight line at the interface with the stiff stratum. These are incorporated in the proposed design chart. The second chart is for drained (c′-?′) soil slope that enables the users to compute the safety factor of the slope without any iterative procedures that are required with the Taylor’s chart. In c′-?′ soils, Taylor assumed that the failure occurs along toe circles. The analysis presented herein shows that when the slope is very shallow, it is possible to have midpoint circles. Both charts are quite simple and straightforward to use in engineering analysis of homogeneous slopes. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the use of the two design charts.     

Localization of plastic deformation and evolution of block structure in submicrocrystalline titanium

The plastic deformation of submicrocrystalline titanium is considered. By speckle photography and X-ray diffraction analysis, the distribution of local deformation and elastic stress in the working section of the samples is studied. At the prefailure stage, a site of localized deformation is formed, with maximum components of the distortion tensor. The elastic distortion reaches a maximum at the boundaries of this site and then declines. The size of the crystallites is reduced at the site of localized deformation.     

Metal flow performance in aluminium electrolytic cells with different side-wall types

Three-dimensional aluminium electrolytic cells with inclined surface cathodes were simulated in ANSYS and CFX to predict the influence of different side-wall types on the horizontal current and metal flow. The simulated results showed that the ledge thickness decreased with the thermal conductivity of the side wall. The graphitised side wall with the highest thermal conductivity displayed the largest ledge toe extensions of 24.6?cm at the centre of the long side and 28.0?cm at its corner. The long ledge toe extension introduced large inverted horizontal current and increased the maximum metal velocity. Above the largest ledge toe extension, the metal deviation from the equilibrium was 1.6?cm at one quarter of the cell length and 1.8?cm at the cell corner, equal to the metal wave crest in the cell (1.8?cm). With decreasing ledge toe extension, the maximum metal velocity and metal deviation above the ledge toe extension from equilibrium decreased accordingly.     

Full-Scale Impact Test of Four Traffic Barriers on Top of an Instrumented MSE Wall

This paper presents the results of four full-scale impact tests against barriers placed on top of an instrumented mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall. The impact was created by a head-on collision of a 2,268-kg bogie going at about 32.2 km/h. The barriers were New Jersey and vertical wall barriers with a 1.37-m-wide moment slab in 9.14-m-long sections. The wall was 1.52 m high with one panel and two layers of reinforcement. The reinforcement was 2.44-m-long strips, 4.88-m-long strips, and 2.44-m-long bar mats. The backfill was crushed rock. The instrumentation consisted of accelerometers, strain gauges, contact switch, displacement targets, string lines, and high-speed cameras. The test was designed to represent a commonly used installation in current practice including an impact load on the barrier at least equal to 240 kN. Most of the barriers sustained significant damage but overall the behavior of the wall was satisfactory since the displacements of the panels were minimal (less than 25 mm) and the panel damage was acceptable except possibly in the case of the 4.88-m-long strips. The loads measured in the reinforcement indicate that the reinforcement was brought to its ultimate capacity for the duration of the impact but since the impact duration was so short and since the displacements of the panels were within tolerable limits of 25 mm, this is considered acceptable. The use of the longer strips (4.88-m-long strips) leads to slightly smaller panel displacements and higher panel stresses as evidenced by a bending crack in the panel. The 2.44-m-long strips permitted more displacement of the wall panels, but the magnitude of the displacement was considered to be tolerable. The measured maximum dynamic loads in the strips were found to be 3–5 times higher than the calculated maximum static loads by AASHTO guidelines.     

Stability of Steep Slopes in Cemented Sands

The analysis of steep slope and cliff stability in variably cemented sands poses a significant practical challenge as routine analyses tend to underestimate the actually observed stability of existing slopes. The presented research evaluates how the degree of cementation controls the evolution of steep sand slopes and shows that the detailed slope geometry is important in determining the characteristics of the failure mode, which in turn, guide the selection of an appropriate stability analysis method. Detailed slope-profile cross sections derived from terrestrial lidar surveying of otherwise inaccessible cemented sand cliffs are used to investigate failure modes in weakly cemented [unconfined compressive strength (UCS)<30?kPa] and moderately cemented (30相似文献