Three-dimensional finite element analysis of arching in a piled embankment under traffic loading
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Three-dimensional finite element analysis of arching in a piled embankment under traffic loading Yan Zhuang & Shaobang Li
Received: 17 June 2014 / Accepted: 9 December 2014 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2015
Abstract Piled embankment provides an economic and effective solution to the problem of constructing embankment over soft soil, in which the soil arching plays a significant role in load transformation. However, most of current lines of research for piled embankments are focusing on the soil arching under static loading, and the behavior of soil arching under traffic loading needs to be investigated. This paper investigates the response of soil arching in the piled embankment (without the geosynthetic reinforcement) under dynamic loading using finite element method (FEM). The influence of the vehicle speeds, the numbers of the traffic load cycles, and the embankment fill friction angle for a given geometry (s= 2.5 m, h=3.5 m, a=1 m) is also carried out. It shows that the traffic loading has a significant effect on the behavior of the piled embankment, especially for the settlement of embankment, while the embankment fill friction angle has negligible effect on that. The maximum passive earth pressure coefficient for the embankment under traffic loading is about 30 % larger than that under static loading and occurred at the height between the outer and inner radii of the hemisphere arch. Significant effects are found in vehicle speeds and numbers of the traffic load cycles on the settlement of the embankment just above the subsoil, while with limited influence on the vertical and horizontal stress and earth pressure coefficients.
Keywords Piled embankment . Traffic loading . Arching . FEM Y. Zhuang (*) : S. Li Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, Geotechnical Research Institute, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing 210098, China e-mail: [email protected] S. Li e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Construction of embankments on soft soil is a very challenging task for geotechnical engineering due to the possible bearing failure, intolerable settlement, and slope instability. Piled embankments provide an economic and effective solution to settle these problems compared to the traditional soft foundation improvement methods, such as preloading (Magnan 1994). The concept of “arching” of granular soil over an area where there is a partial loss of support from an underlying stratum has long been recognized in the theory of soil mechanics (e.g., Terzaghi 1943). Terzaghi (1943) assumed that the shearing resistance of the soil during arching was mobilized along two vertical planes through the side of the inclusion and considered shear stress on the vertical interfaces originating from the rigid supports at either side of a “trapdoor” where support was reduced. Russell and Pierpoint (1997) developed the arching theory proposed by Terzaghi (1943) to take into account the three-dimensional problems of the piled embankments. Other methods f
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