Evolution of Undrained Strength Under a Test Embankment

Author(s):  
Hannes Hernvall ◽  
Mats Karlsson ◽  
Jelke Dijkstra ◽  
Minna Karstunen
1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. La Rochelle ◽  
B. Trak ◽  
F. Tavenas ◽  
M. Roy

The present paper reports on the failure of a test embankment built on a soft, sensitive, and cemented clay in Saint-Alban, Quebec. The embankment was built as a first stage of a research program aimed at studying the short and long term behavior of embankments on soft clay foundations.A complete description of the embankment, of the instrumentation, and of the failure is given, followed by the analysis of the failure performed on the basis of different assumptions of fill behavior and of vane strength values mobilized in the clay crust. The analyses show that the assumptions of full mobilization of friction in the fill seems to be the most representative of the fill behavior in the present case and that a suitable factor of safety is obtained only when a reduction of vane strength is assumed to act in the crust.A new approach based on the residual undrained strength is suggested and seems to offer some potential as a valuable means of analyzing the stability of embankments on clay foundations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafał Wróżyński ◽  
Krzysztof Pyszny ◽  
Mariusz Sojka ◽  
Czesław Przybyła ◽  
Sadżide Murat-Błażejewska

AbstractThe article describes how the Structure-from-Motion (SfM) method can be used to calculate the volume of anthropogenic microtopography. In the proposed workflow, data is obtained using mass-market devices such as a compact camera (Canon G9) and a smartphone (iPhone5). The volume is computed using free open source software (VisualSFMv0.5.23, CMPMVSv0.6.0., MeshLab) on a PCclass computer. The input data is acquired from video frames. To verify the method laboratory tests on the embankment of a known volume has been carried out. Models of the test embankment were built using two independent measurements made with those two devices. No significant differences were found between the models in a comparative analysis. The volumes of the models differed from the actual volume just by 0.7‰ and 2‰. After a successful laboratory verification, field measurements were carried out in the same way. While building the model from the data acquired with a smartphone, it was observed that a series of frames, approximately 14% of all the frames, was rejected. The missing frames caused the point cloud to be less dense in the place where they had been rejected. This affected the model’s volume differed from the volume acquired with a camera by 7%. In order to improve the homogeneity, the frame extraction frequency was increased in the place where frames have been previously missing. A uniform model was thereby obtained with point cloud density evenly distributed. There was a 1.5% difference between the embankment’s volume and the volume calculated from the camera-recorded video. The presented method permits the number of input frames to be increased and the model’s accuracy to be enhanced without making an additional measurement, which may not be possible in the case of temporary features.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
D. Reid ◽  
R. Fanni ◽  
A. Fourie

The cross-anisotropic nature of soil strength has been studied and documented for decades, including the increased propensity for cross-anisotropy in layered materials. However, current engineering practice for tailings storage facilities (TSFs) does not appear to generally include cross-anisotropy considerations in the development of shear strengths. This being despite the very common layering profile seen in subaerially-deposited tailings. To provide additional data to highlight the strength cross-anisotropy of tailings, high quality block samples from three TSFs were obtained and trimmed to enable Hollow Cylinder Torsional Shear tests to be sheared at principal stress angles of 0 and 45 degrees during undrained shearing. Consolidation procedures were carried out such that the drained rotation of principal stress angle that would precede potential undrained shear events for below-slope tailings was reasonably simulated. The results indicated the significant effects of cross-anisotropy on the undrained strength, instability stress ratio, contractive tendency and brittleness of each of the three tailings types. The magnitude of cross-anisotropy effects seen was generally consistent with previous published data on sands.


1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 531-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. T. Bergado ◽  
K. C. Chong ◽  
P. A. M. Daria ◽  
M. C. Alfaro

This study centred on the performance of the screw plate test (SPLT) to determine the deformability and consolidation characteristics of soft Bangkok clay. For comparison, a series of stress-path-controlled triaxial consolidation tests (tri) were carried out on good quality samples of Bangkok clay taken from the same testing sites and imposed with the same loading conditions as the screw plate tests. Undrained and drained moduli and coefficients of consolidation were obtained from the stress-path-controlled triaxial consolidation tests and were compared with the corresponding values of the screw plate test. In addition, the ultimate bearing capacity was derived from the pressure–deformation relationships of the screw plate test results. A graphical method was used to compute the coefficient of consolidation from the screw plate tests and from stress-path-controlled triaxial consolidation test results. The compressibility data were also obtained from conventional oedometer tests (oed). Both cv (SPLT)/cv (tri) and cv (SPLT)/cv(oed) ratios compared favorably with the cv (field)/cv (laboratory) ratio obtained from past investigations. The data from pressure–settlement–time relationships of the screw plate tests were used to successfully predict values that compared favorably with the measured values at each stress level. The pressure–deformation–time relationship from stress-path-controlled triaxial consolidation tests were also evaluated, and they indicated behaviour similar to that of the screw plate test results. Soil parameters obtained from screw plate tests were subsequently used to predict the settlement of two test embankments, giving fairly close agreement with the observed values. Key words: soft clay, settlement, deformation, consolidation, screw plate test, triaxial test, embankment, prediction, stress path.


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