Experimental technique for visualization of aquitard compaction over aquifer caused by excess pumping

Author(s):  
Kazunori Tabe ◽  
Masaatsu Aichi

<p> Transparent soils are developed as a physical modelling of macroscopic soil behaviors in geotechnical engineering aspect. Transparent surrogates with its index-matching fluid, called as transparent porous media or transparent soils, have been used for simulating geotechnical properties of natural soils. Visualization technique itself have been applied to microscopic level of soil deformation and soil flow problems such as X-ray, Computerized Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) cameras by very expensive apparatuses with highly operating skills. Geotechnical researches need rather understanding of macroscopic scale of larger test models with inexpensive experimental industrial substances. Transparent soils have been developed to achieve these needs with easy handling performance. <br> The authors demonstrated a pumping test in a glass tank of 30mm width by 80mm length by 70mm height filled with transparent hydrated superabsorbent polymer to represent aquitard (clay layer) over aquifer (saturated silica sand). The subsidence within the synthetic clay layer due to pumping of pore water from silica sand was constantly monitored by target racking method using four 8mm-diameter particles immersed in the synthetic clay layer. The test successfully visualized deformation due to vertical propagation of pore water pressure during subsidence event within the transparent synthetic clay layer. It was also found that this experiment result and the results from three-dimensional numerical simulation of poroelastic deformation were consistent with each other.</p>

Ground Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Zhang ◽  
Xuexin Yan ◽  
Tianliang Yang ◽  
Jichun Wu ◽  
Jianzhong Wu

Author(s):  
Chao-Lung Yeh ◽  
Wei-Cheng Lo ◽  
Cheng-Wei Lin ◽  
Chung-Feng Ding

Abstract. There are many factors causing land subsidence, and groundwater extraction is one of the most important causes of subsidence. A set of coupled partial differential equations are derived in this study by using the poro-elasticity theory and linear stress-strain constitutive relation to describe the one-dimensional consolidation in a saturated porous medium subjected to pore water pressure change due to groundwater table depression. Simultaneously, the closed-form analytical solutions for excess pore water pressure and total settlement are obtained. To illustrate the consolidation behavior of the poroelastic medium, the saturated layer of clay sandwiched between two sand layers is simulated, and the dimensionless pore water pressure changes with depths and the dimensionless total settlement as function of time in the clay layer are examined. The results show that the greater the water level change in the upper and lower sand layers, the greater the pore water pressure change and the total settlement of the clay layer, and the more time it takes to reach the steady state. If the amount of groundwater replenishment is increased, the soil layer will rebound.


Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasutaka Tanaka ◽  
Taro Uchida ◽  
Hitoshi Nagai ◽  
Hikaru Todate

Soil pipes are commonly found in landslide scarps, and it has been suggested that build-up of pore water pressure due to clogged soil pipes influences landslide initiation. Several researchers have also suggested that entrapped air in the soil layer increases the pore water pressure. We carried out bench-scale model experiments to investigate the influence of soil pipes and entrapped air on the build-up of pore water pressure. We installed a water supply system consisting of an artificial rainfall simulator, and used a water supply tank to supply water to the model slope and artificial pipe. We used two types of artificial pipe: A straight pipe, and a confluence of three pipes. Furthermore, we placed a layer of silica sand on top of the model slope to investigate the effect of entrapped air in the soil layer on the build-up of pore water pressure. Silica sand is finer than the sand that we used for the bulk of the model slope. Our results indicate that, although artificial pipes decrease the pore water pressure when the amount of water supplied was smaller than the pipe drainage capacity, the pore water pressure increased when the water supply was too large for the artificial pipe to drain. In particular, the confluence of pipes increased the pore water pressure because the water supply exceeded the drainage capacity. The results also indicate that entrapped air increases the pore water pressure in the area with relatively low drainage capacity, too. Based on these results, we found that although soil pipes can drain a certain amount of water from a soil layer, they can also increase the pore water pressure, and destabilize slopes. Furthermore, entrapped air enhances the trend that the pore water pressure can increase in the area with relatively low drainage capacity, as pore water pressure increases when too much water is supplied, and the artificial pipe cannot drain all of it.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi Zhang ◽  
Qingyang Zhang ◽  
Zaitian Wu ◽  
Jisheng Zhang ◽  
Titi Sui ◽  
...  

Effects of the embedded monopile foundation on the local distributions of pore water pressure, soil stresses, and liquefaction are investigated in this study using a three-dimensional integrated numerical model. The model is based on a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes wave module and a fully dynamic poroelastic seabed module and has been validated with the analytical solution and experimental data. Results show that, compared to the situation without an embedded foundation, the embedded monopile foundation increases and decreases the maximum pore water pressure in the seabed around and below the foundation, respectively. The embedded monopile foundation also significantly modifies the distributions of the maximum effective soil stress around the foundation and causes a local concentration of soil stress below the two lower corners of foundation. A parametric study reveals that the effects of embedded monopile foundation on pore water pressure increase as the degrees of saturation and soil permeability decrease. The embedded monopile foundation tends to decrease the liquefaction depth around the structure, and this effect is relatively more obvious for greater degrees of saturation, greater soil permeabilities, and smaller wave heights.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duaa Al-Jeznawi ◽  
ISMACAHYADI Mohamed Jais ◽  
Bushra S. Albusoda

Abstract Liquefaction of saturated soil layers is one of the most common causes of structural failure during earthquakes. Liquefaction occurs as a result of increasing pore water pressure, whereby the rise in water pressure occurs due to unexpected change in stress state under short-term loading, i.e., shaking during an earthquake. Thus, general failure occurs when the soil softens and eliminates its stiffness against the uplift pressure from the stability of the subsurface structure. In this case, the condition of soil strata is considered undrained because there is not enough time for the excess pore water pressure to dissipate when a sudden load is applied. To represent the non-linear characteristics of saturated sand under seismic motions in Kobe and Ali Algharbi earthquakes, the computational model was simulated using the UBCSAND model. The current study was carried out by adopting three-dimensional-based finite element models that were evaluated by shaking table tests of a single pile model erected in the saturated soil layers. The experimental data were utilized to estimate the liquefaction and seismicity of soil deposits. According to the results obtained from the physical models and simulations, this proposed model accurately simulates the liquefaction phenomenon and soil-pile response. However, there are some differences between the experiment and the computational analyses. Nonetheless, the results showed good agreement with the general trend in terms of deformation, acceleration, and liquefaction ratio. Moreover, the displacement of liquefied soil around the pile was captured by the directions of vectors generated by numerical analysis, which resembled a worldwide circular flow pattern. The results revealed that during the dynamic excitation, increased pore water pressure and subsequent liquefaction caused a significant reduction in pile frictional resistance. Despite this, positive frictional resistance was noticed through the loose sand layer (near the ground surface) until the soil softened completely. It is worth mentioning that the pile exhibited excessive settlement which may attribute to the considerable reduction, in the end, bearing forces which in turn mobilizing extra end resistance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Tao Wang ◽  
Ping Liu ◽  
Chi Liu ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Yong Yang ◽  
...  

Based on the plastic upper bound theorem, a three-dimensional kinematically admissible velocity field is constructed for the collapse of the soil masses above a shallow tunnel. In this field, this paper considers the influences of the roof stratification, pore water pressure, ground overload, and support pressure. This study deduced the upper bound solutions of the weight of the collapsed soil masses and the corresponding collapse surfaces by utilizing the nonlinear failure criterion, associated flow rule, and variation principle. Furthermore, we verified the validity of the proposed method in this paper by comparing this research with the existing work and numerical simulation results. This study obtains the influence laws of varying parameters on the area and weight of the collapsed soil masses. The results reveal that the area and weight of the collapsed soil masses increase with increasing support pressure and soil cohesion, but decrease with increasing thickness of the upper soil layer, nonlinear coefficient, pore water pressure, and ground overload. Among them, the roof stratification, pore water pressure, soil cohesion, and nonlinear coefficient have a significant influence on tunnel collapse, which should be given special consideration in engineering design.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Wenbing Wu ◽  
Guoxiong Mei ◽  
Longchen Duan

To remedy the limitation that the conventional drainage boundary only considers two extreme cases of pervious and impervious boundaries, the consolidation theory of vertical drain is derived by applying the continuous drainage boundary, and its validity is also proven. Based on the obtained solutions, the excess pore water pressure and the average degree of consolidation under the continuous drainage boundary condition are analyzed, and the effect of the drainage capacity of the top surface, the smear effect and the well resistance on consolidation are explored. Furthermore, the practicality of this theory is also validated by the comparison with experimental data. Results confirm that the complete and continuous process of the ground top surface can be changed from no drainage to a complete drainage by adjusting the value of the interface parameter b. Higher value of the interface parameter b means a stronger water permeability of the foundation, resulting in a faster dissipation of excess pore water pressure and a faster consolidation. Meanwhile, the vertical drainage of the vertical drain cannot be neglected in calculation even though vertical drains are based on a horizontal seepage. Moreover, the smear effect and the well resistance play an important role on consolidation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1049-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
C WW Ng ◽  
B Wang ◽  
Y K Tung

Three-dimensional (3D) numerical analyses were conducted to investigate groundwater responses in an initially unsaturated cut slope at Lai Ping Road in Hong Kong subjected to rainfalls with various patterns, durations, and return periods. Initial and boundary conditions were established from field monitoring data. The computed results show that rainfall pattern has a significant influence on pore-water pressures in soil layers near the ground surface but its influence gradually diminishes with depth. Rainfall with an advanced storm pattern of 24 h duration was found to be the most critical because it results in the highest pore-water pressure in the slope. At a given depth, the influence of rainfall pattern on pore-water pressures depends on the initial groundwater conditions: the higher the initial water table, the smaller the influence of rainfall pattern on pore-water pressures. Under a given rainfall duration, the rise of pore-water pressure at the study site is significant only when the return period increases from 10 years to 100 years, but not from 100 years to 1000 years. Short-duration, intense rainfall causes larger variations in pore-water pressure at shallow depths, whereas long-duration rainfall has a greater influence on groundwater in deep soils because of the generally greater amount of rainfall. For prolonged rainfalls, the difference in pore-water pressure distribution resulting from different rainfall patterns is less significant than that from short-duration, intense rainfalls.Key words: Lai Ping Road, rainfall patterns, pore-water pressure distributions, suction, unsaturated slope.


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