Energy-Based Approach for the Analysis of a Vertically Loaded Pile in Multi-layered Non-linear Soil Strata

Numerous studies have been reported in published literature on analytical solutions for a vertically loaded pile installed in a homogeneous single soil layer. However, piles are rarely installed in an ideal homogeneous single soil layer. This study presents an energy-based approach to obtain displacements in an axially loaded pile embedded in multi-layered soil considering soil non-linearity. A simple power law based on published literature is used where the soil is assumed to be nonlinear-elastic and perfectly plastic. A Tresca yield surface is assumed to develop the soil stiffness variation with different strain levels that defines the non-linearity of the soil strata. The pile displacement response is obtained using the software MATLAB R2019a and the results from the energy-based method are compared with those obtained from the field test data as well as the finite element analysis based on the software ANSYS 2019R3. It is observed that the results obtained from the energy-based method are in better agreement with the field measured values than those obtained from the FEA. The approach presented in this study can be extended to piles embedded in multi-layered soil strata subjected to different cases of lateral loads as well as the combined action of lateral and axial loads. Furthermore, the same approach can be extended to study the response of the soil to group piles.

Response and Instability of Sloping Seabed Supporting Small Marine Structures: Wave-Structure-Soil Interaction Analysis

Wave-induced liquefaction in seabed may adversely impact the stability and bearing capacity of the foundation elements of coastal structures. The interaction of wave, seabed, and structure has been studied mostly for only mildly sloping seabed (<5°) using a decoupled approach. However, some of the marine hydrokinetic devices (MHKs) may be built on or anchored to the seabed with significant steepness. The wave-induced response and instantaneous liquefaction within sloping seabed supporting a small structure (representing a small MHK device) are evaluated herein by developing an almost fully coupled finite element model. The effects of coupling approach on the stress response and liquefaction of the seabed soils are investigated. Subsequently, post-liquefaction deformation of seabed soils around the structure is assessed. The poroelasticity equations governing the seabed response coupled with those for other domains are solved simultaneously. For post-liquefaction analysis, the soil is modeled as elastic perfectly plastic material. The development of instantaneously liquefied zones near the foundation is studied in terms of seabed steepness and wave parameters. The changes in the effective stress paths due to the development of liquefied zones are evaluated in view of the soil's critical state. The results indicate that the decoupled solution yields significantly larger stresses and liquefaction zones around the structure. The seabed response and the liquefaction zones become smaller for steeper slopes. The presence of liquefied zones brings the stress state closer to the failure envelope, reduces the confining stresses, and induces larger plastic strains around the foundation element.

Stability Reinforcement of Slopes Using Vegetation Considering the Existence of Soft Rock

This study investigates the effectiveness of vegetation reinforcement on the stability of a slope with red-bed soft rock in a slope along the Xining-Chengdu railway, China. Four kinds of vegetation were considered to reinforce the soil and the slope. The rooted soil parameters were determined based on the laboratory tests. A numerical model was developed based on the actual geometry and soil layer distributions. The soils were modeled as elastic perfectly plastic materials and the vegetation reinforcement was represented as addition cohesion of a series of subsoil layers within a given depth. The effectiveness of vegetation on slope reinforcement under both dry and rainfall conditions was investigated regarding this case. The potential failure surface and corresponding factor of safety of the red-bed soft rock slope for those different conditions were analyzed and compared. It has been found that the addition of vegetation increased the safety of slope stability whether the slope is under a dry condition or a rainfall condition, while the increasing proportion of factor of safety due to vegetation reinforcement for this case is very limited. The results and findings in this study are still significant for the practitioner to evaluate the reasonability of vegetation reinforcement.

A predictive model for galling phenomenon and its applicability for deep drawing processes

Galling is a recurring phenomenon in deep drawing processes which requires frequent maintenance of tools to improve the product surface quality. Adhesive transfer of softer material on the hard tool surface results in sharp features which causes surface roughening of the dies and deterioration of deep drawn products. In this article, an adhesive wear model based on deterministic approach is developed to predict the galling behavior in a deep drawing process. The model uses the surface topography, material properties and contact conditions to predict the surface roughening of tool surfaces under perfectly plastic conditions. The adhesive transfer of material is considered by the growth of the asperities based on its geometry for the increase in height and radial direction by preserving the original shape and volume consistency. The results of the multi-asperity models shows the growth of transfer layer and its effects due to load, sliding cycle, sliding distance and affinity of the materials. The results shows the influence of the above-said parameters and its applicability for deep drawing process conditions. The simulated results shows an 85% level of confidence in comparison with the experiments from literature for the prediction of the surface evolution due to galling mechanism.

Designing GFRP-Reinforced Tilt-up Wall Panels

Tilt-up construction was effectively enabled on a wide scale in 1979, when the ACI committee 551 report on Tilt-up construction was published, the Recommended Tilt-Up Wall Design, aka, the Yellow Book and the subsequent ACI-SEASC Task, aka the Green Book, and another Tilt-up design and construction manual developed by the ACI in 1988. The Tilt-up Concrete Association was created in 1986 by a group of industry professionals who had the need of an organization dedicated to the industry. ACI 551 maintains a document outlining the standard practice for contemporary Tilt-up design and construction. The ACI 551 document does not consider walls reinforced with non-ferrous reinforcement. However, recent events have made glass fiber-reinforced polymer rebar a more economical option when compared to traditional steel reinforcement. This white paper is intended to provide the unfamiliar engineer a bridge between the ACI 318, ACI 551 and ACI 440 documents to engineer a tilt-up wall including differences between GFRP reinforcement and steel reinforcement with respect to design. Steel, is an isotropic ductile metal extensively used in construction, mechanical, and electronic devices. Steel is often designed as elastic-perfectly plastic where it has an elastic modulus of 29,000ksi and yield stress of 60ksi. GFRP reinforcement is considered brittle-elastic with an elastic modulus often between 6,000ksi – 8750ksi and guaranteed ultimate tensile strength between 90-150ksi. Figure 1 presents an example of the design-assumed uniaxial stress versus strain comparing traditional steel and GFRP. While GFRP reinforcement has different physical and mechanical properties the differences and behaviors are well understood by the engineering community. There are ASTM material standards for GFRP bars, namely ASTM D7957 and a complete suite of ASTM test method by which the basic properties are verified. The following sections will illustrate the differences between steel and GFRP reinforced concrete members with a focus on slender tilt-up wall panels.

Strain-Softening Analyses of a Circular Bore under the Influence of Axial Stress

Strain-softening analyses were performed around a circular bore in a Mohr–Coulomb rock mass subjected to a hydrostatic stress field in cross section and out-of-plane stress along the axis of the bore. Numerical procedures that simplify the strain-softening process in a step manner were employed, and on the basis of the theoretical solutions of the elastic–brittle–plastic(EBP) medium, the strain-softening results of the displacements, stresses and the plastic zones around the circular bore were obtained. The numerical solution was validated based on the fact that the strain-softening process became EBP when the softening slope was very steep and elastic-perfectly plastic(EP) when the softening slope was near zero. The results illustrated that the stresses and displacements in the rock mass surrounding the bore was affected by axial stress and that a proper consideration of out-of-plane stress is necessary. Moreover, the presented results can be used for the verification of numerical codes.

A Note on the Influence of Smectite Coating on the Coefficient of Restitution of Natural Sand Particles Impacting Granitic Blocks

The study of the collision behavior of solid objects has received a significant amount of research in various fields such as industrial applications of powders and grains, impacts of proppants and between proppant and rocks during hydraulic fracturing, and the study of debris flows and avalanches and the interactions of landslide materials with protective barriers. This problem has predominantly been studied through the coefficient of restitution (COR), which is computed from the dropping and rebound paths of particles; its value corresponds to 1 for perfectly elastic impacts and 0 for perfectly plastic impacts (i.e., at the collision there is no rebound of the particle). Often, the colliding particles (or particle–block systems) are not perfectly clean, and there is debris (or dust) on their surfaces, forming a coating, which is a highly possible scenario in the debris flows of natural particles and fragments; however, the topic of the influence of natural coatings on the surfaces of particles on the collision behavior of particle–block systems has been largely overlooked. Thus, the present study attempts to provide preliminary results with respect to the influence of natural coating on the surfaces of sand grains in the COR values of grain–block systems using a stiff granitic block as an analogue wall. Montmorillonite powder, which belongs to the smectite clay group, was used and a sample preparation method was standardized to provide a specific amount of clay coating on the surfaces of the sand grains. The results from the study showed a significant influence of the smectite coating in the COR values of the grain–block systems, which was predominantly attributed to the dissipation of energy at the collision moment because of the compression of the soft coating of microparticles. Additionally, the method of analysis for calculating the COR values based on one and two high-speed cameras was explored, as the impacts of natural grains involve deviations from the vertical, which influences the rebound paths. Thus, a sensitivity analysis was performed investigating the differences in the COR values in two-dimensional and three-dimensional analysis of the impact tests.

Elastic-Perfectly Plastic Contact of Rough Surfaces: An Incremental Equivalent Circular Model

In this paper, an incremental equivalent contact model is developed for elastic-perfectly plastic solids with rough surfaces. The contact of rough surface is modeled by the accumulation of circular contacts with varying radius, which is estimated from the geometrical contact area and the number of contact patches. For three typical rough surfaces with various mechanical properties, the present model gives accurate predictions of the load-area relation, which are verified by direct finite element simulations. An approximately linear load-area relation is observed for elastic-plastic contact up to a large contact fraction of 15%, and the influence of yield stress is addressed.