Performance of cement-stabilized weak subgrade for highway embankment construction in Southeast Nigeria

Soils with poor shear strength and high compressibility underlie the wetlands of southern Nigeria. They are susceptible to intolerable settlements and account for greater than 60% of the soils in the region. While requiring embankments for any infrastructure construction, these weak soils pose significant threat to the construction and service life of highway pavements in southeastern Nigeria. Therefore, this research investigates shear strength improvement of a highway embankment’s weak subgrade soil after mass stabilization of soil with 6 and 10% Portland cement. The factor of safety against shear failure of the embankment was analyzed for un-stabilized subgrade and then cement-stabilized subgrade. The analysis was carried out for embankment heights of 4, 5, 6 and 7 m using the limit equilibrium method. Thick soft clayey silt with Cu range of 9 to 15 kPa underlay the embankment, upon improvement, the Cu of 154 and 208 kPa was obtained for 6 and 10% stabilization respectively. The FoS for the embankment on Un-stabilized soil ranged from 0.88 for a 7 m embankment to 1.2 for a 4 m embankment. The FoS after mass stabilization of 1 to 5 m soil ranged between 1.77 and 5.22 for the different embankment heights. Stability was better improved as depth of mass stabilization and cement content increased. A linear relationship was observed to exist between the cement content, strength of the improved soils, stabilization depth and the factor of safety.

Soil Pressure and Deformation Analysis of Small Size Deep Foundation Pit

In this paper, the influence of space effect on soil pressure and deformation of deep foundation pit was considered, and the finite soil pressure calculation model was established. The soil pressure of deep foundation pit was calculated by assuming the slip surface and using the finite soil limit equilibrium theory. Then, PLAXIS 3D finite element software was used to establish finite element models of different plane sizes and depths. The distribution regulation of side wall soil pressure and deformation of deep foundation pit was calculated. Finally, the results of finite soil pressure calculation was compared with finite element method. The results shown that: The soil pressure of small deep foundation pit was affected by space effect, and the soil pressure and deformation decrease significantly along the foundation pit depth. Shear fracture Angle was related to the ratio of width to depth of foundation pit, and it was no longer a constant value of 45°+φ/2. Therefore, the spatial effect should be considered in the calculation of soil pressure of small deep foundation pit. The research results can provide some guidance for the design and calculation of similar small size deep foundation pit.

Field Treatment of Storage Sludge and Stability Analysis of Overlying Municipal Waste Landfilling

Storage sludge has high water content and low shear strength, which limits the capacity expansion of overlying municipal landfilling. Few studies have addressed the field treatment of large amounts of storage sludge due to the variability of the depth of geotechnical property. This paper proposes a stratified treatment method for storage sludge, based on the in situ characterization of layered sedimentary patterns of the storage sludge acquired from the Qizishan landfill in China. Additionally, the stability of the landfilling above the sludge pond is analyzed using the Morgenstern–Price and limit equilibrium slice method, which considers the layered strength properties of solidified sludge. The treated sludge has a significant decrease in average water content from 1398% to 88% and an increase in average cohesion to 23.52 kPa. The high content of clay particles, low amount of solidification products, and high water content together result in the high sensitivity to the water content of the strength of deep solidified sludge. For a 40-m high waste body, stability analysis suggests a sliding surface across the raw sludge pond, while the critical surface remains outside the treated sludge pond and the safety factor is increased from 0.934 to 1.464. The validated stratified treatment provides valuable references for the treatment of deep sludge.

SLOPE STABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE UPSTREAM SLOPE OF THE DRY MOUNTAIN FLOOD CONTROL RESERVOIR DURING THE FLOOD

The flood control is one of the priority goal for successful economic activity on the areas that are periodically suffer from floods. Such areas are the mountainous regions of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains. Floods on the mountain rivers are repeated several times each year, and are characterized by the sudden water level rise with almost the same rapid decrease of the water level. Active flood protection measures include dry mountain flood control reservoirs, the principle of which is to transform part of the flood runoff and to accumulate water for the short time in the the artificial reservoir, with followed rapid emptying to the minimum level. The complex hydraulic regime is formed in the body of the dam which forms the flood control reservoir during the flood, that is different from the operation of the water permanent reservoir. The design of the flood control structures is car-ried out in accordance with Ukrainian building codes for the construction of the water reservoirs with constant water level, and require testing the stability of the downstream slope for the maximum water levels under steady state seepage conditions and assessment the upstream slope stability during the water level decreasing from the maximum level calculated in the steady state condition, these calculations do not correspond to the real seepage processes in the body of the dam of the dry flood control reservoir. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to determine the necessary boundary conditions of the flood control reservoir operation and upstream slope stability assessment by the limit equilibrium method. In the article the operation of the dry mountain flood control reservoir was analysed and found that the dam was characterized by two states: dry reservoir with water minimum water level and variable position of the seepage curve in the core and the upstream prism during the flood. The main factors influencing the upstream slope stability are the physical and mechanical properties of the soil, the laying of the slope, the period of time when the high-water level is maintained and the intensity of water level dropping. The upstream slope stability was evaluated by the Morgenstern & Price and Ordinary methods on the Slope/w software package. After the first 25 hours of the flood (period of high-water levels and the next water level dropping) the Safety Factor evaluated by limit equilibrium methods began to decrease, and reached the minimum value during the greatest seepage curve gradients at the time between 45 and 50 hours. Slope stability calculations by the limit equilibrium method were compared with the results of calculations performed by the SRM method, the values ​​of the Safety Factor and the way of their change during the flood evaluated by Ordinary and SRM methods almost coincide, which indicates the reliability of the results obtained by different methods of slope stability analysis

Study of the soil stability theory problems by the simplex method

The questions of linear programming methods application to the main problems of stability theory - problems on slope stability, problems on ultimate pressure of soil on enclosures (case of landslide pressure), and problems on bearing capacity of horizontal base of a die are considered. The problems of stability theory are formulated as linear programming tasks. It is shown that the given systems of equations are linear with respect to the unknowns and may be solved by the Simplex method. The results of soil stability problems calculation by Simplex method are compared with the results of calculations according to the most known classical schemes. It is shown that a great scatter of final results is observed in calculating the stability of slopes by classical methods, and in this case, the results obtained by the Simplex method are the most trustworthy ones. The situation with landslide pressure definition is especially complicated in this sense where classical methods give a scatter of landslide pressure values by several times. It is established that with increasing discretization of the computational domain, the results tend to exact solutions of the limit equilibrium theory, obtained, for example, by the method of characteristics. The latter point is illustrated using the example of the problem of a die pushing into a ground massif with a Hill scheme bulge.

Semi Empirical Slope Stability Analyses of Mohmand Dam using Limit Equilibrium and Finite Element Methods

This study presents a framework for semi-empirical slope stability analysis of Mohmand dam, an important ongoing mega concrete faced rockfill dam hydropower project in Pakistan. The project comprises of 213 m high hybrid dam that will produce 800 megawatt of clean hydropower energy in addition to an effective flood mitigation. Also, it will supply water for both irrigation and drinking to the provincial capital city, Peshawar. In this study, finite element and limit equilibrium methods have been used for slope stability analysis and factors of safety have been computed for all anticipated loading conditions including earthquake loading. The rockfill samples of main dam were obtained from the construction material site of Mohmand dam and the input parameters for slope stability analysis were obtained both empirically and through laboratory testing. Results of both limit equilibrium and finite element analyses have been compared and it was observed that the latter is more conservative than the former except for earthquake loading. The implications of current findings have been demonstrated using an important case study of an independent dam site that would boost the confidence of practitioners.

Application of Harmony Search Algorithm to Slope Stability Analysis

Slope stability analysis is undoubtedly one of the most complex problems in geotechnical engineering and its study plays a paramount role in mitigating the risk associated with the occurrence of a landslide. This problem is commonly tackled by using limit equilibrium methods or advanced numerical techniques to assess the slope safety factor or, sometimes, even the displacement field of the slope. In this study, as an alternative approach, an attempt to assess the stability condition of homogeneous slopes was made using a machine learning (ML) technique. Specifically, a meta-heuristic algorithm (Harmony Search (HS) algorithm) and K-means algorithm were employed to perform a clustering analysis by considering two different classes, depending on whether a slope was unstable or stable. To achieve the purpose of this study, a database made up of 19 case studies with 6 model inputs including unit weight, intercept cohesion, angle of shearing resistance, slope angle, slope height and pore pressure ratio and one output (i.e., the slope safety factor) was established. Referring to this database, 17 out of 19 slopes were categorized correctly. Moreover, the obtained results showed that, referring to the considered database, the intercept cohesion was the most significant parameter in defining the class of each slope, whereas the unit weight had the smallest influence. Finally, the obtained results showed that the Harmony Search algorithm is an efficient approach for training K-means algorithms.

The Effect of Joint Damage on a Coal Wall and the Influence of Joints on the Abutment Pressure on a Fully Mechanised Working Face with Large Mining Height

Coal wall spalling is regarded as a key technical problem influencing safe and efficient mining of large-mining-height working faces while the distribution of abutment pressure within the limit equilibrium zone (LEZ) influences coal wall spalling within a large-mining-height working face. This research attempted to explore the distribution characteristics of abutment pressure within the LEZ in a large-mining-height working face. For this purpose, the influences of the orientation of joints on mechanical characteristics of coal with joints and on the distribution of abutment pressure within the LEZ in the large-mining-height working face were analysed by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Research results show that the damage variable of coal with joints first rises, then decreases, and finally increases with increasing dip angle of the joints; as the azimuth of the joints increases, the damage variable first declines, then increases; the damage variable gradually declines with increasing joint spacing; an increase in the dip angle of joints corresponds to first reduction, then growth, and a final decrease of the abutment pressure at the same position in front of the coal walls; on certain conditions, the abutment pressure at the same position within the LEZ first rises, then declines as the azimuth of joints increases; with the growth of the joint spacing, the abutment pressure at the same position within the LEZ rises. The dip angle and azimuth of joints marginally affect the abutment pressure within the LEZ.