Active earth pressure against flexible retaining wall for finite soils under the drum deformation mode

A reasonable method is proposed to calculate the active earth pressure of finite soils based on the drum deformation mode of the flexible retaining wall close to the basement’s outer wall. The flexible retaining wall with cohesionless sand is studied, and the ultimate failure angle of finite soils close to the basement’s outer wall is obtained using the Coulomb theory. Soil arch theory is led to get the earth pressure coefficient in the subarea using the trace line of minor principal stress of circular arc after stress deflection. The soil layers at the top and bottom part of the retaining wall are restrained when the drum deformation occurs, and the soil layers are in a non-limit state. The linear relationship between the wall movement’s magnitude and the mobilization of the internal friction angle and the wall friction anger is presented. The level layer analysis method is modified to propose the resultant force of active earth pressure, the action point’s height, and the pressure distribution. Model tests are carried out to emulate the process of drum deformation and soil rupture with limited width. Through image analysis, it is found that the failure angle of soil within the limited width is larger than that of infinite soil. With the increase of the aspect ratio, the failure angle gradually reduces and tends to be constant. Compared with the test results, it is shown that the horizontal earth pressure reduces with the reduction of the aspect ratio within critical width, and the resultant force decreases with the increase of the limit state region under the same ratio. The middle part of the distribution curve is concave. The active earth pressure strength decreases less than Coulomb’s value, the upper and lower soil layers are in the non-limit state, and the active earth pressure strength is more than Coulomb’s value.

Numerical analysis of the effect of embedment depth on the geometry of the cone failure

This paper presents the results of a numerical FEM analysis of the effect of embedment depth on the extent of the failure zone (cone failure) under the effect of an undercut anchor. For the establishment of the other affecting quantities, the formation of the value of the cone failure angle of the rock medium depending on the embedment depth was analysed. The problem is interesting as regards aspects of rock mass loosening during pull-out of undercut anchors. As a result of the analysis, a significant effect of embedment depth on propagation and the extent of cone failure has been found. The increasing value of embedment depth significantly decreases the extent of the failure zone measured on a free rock surface. The increasing value of cone failure angle limits the potential interaction of failure zones in multi-anchor systems.

Active Earth Pressure Against Flexible Retaining Wall For Finite Soils Under The Drum Deformation Mode

A reasonable method is proposed to calculate the active earth pressure of finite soils based on the drum deformation mode of the flexible retaining wall close to the basement’s outer wall. The flexible retaining wall with cohesionless sand is studied, and the ultimate failure angle of finite soils close to the basement’s outer wall is obtained using the Coulomb theory. Soil arch theory is led to get the earth pressure coefficient in the subarea using the trace line of minor principal stress of circular arc after stress deflection. The soil layers at the top and bottom part of the retaining wall are restrained when the drum deformation occurs, and the soil layers are in a non-limit state. The linear relationship between the wall movement’s magnitude and the mobilization of the internal friction angle and the wall friction anger is presented. The level layer analysis method is modified to propose the resultant force of active earth pressure, the action point’s height, and the pressure distribution. Model tests are carried out to emulate the process of drum deformation and soil rupture with limited width. Through image analysis, it is found that the failure angle of soil within the limited width is larger than that of infinite soil. With the increase of the aspect ratio, the failure angle gradually reduces and tends to be constant. Compared with the test results, it is showed that the horizontal earth pressure reduces with the reduction of the aspect ratio within critical width, and the resultant force decreases with the increase of the limit state region under the same ratio. The middle part of the distribution curve is concave. The active earth pressure strength decreases less than Coulomb’s value, the upper and lower soil layers are in the non-limit state, and the active earth pressure strength is more than Coulomb’s value.

Experimental and numerical modeling to investigate the riverbank’s stability

The purpose of this paper is to assess the failure mechanism of riverbanks due to stream flow experimentally and numerically to avoid recurring landslides by identifying the most dangerous place and treating them by a suitable method. The experiments and the physical models were carried out to study the failure mechanism of riverbank and evaluation of their stability in two cases: short-term condition and long-term condition flow where three models were tested. The Tigris River (Iraq) is considered as a model in this paper in terms of the applied velocity and modeled soil of the banks it was used at the same characteristics in the prototype scale. Also, a numerical simulation was performed using the FLOW-3D program to determine the velocity distribution and to identify the areas subjected to the high stress levels through the water flow. The obtained results in this paper are inspecting of failure mechanism types that occur under the influence of specific limits of flow velocity, which have shown good compatibility with the type of failure in the prototype scale. In addition to calculating the amount of soil erosion, the failure angle, and the amount of soil settlement at the riverbank model is investigated also. The results of experimental work and numerical simulation were well matched, where the standard error rate for Froude number ranged between (1.8%–6.6%), and the flow depth between (2.7%–6.9%).

Mechanical and Acoustic Emission (AE) Characteristics of Rocks under Biaxial Confinements

The surrounding rocks of underground engineering are generally subjected to a biaxial compressive stress condition. The failure properties of rocks under such a stress condition are worthy of being studied to ensure the stability of surrounding rock. This study aims to investigate the mechanical characteristics and acoustic emission (AE) properties of granite, marble, and sandstone in biaxial compression tests. Under biaxial confinements, it is evident that the elastic moduli of the three types of rocks decrease, and the plasticity increases monotonously with the increase of the intermediate principal stress σ2. As σ2 increases, the biaxial compressive strength σbcs of rock increases initially and subsequently decreases. The lateral strain ε2 of rock under biaxial confinement is controlled by both σ1 and σ2, and the restrain degree in the development of microcracks and the constrain extent in the expansion along the direction of σ2 are both enhanced gradually with increase in σ2. The sharp increase points of AE hit and AE count indicate that the failure will occur soon. The AF-RA distribution of AE signals shows that the increase of σ2 causes more tensile cracks in rock. According to the dip failure angle of macro-cracks in rock under biaxial confinement, the failure modes of granite and marble are slabbing, while failure mode of sandstone is shear. In addition, the σ2 has a positive effect on the mass ratio of large size fragments after rock failure. An exponent relationship between the σbcs and σ2 was found, and the inner apices–inscribed Drucker–Prager criterion can be used to predict the σbcs of rock.

An Analytical Method of Coulomb’s Active Earth Pressure Acting on Cohesion-Less Backfill Subject to Local Surcharge in Cold Regions

The traditional Coulomb’s earth pressure theory does not consider the effect of local surcharge on the lateral earth pressure and its critical failure angle. However, in practice, local surcharges commonly act on the surface of frozen backfill that is affected by freeze-thaw actions in cold regions and tend to affect the active thrust and its position. In paper, analytical solutions for estimating the active thrust, critical wedge failure angle, and action position subject to a local surcharge in cold regions are proposed. Herein, the simplified equivalent moment of surcharge is adopted on the premise of maintaining Coulomb’s earth pressure assumptions. The formula derivation is provided as a typical example to obtain the active thrust, critical wedge failure angle, and its position under a strip surcharge. Compared with previous approaches, the proposed solutions lead to easier evaluation of all indexes associated with Coulomb’s active earth pressure. Meanwhile, the expressions of Coulomb’s earth pressure under other types of nonuniform loading acting on the wall are discussed. In addition, sensitivity is performed to assess the effect of some main parameters. The results indicate that the dip angle of retaining wall-back and the friction angle of frozen backfill soil are two most significant indexes that influence the active thrust and its position.

Effect of longitudinal stiffeners’ spacing in lateral-torsional buckling

This study focused on the experimental assessment of the effect of the spacing between longitudinal stiffeners welded to I-shaped beams under the action of lateral-torsional buckling. In this procedure, 192 aluminum beams on a 1:9 scale were tested under simple-support conditions with a laterally unbraced length ranging from 0.55 m through 1.95 m. Moreover, the stiffeners’ spacing was also ranged from 3 to 9 times the depth of section. The structural behavior of the beams is discussed in terms of their flexural capacity, spacing between longitudinal stiffeners, lateral displacement of compression flange and failure angle twist. Results show that the spacing of longitudinal stiffeners influences the flexural capacity of I-shaped beams, so that, when the spacing of longitudinal stiffeners decreases, flexural capacity tends to increase, especially in the elastic buckling zone.

UHB Design Approach for Multiple Pipelines Installed in Shared Trench

Upheaval buckling (UHB) mitigation for trenched and buried pipelines can constitute a substantial cost element for offshore field development. There appears to have a variety of reasons for dual or more pipelines and umbilicals to be considered for installation inside the same trench. A single shared trench has been used for multiple pipelines not only for cost saving, but especially when constrained and driven by route corridor challenges. The common practice for dual pipeline trenching and UHB design is to either perform UHB design independently without due consideration of the pipelines in the proximity, potentially resulting in a compromised UHB mitigation design, or simply combine the uplift resistance required for each individual pipeline in the proximity to obtain the overall backfill/rock dumping to account for pipeline interactions. This paper re-examines the rationale of the normal practice and some fundamental aspects of UHB design for dual pipelines installation inside the same trench. The proximity effect on the uplift resistance is investigated with respect to pipeline spacing and burial depth. Its impact on the UHB mitigation is considered by a detailed analysis and a series of parametric simulations with respect to pipeline dimensions and gaps. The sensitivity of the soil slip failure angle and the dilatancy is also performed. Based on the theoretical analysis and FEA modelling, a model solution is formulated and proposed for evaluating uplift resistance reduction for multiple lines. The formulae are extended to deal with multi-layered soil and rockdump. A number of pipeline configurations have been discussed including a piggyback arrangement. A robust UHB mitigation and reduced optimum rockdumping can be achieved by considering the proximity effect through challenging the industry norms and common approach.