Interpretation of Cone Penetration Test Data of an Embankment for Coupled Numerical Modeling

The Nerang Broadbeach Roadway (NBR) embankment in Australia is founded on soft clay deposits. The embankment sections were preloaded and surcharged-preloaded to limit the post-construction deformation and to avoid stability failure. In this paper, we discuss the NBR embankment’s geology, geotechnical properties of the subsurface, and long-term field monitoring data from settlement plates and piezometers. We demonstrate a comparison of cone penetration test (CPT) and piezo cone dissipation test (CPT-u) interpreted geotechnical properties and the NBR embankment’s foundation stratification with laboratory and field measured data. We also developed two elasto-viscoplastic (EVP) models for long-term performance prediction of the NBR embankment. In this regard, we considered both the associated and the non-associated flow rule in the EVP model formulation to assess the flow rule effect of soft clay. We also compared EVP model predictions with the Modified Cam Clay (MCC) model to evaluate the effect of viscous behavior of natural Estuarine clay. Both EVP models require six parameters, and five of them are similar to the MCC model. We used the secondary compression index of clay in the EVP model formulations to include the viscous response of clay. We obtained numerical models’ parameters from laboratory tests and interpretation of CPT and CPTu data. We observed that the EVP models predicted well compared with the MCC model because of the inclusion of soft clay’s viscosity in the EVP models. Moreover, the flow rule effect in the embankment’s performance predictions was noticeable. The non-associated flow rule EVP model predicted the field monitoring settlement and pore pressure better compared to the MCC model and the associated flow EVP model.

Characteristic parameters of soil failure criteria for plane strain conditions – experimental and semi-theoretical study

The paper concerns the characteristic parameters of the selected isotropic failure criteria, i.e. Mohr–Coulomb, Drucker–Prager, Matsuoka–Nakai and Lade–Duncan. The parameters are determined directly from the failure criteria and stress measurements or by semi-theoretical approach, assuming that the soil obeys the associated flow rule and using the plane strain condition. In the latter case, the parameters can be expressed as functions of the plane strain internal friction angle, which is determined from measurements. The principal stress tensor components, corresponding to the soil peak strength and necessary to obtain the failure criteria parameters, are measured in a series of true triaxial, plane strain tests, on coarse Skarpa sand samples of different initial relative density, subjected to various confining pressures.

Estimation of the Stresses in Rotational Autofrettage of Thick-Walled Pressure Vessels Using von Mises Yield Criterion

Rotational autofrettage is one of the recently proposed potential methods for eliminating the in-service yielding of thick-walled cylindrical pressure vessels. A few researchers have studied the feasibility of the process theoretically, and asserted certain advantages over the practicing hydraulic and swage autofrettage processes. In the literature, all theoretical analyses on the rotational autofrettage are based on the Tresca yield criterion and its associated flow rule, along with the assumption of different plane end conditions (plane strain and generalized plane strain). In this paper, an analysis of the rotational autofrettage of cylindrical vessel is attempted incorporating von Mises yield criterion. The plane strain condition is used for the analysis. A numerical shooting method is used to solve the governing differential equations providing the elastic-plastic stress distributions in the cylinder during loading. The present procedure is numerically experimented for a typical AH36 pressure vessel. It is found that the achievable level of the maximum stress pressure of the rotationally autofrettaged vessel is 74.46% higher than that of its non-autofrettaged counterpart for an overstrain level of 46.7%.