Centrifuge Modeling of a Saturated Clay Ground under Cyclic Loading
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 18, Issue 6
Abstract
To study the effects of traffic loading, three centrifuge tests were carried out on the response of a saturated clay ground under sinusoidally cyclic vertical loading. The clay ground was overconsolidated at its top to simulate a crust. The overconsolidation ratio of the crust and the loading frequency were varied among the three tests. Excess pore pressures were measured both along the horizontal and vertical directions. The settlement of the pavement was measured by a laser transducer, and the displacement field was captured by the technology of particle image velocimetry, based on which volumetric strains were calculated. The evolutions of excess pore pressures and volumetric strains were shown to be consistent. Among the several conclusions to be drawn from the test results, it was found that a stiff crust made the excess pore pressures under the load more difficult to dissipate and the high loading frequency made the effect of the vertical cyclic loading less significant for the saturated clay ground.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China through Grant Nos. 51238009 and 51578413 is gratefully acknowledged.
References
Almeida, M. S. S., Davies, M. C. R., and Parry, R. H. G. (1985). “Centrifuge tests of embankments on strengthened and unstrengthened clay foundations.” Géotechnique, 35(4), 425–441.
Andersen, K. H., Pool, J. H., Brown, S. F., and Rosenbrand, W. F. (1980). “Cyclic and static laboratory tests on Drammen clay.” J. Geotech. Eng., 106(5), 499–529.
Aursudkij, B. (2007). “A laboratory study of railway ballast behaviour under traffic loading and tamping maintenance.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Nottingham, U.K.
Cai, Y. Q., Guo, L., Jardine, R. J., Yang, Z. X., and Wang, J. (2017). “Stress-strain response of soft clay to traffic loading.” Géotechnique, 67(5), 446–451.
Cai, Y., Chen, J., Cao, Z., Gu, C., and Wang, J. (2018a). “Influence of grain gradation on permanent strain of unbound granular materials under low confining pressure and high-cycle loading.” Int. J. Geomech., 04017156.
Cai, Y., Wu, T., Guo, L., and Wang, J. (2018b). “Stiffness degradation and plastic strain accumulation of clay under cyclic load with principal stress rotation and deviatoric stress variation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., in press.
Chen, C., Ge, L., and Zhang, J. (2010). “Modeling permanent deformation of unbound granular materials under repeated loads.” Int. J. Geomech., 236–241.
Das, B. M., and Shin, E. C. (1996). “Laboratory model tests for cyclic load-induced settlement of a strip foundation on clayey soil.” Geotech. Geol. Eng., 14(3), 213–225.
Dewoolkar, M. M., Ko, H.-Y., and Pak, R. Y. S. (1999). “Centrifuge modelling of models of seismic effects on saturated earth structures.” Géotechnique, 49(2), 247–266.
Frost, M. W., Fleming, P. R., and Rogers, C. D. F. (2004). “Cyclic triaxial tests on clay subgrades for analytical pavement design.” J. Transp. Eng., 378–386.
Guo, L., Cai, Y., Jardine, R. J., Yang, Z., and Wang, J. (2018). “Undrained behaviour of intact soft clay under cyclic paths that match vehicle loading conditions.” Can. Geotech. J., 55(1), 90–106.
Guo, L., Wang, J., Cai, Y., Liu, H., Gao, Y., and Sun, H. (2013). “Undrained deformation behavior of saturated soft clay under long-term cyclic loading.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 50, 28–37.
Hanna, A. M., and Javed, K. J. (2014). “Experimental investigation of foundations on sensitive clay subjected to cyclic loading.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 04014065.
Islam, M., and Gnanendran, C. T. (2013). “Behaviour of two closely spaced strip footings placed on a stiff clay bed under cyclic loading.” Geotech. Test. J., 36(2), 242–247.
Ko, H. Y. (1988). “Summary of the state-of-the-art in centrifuge model testing.” Centrifuges in soil mechanics, W. H. Craig, R. G. James, and A. N. Schofield, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 11–18.
Lefebvre, G., and Pfendler, P. (1996). “Strain rate and preshear effects in cyclic resistance of soft clay.” J. Geotech. Eng., 21–26.
Ling, H. I., Mohri, Y., Kawabata, T., Liu, H., Burke, C., and Sun, L. (2003). “Centrifugal modeling of seismic behavior of large-diameter pipeline in liquefiable soil.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1092–1101.
McMahon, B. T., and Bolton, M. D. (2014). “Centrifuge experiments on the settlement of circular foundation on clay.” Can. Geotech. J., 51(6), 610–620.
Ni, J., Indraratna, B., Geng, X.-Y., Carter, J. P., and Chen, Y.-L. (2015). “Model of soft soils under cyclic loading.” Int. J. Geomech., 04014067.
Procter, D. C., and Khaffaf, J. H. (1984). “Cyclic triaxial tests on remoulded clays.” J. Geotech. Eng., 1431–1445.
Qian, J.-G., Wang, Y.-G., Yin, Z.-Y., and Huang, M.-S. (2016). “Experimental identification of plastic shakedown behavior of saturated clay subjected to traffic loading with principal stress rotation.” Eng. Geol., 214, 29–42.
Raymond, G. P., and El Komos, F. (1978). “Repeated load testing of a model plane strain footing.” Can. Geotech. J., 15(2), 190–201.
Sawicki, A., Swidzinski, W., and Zadroga, B. (1998). “Settlement of shallow foundation due to cyclic vertical force.” Soils Found., 38(1), 35–43.
Sun, Q., Cai, Y., Chu, J., Dong, Q., and Wang, J. (2017). “Effect of variable confining pressure on cyclic behaviour of granular soil under triaxial tests.” Can. Geotech. J., 54(6), 768–777.
Tafreshi, S. N. M., and Dawson, A. R. (2012). “A comparison of static and cyclic loading responses of foundations on geocell-reinforced sand.” Geotext. Geomembr., 32, 55–68.
Wang, Y., Zhang, G., and Wang, A. (2017). “Progressive failure behavior and mechanism of soil slopes under dynamic loading conditions.” Int. J. Geomech., 04016102.
Wei, X., Wang, G., and Wu, R. (2017). “Prediction of traffic loading-induced settlement of low-embankment road on soft subsoil.” Int. J. Geomech., 06016016.
White, D. J. (2008). “Contributions to Géotechnique 1948–2008: Physical modelling.” Géotechnique, 58(5), 413–421.
White, D. J., Take, W. A., and Bolton, M. D. (2003). “Soil deformation measurement using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and photogrammetry.” Géotechnique, 53(7), 619–631.
Zhang, G., Hu, Y., and Zhang, J. M. (2009). “New image analysis-based displacement-measurement system for geotechnical centrifuge modeling tests.” Meas., 42(1), 87–96.
Zhang, G., Rong, B., and Fu, P. (2013). “Centrifuge model test study of static and cyclic behavior of a pile foundation for an offshore wind generator.” J. Test. Eval., 41(5), 701–712.
Zhang, J. (2016). “Experimental study on saturated soft-clay and analysis of long-term settlement under aircraft loading.” Ph.D. thesis, Tongji Univ., Shanghai, China (in Chinese).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 18 • Issue 6 • June 2018
Copyright
© 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 11, 2017
Accepted: Dec 18, 2017
Published online: Mar 28, 2018
Published in print: Jun 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Aug 28, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.