Simulation of Weather-Driven Deterioration of Clay Embankments
Publication: Geo-Congress 2024
ABSTRACT
Clay embankments used for road, rail, and flood defense infrastructure experience several weather-driven deterioration processes that lead to a progressive degradation in their hydromechanical performance. This paper presents a numerical modeling approach that accounts for the development of desiccation cracking in clay embankments. Specifically, a bimodal soil-water retentivity model was adopted to capture the long-term hydraulic behavior of clay embankments prone to weather-driven desiccation cracking. A numerical model was developed for a heavily instrumented and monitored full-scale research embankment with long-term field data. The model was able to capture the variation of near-surface soil moisture and matric suction over a monitored period of nine years in response to weather cycles. The developed and validated numerical modeling approach enables forecasting of the long-term performance of clay embankments under a range of future climate scenarios.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D., and Smith, M. (1998). Crop evapotranspiration-Guidelines for computing crop water requirements-FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 56. FAO, Rome, 300(9), D05109.
Anderson, M. G., Hubbard, M. G., and Kneale, P. E. (1982). “The influence of shrinkage cracks on pore-water pressures within a clay embankment.” Q. Journal of Eng. Geology & Hydrogeol, 15(1):9–14.
Aubeny, C. P., and Lytton, R. L. (2004). “Shallow slides in compacted high plasticity clay slopes.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 130(7):717–727.
Cheng, Q., Tang, C. S., Zeng, H., Zhu, C., An, N., and Shi, B. (2020). “Effects of microstructure on desiccation cracking of a compacted soil.” Engineering Geology, 265, 105418.
Chertkov, V. Y. (2000). “Using surface crack spacing to predict crack network geometry in swelling soils.” Soil Science Society of America Journal, 64 (6):1918–1921.
Dasog, G. S., Acton, D. F., Mermut, A. R., and DeJong, E. (1988). “Shrink-swell potential and cracking in clay soils of Saskatchewan.” Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 68(2):251–260.
Dixon, N., et al. (2019). “In situ measurements of near-surface hydraulic conductivity in engineered clay slopes.” Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology, 52(1):123–135.
Fredlund, D. G., Rahardjo, H., and Fredlund, M. D. (2012). Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, US, 926p.
Hughes, P. N., et al. (2009). “Full-scale testing to assess climate effects on embankments.” Proc. of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Engineering Sustainability, 162(2):67–79.
Itasca. (2016). Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua V. 8.0 – User’s Guide. 6th edition, Itasca Consulting Group Inc., Minneapolis, US.
Kayyal, M. K., and Wright, S. G. (1991). Investigation of long-term strength properties of Paris and Beaumont clays in earth embankments., Center for Transportation Research, Austin, TX.
Kovacevic, N., Hight, D. W., Potts, D. M., and Carter, I. C. (2013). “Finite-element analysis of the failure and reconstruction of the main dam embankment at Abberton Reservoir, Essex, UK.” Géotechnique, 63(9):753–767.
Lees, A. S., MacDonald, G. J., Sheerman-Chase, A., and Schmidt, F. (2013). “Seasonal slope movements in an old clay fill embankment dam.” Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 50(5):503–520.
Li, J. H., Zhang, L. M., and Li, X. (2011). “Soil‐water characteristic curve and permeability function for unsaturated cracked soil.” Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 48(7):1010‐1031.
Mesri, G., and Olson, R. E. (1971). “Mechanisms controlling the permeability of clays.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 19(3):151–158.
Morsy, A. M., Helm, P. R., El-Hamalawi, A., Smith, A., Hughes, P. N., Stirling, R. A., Dijkstra, T. A., Dixon, N., and Glendinning, S. (2023a). “Development of a Multi-Phase Numerical Modeling Approach for Hydromechanical Behavior of Clay Embankments Subject to Weather-Driven Deterioration,” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 149(8): 04023062. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/jggefk/gteng-11213.
Morsy, A. M., Helm, P. R., El-Hamalawi, A., Smith, A., Hughes, P. N., Stirling, R. A., Dijkstra, T. A., Dixon, N., and Glendinning, S. (2023b). Data Used for the Validation of the BIONICS Research Embankment Hydromechanical Model., Newcastle University. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.22144442.
Mualem, Y. (1976). “A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media.” Water Resources Research, 12(3):513–522.
Network Rail. (2021). A review of earthworks management., Milton Keynes, UK, February 2021.
Rouainia, M., Davies, O., O’Brien, T., and Glendinning, S. (2009). “Numerical modelling of climate effects on slope stability.” Proc. of Institution of Civil Engineers-Eng.Sustainability, 162(2), pp. 81–89.
Samarasinghe, A. M., Huang, Y. H., and Drnevich, V. P. (1982). “Permeability and consolidation of normally consolidated soils.” J. of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, 108(6): 835–850.
Skempton, A. W. (1964). “Long-term stability of clay slopes.” Géotechnique, 14(2): 77–102.
Skempton, A. W. (1996). “Embankments and cuttings on the early railways.” Const History, 11, pp. 33–49.
Take, W. A., and Bolton, M. D. (2011). “Seasonal ratcheting and softening in clay slopes, leading to first-time failure.” Géotechnique, 61(9):757–769.
Templeton, A. E., Sills, G. L., and Cooley, L. A. (1984). “Long term failure in compacted clay slopes.” In Proc. of International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, 749–754.
Trenter, N. A. (2001). Earthworks: A Guide. Thomas Telford Ltd, London.
van Genuchten, M. T. (1980). “A closed‐form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils.” Soil Science Society of America Journal, 44(5):892–898.
Vaughan, P. R., Kovacevic, N., and Potts, D. M. (2004). “Then and now: some comments on the design and analysis of slopes and embankments.” Proc. of Advances in Geotech Engineering, 241–290.
Yaalon, D. H., and Kalmar, D. (1984). “Extent and dynamics of cracking in a heavy clay soil with xeric moisture regime.” Proc. Sym. on water & solute movement in heavy clay soils. ILRI, Netherlands.
Yu, Z., Stirling, R. A., Davie, C. T., and Eminue, O. (2020). BIONICS cracking data. Newcastle University. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.12820802.v3.
Yu, Z., Stirling, R., Glendinning, S., Hughes, P., Brooks, H. (2021). Data from BIONICS research embankment. Newcastle University. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.15506019.v7.
Zein el-Abedine, A., and Robinson, G. H. (1971). “A study on cracking in some vertisols of the Sudan.” Geoderma, 5(3):229–241.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2024
Pages: 85 - 94
History
Published online: Feb 22, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Clays
- Climates
- Continuum mechanics
- Cracking
- Deterioration
- Embankment (transportation)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Environmental engineering
- Fracture mechanics
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Highway and road management
- Highway and road structures
- Highway transportation
- Infrastructure
- Materials characterization
- Materials engineering
- Meteorology
- Models (by type)
- Numerical models
- Rail transportation
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soil water
- Soils (by type)
- Solid mechanics
- Transportation engineering
- Weather conditions
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.