Earth Pressure due to Vibratory Compaction
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper presents experimental data on the variation of lateral earth pressure against a nonyielding retaining wall due to soil filling and vibratory compaction. Air-dry Ottawa sand was placed in five lifts and each lift was compacted to achieve a relative density of 75%. Each compacted lift was thick. The instrumented nonyielding wall facility at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan was used to investigate the effects of vibratory compaction on the change of stresses at the soil-wall interface. Based on the experimental data it has been found that, for a compacted backfill, the vertical overburden pressure can also be properly estimated with the traditional equation . The effects of vibratory compaction on the vertical pressure in the backfill were insignificant. On the vertical nonyielding wall, extra horizontal earth pressure was induced by vibratory compaction. After compaction, the lateral earth pressure measured near the top of the wall was almost identical to the passive Rankine pressure. It is concluded that as the cyclic compacting stress applied on the surface of the backfill exceeded the ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation soil, a shear failure zone would develop in the uppermost layer of the backfill. For a soil element under lateral compression, the vertical overburden pressure remained unchanged, and the horizontal stress increased to the Rankine passive pressure. It was also found that the compaction-influenced zone rose with the rising compaction surface. The horizontal earth pressure measured below the compaction-influenced zone converged to the Jaky state of stress.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to acknowledge the National Science Council of the Republic of China government Grant No. (UNSPECIFIEDNSC 89-2211-E-009-092) for the financial assistance that made this investigation possible. Special thanks are extended to Ying-Chieh Ho, Shin-Yu Chang, Chien-Ting Chen, Si-Kai Tzeng, Shi-Han Tzeng, and Yu-Lun Chien for their assistance.
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© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2006
Accepted: Aug 11, 2007
Published online: Apr 1, 2008
Published in print: Apr 2008
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