Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Numerical Analysis of Consolidation of Soft Ground Improved by Sand Columns under a Freeway Embankment in Shallow Sea: Case Study
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17, Issue 8
Abstract
The freeway embankment linking Meizhou Island with Putian City in Fujian, China, passes through a shallow-sea area. Sand columns distributed in regular triangles and sand cushions reinforced with geogrids were employed to accelerate the consolidation of the soft ground beneath the embankment and improve its bearing capacity. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) finite-element analysis was carried out using the modified Cam-clay model to enhance the level of design and analysis of this complicated practical engineering problem of soft-ground improvement in terms of accurate prediction of the settlement, horizontal displacement, period of surcharge preloading, and variation of excess pore-water pressure. The predicted settlement and horizontal displacement of the embankment subgrade were found to agree well with the actual measurements. In line with the prediction of a consolidation degree of 95%, ultimately, the 340th day was determined to be the optimal date on which to remove the surcharge. In addition, the 3D effect of the variation of excess pore-water pressure was clearly revealed. The results prove that the 3D nonlinear numerical method presented in this paper is scientific and reliable for complicated practical engineering problems involving soft-ground improvement.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for the financial support of the Department of Transport of Fujian Province. As a Visiting Senior Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia, the first author also thanks the China Scholarship Council for support. Special thanks are due to Associate Professor Wei-Dong Guo from the University of Wollongong for his valuable advice on the presentation of the paper.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17 • Issue 8 • August 2017
Copyright
© 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 18, 2016
Accepted: Dec 19, 2016
Published online: Mar 14, 2017
Published in print: Aug 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Aug 14, 2017
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