Seismic Bearing Capacity of Strip Footings on Ground Reinforced by Stone Columns Using Upper-Bound Solutions
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 20, Issue 9
Abstract
In this technical note, the seismic bearing capacity coefficients of shallow foundations placed on soft ground reinforced by stone columns are evaluated based on the upper-bound theorem of limit analysis. A kinematically admissible failure mechanism is developed that permits the evaluation of the bearing capacity under various values of the horizontal seismic coefficients. A series of design charts covering a wide range of parameters are presented to provide guidelines for the preliminary design of groups of stone columns in seismically active zones. The results from previous studies and an upper-bound limit-state plasticity failure discretization scheme [employing discontinuity layout optimization (DLO)] are used to validate the accuracy of the developed formula.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, and code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request:
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The numerical model of column walls built in DLO; and
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The optimization method and code for assessing the seismic bearing capacity factors in MATLAB.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0805407), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51708405 and 41630641), the Project of Tianjin Science and Technology Plan (No. 16YDLJSF00040), and the Project of Self-Dependent Innovation Funding (No. 2019XZC-0027). The authors appreciate the financial support of these agencies.
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© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 14, 2019
Accepted: Apr 27, 2020
Published online: Jul 7, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 7, 2020
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