Influence of the Spatial Variability of Soil Shear Strength on Deep Excavation: A Case Study of a Bangkok Underground MRT Station
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 21, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper investigates the effects that the spatial variability of a soil's undrained shear strength has on lateral wall movements and ground surface settlements when performing a deep excavation stability analysis. A random finite-element method is employed to statistically assess a deep excavation. A case study based on an actual deep excavation project in Bangkok's subsoils was used to validate the methodology. The two-dimensional spatial variability of the undrained shear strength in the clay layers of Bangkok's subsoil is simulated using the random field theory and Monte Carlo simulation. The Mohr–Coulomb model is used to predict lateral wall movements and ground surface settlements, while the stability analysis of the deep excavation is evaluated by the factor of safety using the strength reduction approach. The results show that spatial variability highly affects the distribution of lateral wall movements and ground surface settlements, as well as the scatter of the factor of safety corresponding to progressing stages of excavation.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Ratchadapisek Sompoch Endowment Fund (2020), Chulalongkorn University (763014 Climate Change and Disaster Management Cluster). The first author acknowledges the Ratchadapisek Sompot Fund (2020) for the Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chulalongkorn University.
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© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Mar 23, 2020
Accepted: Sep 10, 2020
Published online: Nov 20, 2020
Published in print: Feb 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Apr 20, 2021
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