Stability Analysis of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Shallow Foundations with a Lower-Bound FELA Approach Adopting the Nonassociated Plastic Flow Rule
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23, Issue 2
Abstract
Finite-element limit analysis (FELA) is an effective numerical method to evaluate the stability of reinforced geostructures. Such an analysis has been commonly performed in the literature by assuming the earthen material to follow the well-defined associated plastic flow rule. In this study, the effect of adopting the nonassociated plastic flow rule on the ultimate bearing capacity of eccentrically-obliquely loaded shallow footings placed over geosynthetic-reinforced granular soil is rigorously examined through a comprehensive set of lower-bound FELA simulations along with second-order cone programming. The nonassociativity of the plastic flow rule is incorporated into the formulation of the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion by considering a wide range of dilation angles (ψ) varying between 0 and the soil internal friction angle (φ). Unlike the previous FELA studies, both pull-out (sliding) and tensile (structural) modes of geosynthetic failure are taken into account. Accordingly, the impact of considering the nonassociated flow rule for the sand deposit on the bearing capacity ratio, failure envelopes, and the failure mechanism of overlying shallow foundation is investigated and discussed. The results show that failing to consider the significant influence of nonassociativity in the FELA simulations leads to overestimations of the tensile forces mobilized in the reinforcement layer as well as the ultimate bearing capacity of the overlying shallow foundation, thus yielding nonconservative and insecure designs.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23 • Issue 2 • February 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 15, 2022
Accepted: Aug 8, 2022
Published online: Nov 21, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 21, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Failure analysis
- Finite element method
- Foundation design
- Foundations
- Geomaterials
- Geosynthetics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Load bearing capacity
- Materials engineering
- Methodology (by type)
- Numerical methods
- Plastic analysis
- Plastics
- Shallow foundations
- Structural analysis
- Structural engineering
- Synthetic materials
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Cited by
- Ehsan Badakhshan, Ali Noorzad, Jean Vaunat, Guillaume Veylon, A Coupled Effect of Eccentric Loading and Upward Seepage on Collapse Settlement of Strip Footings on Reinforced Sand, International Journal of Geomechanics, 10.1061/IJGNAI.GMENG-9348, 24, 8, (2024).
- Hessam Fathipour, Sina Javankhoshdel, Yousef Abolfazlzadeh, Meghdad Payan, Reza Jamshidi Chenari, Probabilistic Assessment of Seismic Bearing Capacity of Strip Footings Seated on Heterogeneous Slopes Using Finite Element Limit Analysis (FELA) and Response Surface Method (RSM), Proceedings of the TMIC 2022 Slope Stability Conference (TMIC 2022), 10.2991/978-94-6463-104-3_18, (199-209), (2023).
- Hessam Fathipour, Meghdad Payan, Seismic Bearing Capacity of Eccentrically and Obliquely Loaded Strip Footings on Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil, International Journal of Geomechanics, 10.1061/IJGNAI.GMENG-8316, 23, 6, (2023).
- Sabina Pourghaffar Maghferati, Reza Jamshidi Chenari, Seyed Hamid Lajevardi, Meghdad Payan, Seyed Mohammad Mirhosseini, Seismic combined bearing capacity of strip footings on partially saturated soils using lower bound theorem of finite element limit analysis and second-order cone programming, Computers and Geotechnics, 10.1016/j.compgeo.2023.105327, 157, (105327), (2023).