Coupled Mechanical and Hydraulic Modeling of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Column-Supported Embankments
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 8
Abstract
Geosynthetic-reinforced column-supported (GRCS) embankments have increasingly been used in the recent years for accelerated construction. Numerical analyses have been conducted to improve understanding and knowledge of this complicated embankment system. However, most studies so far have been focused on its short-term or long-term behavior by assuming an undrained or drained condition, which does not consider water flow in saturated soft soil (i.e., consolidation). As a result, very limited attention has been paid to a settlement-time relationship especially postconstruction settlement, which is critical to performance of pavements on embankments or connection between approach embankments and bridge abutments. To investigate the time-dependent behavior, coupled two-dimensional mechanical and hydraulic numerical modeling was conducted in this study to analyze a well-instrumented geotextile-reinforced deep mixed column-supported embankment in Hertsby, Finland. In the mechanical modeling, soils and DM columns were modeled as elastic-plastic materials and a geotextile layer was modeled using cable elements. In the hydraulic modeling, water flow was modeled to simulate generation and dissipation of excess pore water pressures during and after the construction of the embankment. The numerical results with or without modeling water flow were compared with the field data. In addition, parametric studies were conducted to further examine the effects of geosynthetic stiffness, column modulus, and average staged construction rate on the postconstruction settlement and the tension in the geosynthetic reinforcement.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank Ms. K. Koivisto and Mr. J. Forsman at Ramboll Finland Ltd, Finland for providing updated information and answering the questions on this cited project. The writers also appreciate the reviewers’ excellent comments, which have helped improve the quality of this paper.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 8 • August 2009
Pages: 1011 - 1021
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2007
Accepted: Dec 14, 2008
Published online: Feb 23, 2009
Published in print: Aug 2009
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