On the Effects of Subgrade Erosion on the Contact Pressure Distribution under Rigid Surface Structures
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 10
Abstract
The performance of rigid surface structures such as concrete pavements and slabs-on-grade supported by a deteriorated subgrade and experiencing local contact loss is investigated experimentally and numerically in this study. A laboratory setup has been designed to facilitate the simulation of subsurface erosion and measure the changes in contact pressure at selected locations under a slab-on-grade supported on granular material. The presence of erosion voids under a slab-on-grade can lead to rapid increase in the contact pressure in the immediate vicinity of the void in addition to an increase in tensile stresses at the outermost fibers of the slab. This preliminary study suggests that efforts to detect and arrest the growth of erosion voids under slabs-on-grade should be made before the voids reach the size where significant loss of support develops and the tensile strength of the slab material is exceeded.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (Grant No. UNSPECIFIED311971–06).
References
Baus, R. L., and Wang, M. C. (1983). “Bearing capacity of strip footing above void.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 109(1), 1–14.
Hauser, E. C., and Howell, M. J. (2001). “Ground penetrating radar survey to evaluate roadway collapse in northern Ohio.” Proc., Symp. on Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems (SAGEEP) (CD-ROM), SAGEEP, Denver, 7.
Huang, Y. H. (1993). Pavement analysis and design, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Mailvaganam, N. P., Springfield, J., Repette, W., and Taylor, D. (2001). “Curling of concrete floor slabs on grade-causes and repairs.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 15(1), 11–16.
Newton, J. G. (1984). “Review of induced sinkhole development.” Proc., 1st Multidisciplinary Conf. on Sinkholes, B. F. Beck, ed., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 3–9.
Rajani, B. (2002). “Behaviour and performance of concrete sidewalks.” Construction Technology Update No. 54, Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Ottowa, Canada.
Tharp, T. M. (1999). “Mechanics of upward propagation of cover-collapse sinkholes.” Eng. Geol. (Amsterdam), 52(1–2), 23–33.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 10 • October 2009
Pages: 1538 - 1542
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 12, 2008
Accepted: Feb 2, 2009
Published online: Feb 23, 2009
Published in print: Oct 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.