Physical Model Tests of Half-Scale Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Bridge Abutments. II: Dynamic Loading
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 11
Abstract
This paper presents experimental results from shaking table tests on four half-scale geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutment specimens constructed using well-graded angular backfill sand, modular facing blocks, and uniaxial geogrid reinforcement to investigate the effects of applied surcharge stress, reinforcement vertical spacing, and reinforcement tensile stiffness for dynamic loading conditions. Similitude relationships for shaking table tests in a gravitational field were used to scale the specimen geometry, applied surcharge stress, soil modulus, reinforcement tensile stiffness, and characteristics of the earthquake motions. Reinforcement vertical spacing and reinforcement tensile stiffness had the most significant effects on the maximum dynamic and residual wall facing displacements and bridge seat settlements. Acceleration amplification increased with elevation in the reinforced and retained soil zones. Residual vertical and lateral soil stresses were lower than the calculated values for static loading conditions. The maximum tensile strain in each reinforcement layer occurred near the facing block connection for lower layers and under the bridge seat for higher layers. The vertical seismic joint between the bridge beam and bridge seat closed during the Northridge motion, resulting in contact force. A companion paper presents experimental results for the same GRS bridge abutment specimens under static loading conditions.
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Data Availability Statement
All data generated during the study are available in a report (McCartney et al. 2018) in accordance with funder data retention policies.
Acknowledgments
Financial support for this study provided by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Project 65A0556 with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Pooled Fund Project 1892AEA is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Charles Sikorsky and Kathryn Griswell of Caltrans for their support and assistance with the project. The first author gratefully acknowledges a GSI Fellowship provided by the Geosynthetic Institute. The authors also thank the staff and undergraduate research assistants at the UCSD Powell Structural Laboratories for their help with the experimental work. The geogrid used in this study was provided by the Tensar International Corporation, Inc.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 11 • November 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 4, 2018
Accepted: Jun 13, 2019
Published online: Aug 26, 2019
Published in print: Nov 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jan 26, 2020
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