Experimental Investigation of Soil Arching Mobilization and Degradation under Localized Surface Loading
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 12
Abstract
Soil arching exists in many geotechnical applications, including tunnels, buried pipes, and geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported (GRPS) embankments. Soil arching has been mostly investigated using trapdoor tests under soil self-weight and/or uniform surcharge. In real applications, localized surface loading, such as traffic loading, may be applied onto soil and affect or degrade soil arching. Geosynthetic reinforcement is used in GRPS embankments or over buried pipes and may have effects on soil arching mobilization and degradation under localized surface loading. The effects of surface traffic loading and geosynthetic reinforcement on soil arching have not yet been well investigated. This study investigated the effects of static surface footing loading on soil arching mobilization and degradation in geosynthetic-reinforced and unreinforced embankments using trapdoor model tests under a plane-strain condition. These model tests consisted of both trapdoor and loading stages, which were used to evaluate the mobilization and the degradation of soil arching, respectively. The trapdoor test results show that the displacement of the trapdoor induced progressive mobilization of soil arching and geosynthetic reinforcement minimized soil arching mobilization due to the change of the soil deformation. Localized surface loading degraded soil arching. Single and double layers of geosynthetic reinforcement helped maintain soil arching under localized surface loading. The test results also show that the biaxial geogrid was more effective than the uniaxial geogrid with similar tensile strength and stiffness in carrying the load due to its better lateral restraint. Geosynthetic reinforcement increased the applied surface load required to fully degrade soil arching and eliminate the benefit of the geosynthetic.
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Acknowledgments
The former laboratory manager, Matthew Maksimowicz, and the technician, Kent Dye, of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas provided their technical support during the fabrication of the box and the laboratory testing. The experimental tests of this study were conducted during the time when the first, fourth, and fifth authors as the graduate students at the University of Kansas were sponsored by the Higher Committee for Education Development in Iraq (HCED) and the Iraqi government. The authors appreciate the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 51478349) for this collaborative research.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 12 • December 2019
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 14, 2018
Accepted: Aug 9, 2019
Published online: Sep 30, 2019
Published in print: Dec 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Feb 29, 2020
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