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Static and Seismic Assessment of Soil Arching in Piled Embankments

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Civil Engineering for Disaster Risk Reduction

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering ((SPRTRCIENG))

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Abstract

Piled embankments are widely used to improve the weak soil characteristics and elevate the ground level for the construction of transport corridors on the weak soil. These embankments allow fast construction and a significant reduction in differential settlement. In the pile-supported railway embankment, most of the imposed load is transferred to the rigid pile through a shearing stress mechanism named as “soil arching.” Several studies contribute to the assessment of soil arching under static loading. However, studies dealing with the effect of the seismic excitation on soil arching in pile-supported railway embankment are scarce. The present study is focused on addressing the effects of static loading and seismic excitation using finite element analysis (FEA) in two-dimensional (2D) state of stress. The FEA results indicate that piled embankment properties such as friction angle, pile, and embankment fill modulus should be improved for the efficient mobilization of soil arching. The arching zone is influenced by varying the pile spacing. In addition, the available design approach shows a variation with numerical results. The soil arching is poorly developed indicating insufficient mobilization under the seismic excitation. This in turn results in the transfer of higher stresses to soft soil. The present study thus presents the detrimental effects of earthquake on transport infrastructure projects constructed in soft soil regions.

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Abbreviations

[C]:

Damping matrix (dimensionless)

[M]:

Mass matrix (dimensionless)

[K′]:

Stiffness matrix (dimensionless)

ξ 0 :

Damping ratio (dimensionless)

⍵i  and  ⍵j:

Circular frequencies (rad/s)

α and β:

Damping coefficients (dimensionless)

λ :

Logarithmic hardening constant (dimensionless)

γ :

Unit weight (kN/m3)

v :

Poisson's ratio (dimensionless)

ψ :

Dilation angle (degree)

ϕ′:

Effective friction angle (degree)

c′:

Effective cohesion (kN/m2)

p o ′ :

Effective overburden pressure (kN/m2)

σ h :

Horizontal stress (kN/m2)

σ p :

Vertical stress on pile (kN/m2)

σ s :

Vertical stress on subsoil (kN/m2)

σ v :

Vertical stress (kN/m2)

E em :

Embankment modulus (MPa)

E p :

Pile modulus (GPa)

F d :

Design equivalent dynamic load (kN)

F s :

Static wheel load (kN)

K o :

Lateral stress coefficient at rest state (dimensionless)

K p :

Lateral stress coefficient at passive state (dimensionless)

N em :

Normalized embankment height (dimensionless)

N vs :

Normalized vertical stress (dimensionless)

P es :

Plane of equal settlement (m)

a o :

Initial yield surface size (kN/m2)

e o :

Initial void ratio (dimensionless)

e 1 :

Void ratio at unit pressure (dimensionless)

D :

Pile diameter (m)

E :

Modulus of elasticity (MPa)

K :

Lateral stress coefficient (dimensionless)

M :

Critical-state stress ratio (dimensionless)

SAR:

Soil arching ratio (dimensionless)

d :

Pile wall width (m)

h :

Embankment height (m)

k :

Logarithmic bulk modulus (kN/m2)

q :

Surcharge on the embankment top (kN)

s :

Pile spacing (m)

a, b, c, a′, b′, and  c′:

Relationship constants (dimensionless)

2D:

Two dimensional

3D:

Three dimensional

CINPE4:

Four-node plane strain linear infinite element

CPE8R:

Eight-node plane strain element with reduced integration

DAF:

Dynamic amplification factor

EA:

Equivalent area

FEA:

Finite element analysis

MC:

Mohr–Coulomb

MCC:

Modified cam clay

ORE:

Office of research and experiments

PGA:

Peak ground acceleration

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Sanjay Nimbalkar & Naveen Kumar Meena

Authors
  1. Sanjay Nimbalkar
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  2. Naveen Kumar Meena
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjay Nimbalkar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

    Sreevalsa Kolathayar

  2. Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Thailand

    Indrajit Pal

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Siau Chen Chian

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Arpita Mondal

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Nimbalkar, S., Meena, N.K. (2022). Static and Seismic Assessment of Soil Arching in Piled Embankments. In: Kolathayar, S., Pal, I., Chian, S.C., Mondal, A. (eds) Civil Engineering for Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5312-4_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5312-4_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-16-5311-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-5312-4

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