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Influences of Subsoil Modelling on Underground Deep Excavation Behaviour in Phnom Penh City, Cambodia

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Abstract

Due to the rapid growth of businesses and the population in Phnom Penh City, Cambodia, deep excavations for underground spaces are an economic necessity for landscape aspects. Several studies have been conducted on deep excavation and constitutive soil models in numerous Southeast Asian countries. However, there is limited information regarding (little knowledge available on) soil characteristics and subsurface conditions for excavation projects in Cambodia. This study uses 3D finite element analysis (FEA) to model a contiguous bore pile excavation with a bottom-up construction method located in Phnom Penh City sedimentary deposit. Site investigation, including field and laboratory tests, was conducted. Phnom Penh subsoils of the study location were modelled by Mohr–Coulomb, hardening soil and soft soil models. The model parameters were calibrated against triaxial and oedometer tests at the site. The 3D FEA were simulated to determine the lateral wall movement and ground surface settlement by comparing with the field monitoring data and empirical predictions. In Phnom Penh City, the clay layer mainly consists of three types of clay: medium clay, soft clay, and stiff clay. This exhibit is similar to alluvial deposits reported in other Southeast Asian cities. Based on the results of the analysis, the numerical simulation findings from various soil models are consistent with inclinometer data and empirical predictions. The simulations employing the hardening soil model show better results than those using the Mohr–Coulomb and soft soil models.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Thailand Science research and Innovation Fund Chulalongkorn University (No. 6641/2566). This research was also funded by King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, under Contract No. KMUTNB-66-BASIC-06. The first author (D. Roeun) acknowledges the Graduate Scholarship Programme for ASEAN or Non-ASEAN countries from Chulalongkorn University. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ritthy Ouch for providing the data in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Daro Roeun

  2. Department of Teacher Training in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technical Education, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, 10800, Thailand

    Raksiri Sukkarak

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Suched Likitlersuang

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  1. Daro Roeun
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Contributions

Daro Roeun: formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, and visualisation. Raksiri Sukkarak: methodology, software, validation, and writing—review and editing. Suched Likitlersuang: conceptualization, resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Suched Likitlersuang.

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Roeun, D., Sukkarak, R. & Likitlersuang, S. Influences of Subsoil Modelling on Underground Deep Excavation Behaviour in Phnom Penh City, Cambodia. Int. J. of Geosynth. and Ground Eng. 10, 27 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-024-00534-6

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