Characterization of deep cement mixing wall behavior using wall-to-excavation shape factor

Abstract

This research proposes a novel performance-based design concept to characterize the horizontal displacement of DCM walls and the responsiveness of wall displacement to wall strength. In the study, a DCM-walled excavation project was utilized as the base case. Parametric study was then conducted to examine the wall behavior with diverse wall shapes. In addition, the responsiveness of wall to material strength and the effect of variable excavation depths on the wall behavior were determined. A downscaled field test was carried out to validate the parametric study. The wall-to-excavation shape factor was subsequently proposed as the design concept to facilitate the selection of suitable wall shape to a given excavation depth. Further validation indicated that the wall-to-excavation shape factor effectively characterized the wall horizontal displacement and the responsiveness of displacement to wall strength. In essence, the proposed concept is of use to the preliminary design of DCM walls and helps identify the cause of excavation failure.