Deformation and failure mechanism of rapid stabilization for dredger fill in road engineering

Abstract

Foundation deformation and failure of a finite length double-layered foundation by rapid stabilization was studied with regard to dredger fill in road engineering. Deformation and bearing capacity theories were proposed based on the discontinuous deformation and the lower strength. In order to study the applicability of the theory, variations of deformation, earth pressure, and tension stress of the artificial crust were investigated using two centrifuge-modeling tests. The test results indicated that the punching shear failure through the artificial crust layer and general failure mode in the soft clay layer occurred first in the dredger fill foundation. As the load increased, the cracking failure of the artificial crust layer occurred suddenly. The maximum tensile stress value was approximately 13% of the unconfined compressive strength. The soil pressure at the bottom of the artificial crust was approximately 50% lower compared with the untreated situation, which showed that the load was spread effectively. By comparing theory with the results of the centrifuge test, the bearing capacity theory was applied successfully to the assessment of dredger fill in road engineering.