Investigation of shear band strengthening by using different strengthening criteria

Abstract

To prevent a critical failure mechanism, it is possible to simply strengthen the potential shear bands, which is a patented idea. The localization of potential shear bands that are most likely to form shear can be calculated. Before these shear bands can appear, they can be strengthened by injecting a cement suspension or using jet grouting at the locations where the most likely shear bands would occur. As a result, it is possible to increase the bearing capacity of the geotechnical system by focusing solely on the shear bands that are moste likely to form, minimizing the use of materials. Numerical modeling is employed to analyze the increase in bearing capacity. Four criteria for strengthening the shear bands are applied by incorporating them into a hypoplastic soil model, taking into consideration the material transition from soil to cement, as well as intermediate materials that can arise from jet grouting, which are mixtures of soil and cement. Two fundamental geotechnical systems, namely a shallow foundation and a retaining wall, are analyzed using ABAQUS/Standard for finite element analysis. The results demonstrate the potential of numerical modeling to identify the most critical localized areas in the soil that require strengthening, as well as the substantial increase in bearing capacity achieved after reinforcing the identified areas.