Abstract
Commonly, the base stabilities of sheeted excavation pits against seepage failure by heave are evaluated by using Terzaghi’s rectangular-shaped failure plane. However, seepage failures usually occur in the corner areas of polygon-shaped excavation pits, where relatively high hydraulic gradients develop as a result of three-dimensional seepage flows. In this study, it is shown by means of numerical analyses and model tests that quicksand condition that requires no three-dimensional failure body can be used to assess the base stabilities of sheeted excavation pits against seepage failure in cohesionless soils. Thereby, uncertainties with respect to the shapes of three-dimensional failure bodies are eliminated.
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