Vibration-induced acceleration of infiltration in loess

Abstract

Coupled effects of railway vibration, rainfall, and drying-wetting cycles contribute to new types of loess disasters such as the collapse and vibration-induced settlement of the railway subgrade, loess mass disintegration, and slope sliding, during the large-scale construction and operation of high-speed or heavy-haul railways in China. This has significant consequences for railways that require millimetre-level deformation control, seriously threatening railway operation and people’s lives. Therefore, for the first time, “five vibration-induced effects” on loess subjected to vibration, water immersion, and dry-wetting cycles are discussed including the vibration-induced acceleration of cracking, infiltration, disintegration, sliding, and subsidence. In this paper, the vibration-induced acceleration of infiltration is discussed mainly. The response of loess to locomotive vibration along railways was determined using field sampling and data processing. The dominant frequency of locomotive vibration are 18−22 Hz and the maximum amplitude is 0.4 mm. Tests regarding the vibration-induced acceleration of the permeability were conducted on intact loess using a newly developed vibration permeability apparatus. The results reveal that the vibration accelerates the water permeability and increases the water saturation of loess. The permeability coefficient of saturated loess under vibration is ~1.5−20 times of that without vibration, reaching a maximum at a vibration frequency of 20 Hz. Vibration-induced infiltration tests were carried out on a loess column and the vibration-induced acceleration of water infiltration, wetting front evolution, and air outflow were analysed. The vibration-induced acceleration of infiltration strongly depends on the dry density, vibration frequency, and vibration amplitude. This pioneering work explores the mechnism of loess disasters triggered by locomotive vibration, rainfall, and drying-wetting cycles.