Undrained Loading Conditions Research Articles

Rockfall-induced impact force causing a debris flow on a volcanoclastic soil slope: a case study in southern Italy

Abstract. On 10 January 2003, a rockfall of approximately 10 m3 affected a cliff some 25 m high located along the northern slopes of Mt. St. Angelo (Nocera Inferiore, province of Salerno) in the southern Italian region of Campania. The impact of boulders on the lower sector of the slope, along which detrital-pyroclastic soils outcrop, triggered a small channelled debris flow of about 500 m3. Fortunately, no damage nor victims resulted from the landslide. Several marks of the impacts were observed at the cliff toe and outside the collapsed area, and the volumes of some fallen boulders were subsequently measured. By means of in-situ surveys, it was possible to reconstruct the cliff's geo-structural layout in detail. A rockfall back-analysis was subsequently performed along seven critical profiles of the entire slope (surface area of about 4000 m2). The results of this numerical modelling using the lumped-mass method were then used to map the kinetic iso-energy curves. In the triggering area of the debris flow, for a falling boulder of 1 m3, the mean kinetic energy was estimated at 120 kJ, this value being equivalent to an impact force, on an inclined surface, of some 800 kN. After landing, due to the locally high slope gradient (about 45°), and low angle of trajectory at impact (about 23°), some boulders slid down the slope as far as the endpoints. The maximum depth of penetration into the ground by a sliding block was estimated at about 16 cm. Very likely, owing to the high impact force of boulders on the saturated soil slope outcropping at the cliff base, the debris flow was triggered under undrained loading conditions. Initial failure was characterized by a translational slide involving a limited, almost elliptical area where the pyroclastic cover shows greater thickness in comparison with the surrounding areas.

Undrained Lateral Pile Response in Sloping Ground

Three-dimensional finite element analyses were performed to study the behavior of piles in sloping ground under undrained lateral loading conditions. Piles of different diameter and length in sloping cohesive soils of different undrained shear strength and several ground slopes were considered. Based on the results of the finite element analyses, analytical formulations are derived for the ultimate load per unit length and the initial stiffness of hyperbolic p-y curves. New p-y criteria for static loading of piles in clay are proposed, which take into account the inclination of the slope and the adhesion of the pile-slope interface. These curves are used through a commercial subgrade reaction computer code to parametrically analyze the effect of slope inclination and pile adhesion on lateral displacements and bending moments. To validate the proposed p-y curves, a number of well documented lateral load tests are analyzed. Remarkable agreement is obtained between predicted and measured responses for a wide range of soil undrained shear strength and pile diameter, length, and stiffness.

Performance evaluation of silty sand reinforced with fibres

Triaxial compression tests were conducted to evaluate the response of randomly distributed fibre on the strength of reinforced silty sand. In this study, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre was mixed with silty sand soil to investigate the increase of shear strength during triaxial compression. The specimens were tested under drained and undrained conditions with 0.25% and 0.5% content of OPEFB fibres of different lengths (i.e. 15 mm, 30 mm and 45 mm). In addition, OPEFB fibres coated with acrylic butadiene styrene thermoplastic were tested to determine the effect of coating on reinforcement. Inclusion of randomly distributed discrete fibres significantly improved the shear strength of silty sand. Coated OPEFB fibres increased the shear strength of silty sand much more compared to uncoated fibres. Coating fibres increases interface friction between fibre and soil particles by increasing the surface area. Reinforced silty sand containing 0.5% coated fibres of 30 mm length exhibited approximately 25% increase in friction angle and 35% in cohesion under undrained loading conditions compared to those of unreinforced silty sand. The results indicate that the shear strength parameters of the soil-fibre mixture (i.e. Φ′ and c′) can be improved significantly.

Drained and undrained response of deep tunnels subjected to far-field shear loading

An analytical solution for a rectangular opening in an infinite elastic medium subjected to far-field shear stresses has been derived for drained and undrained loading conditions. A number of numerical simulations has been conducted to determine the distortion of a rectangular structure in an infinite elastic medium under far-field shear stresses also for drained and undrained conditions and when there is full slip or no slip at the ground–structure interface. The results show that the shape of the opening has a minor influence on the structure’s deformations and that full-slip conditions result in lower deformations. Undrained conditions tend to reduce distortions when the structure is more flexible than the ground, but tend to increase them for stiffer structures. A comparison between results obtained for a rectangular lined opening and for a circular lined opening are presented, and show that deformations of a rectangular structure with no-slip can be estimated from equations derived for a circular opening with an incompressible liner and also with no-slip. The effects of flexibility, slip condition at the interface, and drained or undrained loading are different for circular tunnels than for rectangular tunnels.

Elastoplastic Model for Clay with Microstructural Consideration

Clay material can be considered as a collection of clusters, which interact with each other mainly through mechanical forces. From this point of view, clay is modeled by analogy to granular material in this paper. An elastoplastic stress-strain relationship for clay is derived by using the granular mechanics approach developed in previous studies for sand. However, unlike sand, clay deformation is generated not only by the mobilizing but also by compressing clusters. Thus, in addition to the Mohr-Coulomb’s plastic shear sliding and a dilatancy type flow rule, a plastic normal deformation has been modeled for two clusters in compression. The overall stress-strain relationship can then be obtained from the mobilization and compressing of clusters through a static hypothesis of the macro-micro relations. The predictions are compared with the experimental results for clay under both drained and undrained triaxial loading conditions. Three different types of clay, including remolded and natural clay, have been selected to evaluate the model’s performance. The comparisons verify that this model is capable of accurately reproducing the overall behavior of clay, which accounts for the influence of key parameters such as void ratio and mean stress. A section of this paper is devoted to show the model’s capability of considering the influence of inherent anisotropy on the stress-strain response under undrained triaxial loading conditions.

Pore Pressure Generation of Silty Sands due to Induced Cyclic Shear Strains

It is well established that the main mechanism for the occurrence of liquefaction under seismic loading conditions is the generation of excess pore water pressure. Most previous research efforts have focused on clean sands, yet sand deposits with fines are more commonly found in nature. Previous laboratory liquefaction studies on the effect of fines on liquefaction susceptibility have not yet reached a consensus. This research presents an investigation on the effect of fines content on excess pore water pressure generation in sands and silty sands. Multiple series of strain-controlled cyclic direct simple shear tests were performed to directly measure the excess pore water pressure generation of sands and silty sands at different strain levels. The soil specimens were tested under three different categories: (1) at a constant relative density; (2) at a constant sand skeleton void ratio; and (3) at a constant overall void ratio. The findings from this study were used to develop insight into the behavior of silty sands under undrained cyclic loading conditions. In general, beneficial effects of the fines were observed in the form of a decrease in excess pore water pressure and an increase in the threshold strain. However, pore water pressure appears to increase when enough fines are present to create a sand skeleton void ratio greater than the maximum void ratio of the clean sand.

Geomechanical studies on slow slope movements in Parma Apennine

The Apennine mountains of the Parma Province (Italy) are characterized by a young geological structure subjected to continuous morphological modification in many areas. As a consequence, several active landslides can be identified in this region. Among others, slow movements occurring over large areas are the typical type of instability in this zone. The slow but constant deformation process can induce major damage when interacting with major civil infrastructures such as bridges, roads and railways, but has a less severe effect on agricultural practice and smaller structures. Four different slope instability phenomena are analyzed in this paper. All the slopes are characterized by similar geological and hydrogeological features and by similar deformation rates. All slopes have been studied by means of experimental tests and numerical modelling in order to understand the failure mechanism and the evolution of slope movement. The deformation of each slope was monitored using superficial topographic control points and inclinometers, while its water level regime is controlled by means of discontinuous piezometric readings. The monitoring results, together with in-situ and laboratory testing, allowed a more detailed understanding of processes such as deformation under a constant active stress. The development of a numerical model was necessary to predict creep rates. Special attention has been given to the mineralogical components of the material involved in the unstable areas, in order to identify the material structure characterizing these types of landslides. This work is aimed to be a methodological study of a type of complex phenomena that are recurrent in a zone of the Apennines. These phenomena can be partly considered as mudslides acting in undrained loading condition along localized shear zones but creep gives a fundamental contribution to mass deformation that must also be considered in the phenomenon modelling to be able to obtain measured displacement rates. For this purpose creep tests have been performed in undrained conditions and modeled by a finite difference code for the calibration of relevant material mechanical parameters. The paper reports the description of the problems encountered to sample and to make experimentation on this kind of complex materials along with the obtained results and, at the end, gives some operative suggestions on how to overcome such difficulties.

Shear strength characteristics of statically compacted unsaturated kaolin

The shear strength characteristics of statically compacted unsaturated soil specimens of commercial kaolin (Ip= 15%) were determined using conventional triaxial shear testing apparatus extending total stress analysis. The testing program consists of two different types of confined compression shear strength tests on unsaturated soil specimens. In the first series of tests, the specimens were sheared immediately after the application of the confining pressure under undrained loading conditions. In the second series of tests, the specimens were first allowed to come to equilibrium with respect to volume change and suction value under the applied confining pressure and sheared at two different rates of strain. A psychrometer was used for measuring suction values. In addition, conventional consolidated undrained tests were also conducted on specimens that were saturated using the back pressure technique before shearing. Comparisons with respect to the shear strength behavior are provided for both saturated and unsaturated soil specimens. The shear strength contribution towards suction was determined from test results on unsaturated soil specimens extending state variable approach in terms of total stresses. Discussion is presented to understand the influence of the following factors (i) suction, (ii) confining pressure, and (iii) rate of strain on the shear strength.

Numerical Modeling of Cemented Mine Backfill Deposition

In current underground mining practice, it is common to use tailings, without added cement, to fill mined-out voids (“stopes”). If fine-grained tailings are used, the high placement rates and low permeability can often result in undrained loading conditions and, hence, lower effective stress, when assessed in the conventional manner. Where cement is added, the cement modifies the consolidation characteristics in a number of ways, including increasing the strength and stiffness, reducing the permeability, and inducing volumetric changes associated with the hydration reactions leading to “self-desiccation.” As a result, conventional consolidation-analysis techniques are unsuitable for assessing the behavior. The one-dimensional mine-tailings-consolidation program (MinTaCo) has been modified, and renamed CeMinTaCo, to couple cement hydration with conventional consolidation analysis. The fundamental theory behind the modifications is presented. The model is used to undertake a sensitivity study, which highlig...

Assessment of the self-desiccation process in cemented mine backfills

During the placement of fine-grained cemented mine backfill, the high placement rates and low permeability often result in undrained self-weight loading conditions, when assessed in the conventional manner. However, hydration of the cement in the backfill results in a net volume reduction—the volume of the hydrated cement is less than the combined volume of the cement and water prior to hydration. Though the volume change is small, it occurs in conjunction with the increasing stiffness of the cementing soil matrix, and the result in certain circumstances can be a significant reduction in pore-water pressure as hydration proceeds. In this paper, the implications of this phenomenon in the area of cemented mine backfill are explored. An analytical model is developed to quantify this behaviour under undrained boundary conditions. This model illustrates that the pore-water pressure change is dependent on the amount of volume change associated with the cement hydration, the incremental stiffness change of the soil, and the porosity of the material. Experimental techniques for estimating key characteristics associated with this mechanism are presented. Testing undertaken on two different cement–minefill combinations indicated that the rate of hydration and volumes of water consumed during hydration were unique for each cement–tailings combination, regardless of mix proportions.

Numerical Study of Impact of Soil Anisotropy on Seismic Performance of Retaining Structure

Recent laboratory investigations indicate that the stress – strain – strength responses of granular soils are appreciably affected by the fabric orientation of the soil relative to the frame of principal stresses. Especially, a sand specimen exhibiting a dilative response during triaxial compression may show a contractive response during triaxial extension under otherwise identical conditions. This observation is of practical importance for applications concerning essentially undrained loading conditions, because the effective mean normal stress at failure, and consequently, the shear strength, associated with an undrained contractive path are considerably lower than those following a dilative path. This raises a question about the impact of soil anisotropy on seismic performance of retaining structures subjected to active and passive earth pressures, because the directions of principal stresses in retained soils for the two cases are very different. This note presents a set of fully coupled finite-element analyses incorporating an anisotropic sand model. The analyses reveal that the impact of fabric anisotropy could be significant when the retaining structure is under passive earth pressure conditions.

Non‐isothermal plasticity model for cyclic behaviour of soils

AbstractOn the one hand, it has been observed that liquefaction‐induced shear deformation of soils accumulates in a cycle‐by‐cycle pattern. On the other hand, it is known that heating could induce plastic hardening. This study deals with the constitutive modelling of the effect that heat may have on the cyclic mechanical properties of cohesive soils, a relatively new area of interest in soil mechanics. In this paper, after a presentation of the thermo‐mechanical framework, a non‐isothermal plasticity cyclic model formulation is presented and discussed. The model calibration is described based on data from laboratory sample tests. It includes numerical simulations of triaxial shear tests at various constant temperatures. Then, the model predictions are compared with experimental results and discussed in the final section. Both drained and undrained loading conditions are considered. The proposed constitutive model shows good ability to capture the characteristic features of behaviour. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Shale dynamic properties and anisotropy under triaxial loading: Experimental and theoretical investigations

This paper is concerned with the experimental identification of the whole dynamic elastic stiffness tensor of a transversely isotropic clayrock from a single cylindrical sample under loading. Measurement of elastic wave velocities (pulse at 1 MHz), obtained under macroscopically undrained triaxial loading conditions are provided. Further macroscopic (laboratory scale) interpretation of the velocity measurements is performed in terms of (i) dynamic elastic parameters; and (ii) elastic anisotropy. Experiments were performed on a Callovo-Oxfordian shale, Jurassic in age, recovered from a depth of 613 m in the eastern part of Paris basin in France. Moreover, a physically-based micromechanical model is developed in order to quantify the damaged state of the shale under loading through macroscopic measurements. This model allows for the identification of the pertinent parameters for a general transversely isotropic orientational distribution of microcracks, superimposed on the intrinsic transverse isotropy of the rock. It is directly inspired from experimental observations and measurements. At this stage, second- and fourth-rank tensors α ij and β ijkl are identified as proper damage parameters. However, they still need to be explicited in terms of micromechanical parameters for the complex case of anisotropy. An illustration of the protocole of this microstructural data recovery is provided in the simpler case of isotropy. This microstructural insight includes cavities geometry, orientation and fluid-content.

A microstructural elastoplastic model for unsaturated granular materials

The homogenization technique is used to obtain an elastoplastic stress–strain relationship for dry, saturated and unsaturated granular materials. Deformation of a representative volume of material is generated by mobilizing particle contacts in all orientations. In this way, the stress–strain relationship can be derived as an average of the mobilization behavior of these local contact planes. The local behavior is assumed to follow a Hertz–Mindlin’s elastic law and a Mohr–Coulomb’s plastic law. For the non-saturated state, capillary forces at the grain contacts are added to the contact forces created by an external load. They are calculated as a function of the degree of saturation, depending on the grain size distribution and on the void ratio of the granular assembly. Numerical simulations show that the model is capable of reproducing the major trends of a partially saturated granular assembly under various stress and water content conditions. The model predictions are compared to experimental results on saturated and unsaturated samples of silty sands under undrained triaxial loading condition. This comparison shows that the model is able to account for the influence of capillary forces on the stress–strain response of the granular materials and therefore, to reproduce the overall mechanical behavior of unsaturated granular materials.

Experimental evaluation and extension of a simple critical state model for sand

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a simple critical state model and its extension in modelling the stress-strain behaviour of sand under a wide range of confining pressures and initial void ratios under both drained and undrained loading conditions. The critical state model concerned is known as CASM developed by Yu [1,2] and CASM is a relatively simple model as it only requires seven model constants, five of which are the same as those used in the modified Cam clay model. All these constants have clear physical meanings and can be easily determined from the results of triaxial tests as demonstrated in this paper. A key advantage of CASM over many other existing critical state models lies on its unified nature as it can be used to model the behaviour of both clay and sand. In addition, the paper also shows how CASM can be further extended in order to simulate a particular undrained behaviour of loose sand, which is the reappearance of hardening after the material experiences a peak shear stress followed by a softening response.

A bounding surface plasticity model for cyclic loading of granular soils

A constitutive model for describing the stress–strain behaviour of granular soils subjected to cyclic loading is presented. The model is formulated using bounding surface theory within a critical state framework. A single set of material parameters is introduced for the complete characterization of the constitutive model. The shape of the bounding surface is based on experimental observations of undrained stress paths for loose samples. A mapping rule which passes through stress reversal points is introduced to depict the stress–strain behaviour during unloading and reloading. The effect of particle crushing is considered through a modified critical state line. Essential features of the model are validated using several experimental data from the literature. Both drained and undrained loading conditions are considered. The characteristic features of behaviour in granular soils subjected to cyclic loading are captured. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

砂の非排水単調載荷条件下におけう正規化塑性仕事量

砂の非排水単調載荷条件下におけう正規化塑性仕事量

CASM: a unified state parameter model for clay and sand

The purpose of this paper is to present a simple, unified critical state constitutive model for both clay and sand. The model, called CASM (Clay And Sand Model), is formulated in terms of the state parameter that is defined as the vertical distance between current state (v, p′) and the critical state line in v–ln p′ space. The paper first shows that the standard Cam-clay models (i.e. the original and modified Cam-clay models) can be reformulated in terms of the state parameter. Although the standard Cam-clay models prove to be successful in modelling normally consolidated clays, it is well known that they cannot predict many important features of the behavior of sands and overconsolidated clays. By adopting a general stress ratio-state parameter relation to describe the state boundary surface of soils, it is shown that a simple, unified constitutive model (CASM) can be developed for both clay and sand. It is also demonstrated that the standard Cam-clay yield surfaces can be either recovered or approximated as special cases of the yield locus assumed in CASM. The main feature of the proposed model is that a single set of yield and plastic potential functions has been used to model the behaviour of clay and sand under both drained and undrained loading conditions. In addition, it is shown that the behaviour of overconsolidated clays can also be satisfactorily modelled. Simplicity is a major advantage of the present state parameter model, as only two new material constants need to be introduced when compared with the standard Cam-clay models. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sediment stability on the western flanks of the Canary Islands

Sediment failures on the flanks of the Canary Islands are well documented but few geotechnical studies have been conducted. In this study the sedimentological and geotechnical properties (water content, grain specific gravity, bulk density, grain-size, consolidation and triaxial test data) of sediment recovered in cores from the submarine slopes of the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, NE Atlantic indicate that the sediment is heavily to lightly overconsolidated; the overconsolidation is considered to be apparent, in the absence of any evidence suggesting sediment erosion. Normalised strengths range from 0.53–0.77 for the carbonate-rich sediment. The sediment stability was semiquantitatively assessed. The sediment off La Palma is stable under drained and undrained static loading conditions at present, however, if affected by horizontal ground accelerations in excess of 15% of gravity the sediment will become unstable. Locally, on sediment waves for instance, slope angles may be greater thus enhancing the potential for sediment failure. Triggering can potentially be explained in terms of the likely magnitude and frequency of seismic accelerations, although other trigger mechanisms may have enhanced the failure potential of these sediments in the past. Steady state analysis indicates that all the sediments tested are state II type and are unlikely to result in disintegrative morphologies (e.g. debris flows) after initial failure. The sediment in the source region of the Canary Debris Flow must, therefore, have undergone transition from state II to state I type sediment perhaps brought about by a progressive style of failure during or after initial failure. This may be caused by a debris avalanche from the volcanic island flanks.

Slope stability analysis for undrained loading conditions : Baker, R; Frydman, S; Talesnick, M Int J Num Anal Meth GeomechV17, N1, Jan 1993, P15–43

Slope stability analysis for undrained loading conditions : Baker, R; Frydman, S; Talesnick, M Int J Num Anal Meth GeomechV17, N1, Jan 1993, P15–43