Finite-element analysis of arching in highway piled embankments subjected to moving vehicle loads

Abstract

This paper presents a simplified finite-element model, based on which the arching in highway piled embankments subjected to moving vehicle loads is investigated. The analyses demonstrated that the pile spacing was a more sensitive factor than embankment height, whose increase from 2·0 to 3·0 m led to a 60–68% increase of the normalised maximum settlement at the base of the embankment. The effect of moving vehicle loads was of particular interest, increasing the normalised maximum settlement and vertical stress at the base of the embankment by approximately 23% and 19%, respectively, compared to the static situation. The influence height of soil arching related to the pile spacing and embankment height was investigated, and showed that the vertical extent of arching was within a normalised distance of 2·0 from the base of the embankment. Factors of the embankment properties – that is, elastic modulus, friction angle, dilation angle and cohesion – were examined and showed that the cohesion was a most sensitive factor, whose increase from 1 to 10 kPa reduced the normalised maximum settlement and vertical stress by approximately 56% and 42%, respectively. Also shown was that the increase in the velocity of a moving vehicle from 30 to 120 km/h slightly increased the normalised maximum settlement and vertical stress by approximately 9% and 10%, respectively. Finally, a modified analytical method was developed by considering the additional vertical stress induced by moving vehicle loads based on the Boussinesq equation, whose solution was found to be in good agreement with the finite-element results.

Calculation model and bearing capacity optimization method for the soil settlement between piles in geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported embankments based on the membrane effect

“…Zhuang & Wang. [ 27 ] found that cohesion is the most sensitive factor affecting the normalised maximum settlement and vertical stress of embankment.…”

Soil Arching of Piled Embankment in Equal Settlement Pattern: A Discrete Element Analysis

“…Piled embankments have been widely adopted to overcome intolerable total or differential settlements, large lateral displacements of highway, and railway engineering, especially for embankments constructed over soft soils [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Soil arching effect is a ubiquitous phenomenon occurred in the piled embankment to transfer the vertical stress from the relatively stiff pile to the softer soil due to the differential settlement [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…However, most of these DEM simulations still attempt to identify the soil arching according to the deformation pattern of the embankment, rather than the redistributions of the stress or contact force chains [15]. Generally, the soil arching formed in the piled embankments considerably enhanced the load transfer from the relatively stiff piles to the softer subsoil [5,[12][13][14][15][16][28][29][30]36]. In this regard, this study investigated the soil arching in piled embankments with the 2D DEM modeling software, Particle Flow Code in Two Dimensions (PFC 2D ), version 5.0, developed by Itasca [37].…”

Numerical study on the effect of rigid inclusions on existing railroads

“…A variety of ground improvement techniques have been adopted to address soft subgrade‐related issues, among others: grouting [eg,], soil mixing [eg,], micropile [eg,], soil nail [eg,], stone column [eg,], and rigid inclusions . The last one (also known as column‐supported embankment) are gaining more attention every time in geotechnical engineering in general [eg,], and in the railroad industry in particular [eg,]. This increasing interest is because this soil improvement technique is based on traditional materials (eg, timber or concrete piles), which are relatively easy to access for the railroad industry.…”

“…A variety of ground improvement techniques have been adopted to address soft subgrade-related issues, among others: grouting [eg, [22][23][24][25] ], soil mixing [eg, [26][27][28][29] ], micropile [eg, [30][31][32] ], soil nail [eg, [33][34][35][36] ], stone column [eg, [37][38][39][40], and rigid inclusions. [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] The last one (also known as column-supported embankment) are gaining more attention every time in geotechnical engineering in general [eg, [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61], and in the railroad industry in particular [eg, [62][63][64][65][66][67] ]. This increasing interest is because this soil improvement technique is based on traditional materials (eg, timber o...…”