Three-dimensional finite element modelling of a full-scale geosynthetic-reinforced, pile-supported embankment

Abstract

11The performance of four sections of a full-scale embankment constructed on soft soil is 12 examined using a fully coupled and fully 3D finite element analysis. The four sections 13 had similar embankment loadings but different improvement options (one unimproved; 14 one with pile-support only; one with a single layer geotextile-reinforced platform and 15 pile-support; and one with two-layers of geogrid-reinforced platform and pile-support). 16Like the field data, the numerical results show that the inclusion of piles decreases the 17 settlement at the subsoil surface to 52% of that for the unimproved section and the 18 addition of single layer of geotextile reinforcement (J = 800 kN/m) further reduced 19 settlement to only 31% of that for the unimproved section. The effects of geosynthetic 20 reinforcement and multi-layers of reinforcement on the performance of the pile-supported 21 embankment are discussed. The relative load transfer is calculated using eight existing 22 methods and they are compared with the field measurements and numerical results. 23

Long-term reinforcement strains for column supported embankments with viscous reinforcement by FEM

“…The FEM techniques utilized in the present paper have been validated by Rowe and Liu (2015) using field data from Briançon and Simon (2012) for a full scale reinforced and piled embankment built in France. The embankment was numerically constructed through a series of stages.…”

“…Furthermore, although it is common practice to design geosynthetic reinforced embankments based on short-term (end-of-construction) analyses some have proposed use of long-term reinforcement strength and evaluated embankment performance with the concept of long-term service height suggested by recent publications (e.g., Rowe and Taechakumthorn, 2011;Taechakumthorn and Rowe, 2012c). Therefore, the objectives of this paper are: (i) to explore the suitable selection of long-term (at 99% degree of consolidation) reinforcement strain for DMM column supported embankments with viscous reinforcement constructed over two soft foundations so that embankment deformations can be controlled to modest levels while their long-term service heights can be maximized; (ii) to investigate the correlation between maximum end-of-construction and long-term reinforcement strain for aforementioned cases using the fully 3D coupled finite element method (FEM) that has been calibrated by successfully modelling the performance of reinforced and piled embankment in the field with respect to piles and soil settlements, pressures, excess pore pressure, and reinforcement strains (Rowe and Liu, 2015).…”

Experimental Study on the Performance of Geosynthetic-Reinforced and Tapered Pile- Supported Composite Foundation

“…Hasan M. and Gu M. et al [13][14] found that geosynthetic-reinforced and gravel pile-supported composite foundation has a relatively large settlement and proposed solutions to such problem. Rowe R. K. et al [15] calculated the settlement of soft foundation under no treatment, single vertical pile treatment, and GRPS treatment via a 3D finite element analysis. Their calculations showed that given the calculation load, the settlement under the single vertical pile treatment and GRPS treatment are 52% and 31% of that under no treatment, respectively.…”

A closed-form solution for column-supported embankments with geosynthetic reinforcement

“…This issue has attracted the attention of many engineers and researchers, and a handful of studies have been conducted to evaluate the geosynthetic-reinforced and semi-rigid column-supported embankments. These vary from laboratory tests (Chen et al, 2008a;Van Eekelen et al, 2012a, 2012bXu et al, 2016;Debnath and Dey, 2017;Esmaeili et al, 2017;Mehdizadeh et al, 2018) to full-scale experiments (Chen et al, 2010;Liu et al, 2012;Hong et al, 2014;Weng et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015;Rowe and Liu, 2015;Van Eekelen et al, 2015;Cao et al, 2016;Van Eekelen et al, 2017;Michalowski et al, 2018;Tano et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018aWang et al, , 2018c and from analytical models (Balaam and Booker, 1981;Deb, 2010;Karim et al, 2011;Van Eekelen et al, 2011Zhou et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2013;Zhuang et al, 2014;Jamsawang et al, 2016;Van Eekelen, 2016;Feng et al, 2017b;Zhao et al, 2017) to numerical simulations (Huang and Han, 2009;Jiang et al, 2014;Kamash and Han, 2014;Lai et al, 2014;Yoo, 2015;Zhuang and Wang, 2015;Liu et al, 2017;…”