Investigation of Soil-Arching Development in Dense Sand by 2D Model Tests

Rui, Rui; van Tol, A.F.; Xia, YY; van Eekelen, SJM; Hu, G

doi:10.1520/GTJ20150130

Investigation of Soil-Arching Development in Dense Sand by 2D Model Tests

Title

Investigation of Soil-Arching Development in Dense Sand by 2D Model Tests

Author

Rui, Rui
van Tol, A.F. (TU Delft Geo-engineering)
Xia, YY
van Eekelen, SJM
Hu, G

Date

2016-04

Abstract

A trapdoor system has frequently been used to study soil arching and its development in recent years. The load transfer in the fill of piled embankments is very similar to a trapdoor system with multiple trapdoors. There are multiple arching models described in different standards and guidelines for piled embankments that can be subdivided into three archingmodel families. To study the soil-arching type and its development, a series of model tests with sand fills were carried out in a two-dimensional (2D) multi-trapdoor test setup. The tests considered four factors—the fill height, trapdoor width, pile width, and grain size of the sand—with four values for each factor. Triangular slip surfaces were found at very small deformations using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. These surfaces evolved in ways that could be related to the three types of stress-distribution ratio curves, with development patterns similar to the arching families of piled embankments: (1) the rigidmodel family, (2) the equal-settlement-plane-model family, and (3) the limit-equilibriummodel family. The limit-equilibrium-model family occurred in tests with narrow trapdoor widths.

Subject

trapdoor tests
soil arching
piled embankments
multiple trapdoors
model test
stress-distribution ratio
PIV technique

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a4077a8d-9e43-4e09-b559-9247c2266d31

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20150130

Embargo date

2017-05-01

ISSN

0149-6115

Source

Geotechnical Testing Journal, 39 (3), 415-430