Numerical analisys of instrumented granular columns

Gregório L. Silva Araújo, Ennio Marques Palmeira, Renato Pinto da Cunha

In the proceedings of: GEO2011: 64th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 5th Pan-American Conference on Teaching and Learning of Geotechnical Engineering

Session: Ground Improvement/Remediation

ABSTRACT: Construction of embankments on soft soils can present stability problems as well as high post-construction settlements. Similar problems can occur also for embankments on collapsible soils. One recent construction technique to reduce or avoid these problems is the use of geotextile encased granular columns. This paper presents results of numerical analyses on the behaviour of conventional and encased sand columns in a collapsible soil using the Finite Element Method. Results of field load tests were used for comparisons with numerical predictions. The results obtained showed good agreement between measurements and predictions for the initial stages of the load settlement curve, but deviations regarding the strains in the columns. These deviations were in part caused by the column construction conditions.

RÉSUMÉ: Durante y después de la construcción de terraplenes sobre suelos blandos o sobre suelos proclives al colapso, pueden presentarse problemas de estabilidad y de asentamientos. Últimamente, es común el uso de columnas de material granular confinado como metodología de solución de este problema. Este artículo pretende mostrar un análisis numérico que mediante métodos de elementos finitos analiza el comportamiento de las columnas de arena, convencionales y confinadas, en suelos proclives al colapso. Por último y con el objetivo de validar el análisis numérico, se hicieron pruebas de carga en campo. Los resultados mostraron una buena concordancia de los datos predichos con los tomados de las curvas de carga vs asentamiento, construidas a partir de los ensayos de campo; y algunas diferencias entre los valores de las tensiones internas, medidas y modeladas, en las columnas de arena.

Please include this code when submitting a data update: GEO2011_258

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