Erxiang Song

Ground movement analysis of soil nailing construction by three-dimensional (3-D) finite element modeling (FEM)

Abstract In recent years, soil nailing has been widely used to stabilize excavated steep slopes. Its design is often controlled by the allowable deformation level especially when buildings and/or other underground facilities exit near the excavation. In this paper a three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model (FEM) has been developed for the deformation analysis of nailed soil structures. In this model, the soil nonlinearity, the soil–nail interaction and the staged construction are all considered. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate some influence factors on the deformation behavior. An engineering case is also analyzed and the predicted soil movements at various stages of excavation are compared with field measurements. Good agreement between the prediction and the measurements proves the reliability of the model.

DEM Simulation of the Behavior of Rockfill Sheared with Different Intermediate Principle Stress Ratios

This study investigates the influence of intermediate principle stress ratio on the mechanical behavior of crushable rockfill materials using discrete element method. Rockfill particles are modeled as breakable agglomerates, and reasonable consistency is found between the predicted and experimental results. The evolution of particle breakage is also obtained. Consistent relationships between the macro and micro parameters are established.

Effects of relative creep of geosynthetic-reinforcements on the responses of geosynthetic MSE walls

The creep of geosynthetics leads to the decrease of long-term strength and the increase of deformation. More importantly, the influences of creep of geosynthetics are also affected by the creep properties of soils. In this paper, the effects of creep of geosynthetic-reinforcements are investigated using Finite Element procedure, on the context of its relations to the creep of backfill soils. The nonlinearity and creep of both geosynthetics and backfills were considered in the procedure. A model MSE walls at a height of eight-meter was analyzed using the Finite Element program ABAQUS. Geosynthetic reinforcements with different rates of creep were analyzed to investigate the effects of relative creep on the responses of the model MSE wall. It is found from the analysis that the relative creep rate between geosynthetic reinforcement and backfill soil is very important to the responses of the model wall. Both the reinforcement loads and the stress states in the soils were influenced by the relative creep rates of the two materials.