A 2D and 3D kinematically admissible rotational failure mechanism is presented for homogeneous slurry trenches in frictional/cohesive soils.Analytical approaches are derived to obtain the upper bounds on slurry trench stability in the strict framework of limit analysis.It is shown that the factor of safety from a 3D analysis will be greater than that from a 2D analysis.Compared with the limit equilibrium method,the limit analysis method yields an unconservative estimate on the safety factors.A set of examples are presented in a wide range of parameters for 2D and 3D homogeneous slurry trenches.The factor of safety increases with increasing slurry and soil bulk density ratio,cohesion,friction angle,and with decreasing slurry level depth and trench depth ratio,trench width and depth ratio.It is convenient to assess the safety for the homogeneous slurry trenches in practical applications.
This work focuses on the uniqueness of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation behaviors for soft clays under one-dimensional condition. An elasto-viscoplastic model is briefly introduced based on the rate-dependency of preconsolidation pressure. By comparing the rate-dependency formulation with the creep based formulation, the relationship between rate-dependency and creep behaviors is firstly described. The rate-dependency based formulation is then extended to derive an analytical solution for the stress relaxation behavior with defining a stress relaxation coefficient. Based on this, the relationship between the rate-dependency coefficient and the stress relaxation coefficient is derived. Therefore, the uniqueness between behaviors of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation with their key parameters is obtained. The uniqueness is finally validated by comparing the simulated rate-dependency of preconsolidation pressure, the estimated values of secondary compression coefficient and simulations of stress relaxation tests with test results on both reconstituted Illite and Berthierville clay.
A method of three-dimensional loaded slope stability for anisotropic and nonhomogeneous slopes was presented based on the upper-bound theorem of the limit analysis approach. The approach can be considered as a modification and extension of the solutions. The influences of friction angle, anisotropy factor, nonhomogeneous factor, slope angle, ratio of width to depth, and load on the slope crest were investigated. The results show that solutions are suitable to deal with the purely cohesive soils and frictional/cohesive soils, isotropic and anisotropic, homogeneous and nonhomogeneous, loaded and unloaded cases.
Severe water waves can induce seabed liquefaction and do harm to marine structures. Dynamic response of seabed with definite thickness induced by cnoidal water waves is investigated numerically. Biot＇s consolidation equations are employed to model the seabed response. Parametric studies are carried out to examine the influence of the air content in the pore water and the soil hydraulic conductivity. It is been shown that the air content and soil hydraulic conductivity can significantly affect the pore pressure in seabed. An increase of air content and/or a decrease of soil hydraulic conductivity can change the pore pressure gradient sharply.
The theory of limit analysis is presented for a three-dimensional stability problem of excavation. In frictional soil, the failure surface has the shape of logarithm helicoid, with the outline profile defined by a log- spiral curve. The internal dissipation rate of energy caused by soil cohesion and gravity power of the failure soil is obtained through theoretical derivation. By solving the energy balance equation, the stability factor for the excavation is obtained. Influence of the ratio of width to height, the slope angle, and the top angle on the stability is examined. Numerical results of the proposed algorithm are presented in the form of non dimensional graph. Examples illustrate the practical use of the results.
