• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.497-505
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• 2019

Biocementation based on the microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) process is a novel soil improvement method. Biocement can improve significantly the properties of soils by binding soil particles to increase the shear strength or filling in the pores to reduce the permeability of soil. In this paper, results of triaxial consolidated undrained (CU) tests and constant shear drained (CSD) tests on biocemented Ottawa sand are presented. In the CU tests, the biocemented sand had more dilative behaviour by showing a higher stress-strain curves and faster pore pressure reducing trends as compared with their untreated counterparts. In the CSD tests, the stress ratio q/p' at which biocemented sand became unstable was higher than that for untreated sands, implying that the biocementation will improve the stability of sand to water infiltration or liquefaction.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.549-559
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• 2022

The quasi-static finite element (FE) approaches are widely used for the seismic analysis of tunnels. However, the conventional quasi-static approaches may cause significant deviations when the tunnel excavation process is simulated prior to the quasi-static analysis. In addition, they cannot account for vertical excitations. Therefore, this paper first highlights the limitations of conventional approaches. A hybrid quasi-static FE approach is subsequently proposed and extensively validated for various conditions. The hybrid approach is simple and not time consuming, and it can be used for the preliminary seismic design of tunnels, especially when the tunnel excavation and vertically propagating P-waves are considered.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-149
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• 2020

Piles are widely used in structural foundations of engineering projects. However, the deformation of the soil around the pile caused by driving process has an adverse effect on adjacent existing underground buildings. Many previous studies have addressed related problems in sand and saturated clay. Nevertheless, the failure mechanism of pile driving in unsaturated soil remains scarcely reported, and this issue needs to be studied. In this study, a modeling test system based on particle image velocimetry (PIV) was developed for studying deformation characteristics of pile driving in unsaturated silt with different water contents. Meanwhile, a series of direct shear tests and soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) tests also were conducted. The test results show that the displacement field shows an apparent squeezing effect under the pile end. The installation pressure and displacement field characteristics are sensitive to the water content. The installation pressure is the largest and the total displacement field is the smallest, for specimens compacted at water content of 11.5%. These observations can be reasonably interpreted according to the relevant unsaturated silt theory derived from SWCC tests and direct shear tests. The variation characteristics of the soil displacement field reflect the macroscopic mechanical properties of the soil around the pile.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.589-600
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• 2018

For foundations in permafrost regions, the displacement characteristics are uncertain because of the randomness of temperature characteristics and mechanical parameters, which make the structural system have an unexpected deviation and unpredictability. It will affect the safety of design and construction. In this paper, we consider the randomness of temperature characteristics and mechanical parameters. A stochastic analysis model for the uncertain displacement characteristic of foundations is presented, and the stochastic coupling program is compiled by Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) software. The stochastic displacement fields of an embankment in a permafrost region are obtained and analyzed by Neumann stochastic finite element method (NSFEM). The results provide a new way to predict the deformation characteristics of foundations in permafrost regions, and it shows that the stochastic temperature has a different influence on the stochastic lateral displacement and vertical displacement. Construction disturbance and climate warming lead to three different stages for the mean settlement of characteristic points. For the stochastic settlement characteristic, the standard deviation increases with time, which imply that the results of conventional deterministic analysis may be far from the true value. These results can improve our understanding of the stochastic deformation fields of embankments and provide a theoretical basis for engineering reliability analysis and design in permafrost regions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.531-545
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• 2015

Two fundamental issues exist in the damage theory of geo-material based on the concept of thermodynamics: existence or nonexistence of the dissipation potential, and whether the dissipation potential could be decoupled into a damage potential and a plastic one or not. Thermodynamics theory of elastoplastic damage assumes the existence of dissipation potential, but the presence of dissipation potential is conditional. Based on the dissipation inequality in accord with the second law of thermodynamics, the sufficient and necessary conditions are given for the existence of the dissipation potential separately in total and incremental forms firstly, and proved strictly in theory. With taking advantage of the basic mechanical properties of geo-materials, the nonexistence of the dissipative potential is verified. The sufficient and necessary conditions are also given and proved for the decoupling of the dissipation potential of geo-materials in total and incremental forms. Similarly, the non-decoupling of the dissipation potential has also been proved, which indicates the dissipation potential of geo-materials in total or incremental forms could not be decoupled into a dissipative potential for plasticity and that for damage respectively. The research results for the fundamental issues in the thermodynamics theory of damage will help establish and improve the theoretic basis of elastoplastic damage constitutive model for geo-materials.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.569-583
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• 2015

Two fundamental issues exist in the damage theory of geo-material based on the concept of thermodynamics: existence or nonexistence of the dissipation potential, and whether the dissipation potential could be decoupled into a damage potential and a plastic one or not. Thermodynamics theory of elastoplastic damage assumes the existence of dissipation potential, but the presence of dissipation potential is conditional. Based on the dissipation inequality in accord with the second law of thermodynamics, the sufficient and necessary conditions are given for the existence of the dissipation potential separately in total and incremental forms firstly, and proved strictly in theory. With taking advantage of the basic mechanical properties of geo-materials, the nonexistence of the dissipative potential is verified. The sufficient and necessary conditions are also given and proved for the decoupling of the dissipation potential of geo-materials in total and incremental forms. Similarly, the non-decoupling of the dissipation potential has also been proved, which indicates the dissipation potential of geo-materials in total or incremental forms could not be decoupled into a dissipative potential for plasticity and that for damage respectively. The research results for the fundamental issues in the thermodynamics theory of damage will help establish and improve the theoretic basis of elastoplastic damage constitutive model for geo-materials.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.37-57
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• 2016

Reservoir geomechanics can play an important role in hydrocarbon recovery mechanism. In $CO_2$-EOR process, reservoir geomechanics analysis is concerned with the simultaneous study of fluid flow and the mechanical response of the reservoir under $CO_2$ injection. Accurate prediction of geomechanical effects during $CO_2$ injection will assist in modeling the Carbon dioxide recovery process and making a better design of process and production equipment. This paper deals with the implementation of a program (FORTRAN 90 interface code), which was developed to couple conventional reservoir (ECLIPSE) and geomechanical (ABAQUS) simulators, using a partial coupling algorithm. A geomechanics reservoir partially coupled approach is presented that allows to iteratively take the impact of geomechanics into account in the fluid flow calculations and therefore performs a better prediction of the process. The proposed approach is illustrated on a realistic field case. The reservoir geomechanics coupled models show that in the case of lower maximum bottom hole injection pressure, the cumulative oil production is more than other scenarios. Moreover at the high injection pressures, the production rates will not change with the injection bottom hole pressure variations. Also the FEM analysis of the reservoir showed that at $CO_2$ injection pressure of 11000 Psi the plastic strain has been occurred in the some parts of the reservoir and the related stress path show a critical behavior.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.91-97
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• 2022

The cohesive non-swelling soil (CNS) cushion technology has been widely applied in the subgrade and slope improvement at expansive soil regions. However, the mechanism of the inhibition effect of the CNS layer on expansive soil (ES) has not been fully understood. We performed four outdoor model tests to further understand the inhibition effect, including different kinds of upper layer and thickness, under the unidirectional seepage condition. The swelling deformation, soil pressure, and electrical resistivity were constantly monitored during the saturation process. It is found that when a CNS layer covered the ES layer, the swelling deformation and electrical resistivity of the ES layer decreased significantly, especially the upper part. The inhibition effect of the CNS layer increases with the increase of CNS thickness. The distribution of vertical and lateral soil pressure also changed with the covering of a CNS layer. The electrical resistivity can be an effective index to describe the swelling deformation of ES layer and analyze the inhibition effect of the CNS layer. Overall, the CNS deadweight and the ion migration are the major factors that inhibit the swelling deformation of expansive soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.421-434
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• 2019

It is of great significance to study the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of the defected rock for geological engineering. The defected sandstone modeling with power-law distribution of pre-cracks was built in this paper by Particle Flow Code software. Then the mechanical properties of sandstone and the corresponding failure process were meticulously analyzed by changing the power-law index (PLI) and the number of pre-cracks (NPC). The results show that (1) With the increase of the PLI, the proportion of prefabricated long cracks gradually decreases. (2) When the NPC is the same, the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of sandstone increases with the PLI; while when the PLI is the same, the UCS decreases with the NPC. (3) The damage model of rock strength is established based on the Mori-Tanaka method, which can be used to better describe the strength evolution of damaged rock. (4) The failure mode of the specimen is closely related to the total length of the pre-crack. As the total length of the pre-crack increases, the failure intensity of the specimen gradually becomes weaker. In addition, for the specimens with the total pre-crack length between 0.2-0.55 m, significant lateral expansion occurred during their failure process. (5) For the specimens with smaller PLI in the pre-peak loading process, the concentration of the force field inside is more serious than that of the specimens with larger PLI.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.361-372
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• 2016

The soil-concrete interface shear strength, although has been extensively studied, is still difficult to predict as a result of the dependence on many factors such as normal stresses, surface roughness, particle sizes, moisture contents, dilation angles of soils, etc. In this study, a well-known rigorous statistical learning approach, namely the least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) realized in a ubiquitous spreadsheet platform is firstly used in estimating the soil-structure interface shear strength. Instead of studying the complicated mechanism, LS-SVM enables to explore the possible link between the fundamental factors and the interface shear strengths, via a sophisticated statistic approach. As a preliminary investigation, the authors study the expansive soils that are found extensively in most countries. To reduce the complexity, three major influential factors, e.g., initial moisture contents, initial dry densities and normal stresses of soils are taken into account in developing the LS-SVM models for the soil-concrete interface shear strengths. The predicted results by LS-SVM show reasonably good agreement with experimental data from direct shear tests.