• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.1165-1173
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• 2007

Open-Steel-Plate-Girder railway bridges, in general, have plain concrete gravity pier without piles at foundations. Such piers are vulnerable to be overturned against braking forces and ground shakings during an earthquake. Thus, this study suggests a strengthening method using earth anchors to improve the resistance of plain concrete gravity piers to the overturn of themselves. Also, a filed test was performed for the as-built and the strengthened pier and the test results were compared to assess the strengthening effect. The earth anchors increased the ultimated capacity for the pier's overturn. Finally, a FE analysis was conducted using nonlinear elements for soil to understand the distribution of the soil stresses for the as-built and the strengthened pier.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.763-782
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• 2011

Results from nonlinear time-history analyses of wall-frame structural models indicate that the condition of vulnerable foundations -for which uplifting and reaching the bearing capacity of the supporting soil can occur before yielding at the base of the shear walls- may not be necessarily detrimental to the drift response of buildings under strong ground motions. Analyses also show that a soil-foundation system can inherently have deformation capacity well in excess of the demand and thus act as a source of energy dissipation that protects the structural integrity of the shear walls.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.445-452
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• 2019

Gel-type biopolymers have recently been introduced as environmentally friendly soil binders and have shown substantial strengthening effects in laboratory experimental programs. Although the strengthening effects of biopolymer-treated sands have been verified in previous direct shear tests and uniaxial compression tests, there has been no attempt to examine shear behavior under different confining stress conditions. This study therefore aimed to investigate the strengthening effects of biopolymer-treated sand using laboratory triaxial testing with a focus on confining pressures. Three representative confining pressure conditions (${\sigma}_3=50kPa$, 100 kPa, and 200 kPa) were tested with varying biopolymer contents ($m_{bp}/m_s$) of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0%, respectively. Based on previous studies, it was assumed that biopolymer-treated sand is susceptible to hydraulic conditions, and therefore, the experiments were conducted in both a hydrated xanthan gum condition and a dehydrated xanthan gum condition. The results indicated that the shear resistance was substantially enhanced and there was a demonstrable increase in cohesion as well as the friction angle when the biopolymer film matrix was comprehensively developed. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the feasibility of the biopolymer treatment will remain valid under the confining pressure conditions used in this study because the resisting force of the biopolymer-treated soil was higher than that in the untreated condition, regardless of the confining pressure.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.109-119
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• 2021

Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions has rapidly increased abnormal climate events and geotechnical engineering hazards in terms of their size and frequency accordingly. Biopolymer-based soil treatment (BPST) in geotechnical engineering has been implemented in recent years as an alternative to reducing carbon footprint. Furthermore, thermo-gelating biopolymers, including agar gum, gellan gum, and xanthan gum, are known to strengthen soils noticeably. However, an explicitly detailed evaluation of the correlation between the factors, that have a significant influence on the strengthening behavior of BPST, has not been explored yet. In this study, machine learning regression analysis was performed using the UCS (unconfined compressive strength) data for BPST tested in the laboratory to evaluate the factors influencing the strengthening behavior of gellan gum-treated soil mixtures. General linear regression, Ridge, and Lasso were used as linear regression methods; the key factors influencing the behavior of BPST were determined by RMSE (root mean squared error) and regression coefficient values. The results of the analysis showed that the concentration of biopolymer and the content of clay have the most significant influence on the strength of BPST.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.299-312
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• 2000

The response of an embedded body to dynamic loads is greatly influenced by the reactions of the soil to the motion of the body. The properties of the soil surrounding embedded bodies (e.g., piles) may be different than those of the far-field for a variety of reasons. It may be weakened or strengthened according to the method of installation of piles, or altered due to applying one of the soil strengthening technique (e.g., electrokinetic treatment of soil, El Naggar et al. 1998). In all these cases, the shear strength of the soils and its shear modulus vary gradually in the radial direction, resulting in a radially inhomogeneous soil layer. This paper describes an analysis to compute vertical and torsional dynamic soil reactions of a radially inhomogeneous soil layer with a circular hole. These soil reactions could then be used to model the soil resistance in the analysis of the pile vibration under dynamic loads. The soil layer is considered to have a piecewise, radial variation for the complex shear modulus. The model is developed for soil layers improved using the electrokinetic technique but can be used for other situations where the soil properties vary gradually in the radial direction (strengthened or weakened). The soil reactions (impedance functions) are evaluated over a wide range of parameters and compared with those obtained from other solutions. A parametric study was performed to examine the effect of different soil improvement parameters on vertical and torsional impedance functions of the soil. The effect of the increase in the shear modulus and the width of the improved zone is investigated.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.359-379
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• 2020

Due to susceptibility of bridges in the past earthquakes, vulnerability assessment and strengthening of bridges has gained a particular significance. The objective of the present study is to employ an analytical method for the development of fragility curves, as well as to investigate the effect of strengthening on the RC box-girder bridges. Since fragility curves are used for pre-and post-earthquake planning, this paper has attempted to adopt the most reliable modeling assumptions in order to increase the reliability. Furthermore, to acknowledge the interaction of soil, abutment and pile, the effect of different strengthening methods, such as using steel jacketing and FRP layers, the effect of increase in the bridge pier diameter, and the effect of vertical component of earthquake on the vulnerability of bridges in this study, a three-span RC box-girder bridge was modeled in 9 different cases. Nonlinear dynamic analyses were carried out on the studied bridges subjected to 100 ground motion records via OpenSEES platform. Therefore, the fragility curves were plotted and compared in the four damage states. The results revealed that once the interaction of soil and abutment and the vertical component of the earthquake are accounted for in the calculations, the median fragility is reduced, implying that the bridge becomes more vulnerable. It was also confirmed that steel jackets and FRP layers are suitable methods for pier strengthening which reduces the vulnerability of the bridge.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.505-516
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• 2020

In recent years, Nano-technology significantly invaded the field of Geotechnical engineering, particularly in soil stabilisation techniques. Stabilisation of weak soil is envisioned to modify various soil characteristics by the addition of natural or synthetic materials into the virgin soil. In the present study, laboratory experiments were executed to investigate the influence of nano-silica particles in the consistency limits, compressive strength of the soft clay blended with cement. The results revealed that the high compressibility behaviour of soft clay modified to medium-stiff condition with fewer dosages of cement and nano-silica. The mechanism behind the strength development is verified with the previous researches as well as from Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction test (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. Based on the results, the presence of nano-silica in soft clay blended with cement has a positive effect on the behaviour of soil. This technique proves to be very economical and less detrimental to the environment.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.503-513
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• 2019

In the present, the liquefaction potential of fiber-reinforced sandy soils was investigated through the energy-based approach by conducting a series of strain-controlled cyclic simple shear tests. In the tests, the effects of the fiber properties, such as the fiber content, fiber length, relative density and effective stress, and the test parameters on sandy soil improvement were investigated. The results indicated that the fiber inclusion yields to higher cumulative liquefaction energy values compared to the unreinforced (plain) ground by increasing the number of cycles and shear strength needed for the liquefaction of the soil. This result reveals that the fiber inclusion increases the resistance of the soil to liquefaction. However, the increase in the fiber content was determined to be more effective on the test results compared to the fiber length. Furthermore, the increase in the relative density of the soil increases the efficiency of the fibers on soil strengthening.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2010

This paper describes the compaction and strength behavior of black cotton soil (BC soil) reinforced with coir fibers. Coir used in this study is processed fiber from the husk of coconuts. BC soil reinforced with coir fiber shows only marginal increase in the strength of soil, inhibiting its use for ground improvement. In order to further increase the strength of the soil-coir fiber combination, optimum percentage of 4% of lime is added. The effect of aspect ratio, percentage fiber on the behavior of the composite soil specimen with curing is isolated and studied. It is found that strength properties of optimum combination of BC soil-lime specimens reinforced with coir fibers is appreciably better than untreated BC soil or BC soil alone with coir fiber. Lime treatment in BC soil improves strength but it imparts brittleness in soil specimen. BC soil treated with 4% lime and reinforced with coir fiber shows ductility behavior before and after failure. An optimum fiber content of 1% (by weight) with aspect ratio of 20 for fiber was recommended for strengthening BC soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.479-487
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• 2022

This study evaluates the performance of gravel impact compaction piers system (GICPs) in strengthening retrofitting a very loose silty sand layer with a very high liquefaction risk with a thickness of 3.5 meters in a multilayer coastal soil located in Bushehr, Iran. The liquefiable sandy soil layer was located on clay layers with moderate to very stiff relative consistency. Implementation of gravel impact compaction piers is a new generation of aggregate piers. After technical and economic evaluation of the site plan, out of 3 experimental distances of 1.8, 2 and 2.2 meters between compaction piers, the distance of 2.2 meters was selected as a winning option and the northern ring of the site was implemented with 1250 gravel impact compaction piers. Based on the results of the standard penetration test in the matrix soil around the piers showed that the amount of (N₁)₆₀ in compacted soils was in the range of 20-27 and on average 14 times the amount of (1-3) in the initial soil. Also, the relative density of the initial soil was increased from 25% to 63% after soil improvement. Also the safety factor of the improved soil is 1.5-1.7 times the minimum required according to the two risk levels in the design.