Abstract Tunnel excavations inevitably induce stress release and soil movement, which may affect the safety and serviceability of nearby existing pile foundations. The effects of tunnel construction on existing piles have been extensively investigated, but little attention was paid to lateral responses of piled foundations to tunnelling. In this study, a series of three-dimensional centrifuge model

Abstract Prefabricated horizontal drain (PHD) assisted by vacuum pressure has been used in practice to accelerate the consolidation process of dredged soft mud. However, very few studies have investigated the large-strain nonlinear consolidation caused by vacuum-assisted PHD. Therefore, based on the piecewise-linear method, this study proposes a one-dimensional consolidation model (called VCS herein)

Abstract The paper investigates a mechanical quasi-static size effect in concrete during splitting tension at the macro- and meso-level. In experiments, five different diameters of cylindrical concrete specimens were tested. Two-dimensional plane strain finite element (FE) simulations were carried out to reproduce the experimental size effect. The size effect in experiments by Carmona et al. was also

Abstract Cu-Al-Mn is one of the shape memory alloys (SMAs), which has been newly studied in recent years. This material can be used instead of typical Ni-Ti SMA since it can reduces material cost and dependence on temperature and loading rate, also, increases machinability and cold workability. In the present study, the seismic application of Cu-Al-Mn bars was evaluated as a part of the steel brace

Abstract One of the most important design approaches in the repairing/strengthening details is using CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) to delay the debonding of the CFRP strips/plates from the surface to take full advantage of the CFRP reinforcement. Compared to non-anchored strips, research studies regarding bond-slip models developed for fan type CFRP anchors and anchored CFRP strips to strengthen

Abstract This manuscript explores the effect of ternary blend i.e. the replacements of cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate simultaneously with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and lime, granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), respectively, on the fresh, mechanical and durability properties of concrete. Twenty-one concrete mixes having various combinations

Abstract The recent devastating earthquakes have caused severe physical, social, and financial damage worldwide and indicate that many existing buildings, especially in developing countries, are not designed to withstand seismic hazards and resulting vulnerabilities to earthquakes. It is difficult, time-consuming, and costly to investigate and inspect all the existing buildings in detail before an

Abstract The current paper provides modelling guidelines for nonlinear analysis and fragility assessment of corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) structures. A systematic guideline is proposed to model the adverse impact of corrosion on mechanical properties of steel and concrete materials including the negative impact of corrosion on inelastic buckling and low-cycle fatigue (LCF) degradation

Abstract Suction-bucket-supported jacket foundations are being used increasingly for offshore wind turbines, the advantages being large bearing capacity and efficient installation. For a large-capacity wind turbine, the pullout capacity and displacement of the bucket in the tripod or tetrapod jacket can be critical to the safety of the structure. The loading rate, which is commonly dominated by the

Abstract This paper aims to experimentally study the impact of waste glass powder (GP) as a partial cement replacement (up to 20%) with two different particle size distributions ((55 µm < GP-A < 135 µm) and (55 µm > GP-B)) on the compressive strength and Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) of concrete. The concrete mixes for GP-A considered in this study have water to binder ratio (w/b) of 0.49 and 0.57, whereas

Abstract In this paper, an empirical model for a strut efficiency factor (βs) is proposed and introduced in to the softened strut and tie model to predict the ultimate shear strength and the corresponding ultimate load of simply supported steel reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams under 4-point bending without transverse reinforcements. The proposed model accounts for the influence of shear span to

Abstract The laboratory tests and Particle Flow Code numerical simulation of triaxial compression are conducted to analyze fractal dimensions of fracture surface, strength properties, energy dissipation, damage laws and crack evolution. Under low confining pressure, the fracture surface of the brittle specimen is rough and the angle relative to the maximum principal stress is small. The specimen eventually

Abstract Damping is a significant dynamic characteristic used to describe rock vibration failures and plays an important role in various seismic engineering applications, specifically for evaluating stability of rock masses under forced vibration loading. In this paper, cyclic loading tests were carried out on sandstone and granite samples to study their damping characteristics. The effect of the selected

Abstract In this study, it is aimed to investigate the influence of axial compressive stress on the carbonation resistance of recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RAC). The test variables are compressive stress ratios and carbonization ages. The compressive stress ratios of RAC are 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and the carbonization ages are 3, 7, 14, 28 days, respectively. The test results show

Abstract This experiment studied the effect of alkali activators on clay from anthill mounds which was blended with a small proportion of cement to develop eco-friendly unfired bricks. Physical, wet and dry compressive strength tests were investigated and the results were analysed using one-way ANOVA. Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the unfired bricks were also studied using Hot Disc

Abstract This paper presents a simple method to apply the Ménard Pressuremeter Test (PMT) results for the calibration of the soil stiffness due to primary deviatoric loading used in the Hardening Soil (HS) Model. A hyperbolic extension is used to rebuild the PMT pressure-expansion curve at small-strain values. The method was applied to simulate a series of PMT tests using axisymmetric finite element

Abstract Fe-600 grade steels are recommended for high rises and other structures in India that require high-load carrying capacity (particularly in seismic zones) due to its excellent mechanical properties. But structures in food processing, agricultural waste handling, etc., industries and high rises are subjected to attack of sulphates as well as acid rain. The present work investigates the efficacy

Abstract Internal erosion is one of the main causes of dike failures. Their failure mechanism is related to the physical characteristics (distribution of particle size, permeability characteristics, clay content, etc.), stress state, and hydraulic conditions of the soil around the dikes. In this study, a series of erosion tests under different rising rates of the water head were conducted to study

Abstract Many geotechnical problems involve pavements in Algerian arid regions; the main among them being related to the scarcity of standard materials. Recently, numerous studies were carried out on the valorization of Saharan local materials for pavement design. In this context, dune sand, tuff and quarry waste are promising alternatives. In this study, the design of experiments was used to optimize

Abstract The main intention of this research is to reuse the industrial by product ferrochrome slag and silica fume as a partial replacement of natural coarse aggregate and fly ash, respectively for the production of Geopolymer concrete with improved mechanical properties. Natural coarse aggregate was replaced by ferrochrome slag (FS) in varying percentages from 0 to 40% by weight. Fly ash was replaced

Abstract Numerous works investigating the use of rubber waste as aggregate in concrete have been well documented. Most of the works covered the enhancement method in improving the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete. However, limited works on permeation-durability related characteristics of rubberized concrete have been reported. In this study, further understanding on metakaolin blended concrete

Abstract Geocell reinforcement (GR) improves load-deformation behavior of shallow foundations. A series of instrumented large-scale plate load tests was performed to ascertain such improvements and to correlate that to the relative density (Dr ) of geocell-reinforced sand (GRS). Variable effects on stiffness, bearing capacity (BC), load dispersion and strain-stress behaviors are discussed. The extensive

Abstract An upper bound analysis procedure was presented in this paper to investigate the face stability of a deep-buried tunnel excavated beneath water/sea. By constructing a kinematic velocity field, the kinematic solution of support pressure required for tunnel face stability was formulated, considering a uniform and a linearly increased soil cohesion profile. A uniform and a linearly increased

Abstract Nowadays, concretes with better mechanical properties and durability are required, in order to develop structures with higher mechanical requirements and to resist construction aggressive environments. Following from that, the addition of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) as a method of internal curing in concrete, could provide a greater degree of hydration of the cement, reducing cracks generated

Abstract The replacement depth of black cotton soil (BCS) was investigated to control the cracking of the highway embankment. With the help of the user subroutines Abaqus, the FEM model of the highway embankment on BCS was constructed. The change of major principal stress within the highway embankment due to the water losing shrinkage of BCS was simulated. The results indicate the tensile stress caused

Abstract This study presents the strength development and characterisation of geopolymer mortars containing finely ground calcined perlite (GCP) as a precursor which is activated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. For this purpose, mortar specimens were produced with CEN standard sand, GCP, water and NaOH. The specimens subjected to heat curing after 24 h from casting and kept at an ambient temperature

Abstract An upper bound analysis procedure was presented in this paper to investigate the face stability of a deep-buried tunnel excavated beneath water/sea. By constructing a kinematic velocity field, the kinematic solution of support pressure required for tunnel face stability was formulated, considering a uniform and a linearly increased soil cohesion profile. A uniform and a linearly increased

Abstract Nowadays, concretes with better mechanical properties and durability are required, in order to develop structures with higher mechanical requirements and to resist construction aggressive environments. Following from that, the addition of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) as a method of internal curing in concrete, could provide a greater degree of hydration of the cement, reducing cracks generated

Abstract This study presents the strength development and characterisation of geopolymer mortars containing finely ground calcined perlite (GCP) as a precursor which is activated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. For this purpose, mortar specimens were produced with CEN standard sand, GCP, water and NaOH. The specimens subjected to heat curing after 24 h from casting and kept at an ambient temperature

Abstract This paper investigates the 1-D diffusion process of bentonite particle, which is affected by the friction related to the fractal structure of colloid pore. The expression of the pore tortuosity containing pore fractal dimension is deduced to determine the friction, and the evolution rule of pore fractal dimension during diffusion with bentonite volume fraction is reached. The rationality

Abstract Due to the excavation or reinforcement of tunnels, the properties of the rock mass close to tunnels can be significantly changed. To account this issue, a closed-form solution is presented to determine the induced stresses and deformations with consideration of the effects of the altered zone around a circular tunnel and of the self-weight of different zones. For this purpose, the Mohr–Coulomb

Abstract The magnitude of the pore water pressure developed by a soft fine-grained soil subjected to shear stresses is what determines the occurrence of sudden failure. As part of an extensive testing programme, besides identification and classification tests, 20 monotonic simple shear tests and 139 cyclic simple shear tests with different levels of static stresses (τo ) before the cyclic phase were

Abstract This study aims to examine the effects of surrounding soil layers and furthermore lens properties on induced vibrations by underground railway twin tunnels and comparing with the single tunnel. First, the predicted models for the vibration of the underground tunnel(s) are verified against in situ measurements. The tunnel(s) are assumed to be located in two-layer soil, and the influence of

Abstract The article presents a probabilistic criteria for the damage and loss assessment of buildings exposed to strong wind hazard. The criteria include the development of fragility curves, within the Federal Emergency Management Agency style, for appropriate damage states on a hotel building and contents due to the loss of nonstructural elements, like facades and the partial or total loss of contents

Abstract This paper presents the influence of ceramic waste powder (CWP) inclusion on the physico-mechanical properties and microstructure analysis of alkali-activated pastes prior and after exposure to elevated temperatures. Such geopolymer specimens were designed upon replacing ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) with CWP at ratios of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, by mass. The water absorption

Abstract The use of waste materials in concrete design draws the attention of researchers. Studies on the use of these materials both as binders and aggregates accelerate. In this study, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) based geopolymer concrete was produced. 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) was used instead of river aggregate in the mixtures. These samples were

Abstract This paper presented trilinear load transfer models for both pile shaft-–soil system and pile tip-soil system to analyze the load–settlement relationship of bored pile in loess area. Based on the differential equation of load transfer, the load transfer functions in different stages were deduced. Furthermore, combined with the trilinear model of pile tip-soil system, the load-settlement functions

Abstract This paper evaluates the effects of Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on the seismic response of multi-story concrete frames subjected to earthquake ground motions. To calculate the structural response, an iterative Wave-Propagation (WP) based method has been used. The exact solution of SSI problems, in addition to high computational costs, due to general complexity of finite element analysis

Abstract The study proposes a new method to assess the bending stiffness distribution in plate- and slab- like reinforced concrete (RC) structures based on spatially distributed strain data. Specifically, the study aims to provide an adequate structural interpretation of the readings, which infers the structural health. It is especially relevant for RC structures, that are designed to be cracked during

Abstract Plastic has become one of the most consumed materials in daily use worldwide, and its consumption is growing increasingly because of its low density, strength, low cost, formability and slow decomposition. However; the usage of plastic bottles is severe threat to environment in the form of plastic wastes. The rapid growth of PW is inviting attention for recycling and reusing in construction

Abstract Using seesaw structural system in buildings is a way for creating earthquake-resilient buildings, namely buildings which can be easily and quickly repaired with little cost, even after major earthquakes. To create such a system, all internal columns at the lowest story are removed and instead, a central mega support is used, combined with a grid of orthogonal strong girders as the first floor

Abstract Uncertain climatic factors like rainfall can induce the complex hydro-chemo mechanical processes within the rock mass, and thus substantially increase the failure probability of rock slope. This paper presents a numerical investigation into the rainfall-induced instability mechanism of jointed rock slope with two joint inclinations of dipping 45° and 60° and the corresponded safety factor

Abstract Experimentation by producing three-dimensional samples for understanding the seismic behaviour of a structure takes a significant amount of time and these experiments may be highly complicated. Based on literature, the seismic behaviour of structures with slab openings usually was represented by analytical assessments instead of three-dimensional experimental studies. Moreover, the limiting

Abstract The cemented soil–pipe pile is an expanded pile that is composed of a high-strength, precast, prestressed pipe pile core and an expanded zone of cemented soil. To investigate the shear behaviours of the cemented soil–pipe pile interface, a series of large-scale direct shear tests on the cemented soil–concrete interface under various cemented soil strengths and different normal stresses were

Abstract Cement intake is a key factor that must be precisely controlled during the curtain grouting construction process. However, in traditional grouting construction, the amount of cement intake depends on the personnel experience, and thus, it is desirable to formulate a scientific control criterion and control method. To this end, in this study, a method to predict and control the cement intake

Abstract In this paper, an experimental study aiming at understanding the seismic behaviour of dry stone retaining walls is presented. Harmonic shaking table tests have been carried out on scaled-down dry-joint retaining walls involving parallelepiped bricks. It is found that a thicker wall is more resistant and that a given retaining wall is less sensitive to higher frequencies. For those higher frequencies

Abstract Due to the continuous scarcity of sand and gravel under environmental protection policies, a new geo-backfill material with the good liquefaction resistance is urgently needed. Steel slag is a kind of industrial solid waste. The aged eight-month steel slag usually could be used as backfill material. It is important to investigate the liquefaction resistance behaviours of steel slag. According

Abstract Concrete buildings reinforced by plain bars are one of the special types of old structures generally built before the 1970s. According to the experiences of earthquakes and experimental tests, the dominant damage mode in these structures includes a deep crack at the intersection of the beam with the joint panel zone. In this study, seismic fragility curves of existing concrete buildings reinforced

Abstract This paper presents rigorous analytical solutions for cavity contraction analysis of a thick-walled cylinder/sphere after an arbitrary magnitude of expansion. Closed-form solutions are given for the distribution of stress and displacement within the cylinder/sphere of soil that is subjected to constant external pressure and monotonically decreasing internal pressure. The soil is modelled as

Abstract The response of laterally loaded piles installed near the crest of clay slopes is analysed. Three-dimensional finite element analyses are presented for piles at various distances from a slope crest and for different pile shape. The results of these analyses are used to study the variation of the pile displacement, the bending moment of the pile and the soil resistance in relation to pile to

Abstract Shear failure is the major factor involved in the failure of structures and may occur in short columns. In this article, six reinforced concrete short columns are prepared and experimentally and numerically investigated using finite element analysis under cyclic lateral displacement. Since the failure occurred in short columns under earthquake is in the form of shear and brittle failures,

Abstract For the constantly evolving alkali-activated materials (AAMs), expanding and optimising the raw materials base in accordance with increasing ecological and technical requirements is one of the determining factors for a promising future. Because of developments in inorganic material chemistry, the range of potentially suitable aluminosilicates has changed and expanded continuously throughout

Abstract In the present study, the elevated concrete water tower is used as the research object. In order to investigate the ground motion response law of the elevated concrete water tower with the near-field Chichi wave, the near-field no-pulse Tehachapi Pump wave and the far-field long-period Tianjin waves when the liquid–solid–soil interaction (LSSI) is considered. And the finite element calculation

Abstract A nonlinear analysis approach is newly proposed to obtain the configurations of suspension bridges in both construction and completed status, and the effects of the pylon saddles are considered in this algorithm. With the expression determining the position of the cable’s attachment point on the saddle, the approach can automatically take the saddle into account in the analysis process. In

Abstract The present manuscript is a state-of-the-art review, which examines the most recent stages in the developments of the class of eco-efficient green geopolymer concrete technology in the light of its history of research, more specifically, focusing on its unsettled durability criterion. The objective of this article is not merely to review it’s on hand literature but also to focus on durability

Abstract The new damage phenomenon of the Zipingpu concrete-faced rock-fill dam (CFRD) in the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake has introduced new topics to the study of seismic failure mechanisms and numerical simulation methods of high CFRDs. With respect to the large-scale contact separation between the face slabs and the cushion layer after the earthquake, the conventional method of directly assigning constant

Abstract Design of piles in chalk is considered as an important issue for a number of geotechnical applications in Northern Europe. Few methods exist for predicting the ultimate axial pile capacity in chalk, but little guidance can be found regarding the design of driven piles in this complex material as experience is rather limited. This paper aims to study the short and long-term predictive performance

Abstract Debris-flow disaster has caused large casualties and tremendous economic loss. Check dams, flexible barriers, silt dams and baffle arrays are most used disaster prevention countermeasures. For a better design strategy, we made a thorough review and discussion about the achievements and challenges in four important aspects, including impact force estimation, run-up height prediction, failure

Abstract The conventional crumb test (CCT) is a simple and rapid test, originally used for assessing the dispersive tendency of clayey soils through visual observation of a small-scale soil specimen placed in a large volume of water. In this study, the disaggregation process occurring in soil in contact with water was followed in place of the soil dispersion in CCT. In order to describe quantitatively

Abstract Evaluation of scour depth is essential but challenging for the design and surveillance of bridges. The current engineering practice is primarily based on empirical equations. However, without considering geomechanics concepts, these methods are not always reliable, especially when utilised under different geological conditions. This paper introduces a new approach based on the geomechanical