Civil Engineering
Modelling of expansive clay interaction with skeleton structures considering the effect of replacement permeability

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Abstract

The present work investigates the interplay between building stiffness and replacement soil thickness and permeability, when an underlying swelling clay layer is subjected to continuous moisture using 3D numerical analysis. Simulations are done using the commercial finite element software ABAQUS, and data of a reference clay (Regina Clay). The swelling of the clay is simulated as a result of water inundation, and not applied as assumed volume strains. An approximate method is used and validated in the analyses to represent dual constitutive variable data of the unsaturated clay in numerical analysis using single constitutive variable formulation available in the software. Results show the effects of replacement thickness and permeability. High permeability replacement is shown to transfer moistening uniformly to underlying clay while at the same time replacing effective clay thickness. Hence, high permeability is better at improving differential deformations; especially when the building is subjected to non-uniform inundation.

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Dr. Abdelmoneim graduated from Alexandria University, Civil Engineering Department in 2001. Then, she received her M.Sc. from University of Hannover, Germany in 2005. Dr. Abdelmoneim is currently teaching on a part time basis in the Construction department at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, College of Engineering and Technology-Cairo Campus. She completed her PhD from Cairo University in 2019 from which this paper is published.

Dr. El-Taher is an Assistant Professor of Geotechnical Engineering in A'Sharqiyah University, Oman. He teaches Soil Mechanics and Foundations to undergraduate students. Dr. El-Taher’s research interests are in the topics of numerical analysis and soil structure interaction. Dr. El-Taher graduated from Zagazig University, Civil Engineering Department with honors in 2002. Then, he got his M.Sc. in 2005 from the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Research Laboratory (SMFRL), Cairo University. Dr. El-Taher got Full Ph.D. Assistantship from Queen’s University, Canada, in 2006 and continued as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant in the Civil Engineering Department to get his PhD in 2010.

Dr Akl is an Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering in Cairo University. He teaches Soil Mechanics and Foundations to undergraduate students, and Computational Geomechanics and Engineering Geology to graduate students. Dr. Akl’s research interests are in the topics of numerical analysis and soil structure interaction. Dr. Akl graduated from Cairo University, Civil Engineering Department with honors in 2003. Then, he got appointed as a Teaching and Research Assistant in the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Research Laboratory (SMFRL) where he was able to finish his M.Sc. in 2005. Dr. Akl got the Presidential Fellowship from MIT in 2005 and continued as a Research Assistant in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to get his PhD in 2011. Before coming back to Egypt, Dr. Akl worked with the Rock Characterization Group in the Innovation, Research, and Development Department of Shell International Exploration and Production.

Dr El-Mamlouk has been a Professor of Geotechnical Engineering in Cairo University since 1992. He teaches Foundations to undergraduate students, and Soil Dynamics and Soil Hydraulics to graduate students. Dr. El-Mamlouk’s research interests are in the topics of soil dynamics, pile foundations and expansive soils. Dr. El-Mamlouk got his MSc from Cairo University in 1977. Then he worked as a research assistance in the Geotechnical Research Center in McGill University in Montreal, Canada until he got his PhD from in 1980. Dr. El-Mamlouk was the Head of Public Works Department and the Director of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Research Laboratory from 2007 till 2012.

Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.

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1 Elgammaa Street, Soil Mechanics and Foundations Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, 12311, Egypt.