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Predicting subsidence of cohesive and granular soil layers reinforced by geosynthetic

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Abstract

Subsidence can result from the collapse of underground cavities. The impact of such subsidence on existing structures and infrastructures is generally dramatic. Geosynthetic reinforcement (GSY) is an attractive mitigation solution that can be used to reduce this impact. This paper focuses on the mitigation solutions over existing cavities mainly on the GSY mitigation method. A large-scale physical model (1-g) is used to study the subsidence mechanisms and to estimate the efficacy of GSY for both cohesive and granular overlying soils. The results show that the presence of GSY reduces the ground movement due to the cavity progress toward surface, even under significant overload (traffic, localised foundation, etc.). The deformation of the GSY and the scenario for ground surface movement (subsidence or sinkhole) depend on both the soil type and overload intensity. The experimental results are compared to the analytical solutions proposed to design the GSY for cohesive and granular soils. In particular, the influence of the vertical stress distribution acting on the GSY is investigated. Different geometries of stress distribution are proposed for granular soils as a function of the loading mode (self-weight or localised overload). For cohesive soils, the action of the collapsed soil on the GSY sheet is found to be well estimated by considering the effect of a simplified system composed of two well localised punctual forces. The analytical and experimental results obtained are rather similar, proving the relevance of the analytical models in predicting the behaviour of reinforced soil layers taking into consideration the real stress distribution deduced from the experimental results.

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Abbreviations

c (Pa):

Cohesion of the soil

C e (%):

Expansion coefficient of the soil

D (m):

Size of the cavity at the GSY level

D 50 (m):

Mean diameter of the soil particles

D S (m):

Surface subsidence diameter

d (m):

Complementary length of the GSY so that 2 l + 2d is equal to the final length of the GSY over the cavity

d S (m):

Magnitude of the vertical surface displacement

f(x) (m):

GSY vertical deflexion (displacement)

fmax (m):

GSY maximum vertical deflexion (displacement)

fmax exp (m):

Experimental GSY maximum vertical deflexion (displacement)

fmax ana (m):

Analytical GSY maximum vertical deflexion (displacement)

H (m):

Height of the soil layer over the cavity

J (N/m):

Tensile stiffness of the GSY

K (−):

Earth pressure coefficient

Ka (−):

Active earth pressure coefficient

∆L (m):

Total increase of the length of GSY over the cavity

l1 (m):

Width of the zone on which the load is applied on the soil surface

l2 (m):

Distance between the two punctual loads P acting on the GSY

F (N/m):

Punctual load applied on the GSY defined by meter length

p (N/m2):

Vertical uniform pressure acting on the soil surface above the cavity

q 0 (N/m2):

Vertical uniform pressure acting on the GSY in the anchorage zones

S m:

Maximum vertical displacement observed on the soil surface

q(x) (N/m2):

Vertical uniform load distribution acting on the GSY over the cavity

q1 (N/m2):

Maximal vertical load acting on the GSY for each load distribution

r:

Constant defined as \(r = \sqrt {q_{0} \,(\tan \,\delta_{i} \, + \,\tan \delta_{s} )\,/\,(J\,U_{0} )}\)

SF:

Fontainebleau Sand soil

SK:

Fontainebleau Sand + Kaolin soil

TA (N/m):

Tensile force to be mobilized in the GSY anchorage areas

T(x) (N/m):

Tensile force in the GSY above the cavity

TH (N/m):

Horizontal component of the tensile force in the part of the GSY above the cavity

TV(x) (N/m):

Vertical component of the tensile force in the part of the GSY above the cavity

Tmax (N/m):

Maximal tensile force acting on the GSY sheet

U 0 (m):

Displacement value required to mobilize the maximum shear stress at the soil – GSY interface

U A (m):

Horizontal relative displacement at the soil – GSY interface at the edge of the cavity

w(x) (m):

Vertical displacement of the soil surface

z(x) (m):

Vertical displacement of the GSY

α:

Constant defined as \(\alpha \, = \,U_{A} /U_{0} {\text{ if }}U_{A} \le U_{0} {\text{ and }}\alpha = {\text{1 if }}U_{A} > U\)

δ i (°):

Lower friction angle of the soil-GSY interface

δ s (°):

Upper friction angle of the soil-GSY interface

β (−):

Tangent of the inclination angle of the GSY at the edge of the cavity \(\beta \, = \,\frac{dz(x = D/2)}{{dx}}\)

ε (x) (%):

T ensile strain in the GSY above the cavity

εW (%):

Initial strain of the sheet due to its initial ripples in the GSY above the cavity

σvg (N/m2):

Vertical stress applied on GSY calculated using Terzaghi’s equation

τ0 (N/m2):

Shear resistance of the GSY interfaces with both the soil above and below the GSY in cas the normal stress is \({q}_{0}\) \(\tau_{0} = q_{0} \,(\tan \,\delta_{i} \, + \,\tan \delta_{s} )\)

γ (N/m3):

Density of the soil unit weight

ϕ (°):

Soil internal friction angle of the soil

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  1. Ineris, Artem, 54042, Nancy, France

    Marwan Al Heib, Mouhamad Hassoun & Abbas Farhat

  2. CNRS, Grenoble INP, 3SR, University Grenoble Alpes, 38041, Grenoble, France

    Mouhamad Hassoun, Fabrice Emeriault & Pascal Villard

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  1. Marwan Al Heib
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Al Heib, M., Hassoun, M., Emeriault, F. et al. Predicting subsidence of cohesive and granular soil layers reinforced by geosynthetic. Environ Earth Sci 80, 70 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09350-3

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