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Three-dimensional finite element analysis of arching in a piled embankment under traffic loading

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Abstract

Piled embankment provides an economic and effective solution to the problem of constructing embankment over soft soil, in which the soil arching plays a significant role in load transformation. However, most of current lines of research for piled embankments are focusing on the soil arching under static loading, and the behavior of soil arching under traffic loading needs to be investigated. This paper investigates the response of soil arching in the piled embankment (without the geosynthetic reinforcement) under dynamic loading using finite element method (FEM). The influence of the vehicle speeds, the numbers of the traffic load cycles, and the embankment fill friction angle for a given geometry (s = 2.5 m, h = 3.5 m, a = 1 m) is also carried out. It shows that the traffic loading has a significant effect on the behavior of the piled embankment, especially for the settlement of embankment, while the embankment fill friction angle has negligible effect on that. The maximum passive earth pressure coefficient for the embankment under traffic loading is about 30 % larger than that under static loading and occurred at the height between the outer and inner radii of the hemisphere arch. Significant effects are found in vehicle speeds and numbers of the traffic load cycles on the settlement of the embankment just above the subsoil, while with limited influence on the vertical and horizontal stress and earth pressure coefficients.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51478166 and 51108155), the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2014B04914), and 111 Project (Grant No. B13024) is acknowledged.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, Geotechnical Research Institute, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Yan Zhuang & Shaobang Li

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  1. Yan Zhuang
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  2. Shaobang Li
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Correspondence to Yan Zhuang.

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Zhuang, Y., Li, S. Three-dimensional finite element analysis of arching in a piled embankment under traffic loading. Arab J Geosci 8, 7751–7762 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-014-1748-5

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