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Soil-Structure Interaction

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A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Geomechanics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 47629

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dominic E. L. Ong

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering and Built Environment - Civil and Environmental Engineering, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Interests: soil-structure interaction; underground construction; centrifuge and numerical modelling; characterisation of soils and rocks; forensic engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Wen-Chieh Cheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
Interests: environmental geotechnics; construction solid waste; underground space engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hannah Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Taipa, Macao, China
Interests: constitutive modeling of geomaterials; numerical modeling in geotechnical engineering; ground improvement; probabilistic analysis in geotechnical engineering; advanced laboratory and field testing in geotechnical engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In today’s world, construction projects tend to be more complex due to one or a combination of the following reasons: climate change impacting design requirements, enhanced material properties, scarcity of greenfield sites in highly built-up cities leading to challenging underground construction, easily accessible scientific knowledge, the prowess of computational speed, and the advent of new technologies driving innovation as well as stringent health and safety requirements to safeguard the public. These factors have since become the new normal, thus increasing the expectations of scientists and engineers to deliver the ‘unimaginable’ products as envisioned by clients.

However, the one aspect of any construction project that has a common link to these expectations is the ground or foundation that these structures sit on. Serving as a platform for buildings and infrastructure to be founded on, soils and rocks are important geomaterials that are challenging to characterise because they are naturally formed, and thus not subject to any quality control protocol.

As such, it is crucial that scientists and engineers develop their expertise and capability through research and practice to quantify the interaction of infrastructure with the surroundings and the ground they are founded on, thus the term ‘soil-structure interaction’ forms an integral part of delivering successful project outcomes.

Therefore, as the honourary Guest Editor for the theme Soil-Structure Interaction, I cordially invite you to submit your articles about your recent project, experimental research or case studies, detailing how geosciences (soil, rock, ground water, geochemistry, geology, hydrogeology, surface run-off, rain, wind, temperature etc.) directly interact with and impact the performance of man-made structures, buildings or infrastructure, through aspects including, but not limited to:

i) Underground construction (e.g., deep excavation, tunnelling, pipe-jacking, trenching);
ii) Innovative ground improvement methods (e.g., DSM, stone column, insitu walls, subgrade stabilisation);
iii) Geological explorations and interpretation;
iv) Onshore/offshore or coastal environment (e.g., jetties, wharves, harbours, wind turbines, underwater landslides, pipelines);
v) Instrumentation and field observational method;
vi) Use of artificial intelligence or algorithms;
vii) Post-failure forensic engineering or inverse-analysis methods;
viii) Geophysical methods for soil or rock characterisation;
ix) Advancements in laboratory and field testing of geomaterials;
x) Advancements in remote sensing/LiDAR/drone/image-processing detection;
xi) Advancements in finite/discrete element/large-deformation/meshfree modelling
xii) Advancements in multi-disciplinary design theories, government policies, construction innovation, engineering education.

I would like to also encourage you to send a brief abstract outlining the purpose of your research and the key results obtained in order to verify at an early stage that your manuscript falls within the objectives of the Special Issue.

text

Dr. Dominic E.L. Ong
Prof. Dr. Jason Wen Chieh Cheng
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hannah Zhou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Soil-structure interaction
Underground construction
Geomaterial testing and characterisation
Ground improvement and stabilisation
Forensic engineering
Structural distress and strengthening
Damage assessment
Centrifuge and numerical analyses
Parametric and case studies
Artificial intelligence systems.

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

4 pages, 164 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Editorial of Special Issue “Soil–Structure Interaction”

by Dominic E. L. Ong, Wen-Chieh Cheng and Hannah Zhou

Geosciences 2023, 13(2), 54; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences13020054 - 10 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1097

Abstract

In today’s world, construction projects tend to be more complex due to one or a combination of the following reasons: climate change impacting design requirements; enhanced material properties; the scarcity of greenfield sites in highly built-up cities, leading to challenging underground construction; easily accessible scientific knowledge; the prowess of computational speed; the advent of new technologies driving innovation; and stringent health and safety requirements to safeguard the public [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

Research

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19 pages, 4324 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Validation of Analytical Solutions for Predicting Drilled Pile Behaviour under Bi-Directional Static Load Tests

by Runshen Wang, Dominic E. L. Ong, Jialin Zhou, Siwei Liu and Erwin Oh

Geosciences 2022, 12(8), 284; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences12080284 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1944

Abstract

A bi-directional static load test (BDSLT) is one of the most effective methods for accurately estimating pile bearing capacity, in which the test pile is divided into two portions by activating the single-loading device welded along the pile shaft. BDSLT, thus, eliminates the safety concerns and space limitations imposed by the reaction system, as compared to conventional static load tests (kentledge). Based on this study’s project requirements, two loading devices (supercells) were welded along the pile shaft to provide sufficient bearing capacity under the BDSLT, and an equivalent method was applied to interpret the measured load–settlement response. Since the sacrificial loading device welded along the pile shaft cannot be re-used, BDSLTs lead to increased construction costs; however, their capacity for rapid set-up in a limited space and reliable application for long piles are benefits that easily justify their use. Therefore, researchers must understand how BDSLTs perform, especially regarding double-loading devices. As informed by site investigation, this paper validates the conventional analytical solutions regarding test piles in preliminary designs, including Alpha and Beta and semi-empirical methods. In terms of a soil stiffness reduction model, modified closed-form analytical solutions based on Randolph’s analytical method were applied to predict the load–settlement response. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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22 pages, 36641 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strength and Microstructural Assessment of Reconstituted and Stabilised Soft Soils with Varying Silt Contents

by Yaxu Liu, Zhuang Liu, Erwin Oh and Dominic Ek Leong Ong

Geosciences 2021, 11(8), 302; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences11080302 - 21 Jul 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3171

Abstract

The study of the strength of reconstituted and stabilised soft soils is very important in geotechnical engineering. The soil particles, such as clay, sand, and silt play important roles in determining the behaviour of soils. The behaviour of clay and sand particles are unique; however, the behaviour of silt particles lie in a transitional form between sand and clay. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate (a) the effect of silt contents on the strength of soft soils; (b) the effect of silt content on the strength of cement-stabilised soft soils; and (c) the microstructure of the soft soil specimens stabilised by cement with varying particle size distribution. A series of tests consisting in consolidated, isotropic undrained (CIU) triaxial tests, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were conducted in this study to achieve these objectives. In conclusion, the relationship between the silt content and critical state behaviour of soft soils (both clay and silt particles) are proposed. For the cement-stabilised specimens, the unconfined compressive strength increases with the increase in silt content when the cement content is 10%. However, the UCS decreases with the increase in silt content when cement content is 30%. With cement content ranging from 15–25%, the UCS increases at first with the increase of silt content but decreases once the silt content reaches a ‘saturation’ point. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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14 pages, 2019 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dispersion Curves of Transverse Waves Propagating in Multi-Layered Soils from Experimental Tests in a 100 m Deep Borehole

by Angelo Aloisio, Ferdinando Totani, Rocco Alaggio and Gianfranco Totani

Geosciences 2021, 11(5), 207; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences11050207 - 08 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1967

Abstract

The estimate of the velocity of shear waves (

V_{s}

) is essential in seismic engineering to characterize the dynamic response of soils. There are various direct methods to estimate the

V_{s}

. The authors report the results of site characterization [...] Read more.

The estimate of the velocity of shear waves (

V_{s}

) is essential in seismic engineering to characterize the dynamic response of soils. There are various direct methods to estimate the

V_{s}

. The authors report the results of site characterization in Macerata (Italy), where they measured the

V_{s}

using the seismic dilatometer in a 100 m deep borehole. The standard

V_{s}

estimation originates from the cross-correlation between the signals acquired by two geophones at increasing depths. This paper focuses on the estimate of the dependence of

V_{s}

on the wavenumber. The dispersion curves reveal an unexpected hyperbolic dispersion curve typical of Lamb waves. Interestingly, the contribution of Lamb waves may be notable up to 100 m depth. The amplitude of surface waves decrease rapidly with depth; still, their influence may be essential up to depths considered unusual for standard geotechnical investigations, where their effect is generally neglected. Accordingly, these waves may bias the outcomes of the standard

V_{s}

estimations, which ignore frequency-dependent phenomena. The paper proposes an enhancement of the accepted procedure to estimate

V_{s}

and addresses the importance of Lamb waves in soil characterization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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16 pages, 2224 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Degree of Saturation (DOS) on Dynamic Behavior of Unbound Granular Materials

by Junyu Sun, Erwin Oh and Dominic Ek-Leong Ong

Geosciences 2021, 11(2), 89; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences11020089 - 15 Feb 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2552

Abstract

The extensive application of natural unbound granular materials (UGMs) motivates studies into the mechanical properties of alternatives such as processed crushed rocks employed commonly as base or subbase layers. The rutting and settlement generated in base and subbase layers is widely restricted in [...] Read more.

M_{r}

) and the plastic strain (ε

ε_{p}

) of the crushed rocks collected from Queensland in Australia will be tested by a series of repeated load triaxial test (RLT) tests to investigate the behavior of UGMs under the fluctuation of the degree of saturation (DOS) (59%–100%). In particular, the RLT specimens were prepared in the laboratory through proper gradation under optimum moisture content (OMC) and 100% standard proctor maximum dry unit weight. Results from the RLT tests showed that UGM specimens soaked at higher DOS generated lower resilient modulus and weaker resistance to heavy traffic volumes with significant accumulation of plastic strain. The

M_{r}

and ε

ε_{p}

of the tested aggregates under different cyclic deviator stresses of 425 kPa and 625 kPa approximately linearly decreased and approximately linearly increased as the DOS increased with a certain number of cycles up to 50,000, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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18 pages, 4103 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Elastic Settlement Analysis of Rigid Rectangular Footings on Sands and Clays

by Lysandros Pantelidis and Elias Gravanis

Geosciences 2020, 10(12), 491; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences10120491 - 04 Dec 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5322

Abstract

In this paper an elastic settlement analysis method for rigid rectangular footings applicable to both clays and sands is proposed. The proposed method is based on the concept of equivalent shape, where any rectangular footing is suitably replaced by a footing of elliptical shape; the conditions of equal area and equal perimeter are satisfied simultaneously. The case of clay is differentiated from the case of sand using different contact pressure distribution, whilst, additionally, for the sands, the modulus of elasticity increases linearly with depth. The method can conveniently be calibrated against any set of settlement data obtained analytically, experimentally, or numerically; in this respect the authors used values which have been derived analytically from third parties. Among the most interesting findings is that sands produce “settlement x soil modulus/applied pressure” values approximately 10% greater than the respective ones corresponding to clays. Moreover, for large Poisson’s ratio (v) values, the settlement of rigid footings is closer to the settlement corresponding to the corner of the respective flexible footings. As v decreases, the derived settlement of the rigid footing approaches the settlement value corresponding to the characteristic point of the respective flexible footing. Finally, corrections for the net applied pressure, footing rigidity, and non-elastic response of soil under loading are also proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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21 pages, 7679 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Data-Driven Field Observational Method of a Contiguous Bored Pile Wall System Affected by Accidental Groundwater Drawdown

by Elizabeth Eu-Mee Chong and Dominic Ek-Leong Ong

Geosciences 2020, 10(7), 268; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10070268 - 13 Jul 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3929

Abstract

This paper presents the use of a 700 mm-diameter contiguous bored pile (CBP) wall for a main basement deep excavation project with cut-and-cover tunnel. Due to the presence of cement grout columns between piles behind the CBP wall, the main basement was considered to be ‘impermeable’. However, site observations have shown that installation of ground anchors have unintentionally punctured the water tightness of the wall, creating leakages through the CBP wall and the possibility of localized groundwater lowering, as evidenced by the relatively large settlements. In the absence of cement grout columns at the cut-and-cover tunnel section, immediate groundwater drawdown was observed with the excavation rate. Settlement induced by the excavation and groundwater drawdown only slowed down upon the casting of skinwall to prevent groundwater from flowing through the wall. The accidental groundwater leakage led to small wall deflection. The ratio of maximum settlement to maximum deflection is atypical to those reported in the literature. The analysis also revealed that corner effect is significant with smaller settlement registered at the corners of the wall. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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19 pages, 4737 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Behavior of a Large Diameter Bored Pile in Drained and Undrained Conditions: Comparative Analysis

by Mohamed Ezzat Al-Atroush, Ashraf Hefny, Yasser Zaghloul and Tamer Sorour

Geosciences 2020, 10(7), 261; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences10070261 - 08 Jul 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 7878

Abstract

Despite the difficulties in obtaining the ultimate capacity of the large diameter bored piles (LDBP) using the in situ loading test, this method is the most recommended by several codes and design standards. However, several settlement-based approaches, alongside the conventional capacity-based design approach for LDBP, are proposed in the event of the impossibility of performing a pile-loading test during the design phase. With that in mind, natural clays usually involve some degree of over consolidation; there is considerable debate among the various approaches on how to represent the behavior of the overconsolidated (OC)stiff clay and its design parameters, whether drained or undrained, in the pile-load test problems. In this paper, field measurements of axial loaded to failure LDBP load test installed in OC stiff clay (Alzey Bridge Case Study, Germany) have been used to assess the quality of two numerical models established to simulate the pile behavior in both drained and undrained conditions. After calibration, the load transfer mechanism of the LDBP in both drained and undrained conditions has been explored. Results of the numerical analyses showed the main differences between the soil pile interaction in both drained and undrained conditions. Also, field measurements have been used to assess the ultimate pile capacity estimated using different methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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Review

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36 pages, 78336 KiB

Open AccessReview

Influence of Surface Roughness and Particle Characteristics on Soil–Structure Interactions: A State-of-the-Art Review

by Runshen Wang, Dominic E. L. Ong, Mohammud I. Peerun and Dong-Sheng Jeng

Geosciences 2022, 12(4), 145; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences12040145 - 23 Mar 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4463

Abstract

The study of soil–structure interface behavior contributes to the fundamental understanding of engineering performance and foundation design optimization. Previous research studies the effect of soil characteristics and surface roughness property on the soil–material interface mechanism via interface shear test. The reviews utilizing past established laboratory studies and more recent tests based on state-of-the-art technologies reveal that surface roughness significantly affects interface shear performances in the studies of soil–structure interactions, especially in peak shear strength development. A preliminary but original investigative study by the authors was also carried out using a sophisticated portable surface roughness gauge to define the material surface roughness properties in order to study the interface behavior parametrically. Additionally, using the authors’ own original research findings as a proof-of-concept innovation, particle image velocimetry (PIV) technology is applied using a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera to capture sequential images of particle interactions in a custom-built transparent shear box, which validate the well-established four-stage soil shearing model. The authors also envisaged that machine learning, e.g., artificial neural network (ANN) and Bayesian inference method, amongst others, as well as numerical modeling, e.g., discrete element method (DEM), have the potential to also promote research advances on interface shear mechanisms, which will assist in developing a greater understanding in the complex study of soil–structure interactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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39 pages, 7271 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Biopolymers as Green Binders for Soil Improvement in Geotechnical Applications: A Review

by Hadi Fatehi, Dominic E. L. Ong, Jimmy Yu and Ilhan Chang

Geosciences 2021, 11(7), 291; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences11070291 - 15 Jul 2021

Cited by 69 | Viewed by 9524

Abstract

Soil improvement using biopolymers has attracted considerable attention in recent years, with the aim to reduce the harmful environmental effects of traditional materials, such as cement. This paper aims to provide a review on the environmental assessment of using biopolymers as binders in soil improvement, biopolymer-treated soil characteristics, as well as the most important factors affecting the behavior of the treated soil. In more detail, environmental benefits and concerns about the use of biopolymers in soil improvement as well as biopolymer–soil interaction are discussed. Various geotechnical properties are evaluated and compared, including the unconfined compressive strength, shear strength, erosion resistance, physical properties, and durability of biopolymer-treated soils. The influential factors and soil and environmental conditions affecting various geotechnical characteristics of biopolymer-treated soils are also discussed. These factors include biopolymer concentration in the biopolymer–soil mixture, moisture condition, temperature, and dehydration time. Potential opportunities for biopolymers in geotechnical engineering and the challenges are also presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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21 pages, 4562 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of Soil-Structure Interaction Based on Continuum Mechanics Theory and Use of High Performance Computing

by Muhammad Rizwan Riaz, Hiroki Motoyama and Muneo Hori

Geosciences 2021, 11(2), 72; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences11020072 - 08 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3368

Abstract

Recent achievement of research on soil-structure interaction (SSI) is reviewed, with a main focus on the numerical analysis. The review is based on the continuum mechanics theory and the use of high-performance computing (HPC) and clarifies the characteristics of a wide range of treatment of SSI from a simplified model to a high fidelity model. Emphasized is that all the treatment can be regarded as the result of the mathematical approximations in solving a physical continuum mechanics problem of a soil-structure system. The use of HPC is inevitable if we need to obtain a solution of higher accuracy and finer resolution. An example of using HPC for the analysis of SSI is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Structure Interaction)

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