Soil structure interaction

About: Soil structure interaction is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3653 publications have been published within this topic receiving 48890 citations.

Soil structure interaction for shrink-swell soils: a new design procedure for foundation slabs on shrink-swell soils

Abstract: Problems associated with shrink-swell soils are well known geotechnical problems that have been studied and researched by many geotechnical researchers for many decades. Potentially shrink-swell soils can be found almost anywhere in the world especially in the semi-arid regions of the tropical and temperate climate. Foundation slabs on grade on shrink-swell soils are one of the most efficient and inexpensive solutions for this kind of problematic soil. It is commonly used in residential foundations or any light weight structure on shrink-swell soils. Many design methods have been established for this specific problem such as Building Research Advisory Board (BRAB), Wire Reinforcement Institute (WRI), Post- Tensioning Institute (PTI), and Australian Standards (AS 2870) design methods. This research investigates most of these methods, and then, proposes a moisture diffusion soil volume change model, a soil-weather interaction model, and a soil-structure interaction model. The proposed moisture diffusion soil volume change model starts with proposing a new laboratory test to determine the coefficient of unsaturated diffusivity for intact soils. Then, it introduces the development of a cracked soil diffusion factor, provides a chart for it, and explains a large scale laboratory test that verifies the proposed moisture diffusion soil volume change model. The proposed soil-weather interaction model uses the FAO 56-PM method to simulate a weightless cover performance for six cities in the US that suffer significantly from shallow foundation problems on shrink-swell soils due to seasonal weather variations. These simulations provide more accurate weather site-specific parameters such as the range of surface suction variations. The proposed weather-site specific parameters will be input parameters to the soil structure models. The proposed soil-structure interaction model uses Mitchell (1979) equations for moisture diffusion under covered soil to develop a new closed form solution for the soil mound shape under the foundation slab. Then, it presents a parametric study by carrying out several 2D finite elements plane strain simulations for plates resting on a semiinfinite elastic continuum and resting on different soil mounds. The parametric study outcomes are then presented in design charts that end with a new design procedure for foundation slabs on shrink-swell soils. Finally, based on the developed weather-soil-structure interaction models, this research details two procedures of a proposed new design method for foundation slabs on grade on shrink-swell soils: a suction based design procedure and a water content based design procedure.

A Coupled Approach to Simulate the Explosion Response of a Buried Structure in a Soil-Rock Layered Medium:

Abstract: The paper presents an investigation on the response of a buried structure in a soft soil layer above a rock bed that is subjected to blast loading. A comprehensive approach to simulate the behavior of soft soil with a buried structure laying over a rock mass due to the dynamic (explosive) action in the rock mass is presented. The numerical algorithm was developed to simulate the shock wave propagation within the medium, considering both the bulk and deviatoric damage and taking into account the possible shear damage accumulation. It takes into account the contact conditions between the layers to simulate the shock wave transmission and the soil-structure interaction including their possible separation. The soil-lining interaction problem is solved by a combination of the variational-difference method (for the lining) and of the Godunov's method (for the soil). The coupling of these two approaches is performed by calculation of the contact stresses and velocities on the soil-lining boundary. Two types of t...

Active multiple-tuned mass dampers for asymmetric structures considering soil–structure interaction

Abstract: By resorting to Fourier transform, the equations of motion for the soil-asymmetric structure-active multiple-tuned mass dampers (AMTMD) interaction system are developed in the frequency domain under the ground acceleration. The criterion for searching the optimum parameters of the AMTMD is selected as the minimization of the minimum values of the maximum displacement dynamic magnification factors (DMF) of the asymmetric structure with the AMTMD. The estimation criterion of the effectiveness of the AMTMD is chosen as the ratio of the minimization of the minimum values of the maximum displacement DMF of the asymmetric structure with the AMTMD to the maximum displacement DMF of the asymmetric structure without the AMTMD. Employing these two criteria, the parametric studies for the influences of the normalized eccentricity ratio (NER), torsional to translational frequency ratio (TTFR), stiffness ratio of the soil relative to the structure, and height-to-base ratio of the soil-asymmetric structure interaction system are then carried out on both the effectiveness and robustness of the AMTMD. Simultaneously, the effectiveness of a single active-tuned mass damper (ATMD) with the optimum position is also presented and compared with that of the AMTMD. Extensive numerical simulations show that both the AMTMD and ATMD can effectively attenuate the translational and torsional responses of asymmetric structures built on soft soil foundation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.