Shear creep behaviour of soil-structure interfaces under thermal cyclic loading

The coupling effect of initial shear stress and thermal cycles on the thermomechanical behaviour of clay concrete and sand-concrete interfaces has been studied. A set of drained monotonic direct shear tests was conducted at the soil-concrete interface level. Samples were initially sheared to half of the material's shear strength and then they...

Influence of static–cyclic load misalignment on the drained tilting response of offshore monopiles in sand

Offshore monopile foundations are exposed to misaligned wind and wave loadings, which are respectively dominated by (nearly) static and cyclic load components. While the response of these systems to unidirectional cyclic loading has been extensively investigated, only a few studies have been devoted to the realistic case of misaligned static...

Experimental investigation of soil–structure interface behaviour under monotonic and cyclic thermal loading

The effect of temperature on the monotonic and cyclic shearing response of a soil–structure interface is of critical importance for the application of thermal-active geo-structures. To investigate this, soils and soil–concrete interfaces were comprehensively tested with a temperature-controlled direct shear device under both fixed...

Probabilistic analysis of seepage for internal stability of earth embankments

Internal erosion, or piping, has been attributed as a major cause of dam and embankment failures. Most prediction models for predicting piping use the hydraulic gradient between the upstream and downstream water levels as an indicator. No explicit consideration is made regarding preferential pathways, although piping usually initiates from a...

Sequential reduction of slope stability uncertainty based on temporal hydraulic measurements via the ensemble Kalman filter

A data assimilation framework, utilising measurements of pore water pressure to sequentially improve the estimation of soil hydraulic parameters and, in turn, the prediction of slope stability, is proposed. Its effectiveness is demonstrated for an idealised numerical example involving the spatial variability of saturated hydraulic...

Combined effect of hysteresis and heterogeneity on the stability of an embankment under transient seepage

The stability of most earth embankments is strongly influenced by the water content of the soil. The water content directly influences the suction or pore pressure in the soil, as well as the mass of material, thereby affecting the stress state and strength, and leading to changes in the stability. These aspects are coupled by the so-called soil...

Reduction of slope stability uncertainty based on hydraulic measurement via inverse analysis

The determination of slope stability for existing slopes is challenging, partly due to the spatial variability of soils. Reliability-based design can incorporate uncertainties and yield probabilities of slope failure. Field measurements can be utilised to constrain probabilistic analyses, thereby reducing uncertainties and generally reducing...

Effect of hysteresis on the stability of an embankment under transient seepage

Hysteresis is a well-known phenomenon that exists in the soil water retention behaviour of unsaturated soils. However, there is little research on the effects of hysteresis on slope stability. If included in slope stability analyses, commonly the suction in the unsaturated zone is taken as non-hysteretic. In this paper, the authors investigate...