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Slope stability and sheet pile and contiguous bored pile walls
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Hamed Niroumand
Corresponding author
Department of geotechnical engineering, Faculty of civil engineering, Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia
e-mail: niroumandh@gmail.com
Behnam Adhami
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Central Tehran Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Hossein Moayedi
Faculty of Engineering, Kermanshah University of Technology, Kermanshah, Iran
ABSTRACT
Before any construction of retaining structures it is important to understand the behavior of
the soil and the characteristic of the failure modes involved. All this basic information is to
ensure no errors happens during the design and to provide efficient and economical solution.
In the knowledge of soil mechanics there are no such site will have exactly the same condition
and characteristic. Form the view of engineering, soil is a unique material which is form by
continuous and complex process. According to Terzaghi and Peck, soil is composing of
granular aggregate particles which can be extracted by mechanical action (Craig, 1997).
Different soil condition will provide different magnitude of earth pressure against the slope
stability and the retaining structure. This research will highlight various techniques related to
shear strength of soil, slope failure mechanisms, common slope failure, factor influencing the
slope stability and the design concept of sheet pile wall and contiguous bored pile wall.
KEYWORDS: Sheet piles, Anchors, Contiguous bored pile wall, Retaining structures,
Failure mechanism
-9-
Vol. 17 [2012], Bund. HN 10
INTRODUCTION
The understanding of the nature of shearing resistance is necessary for soil stability analysis.
The shear strength of the soil mass is the internal resistance per unit area that soil mass can offer
to resist failure and sliding along any plane inside it. The shear strength of the soil may be
represented by Mohr diagram as shown in Figure 1 below. For simplicity of analysis, it is
conventional to use a c’ - φ’ soil strength model as expressed in the Equation 1.
τ
Failure envelope
φ’
c’
σ3’ σ1’
Figure 1: Shear strength Mohr-Diagram.
SLOPE STABILITY
Slope can be defined as soil in which its surface creates certain degree with the horizontal
plane. Slopes can be categorized either natural or man-made. The effect of gravity and water are
the important factors affecting the changes in the slope stability. There are two main reasons
describing why the slope can become unstable. First is the increase in stress due to increase in
unit weight of the soil caused by water and additional surcharge which will increase the driving
force. The second is because of deterioration of soil strength due to increase in pore water
pressure and reduction of soil cohesion.
Vol. 17 [2012], Bund. HN 11
Friction
Concept of friction is important for slope analysis as shown in Figure 2. If the driving force
increases the friction resistance will also increase. These two values will keep on increasing until
a limit in which the two bodies will slide against each other. The equation for the resistance of the
potential slip surface to shear is based on the Mohr-Coulomb equation as shown in Equation 1
(Gue & Fong, 2003).
Suction
Usually suction occurs in partially saturated soil where water is drawn out through
evaporation. Soil particles are pulling together by the vacuum effect created. This phenomena
increase the normal pressure thus increases the shear resistance.
= (2)
Vol. 17 [2012], Bund. HN 13
where;
−
S− = Average shear strength available along the failure surface
τ = Average shear stress developed along the failure surface
Driving Force
The main driving force in most land movement is gravity. Gravity does act alone, slope angle,
climate, slope materials and water contribute to the effect of gravity. Mass movement occurs
much more frequently on steep slopes than on shallow slopes. Water plays a key role in
producing slope failure. In the form of rivers and wave action, water erodes the base of slopes,
removing support, which increase driving forces. An increase in water also contributes to driving
forces that result in slope failure through the effect of pore water pressure. Besides, surcharge
above the slope also contribute to the increments of driving force.
Resisting Force
Resisting forces act oppositely of driving forces. The resistance to downslope movement is
dependent on the shear strength of the slope material. Shear strength is the function of cohesion
and internal friction. Water contributes to resisting forces when sediment pores are partially filed
with water. The thin film of water acts as a binder, making the particles cohesive.
Finite Slope
A slope is considered finite if the critical height approaches the height of the slope. (Das,
In most cases, the slip surface is in circular shape which is known as circular failure surface but in
some irregular cases, it could be non-circular failure surface as shown in Figure 4. In simplified
method, we need to make an assumption about the general shape of the surface of potential failure
when analyzing the stability of a finite slope in a homogenous soil. Table 1 below shows various
methods used to analyze the stability of finite slope together with its comments.
Failure
Method Comments
surface
Bishop Circular • Consider force and moment equilibrium for each slice.
(1955) • Rigorous method assumes values for the vertical forces on
the sides of each slice until all equation are satisfied.
Simplified method assumes the resultant of the vertical
forces is zero on each slice.
Janbu Non-circular • Consider force and moment equilibrium for each slice.
(1972) • Assumptions on line of action of interslice forces must be
made.
• Vertical interslice forces not included in routine procedure
and calculated F then corrected to allow for vertical
forces.
Morgenstem & Price Non-circular • Consider force and moment for each slice.
(1965) • Similar to Janbu generalized procedures
• More accurate than Janbu solution. No simplified method.
Sarma Non-circular • Modification of from Morgenstem & Price which reduces
(1979) the iterations.
• Considerable reduction in computing time without loss of
accuracy.
vertical normalized strength ratio of su / σ v ' where su is undrained shear strength and σv’ is
current vertical effect stress. This method is commonly used in the analysis of short term stability.
Vol. 17 [2012], Bund. HN 15
Groundwater
Groundwater occurs when a portion of precipitation runoff infiltrated into the ground and
percolate through pore spaces and fractures attain saturation or near saturation condition. Porosity
relates the percentage of pore space to the total volume and represents the capacity of material to
hold water when saturated.
Groundwater Effect
When the saturated soil below the groundwater level and in drained condition, the active and
passive pressure must be calculated in term of effective unit weight of soil, γ’ and as well as other
related parameter such as c’ and φ’. The hydrostatic pressure need to be considered as additional
pressure to the active and passive soil pressure.
The groundwater table for hillslopes is generally low and fluctuates with time and rainfall
events. Following is the effects of water on the slope stability and how it contributes to slope
failure;
i. Reduced or eliminated the apparent cohesion strength, c’ of the soil thus increase the risk
of failure.
ii. Act as ‘lubricant’ for the potential failure plane when there is an initial movement
although the magnitude is relatively small.
iii. High groundwater table decrease the shear resistance in the potential failure thus
increases the risk of failure due to increased water pressure between soil particles.
Besides, efficient control of both groundwater and seepage can reduce lateral load on bracing in
excavation, improve support characteristic of foundation material and also increase the stability of
the slopes and hill side fills. Groundwater and seepage forces can be controlled by installing
appropriate subsoil drainage system such as weep holes to drain out excessive water and the
simplest method is planting of vegetation to reduce water seepage into the soil.
Slides
This type of failure occurs on a slope which is gentler than those in fall type of failure. Slides
refer to the occurrence where the moving soil mass is separated from the underlying and adjacent
earth by a slippage plane or a zone. The slippage plane represents the continuous surface where
the maximum shear strength of the soil has been reached and result in large displacement. This
type of failure can be categorized as rotational slide and translational slide.
Rotational slide can be circular or non-circular. Usually, the circular slide associate with
slope of homogeneous materials possessing adhesion. Relatively slow movement of soil mass
along some well define arch shaped failure surface to the toe area (Roy, 1984). Meanwhile, non-
circular slide associate with slope of non-homogeneous materials. The major causes are increase
in slope inclination, effect of weather and force action due to seepage.
Slip plane
Debris Slides
This type of failure involves a mass of soil moving as a unit along a steeply dipping planar surface. Debris
slides occur progressively and can develop into debris avalanches or debris flows (Roy, 1984). There are
several factors influencing the occurrence of the failure which include increase in slope inclination,
presence of force due to seepage and excessive stripping of vegetation.
Debris avalanches are very rapid movements of soil debris. Major causes are high seepage forces, heavy
rainfalls, creep and gradually yielding of soil strata. Failure is sudden and without warning and normally
occur on very steep slope. Meanwhile, debris flows are similar to debris avalanches. The different point
between them is the quantity of water in the debris flows mass cause it to flow as slurry.
Original position
Creep
Creep is generally results from gravitational forces and seepage forces. It is a slow, imperceptible
deformation of slope materials under low stress levels. Creep normally only affects the shallow part of the
slope but can be deep seated where a week zone exists. Its major surface features are parallel transverse
slope ridges.
Mmax
Dredge line
After the embedded length, d has been calculated, the tension force in the anchored system can be
determine by using static equilibrium approach in which the total horizontal forces acting in the system
should be zero. It is recommended that the embedded length should be increase by 20% to 40% or
introducing a safety factor at the design passive earth pressure coefficient, Kp (Das, 1999) in which the
design passive earth pressure coefficient to be;
Kp
K p ( design ) = (3)
FS
F F
P P
d Sand d Clay
(a) Anchored sheet pile wall (c) Anchored sheet pile wall
penetrating sand. penetrating clay.
Figure 11: Net earth pressure distribution diagram of anchored sheet pile wall in
different soil condition (Das, 1999).
Anchor
Various types of anchor generally used in sheet pile wall. The magnitude of force acting on
the anchor must be taking into consideration during the selection of anchor to be used. The
general types of anchor used in sheet pile wall are;
1. Tie backs.
2. Anchor plate and beams.
3. Anchor beam with batter piles.
Vol. 17 [2012], Bund. HN 22
Wales
Tie rod
Sheet pile
Generally, anchor plates and beams are made up of cast concrete blocks. Tie rods are used to
attach the anchors to the sheet pile. For purpose of conveniently attaching the tie rod to the wall,
wales are placed at longitudinal direction at the front or back along the sheet pile wall as shown in
Figure 12. Wales can be designed as a beam with span equal to the length between two adjacent
tie rods.
Tie rod is an element made up of steel bar or cable. Tie rod is used to resist shear forces
developed in the structure of the sheet pile wall itself thus increasing the stability of the wall
(Das, 1999). Tie rods need to be protected against corrosion and usually it is coated with asphaltic
materials or paint.
Tendon D
Grouted mass
Figure 13: Ground anchors formed by pressure injection.
L π
Q f = Aγ ' h + π D L tan φ ' + Bγ ' h (D 2 − d 2 ) (4)
2 4
where Qf = ultimate load capacity of anchor
A = ratio of normal pressure at interface to effective overburden pressure (within 1 to 2)
B = bearing capacity factor (Nq /B within 1.3 to 1.4, using Nq values of Berezantzev,
Khristoforov and Golubkov)
h = depth of overburden
L = fixed anchor length
D = diameter of fixed anchor
d = diameter of borehole
Reinforcement
cage
Water table
A
Active pressure
(a) Net earth pressure diagram of cantilever pile wall penetrating sand.
Water table
Sand
Active pressure
Dredge line
A Clay
(b) Net earth pressure diagram of cantilever pile wall penetrating clay.
Figure 16: Net earth pressure of cantilever pile system (Das, 1999).
For cantilever pile wall penetrating clay, the piles must be driven into a layer possessing an
undrained cohesion, c (φ = 0 concept) and the pressure diagram will be like Figure 16b. (Das,
1999). The embedded length can be obtained by using the principle of static, where the total
moment of the force per unit length must be zero. In practice, the embedded length obtained
should be added by 20% to 40% for safety purposes.
deep excavation in city centre locations where ground water retention is not a consideration. The
wall is also extensively used for highway structures. They also have also been used to retain dry
granular materials of fills. In water bearing granular soils loose are likely to occur in the gaps
between the piles. This can be prevented by providing a seal between adjacent piles.
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