Factor of safety of a consolidating slope with vertical drains

under the guidance of

Project by

Dr. A. Krishnamoorthy Professor MIT

Madan V R 090918017
Mtech 2nd year

Contents
Introduction Assumptions Methodology involved Factors affecting on vertical drains Scope of present work Analysis of slope for E=5000kN/m2, 25000kN/m2 and

50000kN/m2
Conclusion Reference

Introduction
Prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) are often used to speed up consolidation and to increase shear strength under embankments on soft soil.

Installing a drain material vertically into the ground can shorten the drainage path of soft clay deposit significantly, and combined with preloading, it can improve the stiffness and strength of the ground substantially in a short period. The installation of PVDs by means of a mandrel causes significant disturbance in the soil surrounding the drain. The shape of the mandrel is also rectangular and therefore, the shape of the actual disturbed zone is close to a rectangle or an ellipse.

Assumptions
Each single drain is assumed to work independently,

Soil has a constant permeability and the consolidation takes place in a uniform soil column with linear compressibility characteristics in the absence of lateral movement.

The stressstrain behaviour of natural soft soils is highly nonlinear and very complex due to different fundamental features of soil, such as anisotropy and creep.

Methdology involved
An axisymmetric unit cell with the total radius, R and its equivalent plane strain unit cell with half width, B. The effective diameter of a drain influence was taken to be De = 1.13S for a square configuration, where S is the drain spacing. The equivalent drain radius (rw) and unit cell radius (R) were calculated as 0.034 m and 0.565 m, respectively. Using the permeability matching procedure proposed by Hird et al. (1992) the coefficient of permeability is matched while keeping the drain spacing constant.

Equations used in the analysis Displacement u and excess pore pressure p within the finite element can be related to nodal displacement vector {un} and the nodal pore pressure vector {pn} as

u = [Ns]{Un} p = [Nf]{pn} Ns is the shape function defining the displacement of the soil element while Nf is the shape function defining the pore pressure distribution.

consolidation
The elemental equation of consolidation proposed by Zeinkiewicz (1977) can be expressed in matrix form as

Ks is the soil stiffness matrix and H is the flow matrix, L is the coupling matrix which is formed from the equation

Computation of stress
The stresses at any point in the element can be calculated by using the equation, {} = [C] {} Or {} = [C] [B] {q} {} = is the vector of stresses. {}T= { x, y, xy } x, y are the normal stresses in x and y direction and xy is the shear stress in the xy plane,{q} is the vector of nodal displacements, [C] is the stress strain matrix.

Equation for Factor of Safety The trial slip surface is divided into n number of segments each of length L. The overall factor of safety for a particular slip surface is obtained using the equation

F.S = Where f is the mobilized shear stress and is the shear strength of the material. Li is the length of the ith segment on a particular slip surface, the values of and f may be expressed as f = C + ni tan = 0.5 (yi xi ) sin 21 + xyi cos21 ni = 0.5(yi + xi )+0.5(yi xi )cos 21 - xyi sin21 where C and are the effective cohesion and effective angle of internal friction of the soil. ni is the normal stress acting on segment i. xi , yi and xyi are the effective stress on the ith segment.

Co-efficient of permeability for various spacing provided

Spacing (Kpl /Kax ) Coefficient of permeability, K(m/day)

1m 2m 3m 4m 5m Without drain

0.2077 0.0497 0.02156 0.0119 7.534x10-3 8.66x10-5

1.798x10-4 4.311x10 1.867x10 1.0305x10 6.524x10 8.66x105

Factors affecting vertical drains

smear effect drain spacing and equivalent drain diameter effect of sand mat and drainage boundary condition.

Smear effect
The drain is installed by using a mandrel, which is pushed into the ground. Then the mandrel is withdrawn, leaving the drain in subsoil. This process creates a completely disturbed zone around the drain, called the smear zone. Two parameters are needed to characterize the smear effect, namely, the diameter of the smear zone (ds) and the hydraulic conductivity ratio (kh /ks), i.e., the value in the undisturbed zone (kh) over that in the smear zone (ks). Diameter of the smear zone, ds, can be estimated as ds = (2 to 3)dm Where, dm = equivalent diameter of the cross-sectional area of the mandrel. Whereas Kh/Ks = 10(constant)

Effect of Sand mat

Part or all of the water collected by the drain will flow to the ground surface first, and then drain out by the outlet system, the sand mat. Since the hydraulic conductivity of sand is considerably higher than that of clay, usually, in analysis, it is assumed that there is no hydraulic resistance in the sand mat. If a thick layer (more than 0.5 m) of clean sand (percentage fines less than 5%) is used.

Equivalent drain diameter

And a new equation based on the finite-element analysis result has been suggested as (Rixner et al. 1986)

Where w and t = width and thickness of a vertical drain, respectively.

FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The past few decades have witnessed significant advances in analyses of the slopes using finite element method. The main advantage of Finite Element Method is that

It can be used to calculate pore pressure, stresses and displacements in embankment slope.

To study the conditions during the construction, and also following construction, as consolidation or swelling occur and excess pore pressure dissipate.

Scope of present work

The factor of safety of a dry slope on soft saturated consolidating soil is obtained at various time intervals using finite element method of analysis. A computer program and the method proposed by Krishnamoorthy and Mishra (1998) for the analysis of the slope on dry soil is modified by Krishnamoorthy (2010) to obtain the factor of safety of the slope on consolidating soil. The method of obtaining the factor of safety consists of two steps. 1. the effective stresses at required points are obtained by finite element method of analysis 2. 3. the critical slip surface is located using Monte Carlo Technique proposed by Greco(1996).

This method and computer program is used to study the effect of vertical drains on the factor of safety of a consolidating slope. The factor of safety of the slope on a consolidating soil without vertical drains is compared to the factor of safety of a slope with vertical drains. In addition, the effect of spacing of vertical drains on factor safety of slope is also studied; three types of soil having different value of modulus of elasticity E i.e., E=5000kN/m, 25,000kN/m and 50,000kN/m are considered for the analysis. The factor of safety, pore pressure, effective vertical and horizontal stresses at various time intervals are obtained and the effect of vertical drains on these factors is critically discussed in the thesis.

Embankment considered for the analysis

The analysis is used to study the effect of vertical drains on factor of a slope constructed on soft consolidating soil. A slope considered for the study. The embankment is 5.0m high and crest of the embankment is 20 m wide and the slopes have a gradient of 1:1.The vertical drains were installed as a square grid at a spacing of 1.0m spacing before embankment construction. The embankment, which is made of granular fill, is modelled using the following material parameters:

Unit weight = 20kN/m

Modulus of elasticity for soil type 1 = 5000kN/m Modulus of elasticity for soil type 2 = 25,000kN/m Modulus of elasticity for soil type 3 = 50,000kN/m Poissons ratio Density Effective cohesion Effective angle of internal friction = 0.30 = 18kN/m = 20kN/m = 30

Finite element discretisation

E 1 1 1 4 .0 m D

F P y

1 0 .0 m

5 .0 m

B 2 5 .0 m

Trial slip circle ABCDE considered for the analysis

Factor of safety

Factor of safety of the slope at the end of construction with drain is equal to 1.42 and it decreases to 1.30 without drain. Factor of safety increases with time due to dissipation of pore pressure. The factor of safety of the slope after the complete dissipation of pore pressure (at T=1000) is equal to 1.64.

Effect of spacing

The factor of safety at the end of construction is equal to 1.42 for s=1m, 1.39 for s=2m, 1.36 for s=3m, 1.34 for s=4m, 1.33 for s=5m and 1.30 for foundation soil without drain. I.e., as the spacing of the drain increases the factor of safety at the end of construction decreases. The spacing of drains increases the time required for consolidation also increases.

Pore pressure

Pore pressure immediately after the end of construction is more at point Y as compared to the point P. Pore pressure dissipate with time and becomes zero after the end of consolidation. At point P it can be observed that the pore pressure is equal to 22.40kN/m2 (with drain) and 21.40kN/m2 (without drain) and pore pressure at point Y is equal to 81.5kN/m2 (with drain) and 79.5kN/m2 (without drain). Pore pressure at the end of consolidation is equal to zero.

Horizontal stress

Horizontal stress at point P, at the end of construction is equal to 14.8kN/m2 (with drain) and 15.31kN/m2 (without drain), whereas at point Y, horizontal stress at the end of construction is equal to 3.33kN/m2 (with drain) and 9.48kN/m2 (without drain).

Vertical stress

Vertical stress at point P, at the end of construction is equal to 23.73kN/m2 (with drain) and 18.45kN/m2 (without drain), whereas at point Y, horizontal stress at the end of construction is equal to 67.85kN/m2(with drain) and 54.68kN/m2(without drain).

Critical slip circle

critical slip surfaces obtained from the analysis at the end of construction (T=0) and at the end of consolidation (T=1000days). The slip surface corresponding to drained condition is slightly different from the slip surface corresponding to undrained condition.

Settlement

It can be observed that the settlement of the embankment with drain is more than the settlement without drain immediately after the construction. In case of foundation soil without drain the settlement at end of construction is equal to19mm and it settles upto73mm at the end of consolidation.

Effect of youngs modulus on pore pressure

it can be observed from the figure that the time required for consolidation is same for all the three values of E. This indicates that the modulus of elasticity of embankment has no effect on the consolidation process.

Effect of youngs modulus on horizontal stress

The horizontal stress decreases immediately after construction for both the cases of with and without drains. However E has no much effect on horizontal stress at the end of consolidation.

Effect of youngs modulus on vertical stress

This shows that the vertical stress significantly increases with the increase in value of E of embankment soil at the end of consolidation.

Effect of youngs modulus on settlement

I.e. The settlement increases as the value of E increases for both the cases of with and without drains.

conclusion

Based on the analysis, it is concluded that

The proposed method can be used to obtain the factor safety, pore pressure and effective stresses for consolidating slope at various time intervals.

The method of locating critical slip surface is simple since it requires few trial slip surfaces.

Effective Horizontal stresses and vertical stresses will increase with time during end of consolidation.

The increase in the spacing has a minimal effect on the rate of consolidation.

The increase of settlement value at the end of construction is significant (about 17.6 and 19.4 cm) which implies a certain improvement for the foundation soil properties by consolidation during construction period.

References

Biot MA. General theory of three dimensional consolidation. Journal of Applied Physics, (12), 155-164. Borges JL. Three dimensional analysis of embankments on soft soil incorporating vertical drains by finite element method, computers and geotechnics 2004; 31:665-676. Cai F, Ugai K, Wakai A and Li Q. effects of horizontal drains on slope stability under rainfall by three dimension finite element analysis, computers and geotechnics 1998; 23:255-275. Chai JC, Muira N, Sakajo S and Bergado DT. Behaviour of vertical drains improved subsoil under embankment loading, soils and foundation, Tokyo 1996; 35(4): 49-61. Chai JC, Shen SL, Miura N and Bergado DT. Simple method of modelling PVD improved Subsoil, ASCE geotech engineering 2001; 127(11): 965-972. Donald IB and Giam SK. Application of the nodal displacement method to the slope stability analysis . proc.., 5th Australia New Zealand conference on Geomechanics , Sydney 1988; 456-460. Georgiadis K. Undrained Bearing Capacity of Strip Footings on Slope. ASCE journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 2010; vol 136, No5: 677-685 Greco VR. Efficient Monte Carlo technique for locating critical slip surface. ASCE Journal of Geotechical Engineering 1996;122: 517-525.

Contd.,

Hansbo S. consolidation of clay by band shaped prefabricated drains, ground engineering, London 1979; 12(5): 16-25. Hird CC, Pyrah IC, Russell D. Finite element modeling of vertical drains beneath embankments on soft ground. Gotechnique1992:499511. Hird CC, Pyrah IC, Russell D, Cinicioglu F. Modelling the effect of vertical drains in two-dimensional finite element analyses of embankments on soft ground.Can Geotech J 1995; 32:795807. Indraratna B, CholachatR, Ewers B and Adams M. class A prediction of the behaviour of soft Estuarine soil foundation stabilized by vertical drains beneath a railway track. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 2010; 686-696 Janbu N. Earth pressures and bearing capacity calculations by generalized procedures for slices, proc.., 4th International conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering 1957; 207-212. Manoharan N and Dasgupta SP. Consolidation analysis of elasto-plastic soil. Computers and structures 1995; 54(6): 1005-1021. Sharma SK. Stability analysis of embankments and slopes. ASCE journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division; 105(12): 1511- 1524. Yildiz A, numerical modelling of the vertical drains with advanced constitutive models, computers and geotechnics 2009; 36: 1072-1083.