Lateral earth pressures (LEP) that arise due to backfill on retaining structures are typically determined by extending the principles of saturated soil mechanics. However, there is evidence in the literature to highlight the LEP on retaining structures due to the influence of soil backfill in saturated and unsaturated conditions are significantly different. Some studies are reported in the literature to interpret the variation of LEP on the retaining structures assuming that the variation of matric suction in unsaturated backfill material is hydrostatic (i.e. matric suction is assumed to decrease linearly from the surface to a value of zero at the ground water table). Such an assumption however is not reliable when the backfill behind the retaining wall is an expansive soil, which is extremely sensitive to the changes in variation of water content values. Significant volume changes occur in expansive soils due to the influence of environmental factors such as the infiltration and evaporation. In addition to the volume changes, the swelling pressure of the expansive soils also varies with changes in water content and can significantly influence the LEPs behind the retaining wall. In this thesis, a framework for estimating the LEPs of unsaturated soils is proposed considering the variation of matric suction with respect to various water flow rates (i.e. infiltration and evaporation). The proposed approach is extended for expansive and non-expansive soils in this thesis taking into account of the influence of both the cracks and the lateral swelling pressure with changes in water content. A program code LEENES (Lateral pressure estimation on retaining walls taking account of Environmental factors for Expansive and Non-Expansive Soils) in MATLAB is written to predict the LEP. The program LEENES is valuable tool for geotechnical engineers to estimate the LEPs on retaining structures for various scenarios that are conventionally encountered in geotechnical engineering practice. The studies presented in this thesis are of interest to the practitioners who routinely design retaining walls with both expansive and non-expansive soils as backfill material.

This research report presented is an engineering analysis of the damage to the Los Angeles River Floodway System by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The scope of this research includes: a study of the damage to two specific sections of the L.A. River Channel, a comparison of damaged and undamaged sections of the floodway channel, an analysis to determine the mechanisms of damage, and a look at dynamic earth pressure theories and their predictive capabilities. / Master of Science

The objectives of this dissertation are: (1) to examine the relationship between the accuracy and reliability of methods of estimating settlements of footings on sand and gravel, (2) to develop a procedure for estimating horizontal movements and rotations of footings without the need of determining soil modulus values, and (3) to develop a simple procedure for calculating movements of retaining walls due to the weight of backfill. The accuracy and reliability of twelve methods of estimating settlements of footings on sand and gravels were examined by comparing calculated settlements with the measured values. Eleven of the methods are based on Standard Penetration Test Results, while Schmertmann’s method is based on Cone Penetration Test Results. The study showed that methods which are more accurate tend to underestimate settlements about half of the time; while those which are more reliable (in the sense that they infrequently underestimate settlements) tend to be less accurate. The study also indicated that these methods of estimating settlements of footings on sands and gravels involve approximately the same relationship between accuracy and reliability, regardless of the approach that they use to calculate settlement. The results demonstrate that there is a tradeoff between accuracy and reliability. Any of the methods can be adjusted to achieve approximately the same combination of accuracy and reliability as other method. A simple procedure is presented to relate horizontal movements and rotations of footings to settlements. The procedure does not require the determination of soil modulus, and its accuracy and reliability can be assessed qualitatively by association with the method used to calculate the settlement. A simple procedure based on elastic theory was also developed to estimate movements of abutments and retaining walls due to the weight of backfill placed behind them. To avoid the inherent difficulty in determining the soil modulus, a procedure for relating these movements to the settlement of the wall was also developed. The new procedure was applied to a case history, and the calculated movements agree quite well with those calculated using the finite element method, and with field observations. / Ph. D.

This thesis presents a unique finite element investigation of the seismic behaviour of 2 retaining wall types – a rigid retaining wall and a cantilever retaining wall. The commercial finite element program PLAXIS2D was used to develop the numerical simulation models. The research includes: (1) validating the finite element model with the results of 3 previously existing centrifuge tests taken from literature; (2) investigating the seismic response of rigid and cantilever retaining walls including studying the effects of contribution of wall displacement, wall and backfill seismic inertia and stiffness of the foundation soil; (3) developing analytical methods to concrete the findings of the numerical models. Based on the results of the seismic response of a rigid retaining wall, a unique relationship between the seismic earth pressure and wall displacement has been developed for the active and passive modes of failure. The seismic active earth pressure has been found to be not dependent on the wall displacement while the seismic passive earth pressure has been found to be highly affected by the wall displacement. The maximum seismic passive earth pressure force and relative horizontal displacement are predicted when the ground earthquake acceleration is applied with maximum amplitude and minimum frequency content. The seismic response of the wall was not affected by the ratio of the frequency content of the earthquake to the natural frequency of the wall-soil system. For the cantilever retaining wall detailed structural integrity and global analyses have been carried out. It has been observed that the seismic earth pressure, computed at the stem and along a vertical virtual plane are found to be out of phase with each other during the entire duration of the earthquake, and hence, the structural integrity and global stability should be evaluated and assessed individually. A critical case for the structural integrity is observed when the earthquake acceleration is applied towards the backfill soil and has frequency content close to the natural frequency of the retaining wall, while, for the global stability, the critical case is observed when the earthquake acceleration has maximum amplitude and is applied towards the backfill soil with minimum frequency content. The structural integrity is also found to be highly dependent on the ratio between the frequency content of earthquake acceleration to the natural frequency of the cantilever retaining wall. The relative horizontal displacement of a rigid and cantilever retaining wall is found to be highly affected by the duration of the earthquake in contrast to what has been observed for the seismic earth pressure force. The structural integrity of a rigid and cantilever retaining wall reduces when the backfill soil has a higher relative density, while the global stability increases when the backfill soil has a high relative density during an earthquake. The results obtained from the analytical methods reveal that the wall seismic inertia force has a significant effect on the structural integrity only for the top of the stem while the base of the stem does not get affected significantly. The modified Newmark sliding block method provided a more reasonable estimation of the relative horizontal displacement of a rigid retaining wall and a cantilever retaining wall compared with the classic Newmark sliding block method.

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

The Baby Boomers are retiring and Generation X isn’t large enough to compensate for the lack of manpower in the workforce. Generation Y will fill the manpower void and employers will need to effectively attract, retain and manage them to stay successful in the future. Many Generation Y employees are quitting in the first year and managers are finding it more difficult to retain them. This thesis offers discussion and analysis of common problems associated with managing Generation Y employees and gives solutions and strategies to create a better work environment. / text

Κατά τον αντισεισμικό σχεδιασμό δύσκαμπτων και ογκωδών κατασκευών εδαφικής αντιστήριξης (π.χ. τοίχοι αντιστήριξης από σκυρόδεμα) οι δράσεις που λαμβάνονται υπόψη κατά τις αναλύσεις ευστάθειας περιλαμβάνουν την στατική και δυναμική εδαφική ώθηση καθώς και την αδρανειακή δύναμη του τοίχου. Οι τρέχουσες μέθοδοι σχεδιασμού (ψευδοστατική, μετακινήσεων) θεωρούν ότι οι δύο ανωτέρω δράσεις ενεργούν συγχρονισμένα, δηλαδή οι μέγιστες τιμές τους ασκούνται ταυτόχρονα στην κατασκευή αντιστήριξης. Εν τούτοις αποτελέσματα πρόσφατων πειραματικών και υπολογιστικών διερευνήσεων υποδεικνύουν ότι (τουλάχιστον στην περίπτωση των ευμετακίνητων κατασκευών αντιστήριξης) αναπτύσσεται σημαντική διαφορά φάσης μεταξύ των δύο δράσεων (ασύγχρονη δράση). Αυτό έχει ως αποτέλεσμα να προκύπτει ιδιαίτερα συντηρητικός σχεδιασμός της κατασκευής αντιστήριξης όταν γίνεται δεκτό ότι τα μέγιστα των δύο δράσεων συμπίπτουν χρονικά (σύγχρονη δράση). Στην παρούσα Διατριβή διερευνάται με παραμετρικές αριθμητικές αναλύσεις η ορθότητα της παραδοχής της σύγχρονης δράσης στην περίπτωση των ακλόνητων κατασκευών εδαφικής αντιστήριξης. Χρησιμοποιείται η μέθοδος των πεπερασμένων στοιχείων (χρήση κώδικα πεπερασμένων στοιχείων PLAXIS) για την προσομοίωση ακλόνητων τοίχων αντιστήριξης από σκυρόδεμα που συγκρατούν μη-συνεκτικό επίχωμα με ελαστοπλαστική σχέση τάσεων-παραμορφώσεων (και κριτήριο αστοχίας Mohr-Coulomb) και υποβάλλονται σε οριζόντια ταλάντωση (είτε αρμονική κίνηση είτε καταγεγραμμένη χρονοϊστορία σεισμικών γεγονότων). Οι παραμετρικές αναλύσεις περιλαμβάνουν τη μεταβολή: α) της σχετικής πυκνότητας του επιχώματος (χαλαρή, μετρίως πυκνή και πυκνή κατάσταση), β) της έντασης της επιβαλλόμενης οριζόντιας ταλάντωσης (0.05g έως 0.7g) και γ) του ύψους του τοίχου (4.0m και 7.5m). Τα αποτελέσματα των αναλύσεων χρησιμοποιούνται κατ’ αρχήν για τον προσδιορισμό της στατικής κατανομής και του μεγέθους των εδαφικών ωθήσεων στον τοίχο. Στη συνέχεια υπολογίζεται, η διαφορά φάσης μεταξύ της αδρανειακής δύναμης του τοίχου και της εδαφικής ώθησης, καθώς και του αντίστοιχου ποσοστού της μέγιστης τιμής της δυναμικής εδαφικής ώθησης που ασκείται κατά τη χρονική στιγμή της μεγιστοποίησης της αδρανειακής δύναμης του τοίχου. Οι αναλύσεις υποδεικνύουν ότι η στατική κατανομή των ωθήσεων είναι τριγωνική με τον συντελεστή πλευρικών ωθήσεων να προκύπτει, περίπου, ίσος με Κ0. Κάτω από συνθήκες δυναμικής φόρτισης το ποσοστό της δυναμικής ώθησης προκύπτει πολύ υψηλό (80% έως 90%) – κυρίως για μετρίως πυκνό και πυκνό εδαφικό επίχωμα – ανεξάρτητα από την ένταση της φόρτισης σε αντίθεση με τις πολύ χαμηλές τιμές (δηλαδή ασύγχρονη δράση) που έχουν προκύψει από αντίστοιχη διερεύνηση για την περίπτωση των ευμετακίνητων τοίχων αντιστήριξης. Ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρουσα είναι η παρατήρηση ότι για μικρές τιμές της έντασης της δυναμικής φόρτισης (≤ 0.2g) η συμπεριφορά του υψηλού τοίχου (7.5m) προκύπτει διαφοροποιημένη σε σχέση με αυτή του τοίχου των 4.0m: το ποσοστό της σεισμικής ώθησης είναι πολύ μειωμένο (20% έως 40%), ιδιαίτερα στην περίπτωση των πολύ χαλαρών επιχωμάτων. Παρατηρείται επίσης ικανοποιητική συμφωνία της προκύπτουσας τιμής της εδαφικής ώθησης με αυτή από τη σχέση του Wood(1973) και της αναλυτικής λύσης των Kloukinas et al.(2012). Ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει η τροποποιημένη κατανομή των εδαφικών ωθήσεων καθ’ ύψος του τοίχου, οι οποίες προκύπτουν αυξημένες στο ανώτερο τμήμα του. Συμπεραίνεται ότι στην περίπτωση του σχεδιασμού των ακλόνητων τοίχων με μετρίως πυκνό και πυκνό επίχωμα η δράση της δυναμικής εδαφικής ώθησης είναι εύλογο και δικαιολογημένο να θεωρείται σύγχρονη με την αδρανειακή δύναμη του τοίχου. / --

The influence of yielding foundations on the mechanical behaviour of reinforced soil walls including wall deformations and loads (strains) in the reinforcement layers is very complex. Based on a review of the literature, there is a need to quantify and isolate the influence of foundation boundary type and magnitude of foundation stiffness on deformations and reinforcement loads in geosynthetic reinforced soil walls. This thesis presents the results of a series of 1/6-scale reinforced soil wall model tests that were carried out to examine the influence of horizontal and vertical toe compliance and vertical foundation compressibility on wall behaviour. The heavily instrumented walls were constructed in a strongbox that was 1.2 m high by 1.6 m wide and retained soil to a distance of 2.3 m behind the facing. The models were uniformly surcharged in stages following construction. The experimental program consisted of three groups of tests. Group 1 tests involved five walls. One wall was constructed with a very stiff horizontal restraint, and three walls were constructed with different horizontal toe stiffness using combinations of coiled springs. The remaining wall in this series was constructed without any horizontal toe restraint. Group 2 was comprised of three walls. One wall was a control wall with a rigid toe. The other two walls were constructed with different vertical toe stiffness support using different combinations of rubber blocks. Group 3 included a control wall with a rigid foundation and a companion wall constructed with a compressible foam and rubber layers below the backfill soil and the wall facing. The results demonstrate that the quantitative behaviour of the models was affected by the type and magnitude of foundation stiffness. For example, as horizontal toe stiffness increased a greater portion of the total horizontal earth load against the wall facing was carried by the toe. The data showed that the shape of facing lateral deformation profiles changed from rotation about the toe for the case of a very stiff horizontal toe to a more uniform profile for the unrestrained toe case. For the case of a rigid vertical footing support below the facing, vertical toe loads were greater than those computed from facing self-weight alone due to down-drag forces developed at the facing–reinforcement connections as the wall facing moved outward. As vertical toe support stiffness decreased with respect to foundation compressibility below the soil backfill, the magnitude of soil down-drag forces diminished resulting in a decrease in vertical toe load. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2007-10-27 12:15:56.027

The current design procedure for cantilever structures on spread footings in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is based on horizontal pressure that is calculated by using Rankine's and Coulomb's theory. These are classical Geotechnical Engineering methods. Horizontal earth pressure due to moisture and volume change in high plasticity soil is not determined by these classical methods. However, horizontal pressure on most of the cantilever retaining structures in Texas is determined by following the classical methods. In recent years, a number of consultants have considered the horizontal pressure due to swelling on cantilever retaining structures in Texas. However, the proposed horizontal pressure by consultants is 10-20 times higher than the classical horizontal pressure. This method of cantilever retaining structure design without knowing the real pressure and stress pattern increases the thickness of the wall, and raises the cost of construction. This study focuses on providing adequate patterns of lateral earth pressure distribution on cantilever retaining structures in expansive soil. These retaining wall structures are subject to swelling pressures which cause horizontal pressures that are larger than the classical especially near the ground surface. Beside the prediction of lateral earth pressure distribution, the relations between water content, volume change and suction change are determined. Based on the laboratory testing program conducted, Soil Water Characteristic Curves (SWCC) are determined for a site located at the intersection of I-35 and Walters Street in San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, relations between volume change with confining pressure curve, water content change with the change of confining pressure curve, water content change with change of matric suction and volume change with change of matric suction curves are generated based on laboratory tests. There are a number of available mass volume measurement methods that use mostly mercury or paraffin to obtain volume measurements. Although these methods are reported in the literature, they are not used in practice due to application limitations like safety, time, and cost. In order to overcome these limitations, a new method was developed to measure the volume of soil mass by using sand displacement. This new method is an inexpensive, safe, and simple way to measure mass volume by Ottawa sand.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-294).