The analysis of structure response and design of buried structures subjected to dynamic destructive loads have been receiving increasing interest due to recent severe damage caused by strong earthquakes and terrorist attacks. For a comprehensive design of buried structures subjected to blast loads to be conducted, the whole system behaviour including simulation of the explosion, propagation of shock waves through the soil medium, the interaction of the soil with the buried structure and the structure response needs to be simulated in a single model. Such a model will enable more realistic simulation of the fundamental physical behaviour. This paper presents a complete model simulating the whole system using the finite element package ABAQUS/Explicit. The Arbitrary Lagrange Euler Coupling formulation is used to model the explosive charge and the soil region near the explosion to eliminate the distortion of the mesh under high deformation, while the conventional finite element method is used to model the rest of the system. The elasto-plastic Drucker-Prager Cap model is used to model the soil behaviour. The explosion process is simulated using the Jones-Wilkens-Lee equation of state. The Concrete Damage Plasticity model is used to simulate the behaviour of concrete with the reinforcement considered as an elasto-plastic material. The contact interface between soil and structure is simulated using the general Mohr-Coulomb friction concept, which allows for sliding, separation and rebound between the buried structure surface and the surrounding soil. The behaviour of the whole system is evaluated using a numerical example which shows that the proposed model is capable of producing a realistic simulation of the physical system behaviour in a smooth numerical process.

This paper describes the compaction and strength behavior of black cotton soil (BC soil) reinforced with coir fibers. Coir used in this study is processed fiber from the husk of coconuts. BC soil reinforced with coir fiber shows only marginal increase in the strength of soil, inhibiting its use for ground improvement. In order to further increase the strength of the soil-coir fiber combination, optimum percentage of 4% of lime is added. The effect of aspect ratio, percentage fiber on the behavior of the composite soil specimen with curing is isolated and studied. It is found that strength properties of optimum combination of BC soil-lime specimens reinforced with coir fibers is appreciably better than untreated BC soil or BC soil alone with coir fiber. Lime treatment in BC soil improves strength but it imparts brittleness in soil specimen. BC soil treated with 4% lime and reinforced with coir fiber shows ductility behavior before and after failure. An optimum fiber content of 1% (by weight) with aspect ratio of 20 for fiber was recommended for strengthening BC soil.

Vertical vibration tests were conducted using model footings of different size and mass resting on the surface of finite sand layer with different height to width ratios which was underlain by either rigid concrete base, under both dry and saturated condition. The effect of saturation on the damping ratio of finite sand stratum underlain by a rigid base has been verified and compared with the results obtained for the case of finite dry sand stratum underlain by the rigid base. Comparison of results of the experimental study showed that the damping in both the cases is less than 10%. The damping ratio obtained for finite saturated sand stratum is marginally lower than that obtained on finite dry sand stratum at H/B ratio of 0.5. The difference between the two cases becomes significant when the H/B ratio increases to 3.0, indicating the significant influence of soil moisture on damping ratio of foundation- soil system with increase in the thickness of the finite sand stratum. Comparison of the predicted damping ratio for a homogeneous sand stratum with the experimental damping ratio obtained corresponding to the height to width ratio of 3.0 of the finite sand stratum underlain by the rigid concrete base indicates a significant reduction in damping ratio of the foundation-soil system for both the cases.

The current study presents a mathematical model and numerical method for free vibration of tapered piles embedded in two-parameter elastic foundations. The method of Discrete Singular Convolution (DSC) is used for numerical simulation. Bernoulli-Euler beam theory is considered. Various numerical applications demonstrate the validity and applicability of the proposed method for free vibration analysis. The results prove that the proposed method is quite easy to implement, accurate and highly efficient for free vibration analysis of tapered beam-columns embedded in Winkler- Pasternak elastic foundations.

A major consideration in the design of tunnels in urban areas is the prediction of the ground movements and surface settlements associated with the tunneling operations. Excessive ground movements can damage adjacent building and utilities. In this paper, a neural network model is used to predict the maximum surface settlement, based on instrumented results from three separate EPB tunneling projects in Singapore. This paper demonstrates that by coupling the trained neural network model to a spreadsheet optimization technique, the reliability assessment of the settlement serviceability limit state can be carried out using the first-order reliability method. With this method, it is possible to carry out sensitivity studies to examine the effect of the level of uncertainty of each parameter uncertainty on the probability that the serviceability limit state has been exceeded.