• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.467-477
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• 2018

Estimation of hydraulic parameters is a critical step during design of foundation dewatering works. When many piles are installed in an aquifer, estimation of the hydraulic conductivity should consider the blocking of groundwater seepage by the piles. Based on field observations during a dewatering project in Shanghai, hydraulic conductivities are back-calculated using a numerical model considering the actual position of each pile. However, it is difficult to apply the aforementioned model directly in field due to requirement to input each pile geometry into the model. To develop a simple numerical model and find the optimal hydraulic conductivity, three scenarios are examined, in which the soil mass containing the piles is considered to be a uniform porous media. In these three scenarios, different sub-regions with different hydraulic conductivities, based on either automatic inverted calculation, or on effective medium theory (EMT), are established. The results indicate that the error, in the case which determines the hydraulic conductivity based on EMT, is less than that determined in the automatic inversion case. With the application of EMT, only the hydraulic conductivity of the soil outside the pit should be inverted. The soil inside the pit with its piles is divided into sub-regions with different hydraulic conductivities, and the hydraulic conductivity is calculated according to the volume ratio of the piles. Thus, the use of EMT in numerical modelling makes it easier to consider the effect of piles installed in an aquifer.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 2022

The present study examines the natural frequencies (NFs) of perfect/imperfect functionally graded sandwich beams (P/IP-FGSBs), which are composed of a porous core constructed of functionally graded materials (FGMs) and a homogenous isotropic metal and ceramic face sheets resting on elastic foundations. To accomplish this, the material properties of the FGSBs are assumed to vary continuously along the thickness direction as a function of the volume fraction of constituents expressed by the modified rule of the mixture, which includes porosity volume fraction represented using four distinct types of porosity distribution models. Additionally, to characterize the reaction of the two-parameter elastic foundation to the Perfect/Imperfect (P/IP) FGSBs, the medium is assumed to be linear, homogeneous, and isotropic, and it is described using the Winkler-Pasternak model. Furthermore, the kinematic relationship of the P/IP-FGSBs resting on the Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundations (WPEFs) is described using trigonometric shear deformation theory (TrSDT), and the equations of motion are constructed using Hamilton's principle. A closed-form solution is developed for the free vibration analysis of P/IP-FGSBs resting on the WPEFs under four distinct boundary conditions (BCs). To validate the new formulation, extensive comparisons with existing data are made. A detailed investigation is carried out for the effects of the foundation coefficients, mode numbers (MNs), porosity volume fraction, power-law index, span to depth ratio, porosity distribution patterns (PDPs), skin core skin thickness ratios (SCSTR), and BCs on the values of the NFs of the P/IP-FGSBs.