• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.343-354
• /
• 2018

A realistic FEM structural model is developed to predict the behavior, load transfer, force distribution and performance of a riverine platform under earthquake and environmental loads. The interaction between the transfer plate and the piles supporting the platform is investigated. Transfer plate structures have the ability to redistribute the loads from the superstructure above to piles group below, to provide safe transits of loads to piles group and thus to the soil, without failure of soil or structural elements. The distribution of piles affects the distribution of stress on both soil and platform. A materially nonlinear earthquake response spectrum analysis was performed on this riverine platform subjected to earthquake and environmental loads. A fixed connection between the piles and the platform is better in the design of the piles and the prospect of piles collapse is low while a hinged connection makes the prospect of damage high because of the larger displacements. A fixed connection between the piles and the platform is the most demanding case in the design of the platform slab (transfer plate) because of the high stress values developed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.59 no.4
• /
• pp.739-759
• /
• 2016

The failure of civil engineering systems is a consequence of decision making under uncertain conditions. Generally, buried flexible pipes are designed for their transversal behavior to prevent from the important failure mode of buckling. However, the interaction effects between soil and pipe are neglected and the uncertainties in their properties are usually not considered in pipe design. In this regard, the present research paper evaluates the effects of these uncertainties on the uncertainty of the critical buckling hoop force of flexible pipes shallowly buried using the subgrade reaction theory (Winkler model) and First-Order Second-Moment (FOSM) method. The results show that the structural uncertainties of the studied pipes and those of the soil properties have a significant effect on the uncertainty of the critical buckling hoop force, and therefore taking into account these latter in the design of the shallowly flexible pipes for their buckling behavior is required.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2001

Interactions between cage wheel and soil under the wet paddy field condition were analyzed. The cage wheel as a traction aid to driving tires of tractor was attached to the outside of the tires. The driving torque transmitted only to the cage wheel was measured and its effect on the total driving torque by both the tires and cage wheel was analyzed. Mathematical models were developed to predict the soil thrusts y a single lug and by the cage wheel with many lugs, respectively. Experimental results showed that as the diameter of cage wheel increased, positive effects of the cage wheel on the traction also increased. About 33-40% of the total traction force was obtained by the cage wheel with a diameter 1,182mm and 49-55% with a diameter 1,222mm. The peak thrust of the single lug of cage wheel increased by 31% and 59%, respectively when the diameter of the cage wheel increased from 1,182mm to 1,222mm and 1,262mm. The thrust by the cage wheel was estimated by using the developed mathematical models and the results were proved that the models are reliable for the estimation of the traction by the cage wheels.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2012

The problem of laterally loaded piles is particularly a complex soil-structure interaction problem. The flexural stresses developed due to the combined action of axial load and bending moment must be evaluated in a realistic and rational manner for safe and economical design of pile foundation. The paper reports the finite element analysis of pile groups. For this purpose simplified models along the lines similar to that suggested by Desai et al. (1981) are used for idealizing various elements of the foundation system. The pile is idealized one dimensional beam element, pile cap as two dimensional plate element and the soil as independent closely spaced linearly elastic springs. The analysis takes into consideration the effect of interaction between pile cap and soil underlying it. The pile group is considered to have been embedded in cohesive soil. The parametric study is carried out to examine the effect of pile spacing, pile diameter, number of piles and arrangement of pile on the responses of pile group. The responses considered include the displacement at top of pile group and bending moment in piles. The results obtained using the simplified approach of the F.E. analysis are further compared with the results of the complete 3-D F.E. analysis published earlier and fair agreement is observed in the either result.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.335-346
• /
• 2023

For structures with underground basement walls, the soil-structure-interaction between the side soil and the walls affects the response of the system. There is interest in quantifying the relationship between the lateral earth pressure and the wall displacement using p-y curves. To date, passive p-y curves in available limited studies were assumed elastic-perfectly plastic. In reality, the relationship between earth pressure and wall displacement is complex. This paper focuses on studying the development of passive p-y curves behind rigid walls supporting granular soils. The study aims at identifying the different components of the passive p-y relationship and proposing a rigorous non-linear p-y model in place of simplified elastic-plastic models. The results of the study show that (1) the p-y relationship that models the stress-displacement response behind a rigid basement wall is highly non-linear, (2) passive p-y curves are affected by the height of the wall, relative density, and depth below the ground surface, and (3) passive p-y curves can be expressed using a truncated hyperbolic model that is defined by a limit state passive pressure that is determined using available logarithmic spiral methods and an initial slope that is expressed using a depth-dependent soil stiffness model.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.59-72
• /
• 2009

The load distribution and deflection of offshore piles are investigated by lateral load-transfer curve method (p-y curve). Special attention is given to the soil-pile interaction and soil resistance of 3D wedge failure mode. A framework for determining a hyperbolic p-y curve is proposed based on theoretical analysis and experimental load test results. The methods for determining appropriate material parameters needed for constructing the proposed p-y curves are presented in this paper. Through comparisons with field case studies, it was found that the proposed method in the present study estimates reasonably the load transfer behavior of pile, and thus, the computed pile responses, such as bending moment and lateral displacement, agree well with the actual measured responses.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2015

The nuclear accident due to the recent earthquake in Japan has triggered awareness of the importance of safety with regard to nuclear power plants (NPPs). An earthquake is one of the most important parameters which governs the safety of NPPs among external events. Application of a base isolation system for NPPs can reduce the risk for earthquakes. At present, a soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis is essential in the seismic design of NPPs in consideration of the ground structure interaction. In the seismic analysis of the base-isolated NPP, it is restrictive to consider the nonlinear properties of seismic isolation devices due to the linear analysis of the SSI analysis programs, such as SASSI. Thus, in this study, SSI analyses are performed using an iterative approach considering the material nonlinearity of the isolators. By performing the SSI analysis using an iterative approach, the nonlinear properties of isolators can be considered. The difference between the SSI analysis results without iteration and SSI with iteration using SASSI is noticeable. The results of the SSI analysis using an effective linear (non-iterative) approach underestimate the spectral acceleration because the effective linear model cannot consider the nonlinear properties of isolators. The results of the SSI analysis show that the horizontal response of the base-isolated NPP is significantly reduced.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.245-254
• /
• 2020

The interaction between the frozen soil and building structures deteriorates with the increasing temperature. A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) stratification test was conducted with respect to the unfrozen water content on the interface and a shear test was conducted on the frozen soil-structure interface to explore the shear characteristics of the frozen soil-structure interface and its failure mechanism during the thawing process. The test results showed that the unfrozen water at the interface during the thawing process can be clearly distributed in three stages, i.e., freezing, phase transition, and thawing, and that the shear strength of the interface decreases as the unfrozen water content increases. The internal friction angle and cohesive force display a change law of "as one falls, the other rises," and the minimum internal friction angle and maximum cohesive force can be observed at -1℃. In addition, the change characteristics of the interface strength parameters during the freezing process were compared, and the differences between the interface shear characteristics and failure mechanisms during the frozen soil-structure interface freezing-thawing process were discussed. The shear strength parameters of the interface was subjected to different changes during the freezing-thawing process because of the different interaction mechanisms of the molecular structures of ice and water in case of the ice-water phase transition of the test sample during the freezing-thawing process.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.35-45
• /
• 2016

Initialization of the global seasonal forecast system is as much important as the quality of the embedded climate model for the climate prediction in sub-seasonal time scale. Recent studies have emphasized the important role of soil moisture initialization, suggesting a significant increase in the prediction skill particularly in the mid-latitude land area where the influence of sea surface temperature in the tropics is less crucial and the potential predictability is supplemented by land-atmosphere interaction. This study developed a new soil moisture initialization method applicable to the KMA operational seasonal forecasting system. The method includes first the long-term integration of the offline land surface model driven by observed atmospheric forcing and precipitation. This soil moisture reanalysis is given for the initial state in the ensemble seasonal forecasts through a simple anomaly initialization technique to avoid the simulation drift caused by the systematic model bias. To evaluate the impact of the soil moisture initialization, two sets of long-term, 10-member ensemble experiment runs have been conducted for 1996~2009. As a result, the soil moisture initialization improves the prediction skill of surface air temperature significantly at the zero to one month forecast lead (up to ~60 days forecast lead), although the skill increase in precipitation is less significant. This study suggests that improvements of the prediction in the sub-seasonal timescale require the improvement in the quality of initial data as well as the adequate treatment of the model systematic bias.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2010

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.