Effect of Silt Presence on Shear Strength Parameters of Unsaturated Sandy Soils

Direct shear test is widely used in soil mechanics experiment to determine the shear strength parameters of granular soils. For analysis of soil stability problems such as bearing capacity, slope stability and lateral pressure on soil retaining structures, the shear strength parameters must be known well. In the present study, shear strength parameters are determined in silty-sand mixtures. Direct shear tests are performed on 161 Firoozkooh sand with different silt content at a relative density of 70% in three vertical stress of 100, 150, and 200 kPa. Wet tamping method is used for soil sample preparation, and the results include diagrams of shear stress versus shear deformation and sample height changes against shear deformation. Accordingly, in different silt percent, the shear strength parameters of the soil such as internal friction angle and dilation angle are calculated and compared. According to the results, when the sample contains up to 10% silt, peak shear strength and internal friction angle have an upward trend. However, if the sample contains 10% to 50% of silt a downward trend is seen in peak shear strength and internal friction angle.

Lateral Pressure in Squat Silos under Eccentric Discharge

The influence of eccentric discharge of stored solids in squat silos has been highly valued by many researchers. However, calculation method of lateral pressure under eccentric flowing still needs to be deeply studied. In particular, the lateral pressure distribution on vertical wall could not be accurately recognized mainly because of its asymmetry. In order to build mechanical model of lateral pressure, flow channel and flow pattern of stored solids in squat silo are studied. In this passage, based on Janssen-s theory, the method for calculating lateral static pressure in squat silos after eccentric discharge is proposed. Calculative formulae are deduced for each of three possible cases. This method is also focusing on unsymmetrical distribution characteristic of silo wall normal pressure. Finite element model is used to analysis and compare the results of lateral pressure and the numerical results illustrate the practicability of the theoretical method.

Structural Monitoring and Control During Support System Replacement of a Historical Gate

Middle-gate is located in Hasankeyf, Batman dating back to 1800 BC and is one of the important historical structures in Turkey. The ancient structure has suffered major structural cracks due to aging as well as lateral pressure of a cracked rock which is predicted to be about 100 tons. The existing support system was found to be inadequate to support the load especially after a recent rock fall in the close vicinity. Concerns were increased since the existing support system that is integral with a damaged and cracked gate wall needed to be replaced by a new support system. The replacement process must be carefully monitored by crackmeters and control mechanisms should be integrated to prevent cracks to expand while the same crack width needs to be maintained after the operation. The control system and actions taken during the intervention are explained in this paper.

Design of Rigid L- Shaped Retaining Walls

Cantilever L-shaped walls are known to be relatively economical as retaining solution. The design starts by proportioning the wall dimensions for which the stability is checked for. A ratio between the lengths of the base and the stem, falling between 0.5 to 0.7 ensure in most case the stability requirements, however, the displacement pattern of the wall in terms of rotations and translations, and the lateral pressure profile, do not have the same figure for all wall’s proportioning, as it is usually assumed. In the present work the results of a numerical analysis are presented, different wall geometries were considered. The results show that the proportioning governs the equilibrium between the instantaneous rotation and the translation of the wall-toe, also, the lateral pressure estimation based on the average value between the at-rest and the active pressure, recommended by most design standards, is found to be not applicable for all walls.