Research of Applied Soil Mechanics 2005

Name Dr. ir. Stefan van Baars (Assistant Professor Soil Mechanics)
Department Geo-Technology
Section Geo-ngineering
Project 1: Dutch dike breach Wilnis 2003
Introduction
!n the s"mmer of #$$% &"ring a long &ro"ght' a peat &i(e faile& along a canal.
)o* &i& this happen' ho* &i& the &i(e fail an& *hat co"l& have +e &one to
prevent this fail"re,
Summary
!n A"g"st #$$%' after a very &ry an& *arm s"mmer' one of the &i(es along a canal
in The Netherlan&s faile& at night. Beca"se of this &i(e +reach' the *ater in the
canal starte& to r"n into a ho"sing -"arter of the village .ilnis' *hich is a+o"t %$
(m So"theast of Amster&am. /i(e many other smaller &i(es in The Netherlan&s'
the complete &i(e in .ilnis consists of peat. Since peat has a relatively lo* "nit
*eight' the peat layers an& also &eep clay layers not only have a very lo* friction'
+"t also a very lo* cohesion. Therefore a peat &i(e has a higher ris( of +eing
p"she& asi&e +y *ater press"re than san& or clay &i(es. This hori0ontal sli&ing is a
rare type of fail"re mechanism. Tho"gh' *hen the sta+ility of the &i(e in .ilnis is
chec(e&' it +ecomes clear that the fail"re of the &i(e after a &ry perio& *as a
realistic threat. The fail"re mechanism has lea& to +ig &isc"ssions an& even co"rt
cases.
Results in 2005
!n #$$1 the res"lts *ere p"+lishe& in the 2o"rnal G3otechni-"e.
Research plan for 2006
No f"rther research is planne&.
Project 2: Determination of the permeability with the dissipation test
Introduction
.hen pie0ocone tests incl"&e &issipation tests' the consoli&ation coe4cient an&
the permea+ility of 5ne graine& soil layers can +e assesse&. These parameters
allo* to pre&ict the rate of settlement of the em+an(ments. !t is also possi+le to
chec( these parameters +y carrying o"t pie0ocone tests after installation of the
em+an(ments.
Summary
A conventional &issipation c"rve sho*s a gra&"al &ecrease in pore *ater press"re
&"ring this test. )o*ever' in many cases "nconventional c"rves have +een
meas"re&' e.g. an increase in pore *ater press"re &"ring the 5rst part of the
&issipation time' follo*e& +y a &ecrease' or an increase &"ring the f"ll &issipation
time. S"ch c"rves often ca"se &i4c"lties for the interpretation of the permea+ility.
Di6erent "nconventional c"rves that have +een meas"re& are st"&ie&. .hat are
the ca"ses of s"ch res"lts an& ho* to &eal *ith this' since the e7isting
interpretation metho&s only &eal *ith conventional c"rves. 8"rthermore the
permea+ility o+taine& from the res"lts of pie0ocone tests an& oe&ometer tests are
compare&.
!n this *ay a ne* metho& has +een fo"n&' *hich can +e "se& for all cases' to
calc"late more acc"rately the permea+ility from &issipation tests.
Results in 2005
The preliminary res"lts are p"+lishe& in #$$1 on a conference in /yon.
Research plan for 2006
The 5nal res"lts are planne& to +e p"+lishe& in #$$9 in a 2o"rnal
No f"rther research for this pro2ect is planne&.
Project 3: Discrete Element odellin! and "ontinuum mechanics
Introduction
:ne of the most important aspects of &iscrete element mo&elling is to st"&y the
elasto-plastic +ehavio"r of a gro"p of particles. By st"&ying the &i6erences
+et*een the +ehavio"r of a gran"lar material accor&ing a contin""m mo&el an& a
&iscrete mo&el' more insight can +e gaine& in the application of &iscrete element
mo&els an& in the imperfectness of contin""m mo&els.
Summary
By st"&ying the &i6erences +et*een the +ehavio"r of a gran"lar material
accor&ing a contin""m mo&el an& a &iscrete mo&el it is easier to 5n& o"t ho*
contin""m mo&els sho"l& +e improve&. The most simple elasto-plastic contin""m
mo&el is the Mohr-;o"lom+ mo&el' therefore this mo&el is' as an e7ample'
compare& *ith the res"lts of the #-D &iscrete element mo&el Grain. Mohr-;o"lom+
parameters are o+taine& from one-&imensional compression tests an& tria7ial
tests' all sim"late& *ith Grain. .ith these parameters a Mohr-;o"lom+ pre&iction
is ma&e for t*o simple shear tests carrie& o"t on the same gran"lar material *ith
Grain. A comparison +et*een DM-res"lts an& M;-pre&iction gives remar(a+le
res"lts' especially a+o"t the coa7ial +ehavio"r +et*een stresses an& strains
&"ring fail"re.
Also a comparison is ma&e +et*een these Mohr-;o"lom+ parameters an&
analytical sol"tions. These analytical sol"tions are +ase& on the contact force
&istri+"tions &"ring loa&ing.
Results in 2005
The research res"lts *ere p"+lishe& in #$$1 on a conference in St"ttgart
<Po*&ers an& Grains=.
Research plan for 2006
No f"rther research for this pro2ect is planne&.
Project #: Probabilistical $eo%En!ineerin!
Introduction
!n the civil engineering the largest ris( factors are fo"n& in the s"+soil' especially
+eca"se of the inhomogeneo"s soil +ehavio"r. The i&ea is to optimise the &esign
+y &escri+ing the "ncertainties in the &esign of geotechnical str"ct"res in a
pro+a+ilistical *ay.
Summary
.ithin the geo-engineering there are t*o types of ris(s> the ris( of
inhomogeneo"s sti6ness +ehavio"r ("ne-"al settlements)' especially for line
infrastr"ct"re s"ch as roa&s an& rail*ays an& the ris( of a varia+le an& "ncertain
strength' especially for &y(es' +"il&ing pits an& fo"n&ations. By &escri+ing the
"ncertainties in a pro+a+ilistical *ay' the economical optim"m can +e fo"n& for
these str"ct"res. The 5rst step *ill +e to &escri+e a general &esign metho& for
:+servational Metho&s an& other economical optim"m metho&s. The secon& step
*ill +e to &evelop a simple &esign metho& to calc"late the pro+a+ility of fail"re of
a &y(e *ith stan&ar& slip plain mo&els an& 5nite element mo&els. The thir& step
*ill +e to &evelop a settlement optim"m life cycle &esign metho&. 8inally this *ill
+e e7ten&e& to ne* &esign metho&s for the D"tch &y(e &esign an& for
implementation of the :+servational Metho&.
Results in 2005
The 5rst res"lts of :+servational metho& application *ill +e p"+lishe& at the en&
of #$$1 or +egin of #$$9 in the 2o"rnal <)eron=.
Research plan for 2006
The res"lts *ill +e contin"e& *ith the help of a part-time PhD-st"&ent (.im
?anning).
The 5rst res"lts of the pro+a+ilistical approach *ill +e p"+lishe& on a conference
in Gra0 in #$$9.
8"rther res"lts are planne& to +e p"+lishe& in #$$@


Publications in 2005:
Baars' S. van' ).;. van &e GraafA /B"tilisation &" pi30oncCne po"r la &etermination
&e la perm3a+ilit3 &es &ols compressi+les. !n> International Symposium Geoline'
/yon' 8rance' !SBN #-@D1E-#EF#-G' May #$$1
Baars' S. vanA ;on&itions for the "se of the o+servational metho& in geotechnical
engineering. !n G )ofmans (&.)' Proceedings of the 16th International Conference
on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (pp. #F9%-#F99). Hotter&am>
Millpress.
Baars' S. vanA Di6erence +et*een the res"lts of &iscrete element mo&eling an&
contin""m mo&eling. !n> H Garcia-Ho2o I )errmann an& McNamara (&s.)'
Powders and Grains (pp. J1D-J1J). /ei&en> A.A.Bal(ema P"+lishers.
Baars' S. vanA The &etermination of the permea+ility of soft soil from
"nconventional pie0ocone res"lts. !n> M Arno"l& I P /e&r" (&s.)' Geology and
linear infrastructures (pp. D-F). :rleans' 8rance> Brgm &itions.
Baars' S. vanA The hori0ontal 8ail"re mechanism of the .ilnis peat &y(e.
Geotechnique, (J)' %DE-%#%.
Baars' S. van' K.?. Lri2lingA Geotechnical applications an& con&itions of the
o+servational metho&. !eron, "(%)' D11-D@#.