Shaking Table Testing to Evaluate Effectiveness of Vertical Drains for Liquefaction Mitigation

Although blast liquefaction studies have shown that vertical drains greatly increase the rate of drainage under field conditions, they have not prevented liquefaction. In addition, it is difficult to compare pore pressure development during blasting and an earthquake. At present, no direct field or laboratory data is available to confirm whether or not the drains have the ability to limit pore pressures and resulting settlement to acceptable levels. However, shaking table tests can be conducted with a large shear box (20 ft high, 9 ft wide, 16 ft long) containing drains at State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo and compared with identical testing currently underway for another funded study. Tests will be performed at progressively higher acceleration levels and durations to allow comparison of performance (pore pressure & settlement) for earthquake conditions. Perform shaking table tests on sandy soils with vertical drains installed to confirm whether or not the drains have the ability to limit pore pressures and resulting settlement to acceptable levels during the earthquake event. Three objectives are outlined for this study: (1) Evaluate the ability of vertical drains to prevent liquefaction during an earthquake event as a function of acceleration and duration. (2) Compare settlement of treated sand relative to untreated soil when subjected to shaking and drained with vertical drains. (3) Evaluate the accuracy of simple models and computer models to predict measured behavior.

• Record URL:
  http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/471

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $115000
• Contract Numbers:

  138731

  TPF-5(244)

  UT07.708

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

  Research Development & Technology Transfer
  3132 Channel Dr
  Juneau, AK  United States 

  California Department of Transportation

  1227 O Street
  Sacramento, CA  United States  95814

  Utah Department of Transportation

  4501 South 2700 West
  Project Development
  Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84114-8380

  New York State Department of Transportation

  50 Wolf Road
  Albany, NY  United States  12232

  South Carolina Department of Transportation

  955 Park Street
  P.O. Box 191
  Columbia, SC  United States  29202-0191
• Project Managers:

  Stevens, David

• Performing Organizations:

  Brigham Young University

  Provo, UT  United States  84602-4081
• Principal Investigators:

  Rollins, Kyle

• Start Date: 20130501
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20180930
• Source Data: RiP Project 29823

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer models; Drainage; Drainage structures; Earthquakes; Ground settlement; Liquefaction; Pore pressure; Sandy soils; Shaking table tests; Vertical drains
• Geographic Terms: Utah
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01573318
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Contract Numbers: 138731, TPF-5(244), UT07.708
• Files: RIP, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 22 2015 1:01AM