Dr. Villalobos-Jara, Felipe

The dynamic properties of coarse granular soils have been much less studied than in sands. From a database of 14 gravel samples subjected to cyclic triaxial tests, available relationships are studied and new proposed to estimate the normalised shear modulus G/Gmax and the damping ratio D as a function of shear strain γ. The effect of confining stress, fines content, uniformity coefficient and loading frequency on the variation of G/ Gmax and D versus γ is analysed. It is obtained that G/Gmax is dependent on confinement, but not on loading frequency. 85.6% of the data converge in an error band of less than 25% for the proposed formulation. The damping D does depend on fines content as well as confinement and loading frequency. The proposed formulation for D has a 56% probability of having errors less than 25%.

The limit equilibrium method LEM is widely used for static and pseudo-static soil nailing designs. Soil nailed wall stability is usually evaluated based on a global factor of safety FSG under a predefined failure mechanism. When appropriate failure surfaces are adopted, FSG should reduce with the soil nailed wall inclination β for different nail geometries (length L, inclination α and diameter D), soil–nail strength rs, soil cohesion c’ and angle of friction ϕ’. However, nail spacing S can change this trend since FSG increases with β under certain combinations of β and S. In this study the nail spacing effect has been evaluated using LEM assuming a bilinear failure surface with two rigid blocks and the Morgenstern-Price method where the failure surface is neither linear nor circular. However, it was found that FSG increases with β for S < 2.00 m, which can lead to potentially unsafe designs. Alternatively, the finite element method FEM was chosen including the strength reduction factor SRF methodology which is equivalent to FSG under failure conditions. It was found that results from FEM represent a significant improvement respect to those from LEM because curves in a FSG-β-S plot follow a logical trend as with the other parameters (L, α, D, rs, c’ and ϕ’). Finally, it is recommended to choose FEM instead of LEM in soil nailing designs. In case of using LEM, results should be carefully assessed, in particular for steep walls and close nail spacing.

The technique of soil nailing has been increasingly used in stabilization works of slopes and excavations. With this, the use of numerical modelling tools in soil nailing projects is becoming increasingly present in Geotechnical companies. This paper includes a case study of a soil nailing wall instrumented in Concepción city, which consists of an excavation of 15 m height in a residual soil of completely decomposed granitic rock. The numerical model was calibrated, comparing the results of the field instrumentation with the numerical estimates provided by the FEM-RS2 software, based on the two-dimensional finite element method and considering an elastic perfectly plastic model. In this way, the strength reduction factor of the geotechnical structure was obtained, which was compared with the overall factor of safety obtained by limit equilibrium analysis. In addition, through the numerical simulation, it was possible to realize an analysis of the loads on the nails, total displacements of the vertical wall, and compare them with the numerical results. The analysis of the results made it possible to confirm the capacity and usefulness of the FEM-RS2 software in the development and elaboration of soil nailing projects.

The study of materials with large particle size has been a great challenge in geotechnical engineering. Despite the current work around the world using coarse-grained materials CGM in rockfill dams and mining waste rock dumps, for instance the geotechnical characterization of these materials is still an important issue in geotechnical engineering practice which deserve more research. There are standards covering CGM in a few particular applications and scaling methods have been proposed to deal with large particle sizes. However, scaling methods are appropriate only under certain conditions. The scalping techniques consist in a simple approach for the geotechnical characterization of CGM. In this article, the scalping techniques analysed are divided in: the scalping method, the matrix method and the scalping/replacement, which are studied in detail in terms of its effectiveness, focusing on the geomechanical characterization of CGM. As a main conclusion, these three techniques are limited in its use under small scalping ratios (3 < r < 8) which is the ratio of maximum particle size of both original and scalped gradation. Finally, recommendations for the use of percentages and ratio of scalping are provided.

The geotechnical characterization of coarse granular materials such as very coarse-grained soils, rockfills, mining waste rocks and related materials is one of the key themes in geotechnical engineering but least studied and developed. Although there are some geotechnical standards and accepted geotechnical practice, there is not a standard for size-scaling, which is a critical step in advanced stage engineering (i.e. detailed design) on large structures involving this kind of materials. Several size-scaling techniques are available for use, with advantages and disadvantages. Among these, the parallel gradation method PGM (also known as homothetic grain size distribution), is one of the current practices and used for more than 50 years, but surprisingly just a few studies have corroborated its capability, and under specific material types. This work assesses a detailed database covering the development of this method from its first uses up to now. The application of this method is analysed based mainly on the material maximum internal friction angle and the Marsal’s particle breakage index (Bg).

The need for understanding the performance of district heating pipeline systems has led to the development of a monitoring program. This program includes the design of the connection of an instrumented section of piping within an in-use district heating network. The design complies with the current European district heating recommendations and standards. Monitoring consists of the measurement of earth pressures against the pipes, axial pipe displacements, and temperature of the fluid and soil around the pipes. There are different conditions being tested such as thickness of insulation materials, temperature ranges, and bedding soil type. In particular, there is interest in testing the corner positions. Details of the piping and instrumentation arrangements as well as soil geotechnical characteristics are presented. It was found that when the fluid temperature increased from ambient conditions up to 90°C, pipes were moving all along their length. Moreover, after a fluid temperature drop from 90°C to 20°C over 20 days and subsequent increase to 90°C again, pipe axial displacements did not return to the same values as before

The 27th February 2010 earthquake in central and south of Chile was a very strong test for recently constructed geosynthetics reinforced soil wall solutions as bridge abutments. This 8.8 moment magnitude subduction earthquake caused severe damage to several traditional reinforced concrete walls for bridge abutments. However, no significant damage was found in relatively new geosynthetics reinforced solutions. For that reason, it is important to review the design and construction employed in these projects. To this end, a representative case located close to the epicentre is described and studied. Moreover, information is provided regarding the foundation soils, design and construction sequence of the geosynthetics reinforcement used for bridge abutments. The foundation soils were poor, corresponding mainly to marine and fluvial deposits close to the stream and mouth of the Andalién River. The analysis covers the verification of static and seismic external and internal stability. In addition, global static and seismic analyses are carried out. The methods used for the analyses are limit equilibrium and pseudo-static following recommendations of the FHWA. Results show that the design was adequate to cope with such a strong seismic event in terms of external and internal stability. Nevertheless, it was found that the inclusion of piles prevented a global seismic failure of the geogrid reinforced soil walls as bridge abutment. Final comments and remarks are presented related to design and construction which may explain the favourable performance of geosynthetics reinforced structures under this strong subduction earthquake.

The effect of fine particles on the zeolite shear strength is assessed for possible construction applications. A brief geological description of the zeolite is presented. Three groups of zeolite samples were prepared, namely a coarse material with no fines, a finer material with 3% of silt and a silty material with 15% of clay. Results from standard classification, compaction and compressibility tests are shown and explained. It was found that due to the low specific gravity, low values of density were obtained in compaction tests. Additionally, shear strength tests were performed, resulting in different response in terms of shear stress and horizontal and vertical displacements. The coarse zeolite followed a similar friction-dilation response as in feldspathic and quartz sands. However, addition of 3% of fines reduced significantly the zeolite shear strength. Furthermore, the finest material was tested under two different displacement rates, reflecting also marked differences in shear strength and stiffness.

The work presented by Georgiannou et al. (2017) on geotechnical properties of a natural zeolite is an important contribution because there are not many published works on this subject. The authors mention some of the several studies with natural zeolites in other research areas, mainly in environmental applications such as waste-water treatments, soil–bentonite mixtures and in the improvement of cement and concrete properties. They also mention the existence of numerous engineering and industrial applications of natural zeolites in farming, fisheries, textiles and construction materials. This discussion will complement and comment on some of the results obtained by the authors and suggest that extra information would be useful in order to make a more comprehensive analysis.