Investigation of physical model on soft soil reinforced by rigid inclusions under cyclic loading

Abstract

Soft soil reinforced by rigid inclusions is one of the techniques to homogenize and to reduce the settlement of earth structures. Various cases of structures under cyclic loading are inevitably encountered in the practice. Therefore, the understanding of this technique under cyclic and/or dynamic loading is required. This paper is aimed to present a series of experimental studies performed at 1-g laboratory scale to simulate the soft soil reinforced by rigid inclusions subjected to cyclic loading. Tests were performed with two kinds of embankment or Load Transfer Platform (LTP), i.e., sand and gravel. The cycles were applied in terms of surface pressure on the top of embankment. The experimental results highlighted the efficiency of load transfer and the accumulation of the settlement during the cyclic loading. The evolution of average efficiency as a function of number of cycles at low level of surface pressure (Pm = 5 and 15 kPa) showed the insignificant variation on both embankments.