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Numerical Analysis of new Plate Load Tests on LWA

Author

Term

4. term

Publication year

2018

Pages

114

Abstract

Letvægts ler-aggregat (LWA) har i mange år været brugt i byggeri og infrastruktur. Særligt i Norge og Sverige anvendes LWA i jernbane- og vejfyld for at reducere konstruktionens vægt og beskytte frostfølsomme jorder. I Danmark er LWA ikke taget i brug i jernbanefyld på grund af stramme nationale standarder og Banedanmarks bekymring for mekanisk nedbrydning. Derfor er der behov for mere viden om materialets egenskaber. Der findes flere laboratorieforsøg for LWA, herunder triaxialforsøg (hvor en prøve belastes fra flere retninger), oedometerforsøg (en-dimensionel kompression) og cykliske triaxialforsøg. Disse resultater kan dog være påvirket af side- og skalavirkningsfejl. I dette projekt er materialets parametre bestemt ved at kalibrere to jordmodeller—den simple Mohr-Coulomb-model og GSK-modellen—implementeret i det kommercielle program Optum G2, mod data fra triaxialforsøg. Derudover er der beskrevet og udført pladetrykforsøg; fire forsøg blev gennemført i april 2018 og brugt til at sammenligne modellernes forudsigelser med målte last–sætningskurver. Resultaterne viser, at GSK-modellen kan beskrive den spændingsafhængige friktionsvinkel observeret i triaxialforsøgene. Til gengæld gav Mohr-Coulomb-modellen den bedste tilpasning til pladetrykforsøgenes last–sætningskurver, hvilket tyder på, at den mere komplekse GSK-model ikke er nødvendig i denne sammenhæng. Sammenligningen med pladetrykforsøgene indikerer desuden, at side- og skalavirkningsfejl i triaxialforsøgene muligvis ikke er væsentlige, og at der er en gennemgående tendens.

Lightweight Clay Aggregate (LWA) has been used for many years in buildings and infrastructure. In Norway and Sweden, LWA is commonly placed in railway and road embankments to reduce the structure’s weight and protect frost-susceptible soils. In Denmark, LWA has not been used in railway embankments because of strict national standards and the Danish Railway Authority’s concerns about mechanical breakdown. This has created a need for more knowledge about LWA’s material behavior. Several laboratory tests exist for LWA, including triaxial tests (loading a sample from multiple directions), oedometer tests (one-dimensional compression), and cyclic triaxial tests. However, results can be affected by boundary and scale effects. This project estimated key material parameters by calibrating two soil models—the simple Mohr-Coulomb model and the GSK model—implemented in the commercial software Optum G2, using triaxial test data. In addition, four plate load tests were described and conducted in April 2018 and used to compare model predictions with measured load–displacement curves. The results show that the GSK model reproduces the stress dependence of the friction angle observed in triaxial tests. However, the Mohr-Coulomb model provided the best fit to the plate load tests’ load–displacement curves, suggesting that the more complex GSK model is not necessary for this application. The comparison with plate load tests also indicates that side and scale effects in triaxial tests may not be significant, and a consistent tendency was observed.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]

Keywords