Performance assessment of composite skirted ground reinforcement system in liquefiable ground under repeated dynamic loading conditions

• Published in: Bulletin of earthquake engineering Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 1397 - 1429
• Main Authors: Vijay Kumar, S. P., Ganesh Kumar, S., Datta Gupta, Saurabh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-02-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Attenuation; Civil Engineering; Densification; Dynamic loads; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earthquakes; Efficiency; Energy dissipation; Engineering; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Foams; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Ground motion; Hydrogeology; Hydrostatic pressure; Liquefaction; Mechanical loading; Original Article; Performance assessment; Performance testing; Polyurethane; Polyurethane foam; Pore pressure; Pore water; Pore water pressure; Reinforcement; Relative density; Reliquefaction; Seismic activity; Shear strength; Soil; Soil improvement; Soil resistance; Soil water; Soils; Stone columns; Structural Geology; Vibration; Water pressure; Infill material; Skirted barrier; Ground motions; Isolation Barrier; Repeated un-drained loading
• ISSN: 1570-761X; 1573-1456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10518-021-01298-4

Occurrence of earthquake generates both horizontal and vertical ground motions. In saturated sands, combination of generated ground motions and pore water pressures induces soil liquefaction. In this study, a composite skirted ground reinforcement system was developed to mitigate generation of pore water pressure in liquefiable soils and also to attenuate incoming ground motions to the foundation. The composite system contains Polyurethane foam as an isolation barrier for ground motion attenuation with stone columns for improving both soil densification and drainage. The performance of this composite reinforcement system was evaluated under repeated acceleration loading conditions to estimate its efficiency. For testing, saturated ground model having 40% and 60% relative density was prepared and investigated with and without the composite reinforcement system. Test results showed that, the developed skirted ground reinforcement system effectively mitigates the interaction of incoming ground motions with the foundation and also improves the reliquefaction resistance of soil compared to that of unreinforced ground.