Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Residual loads can affect the load transfer and the settlement-induced in-service loadings, although they do not alter the bearing capacity. When residual loads are present and not measured or evaluated, the settlement estimate is greater than predicted if these loads are known. Residual loads can be measured when the pile instrumentation is nullified before pile installation, in the case of displacement piles, or before the first loading in non-displacement piles, such as bored cast-in-place piles, continuous flight auger piles, and micro-piles. In the case of underpinning foundation and piled raft, when the loading transfer is shared by the original and new foundation, or by the piles and the raft, it is essential to know the stiffness of each foundation element to estimate the load partition. If residual loads are present, pile stiffness is greater than when not considered in the design. The paper revisits this theme of practical relevance. A historical review of the most relevant research involving pile residual load measurements, pile loading tests including the interpretation of residual loads locked at a pile toe, and a new procedure for residual loads prediction are provided. A comparison is made of the experimental residual loads observed in some of the instrumented cases and the values estimated with the suggested procedure. The development of residual loads at the pile toe as a function of the toe resistance to total capacity ratio is very similar to the variation of the soil density as a function of soil moisture content in soil compaction.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The use of deep foundations is a common practice in geotechnical civil engineering designs, in which the bearing capacity of these foundations occurs by side resistance, tip, or through the combination of both. In the case of caisson, the bearing capacity is often obtained by considering only the resistance of the lower end due to its bell-shaped geometry, neglecting the skin friction resistance of the shaft, which may represent an oversizing in some cases. In this context, this paper analyzed the behavior of nine caisson prototypes laid at 10 m, 15 m and 20 m deep. At each depth, three types of caissons were analyzed, with and without an expanded base, and a third type with deformable material at the top of the base. The axisymmetric numerical analyses were conducted by using the finite element method considering an isotropic medium. Thus, it was found that with increasing depth, the skin frictional resistance of the surrounding soil of shaft contributes significantly to the bearing capacity of the caisson suggesting that little load would reach the base of the caisson in situations that would negligible the side resistance of the shaft in the design phase. This may be an important consideration in foundation design using caisson, as it would reduce risks to human life, as well as reduce material consumption and the generation of carbon released into the atmosphere.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The maximum shear modulus (G0) and the modulus degradation curve (G/G0 versus γ) are important information in the evaluation of the soil mechanical behavior, both for dynamic and static loads. Dynamic tests (resonant column and cyclic triaxial tests) are not routinely performed in geotechnical practice in Brazil, and the geotechnical literature on the dynamic behavior of unsaturated tropical soils is limited. This paper presents and discusses seismic dilatometer (SDMT), resonant column, and triaxial test with bender elements and internal instrumentation to determine G0 and the modulus degradation curve in an unsaturated tropical sandy soil profile. It was observed that G0 tends to increase non-linearly with soil suction and net stress (σ - ua). It was also observed that the in situ G0 values determined with the SDMT were higher than those from laboratory tests (bender elements and resonant column). The modulus degradation curves determined with resonant column were used to define the reference curve via SDMT for the studied site. Soil suction influence in shear modulus degradation curves determined with unsaturated triaxial compression tests with local instrumentation is also presented and discussed.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Understanding the dynamic behavior of soils is essential to the study of the influence of seismic loads on the instability of submarine slopes, an important issue in Brazil and other countries. The shear modulus and the damping ratio are two fundamental parameters for the study of this behavior. Determining these parameters for Speswhite kaolin clay is the object of the present study using resonant column tests and dynamic centrifuge tests with accelerometers and pairs of bender elements. The curves obtained in the laboratory are compared with empirical curves and comparable data in the literature. Good agreement was observed between experimental data and the empirical prediction for the degradation curve of the normalized shear modulus. The damping curve for very low strains, obtained with resonant column tests, was consistent with the empirical curve. However, consistent with a trend observed in the literature, the centrifuge test results presented considerable scatter (dispersion), attributable to the difficulty in modelling damping dissipation mechanisms in the centrifuge.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This work presents the validation of the Morgenstern-Price method implemented in the Risk Assessment applied to Slope Stability (RASS) computational program to carry out deterministic and probabilistic analyses of slope stability. Deterministic analyses, based on the factor of safety approach, are performed using limit equilibrium methods. The probabilistic ones, on the other hand, are carried out through the direct coupling of these methods to the First Order Reliability Method (FORM). Initially, two benchmark cases are presented for validation of the computational routine related to the Morgenstern-Price method. Next, two illustrative examples are presented, with the investigation of the critical surfaces defined by deterministic and probabilistic criteria, which correspond to the minimum factor of safety, the maximum probability of failure, and the maximum quantitative risk. In the set of stability analyses, it was verified that both the numerical responses and the geometry of the critical surfaces can vary depending on the choice of the limit equilibrium method and the criterion for identifying the critical surface. The different possibilities presented by the methodology used in this study define not only a critical surface, but a set of critical surfaces that can help in the engineering decision-making process and slope risk management, complementing the widely used purely deterministic analyses in geotechnics.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The interaction mechanisms related to the group effect between piles and between pile groups significantly influence the soil-structure interaction process. This interaction causes the superposition of stresses and, in general, makes the pile group settlement different from the settlement of an isolated pile. The objective of the present paper is to evaluate the soil-structure interaction mechanisms of buildings with foundations of monitored continuous flight auger piles (CFA) in a stratified soil mass, with the presence of an intermediate soft soil layer. Hence, it is particularly analyzed the group effect between piles of a group and the group effect between all pile groups from a foundation of a study case instrumented by means of numerical modeling, considering the effect of the soft soil layer. The results show the significant group effect on displacements, showing the increase in settlement due to the overlapping of the tension bulbs of the piles and neighboring pile groups.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Fiber Reinforced Soils (FRS) are mixtures of discrete fibers with the soil to create a composite with improved mechanical properties compared to unreinforced material that depends on several soil and fiber properties. Therefore, comparative studies are needed to better understand their influence on FRS mechanical response. This paper analyzes the results of a comprehensive triaxial testing program performed on specimens of two different sands at the same relative density focusing on how the grain size distribution affects the composite behavior in terms of shear strength and dilatancy. It is shown that the grain size curve's uniformity coefficient (Cu) is one of the critical variables controlling FRS's dilatancy. Dune sand specimens (Cu = 1.79) presented dilatancy even for confining stresses as high as 300 kPa. The shear gains due to reinforcement were controlled by fiber length (L) and percentage (Pf), and size and shape of soil particles. River sand specimens with L = 51 mm and 1% fiber addition (dry mass) presented increments of 47.7 kPa in soil cohesion and a 5.2o increase in the soil friction angle compared to unreinforced material.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the addition of coconut (coir) fibers on the microstructural, hydraulic and mechanical behavior of an unsaturated compacted soil. Specimens were molded and compacted, forming composites with 0%, 0.1%, 0.5% and 1% fiber in relation to their dry mass. The characterization of pores from the soil and fiber soil mixtures was performed by the Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry tests. Suction values were obtained through the filter paper method and soil water retention curves were adjusted with the Durner model due to the bimodal behavior. Tensile strength values were obtained from the indirect tensile strength test (Brazilian tensile test) for specimens with different suction values. It was found that the increase in fiber content in the material lead to a non-linear increase in macropores, which affected both the hydraulic and mechanical behavior of the soil. Furthermore, the shape of the soil water retention curve was preserved, but there were changes in the values of first and second air entry and residual suction. The tensile strength was negatively influenced, reaching a reduction of about 30% in the situation with higher fiber content. However, for higher levels, the behavior of the soil changed from brittle to ductile, increasing the supported deformations.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Water jet-driving technique has been shown as a viable practice for driving prefabricated piles in resistant soil layers. However, this technique is also associated with the reduction of load capacity of piles. Along these lines, the use of reams in prefabricated concrete piles improves their mechanical performance. The main objective of this research was to study the efficiency of reams on water jet-driven concrete piles; to this extent, pile loading tests and mini-cone tests were carried out before and after the driving of the piles. In addition, numerical modelling with the finite element method (FEM) was applied to study the stress-strain behavior. By means of the numerical modelling, it was possible to identify the stress and strain distribution at the tip, shaft, and reams of the piles; this allowed the understanding of the contribution of these elements in the total load capacity. Results have shown that the reams directly contribute for load capacity, with increases up to 40% when compared to conventional piles. Laboratory tests and numerical modeling proved to be fundamental tools to understand the mechanisms behind the contribution of reams to the load capacity of piles.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The prediction of load capacity and the control of the execution of the Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piles are often exercised with components of empiricism and intuition. This fact is often added to the uncertainties arising from the formation of the soils and the limitations of preliminary studies that support the project design. In this context, aiming to aid the executive control of CFA, a semi-empirical method is proposed based on the soil type, geometric dimensions of the piles, and the installation energy obtained during the pile excavation. The method makes it possible to determine the CFA pile load capacity during the execution process of each pile of pilling. As a consequence of the proposed method, the settlement of each pile can be controlled through the quantification of the energy required or the work carried out to excavate each pile through a specific software installed in the machinery monitoring system that increases the safety and reliability of the piling.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In Brazil, some dams have been built on sedimentary rock masses, which usually present greater deformability and permeability in comparison to metamorphic or igneous rock masses. This article describes a case study whose goal is to present and analyze the main data related to the monitoring of foundation behavior of the Dona Francisca dam, whose foundation is essentially constituted by sedimentary rocks. Dona Francisca gravity dam is a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) and was built in 2000, on the Jacuí River, in the central region of the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The analysis of the foundation behavior was done in terms of pore pressures and deformations recorded during seventeen years of dam operation. The geological and geotechnical conditions of the foundation are related to the Formação Caturrita rocks, made up mainly of sandstones and intercalated levels of siltstone and argillite. In the first five years of operation there was an intense stabilization process of the foundation rocky mass. After this period, it was verified the occurrence of stabilization at a lower rate. The deformation of the Dona Francisca HPP foundation is higher when compared with other larger dams, such as the Itaipu HPP dam. It was carried out an analysis of the 18 vibrating wire piezometers data, allowing a global assessment about the uplift water pressures behavior. Most piezometers indicated a reduction in the pore pressure values over time with a current trend of stabilization, and readings below the control values recommended in design.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This study presents case studies on the implementation of an innovative method of calculating effective driving energy with no need to account for hammer efficiency. The approach is based on measurements of set and elastic rebound, as well as a site-specific parameter (λ) calibration. The study applied this method to steel piles located in the cities of Santos (SP), Itaguaí (RJ), and Óbidos (PA), with the latter site being built in the Amazon region, near the Amazon River. Following coefficient calibration, the effective driving energy estimation technique exhibited a strong correlation with realistic and accurate energies directly obtained from dynamic loading tests. The method provides a highly accurate means of calculating effectively transferred energy to piles due to hammer blows, without relying on knowledge of the driving system performance. In that way, it can be applied to all the piles at the site (100% of them), including those that are not tested. This optimized and agile approach represents a significant breakthrough in foundation engineering and an enhance of pile foundation quality control.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The mechanical behavior of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a critical issue in environmental geotechnics, given the pollution and public health risks associated with slope failures. In Brazil, waste composition is expected to change due to the hierarchy of sustainable practices established by the National Solid Waste Policy, which aims to improve the recovery of organic and recyclable materials. Not much progress has been made since the implementation of this law; thus, its effects on the design and operation of landfills are not fully clear. This study presents and discusses compaction and shear strength parameters of dry MSW after mechanical sorting of medium and large recyclable items and shredding. The maximum dry unit weight for the standard Proctor compaction test ranged from 6.6 to 10.0 kN/m3 and the optimum moisture content ranged from 20% to 42%. Stress-displacement curves of direct shear tests showed strain hardening and shear strength parameters of Mohr-Coulomb envelopes were displacement-dependent. The friction angle ranged from 3.2° to 42.9° and the cohesion intercept ranged from 1.3 to 31.3 kPa, at a displacement of 9 mm (15% of the specimen length). These results are in line with the literature, since a high content of waste materials that proved to affect geotechnical properties, such as plastic, paper, cardboard, textile, and glass, remained after pre-treatment.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Non-destructive tests (NDT) are used to verify the length or integrity of elements embedded in soils or rocks. These elements can be piles in foundations or nails and tiebacks in retaining walls. NDTs differ by the types of waves, ways to generate and receive the signal and to analyze data. Tests using sonic wave do not require a pre-installed pipe or wire and they are based on acoustic impedance theory. Despite its dissemination on piles, the application in retaining elements is recent and requires more studies to increase knowledge about these methods. This paper aims to present studies of sonic wave methods in foundation and retaining elements, presenting results, similarities, and differences. Studies from different dates are presented with their relevance, considerations for the different types of elements tested, objectives and methodologies used, to evidence the variables involved within this solution. The sonic test in foundation is widespread and has a greater number of studies. Withing this paper, the variables that interfere in the results of these methods were observed: the velocity of propagation of the sonic wave, the soil stiffness, the location of wave generation and reception and the type of hammer used, evidencing the necessity of further studies, especially in retaining elements.