TY - JOUR
T1 - Physical Model Tests of Half-Scale Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Bridge Abutments. II
T2 - Dynamic Loading
AU - Zheng, Yewei
AU - McCartney, John S.
AU - Shing, P. Benson
AU - Fox, Patrick J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support for this study provided by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Project 65A0556 with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Pooled Fund Project
Funding Information:
1892AEA is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Charles Sikorsky and Kathryn Griswell of Caltrans for their support and assistance with the project. The first author gratefully acknowledges a GSI Fellowship provided by the Geosynthetic Institute. The authors also thank the staff and undergraduate research assistants at the UCSD Powell Structural Laboratories for their help with the experimental work. The geogrid used in this study was provided by the Tensar International Corporation, Inc.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - This paper presents experimental results from shaking table tests on four half-scale geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutment specimens constructed using well-graded angular backfill sand, modular facing blocks, and uniaxial geogrid reinforcement to investigate the effects of applied surcharge stress, reinforcement vertical spacing, and reinforcement tensile stiffness for dynamic loading conditions. Similitude relationships for shaking table tests in a 1g gravitational field were used to scale the specimen geometry, applied surcharge stress, soil modulus, reinforcement tensile stiffness, and characteristics of the earthquake motions. Reinforcement vertical spacing and reinforcement tensile stiffness had the most significant effects on the maximum dynamic and residual wall facing displacements and bridge seat settlements. Acceleration amplification increased with elevation in the reinforced and retained soil zones. Residual vertical and lateral soil stresses were lower than the calculated values for static loading conditions. The maximum tensile strain in each reinforcement layer occurred near the facing block connection for lower layers and under the bridge seat for higher layers. The vertical seismic joint between the bridge beam and bridge seat closed during the Northridge motion, resulting in contact force. A companion paper presents experimental results for the same GRS bridge abutment specimens under static loading conditions.
AB - This paper presents experimental results from shaking table tests on four half-scale geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutment specimens constructed using well-graded angular backfill sand, modular facing blocks, and uniaxial geogrid reinforcement to investigate the effects of applied surcharge stress, reinforcement vertical spacing, and reinforcement tensile stiffness for dynamic loading conditions. Similitude relationships for shaking table tests in a 1g gravitational field were used to scale the specimen geometry, applied surcharge stress, soil modulus, reinforcement tensile stiffness, and characteristics of the earthquake motions. Reinforcement vertical spacing and reinforcement tensile stiffness had the most significant effects on the maximum dynamic and residual wall facing displacements and bridge seat settlements. Acceleration amplification increased with elevation in the reinforced and retained soil zones. Residual vertical and lateral soil stresses were lower than the calculated values for static loading conditions. The maximum tensile strain in each reinforcement layer occurred near the facing block connection for lower layers and under the bridge seat for higher layers. The vertical seismic joint between the bridge beam and bridge seat closed during the Northridge motion, resulting in contact force. A companion paper presents experimental results for the same GRS bridge abutment specimens under static loading conditions.
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U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002158
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002158
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071342036
VL - 145
JO - ASCE J Soil Mech Found Div
JF - ASCE J Soil Mech Found Div
SN - 1090-0241
IS - 11
M1 - 04019095
ER -