Faculty Publications
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Item A model study on accelerated consolidation of coir reinforced laterite and blended shedi soil with vertical sand drains for pavement foundations(2012) George, V.; Santosh, G.; Hegde, R.N.; Durga Prashanth, L.; Gotamey, D.; Ravi Sankar, A.U.Sub-grade soils of lateritic origin are frequently encountered in the construction of highway embankments in various regions of India, often comprise intrusions of soft lithomargic soils that result in large settlements during constructions, and differential settlements at later stages. This necessitates the use of appropriate soil improvement techniques to improve the load-carrying capacity of pavements. Coir is a natural fiber that can be used in place of geosynthetics and geogrids, and it is biodegradable and environment friendly. This work deals with the accelerated consolidation of un-reinforced and coir-reinforced laterite and blended lithomargic soils, provided with three vertical sand drains. The load-settlement characteristics were studied for various preloads ranging from 50kg (0.0013 N/mm2) to 500kg (0.013N/mm2) using circular ferro-cement moulds. It was observed that at lower preloads up to 300kg, the relative increase in consolidation (Cr) for randomly reinforced soil with vertical drains was significantly higher than that of un-reinforced soil without vertical drains. Also, the Cr for un-reinforced soil with vertical drains was quite higher than that of un-reinforced soil without vertical drains, with values above 38.71%. However, in the case of higher preloads of 450kg and 500kg, the Cr for randomly reinforced soil with vertical drains was insignificant, and the Cr for un-reinforced soil with vertical drains remained slightly higher at around 9.59% for similar comparisons. The aspect-ratio of coir fibers used was 1: 275. © 2012 Cafet-Innova Technical Society. All rights reserved.Item Effects of prestressing the reinforcement on the behavior of reinforced granular beds overlying weak soil(Elsevier Ltd, 2014) Shivashankar, R.; Jayamohan, J.The effects of prestressing the reinforcement on the strength improvement and settlement reduction of a reinforced granular bed overlying weak soil are being investigated through a series of laboratory scale bearing capacity tests. The influences of parameters such as strength of underlying weak soil, thickness of granular bed, magnitude of prestressing force, direction of prestressing forces and number of layers of reinforcement are being examined. Finite element analyses are carried out using the FE program PLAXIS to study the effect of prestressing the reinforcement. Results obtained from finite element analyses are found to be in reasonably good agreement with the experimental results. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.Item Numerical study of basal reinforced embankments supported on floating/end bearing piles considering pile-soil interaction(Elsevier Ltd, 2015) Bhasi, A.; Rajagopal, K.Construction sites consisting of soft soils may require ground improvement to prevent excessive settlements or bearing capacity type failures and shear movements, which results in construction delays and premature failures. Among the various ground improvement techniques, the Geosynthetic Reinforced Piled Embankment Systems (GRPES) provide a practical and efficient solution due to the low cost and short construction times. Most of the piled embankments are constructed on end bearing piles. At large depths of foundation soil, floating piles are more economical and technically feasible than the end bearing piles. The design of floating piles involves complex soil-structure interaction and there are no clear uniform guidelines available for the design of embankments supported on floating piles. This paper presents the results of numerical investigation into the performance of geosynthetic reinforced embankments supported on end bearing as well as floating piles considering the pile-soil and geosynthetic-soil interaction. 3-D Column models are employed to carry out the parametric studies on factors such as the development of arching, skin friction distribution along the pile length and axial force distribution. Full three-dimensional analyses are carried out to study the overall behavior of the GRPES system and the results obtained from the analyses were compared with those from British Standard BS8006-2010. The results indicated that the use of floating piles could considerably reduce the settlements and the embankment load transferred through the piles to the foundation soil is found to depend very much on the length of the piles. This aspect needs to be accounted for while calculating the arching factor in the empirical equations. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.Item Three dimensional analyses of geocell reinforced encased stone column supported embankments on lithomargic clay(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2023) Vibhoosha, M.P.; Bhasi, A.; Nayak, S.Geocells are a superior form of reinforcement due to their cost-effectiveness and three-dimensional confining properties. However, numerical modeling of geocell is always challenging due to its three-dimensional honeycomb structure. The limitations of the equivalent composite approach (ECA) led to the recent development of full 3D numerical models, which consider geocell-infill material interaction. This paper discusses the time-dependent performance of geocell-reinforced encased stone column-supported embankment considering the actual 3D nature of geocells using the finite element program ABAQUS. Parametric studies were carried out to study the stress transfer mechanism, vertical deformation of the foundation soil, and stress-strain variation inside the geocell pockets. It is found from the analyses that with the provision of a geocell layer on top of Geosynthetic Encased Stone Columns (GESC), the stress concentration ratio improved by 47% at the end of consolidation compared to GESC alone. Also, an 80% reduction in foundation surface settlement is observed with geocell-sand mattresses. The geocell-sand mattress decreased the bulging of the stone columns, and almost 80% of the stone column bulging occurred by the end of the embankment construction. The proposed model’s numerical results show that the equivalent composite approach overestimated the stress concentration ratio and bearing capacity. The tensile stresses are non-uniformly distributed in the geocell pockets, and the maximum tensile force was mobilised at the geocell mid-height. Among the various geocell infill materials analysed, the aggregates were best suited considering the stress concentration ratio and vertical settlement. The numerical results supported the idea that encased stone columns with geocells at the embankment base can perform similarly to a geosynthetic reinforced piled embankment system, which is costlier but very efficient. When the modular ratio is more than 40, geocell-reinforced encased stone column-supported embankment is similar to GRPES. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Item Geosynthetic reinforced rubble mound breakwater for mitigation of tsunami-induced damage(Elsevier Ltd, 2024) Sajan, M.; Chaudhary, B.; Akarsh, P.K.; Kumar, S.Several rubble mound breakwaters (RMB) were damaged and even collapsed during the past tsunamis. The main reasons for the failure of the breakwaters occurred due to the combined effects of seepage and scouring. Limited articles are available dealing with the behaviour of RMB during the tsunami. Furthermore, few available articles are related to developing countermeasures for the RMB against tsunamis. Therefore, an attempt has been made in the study to determine the exact behaviour of the RMB under the action of the tsunami. In addition, the main aim of the present study is to develop countermeasures to make the breakwater tsunami resilient. The present study proposes a novel geosynthetics-reinforced RMB to mitigate tsunami-induced breakwater damage. Based on the available information, this is the first time geosynthetics have been used in the RMB to mitigate tsunami-induced damage. Geogrid layers, geobags, sheet piles and crown walls (with shear keys) are adopted as countermeasure elements against the tsunami. Since the height of a tsunami can exceed its design tsunami height, tsunami waves were allowed to overflow the breakwater in physical model tests. Comparative analyses between the reinforced and unreinforced RMB were performed by conducting physical model tests, analytical tools, and numerical simulations. © 2023 Elsevier LtdItem Performance Assessment of Geosynthetic Reinforced Quay Walls under Concurrent Tsunami and Earthquake Aftershocks(American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2025) Sajan, M.K.; Sah, B.; Chaudhary, B.; Akarsh, P.K.Coastal structures are built against the dynamic loadings from waves, tides, and storms. However, natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis can impart additional loadings on these structures that might exceed their design specifications. In the past, several earthquakes and tsunamis had resulted in severe damages even on coastal structures engineered to withstand tsunamis. It is reasonable to suggest that the tsunami waves succeeding the earthquake had impacted the coastal structures along with an aftershock, imparting the most critical loading conditions. However, limited studies are available, evaluating the performance of coastal structures when subjected to the combined loading conditions. Among various coastal structures, quay walls stand out due to their distinctive loading patterns, concurrently sustaining vertical live loads, active pressure from retained backfill, and dynamic wave forces from the sea. Therefore, the present study paper puts forth a comprehensive analysis of geosynthetic reinforced quays under the influence of a tsunami withdrawal and an earthquake aftershock. Since the magnitudes of seaward-directed loads during tsunami drawdown are unknown and difficult to assess practically, this study assumes a worst-case loading condition to represent these effects. The analytical approach adopted employs the horizontal slice method, encompassing the influence of outboard seawater, backfill submergence, tsunami impact, and pseudo-static earthquake loads. Results indicate that combined loading conditions substantially increase reinforcement forces, reducing the internal stability of quay walls. Critical parameters influencing stability include the shear strength of backfill soil, quay wall inclination, and surcharge loads. © 2025 American Society of Civil Engineers.