Two-Dimensional Soil-Arching Behavior under Static and Cyclic Loading

Abstract

To investigate soil-arching behavior under localized loading, trapdoor tests were conducted in this study with a model ground subjected to repetitive static and cyclic loads considering the influence of loading magnitude, loading frequency, loading width, and fill height. An analogical soil of aluminum rods was used as the fill material in a test box to create a two-dimensional condition. During the trapdoor tests, the particle image velocimetry technique was employed to analyze the deformation patterns of the fill. Four trapdoor tests with four different fill heights under fill self-weight were conducted as baseline cases for comparisons with the previous studies in the literature and the trapdoor tests under surface loading in this study. The theoretical solutions in the literature were used to calculate the soil-arching ratios for comparison with those from the trapdoor tests. The test results indicate that the application of surface loading caused degradation of soil arching, and cyclic loading had more effect on this degradation. A thicker fill section had more resistance to surface loading in the degradation of soil arching. The degradation of soil arching caused by surface loading increased with an increase in the loading magnitude and loading frequency and a decrease in the loading width.