Pressure, Resistance, and Stability of Earth American Society of Civil Engineers: Transactions, Paper No. 1174, Volume LXX, December 1910

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Title: Pressure, Resistance, and Stability of Earth

American Society of Civil Engineers: Transactions, Paper No. 1174,

Volume LXX, December 1910

Author: J. C. Meem

Release Date: October 25, 2005 [EBook #16938]

Language: English

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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

INSTITUTED 1852

TRANSACTIONS

Paper No. 1174

PRESSURE, RESISTANCE, AND STABILITY OF EARTH.[A]

By J.C. Meem, M. Am. Soc. C. E.

With discussion by Messrs. T. Kennard Thomson, Charles E. Gregory, Francis W. Perry, E.P. Goodrich, Francis L. Pruyn, Frank H. Carter, and J.C. Meem.

In the final discussion of the writer's paper, The Bracing of Trenches and Tunnels, With Practical Formulas for Earth Pressures,[B] certain minor experiments were noted in connection with the arching properties of sand. In the present paper it is proposed to take up again the question of earth pressures, but in more detail, and to note some further experiments and deductions therefrom, and also to consider the resistance and stability of earth as applied to piling and foundations, and the pressure on and buoyancy of subaqueous structures in soft ground.

In order to make this paper complete in itself, it will be necessary, in some instances, to include in substance some of the matter of the former paper, and indulgence is asked from those readers who may note this fact.

Fig. 1.

Experiment No. 1.—As the sand-box experiments described in the former paper were on a small scale, exception might be taken to them, and therefore the writer has made this experiment on a scale sufficiently large to be much more conclusive. As shown in Fig. 1, wooden abutments, 3 ft. wide, 3 ft. apart, and about 1 ft. high, were built and filled solidly with sand. Wooden walls, 3 ft. apart and 4 ft. high, were then built crossing the abutments, and solidly cleated and braced frames were placed across their ends about 2 ft. back of each abutment. A false bottom, made to slide freely up and down between the abutments, and projecting slightly beyond the walls on each side, was then blocked up snugly to the bottom edges of the sides, thus obtaining a box 3 by 4 by 7 ft., the last dimension not being important. Bolts, 44 in. long, with long threads, were run up through the false bottom and through 6 by 15 by 2-in. pine washers to nuts on the top. The box was filled with ordinary coarse sand from the trench, the sand being compacted as thoroughly as possible. The ends were tightened down on the washers, which in turn bore on the compacted sand. The blocking was then knocked out from under the false bottom, and the following was noted:

As soon as the blocking was removed the bottom settled nearly 2 in., as noted in Fig. 1, Plate XXIV, due to the initial compacting of the sand under the arching stresses. A measurement was taken from the bottom of the washers to the top of the false bottom, and it was noted as 41 in. (Fig. 1). After some three or four hours, as the arch had not been broken, it was decided to test it under greater loading, and four men were placed on it, four others standing on the haunches, as shown in Fig. 2, Plate XXIV. Under this additional loading of about 600 lb. the bottom settled 2 in. more, or nearly 4 in. in all, due to the further compression of the sand arch. About an hour after the superimposed load had been removed, the writer jostled the box with his foot sufficiently to dislodge some of the exposed sand, when the arch at once collapsed and the bottom fell to the ground.

Referring to Fig. 2, if, instead of being ordinary sand, the block comprised within the area, A U J V X, had been frozen sand, there can be no reason to suppose that it would not have sustained itself, forming a perfect arch, with all material removed below the line, V E J, in fact, the freezing process of tunneling in soft ground is based on this well-known principle.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

If, then, instead of removing the mass, J E V, it is allowed to remain and is supported from the mass above, one must concede to this mass in its normal state the same arching properties it would have had if frozen, excepting, of course, that a greater thickness of key should be allowed, to offset a greater tendency to compression in moist and dry as against frozen sand, where both are measured in a confined area.

If, in Fig. 2, E V J = φ = the angle of repose, and it be assumed that A J, the line bisecting the angle between that of repose and the perpendicular, measures at its intersection with the middle vertical (A, Fig. 2) the height which is necessary to give a sufficient thickness of key, it may be concluded that this sand arch will be self-sustaining. That is, it is assumed that the arching effect is taken up virtually within the limits of the area, A N1 V E J N A, thus relieving the structure below of the stresses due to the weight or thrust of any of the material above; and that the portion of the material below V E J is probably dead weight on any structure underneath, and when sustained from below forms a natural centering for the natural arch above. It is also probably true that the material in the areas, X N1 A and A N U, does not add to the arching strength, more especially in those materials where cohesion may not be counted on as a factor. This is borne out by the fact that, in the experiment noted, a well-defined crack developed on the surface of the sand at about the point U1, and extended apparently a considerable depth, assumed to be at N, where the haunch line is intersected by the slope line from A.

Plate XXIV, Fig. 1.—Initial Settlement in 3-Ft. Sand Arch, Due to Compression of Material on Removing Supports from Bottom.

Plate XXIV, Fig. 2.—Final Settlement of Sand Arch, Due to Compression in Excess Loading.

In this experiment the sand was good and sharp, containing some gravel, and was taken directly from the adjoining excavation. When thrown loosely in a heap, it assumed an angle of repose of about 45 degrees. It should be noted that this material when tested was not compacted as much, nor did it possess the same cohesion, as sand in its normal undisturbed condition in a bank, and for this reason it is believed that the depth of key given here is absolutely safe for all except extraordinary conditions, such as non-homogeneous material and others which may require special consideration.

Referring again to the area, A N1 V J N A, Fig. 2, it is probable that, while self-sustaining, some at least of the lower portion must derive its initial support from the centering below, and the writer has made the arbitrary assumption that the lower half of it is carried by the structure while the upper half is entirely independent of it, and, in making this assumption, he believes he is adding a factor of safety thereto. The area, then, which is assumed to be carried by an underground structure the depth of which is sufficient to allow the lines, V A and J A, to intersect below the surface, is the lower half of A N1 V E J N A, or its equivalent, A V E J A, plus the area, V E J, or A V J A, the angle, A V J, being

It is not probable that these lines of thrust or pressure transmission, A N, D K, etc., will