Browsing by Author "Wilson, Glenn V."

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Citation Count: 11
Application of fibrous streambank protection against groundwater seepage erosion
(Elsevier Science Bv, 2018) Akay, Onur; Ozer, A. Tolga; Fox, Garey A.; Wilson, Glenn V.
Groundwater flow is one of the main driving factors in the erosion of streambanks, particularly during return flow of bank storage as sediment particles on the bank face may be entrapped or liquefied by seepage flow into the stream, and when acting in concert with fluvial forces. Previous research has mainly focused on seepage erosion mechanisms, whereas in this study, a remedial solution using randomly distributed 6-mm-long polypropylene fibers mimicking the behavior of plant roots in slopes was investigated by laboratory physical streambank model experiments. Reduced-scale sandy (14 kN/m(3) unit weight) streambank models (45 degrees bank slope) with dimensions of 195 cm long, 100 cm wide and 110 cm high were constructed in an erosion flume. Two different seepage gradients were generated within the streambanks by maintaining piezometric heads of 50 cm H2O and 100 cm-H2O in the upstream section of the erosion flume during experiments. Models were equipped with vibrating wire piezometers to measure the pore-water pressures within the streambank. In addition, tensiometers measured pore-water pressures near the wall section. Erosion of sediment from the streambank initiated concurrently as seepage flow emerged on the bare streambank surface. Erosion volumes were computed by three-dimensional laser scanning. Triaxial compression tests on sand samples (fiber gravimetric content ranged from 0% to 1.0%) indicated an increase in cohesion by fiber content. Fibrous streambank protection with 0.3% fiber content inclusion reduced the total amount of seepage erosion by 35%, and 47% under 50-, and 100 cm-H2O piezometric head boundary condition (BC), respectively. Seepage erosion rate and seepage discharge demonstrated a power-law relationship. Due to the increased cohesion, fibrous streambank protection with 1.0% fiber content effectively prevented seepage erosion during streambank experiments under the same BCs.
Citation Count: 7
Behavior of Fiber-Reinforced Sandy Slopes under Seepage
(Amer Soc Civil Engineers, 2016) Akay, Onur; Ozer, A. Tolga; Fox, Garey A.; Wilson, Glenn V.
Seepage flow is a major contributor to instability of natural hill slopes, river banks and engineered embankments. In order to increase the factor of safety, an emerging technology involves the inclusion of synthetic fibers in the soil. The addition of tension resisting fibers has a favorable effect on strength properties of sandy soils. In this study, laboratory lysimeter experiments were conducted on fiber reinforced slopes with two different values of constant pressure head boundary condition (25 and 50 cm) in the water reservoir. Fiber reinforced sand was compacted in the soil compartment of the lysimeter to obtain a slope with dimensions of 55 cm height, 20 cm width, and 100 cm base length. The gravimetric fiber content (percentage of dry weight of sand) was selected as 1% after reviewing the results of comprehensive triaxial compression tests on fiber reinforced sand specimens with varying fibrillated polypropylene fiber (12 mm long) contents from 0.1 to 1%. This study included slope stability modeling in order to quantify the global factor of safety. The triaxial compression tests indicated the increase in peak deviatoric stress with increase in fiber content. The fiber reinforced sand slope was stable against seepage conditions which would otherwise cause a shallow-seated failure of the nonremediated slope under 25 cm water pressure head. In addition, fiber reinforced sand slope maintained its global stability under 50 cm water pressure head which caused a deep-seated failure of the unreinforced slope. However, sloughing at the toe occurred under 50 and 55 cm water pressure head.
Citation Count: 6
Fiber Reinforced Sandy Slopes under Groundwater Return Flow
(Asce-amer Soc Civil Engineers, 2018) Akay, Onur; Ozer, A. Tolga; Fox, Garey A.; Wilson, Glenn V.
The instability of earthen embankments caused by subsurface flow draining out of the banks has been a major concern. In an effort to prevent embankment failures, tension resisting synthetic fibers may be an effective additive to increase their mechanical properties such that drainage does not cause failure. In this study, triaxial compression tests measured the increase in peak deviatoric stress with increase in fiber content and length. In addition, laboratory lysimeter experiments (total of eight experiments) were conducted on sandy slopes reinforced with polypropylene (PP) fiber using two different fiber lengths (6 and 12mm) and gravimetric fiber contents (0.3 and 1.0%) under two different constant piezometric head boundary conditions (25 and 50cm) maintained in the water reservoir of the lysimeter. Fiber-reinforced sand was compacted in the lysimeter to obtain a 45 degrees slope with dimensions of 55cm height, 20cm width, and 100cm base length. The only experiment that experienced seepage erosion by particle mobilization under 25-cm water pressure head boundary condition was the sand slope reinforced with fiber length and content of 6mm and 0.3%, respectively. The increase in the water pressure head boundary condition to 50cm resulted in small-scale sapping of slopes reinforced with 0.3% fiber content, independent of the fiber length. For slopes reinforced with 1.0% fiber content, sapping did not occur, only erosion of sand particles caused by seepage was observed. A slope stability analysis reflected the favorable effect of fiber inclusion, as the increased effective cohesion increased the factor of safety of slopes.