Factors Influencing Immediate Settlements in Central Florida Soils Using Conical Load Tests

摘要

Calculation of immediate settlement plays a very important role in the design of foundations and geostructures when they are supported in granular soils. Soil strength and stiffness mechanisms associated with immediate settlements can be studied via full-scale load tests following Schmertmann (1993) conical load test method, which has been proven successful and practical to study settlements in granular soil deposits. The test consists of constructing a conical mound of granular fill placed at its angle of repose to create an approximate 12.3 m diameter 4.2 meter-high cone. This paper presents first the site characterization of a site near the University of Central Florida campus mainly in terms of CPTs, SPTs, and DMTs. These tests were used to calibrate constitutive soil model parameters for finite element models intended to recreate the conical load sequence. Numerical simulations using hardening soil and hardening soil enhanced with small strains constitutive models were developed to simulate the loading sequence of a Schmertmann conical load test and draw conclusions regarding the variables involved in the problem: stiffness and construction sequence of the conical loading, stage construction sequence of loading, relative density and stiffness of supporting granular soils, and horizontal influence zones.