EFFECTIVENESS OF TOP-SHAPED CONCRETE BLOCKS IN PREVENTING SETTLEMENT OF FOUNDATIONS IN LIQUEFIED GROUND

抄録

Shaking table tests were performed to clarify the settlement in liquefied loose sand of a new foundation incorporating top-shaped concrete blocks. In the tests, blocks of half scale were installed as they are in practice, by using a crusher-run, a lattice of iron rods and iron bars. Shaking table tests were also conducted on foundations with two differently shaped concrete blocks to investigate the effectiveness of the three foundations in reducing settlement. One was a T-shaped concrete block, or a disk-shaped concrete plate with a leg. The other was a conical concrete block without a leg. The results of shaking table tests showed that the foundation with the top-shaped concrete blocks was most effective in reducing the settlement among the three types of foundation. FEM elastic analyses were performed to compute the stress distributions in the models and in-situ ground when the top-shaped concrete blocks were applied and to confirm whether liquefaction resistance of the sand layer below the foundation is large. Moreover, the factor of safety against liquefaction, F_L was evaluated in in-situ model ground, in order to compare with sensitivities against liquefaction in the ground without countermeasures and with top-shaped concrete blocks. For the liquefaction analyses, shear stress in the ground during an earthquake was estimated by dynamic analyses using the SHAKE computer program.