Installation Effects in Geotechnical Engineering

Installation effects in geotechnical engineering contains the proceedings of the International Conference on Installation Effects in Geotechnical Engineering (Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 24-27 March 2013), the closing conference of GEO-INSTALL (FP7/2007-2013, PIAG-GA-2009-230638), an Industry-Academia Pathways and Partnerships project funded by the European Community from the 7th Framework Programme.

Infrastructure construction involves the installation of structural elements, such as piles and various ground improvement techniques for soils and rocks. The installation process itself can be quasi-static (for example jacked piles) or dynamic (vibratory methods, such as stone columns and driven piles), and generally involves very large deformations and changes in pore pressure. The fact that natural soils are complex geomaterials, exhibiting structure and rate-dependent behaviour, makes analysis of such problems yet more challenging. In particular, the influence of installation on key design parameters, such as mobilised strength at the soilstructure interface and soil stiffness, is difficult to quantify and, as yet, impossible to model. Numerical analyses using the standard Finite Element Method (FEM) are unable to produce accurate descriptions of large deformation problems due to excessive mesh distortions and novel techniques need to be developed.

Installation effects in geotechnical engineering presents the latest developments in monitoring, analysing and managing installation effects in geotechnical engineering, and covers aspects ranging from large deformation modelling to real field applications. Topics include: computational methods, constitutive modelling, installation effects, offshore constructions and foundations, soil improvement, and soil-structure interaction. The book is aimed at academics, researchers and practitioners in geotechnical engineering and geomechanics, and at practicing civil engineers.