Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Numerical Investigation of Undrained Trapdoors in Three Dimensions

  • Technical Note
  • Published:
International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The stability of soil overlying the cavity is often a concern when it comes to the risk of sinkhole occurrences. Current sinkhole studies have been centred on the use of geophysical techniques to detect underground cavity sizes and associated depths. With the measured information, it is possible to theoretically predict the extent of a ground surface collapse. This paper studies the stability of trapdoors and the associated extent of ground surface failure. The shear strength reduction method is used to obtain factors of safety for various scenarios associated with the collapse of a three-dimensional trapdoor underlying undrained clay. Numerical solutions are verified by using the finite element limit analysis technique with upper and lower bound theorems and other published results. A number of practical examples are provided to demonstrate the use of design charts and tables, which can be used together with the application of geophysical tools to predict sinkhole occurrences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Broms BB, Bennermark H (1967) Stability of clay at vertical openings. J Soil Mech Found Div 93(1):71–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Mair, RJ 1979, 'Centrifuge modelling of tunnel construction in soft clay', PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge.

  3. Craig W (1990) Collapse of cohesive overburden following removal of support. Can Geotech J 27(3):355–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Abdulla WA, Goodings DJ (1996) Modeling of sinkholes in weakly cemented sand. J Geotechn Eng 122(12):998–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jacobsz, S 2016, 'Trapdoor experiments studying cavity propagation', in Proceedings of the 1st Southern African Geotechnical Conference, Durban, South Africa, 18–19 October 2016, CRC Press, pp. 159–65.

  6. Sloan S, Assadi A, Purushothaman N (1990) Undrained stability of a trapdoor. Geotechnique 40(1):45–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Yang MZ, Drumm EC (2002) Stability evaluation for the siting of municipal landfills in karst. Eng Geol 65(2):185–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Augarde CE, Lyamin AV, Sloan SW (2003) Prediction of undrained sinkhole collapse. J Geotechn Geoenviron Eng 129(3):197–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Drumm EC, Aktürk Ö, Akgün H, Tutluoğlu L (2009) Stability charts for the collapse of residual soil in karst. J Geotechn Geoenviron Eng 135(7):925–931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Keawsawasvong S, Ukritchon B (2017) Undrained stability of an active planar trapdoor in non-homogeneous clays with a linear increase of strength with depth. Comput Geotech 81:284–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Keawsawasvong, S. and Ukritchon, B. 2021, “Undrained stability of plane strain active trapdoors in anisotropic and non-homogeneous clays”, Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 107, 103628.

  12. Keawsawasvong S (2021) Limit analysis solutions for spherical cavities in sandy soils under overloading. Innov Infrastruct Solut 6:33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Keawsawasvong S, Ukritchon B (2019) Undrained stability of a spherical cavity in cohesive soils using finite element limit analysis. J Rock Mech Geotechn Eng 11(6):1274–1285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Shiau J, Hassan MM (2019) Undrained stability of active and passive trapdoors. Geotechn Res 7:1. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgere.19.00033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Shiau, J, Pather, S & Ayers, R 2006 “Developing physical models for geotechnical teaching and research’, Proc. 6th IC Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, 157–162.

  16. Shiau, J & Al-Asadi, F 2020, 'Determination of critical tunnel heading pressures using stability factors', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 119, p. 103345.

  17. Shiau J, Sams M, Lamb B (2016) Introducing advanced topics in geotechnical engineering teaching–Tunnel modelling. Int J of GEOMATE 10(1):1698–1705

    Google Scholar 

  18. Shiau J, Lamb B, Sams M (2016) The use of sinkhole models in advanced geotechnical engineering teaching. Int J GEOMATE 10(2):1718–1724

    Google Scholar 

  19. Vardoulakis I, Graf B, Gudehus G (1981) Trap-door problem with dry sand: A statical approach based upon model test kinematics. Int J Numer Anal Meth Geomech 5(1):57–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Leca E, Dormieux L (1990) Upper and lower bound solutions for the face stability of shallow circular tunnels in frictional material. Geotechnique 40(4):581–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mollon G, Dias D, Soubra A-H (2009) Face stability analysis of circular tunnels driven by a pressurized shield. J Geotechn Geoenviron Eng 136(1):215–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Subrin D, Wong H (2002) Tunnel face stability in frictional material: a new 3D failure mechanism. CR Mec 330(7):513–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ibrahim E, Soubra A-H, Mollon G, Raphael W, Dias D, Reda A (2015) Three-dimensional face stability analysis of pressurized tunnels driven in a multilayered purely frictional medium. Tunn Undergr Space Technol 49:18–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Fraldi M, Guarracino F (2009) Limit analysis of collapse mechanisms in cavities and tunnels according to the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 46(4):665–673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Yang X, Huang F (2013) Three-dimensional failure mechanism of a rectangular cavity in a Hoek-Brown rock medium. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 61:189–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Shiau J, Al-Asadi F (2018) Revisiting Broms and Bennermarks’ original stability number for tunnel headings. Geotechn Lett 8(4):310–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. OptumG3, 2018, Optum Computational Engineering, https://optumce.com/

  28. Terzaghi K (1936) Stress distribution in dry and saturated sand above a yielding trap-door. Proceedings of the International Conference of Soil Mechanic, Harvard university Press, Cambridge 1(4):307–311

    Google Scholar 

  29. Finn W (1963) Boundary values problems of soil mechanics. J Soil Mech Found Div 89(5):39–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia

    Jim Shiau & Mohammad Mirza Hassan

Authors
  1. Jim Shiau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohammad Mirza Hassan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Conceptualization: JS. Methodology: JS. Formal analysis and investigation: JS and MMH Writing—original draft preparation: JS and MMH. Writing—review and editing: JS and MMH. Resources: JS. Supervision: JS.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jim Shiau.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shiau, J., Hassan, M.M. Numerical Investigation of Undrained Trapdoors in Three Dimensions. Int. J. of Geosynth. and Ground Eng. 7, 30 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-021-00283-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-021-00283-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation