Response of sand model under lateral dynamic loading

• Main Author: Tan, Zhi Qian.
• Other Authors: Budi Wibawa
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39666
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore, a multi-trade hub around the region with a land space of around 710.2km2 with a population density of 6814 people per square kilometer, is ranked the 3rd around the world. The country is built mainly on reclaimed land and is located about 400km away from a highly active earthquake belt, the Sumatra fault and subduction zone, where some of the greatest earthquakes have occurred in the past. Any major earthquakes around this region may thus, affect the nation causing economic losses. The impact of earthquake is dependent on a variety of parameters such as the soil properties and the distance from the focus to the epicenter. This project aims to find out how the various soil parameters react under various dynamic loadings. Soil specimens are collected from three reclaimed land locations – Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, Ford Road and Marine Parade. Each of the three specimens shall be tested under three different impact cases - 24mm/s2, 35mm/s2 and 60mm/s2 (Kusnowidjaja and Pan, 2002). The specimen for Marine Parade shall also be tested using two different heights (half-height, full-height) and two different densities (loose, compact) to investigate which type of soil parameters are most vulnerable to earthquake impacts. The results for observations shall be compiled and compared. The data shall also be converted into velocity-time graphs and displacement-time graphs by integration. The influence of various boundaries and densities of the sand model on its dynamic response under the horizontal impact loading will be the results of the sand model tested. The acceleration in the full-height, highest density sand has the highest peak acceleration. The initial acceleration detected at the impact point amplifies upwards to find a ‘release’ at the surface for the sand sample. This is a common observation throughout as the highest peak acceleration can be detected by the sensor located near the sand surface. The acceleration induced is translated into displacement which is more noticeable as extreme impact causes the sand near the surface to move.