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Procedia Engineering 175 (2017) 51 – 56

1st International Conference on the Material Point Method, MPM 2017

Numerical simulation of long-term peat settlement under the sand

embankment
Dmitry A. Tyurina,*, Alexander L. Nevzorova
a
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Northen Dvina emb., 17, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation

Abstract

Long-term surface settlement in the cities, which were founded in swamp lands, is a reason of road pavement, underground
pipelines, building damage. One of such cities is Arkhangelsk, which was founded on the swamp with peat thickness of 4-6
meters and even 8 meters. In such difficult geological conditions, the prediction of long-term settlements of a peat layer under an
embankment is the significant task. One of the contemporary and effective ways of its solution is numerical simulation. The
numerical simulation was performed using the software PLAXIS. The model of Soft Soil Creep was used.
The objective of this project was comparing the long-term peat settlement values by way of numerical simulation, using the
results of peat compression tests as initial data, with the data of monitoring. Thus, we can say about the model verification.
On the first step of the research input parameters Ȝ*, ȝ* were received from the laboratory tests data according to the basic
methods. After that numerical simulation of oedometer tests was done. The small disarrangement between calculated settlement-
in-time plots and the oedometer test data showed that that the SSC model gives an adequate representation of the physical
processes in the peat specimen.
On the second step, we simulated the experimental field, which settlement data has being collected more than 23 years. During
this period, peat settlement was 1.4-4 m, depending on the thickness of the sand embankment. Input parameters Ȝ*, ȝ* from the
oedometer test were used. The comparison showed the low level of convergence of the settlement-in-time plots with the field
data, so the model parameters calibration was required. The correction factors were to be added to the parameters Ȝ* and ȝ*
calculated by the results of oedometer tests.
2016The
© 2017 TheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Ltd. This
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 1 st International Conference on the Material Point Method.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 1st International Conference on the Material Point Method
Keywords: numerical simulation; peat; settlement; primary consolidation; secondary consolidation

*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: d.a.tyurin@yandex.ru

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 1st International Conference on the Material Point Method
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.01.014
52 Dmitry A. Tyurin and Alexander L. Nevzorov / Procedia Engineering 175 (2017) 51 – 56

1. Introduction

For historical reasons the city of Arkhangelsk founded in the end of XVI century was built in extremely
unfavorable geotechnical conditions of the swamp plain where the peat layer thickness was about from 4 to 6 meters
and even 8 meters. As it is impossible to remove completely the peat from such a vast area the sites for construction
were prepared and still are prepared by sand filling of 2-4 meters thick layer. The complete peat excavation was
performed only under the city mains. Due to the peat in the bedding, all buildings and underground pipelines are
built on pile foundations.
The results of monitoring indicate that peat settlement doesn’t stop for several decades after the filling of
embankment causing quite a serious problem for the city. Irregularities sometimes achieving from 20 to 30 cm arise
on road and sidewalk pavements over the pipelines and wells supported by piles (Fig.1).

Fig. 1. Some examples of deformations: (a) around a well of the drain system; (b) over a pipeline on pile foundation.

In 1992, an experimental site 190x280 m within an undrained raised bog not far from Arkhangelsk was arranged
to research the process of peat deformation [1]. The thickness of the peat layer varied from 3.8 to 6.7 m. Lacustrine-
glacial clay underlays the peat.
The ground water table initially was nearby the bog surface, but during the period of monitoring, it subsided to
0.3-0.5 m.
In 1993, a sand embankment of 0.9 to 3.7 m thickness was filled at the bog surface. The nineteen settlement
plates with steel pipes were installed at the peat surface before sand filling. At the beginning of monitoring, the
settlement was measured monthly with accuracy 5 mm and later two or three times per year with the accuracy 2 mm.
The objective of this research was comparing the long-term peat settlement values by way of numerical
simulation, using the results of peat compression tests as initial data, with the data of monitoring.

2. Laboratory test results

The peat initial properties were as follows: degree of decay 22%, density 0.95-1.05 g/cm3, specific gravity 1.47-
1.52 g/cm3, void ratio 15.7-18.6, degree of saturation 0.97-1.00 [2].
The laboratory tests for peat consolidation were carried out without using bottom porous stones so that the pore
water drainage direction was the same as for the field experiment. The test specimens were 8.7 cm in diameter and 5
cm in height. They were loaded in one step so that the total consolidation stress was equal to 12.5, 25, 50 and 100
kPa. The experiments lasted for 3-4 weeks up to the rate of deformation of 0.01 mm/day.
The numerical simulation of the laboratory tests was performed using the software PLAXIS 2D 2016.01. The
model of Soft Soil Creep (SSC) was used, because it is characterized by a correct consideration of significant soil
deformations and has a creep parameter among the initial parameters [7]. The stiffness parameters for this model are
as follows: modified compression index Ȝ*, modified swelling index ț*, modified creep index ȝ*. Strength
parameters: effective cohesionɫ, friction angle ij, dilatancy angle ȥ.
The plots of relative strain (İ) versus logarithm of pressure (ln p) and relative strain (İ) versus logarithm of time
(ln W) were built [3, 4] (Fig.2 and Fig.3).
 Dmitry A. Tyurin and Alexander L. Nevzorov / Procedia Engineering 175 (2017) 51 – 56 53

Fig. 2. Determination of Ȝ* as per oedometer test data: (a) by the moment of primary consolidation; (b) by the moment of settlement stabilization.

Fig. 3. Determination of ȝ* as per oedometer test data.

The calculated values of Ȝ* and ȝ* are shown in Table 1. It should be noted that Ȝ* values appeared to be almost
the same as for the moment of primary consolidation end as for the moment of achieving the secondary
consolidation stabilization.

Table 1. Peat stiffness values determined by oedometer tests.

Consolidation stress, kPa Ȝ* ȝ*
12.5 0.20 7.2˜10-3
25 0.20 6.7˜10-3
50 0.20 6.3˜10-3
100 0.20 4.2˜10-3

As an alternative, the following factors may be used: Cc=8.28, Cr=0.83, CĮ=0.17-0.30.

After that, the numerical simulation of the oedometer tests using virtual laboratory instruments was carried out.
The model parameters were fit by the backward analysis procedure so that the calculated settlement-time plots
would match the experimental data to the best.
In this research, the Mohr–Coulomb parameters of peat were set with constants: effective cohesion ɫ=10 kPa and
friction angle ij=16° [5, 6]. As the specimen unloading wasn’t considered, the impact of the parameters related to
this mechanism was considered to be negligible, accepting in accordance with the PLAXIS user manual [3]: the
modified swelling index ț* equal to Ȝ*/5 and the Poisson's ratio for unloading-reloading equal to Ȟur – 0.15.
Table 2 shows the results of numerical simulation.
54 Dmitry A. Tyurin and Alexander L. Nevzorov / Procedia Engineering 175 (2017) 51 – 56

Table 2. Parameters of the peat stiffness calculated by the virtual laboratory.

Consolidation stress, kPa Ȝ* ȝ*
12.5 0.25 6.7˜10-3
25 0.25 6.1˜10-3
50 0.25 7.3˜10-3
100 0.25 6.4˜10-3

As it is seen from Table 2, the values of the factors Ȝ* and ȝ* calculated by the virtual laboratory are quite close
to the data shown in Table 1 making to conclude that the SSC model gives an adequate representation of the physical
processes in the peat specimen.

3. In-situ monitoring results

The in-situ monitoring showed that in the first year after loading the settlement increased most intensively. Then
its rate became slower and five years later, it was equal to 40-100 mm/year. Ten years later, it decreased up to 15-30
mm/year and by 2015 it reached 5-10 mm/year.
It should be noted that the load on peat gradually reduced because of embankment submerging below the ground
water table. In the presented calculations, the embankment loads were accepted as per finite value considering the
submerged unit weight of sand. The pore water was drained only through the top boundary of peat.
The values Ȝ* and ȝ* are obtained by building the plots İ = f(ln p) and İ = f(ln W) (Fig.4 and Fig.5) and they are
shown in Table 3.

Fig. 4. Determination of Ȝ* by in-situ monitoring: (a) by the moment of primary consolidation end; (b) by the moment of the last measuring.
 Dmitry A. Tyurin and Alexander L. Nevzorov / Procedia Engineering 175 (2017) 51 – 56 55

Fig. 5. Determination of ȝ* by in-situ monitoring data.

Table 3. Peat stiffness values determined by long-term field monitoring.

Consolidation stress, kPa Ȝ* ȝ*
9.9 0.29 25.4˜10-3
18.7 0.29 31.4˜10-3
26.4 0.29 43.1˜10-3
40.7 0.29 50.3˜10-3

As an alternative, the following factors may be used: Cc=12, Cr=1.5, CĮ=1.04…2.07.

Comparing the data shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3, we may see that the factor Ȝ* for peat changes from 0.20 to 0.29
depending on the method for its determination. The deviations in the values of the factor ȝ* are more significant– up
to 10 times, and by the field test data, as opposed to the oedometer tests, the modified creep factor ȝ* is a variable
value and it increases with the peat load increase.
The numerical simulation of long-term peat deformations under the embankment was performed using the SSC
model in axisymmetric system. More than 1000 15-node triangle finite elements were used. The boundary
conditions were as follows: top – free, bottom – fully fixed, right border - horizontally fixed, vertically – free. Water
level coincided with the peat surface. More than 1000 15-node triangle finite elements were used.
The procedure for processing the monitoring results to get the input data as well as the assumed values of c, ij,
ț*, Ȟur were taken the same as for the laboratory tests. Over consolidation ratio (OCR) was taken to be 1.02…1.04
[8].
The numerical simulation of the peat settlement under the embankment using the SSC model with stiffness
values form Tables 1 and 2 revealed significant discrepancies between settlement-in-time curves and the monitoring
results. As the model was verified by processing oedometer test data in the virtual laboratory, the specified
discrepancies are caused not by the model errors but by the physical phenomena taking place in the peat layer for 23
years.
The final step was correction of the model Ȝ* and ȝ* parameters up to the complete convergence of the calculated
settlement-in-time curves with the monitoring data. The results are shown in Table 4 and in Fig. 6.

Table 4. Model parameters determined by oedometer tests and by numerical simulation of peat layer under embankment.
Consolidation stress, kPa Ȝ*oed Ȝ*sim Ȝ*sim/ Ȝ*oed ȝ*oed ȝ*sim ȝ*sim/ ȝ*oed
9.9 0.20 0.06 0.30 7.2˜10-3 25.4˜10-3 3.53
18.7 0.20 0.10 0.50 6.7˜10-3 37.1˜10-3 5.54
26.4 0.20 0.13 0.65 6.3˜10-3 60.2˜10-3 9.56
40.7 0.20 0.25 1.25 4.2˜10-3 104.8˜10-3 24.95
56 Dmitry A. Tyurin and Alexander L. Nevzorov / Procedia Engineering 175 (2017) 51 – 56

Fig. 6. Dependences of model parameter values.

4. Conclusions

x The virtual laboratory software PLAXIS may be well applied for simulation of peat oedometer tests.
x There is a strong correlation between modified creep index ȝ* and consolidation stress in-situ monitoring
results.
x When performing numerical simulation for peat using the Soft Soil Creep model, correction factors are to be
added to the parameters Ȝ* and ȝ* calculated by the results of oedometer tests.
x The correction factor for Ȝ* is a linear function of consolidation stress, and the correction factor for ȝ* is
exponential function of consolidation stress.
x The cause of the discrepancy between the parameters ȝ* and Ȝ* calculated by the results of oedometer tests and
in-situ monitoring should become the subject for studying the long-term processes taking place in the peat.

References

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University of Incheon, Republic of Korea (2013) 403-406.
[2] A.L. Nevzorov, A.V. Nikitin, A.V. Zaruchevnih, Gorod na bolote, NArFU, Arkhangelsk, 2012
[3] R.B.J. Brinkgreve, PLAXIS 2D Manual, Delft, 2016.
[4] R.W. Day, Foundation engineering handbook. Design and Construction with the 2009 International Building Code, second ed., The McGraw-
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[5] Jon W. Koloski, Sigmund D. Schwarz, And Donald W. Tubbs, Geotechnical properties of geologic materials, Engineering Geology in
Washington, Volume 1, Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Bulletin 78, 1989
[6] Haider Al-Ani, Erwin Oh, Engineering properties of peat in estuarine environment, Foundation and Soft Ground Engineering Conference Thu
Dau Mot University ICTDMU-1, Binh Duong, June 5 –6, 2013
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[8] C. Zwanenburg, and R.J. Jardine, Laboratory, in situ and full-scale load tests to assess flood embankment stability on peat, Géotechnique,
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