Effects of tension crack on stability of bentonite-water slurry trenches in clay. Issue 7 (6th June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Fei; Dai, Guangyu; Gao, Yufeng; Bian, Jie
• Is Part Of: European journal of environmental and civil engineering. Volume 24:Issue 7(2020)
• Page Start: 965
• Page End: 978
• Publication Date: 2020-06-06
• Subjects: Slurry trench -- limit equilibrium -- variational analysis -- tension crack -- analytical solution; Sustainable engineering -- Periodicals; Civil engineering -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; 628
• DOI: 10.1080/19648189.2018.1437776
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1964-8189

Abstract

Abstract: Bentonite-water slurry trenches are utilised not only in underground excavations, but also in geo-environmental protections. Slurry trench can be used to prevent leaks and spills of the contaminant from landfills. This paper presented a procedure for evaluation of the impact of possible tension crack on stability of slurry trench in clay. The procedure is based on variational limiting equilibrium approach to slope stability. A straight extension was made to assess the safety of slurry trenches with cracks. Closed-form solutions were derived for the factor of safety and the potential crack depth for undrained total stress and drained effective stress conditions. Using normalisation presented the derived results in the form of stability chart. These charts provide a convenient tool for selection of the preliminary parameters for the slurry trench and determination of the potential crack depth. The results demonstrate the overestimation on the stability of slurry trenches when neglecting the tension crack, especially for undrained conditions. As the groundwater level increases or slurry level decreases, the depth of tension crack increases. To avoid the water-filled crack occurred, the groundwater level is suggested to be decreased by 10% of the trench depth below the ground surface.