68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF WAVE PROPAGATION ALONG A SOIL NAIL

Session: Physical and Numerical Modelling / Modélisation physique et numérique

Jinyuan Liu, Ryerson University (Canada)
Xiaoyang Rong, Northwestern University (China)
Peiyuan Lin, Ryerson University (Canada)

This paper presents a numerical simulation of wave propagation along a soil nail in order to develop a non-destructive testing (NDT) technique for quality control of soil nail walls. Soil nailing is a popular retention system where nails are encapsulated in grouted drillholes and contribute to the stability when the reinforced soil mass moves. Due to the fact that many defects could occur, the quality control of soil nail construction is very critical to ensure the safe performance of soil nailed structures. Currently, there are only destructive pullout tests available. This research is to address the need for an efficient and reliable NDT technique for soil nails. This research uses the ?nite element method (FEM) to study the complex wave propagation along a nail and the influences of various factors, including a radius of a grouted nail, material properties, and necking defects. The findings of this study demonstrate that the guided wave NDT technique is a very promising technique and can be used to detect defects and their locations in a soil nail.