Preliminary study of a bridge abutment settlement considering spatial variability of soil properties

Abstract

Abstract The paper focuses on two-dimensional (2D) analyses of a bridge abutment based on a spatially variable soil. The analysis was carried out to evaluate the settlement of the bridgehead. The numerical model consists of a reinforced concrete support structure, embankment and natural soil. Moreover, frictional contact between the soil and the structure is assumed. As it is well known, the natural soils are spatially highly variable materials, and their mechanical and physical parameters in geotechnical designing, such as a bridge abutment, must be considered variable. Thus, the presented analyses will be devoted to determining the settlement of the structure under study, in probabilistic terms due to soil variability. To this end, Sequential Gaussian Simulation was used to describe the spatial variability of soil parameters. This approach uses geostatistical methods to produce different realizations of soil parameters. A data set of several Cone Penetration Tests (CPT) was used. Simulations were used to calculate the histogram of a bridgehead settlement and search the worst case. Abaqus program and some ad hoc scripts written in Python language were used to perform the analyses. The analysis reflects several stages of abutment’s construction. This allows for a comprehensive analysis of a bridge abutment.