Experimental study of the evolution of soil arching effect under cyclic loading based on trapdoor test and particle image velocimetry

Arching effect, which is a common phenomenon in any system involving soil-structure interaction, has been found to be inevitably affected by various factors, including loading conditions. This study investigated the evolution of arching effect induced by cyclic loading by conducting a series of tests using a trapdoor apparatus. The test box was instrumented to control the displacement of the moving gate and to record the variation of vertical stress distribution by using a set of dynamic load cells. Digital images were captured during tests and processed using particle image velocimetry (PIV), to determine the displacement field and hence to examine the variation of geometric features of arch and particle movements. The evolution process of arching effect, from the initial formation to the finial collapse, was identified. Depending on the analysis for the geometry appearance, displacement region and variation of cyclic stresses, both stable and collapsed arches were observed. By increasing the amplitude of cyclic loading step by step, critical loading amplitude corresponding to the threshold of collapse of the arching effect was determined. Based on the results, the effects of trapdoor displacement, cyclic loading frequency and filling height on arching effect were discussed.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author