Research on bearing behaviour of buried double corrugated steel culvert with high fill considering spacing effect

Abstract

In this study, field tests and numerical simulations are combined to investigate the earth pressure distribution and deformation characteristics of double corrugated steel culvert (DCSC) with different culvert spacings. The results show that with an increase in the horizontal earth pressure caused by the horizontal squeezing of the DCSC, the constraint effect on the culvert enhances. Comparing with the single corrugated steel culvert (SCSC), the bearing capacity of the DCSC is greatly improved. In addition, deformation calculation models of the SCSC and DCSC are established to investigate the deformation characteristics. Based on the Winkler’s foundation model, the relationship between the deformation and passive deformation resistances on the left and right sides of a culvert is established. Introducing critical culvert spacing Lcr, the influence of the culvert spacing on the deformation characteristics of the DCSC is revealed. Further, the relationship between Lcr and culvert radius R is derived. By analysing correlations between culvert deformation and the influencing factors, i.e., height of fill, compressive stiffness of fill and culvert spacing, the deformation calculation models of the SCSC and DCSC proposed in this study are verified.

Keywords

• Double corrugated steel culvert
• Critical culvert spacing
• Bearing mechanism
• Earth pressure distribution
• Stress and deformation characteristics