Simulation of the time-dependent behaviour of a test embankment on soft soil

Abstract

The now-abandoned project for the New International Airport for Mexico City was located at a site on the former Texcoco Lake, where extremely difficult subsoil conditions prevail. In this paper, we look at the behaviour of one of the trial embankments built to test foundation solutions for the runways. We use observational data gathered during 50 months at the so-called reference embankment, where no special foundation or soil improvement techniques were adopted. This paper addresses the performance of this reference embankment, which is interpreted through finite element simulations in which an elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model was implemented in a commercial software to carry out the analyses. The model incorporates key features such a time dependence, long-term deformations, and an anisotropic flow surface. Results provide an assessment of the constitutive description adopted as well as the role of anisotropy in the simulation of the case study.