Geotextiles and Geomembranes 14 (1996) 111 135

O 1996 Elsevier Science Limited

Printed in Ireland. All rights reserved
0266-1144/96 $15.00
ELSEVIER S0266-1144(96)00020-9

The Development of Pore Water Pressure at the

Subgrade-Subbase Interface of a Highway
Pavement and its Effect on Pumping of Fines

Imad Alobaidi & David J. Hoare

School of Civil Engineering,The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham,
BI5 2TT, UK

ABSTRACT

The migration of fines from a subgrade soil into the overlying granular
layer of highway or railway pavements in the presence of water depends
mainly on the pore water pressures developed at the interface between
the subgrade and subbase/ballast layers. A new laboratory test was
developed which enabled the measurement of the mean and cyclic pore
water pressures at the centre of the contact area of a single subbase
particle with the subgrade soil. A finite element analysis was carried out
to estimate the pore pressure distribution under the contact area and
thus the hydraulic gradients under different interface conditions. It was
.found that the placement of a geotextile layer at the subgrade subbase
reduces the penetration of the subbase particles into the subgrade soil
and reduces the mean pore water pressure under the subbase particle.
However, the geotextile was found to allow for quick dissipation of the
cyclic pore water pressure, thereby causing erosion of the subgrade
surface and migration of fines with water across the geotextile into the
subbase layer. Dissipation of cyclic pore pressure within the time of a
loading cycle was found to increase with the increase of permeability,
decrease of thickness and increase of compressibility of the geotextile
layer. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

1 INTRODUCTION

Pumping may be defined as the migration of fines from a fine-graded

subgrade soil into the upper granular layers of highway pavements under
the action of moving traffic. It has been recognized that the migration

111
112 lmad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

(pumping) of fines from a subgrade soil into the overlying granular layers
of pavements occurs under the following conditions:
• subgrade soil with a high percentage of fines;
• subbase layers which lack fine particles (medium to fine sand);
• free water at the subgrade/subbase interface;
• cyclic loading.
A layer of sand between the subgrade and subbase/ballast layers has
been found to be effective in controlling the pumping of fines (Ayres,
1986; Snaith & Bell, 1978). Geotextiles have been incorporated into pave-
ments to control pumping with variable results. The justification of
geotextiles as a sand replacement is that they are normally cheaper, lighter
in weight, easier to install, less variable and local availability is often less
of a problem than it may be with sand.
The effectiveness of appropriate commercially available geotextiles in
preventing the penetration of subbase particles into the subgrade soil
under static conditions is beyond doubt. However, they are generally not
so effective in controlling the migration of fines from the subgrade layer
into the overlying layers of a pavement under dynamic loading conditions
(Ayres, 1986; Bell et al., 1981; Yang & Yu, 1989).
Most of the previous work into the use of geotextiles for controlling
pumping concentrated on the filtration aspects of the problem (Snaith &
Bell, 1978; Bell et al., 1982). Some research workers suggested possible
mechanisms for the occurance of pumping (Snaith & Bell, 1978; Hoare,
1982; Dawson, 1986). However, these suggested mechanisms were merely
speculations for they were not based on comprehensive experimental find-
ings.
In order for the water, which carries fines, to move across the
geotextile, there must be a hydraulic gradient. Some research workers
tried to measure the pore water pressure close to the subgrade surface
in a pumping test (Bell et al., 1982; Hoare, 1982). One of the problems
of these tests was that pumping was determined at the end of the test
by measuring the amount of fines which had passed the geotextile
during the test. This statistic was insufficient to relate the amount and/
or rate of pumping to the change in pore water pressure during a
pumping test.
The initial work by Hoare (1982) was developed further at the Univer-
sity of Birmingham and a method was found to estimate the amount of
pumping at various stages during a pumping test (Alobaidi & Hoare,
1994). Using this method, Alobaidi (1991) found that there is no relation
between the amount and/or rate of pumping and the developed pore water
pressure measured at 7 mm below the subgrade surface.
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade subbase interface 113

It was also recognized that since pumping occurs due to cyclic load-
ing, the stress state and pore water pressure changes within the time of
one loading cycle should logically be included in the resultant mechan-
isms controlling the process. Moreover, it was concluded that since
cohesive subgrades are of low permeability, the pore pressure dissipated
from the subgrade soil during the time of one loading cycle must take
place in the very thin layer adjacent to the surface (say, in the top 1 mm
layer).
It was thus decided to try to measure the pore water pressure at the
subgrade surface. A test to do this was developed (the Fundamental
Pumping Test). This enabled both static and cyclic pore water pressures to
be measured under various subgrade-subbase interface conditions.
The experimental test results were supplemented with finite element
techniques which enabled a mathematical estimate to be obtained of the
pore water pressure and hydraulic gradient under a typical subbase parti-
cle in the presence of a geotextile layer. The effects of various properties of
the geotextile (compressive stiffness, permeability and thickness) on the
development of pore water pressure were investigated.

2 LABORATORY TESTING

2.1 Materials

S u b g r a d e soil. The subgrade soil used in the laboratory test was a

local material, Keuper Marl. It is a silty clay of medium plasticity with
occasional small amounts of fine sand ( L . L . = 4 9 % , P . I . = 2 6 % ,
Gs = 2.735).

Geotextile. A typical non-woven heat-bonded thin geotextile was adop-

ted (Terram 1000). It is composed of 67% polypropylene and 33% poly-
ethylene. The following average properties are quoted by the
manufacturer: thickness = 0.7 mm, 09o = 100/~m, 05o = 70 pm.

2.2 Unit cell test

This was the test originally used to investigate the pumping problem. It
consisted of a 240mm container partially filled with subgrade soil
containing pore pressure transducers and separated from the subbase by
the geotextile layer. A detailed description of the test is given elsewhere
(Alobaidi & Hoare, 1994; Alobaidi, 1991) and is outside the scope of this
paper.
114 lmad Alohaidi, David J. Hoare

2.3 Fundamental pumping cell

This cell was developed from a 35 mm Triaxial Cell. The following modi-
fications were made to the original cell:
(i) The loading cap on top of the sample was replaced by an alumi-
nium model subbase particle as shown in Fig. 1. The main features
of this unit are as follows:
(1) A 3 2 m m diameter hemisphere to represent a round subbase
particle.
(2) A 35.5mm diameter cylindrical part which has the same
diameter as that of the sample. The ratio of the diameter of
the hemisphere to that of the cylinder is similar to the ratio
of the diameter of a subbase ball (representing a subbase
particle) to the diameter of the total area attributable to
that ball in the previously used unit cell test (Alobaidi &
Hoare, 1994).
(3) A 5 m m diameter pore pressure transducer is fitted inside
the hemispherical model particle so that its tip becomes part
of the hemisphere. This arrangement allowed the measure-
ments of the mean and cyclic pore water pressure just at the
interface without affecting the stiffness of the subgrade soil,
as would be the case with a transducer embedded in the
soil.

i;ii!iiiiii!i!!!iiiii7
Fig. I. Model subbase particle of the fundamental pumping test.
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 115

(4) A hole is formed through the wall of the cylinder in order to

connect the space surrounding the hemisphere to the atmo-
sphere, so that the free standing water at the subgrade surface
remains under atmospheric pressure during the test.
(ii) A two piece collar of 38.5 m m internal diameter was used to serve
the following functions:
(1) to hold the geotextile at its circumference so that slippage of
the geotextile was prevented;
(2) to allow the geotextile to move freely in the vertical direction;
(3) to maintain the space surrounding the model subbase particle;
(4) to act as a guide to prevent the tilting of the model subbase
particle.
The lower piece of the collar was tapered to allow for smooth
placement of the rubber membrane, while the end of the upper
piece of the collar was cut at a right angle to allow monitoring of
vertical movement by an LVDT.
(iii) An LVDT was mounted on the top cap of the triaxial cell to
measure the mean and cyclic deformation at the boundary of the
sample.
(iv) Two holes were formed in the top cap of the triaxial cell; one for
the wires of the pore water pressure transducer and the other for
the LVDT.

3 N U M E R I C A L ANALYSIS

The CRISP finite element package developed at Cambridge University

Engineering Department Soil Mechanics Group was used for the numer-
ical analysis (Britto & Gunn, 1987). The experimental investigation has
shown that the pumping of fines depends on the stress and drainage
conditions under the subbase balls and upon the unloaded zones
surrounding them. Consequently, a pumping unit may be considered to be
composed of a subbase particle, the geotextile underneath it, and the
subgrade soil beneath the geotextile extending to a depth that is no longer
effective in terms of pumping.

3.1 Geometry of the modelled system

The geometry of the system is shown in Fig. 2. In the numerical analysis,

the subbase particle was represented by a 0-5 m m layer with a very high
stiffness to ensure equal deformations underneath it. It was found in the
unit cell test that under standard test and other severe test conditions, the
116 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

S u b b a s e Pae±icte /
Geotextae

Subgrade So;I

I. 8,500 rnm.
J
Fig. 2. Geometry of the system.

diameter of ball indentations after the test was a b o u t 13mm. Conse-

quently, the diameter of the loaded area in the numerical model was
chosen to be 13 mm. The area surrounding the loaded area was calculated
to be equal to the average area surrounding a subbase ball in the unit cell
pumping test (Alobaidi & Hoare, 1994), as follows:

Ap
A, (1)

where At is the total loaded area associated with a subbase particle + the
unloaded area surrounding it, Ap is the area of the whole unit cell sample
and Nb is the number of subbase balls in the unit cell.
Although the unloaded zone surrounding the loaded area is not regular
in shape because it depends on the packing of the subbase particles, it was
simulated here as a ring surrounding the loaded area in order to make the
geometry axi-symmetric, so that it could be handled by the computer
package. The total loaded area associated with a subbase ball (at) in the
unit cell test was found to be 227 mm 2 (diameter-~ 17 mm) and this value
is used in this analysis (see Fig. 2).
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 117

The surface of a subbase ball was represented by a plane surface rather

than a spherical one. This was necessary because of the limitations of the
package. Thus, the main effect that the shape of the subbase particles
has, viz. the development of tension in the geotextile, could not be
studied.
The average geotextile thickness (Terram 1000) is about 0.7 mm, thus a
thickness of 0.5 mm was used for the analysis to account for some decrease
in thickness that might happen due to compression under normal loads
and the development of tension.
The subgrade soil thickness used was 7.5 mm. The depth of 7.5 mm was
well below the zone affected by pumping, as is apparent from the results
presented later in the paper.
The applied cyclic stress in the unit cell was 10-30 (i.e. 20 ± 10)kPa.
Although the mean applied stress has been found to have no direct
effect on the developed cyclic pore pressure (Lashine, 1973; Andersen
et al., 1980), it does affect the compression modulus of the soil and,
thus, this effect was taken into consideration when choosing the
compression modulus as described below. The stress amplitude from
the unit cell test (+10kPa) was simulated in the program by applying
only the positive portion (+10kPa), because it is this portion which
causes the positive cyclic pore pressure and consequently the pumping
of fines.
The shape of the loading cycle in the unit cell test was sinusoidal,
which represents the field case. For computer analysis, the total applied
stress was applied instantaneously (a rectangular wave). This simula-
tion gives higher pore pressures and hydraulic gradients within the
system and this should be taken into consideration when interpreting
the results.
The prediction of the developed pore water pressure in the program is
based on the assumption that the change in the pore water pressure is
equal to the change in the mean normal stress ((O" 1 + 0"2 + O'3)/3). The
change in the cyclic pore pressure is directly related to the change in the
mean stress for small cyclic strains (Lashine, 1973; Andersen et al.,
1980) and, hence, the above assumption is reasonable. For higher cyclic
strains, however, some cyclic pore pressure occurs due to dilatency
effects. This effect is not included in the program. Since the subgrade
soil used in the various laboratory tests was over-consolidated, it could
be expected that negative pore pressures would develop due to the high
cyclic strains. However, due to the free drainage surface and the exis-
tence of free water, the subgrade soil near the subgrade surface swells,
softens and consequently behaves as normally consolidated, with posi-
tive pore pressure developed as a consequence of high strain. This error
118 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

and that due to the different shape of the loading cycle are of a
compensating nature.

3.2 Material properties

The following material properties were used:

• subgrade layer: E = 1.0 x 103 kPa; # = 0.25; k = 1.5 x 10 -7 cm/s;

• geotextile layer: E = 1.0 x 103 kPa;/~ = 0.25; k = 1-5 x 10 -1 cm/s;
• subbase particle: E = 1.0 x 10 7 kPa; # = 0.25; k = 1.0 x 10 -1° cm/s.

Each layer of the system was assumed to be elastic, homogeneous

and isotropic. The elastic modulus for the subgrade soil and its
permeability were obtained from a laboratory consolidation test for a
similar stress range to that used in the unit cell tests. The compression
elastic modulus for the geotextile was obtained from ( M c G o w n et al.,
1982) for a similar stress range to that used in the unit cell tests. The
permeability of the geotextile given above represents the initial perme-
ability o f the geotextile and was obtained from the manufacturer's data
sheet. Since the permeability o f the geotextile layer decreases signifi-
cantly during a pumping test, the range of permeabilities chosen t o o k
notice of this effect. F o r the subbase layer, the modulus represents the
stiffness of one grain rather than of the subbase layer as a whole. The
permeability of this layer was chosen to be very low to simulate an
impermeable grain. A value o f zero was not chosen to avoid numerical
problems.

3.3 Description of the mesh

The finite element mesh is shown in Fig. 3. It is composed of 108 elements.

The thickness of the elements was chosen to be smaller at the top where
there are different materials with different properties. A linear strain
triangular element was adopted.

3.4 Boundary conditions

The following b o u n d a r y conditions were employed:

• horizontal movements are restricted at the sides;

• vertical movements are restricted at the bottom;
• the load is applied under undrained conditions as a first stage, then
drainage is allowed from the top.
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 119

L 17 kPu
, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, ~i, 4, 4, 4, 4,

222':2222
2222\222
2:222222
[~ .__ LI
8.500 rim.

Fig. 3. Finite e l e m e n t m e s h w i t h b o u n d a r y c o n d i t i o n s .

Equilibrium checks were carried out as suggested by Britto and Gunn

(1987) to make sure that no numerical problem had taken place during the
various runs. The program has been modified from single precision to
double precision to overcome any numerical problem that might happen
due to the very high stiffness of the modeled subbase particle, compared to
that of the geotextile and the subgrade soil.

3.5 Parameters studied

The effect of the following parameters were studied using the CRISP finite
element package:

• effect of cyclic loading;

• effect of permeability of a geotextile;
• effect of thickness of a geotextile;
• effect of compressibility of a geotextile.

The results and discussion of these effects are presented below.

120 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

4 RESULTS

4.1 Fundamental pumping tests

The main purpose of this type of test was to measure the mean and cyclic
pore water pressure at the surface o f the subgrade soil under a subbase
particle. The test results are summarized in Figs 4 - 6 and Table 1.
For the test without a geotextile (Case 1), the mean pore water pressure
increased with number o f cycles up to 200 cycles. As a result, the effective

30

25
d

~ 20 '

t.J
5

od
'i ' ,~ ~j ;6 .10

3O

25 KEY

d v cQge 1

2O o c~se 2

+ case 3

• cQse 4
L 15
G_

o 10

-5 4
' ~ ' ~ ' ~ ' l's *10
Number o f CgcLes

Fig. 4. Pore water pressure under a subbase particle.

 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 121

0.2~5

KE~Y
0.2 V ~ose 1

0 C.Ose 2

+ ~Q3~ 3

~0.151 • ~QmG 4

!
..~ 0 . t .

0.05,

4
~ ' ~ ' ; ' 1'6 oi0

Oq

-0.5

~-:L5

r'~
v
~ -2.5
t~
-3

-3.5

4
-40 ' ~ ' ,t ' ~ ' ~'6 -lo
Number of Cycles

Fig. 5. Permanent and cyclic deformations under a subbase particle.

stress decreased and a high rate o f permanent deformation took place.

After this number o f cycles, the rate of permanent deformation started to
decrease until it reached a very low level after 4000 cycles. After reaching
the peak at 200 cycles, the mean pore water pressure started to dissipate
and became almost zero by the end o f the test.
For tests with a geotextile layer (Case 2), the mean pore water pressures
were nearly zero from the start until the end o f the tests. This result indi-
cates that the geotextile acted as a filter and drain, so that the mean pore
water pressure at the subgrade surface dissipated within a short time. For
122 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

i '-0.7~$

a- --Z.~$I

7! ' i ' ~ ' ~

of CycLes
' ¢6 ~104

Fig. 6. Permanent deformation at the boundary of the loaded area.

the sample with a geotextile layer, where the pore pressure transducer tip
was embedded in the soil at a 3 m m depth below the ball (Case 4), the
maximum pore water pressure was less than that in the test without a
geotextile layer. This may indicate that the mean stress reduced due to the
geotextile layer. The permanent deformations in the tests with the geotex-
tile layer were much less than that for the test without the geotextile. This
result demonstrates the reinforcing effect of the geotextile.
Regarding the cyclic response of the system, it is worth noting that the
cyclic pore water pressure and the cyclic deformation were much smaller
for the test without a geotextile than in the tests including geotextiles. This
cyclic response seems to be in contrast to the mean response, where both
the mean pore water pressure and the permanent deformation were higher
in the test without a geotextile. An LVDT was used to measure the mean
and cyclic deformation at the boundary of the sample (outside the contact
area) for the tests with the geotextile. The results show that a considerable
amount of permanent deformation took place outside the loaded area,
whereas the cyclic deformation was negligible. This result indicates that
the mean stress under the loaded area reduced while the cyclic stress
remained almost unchanged. The considerable reduction in the mean
stress with the cyclic stress being unchanged caused a higher rate of
pumping (Alobaidi, 1991). Table 1 shows that considerable amounts of
pumping took place in tests with the geotextile compared to no pumping
in the test without a geotextile. The high permeability of the geotextile,
which allowed drainage of water within the time of one cycle, is the main
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 123

TABLE 1
Fundamental Pumping Test Results

Case 1 2 3 4

Position of transducer ~ ~, ]!.._j. ~

Water content before 28-5 29.1 28-7 28.3

test (%)
Dry density 1.53 1.52 1.53 1.54
(kg/m 3 x 1000)
Sample length (mm) 31.5 33.7 33.0 29.1
No. of cycles (x 1000) 170 170 170 170
Applied cyclic stress 10-30 10-30 10-30 10-30
(kPa)
Frequency (Hz) 2 2 2 2
SCV (gm/m2) 0 1902 1455 1767
ELT (nun) 0-00 1-25 0.95 1.15
Subgrade deformation 3.30 2-30 1.90 1.90
(mm)

Subgrade Terrain 1 0 0 0 Transducer Subbase Particle

SCV = the weight of subgrade soil Wr (grn) passing the fabric per unit area of geotextile
AI (m2).
ELT = the equivalent loss of thickness from the subgrade surface (mm) (Ah(purnp)) arising
from pumping.
Thus ELT = Wf/(A1 • Vd), where Wf is the weight of soil within and passing the geotextile
(grn), At is the loaded area (m2), and )'d is the dry density of subgrade soil (kg/m3).

cause of pumping in addition to the reinforcement mechanism, as will be

confirmed in the next section.
The curves representing the cyclic pore water pressure on top of the
geotextile and at the subgrade surface are similar in shape, although" the
pore water pressure at the subgrade surface was slightly higher. In both
cases, the cyclic pore water pressure increased with number of cycles,
peaked at 4000 cycles and then started to decrease slightly. The reduction
may have been due to the decrease in the permeability of the geotextile.
The non-occurrence of pumping in the test without the geotextile, accom-
panied by a low cyclic pore water pressure, supports this interpretation.
The cyclic pore pressure measured at 3 mm depth in the subgrade soil
was less than that at the surface. By the end of the test, the pore pressure
reached a similar value to that at the surface, but inspection of the clay
below the PWP transducer tip showed that water had leaked through the
124 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

transducer boundary which had caused the clay to soften and the pore
pressure to increase.
The variation of the mean pore water pressure with number of cycles for
the test without a geotextile was similar to that given by Hoare (1982).
Hoare's results, however, represent the pore pressure at 3 mm depth in a
geotextile system. Both results represent a state of undrained conditions
under cyclic loading, which is different from the condition just at the
surface as discussed above. It can thus be concluded that the pore pressure
measured in previous work (Bell et al., 1982; Hoare, 1982) by inserting the
transducer at some depth can not be used to study the mechanism of
pumping.

4.2 Numerical analysis

4.2.1 Effect of cyclic loading. It has been recognized by previous

research workers that pumping takes place due to cyclic loading.
However, the role of cyclic loading in causing pumping was not clear. In
this section, a trial is made to clarify this role based on the finite element
prediction of pore water pressure contours under a subbase particle at
different time intervals (Figs 7-10).
The variation of pore water pressure with depth under the centre of the
loaded area is shown in Fig. 11. Each curve in the figure refers to a certain
time interval. The T = 0.0 s curve represents the developed pore pressure
due to load application under undrained conditions. The second time
interval (0.25 s) was chosen to represent the loading time of a 2 Hz loading
cycle, to simulate laboratory test conditions. The other time intervals were
chosen to examine the effect of sustained load on the developed pore
pressure at the geotextile-subgrade interface.
It is apparent from the figure that the hydraulic gradient has its highest
value at the interface and decreases with depth until it becomes insignif-
icant at a 2 m m depth. The figure also shows that the hydraulic gradient at
the interface decreases at a significant rate with the increase in the drai-
nage time. This result implies that with static loading the hydraulic gradi-
ent becomes insignificant only after a short period of time and accordingly
no pumping would be expected. With cyclic loading, however, a high (exit)
hydraulic gradient would develop with each load application which would
cause erosion of the subgrade surface.

4.2.2 Effect of permeability of a geotextile. The effect of the perme-

ability of the geotextile layer was studied by using Kg in the range 106 Ks-
10° Ks (where Kg and Ks are the coefficients of permeability for the
geotextile and the subgrade soil, respectively). The higher value represents
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 125

~°I[ D' kP~

~ . ~ . ~ i ~ . 2 ~
[tme - 100 Second

Subsrad~ Sort i
/ i
"i I J

mm
:i I
Tl~e ' 000 Second [tme : i0000 ~)ee~ds

. . . . . . . . .

_ i 17~
---- . . . . . . . . . e

,.[ I

Time = 025 Second line = 1000000 ie:o~,d',

Fig. 7. Pore water pressure c o n t o u r s (kPa) under a subbase particle at different time
intervals (Kg = 106 Ks).

the initial permeability of the geotextile as given by the manufacturer. The

lower value represents the ultimate value which may be reached under the
condition of complete clogging of the geotextile and also the case of a
subgrade without a geotextile layer.
Figures 7-10 show the pore pressure contours for a subbase particle-
geotextile-subgrade system having different geotextile permeabilities. With a
high permeability geotextile, the pore pressure within the geotextile dissipates
within the loading time of one cycle (0.25 s) as seen in Figs 7 and 8. This
means that high permeability geotextiles would facilitate drainage from the
subgrade surface under the contact area. As the permeability of the geotextile
decreases to 102Ks, the pore pressure does not fully dissipate within the
loading time of one cycle. Any decrease in permeability will cause a restric-
tion to the flow of water and consequently reduce the rate of pumping.
Figures 12 and 13 show the variation of pore water pressure with depth
at the centre and boundary of the loaded area, respectively, for different
geotextile permeabilities. The hydraulic gradients at the boundary of the
loaded area, for systems of different geotextile permeabilities, are similar.
At the centre of the loaded area, however, the hydraulic gradient reduces
dramatically between Kg = 104Ks and Kg = 102 Ks.
The flow of water due to the hydraulic gradient under the loaded area
126 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

lo ~! I~k,,0
i
Time = 100 Second

Su~g~'ade Soit

2-

J i
mm
..i .... J
T t m e = 0 0 0 Second T~me " iO000 Secon&,

l i m e ~ 0 2 5 Second rtme = 1000000 S,3cor/ds

Fig. 8.
i! .......
Pore water pressure contours (kPa) under a subbase particle at different time
intervals (Kg = 10 4 Ks).

may be divided into two types. The first type is the upward movement of
water from the subgrade into the geotextile and the other type is the
lateral flow of water within the geotextile away from the centre of the
loaded area toward the boundary. The first type causes internal erosion of
the subgrade soil, while the second type causes external erosion.
In systems with a high permeability geotextile, the hydraulic gradient
which causes the lateral flow within the geotextile can not be seen after 0-25 s
because the excess pressure within the geotextile has dissipated within this
time (Figs 7 and 8). However, with a geotextile of lower permeability
(Kg = 102 Ks; Fig. 9), the pore water pressure contours indicate that there is
an upward movement within the subgrade soil towards the geotextile and a
lateral movement within the geotextile. Since the flow of water is not steady,
the hydraulic gradient depends on both position and drainage time.
In order to show the variation of the pore water pressure within a
geotextile of high permeability, results were obtained for the K g = 10 4 Ks
case for relatively small time intervals between 0.0 and 0.04 s. These are
presented in Fig. 14. The figure demonstrates that a maximum hydraulic
gradient within the geotextile develops just after drainage is allowed and
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 127

~°(1
k 17 kPa
Time ~ 100 Secord

. (;ut)~Ead~ 2koA --!

?? ....>

i _?i ii:; . . . . J ,/

Time 000 Second hme = lO000 Seconds

Time = 0 ?5 Second hme = 1000000 Seconds

Fig. 9. Pore water pressure contours (kPa) under a subbase particle at different time
intervals (Kg = 102 K~).

that it decreases with time. The other important point to be noticed is

that, for the different time steps shown in the figure, the hydraulic gradi-
ent is more critical near the boundary and decreases gradually towards the
centre of the loaded area.
At the beginning of drainage, the upward hydraulic gradient at the
centre of the loaded area is insignificant compared to that at the bound-
ary. The difference between the two cases becomes smaller with the
increase in drainage time and/or increase in permeability of the geotextile.

4.2.3 Effect of thickness of a geotextile. One of the conclusions from a

previous experimental research (Snaith & Bell, 1978) was that, in general,
thick geotextiles performed better than thin geotextiles in controlling
pumping. This point was investigated numerically.
When the permeability of the geotextile is equal to that of the subgrade
soil, they behave as one layer in terms of the dissipation of pore water
pressure, so that the effect of geotextile thickness can not be detected. On
the other hand, when the permeability of the geotextile is higher than that
of the subgrade soil, the pore pressure within the geotextile will dissipate
128 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

,o:~L
17 kPa
± 1 1 ± L L I. 2 ± [ TLme - l o g Second

SubQr ado SOLL

:,me - 20000 Seconds

T,m~ = 0 0 0 Second

°! -~_.

/
/
J
r~r~E - 10000C0 Seconds
Time - 0 25 S~cond

:F :7

/
/
/

Fig. 10. Pore water pressure contours (kPa) under a subbase particle at different time
intervals (Kg = Ks).

quicker and the geotextile will act as a free draining surface in the long
term. Consequently, the effect of thickness is not effective in the long term
and so this effect need only be considered for high permeability geotextiles
under short-term conditions. These conditions are the most important for
the problem under investigation where a high permeability geotextile acts
as a drainage layer under cyclic loading.
Accordingly, Kg = 104Ks was chosen. This value was expected to be
within the range experienced during an experimental pumping test.
Regarding the time steps, the maximum one was chosen so that almost
complete dissipation takes place and the minimum step was chosen to
represent the condition just after dissipation starts, in order to show the
hydraulic gradient within the geotextile layer. The geotextile thicknesses
employed were 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0mm. These values are within the practical
range of thicknesses of geotextiles used at the subgrade-subbase interface.
Figures 15-17 show the pressure distributions within the geotextile layer
for different thicknesses. The curves in each of these figures represent
different time steps. It is apparent from these figures that the maximum
pressure under the centre of the loaded area is not affected significantly by
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 129

12 1 i ~ i

v- ~ m . L

I 3 I s 8
DEPTH

Fig. 11. Variation of pore water pressure with depth under the centre of a contact area
for different time intervals.

i4

~ r . o . w4~,R
I2 &..~ • r.e-~

j 8

i i 1

DEPTH rant

Fig. 12. Variation of pore water pressure with depth under the centre of a contact area
for different Kg values.
130 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

14 / • ~ . UlO.Km

a...~_ Ka - xnla.,lr~
÷ t-,I- Ui,~r~

12

10

o!A 2
I
3
I
4
t
6
I
8

DEPTH mm.

Fig. 13. Variation of pore water pressure with depth under the boundary of a contact
area for different Kg values.

the change in thickness and that this observation is valid for different time
steps. The maximum hydraulic gradient which occurs at the boundary of
the loaded area is, however, considerably affected by the sample thickness.
This hydraulic gradient decreases significantly with the increase in
geotextile thickness and this effect is mostly effective at the smallest time
step and becomes less significant with time.
It may be concluded that thick geotextiles reduce the critical hydraulic
gradient at the boundary of the loaded area, thereby reducing the rate of
erosion and pumping. This result agrees with previous experimental find-
ings mentioned above.

4.2.4 Effect of compressibility of a geotextile. The effect of compressi-

bility of the geotextile layer was studied numerically using the following
geotextile properties:
• Kg----- 1 0 4 K s
• H g = 1.0mm
• E g = Es, 10-] Es.
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 131

L
1 7 kPa

Sul~ Pnrttde 1
Time - 0010 Second
a

Subgrode Sot[

s o 7

ftme ~ 0020 S e c o n d
Time - 0 0 0 0 Second

\ !
- C" ;

z
/
/
(

hme - 0 0 0 5 Second Time ~ 0 040 Second

Fig. 14. Pore water pressure contours (kPa) under a subbase particle at different time
intervals (Kg = 104 Ks).

The results are shown in Figs 16 and 18. The results in these figures
indicate that a 10-fold increase in the compressibility of the geotextile does
cause a considerable increase in the developed pore pressure within the
geotextile for all time steps.
Furthermore, the critical hydraulic gradient at the boundary, for all the
time steps, increases significantly when the compressibility increases.
This behaviour is understandable, since higher compressibility causes
larger amounts of water to be expelled. Because the permeability and the
cross-sectional area are constant, the hydraulic gradient for a geotextile of
high compressibility should be higher in order to let the larger amounts of
expelled water through in a certain time of loading.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The development of the pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase

interface is the main factor which contributes to the occurrence of pump-
ing. This factor was investigated experimentally and numerically. The
main findings are summarized below:
 132 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

121 . . . . . . .

i I 0 9 0 i
o~ 1 2 ~ , 5 6 7

DISTANCE ram.

Fig. 15. Variation of pore water pressure in the geotextile layer with distance from the
centre of a contact area for different time intervals (Hg = 0.5 mm).

12 c , , , ~ , i ,

• - T _
00 i 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DISTANCE r ~

Fig. 16. Variation of pore water pressure in the geotextile layer with distance from the
centre of a contact area for different time intervals (Hg = 1.0 mm).
 Pore water pressure at the subgrade-subbase interface 133

121 , '

I0 v -'7 v v v T v

8
g

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

DISTANCE m.~

Fig. 17. Variation of pore water pressure in the geotextile layer with distance from the
centre of a contact area for different time intervals (Hg = 2.0 mm).

16

10 v- v

a. 8

DISTANCE mr..

Fig. 18. Variation of pore water pressure in the geotextile layer with distance from the
centre of a contact area for different time intervals (Eg = 10 -t E~).
134 Imad Alobaidi, David J. Hoare

(11 The placement of a geotextile at the subgrade-subbase interface

reduces the penetration of subbase particles into the subgrade soil
and the upward plastic flow of subgrade soil. However, the
geotextile does not reduce the cyclic deformation and cyclic pore
pressure. By contrast, geotextiles allow for quick dissipation of the
cyclic pore pressure during the time of a loading cycle, thereby
causing erosion of the subgrade surface and an upward movement
of the eroded materials.
(2) High permeability geotextiles allow for quick dissipation of the
cyclic pore pressure within the time of a loading cycle and thus
cause more pumping.
(3) Thick geotextiles reduce the critical hydraulic gradient at the
boundary of the contact area between a subbase particle and the
subgrade soil and therefore reduce pumping.
(4) Compressible geotextiles cause higher cyclic pore pressure and
therefore cause higher pumping.

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