CREEP

Creep of Geomaterials

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Slow time-dependent movements caused by creep of natural geomaterials affect the performance of infrastructure and cause high maintenance and repair costs, and the partial closures of infrastructure networks during the repair work have significant economic and social impact. Although the phenomenon of creep is well-known for being a major design issue, there is currently no accepted consensus on the best way to model creep. Reliable calculation tools are either missing or - due to their scientific nature - out of reach for the engineer in charge. If as a consequence creep is underestimated in design, structures will possibly be damaged so that they will not reach their design life. On the other hand, if creep is overestimated, unnecessary countermeasures such as soil improvement, deep foundations, or additional structural reinforcement will take up additional resources. For sustainable building processes it is therefore imperative to adequately incorporate creep behaviour in analyses and design. The research topic of this Marie Curie action is creep behaviour of geomaterials and its incorporation in geotechnical design; the project aims at establishing a consensus in creep modelling. The project shall supply tools and knowledge needed in creep analysis. Past research in the field of creep behaviour of soils has concentrated mainly on soft silts and clays. Different theoretical frameworks and numerical models were proposed. Yet, creep is likewise observed in geomaterials such as peat, sand, rock fills, and warm permafrost. Key questions formulated by industry and academia are therefore: Can existing creep concepts be adopted equally for those materials? Can different creep concepts be unified? Of the alternatives proposed, which work best at both element level and real geotechnical problem level? This project intends to answer these questions by combining the practical experience gathered by industry with the theoretical concepts worked out by academia.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU-funded initiative will supply the tools and knowledge needed in creep analysis of geomaterials and build links between industry and academia.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Gradual deformation of solid materials under the influence of stress is known as creep. Creep in construction materials of geological origin (geomaterials) can affect the performance of infrastructure. The results are high maintenance and repair costs and the partial closure of infrastructure during repair work, with associated economic and social impacts.

The http://www.ntnu.edu/creep (CREEP) (Creep of geomaterials) project is investigating creep behaviour of geomaterials and integrating the results into geotechnical design. The aim is to establish a consensus for creep modelling and develop new design tools.

Past research in the field of creep behaviour in soils has focused mainly on soft silts and clays. However, creep is also found in geomaterials such as peat, sand, rock fills and warm permafrost.

The project will determine whether existing creep concepts can be adopted for these materials, and if different creep concepts can be unified. The consortium will attempt to answer these questions by combining practical experience from industry and theoretical concepts achieved by academia.

Project partners collected high-quality laboratory data for describing creep and organised the information into a web-based database. The requirements for soft soil (clay and peat) creep formulations were established and the development of models has commenced.

CREEP will create a series of time-dependent material models for modelling creep geomaterials, which will help to cost-effectively maintain and improve EU infrastructures.