TY - GEN
T1 - Vertical loading tests on a simplified tree root prototype
AU - Marsiglia, Andrea
AU - Ciantia, Matteo O.
AU - Galli, Andrea
AU - Canepa, D.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thanks the Laboratory of Analysis and Geotechnical Modelling (GeoT-LAM) at Polo Territoriale di Lecco of Politecnico di Milano. The support provided by Agro Services s.r.l. and the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering (SRPe), through the Industry Doctorate Programme research grant SRPeIDP/011, is also acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 KOREAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY (KGS), Seoul, Korea, ISBN 978-89-952197-7-5
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - The increasing number of extreme weather events, often accompanied by very intense wind gusts, can cause diffuse damages to arboreal heritage, which hence represents a severe hazard in urban areas for buildings, cars, structures, infrastructures and even human lives. From a geotechnical perspective, assessing the stability of a tree against uprooting represents a problem of interaction between the soil and the root system, subject to complex loading conditions. The experimental study presented in this paper approaches such a problem by considering a 1D vertical loading condition, both under compressive and tensile loads, for a simplified small-scale tree prototype with a flat root system, resting in a dry mid-loose Ticino sand deposit. The root system is conceptually assimilated to a direct foundation, and the role of the bending and the tensile behaviour of the different root components is highlighted, by considering both monotonic and non-monotonic quasi-static loading paths. The influence of several geometrical parameters is investigated, and the results highlight the need of a large displacement approach, also considering second order geometrical effects, to correctly interpret the results. These latter can be considered preparative to the development of more complex 3D experimental tests and theoretical interpretative frameworks.
AB - The increasing number of extreme weather events, often accompanied by very intense wind gusts, can cause diffuse damages to arboreal heritage, which hence represents a severe hazard in urban areas for buildings, cars, structures, infrastructures and even human lives. From a geotechnical perspective, assessing the stability of a tree against uprooting represents a problem of interaction between the soil and the root system, subject to complex loading conditions. The experimental study presented in this paper approaches such a problem by considering a 1D vertical loading condition, both under compressive and tensile loads, for a simplified small-scale tree prototype with a flat root system, resting in a dry mid-loose Ticino sand deposit. The root system is conceptually assimilated to a direct foundation, and the role of the bending and the tensile behaviour of the different root components is highlighted, by considering both monotonic and non-monotonic quasi-static loading paths. The influence of several geometrical parameters is investigated, and the results highlight the need of a large displacement approach, also considering second order geometrical effects, to correctly interpret the results. These latter can be considered preparative to the development of more complex 3D experimental tests and theoretical interpretative frameworks.
KW - root-soil interaction
KW - tree stability
KW - macroelement model
KW - small-scale experimental tests
KW - large displacement approach
M3 - Conference contribution
T3 - ICPMG 2022 Proceedings
SP - 832
EP - 835
BT - Physical Modelling in Geotechnics
PB - Korean Geotechnical Society
CY - Seoul
ER -