Soil reinforcement system including angled soil reinforcement elements to resist seismic shear forces and methods of making same
AssigneeGeopier Foundation Company, Inc.
InventorsRussell Green, Kord J. Wissmann
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A soil reinforcement system including angled soil reinforcement elements to resist seismic shear forces and methods of making same are disclosed. For example, the soil reinforcement system includes an array or grid of angled soil reinforcement elements installed within the ground, wherein the angled reinforcement elements are designed to absorb and/or resist earthquake-induced seismic shear forces by transferring the applied shear forces into axial compressive and tensile forces within each of the angled reinforcement elements.
Claims29
A method of installing an array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements to absorb seismic shear stresses in a soil matrix, comprising inserting an array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements into a soil matrix at a determined angle and to a determined depth, wherein each of the soil reinforcement elements of the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements comprises a material that exhibits a stiffness modulus greater than the stiffness modulus of the soil matrix and wherein seismic shear stresses imparted from seismic activity are absorbed by the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements, thus reducing a potential for soil liquefaction, wherein the soil reinforcement elements are spaced from each other such that none of the non-vertical soil reinforcement elements within the array are in direct contact with another non-vertical soil reinforcement element within the array.
An array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements for absorbing seismic shear stresses in a soil matrix, the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements installed in a soil matrix each at a determined angle relative to the soil matrix and to a determined depth in the soil matrix, the array of soil reinforcement elements each comprising a material that exhibits a stiffness modulus greater than the stiffness modulus of the soil matrix wherein seismic shear stresses are absorbed by the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements to reduce potential for soil liquefaction, wherein each of the non-vertical soil reinforcement elements are spaced from each other such that none of the non-vertical soil reinforcement elements are in direct contact with another non-vertical soil reinforcement element within the array, and wherein spacing between each non-vertical soil reinforcement element of the array is about four feet to about thirty feet.
A system for installing an array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements to absorb seismic shear stresses, comprising:
- a) an array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements;
- and
- b) a device for installing the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements into a soil matrix at a determined angle and to a determined depth;
- wherein each non-vertical soil reinforcement elements of the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement elements comprise a material that exhibits a stiffness modulus greater than the stiffness modulus of the soil matrix wherein seismic shear stresses in the soil matrix imparted from seismic activity are absorbed by the array of non-vertical soil reinforcement element to reduce potential for soil liquefaction, wherein each of the non-vertical soil reinforcement elements are spaced from each other such that none of the non-vertical soil reinforcement elements are in direct contact with another non-vertical soil reinforcement element within the array, and wherein spacing between each non-vertical soil reinforcement element of the array is about four feet to about thirty feet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.