Model test of failure modes of high embankment and aseismic measures for buried strike-slip fault movement

In this article, a series of model tests for a scaled high embankment, which is located at the Yun Gui railway, have been carried out. The purpose of the model tests was to ascertain failure modes of high embankments and the efficiency of the aseismic measures for buried strike-slip fault movement. The results show: (1) failure mode of the high embankment for buried strike-slip fault movement is the tensile failure. (2) The model with CFG pile foundation, sand blanket and geogrid has the best aseismic effect, followed by the model with sand blanket and geogrid. When dislocation displacement is small, the sand blanket under the embankment can achieve better aseismic efficiency, but when the dislocation displacement is large, the sand blanket under the embankment may lose its aseismic efficiency and may cause an adverse effect on the embankment.