Seismic pounding occurs when the separation gap between buildings and structures is not wide enough, particularly during major earthquake events; this can cause them to collide, causing local damage or, in extreme cases, collapse. This study investigated the impact that this separation gap has on the seismic response of midrise buildings supported on piles while considering seismic soil–pile–structure interaction (SSPSI). To achieve this aim, three 15-story reinforced concrete buildings sitting on pile foundations and with five different separation gaps under excitations from the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes were numerically simulated. This study used three-dimensional numerical modeling to simultaneously capture the effects of seismic pounding and SSPSI. Because the considered structure, pile foundation, and soil deposit are three-dimensional in nature, the adopted three-dimensional numerical modeling can provide a more realistic simulation to capture the seismic behavior of the system. The nonlinear behavior of structural elements was included, and the dynamic soil properties were obtained from field data and backbone curves. A contact pair interface with small-sliding surface-to-surface formulation between buildings was used to capture possible seismic pounding, and contact interfaces with a finite-sliding formulation were used to simulate the interaction between the piles and the soil. The results, including lateral building deflections, interstory drifts, structural shear forces, foundation rocking, lateral pile deflections, and the distributions of bending moments and shear forces of the piles, are presented and discussed. The findings of this study will give engineers a better insight into the possible effects of seismic pounding on the seismic performance of buildings, and the response of end-bearing piles in soft soils.

Colloids have a high adsorption capacity and can be mobile under preferential flow, and so may facilitate heavy metal migration. Heavy metal migration with soil colloids in a clayey soil under preferential flow conditions was investigated through experiments. Adsorption tests were carried out to determine the adsorption of Cd2+ and Pb2+ to the clay and colloids. The preferential flow characteristics in the soil column were investigated by dye tracing tests. The mobility of soil colloids in the soil column was studied by breakthrough tests. Leaching tests of cadmium and lead with and without colloids were carried out. The adsorption tests showed that soil colloids adsorbed more cadmium and lead than the silty clay. The dye tracing tests showed that moderate preferential flow in the soil column can be obtained by choosing clod-size distribution and dry density. The co-leaching test showed that the outflow of cadmium and lead was 1.49 and 33.88 times greater with colloids than without, respectively. The heavy metals adsorbed onto clay and the pore concentrations were both lower with colloids than without, indicating more heavy metals migrated downward with colloids. The migration of cadmium and lead was greatly enhanced by colloids under preferential flow conditions.

Bentonite-sand mixtures can be used as the base material of engineered barriers in deep high-level radioactive waste geological repositories. Swelling, compression, and permeability tests were conducted out on bentonite-sand mixtures with 30%, 50%, 70% and 85% sand content. Influence of sand content and particle size on the deformation and permeability characteristics of bentonite-sand mixtures were analyzed. The sand particle size affects the deformation characteristics by influencing the vertical stress required to form a sand skeleton, and the skeleton’s stability. When the sand content is less than the critical sand content, bentonite-sand mixtures cannot form a sand skeleton, and particle size has no effect on their characteristics. When the sand content is greater than the critical sand content and the vertical stress exceeds the initial deviation stress, a sand skeleton forms. In this case, smaller the sand particle size, lesser will be the vertical stress required to form a sand skeleton, and more the swelling of bentonite-sand mixtures. Further, more uniform particle size, more stable will be its structure and lesser the compressibility of bentonite-sand mixtures. The hydraulic conductivity is related to the flow area and the seepage path length, and particle size has no obvious effect on either with the same sand content. Therefore, the sand particle size has no obvious effect on mixtures’ permeability.