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Research on the Analytical Conversion Method of Q-s Curves for Self-Balanced Test Piles in Layered Soils

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(17), 8435; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12178435

by Xiaoduo Ou^1,2,3,4, Guangyuan Chen¹, Lu Bai^1,*, Jie Jiang^1,2,3,*, Yuchu Zeng¹ and Hailiang Chen¹

Reviewer 1:

Theofilos Toulkeridis

Reviewer 2:

Bambang Setiawan

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(17), 8435; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12178435

Submission received: 5 July 2022 / Revised: 12 August 2022 / Accepted: 18 August 2022 / Published: 24 August 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Construction Technologies in Underground Engineering)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Line 47

test piles in 1989. Then, It has then been

change into

test piles in 1989, which since has been

Line 48

the world[19,20], and several

change into

the world[19,20]. Furthermore, several

Line 52

Based on Mindlin's solution,

change into

Based on Mindlin's displacement solution,

and add original reference:

Mindlin, R. D. (1936). Force at a point in the interior of a semi‐infinite solid. physics, 7(5), 195-202.

Line 54 (duplication..)

self-balanced piles, taking into account, among others,

change into

self-balanced piles, considering, among others,

Line 61

Currently, In engineering,

Change into

Currently, in engineering,

(this occurred various times, please check and correct text entirely)

Line 64

and it lacks some

change into

and it lacks of some

Line 68

for improvement in the current study on the self-balanced theory

change into

for improvement on the self-balanced theory within the current study

Line 73 to 76

Sentence needs to be divided in two.

Line 77

Please enter reference at end of sentence

Line 90

Guangxi, China.

Line 110

I recommend to enlarge figure 1 in order to read better parts of it

Line 122

In this study, it is presumpted (presumed?) that the relationship between the upper and lower piles' side friction resistance follows Kraft's form

Please explain more in detail, as we can not simply presume or wish that science goes our way.

Line 149

It is assuming that the load box is installed at i=k(k≤n), when k=n, it means that At the base of the test pile is where the load box is situated. At the top of the pile i =1, 150 there is R1 = 0; underneath the higher pile load box. load box i=k, Rk=-F, where F is the 151 load box's loading value.

Rephrase completely

Line 222

The TST3822EN wireless static strain test system

??????

Explain and cite

Line 240

of 1.6 g/cm3, upperscript

Line 266

Eq 33 is listed as eq 34

Line 303, new line needed

Line 332

10 ten, same sentence a bit later, one dot to much

Entire document, please use instead of “as shown” varieties such as “ as demonstrated, indicated, listed, yielded etc.”

Also change “this paper” into this study, this research, work progress, current work---study etc.

Line 374

Please indicate point by point which have been the conclusions and or highlights, rather than to add a second abstract at the end of your manuscript

With all due respect, your manuscript does not lack of clarity for its content, theoretical and experimental-analytical, as it is certainly a masterpiece in the improvement within the development of the analytical conversion method for self-balanced test pile in layered soils.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Dear Editors and Reviewers:

Thank you for your letter and for the reviewers’ comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Research on the Analytical Conversion Method of Q-s Curve for Self-balanced Test Pile in Layered Soils” (Manuscript No: applsci-1807359) .

All the comments are valuable and truly helpful for revising and improving this manuscript In view of these criticisms, we have addressed the criticisms in this response version. Accordingly, we have rechecked our work carefully and have added lots of revision and supplements in the original manuscript. The corrected points and supplements are marked by the red-color words in our revised manuscript corresponding to the reviewers’ comments.

The main corrections in the manuscript and the responses to the reviewers’ comments are listed as below:

Reviewers #1: With all due respect, your manuscript does not lack of clarity for its content, theoretical and experimental-analytical, as it is certainly a masterpiece in the improvement within the development of the analytical conversion method for self-balanced test pile in layered soils.

Point 1:

English language and style are fine/minor spell check required.

Response 1:

Thanks for your advice and careful check. We have made revision to the manuscript.

We have carefully revised the English grammar of the manuscript by a professor who is proficient in English and has ensured that the manuscript is well prepared.

Point 2:

Are all the cited references relevant to the research? Can be improved.

Response 2:

The author has carefully read all the papers, deleted some unnecessary references and added some relevant references.

Point 3:

Line 47

test piles in 1989. Then, It has then been

change into

test piles in 1989, which since has been

Response 3:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 49 of the revised manuscript.

Point 4:

Line 48

the world[19,20], and several

change into

the world[19,20]. Furthermore, several

Response 4:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 50 of the revised manuscript..

Point 5:

Line 52

Based on Mindlin's solution,

change into

Based on Mindlin's displacement solution,

and add original reference:

Mindlin, R. D. (1936). Force at a point in the interior of a semi‐infinite solid. physics, 7(5), 195-202.

Response 5:

The author thanks for correction. The author has revised and added corresponding references. Please refer to line 54 of the revised manuscript.

Point 6:

Line 54 (duplication..)

self-balanced piles, taking into account, among others,

change into

self-balanced piles, considering, among others,

Response 6:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 57 of the revised manuscript.

Point 7:

Line 61

Currently, In engineering,

Change into

Currently, in engineering,

(this occurred various times, please check and correct text entirely)

Response 7:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 63 of the revised manuscript. Similar problems have been corrected.

Point 8:

Line 64

and it lacks some

change into

and it lacks of some

Response 8:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 67 of the revised manuscript.

Point 9:

Line 68

for improvement in the current study on the self-balanced theory

change into

for improvement on the self-balanced theory within the current study

Response 9:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 70 of the revised manuscript.

Point 10:

Line 73 to 76

Sentence needs to be divided in two.

Response 10:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has corrected to：The skin friction resistance of the pile produces additional stress on the pile end, which causes additional settlement at the bottom of the lower pile. The additional settlement will affect the relative displacement of the pile-soil of the upper pile [37].:Please refer to lines 76 to 79 of the revised manuscript.

Point 11:

Line 77

Please enter reference at end of sentence

Response 11:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has entered the reference at end of the sentence. Please refer to line 81 of the revised manuscript.

Point 12:

Line 90

Guangxi, China.

Response 12:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 94 of the revised manuscript.

Point 13:

Line 110

I recommend to enlarge figure 1 in order to read better parts of it

Response 13:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 114 of the revised manuscript.

Point 14:

Line 122

In this study, it is presumpted (presumed?) that the relationship between the upper and lower piles' side friction resistance follows Kraft's form

Please explain more in detail, as we can not simply presume or wish that science goes our way.

Response 14:

The author thanks for your correction.

Kraft model can conveniently take into account the stratification of soil and the nonlinear deformation of soil around the pile, and also consider the continuity of soil around the pile. Scholars have used Kraft model to simulate the pile-soil interaction, and the research results show that the Kraft model has achieved good results. So in this study, it can be assumed that the layered soil foundation follows the Kraft model.

The author has explained this in detail. Please refer to lines 121 to 130 of the revised manuscript.

Point 15:

Line 149

Rephrase completely

Response 15:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has described this part in more detail for readers to understand. Please refer to lines 158 to 164 of the revised manuscript. The author deduces the theoretical results of the formula in more detail.

Point 16:

Line 222

The TST3822EN wireless static strain test system

??????

Explain and cite

Response 16:The author thanks for your correction.

The author explained TST3822EN better and added a Physical picture，Please refer to lines 234 to 238 of the revised manuscript.

Point 17:

Line 240

of 1.6 g/cm3, upperscript

Response 17:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 265 of the revised manuscript.

Point 18:

Line 266

Eq 33 is listed as eq 34

Response 18:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 292 of the revised manuscript.

Point 19:

Line 303, new line needed

Response 19:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has revised it. Please refer to line 333 of the revised manuscript.

Point 19:

Line 332

10 ten, same sentence a bit later, one dot to much

Entire document, please use instead of “as shown” varieties such as “ as demonstrated, indicated, listed, yielded etc.”

Also change “this paper” into this study, this research, work progress, current work---study etc.

Response 19:

The author thanks for your correction.

The loading or unloading value of each stage is 1/10 of the estimated ultimate bearing capacity of the test pile. There are 10 loads in total, and the first load is twice as high, so there are 9 loads in total.

The author has changed as shown in the full text to as demonstrated, indicated, listed, yielded etc. The author has changed this paper in the full text to this study, this research, work progress, current work---study etc.

The author has revised it. Please refer to line 343 of the revised manuscript.

Point 20:

Please indicate point by point which have been the conclusions and or highlights, rather than to add a second abstract at the end of your manuscript

Response 20:

The author thanks for your correction. The author has divided the conclusion into three parts. Please refer to lines 387 to 413 of the revised manuscript. The author has divided the conclusion into three points.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Generally, I believe that the paper entitled "Research on the Analytical Conversion Method of Q-s Curve for Self-2 balanced Test Pile in Layered Soils" is a very good paper. The paper developed another approach to investigate the behavior of a pile foundation.

My concern is the self-developed test device (lines 212-223). I believe that it is extremely hard to control the soil physical and mechanical properties on this small device.

The basic physical & mechanical properties of the layered soil samples, as shown in Table 2, required further elaboration.

1. For an example is the water content.

How the author maintenance this paramater is not explain in the paper.

How to set the water content of the soil layer is missing, also.

2. Soil cohesion

How to set the cohesion of the soil layer is missing, also.

3. Internal friction angle

How to set this internal friction angle of the soil layer is missing, also.

4. Soil elastic

How to set the elastic of the soil layer is missing, also..

5. Poison ratio

How to set this Poison ratio of the soil layer is missing, also.

To improve significantly this paper, I suggest to elaborate several comments as mentioned above.

There are other issues to address prior to the publication that I have highlighted in the review manuscript. Please, check it out.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

Dear Editors and Reviewers:

All the comments are valuable and truly helpful for revising and improving this paper. In view of

these criticisms, we have addressed the criticisms in this response version. Accordingly, we have rechecked our work carefully and have added lots of revision and supplements in the original manuscript. The corrected points and supplements are marked by the words in our revised manuscript corresponding to the reviewers’ comments.

The main corrections in the paper and the responses to the reviewers’ comments are listed as below:

Reviewers #2: Generally, I believe that the paper entitled "Research on the Analytical Conversion Method of Q-s Curve for Self-2 balanced Test Pile in Layered Soils" is a very good paper. The paper developed another approach to investigate the behavior of a pile foundation..

Point 1:

My concern is the self-developed test device (lines 212-223). I believe that it is extremely hard to control the soil physical and mechanical properties on this small device.

The basic physical & mechanical properties of the layered soil samples, as shown in Table 2, required further elaboration.

Response 1:

The author thanks for your correction.

The model test in this study adopts the similar principle to design the test device size model test method. The similarity constant can be defined as the ratio of the actual physical quantity to the model physical quantity, where the similarity ratio is C, P, and M represent the physical quantity of the actual project and the model test. The similarity ratio is reasonably selected according to the laboratory site conditions, combined with the pile foundation size and Mechanical parameters of the actual project, and considering the actual operation possibility and economy. The similarity ratio of each parameter is calculated as follows:

Similarity constant of pile length：C_l=l_p/l_m=28/0.7=40；

Pile diameter similarity constant：C_d=d_p/d_m=1/0.025=40；

Similarity constant of soil density：；

Similarity constant of Poisson's ratio of soil：；

Similarity constant of soil weight：；

The disturbed soil collected from the site is dried and crushed, and the initial moisture content measured by drying is 5%. Calculate the water and soil ratio according to the original density of the underground clay, weigh the quantitative soil samples and water samples to prepare the soil samples of each filling layer with a certain water content, and then manually compact them to the quantitative volume scale to simulate the underground undisturbed clay.

In the process of layering, the proportion of soil and water and the weight of water shall be calculated according to the moisture content of soil in the actual project, and then the filling soil sample with a certain moisture content shall be prepared. Then, the quality of the filled soil sample in a certain volume of the box shall be calculated according to the original density of soil in the actual project, and the filling shall be compacted from bottom to top every 50mm to minimize the impact caused by the deviation between the actual and design moisture content. The perpendicularity of the model pile shall be inspected at all times during the compaction, By setting the weight line, the distance difference between the model pile and the weight line is 1mm to ensure that the inclination angle of the pile body is within 0.1 ° and meet the layout requirements of the solid pile.

Point 2:

How the author maintenance this paramater is not explain in the paper.

How to set the water content of the soil layer is missing, also.

Response 2: