scholarly journals Dilatancy Characteristics and Constitutive Modelling of the Unsaturated Soil Based on Changes in the Mass Water Content

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4859
Author(s):  
Xiao Xu ◽  
Guoqing Cai ◽  
Zhaoyang Song ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Chongbang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Soil Mechanics ◽  
Constitutive Models ◽  
Confining Pressure ◽  
Prediction Equation ◽  
Constitutive Modelling ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
High Plasticity

Most soil mechanics theories are limited to strain hardening and shrinkage under high compressive stresses, and there are some shortcomings in the selection of suction or degree of saturation as the water content state varies in the constitutive models of unsaturated soil. Based on the triaxial shear tests of unsaturated compacted soil (a silt of high plasticity) with different water content and confining pressure (low-confining), a shear dilatancy model of unsaturated soil based on the mass water content is proposed in this paper. The influence of the water content on the shear deformation characteristics of the unsaturated soil is analysed. The stress–dilatancy relationship and the prediction equation of the minimum dilatancy rate of the unsaturated soil under different water content and different confining pressure are provided. Selecting the mass water content as the state variable, a constitutive model suitable for the dilatancy of unsaturated soil is established. The method of determining model parameters based on the mass water content is analysed. The applicability of the model is verified by comparisons between the predicted and experimental results.

Inclusion of specific water volume within an elasto-plastic model for unsaturated soil

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Critical State ◽  
Constitutive Models ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
Triaxial Tests ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Plastic Model ◽  
Elasto Plasticity ◽  
Soil Behaviour

Existing elasto-plastic critical state constitutive models for unsaturated soil provide no information on the variation of water content or degree of saturation. These models cannot therefore, for example, be used to predict unsaturated soil behaviour during undrained loading, when the variation of suction is determined by the requirement that water content remains constant. This problem has been tackled by extending an existing elasto-plastic model to include relationships describing the variation of specific water volume (the volume of water and solids in an element of soil containing unit volume of solids). The proposed form of the variation of specific water volume was based on consideration of the soil fabric, resulting in a coupled form of elasto-plastic behaviour. Predictions from the elasto-plastic model showed good agreement with the experimental results from suction-controlled triaxial tests on unsaturated samples of compacted speswhite kaolin. Normal compression lines for specific water volume at different values of suction were well predicted, as was the variation of specific water volume during wetting. Critical state values of specific water volume were slightly underestimated, but test paths for both drained and undrained shearing were predicted with reasonable success. Key words: compacted clays, constitutive model, critical state, elasto-plasticity, triaxial tests, unsaturated.

Soil mechanics: breaking ground

2007 ◽  
Vol 365 (1861) ◽  
pp. 2985-3002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itai Einav
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Critical State ◽  
Void Ratio ◽  
Soil Mechanics ◽  
Constitutive Models ◽  
Energy Balance Equation ◽  
Constitutive Modelling ◽  
Alternative Theory ◽  
Fitting Parameters ◽  
Cam Clay

In soil mechanics, student's models are classified as simple models that teach us unexplained elements of behaviour; an example is the Cam clay constitutive models of critical state soil mechanics (CSSM). ‘Engineer's models’ are models that elaborate the theory to fit more behavioural trends; this is usually done by adding fitting parameters to the student's models. Can currently unexplained behavioural trends of soil be explained without adding fitting parameters to CSSM models, by developing alternative student's models based on modern theories? Here I apply an alternative theory to CSSM, called ‘breakage mechanics’, and develop a simple student's model for sand. Its unique and distinctive feature is the use of an energy balance equation that connects grain size reduction to consumption of energy, which enables us to predict how grain size distribution (gsd) evolves—an unprecedented capability in constitutive modelling. With only four parameters, the model is physically clarifying what CSSM cannot for sand: the dependency of yielding and critical state on the initial gsd and void ratio.

scholarly journals Effect of soil moisture content on the bearing capacity of small bored piles in the unsaturated soil of Maringá, Paraná, Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 337 ◽  
pp. 03006
Author(s):  
Verônica Ricken Marques ◽  
Antonio Belincanta ◽  
Mary-Antonette Beroya-Eitner ◽  
Jorge Luis Almada Augusto ◽  
Ewerton Guelssi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Bearing Capacity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Matric Suction ◽  
Load Test ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
Static Load Test

In this study, the influence of soil moisture on the bearing capacity of piles founded in an unsaturated clay soil was investigated. The soil studied, composing the upper soil layer in Maringá, Brazil, is lateritic, has degree of saturation between 37% and 70% and has collapsible behaviour when wet. The bearing capacity was determined by full-scale load tests following the Brazilian Standard for Static Load Test. Two pile lengths, 4 m and 8 m, were considered. To analyse the influence of soil moisture, two tests were performed for each pile length: one in soil in its natural moisture content and another in pre-moistened soil. Results show that for both pile lengths, an increase in water content caused a significant reduction in bearing capacity, which is attributed to the decrease in the matric suction of the soil. This is confirmed by the results of the initial evaluation made on the variation of matric suction and its contribution to the bearing capacity with changes in water content. In summary, this study confirms that the pile bearing capacity in unsaturated soil is dependent on soil water content, highlighting the fact that the approach of assuming full saturation condition in the evaluation of the pile bearing capacity in such soil may give erroneous results. Moreover, this study demonstrate that the empirical methods most commonly used in Brazil for pile bearing capacity determination, the Décourt & Quaresma and Aoki & Velloso methods, are overly conservative when applied to the Maringá soil.

scholarly journals HYDROMECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR OF TWO UNSATURATED SILTS: LABORATORY DATA AND MODEL PREDICTIONS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Walter Bruno ◽  
Domenico Gallipoli ◽  
Joao Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Clayey Silt ◽  
Constant Suction ◽  
Observed Behaviour ◽  
Hydromechanical Behaviour ◽  
Soil Behaviour ◽  
Hydromechanical Model

This paper presents the results from a campaign of unsaturated and saturated isotropic tests performed on two compacted silts of different coarseness, namely a clayey silt and a sandy silt, inside triaxial cells. Some tests involved an increase/decrease of mean net stress at constant suction or an increase/decrease of suction at constant mean net stress. Other tests involved an increase of mean net stress at constant water content with measurement of suction. During all tests, the void ratio and degree of saturation were measured to investigate the mechanical and retention behaviour of the soil. The experimental results were then simulated by the bounding surface hydromechanical model of Bruno and Gallipoli (2019), which was originally formulated to describe the behaviour of clays and clayey silts. Model parameters were calibrated against unsaturated tests including isotropic loading stages at constant water content with measurement of varying suction. Loading at constant water content is relatively fast and allows the simultaneous exploration of large ranges of mean net stress and suction, thus reducing the need of multiple experiments at distinct suction levels. Predicted data match well the observed behaviour of both soils, including the occurrence of progressive yielding and hysteresis, which extends the validation of this hydromechanical model to coarser soils. Specific features of the unsaturated soil behaviour, such as wetting-induced collapse, are also well reproduced.

Predicting the permeability function for unsaturated soils using the soil-water characteristic curve

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.G. Fredlund ◽  
Anqing Xing ◽  
Shangyan Huang
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
Residual Water ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve ◽  
Coefficient Of Permeability ◽  
Permeability Function

The coefficient of permeability for an unsaturated soil is primarily determined by the pore-size distribution of the soil and can be predicted from the soil-water characteristic curve. A general equation, which describes the soil-water characteristic curve over the entire suction range (i.e., from 0 to 106 kPa), was proposed by the first two authors in another paper. This equation is used to predict the coefficient of permeability for unsaturated soils. By using this equation, an evaluation of the residual water content is no longer required in the prediction of the coefficient of permeability. The proposed permeability function is an integration form of the suction versus water content relationship. The proposed equation has been best fit with example data from the literature where both the soil-water characteristic curve and the coefficient of permeability were measured. The fit between the data and the theory was excellent. It was found that the integration can be done from zero water content to the saturated water content. Therefore, it is possible to use the normalized water content (volumetric or gravimetric) or the degree of saturation data versus suction in the prediction of the permeability function. Key words : coefficient of permeability, soil-water characteristic curve, unsaturated soil, water content, soil suction.

scholarly journals Machine learning based multiscale calibration of mesoscopic constitutive models for composite materials: application to brain white matter

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Field ◽  
Yanis Ammouche ◽  
José-Maria Peña ◽  
Antoine Jérusalem
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Composite Materials ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Constitutive Model ◽  
Constitutive Models ◽  
Constitutive Modelling ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Brain White Matter ◽  
Specific Loading ◽  
Spatially Varying

AbstractA modular pipeline for improving the constitutive modelling of composite materials is proposed.The method is leveraged here for the development of subject-specific spatially-varying brain white matter mechanical properties. For this application, white matter microstructural information is extracted from diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) scans, and used to generate hundreds of representative volume elements (RVEs) with randomly distributed fibre properties. By automatically running finite element analyses on these RVEs, stress-strain curves corresponding to multiple RVE-specific loading cases are produced. A mesoscopic constitutive model homogenising the RVEs’ behaviour is then calibrated for each RVE, producing a library of calibrated parameters against each set of RVE microstructural characteristics. Finally, a machine learning layer is implemented to predict the constitutive model parameters directly from any new microstructure. The results show that the methodology can predict calibrated mesoscopic material properties with high accuracy. More generally, the overall framework allows for the efficient simulation of the spatially-varying mechanical behaviour of composite materials when experimentally measured location-specific fibre geometrical characteristics are provided.

scholarly journals Stability and Consolidation of Sediment Tailings Incorporating Unsaturated Soil Mechanics

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 423
Author(s):  
Alfrendo Satyanaga ◽  
Martin Wijaya ◽  
Qian Zhai ◽  
Sung-Woo Moon ◽  
Jaan Pu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Pore Water Pressure ◽  
Soil Mechanics ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
High Water ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
High Water Content ◽  
Consolidation Process ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Unsaturated Zones

Tailing dams are commonly used to safely store tailings without damaging the environment. Sand tailings (also called Sediment tailings) usually have a high water content and hence undergo consolidation during their placement. As the sediment tailings are usually placed above the ground water level, the degree of saturation and permeability of the sediment tailing is associated with the unsaturated condition due to the presence of negative pore-water pressure or suction. Current practices normally focus on the analyses saturated conditions. However, this consolidation process requires the flow of water between saturated and unsaturated zones to be considered. The objective of this study is to investigate the stability and consolidation of sediment tailings for the construction of road pillars considering the water flow between saturated and unsaturated zones. The scope of this study includes the unsaturated laboratory testing of sediments and numerical analyses of the road pillar. The results show that the analyses based on saturated conditions overestimate the time required to achieve a 90% degree of consolidation. The incorporation of the unsaturated soil properties is able to optimize the design of slopes for road pillars into steeper slope angles.

scholarly journals Unsaturated structured soils: constitutive modelling and stability analyses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Rotisciani ◽  
A. Desideri ◽  
A. Amorosi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Mechanics ◽  
Constitutive Modelling ◽  
Constitutive Law ◽  
Triaxial Tests ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
State Variables ◽  
Analytical Stability ◽  
Structured Soils ◽  
Failure Conditions ◽  
Geotechnical Testing

AbstractThe paper presents a new single-surface elasto-plastic model for unsaturated cemented soils, formulated within the critical state soil mechanics framework, which should be considered as an extension to unsaturated conditions of a recently proposed constitutive law for saturated structured soils. The model has been developed with the main purpose of inspecting the mechanical instabilities induced in natural soils by bond degradation resulting from the accumulation of plastic strains and/or the changes in pore saturation. At this scope, the constitutive equations are used to simulate typical geotechnical testing conditions, whose results are then analysed in light of the controllability theory. The results of triaxial tests on an ideal fully saturated cemented soil and on the corresponding unsaturated uncemented one are first discussed, aiming at detecting the evidence of potentially unstable conditions throughout the numerical simulations. This is followed by similar analyses considering the combined effects of both the above features. For each analysed case, a simple analytical stability criterion is proposed and validated against the numerical results, generalizing the results, and highlighting the crucial role of state variables and model parameters on the possible occurrence of failure conditions.

Gas permeability of a compacted bentonite–sand mixture: coupled effects of water content, dry density, and confining pressure

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 1159-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang-Feng Liu ◽  
Frédéric Skoczylas ◽  
Jean Talandier
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Gas Permeability ◽  
Confining Pressure ◽  
Degree Of Saturation ◽  
Dry Density ◽  
Sand Mixture ◽  
Compacted Bentonite ◽  
High Confining Pressure ◽  
Confining Pressures ◽  
Gas Tightness

The gas-tightness of compacted bentonite–sand mixtures is important to the total sealing efficiency of geological repositories. The initial aim of this work was to determine whether the combination of a high confining pressure (Pc) and incomplete saturation could cause a bentonite–sand mixture to become gas-tight. The results show that the physical characteristics of the materials (degree of saturation, Sr; porosity, [Formula: see text]; and dry density, ρd) are very sensitive to changes in the applied confining pressures and their own swelling deformation (or shrinkage). The combination of these changes affects the sample’s effective gas permeability (Keff). For materials prepared at a relative humidity (RH) of 98%, Keff decreased from 10−16 to 10−20 m2 when Pc increased from 1 to 7 MPa. This means that gas-tightness can be obtained for a compacted bentonite–sand mixture when the materials experience a series of changes (e.g., w, Sr, [Formula: see text], and ρd). In addition, larger irreversible deformation (or hysteresis) was observed during the loading–unloading cycle for the sample with higher water content. This phenomenon may be attributed to larger interactions between the macrostructural and microstructural deformations and the decrease of preconsolidation pressure during hydration.

scholarly journals Numerical modeling of unsaturated soil behavior considering different constitutive models

2021 ◽  
Vol 337 ◽  
pp. 02007
Author(s):  
Roberto Quevedo ◽  
Celso Romanel ◽  
Deane Roehl
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Soil Mechanics ◽  
Constitutive Models ◽  
Soil Behavior ◽  
Pore Collapse ◽  
Numerical Tools ◽  
Access To Data ◽  
Circular Footing

Recent advances, not only in fluid flow but also in soil mechanics, have allowed the understanding and forecasting of common engineering problems such as slope stability, soil shrinkage and soil collapse. However, owing to limited access to data or more sophisticated numerical tools, the modeling of soil behavior is usually carried out considering simpler constitutive models which cannot predict some important features of unsaturated soils. This study is focused on the numerical modeling of unsaturated soils, adopting four constitutive models based on theories of elasticity and plasticity. For each model, a numerical simulation of a circular footing resting over a soil that is subject to drying and wetting processes is analyzed. Through the comparison of results, it is possible to highlight the use of more sophisticated constitutive models for unsaturated soil behavior, particularly forecasting the phenomenon of pore collapse during wetting processes.

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