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ARTICLE
Volumetric behavior of unsaturated soils
Eduardo Rojas and Omar Chvez
Abstract: An elastoplastic framework to account for the volumetric behavior of unsaturated soils is proposed herein. The
proposed equation is based on the effective stress principle and results in a unifying framework for the volumetric behavior for
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both saturated and unsaturated soils. The results of the proposed equation are compared with experimental results published by
different researchers. These comparisons show that the equation is adequate to account for wettingdrying and net stress
loadingunloading paths. In addition, the collapse upon wetting phenomenon can be simulated and the critical state for
unsaturated soils coincides with the proposed volumetric framework. This analysis conrms that the effective stress principle
can be applied to the volumetric behavior of unsaturated soils.
Rsum : Cet article prsente une proposition de concept lastoplastique qui tient compte du comportement volumique des sols
non saturs. L'quation propose est base sur le principe de la contrainte effective, et gnre un concept uni du comporte-
ment volumique pour les sols saturs et non saturs. Les rsultats de l'quation propose sont compars avec des rsultats
exprimentaux publis par diffrents chercheurs. Ces comparaisons dmontrent que l'quation est adquate pour considrer le
mouillageschage et les cheminements de contrainte nette en chargementdchargement. De plus, le phnomne
d'effondrement suite au mouillage peut tre simul, et l'tat critique des sols non saturs concide avec l'approche volumique
propose. L'analyse conrme que le principe de la contrainte effective peut tre appliqu au comportement volumique des sols
non saturs. [Traduit par la Rdaction]
For personal use only.
1 dp ds axes of the logarithm of the effective mean stress versus specic
[1] dv vs volume, and p= and dp= represent the pre-consolidation effective
v vp p (s patm)
stress and its increment, respectively. If parameter v is expressed
as a function of suction alone, it shows decreasing values with
where v is the specic volume of the soil; vp and vs are the slopes increasing suction. This, however, contradicts the experimental
of the compression curves related to the mean net stress and results (Sheng 2011). To avoid this contradiction, v should be
Can. Geotech. J. 50: 209222 (2013) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2012-0341 Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/cgj on 5 March 2013.
210 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 50, 2013
v
written as a function of the mean net stress, the pre-consolidation v p 0
stress, and suction. Another possibility is to write v as a function [6]
v0 p
of the degree of saturation (Sheng 2011). The effective stress ap-
proach has been used in the models proposed by Khogo et al.
(1993), Loret and Khalili (2002), Sheng et al. (2004), Sun et al. where p 0 represents the initial effective stress corresponding to a
(2007b), Kohler and Hofstetter (2008), Koliji et al. (2010), Casini volume v0 in the virgin consolidation line. However, if the mean
(2012), and Zhou et al. (2012), among others. effective stress p= becomes very large, the specic volume (v = 1 + e,
Recently, Sheng et al. (2008a) proposed a combination of these where e is the void ratio) tends to zero, which is clearly undesir-
able. A more likely relationship would involve the void ratio in-
two trends using two different volumetric parameters in conjunc-
stead of the specic volume, in the form of
tion with a stress parameter that accounts for the effects of both
net stress and suction in the form
de dp
[7] e
p dp s (p ds s)
e p
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[3] dv vp vs
(2008b) for the volumetric behavior of sands upon isotropic load-
vp s sa
ing. Integration of the above equation results in
[4] vs sa 1
vp s sa
s1 e p e
[8]
e0 p 0
where sa represents the saturation suction (i.e., the value of suc-
tion at the air-entry value). In this case, the volumetric strain by
net stress or suction increase depends on both the current net where e0 is the initial void ratio.
stress and the current suction; therefore, eq. [3] can more accu- Figure 2 shows the plot of this equation in the axes of the
logarithm of the mean effective stress versus void ratio for differ-
rately reproduce the volumetric response of unsaturated soils re-
For personal use only.
ent values of the compression index v and for an initial void ratio
ported in the international literature.
equal to 1.14 at a mean effective stress of 0.02 MPa. Most soils show
One of the most important features of this equation is the in- values of the parameter v ranging between 0.05 and 0.3, in
troduction to some extent of the hydromechanical coupling which case the volumetric behavior for stresses in the range of
through the parameter sa. In addition, although the two compres- civil engineering interest (between 0.1 and 10 MPa) can be approx-
sion indexes vs and vp can be related using eq. [4], different imated by straight lines, as is commonly done.
approaches can be used for more general cases. When plotted in For the case of unsaturated soils, their volumetric behavior can
the mean net stress axis versus suction plane, the yield surface be analyzed mainly through the results of two types of tests: iso-
generated with eq. [3] shows a concavity (see Fig. 1). In fact most tropic loading by net stress increase at constant suction and suc-
constitutive models for unsaturated soils show a concavity at the tion increase at constant net stress. The results of the rst type of
transition between saturated and unsaturated states (see, for ex- test can be summarized as follows: when suction is below the
ample, Borja 2002; Sun et al. 2007b; Hoyos and Arduino 2008; air-entry value, the soil behaves as saturated. When suction be-
Zhang and Zhou 2008). Although, this concavity poses some dif- comes larger than the air-entry value, a great quantity of menisci
culties in obtaining a unique response, this can be solved numer- of water appears among the solid particles. These menisci pro-
ically. By following stress path ABCD shown in Fig. 1, the model duce additional contact stresses between the solids, increasing
can simulate the phenomenon of collapse upon wetting. Finally, the stability of the large pores as if the pre-consolidation stress of
the soil had been increased. This means that the material experi-
eq. [3] cannot be integrated and therefore requires special treat-
ences suction-hardening. Therefore, the shrinkage of these pores
ment in the stress integration of the constitutive model.
can only be produced by applying further increments of the mean
The aim of this paper is to present an elastoplastic framework
net stress. The greater the applied suction, the larger the mean net
that can be used to model the volumetric behavior of unsaturated stress required for the shrinkage of these pores. In other words,
soils based on the single stressvariable approach. Furthermore, the soil behaves as an overconsolidated material.
this approach results in a unifying framework for saturated and For the second type of test, the soil behaves exactly the same as
unsaturated soils. To that purpose, a solidporous model capable for the rst case as long as suction remains below the air-entry
of simulating the soil-water retention curve (SWRC) and the dis- value. In these conditions, suction has the same effect as an iso-
tribution of water into the pores of the material needs to be in- tropic stress applied to the material. When suction surpasses the
cluded into the formulation. This framework deals only with air-entry value, a signicant number of pores become dry. Under
isotropic stress states and the term suction refers only to matric these conditions, when suction increases, all saturated pores tend
suction. to shrink following the same law as for the saturated material. On
the contrary, all dry pores tend not to react to suction changes.
Proposed equation According to these descriptions, the evaluation of the volumet-
Jurez-Badillo (1975) and Buttereld (1979) proposed the follow- ric response of unsaturated materials requires the quantication
ing equation for the volumetric behavior of saturated soils: of the area of solids affected by the menisci of water and the pores
that remain saturated at a certain suction. In that sense, it is
dv dp desirable to generate a solidporous model capable of evaluating
[5] dv v these parameters during wettingdrying cycles. This solidporous
v p model can be built with the information provided by the grain-
size distribution (GSD) and the pore-size distribution (PSD) of the
Integration of the above equation results in material.
Fig. 1. Model proposed by Sheng et al. (2008a) for the volumetric behavior of soils.
Sucon
B C
Evoluon of the
yield surface
Zero shear
D
strength line
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1350
A
Mean net stress
Fig. 2. Volumetric behavior of saturated soils for different values of Fig. 3. Soil structure: macropores, mesopores, micropores, and
compression index. solids.
Mesopore
Macropore
Solid
For personal use only.
Micropore
fraction divided by the total volume of the material (V), in the and the hysteresis of the SWRC on parameter was recognized by
form Bishop in 1960 (Bishop 1960).
Even if the dry fraction does not play any role in the volumetric
Vsi Vvi behavior of the soil during suction increase nor appears in the
[9] fi determination of parameter , it certainly plays a role during
V
mean net stress increase as in this case all fractions contribute
equally to the volumetric deformation of the soil. This means that
where superscript i represents the type of fraction: dry (d), satu- the term p in eq. [12] is multiplied by the sum of all three fractions,
rated (s) or unsaturated (u). The development of these fractions which is equal to one. This agrees with the description of the
depends on the GSD, the PSD, the value of suction applied to the experimental behavior of unsaturated soils provided before.
material, and the direction of the suction path, whether it be It is noteworthy that eq. [8] uses the same compressive index e
wetting or drying. for mean net stress or suction increase although, for this last case,
The volume of saturated (Vss) or dried (Vsd) solids is obtained by the index is affected by parameter , which represents the propor-
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adding the volume of all solids that are completely surrounded by tion of pores affected by suction changes. In other words, eq. [8]
saturated or dry pores, respectively. In the same way, the volume represents a single compression curve for both net stress and
of saturated (Vsv) or dry (Vdv ) pores is obtained by adding the volume suction increase. According to eq. [12], the mean effective stress
of all pores surrounding saturated or dry solids, respectively. The for saturated soils (f s = 1, f u = 0) becomes Terzaghi's mean effective
remaining solids (Vsu) and their surrounding pores (Vuv ) form the stress, meaning that there is a smooth transition between satu-
unsaturated fraction. rated and unsaturated states.
Following the descriptions of the volumetric behavior of unsat- In addition to eq. [8], the modeling of the volumetric behavior of
urated soils and their porous structure, it is hypothesized that unsaturated soils requires an elastoplastic framework. The frame-
their volumetric behavior can be represented by the same rela- work considered herein is sketched in Fig. 4 in the axes of mean
tionship established for saturated materials (eq. [8]) while their net stress (Fig. 4a) and mean effective stress (Fig. 4b). A normally
effective stress is given by Bishop's equation consolidated soil sample exhibits a loading collapse yield surface
(LCYS) represented by a line forming an angle of 135 with the
[10] p p s mean net stress axis as established by Sheng (2011) (Fig. 4a). When
this sample is subjected to a suction s, the drying path (repre-
sented by a vertical line in Fig. 4a) crosses the initial yield surface
with Bishop's parameter dened by the following relationship generating a plastic deformation. This plastic deformation pro-
(Rojas 2008a):
For personal use only.
Fig. 4. Evolution of LCYS during drying in the (a) mean net stress axis and (b) mean effective stress axis. LC, loading collapse; p0i , initial pre-
consolidation stress.
(a)
Sucon
Elasc reloading during mean net
Inial LCYS stress increase aer drying
s3
s4
s3
s4
p*0i
e
of curves, as those shown in Fig. 5b, is obtained. In this case, the e p
data reported by Futai and Almeida 2005 for a particular soil were [14]
e0 p 0
used to establish the values of Bishop's parameter at different
suctions as is shown below. In general, these curves can be assim-
ilated to parallel straight lines for small ranges of the mean effec- This behavior happens when the mean net stress applied to
tive stress. Because parameter depends on the SWRCs of the the soil reduces while suction remains constant, but this may
material, the amount of suction-hardening also depends on these happen eventually when the soil attains large suctions during a
curves. In general, soils showing large ranges of suction exhibit drying path because the mean effective stress reaches a maxi-
large suction-hardening. In contrast, suction-hardening is dif-
mum at certain suction and then decreases as will be shown
cult to observe in soils showing small ranges of suction.
later.
Elastic behavior of the material occurs when the current mean u
effective stress is smaller than the maximum mean effective To determine the values of f s, f u, and Sw required to obtain
stress experienced by the soil. For such a case, parameter e be- Bishop's parameter , a solidporous model able to simulate the
comes the slope of the unloadingre-loading stress path e (which SWRCs and the distribution of water in the pores of soil needs to
also shows negative values), and the relationship in eq. [8] trans- be built. A succinct description of the solidporous model adopted
forms into herein is provided in the next section.
Fig. 5. Numerical volumetric behavior of soils related to (a) mean Fig. 6. Solidporous model.
net stress and (b) mean effective stress.
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2 2
[15] rb1 rb2 rs2
where rb1, rb2, and rs represent the radius of the two contiguous
bonds and that of the cavity, respectively. In the nodes where the
construction principle is not respected, exchanges of bonds and
cavities with other nodes are performed until this principle is
fullled everywhere in the network. Once the porous network has
been built, the solids are placed at the voids between cavities and
For personal use only.
bonds. The solids are also placed at random, but following a size
strategy. This strategy ensures that large solids are placed around
large pores and small solids around small pores. In addition, only
the most external throats and solids of the model are communi-
cated to the boundaries as shown in Fig. 6. This procedure is
intended to approximately simulate the structure of real soils.
Once the solidporous model has been built, it is possible to
Solidporous model simulate the retention curves of the soil and nd the values of
u
A complete description of the solidporous model employed in parameters f s, f u, and Sw . For that purpose it is considered that the
this paper can be found elsewhere (Rojas 2008b); only a brief de- lling and drying of pores subjected to a certain suction is deter-
scription of the main aspects of the model is provided here. The mined by the Laplace equation, which is written as
solidporous model is intended to roughly simulate the structure
of real soils. It can be built as a regular two- or three-dimensional [16] ua uw 2Ts(cos) /rc
network made of the four distinct elements already mentioned:
macropores, mesopores, bonds, and solids. The cavities are placed where ua and uw are the air and water pressures, respectively; Ts
at the nodes of the network whereas the horizontal and vertical represents the tension of the gasuid interface; is the contact
lines linking these nodes represent the throats. The solids are angle between the uid and the solid particles; and rc is the max-
placed in the spaces left by cavities and throats (see Fig. 6). In a imum radius for a pore to remain saturated at the current suction.
three-dimensional network, the cavities are represented by This means that all pores with a radius equal to or smaller than rc
spheres and the throats by cylinders, while for a two-dimensional could saturate during a wetting process. However, because all
network the cavities are circles and the throats, rectangles. The pores are interconnected, besides complying with eq. [16], pores
number of pores of each size can be dened from the PSD of the must be connected to an element that is already saturated and
soil. MIP or scanning electron micrograph (SEM) techniques can linked to the bulk of water to saturate.
be used to obtain the PSD. Then, the PSD curve is subdivided into At the beginning of a wetting process, it is considered that all
a number of constant sizerange columns. The total area below pores are dry, that suction is very large, and that it reduces by
the curve represents the total volume of voids and the area of each steps. The rst pore that saturates is the smallest throat located at
column represents the volume of the pores of a certain range. The the boundaries of the model. With further reduction in suction,
pore size assigned to each column is the mean size of the corre- larger bonds and the smallest cavities connected to these throats
sponding range. Because the volume of a single pore is deter- can saturate. For each decrement in suction, all pores connected
mined by its size, the number of pores of each size can be to saturated pores that, in addition, comply with eq. [16] can be
obtained. Similarly, the number of solids of each size is deter- identied. Thus the volume of saturated pores can be determined
mined from the GSD of the material using the same procedure. All for each value of suction and the wetting retention curve can be
cavities and bonds are distributed at random in the network. built.
However, as throats should always be smaller than their linked In the same manner, during a drying process all pores are ini-
cavities and they should not superpose one to the other when they tially saturated and suction increases by steps. The rst pore to dry
are concurrent to a cavity, a construction principle has to be es- is the largest throat located at the boundaries of the model. How-
tablished to ensure that the network is physically possible. In a ever, because cavities are always larger than throats, at the same
bidimensional network, this principle states that two contiguous time as this bond dries its connected cavity also dries. With fur-
Fig. 7. Results for Montmorillonite clay: (a) tting of SWRCs, (b) numerical PSD and experimental GSD, (c) parameters fs, fu, Suw, and , and
(d) volumetric behavior by suction increase (experimental data from Fleureau et al. 1993).
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For personal use only.
ther increments of suction, smaller bonds and their connected to, when a cavity saturates, all of its concurrent bonds also satu-
cavities dry. Therefore, pores larger than rc will dry only if they are rate. Therefore, the size distribution of cavities regulates the wet-
connected to an element that has already been dried. During this ting process.
process, it is possible to quantify the volume of voids being dried For the tting process it is desirable to obtain the SWRCs from
for each increment of suction and build the drying retention samples that have been subjected to the same equalization stress
curve of the material. path prior to the volumetric test itself to include the initial struc-
These curves can be compared with the experimental results to ture of the soil in the solidporous model. Additionally, it is al-
validate the model (see, for example, Rojas 2008b). In general, the ways possible to introduce the changes in the PSD while the
PSD of a porous material obtained from an MIP test or the image volumetric response of the soil sample progresses because macro-
analysis of SEM solely reports the size distribution of cavities. This pores and cavities are considered as different entities. For this
happens because the volume of bonds is so small compared with purpose, a similar approach to that used by Koliji et al. (2006) can
that of cavities that it is extremely difcult to differentiate one be used. However, the evolution of the PSD during the progress of
from the other. In addition, PSDs obtained from MIP tests, in the test is required to validate the procedure adopted for the
general, report smaller pore sizes as, to intrude a cavity, mercury
pore-size reduction. Unfortunately, there is a lack of experimental
needs to rst intrude a linking bond, which requires a larger
data on this issue.
mercury pressure than the cavity. For that reason, a more practi-
As the solidporous model simulates the distribution of water
cal procedure to obtain the PSD of a material is by tting the
in the pores of the material at each increment of suction, it is
numerical SWRCs to the experimental curves. This process can be
possible to determine the volume of solids and pores pertaining to
accomplished by successively modifying an initially proposed PSD
for both cavities and bonds until the best t for both curves is the saturated, unsaturated, and dry fractions and thus obtain the
u
obtained. During this tting process, it is taken into account that values of parameters f s, f u, and Sw as required in eq. [12]. In that
the drying curve depends primarily on the size distribution of sense, the role of the GSD in the solidporous model is essential
bonds while the wetting curve depends for the most part on the for the determination of these parameters, but not for the reten-
size distribution of cavities (Haines 1929). This is because the rst tion curves.
pores to dry are the largest (cavities) while the smallest (bonds) An important drawback to the solidporous model is that
u
require larger values of suction to dry. Because cavities are larger parameters f s, f u, and Sw have not been experimentally veried.
than their concurrent bonds, when a bond dries, the cavity to However, comparisons between experimental and numerical
which it is connected also dries. Therefore, the size distribution of macroscopic results can be used to validate the model. In addi-
bonds regulates the drying retention curve. In contrast, the rst tion, important improvements have been made on the combina-
pores to saturate are the smallest (bonds) while the larger (cavi- tion of X-ray and neutron tomography techniques that may be
ties) require further reduction in the value of suction to saturate. helpful in providing results with respect to this issue in the near
Because all bonds are smaller than the cavity they are connected future.
Numerical and experimental results comparison Fig. 8. Results for Sterrebeek loam: (a) tting of the SWRCs,
To evaluate the proposed framework for the volumetric behav- (b) parameter , and (c) volumetric behavior by suction increase at two
ior of unsaturated soils, the results of various tests performed on different net stresses (experimental data from Fleureau et al. 1993).
a variety of materials and for different loading conditions were
employed. Fleureau et al. (1993) prepared different clayey soils at
a water content of 1.5 times its liquid limit. This slurry was con-
solidated in an oedometric cell with vertical stresses ranging
between 0.06 and 0.2 MPa. Then the samples followed a drying
wetting path where suction was controlled using the axis transla-
tion technique for low suctions and the vapor circulation
technique for large suctions. With the results of these tests, the
variations of the void ratio, the degree of saturation, and the
water content with the value of suction were determined. Also
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the GSD and both SWRCs for some of these materials were re-
ported. The PSD of the soil was inferred by tting the numerical
SWRCs with the experimental results according to the aforemen-
tioned procedure.
With the numerical PSD, experimental GSD, and void ratio, the
solidporous model was built. Using this model, the values of
u
parameters f s, f u, and Sw were determined as a function of suction
for both the wetting and drying paths. With these parameters, the
effective stress was computed using eq. [12] and the numerical
volumetric response of the material was derived from eq. [8].
Figure 7a shows the tting of the SWRCs for a Montmorillonite
clay. Figure 7b represents the numerical PSD obtained at the end
of the tting process along with the experimental GSD of the
material in the axes of size versus relative volume. The relative
volume is the volume of pores (or solids) of a certain size divided
For personal use only.
Fig. 9. Results for residual gneiss: (a) tting of the SWRCs, (b) numerical and experimental PSD, (c) values of parameter , and (d) volumetric
behavior at different suctions (experimental data from Futai and Almeida 2005).
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For personal use only.
there is some scattering for the sample tested at a suction of directly in the soil samples using two suction probes. Some of the
0.3 MPa, the model adequately simulates the volumetric behavior experimental results are shown in Fig. 10. The experimental
of an isotropically loaded soil subjected to different suctions. The SWRCs and the numerical tting for these curves are shown in
volumetric strains were determined using eq. [14] up to the yield Fig. 10a. Figure 10b shows the variation of parameter with suc-
stress generated at the end of the drying stage. From that point, tion. With these values it is possible to obtain the numerical vol-
eq. [8] was used for the rest of the curve. Because the increase in umetric response of the material during suction increase as
the yield stress of a saturated sample generated during a drying shown in Fig. 10c. In this case, the experimental behavior shows a
stage is given by the quantity s, the nal yield stress is obtained clear elastic rebound (even if there is some scattering) indicating
by adding the initial pre-consolidation stress of the soil in satu- that the effective stress reduces at some stage during the drying
rated conditions to the increment of the yield stress during the process. This happens because as suction increases, the value of
drying stage. the matric stress (represented in this gure by the product s)
The pre-consolidation stress of the material in saturated condi- reaches a maximum and then decreases, as shown in Fig. 10d. In
tions is around 0.14 MPa, as can be observed in Fig. 9d. The values this gure, it can be noted that when suction reaches a value
of parameter for the different suctions were obtained from slightly greater than 1 MPa, the matric stress reaches its maxi-
Fig. 9c resulting in = 0.6 for s = 0.1 MPa and = 0.58 for s = 0.3 MPa, mum and then reduces while suction keeps increasing. When the
which produced the following pre-consolidation stresses: p0 = 0.2 drying path inverses to wetting, the matric stress reduces further
for s = 0.1 MPa and p0 = 0.31 for s = 0.3 MPa. From the results shown then increases (but never reaches the drying maximum value) and
in Fig. 9d it can be noticed that the theoretical pre-consolidation nally reduces again while suction keeps reducing. Therefore,
stress for the unsaturated samples corresponds well with the ex- when the matric stress reduces after reaching its maximum value,
perimental results. The considered values for the compression the numerical response switches from elastoplastic (eq. [8]) to
index in loading and re-loading were e = 0.25 and e = 0.04. purely elastic (eq. [14]). The numerical results were obtained with
Similar tests were performed by Cunningham et al. (2003) in a the following parameters: e = 0.13 and e = 0.04. Similar results
mixture of 20% speswhite kaolin, 10% London clay, and 70% silica were reported and simulated by Vlahinic et al. (2009) and Blight
silt. With this mixture, a slurry was prepared with a water content (2010) on different porous materials. This reduction of the effec-
of 1.5 times its liquid limit. Then it was one-dimensionally pre- tive stress during drying can also be observed in the experimental
consolidated in a 20.4 cm diameter oedometric cell to a maximum results reporting the strength of the material with suction. A
vertical stress of 0.2 MPa. The soil samples were then trimmed maximum value and then a reduction of the strength can be
from this pre-consolidated soil mass to the appropriate size. The observed if suction is increased sufciently (see, for example,
tests included the GSD, both SWRCs obtained from the lter pa- Escario and Juc 1989; Gan and Fredlund 1996; Vanapalli et al.
per technique, isotropic loading, and shear tests at constant suc- 1996; Pereira et al. 2006; Vesga 2008; Vlahinic et al. 2009; Zhang
tion in the triaxial apparatus. For these last tests, suction was and Zhou 2008). This same behavior is observed in the tensional
controlled using the air circulation technique and was measured strength of soils (Fredlund et al. 1996). Also, some constitutive
Fig. 10. Results for soil mixture: (a) tting of SWRCs, (b) parameter , (c) volumetric response with suction, (d) matric stress s, and
(e) volumetric response with mean net stress (experimental data from Cunningham et al. 2003).
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models consider this reduction in the strength of soils with suc- ranged between 0 and 300 kPa. Finally, the samples were isotro-
tion (Toll and Ong 2005; Vesga 2008; Benatti et al. 2010). However, pically loaded up to a net stress of 700 kPa. The tting of the SWRC
not all soils show this behavior; for example, soils with large clay in wetting and drying is shown in Fig. 11a. The values of parameter
contents may show a continuous increase in strength with suction in wetting and drying are shown in Fig. 11b. Finally, Fig. 11c shows
due to the presence of a great number of menisci of adsorbed the comparison between experimental and numerical results for
water that do not disappear even at very large suctions. On the the isotropic loading tests performed at different suctions.
contrary, the effect of suction on the strength of sandy soils dis- The pre-consolidation stress for each test was obtained by add-
appears completely at large suctions. Figure 10e shows the numer- ing the matric stress s to the saturated pre-consolidation stress
ical and experimental results for isotropic loading at different (0.025 MPa), resulting in the following pre-consolidation stresses:
suctions on the axis of the mean net stress versus void ratio. In 0.07, 0.09, 0.1, and 0.1 MPa for suctions of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and
this case the materials were dried from slurry and because of that, 0.2 MPa, respectively. The values of parameter for each suction
the pre-consolidation stress equals the matric stress s, where were obtained from Fig. 11b. These results show good agreement
parameter was obtained from Fig. 10b. for both the pre-consolidation stress and the overall volumetric
Similar tests were conducted by Thu et al. (2007) on statically behavior of the material.
compacted industrial coarse kaolin. All samples were compacted
at the optimum water content and then saturated using back Discussion
pressure. Afterwards, all samples were consolidated at an isotro- The phenomenon of collapse upon wetting has been one of the
pic net stress of 10 kPa following a drying stage where suction major reasons to refute the suitability of Bishop's equation to
Fig. 11. Results for coarse kaolin: (a) tting of SWRCs, (b) parameter the saturated condition is 0s0. This increment in the effective
in wetting and drying, and (c) volumetric behavior (experimental stress produces plastic volumetric deformations that harden the
data from Thu et al. 2007). LCYS in the same quantity: 0s0. At this stage, the LCYS shows the
same shape as the drying path. When the soil is loaded (path BE),
the increment in the net stress needs to cross the LCYS to activate
the elastoplastic behavior of the material. Therefore, an initial
elastic behavior is observed before the soil shows irreversible de-
formations. This result is conrmed by the experimental results
reported by different authors (see, for example, Futai and Almeida
2005; Jotisankasa et al. 2007; Thu et al. 2007). At the end of the
loading stage, the hardening of the LCYS (p 0) at the effective
stress axis (s = 0) is, according to eqs. [7] and [14],
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p (1 e)p
[17] p 0 ep pv
e(e e) e(e e)
where ep and pv represent the plastic void ratio change and the
plastic volumetric strain increment, respectively. Thus, the LCYS
tilts towards the right-hand side as it goes from the stress reached
at the end of loading to the stress representing the hardening at
the effective stress axis as shown in Fig. 12. At this stage, a wetting
path can now cut the LCYS and the soil is in the condition to
collapse.
The shape of the hardened LCYS can be determined in a way
similar to the usual experimental procedure: departing from the
previous yield surface a load is applied to produce a plastic defor-
mation that hardens the yield surface; then, following an unload-
For personal use only.
ing, path a new state of stresses is reached inside the elastic zone;
and nally the sample is loaded until yield is observed, dening a
new point on the hardened yield surface. For the numerical case,
a similar procedure is applied except that the same increment of
the plastic deformation obtained during yielding should be ob-
tained with a different combination of stresses. In addition, these
different combinations of the state of stresses need to depart from
the previous yield surface. In this case, the initial yield surface is
the one obtained after the rst drying of the sample (dotted line
CSD in Fig. 12). Let eC and eS be the void ratios at points C and S,
respectively. The void ratio eS is obtained by following an unload-
ing path from point C (where the effective stress is p0i
20s0) to point S (where the effective stress is p0i s 0s0).
Therefore, the following relationship between eC and eS can be
written according to eq. [14]
p0i 20s0
eC
[18]
eS p0i s 0s0
LC YS aer drying
Sucon
Inial LCYS
B C E I LC YS aer collapse
s0
K New drying-weng
Drying path cycle
S G
s
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p0i s 0s0 (1 ) Fig. 13. Volumetric behavior of Boom clay during wettingdrying
[21] ps
p0 20s0
(p 0s0) cycles (modied after Romero et al. (2003)).
For personal use only.
u
Fig. 14. Critical state for speswhite samples tested at different and Sw needed to quantify the volumetric response of unsatu-
suctions (experimental data from Wheeler and Sivakumar 1995). rated soils.
3. The use of the proposed volumetric equation along with the
elastoplastic framework to simulate the volumetric behavior
during isotropic loading of soils at different suctions results in
a family of parallel lines showing a slope equal to the saturated
compression index. More numerical and experimental com-
parisons are required to fully prove this proposal.
4. Elastoplastic constitutive models based on the effective stress
principle intending to simulate the hydromechanical cou-
pling phenomenon need to be coupled with a reliable solid
porous model capable of simulating the hydraulic behavior of
the material. The solidporous model proposed in this paper
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by CONCORDIA UNIV on 06/08/13
single failure surface for soils tested at different suctions in wet- Benatti, J.C.B., Miguel, M.G., Rodriguez, R.A., and Vilar, O.M. 2010. Collapsibility
ting or drying paths, including those in saturated conditions. Be- study for tropical soil prole using oedometric tests with controlled suction,
In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Unsaturated Soils,
cause the effective stress is dened as the stress controlling both Barcelona, Spain. Vol. 1, pp. 193198.
the strength and the volumetric behavior of materials, this would Bishop, A.W. 1960. The measurement of pore pressure in the triaxial test. In
mean that Bishop's equation indeed represents the effective stress Proceedings of the Conference on Pore Pressure, Butterworks, London.
equation for unsaturated soils when parameter is dened as in pp. 3846.
eq. [11]. In such a case, the hydromechanical coupling phenome- Blight, G.E. 2010. Shrinkage during wetting of ned-pored materials. Does this
accord with the principle of effective stress? In Proceedings of the Fifth
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unsaturated soils can be greatly simplied. Nevertheless, still Borja, R.I. 2002. Cam clay plasticity. Part V: A mathematical framework for three
more experimental and numerical comparisons are required to phase deformation and strain localization analysis of partially saturated po-
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A drawback to this approach is that the proposed elastoplastic Geotechnical Journal, 49(8): 954960. doi:10.1139/t2012-054.
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