Collapsible Soil Model for the Prediction of Mechanical Characteristics of Partially Saturated Collapsible Soils
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 7
Abstract
Aeolian and kaolin deposits contribute greatly to infrastructural damage during the rainy seasons because of massive collapse settlements. The prediction of wetting-induced collapse potential and compressibility behavior under partly saturated states is essential for the development of infrastructure on these deposits. In this study, a general constitutive model was developed from the suction-controlled compression and wetting-induced collapse tests. The effect of particle orientation resulting from various initial compaction conditions, drying paths, and wetting paths on the yielding behavior of soil was investigated. A new collapsible soil model (CoSM) was presented by considering the wetting-induced changes to the clay fabric associations in the collapsible soils. The proposed CoSM requires eight parameters for evaluating the mechanical behavior. These model parameters can be readily estimated from simple compression tests, which is the major advantage of the model. The derived equations were capable of predicting three crucial mechanical characteristics, namely, loading-collapse yield, compression, and collapse behavior from the basic compression data. The model shows an excellent agreement with the measured data for two kaolin soils from the present work and several collapsible soils from the literature. The generalized model is capable of predicting mechanical behavior of collapsible soils with various initial compaction states and loading stress histories.
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Data Availability Statement
Some data (measured data and theoretical evaluation using the proposed model) that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The lyophilization of kaolin samples was completed by the Biotech Park Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, for which the authors are very thankful. To obtain the FESEM images, specific surface area, and XRD of kaolin soil, the authors sincerely appreciate the Centre for Instruments Facility (CIF), Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, for the permission to use its resources. The authors are grateful to Dr. Dhanesh Sing Das (Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Nagaland) for his insightful discussions related to this work.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24 • Issue 7 • July 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 24, 2023
Accepted: Jan 12, 2024
Published online: Apr 26, 2024
Published in print: Jul 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Sep 26, 2024
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