Moistening Deformation Constitutive Model for Unsaturated Loess
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22, Issue 8
Abstract
The quantification of the moistening deformation for wetting-sensitive unsaturated loess is of direct interest in regions implementing geotechnical engineering. Many constitutive models are available for describing the stress–strain behavior of unsaturated soils. However, few constitutive models directly describe moistening deformation. In this study, two types of triaxial tests were carried out on undisturbed loess. A triaxial compression test was conducted to determine the shear strength boundary of a specimen, and a triaxial moistening test with different stress ratios was used to study the moistening deformation law. The volumetric strain caused by moistening was used as the hardening parameter. A humidity variable was defined as the moisture level, and this parameter could reflect the moistening degree. The experimental rule and plastic theory were combined to establish the constitutive model. The model could directly calculate the deformation amount caused by moistening under different stress states. The model is applicable to the loess in the Guanzhong area in the Chinese Loess Plateau.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the three anonymous reviewers for their detailed and constructive comments. This work was supported by the Science and Technology Project of Henan Province (Project Nos. 212102310938 and 222102320451), the Education Department of Henan Province (Project No. 22B560010), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51379220).
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22 • Issue 8 • August 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 3, 2021
Accepted: Mar 14, 2022
Published online: Jun 1, 2022
Published in print: Aug 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Nov 1, 2022
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