Microstructurally Related Model for Predicting Behavior of Unsaturated Soils with Double Porosity in Triaxial Space
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22, Issue 12
Abstract
The microstructure can have an important impact on the hydraulic and mechanical behaviors of unsaturated soil; therefore, it must be considered in constitutive models to enable accurate predictions of soil behavior. This paper focused on the constitutive modeling of soils that exhibited a dual porosity structure. Based on the assumption that macro and micropores contained in the double porosity structure had different influences on the mechanical and hydraulic behaviors, the effective degree of saturation (Se) was selected as a microstructural index. This microstructural index was implemented within Bishop’s effective stress-based approach and the Glasgow coupled (GCM) and modified Cam-Clay models (MCC) were adopted as the basic framework for the development of a constitutive model. Typical samples of low expansive, nonexpansive, and collapsible soils with dual porosity were selected to validate the model’s performance, and the model performed well when compared with experimental data for isotropic compression, triaxial shear, and wetting tests.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or codes that support the findings of this paper are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U2034204, 52078031, U1834206), the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality (8202038), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2021CZ109, 2021JBZ111), and the China Scholarship Council from the Ministry of Education of P.R. China (CSC202007090010).
References
Alazaiza, M. Y. D., S. K. Ngien, M. M. Bob, S. A. Kamaruddin, and W. M. F. Ishak. 2017. “Influence of macro-pores on DNAPL migration in double-porosity soil using light transmission visualization method.” Transp. Porous Media 117 (1): 103–123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-017-0822-3.
Almahbobi, S. A. 2018. Experimental study of volume change and shear strength behaviour of statically compacted collapsible soil. Cardiff, UK: Cardiff Univ.
Alonso, E. E., J.-M. Pereira, J. Vaunat, and S. Olivella. 2010. “A microstructurally based effective stress for unsaturated soils.” Géotechnique 60 (12): 913–925. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.8.P.002.
Bagherieh, A. R., N. Khalili, G. Habibagahi, and A. Ghahramani. 2009. “Drying response and effective stress in a double porosity aggregated soil.” Eng. Geol. 105 (1–2): 44–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.12.009.
Bishop, A. W. 1959. “The principle of effective stress.” Tek. Ukebl. 39: 859–863.
Cai, G., X. He, L. Dong, S. Liu, Z. Xu, C. Zhao, and D. Sheng. 2020a. “The shear and tensile strength of unsaturated soils by a grain-scale investigation.” Granular Matter 22: 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-019-0969-4.
Cai, G., A. Zhou, Y. Liu, R. Xu, and C. Zhao. 2020b. “Soil water retention behavior and microstructure evolution of lateritic soil in the suction range of 0–286.7 MPa.” Acta Geotech. 15 (12): 3327–3341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-01011-w.
Cai, G., A. Zhou, and D. Sheng. 2014. “Permeability function for unsaturated soils with different initial densities.” Can. Geotech. J. 51 (12): 1456–1467. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2013-0410.
Cai, G. Q., Y. N. Wang, A. N. Zhou, and C. G. Zhao. 2018. “A microstructure-dependent hydro-mechanical coupled constitutive model for unsaturated soils.” Chin. J. Geotech. Eng. 40 (4): 618–624. https://doi.org/10.11779/CJGE201804005.
Casini, F., J. Vaunat, E. Romero, and A. Desideri. 2012. “Consequences on water retention properties of double-porosity features in a compacted silt.” Acta Geotech. 7 (2): 139–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-012-0159-6.
Cui, Y. J., and P. Delage. 1996. “Yielding and plastic behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt.” Géotechnique 46 (2): 291–311. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.1996.46.2.291.
Cuisinier, O., J.-C. Auriol, T. Le Borgne, and D. Deneele. 2011. “Microstructure and hydraulic conductivity of a compacted lime-treated soil.” Eng. Geol. 123 (3): 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.07.010.
Eyo, E. U., S. Ng’ambi, and S. J. Abbey. 2022. “An overview of soil–water characteristic curves of stabilised soils and their influential factors.” J. King Saud Univ. Eng. Sci. 34 (1): 31–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.07.013.
Houlsby, G. T. 1997. “The work input to an unsaturated granular material.” Géotechnique 47 (1): 193–196. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.1997.47.1.193.
Jia, R., H. Lei, and K. Li. 2020. “Compressibility and microstructure evolution of different reconstituted clays during 1D compression.” Int. J. Geomech. 20 (10): 04020181. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0001830.
Lewandowska, J., A. Szymkiewicz, K. Burzyński, and M. Vauclin. 2004. “Modeling of unsaturated water flow in double-porosity soils by the homogenization approach.” Adv. Water Resour. 27 (3): 283–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2003.12.004.
Li, J., Z.-Y. Yin, Y.-J. Cui, K. Liu, and J.-H. Yin. 2019. “An elasto-plastic model of unsaturated soil with an explicit degree of saturation-dependent CSL.” Eng. Geol. 260: 105240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2019.105240.
Li, J., C. Zhao, G. Cai, S. Asreazad, X. F. Xu, and Q. Huang. 2013. “The input work expression and the thermodynamics-based modelling framework for unsaturated expansive soils with double porosity.” Chin. Sci. Bull. 58 (27): 3422–3429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5828-9.
Lloret-Cabot, M., M. Sánchez, and S. J. Wheeler. 2013. “Formulation of a three-dimensional constitutive model for unsaturated soils incorporating mechanical-water retention couplings.” Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech. 37 (17): 3008–3035. https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.2176.
Low, H.-E., K.-K. Phoon, T.-S. Tan, and S. Leroueil. 2008. “Effect of soil microstructure on the compressibility of natural Singapore marine clay.” Can. Geotech. J. 45 (2): 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1139/T07-075.
Manahiloh, K. N., B. Muhunthan, and W. J. Likos. 2016. “Microstructure-based effective stress formulation for unsaturated granular soils.” Int. J. Geomech. 16 (6): D4016006. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000617.
Mašín, D. 2013. “Double structure hydromechanical coupling formalism and a model for unsaturated expansive clays.” Eng. Geol. 165: 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2013.05.026.
Mašín, D., V. Herbstová, and J. Boháč. 2005. “Properties of double porosity clayfills and suitable constitutive models.” In Proc., 16th Int. Conf. Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 827–830. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press.
Musso, G., E. Romero, and G. Della Vecchia. 2014. “Double-structure effects on the chemo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of a compacted active clay.” In Proc., of Bio- and Chemo- Mechanical Processes in Geotechnical Engineering, 3–17. London: ICE Publishing.
Ngien, S. K., N. A. Rahman, K. Ahmad, and R. W. Lewis. 2012. “A review of experimental studies on double-porosity soils.” Sci. Res. Essays 7 (38): 3243–3250. https://doi.org/10.5897/SRE11.2131.
Ranaivomanana, H., A. Razakamanantsoa, and O. Amiri. 2017. “Permeability prediction of soils including degree of compaction and microstructure.” Int. J. Geomech. 17 (4): 04016107. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000792.
Romero, E., and P. H. Simms. 2008. “Microstructure investigation in unsaturated soils: A review with special attention to contribution of mercury intrusion porosimetry and environmental scanning electron microscopy.” Geotech. Geol. Eng. 26 (6): 705–727. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-008-9204-5.
Roscoe, K., and J. B. Burland. 1968. “On the generalized stress-strain behaviour of wet clay.” In Engineering plasticity, 535–609. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Russell, A. R. 2010. “Water retention characteristics of soils with double porosity.” Eur. J. Soil Sci. 61 (3): 412–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2010.01237.x.
Sánchez, M., A. Gens, M. V. Villar, and S. Olivella. 2016. “Fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical double-porosity formulation for unsaturated soils.” Int. J. Geomech. 16 (6): D4016015. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000728.
Sergeyev, Y. M., B. Grabowska-Olszewska, V. I. Osipov, V. N. Sokolov, and Y. N. Kolomenski. 1980. “The classification of microstructures of clay soils.” J. Microsc. 120 (3): 237–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2818.1980.tb04146.x.
Sivakumar, V. 1993. A critical state framework for unsaturated soil. Sheffield, UK: Univ. of Sheffield.
Tian-er, M. A. O., and X. I. A. Lin. 2010. “Experimental research on microstructure of expansive soil in north of Hubei province.” J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. Urban Sci. Ed. 2: 48–52. https://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-WHCJ201002012.htm.
Trzciński, J., and E. Wójcik. 2019. “Application of microstructure classification for the assessment of the variability of geological-engineering and pore space properties in clay soils.” Open Geosci. 11 (1): 236–248. https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2019-0019.
Wheeler, S. J., R. S. Sharma, and M. S. R. Buisson. 2003. “Coupling of hydraulic hysteresis and stress–strain behaviour in unsaturated soils.” Géotechnique 53 (1): 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2003.53.1.41.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 16, 2021
Accepted: Jun 5, 2022
Published online: Sep 22, 2022
Published in print: Dec 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Feb 22, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Constitutive relations
- Engineering fundamentals
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Hydraulic models
- Laboratory tests
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials characterization
- Materials engineering
- Mathematics
- Microstructure
- Model accuracy
- Models (by type)
- Porosity
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soils (by type)
- Tests (by type)
- Triaxial tests
- Unsaturated soils
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.