A Micro-Mechanical Study of the Dynamic Response of Unsaturated Level Sites and Sloping Grounds

A micro-mechanical model was used to study of the dynamic response of unsaturated granular soil deposits (with a degree of saturation around 7%). The discrete element method was employed to idealize the soil skeleton. The effects of interparticle water bridges in a pendular state were modeled using suction and viscous forces. These forces are a function of water content and interparticle distance, along with other material parameters and characteristics. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the impact of moisture content on the dynamic response of level and sloping ground deposits when subjected to a dynamic base excitation. The dynamic response of level and sloping ground deposits exhibited similar and mostly linear responses when subjected to a moderate cyclic loading. The outcome of these simulations provided a valuable insight into the response of unsaturated soils.