Volume Change Consideration in Determining Unsaturated Soil Properties for Geotechnical Applications
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 16, Issue 6
Abstract
A common underlying assumption in the development of soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs) is that the soil is sufficiently stiff such that no changes occur in the volume of the soil associated with soil-suction change. A number of researchers recently recognized the importance of considering soil-volume changes in SWCCs; however, few researchers have evaluated the effect of volume change on the computed rate and degree of wetting/drying of unsaturated soils and the associated impact on computed soil-volume change response. This paper focuses on the impacts of considering soil-volume change in the determination of SWCCs for high-volume-change soils, with emphasis on the estimated unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function and response to wetting. Numerical simulations of unsaturated flow and suction-induced volume change were used to study the effect of consideration of volume change in the determination of SWCCs. Numerical analyses used laboratory-determined SWCCs with and without the inclusion of volume change measurements. The study results demonstrate that the impact of volume change consideration on SWCCs and the estimated unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function can be quite substantial for high-volume-change soils such as expansive clays.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant 1031238. The opinions, conclusions, and interpretations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of NSF.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 16 • Issue 6 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 2, 2014
Accepted: Jul 15, 2015
Published online: Dec 16, 2015
Discussion open until: May 16, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
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