Determining the Shapes of Yield Curves for Unsaturated Soils by Modified State Surface Approach
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
Attention is increasingly paid to the elastoplastic behavior of unsaturated soils. In the development of an elastoplastic framework for unsaturated soils, it is necessary to determine the initial shape of the yield curve and its evolution with yielding. Accordingly, correct determination of shapes of yield curves is of significant importance. Existing methods rely on use of a series of specimens with “identical” stress history to determine the initial shape of yield curve. Preparation of such specimens requires thoughtful preparation, careful instrumentation, and lengthy equilibrium time, which makes identical specimens very difficult to obtain. As a result, the yield curve obtained through the existing methods could be misleading. Hence, this paper presents a simple method to correctly and rapidly determine the shapes of the yield curves and their evolution during yielding even if the soil specimens do no have identical stress histories. In this new method, a modified state surface approach, recently proposed to model the elastoplastic behavior of unsaturated soils under isotropic conditions, was applied. It overcomes the limitations in the existing methods, and allows correct and rapid determination of the elastic and plastic hardening surfaces, and then shapes of yield curves without additional laboratory work. An example was used to demonstrate the application of the proposed method. The comparison between the proposed method and other methods was discussed from which the capability and effectiveness of the proposed method were evaluated.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Alonso, E. E., and Gens, A. (1992). “A framework for the behavior of unsaturated expansive clays.” Can. Geotech. J., 29(6), 761–773.
Alonso, E. E., Gens, A., and Gehling, W. Y. Y. (1994). “Elasto-plastic model for unsaturated expansive soils.” Numerical models in geotechnical engineering, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 11–18.
Alonso, E. E., Gens, A., and Josa, A. (1990). “A constitutive model for partially saturated soils.” Geotechnique, 40(3), 405–430.
Alonso, E. E., Vaunat, J., and Gens, A. (1999). “Modeling the mechanical behavior of expansive clays.” Eng. Geol. (Amsterdam), 54(1–2), 173–183.
Blatz, J. A., and Graham, J. (2003). “Elastic-plastic modeling of unsaturated soil using results from a new triaxial test with controlled suction.” Geotechnique, 53(1), 113–122.
Casagrande, A. (1936). “The determination of the preconsolidation load and its practical significance.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 3, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 60–64.
Cui, Y. J., and Delage, P. (1996). “Yielding and plastic behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt.” Geotechnique, 46(2), 291–311.
Delage, P., and Graham, I. (1996). “State of the art report–understanding the behavior of unsaturated soils requires reliable conceptual models.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Unsaturated Soils, E. E. Alonso and P. Delage, eds., Vol. 3, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1223–1256.
Fredlund, D. G., and Hasan, J. U. (1979). “One-dimensional consolidation theory: Unsaturated soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 16(3), 521–531.
Fredlund, D. G., and Rahardjo, H. (1993). Soil mechanics for unsaturated soils, Wiley, New York.
Gallipoli, D., Wheeler, S. J., and Karstunen, M. (2003). “Modeling the variation of degree of saturation in a deformable unsaturated soil.” Geotechnique, 53(1), 105–112.
Gens, A. (1996). “Constitutive modeling: Application to compacted soil.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Unsaturated Soils, E. E. Alonso and P. Delage, eds., Vol. 3, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1179–1200.
Ho, D. Y. F., Fredlund, D. G., and Rahardjo, H. (1992). “Volume change indices during loading and unloading of an unsaturated soil.” Can. Geotech. J., 29, 195–217.
Lloret, A., and Alonso, E. E. (1980). “Consolidation of unsaturated soils including swelling and collapse behavior.” Geotechnique, 30(4), 449–477.
Matyas, E. L., and Radhakrishna, H. S. (1968). “Volume change characteristics of partially saturated soils.” Geotechnique, 18(4), 432–448.
Rampino, C., Mancuso, C., and Vinale, F. (2000). “Experimental behaviour and modelling of an unsaturated compacted soil.” Can. Geotech. J., 37, 748–763.
Robles, J., and Elorza, F. J. (2002). “A triaxial constitutive model for unsaturated soils.” Environmental geomechanics, L. Vulliet, L. Laloui, and B. Schrefler, eds., EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 207–213.
Sharma, R. S. (1998). “Mechanical behaviour of unsaturated highly expansive clays.” D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K.
Sheng, D., Sloan, S. W., and Gens, A. (2004). “A constitutive model for unsaturated soils: Thermomechanical and computational aspects.” Comput. Mech., 33(6), 453–465.
Thu, T. M., Rahardjo, H., and Leong, E. C. (2007). “Soil-water characteristic curve and consolidation behavior for a compacted silt.” Can. Geotech. J., 44(3), 266–275.
Vaunat, J., Romero, E., and Jommi, C. (2000). “An elasto-plastic hydro-mechanical model for unsaturated soils.” Experimental evidence and theoretic approaches in unsaturated soils, A. Tarantino and C. Mancuso, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 121–138.
Wheeler, S. J. (1996). “Inclusion of specific water volume within an elasto-plastic model for unsaturated soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 33, 42–57.
Wheeler, S. J., and Karube, D. (1996). “State of the art report-constitutive modeling.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Unsaturated Soils, E. E. Alonso and P. Delage, eds., Vol. 3, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1323–1356.
Wheeler, S. J., Sharma, R. S., and Buisson, M. S. R. (2003). “Coupling of hydraulic hysteresis and stress-strain behavior in unsaturated soils.” Geotechnique, 53(1), 41–54.
Wheeler, S. J., and Sivakumar, V. (1995). “An elasto-plastic critical state framework for unsaturated soil.” Geotechnique, 45(1), 35–53.
Zhang, X., and Lytton, R. L. (2008). “Discussion of ‘A new modeling approach for unsaturated soils using independent stress variables.’” Can. Geotech. J., 45(12), 1784–1787.
Zhang, X., and Lytton, R. L. (2009a). “A modified state surface approach on unsaturated soil behavior study. (I) Basic concept.” Can. Geotech. J., 46(5), 536–552.
Zhang, X., and Lytton, R. L. (2009b). “A modified state surface approach on unsaturated soil behavior study. (II) General formulation.” Can. Geotech. J., 46(5), 553–570.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 239 - 247
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 5, 2007
Accepted: Jul 10, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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.