Critical Hydraulic Gradients of Internal Erosion under Complex Stress States
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 9
Abstract
Internal erosion involves selective loss of fine particles within the matrix of coarse soil particles under seepage flow, which affects the hydraulic and mechanical behavior of the soil. In this research, extensive laboratory internal erosion tests were conducted under complex stress states following three stress paths: isotropic, drained triaxial compression, and triaxial extension stress paths. These tests were designed to investigate the initiation and development of internal erosion and the effect of stress state on critical hydraulic gradients. The entire erosion process can be divided into four phases: stable, initiation, development, and failure. Accordingly, three critical gradients termed as initiation, skeleton-deformation, and failure hydraulic gradients, can be defined. These critical gradients correspond to the onset of erosion of the fine particles filling the large pores of the skeleton, the buckling of the strong force chains formed by the coarse particles, and the soil failure, respectively. The initiation gradient under compression stress conditions generally increases with the shear stress ratio first and then decreases when the stress conditions approach failure. The tests under isotropic stress conditions show the largest initiation and skeleton-deformation gradients at the same porosity.
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Acknowledgments
The research was substantially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51129902), the National 973 Basic Research Program (Grant No. 2011CB013506), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (Grant No. 622210).
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© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 29, 2011
Accepted: Nov 26, 2012
Published online: Nov 28, 2012
Published in print: Sep 1, 2013
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