Study on Unsaturated Mechanism of Loess Compaction

2011 ◽  
Vol 368-373 ◽  
pp. 2960-2965
Author(s):  
Qing Feng Lv ◽  
Jing Wen Zhao ◽  
Sheng Xin Wang ◽  
Yan Xu Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Pore Space ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Dry Density ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Mineral Component ◽  
Space Topology ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve

The soil-water characteristic curve is an important constitutive feature of unsaturated soils, defining the relationship between the soil suction and moisture content. Mineral component and pore space topology are the most important physical factors affecting the soil-water characteristic, and that dry density synthetically reflects the mineral component and pore space topology. Compaction is a classical application involving unsaturated soil, and dry density represents the pore structure at special moisture content. Soil water characteristic curve for compacted loess is studied by test, and the effect of dry density on soil water characteristic curve is discussed. Based the soil-water characteristic curve and compaction curve, mechanism of compaction is explained. Research results show that the soil-water characteristic curves for all dry density soil intersect at the point, which is optimize moisture content, and suction is the most important factor affecting the compaction.

Research on Soil-Water Characteristic Curve of Unsaturated Mixed-Soil in West Sichuan

2013 ◽  
Vol 353-356 ◽  
pp. 996-1000
Author(s):  
Wei Guang Zhou ◽  
Yu Long Bao ◽  
Hong Bin Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Dry Density ◽  
Residual Moisture ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Physical Composition

A series of tests are conducted to get the physical composition, physical form and the soil-water characteristic curve in different dry density of three typical composite unsaturated soils in west Sichuan. Test data shows that the variation of physical composition, particle size and dry density can result in great change of soil-water characteristic curve. The bigger the dry density is, the more hydrophilic mineral the soil has, the more gentle the soil-water characteristic curve is, and the higher its residual moisture content is. In addition, under the same water content, matrix suction decreases with less clay content and more content. For the three typical composite unsaturated soils, with relatively bigger water content, the change of soil-water characteristic curve resulting from variation of dry density is less, but with the water content getting smaller, the change becomes clearer.

Soil-Water Characteristic Curve for Unsaturated Mixed-Soil Considering Physical Form and Dry Density Effect

2013 ◽  
Vol 353-356 ◽  
pp. 785-789
Author(s):  
Kai Cui ◽  
Hui Huang
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Dry Density ◽  
Residual Moisture ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Physical Composition

A test is conducted to get the soil-water characteristic curve for three typical composite unsaturated soils in west Sichuan, considering its physical composition, physical form and dry density. Test data shows that the variation of physical composition, particle size and dry density can result in great change of soil-water characteristic curve. The bigger the dry density is and the more hydrophilic mineral it has, the more gently the soil-water characteristic curve is, and the higher dry density soil sample has higher residual moisture content. In addition, matrix suction decreased with less clay content and more content under the same water content. For three typical composite unsaturated soils, the change of soil-water characteristic curve resulting from variation of dry density is less in bigger water content, and is more in lower water content.

A relationship describing the shear strength of unsaturated soils

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daud W Rassam ◽  
David J Williams
Keyword(s):  
Shear Strength ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Nonlinear Regression ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Matric Suction ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve ◽  
Stress Dependent

A relationship describing the shear-strength profile of a desiccating soil deposit is essential for the purpose of analysis, especially when a numerical method is adopted where each zone in a discretised grid is assigned an elevation-dependent shear-strength value. The matric-suction profile of a desiccating soil deposit is nonlinear. Up to the air-entry value, an increase in matric suction is associated with a linear increase in shear strength. Beyond air entry, as the soil starts to desaturate, a nonlinear increase in shear strength occurs. The soil-water characteristic curve is stress dependent, as is the shear-strength gain as matric suction increases. In this paper, a three-dimensional, nonlinear regression analysis showed that a power-additive function is suitable to describe the variation of the shear strength of unsaturated soils with matric suction. The proposed function incorporates the effect of normal stress on the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength.Key words: air-entry value, matric suction, nonlinear regression, soil-water characteristic curve, tailings, unsaturated shear strength.

Soil-water characteristic curve and consolidation behavior for a compacted silt

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trinh Minh Thu ◽  
Harianto Rahardjo ◽  
Eng-Choon Leong
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Volume Change ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Matric Suction ◽  
Confining Stress ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve ◽  
Triaxial Cell ◽  
Isotropic Consolidation

Measurement of the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) in the laboratory is commonly conducted under zero confining pressure. However, in the field, the soil is under a confining stress. Therefore, it is important to study the effects of the confining stress on SWCC. In addition, the consolidation curve is normally generated under saturated conditions. However, the soil above the water table is usually unsaturated. Hence, it is also necessary to investigate the effects of matric suction on the characteristics of the consolidation curves. This paper presents the SWCCs under different net confining stresses and the isotropic consolidation curves under different matric suctions that describe the volume change characteristics of unsaturated soils with respect to stress state variables, net normal stress, and matric suction. A series of SWCCs was determined for statically compacted silt specimens in a triaxial cell apparatus under different net confining stresses. Isotropic consolidation tests under different matric suctions were also carried out. The results of the SWCC tests show that the air-entry value increased with increasing net confining stress. The yield points (i.e., yield suction, s0) obtained from the SWCC tests also increased with increasing net confining stress. The results of isotropic consolidation tests indicate the strong influence of matric suction on compressibility and stiffness of the compacted silt specimens.Key words: soil-water characteristic curve, isotropic consolidation, pore-water pressure, volume change, NTU mini suction probe, matric suction.

Model for predicting resilient modulus of unsaturated subgrade soil using soil-water characteristic curve

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 1605-1619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong Han ◽  
Sai K. Vanapalli
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Resilient Modulus ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Optimum Moisture Content ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve ◽  
Subgrade Soils ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Proposed Model

Soil suction (ψ) is one of the key factors that influence the resilient modulus (MR) of pavement subgrade soils. There are several models available in the literature for predicting the MR–ψ correlations. However, the various model parameters required in the existing models are generally determined by performing regression analysis on extensive experimental data of the MR–ψ relationships, which are cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming to obtain. In this paper, a model is proposed to predict the variation of the MR with respect to the ψ for compacted fine-grained subgrade soils. The information of (i) the MR values at optimum moisture content condition (MROPT) and saturation condition (MRSAT), which are typically determined for use in pavement design practice; (ii) the ψ values at optimum moisture content condition (ψOPT); and (iii) the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) is required for using this model. The proposed model is validated by providing comparisons between the measured and predicted MR–ψ relationships for 11 different compacted fine-grained subgrade soils that were tested following various protocols (a total of 16 sets of data, including 210 testing results). The proposed model was found to be suitable for predicting the variation of the MR with respect to the ψ for all the subgrade soils using a single-valued model parameter ξ, which was found to be equal to 2.0. The proposed model is promising for use in practice, as it only requires conventional soil properties and alleviates the need for experimental determination of the MR–ψ relationships.

Model for the prediction of shear strength with respect to soil suction

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
S K Vanapalli ◽  
D G Fredlund ◽  
D E Pufahl ◽  
A W Clifton
Keyword(s):  
Shear Strength ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Unsaturated Soil ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Matric Suction ◽  
Glacial Till ◽  
Soil Suction ◽  
Soil Water Characteristic Curve

Experimental studies on unsaturated soils are generally costly, time-consuming, and difficult to conduct. Shear strength data from the research literature suggests that there is a nonlinear increase in strength as the soil desaturates as a result of an increase in matric suction. Since the shear strength of an unsaturated soil is strongly related to the amount of water in the voids of the soil, and therefore to matric suction, it is postulated that the shear strength of an unsaturated soil should also bear a relationship to the soil-water characteristic curve. This paper describes the relationship between the soil-water characteristic curve and the shear strength of an unsaturated soil with respect to matric suction. Am empirical, analytical model is developed to predict the shear strength in terms of soil suction. The formulation makes use of the soil-water characteristic curve and the saturated shear strength parameters. The results of the model developed for predicting the shear strength are compared with experimental results for a glacial till. The shear strength of statically compacted glacial till specimens was measured using a modified direct shear apparatus. Specimens were prepared at three different water contents and densities (i.e., corresponding to dry of optimum, and wet of optimum conditions). Various net normal stresses and matric suctions were applied to the specimens. There is a good correlation between the predicted and measured values of shear strength for the unsaturated soil. Key words: soil-water characteristic curve, shear strength, unsaturated soil, soil suction, matric suction.

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