THM analysis of a large‐scale heating test incorporating material fabric changes

Engineered barriers are basic elements in the design of repositories for the isolation of high‐level radioactive waste. This paper presents the thermo‐hydro‐mechanical (THM) analysis of a clay barrier subjected to heating and hydration. The study focuses on an ongoing large‐scale heating test, at almost full scale, which is being carried out at the CIEMAT laboratory under well‐controlled boundary conditions. The test is intensely instrumented and it has provided the opportunity to study in detail the evolution of the main THM variables over a long period of time. Comprehensive laboratory tests carried out in the context of the FEBEX and NF‐PRO projects have allowed the identification of the model parameters to describe the THM behaviour of the compacted expansive clay. A conventional THM approach that assumes the swelling clay as a single porosity medium has been initially adopted to analyse the evolution of the test. The model was able to predict correctly the global THM behaviour of the clay barrier in the short term (i.e. for times shorter than three years), but some model limitations were detected concerning the prediction of the long‐term hydration rate. An additional analysis of the test has been carried out using a double structure model to describe the actual behaviour of expansive clays. The double structure model explicitly considers the two dominant pore levels that actually exist in the FEBEX bentonite and it is able to account for the evolution of the material fabric. The simulation of the experiment using this enhanced model provides a more satisfactory reproduction of the long‐term experimental results. It also contributes to a better understanding of the observed test behaviour and it provides a physically based explanation for the very slow hydration of the barrier. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupled modelling of hydro‐mechanical behaviour of unsaturated compacted expansive soils

The Barcelona basic model cannot predict the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils, whereas the Barcelona expansive model (BExM) can only predict the stress–strain behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils without the water‐retention behaviour being incorporated. Moreover, the micro‐parameters and the coupling function between micro‐structural and macro‐structural strains in the BExM are difficult to determine. Experimental data show that the compression curves for non‐expansive soils under constant suctions are shifted towards higher void ratios with increasing suction, whereas the opposite is true for expansive soils. According to the observed water‐retention behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils, the air‐entry value increases with density, and the relationship between the degree of saturation and void ratio is linear at constant suction. According to the above observation, an elastoplastic constitutive model is developed for predicting the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils, based on the existing hydro‐mechanical model for non‐expansive unsaturated soil. The model takes into consideration the effect of degree of saturation on the mechanical behaviour and that of void ratio on the water‐retention behaviour. The concept of equivalent void ratio curve is introduced to distinguish the plastic potential curve from the yield curve. The model predictions are compared with the test results of an unsaturated expansive soil, including swelling tests under constant net stress, isotropic compression tests and triaxial shear tests under constant suction. The comparison indicates that the model offers great potential for quantitatively predicting the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Significance of molecular-level behaviour incorporation in the constitutive models of expansive clays – a review

Expansive clays are widely prevalent all over the world as one of the most problematic soils. These soils undergo significant volume change with a change in the moisture regime, thereby posing problems to the stability of the structures founded on such strata. Efforts have been made to model the erratic behaviour of these soils at the macro, micro, and, to a lesser extent, nano levels. Micro and nano level fabrics, believed to have a central role in the overall behaviour of expansive clays, are only partially considered in the modelling concepts; natural clay fabrics with multiple clay minerals, silt and sand inclusions, micro fissures, cementation, overconsolidation, induration and other such features have never been considered. This paper covers a review of deficiencies in the existing constitutive models for the expansive characteristics of the natural clayey soils at macro, micro and nano levels. These shortcomings are discussed in the light of the understanding of the fundamentals including fabric and structure controlling the swelling mechanism of the expansive clayey soils at the molecular level. Finally, a framework based on authors’ work to incorporate molecular level behaviour in the constitutive modelling of expansive clays is presented.     

膨胀土判别与分类方法探讨

膨胀土的胀缩等级评判是进行膨胀土处治的首要任务,开展膨胀土的判别与分类方法探讨具有重要意义。对现有膨胀土判别与分类方法进行了评价,对反映和表征膨胀土胀缩机理和特性的指标进行了深入探讨,提出了以能充分反映和表征膨胀土胀缩机理和特性的液限、塑性指数、自由膨胀率、小于0.005 mm颗粒含量、胀缩总率等5个指标作为膨胀土的判别指标,建立了一种新的膨胀土判别与分类方法,并通过试验进行了验证。新的膨胀土判别与分类方法具有准确度高、易操作的优点。     

Zarka shakedown modelling of expansive soils subjected to wetting and drying cycles

Unsaturated expansive soils subjected to wetting and drying cycles result in huge differential settlements of structures built on these materials. The existed models for these materials present large number of parameters that lead to time-consuming procedure to characterise their mechanical behaviour during wetting–drying cycles. In this context, Zarka shakedown theory previously applied to the mechanical loading of granular materials has been used for expansive soils subjected to suction cycles. The parameters of this shakedown-based model were calibrated for two different expansive soils. The comparisons between the experimental results and the calculations for the different tests, demonstrate the capacity of Zarka shakedown theory to simulate the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils.     

Effect of degree of saturation on mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils and its elastoplastic simulation

The two stress-state variable approach has been widely used in interpreting unsaturated soil behaviour. However this approach cannot take into account the effect of degree of saturation or water contents on the stress–strain behaviour and strength of unsaturated soils. The triaxial test results presented in this paper show that even if the same path of net stress and suction is followed, the stress–strain relation and strength are different due to different degrees of saturation. When other conditions are the same, the higher the degree of saturation for the soil sample is, the higher the stress ratio corresponding to a given axial strain will be. This effect can be modeled by using an elasto-plastic constitutive model coupling hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. Comparisons between the predicted and measured results are presented, which demonstrate that the model can quantitatively simulate the influence of the degree of saturation on stress–strain behaviour and strength of unsaturated soils.     

Numerical Simulation of Moisture Movement in Unsaturated Expansive Soil Slope Suffering Permeation

INTRODUCTION Theinfiltrationandevaporationofwaterinasoil slopeareofparamountimportanceindetermining slopestability.Previousengineeringcasesandstud ieshaveshownthatrainwaterisoftenamajorfactor intheslopefailureofexpansivesoils.Expansivesoils intropicalandsubtropicalzonesareoftenunsaturat ed,andsoilslopesareinastablestateinnormalcli mateconditionsbecauseofthehighsuctionandshear strengthofthesoilmass.However,oncepermeation happensrainwaterwillinfiltrateintothesoilmasswhichleadstoanincreasein…     

Formulation of a three‐dimensional constitutive model for unsaturated soils incorporating mechanical–water retention couplings

Wheeler, Sharma and Buisson proposed an elasto‐plastic constitutive model for unsaturated soils that couples the mechanical and water retention behaviours. The model was formulated for isotropic stress states and adopts the mean Bishop's stress and modified suction as stress state variables. This paper deals with the extension of this constitutive model to general three‐dimensional stress conditions, proposing the generalized stress–strain relationships required for the numerical integration of the constitutive model. A characteristic of the original model is the consideration of a number of elasto‐plastic mechanisms to describe the complex behaviour of unsaturated soils. This work presents the three‐dimensional formulation of these coupled irreversible mechanisms in a generalized way including anisotropic loading. The paper also compares the results from the model with published experiments performed under different loading conditions. The response of the model is very satisfactory in terms of both mechanical and water retention behaviours. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microstructural deformation mechanisms of unsaturated granular soils

A discrete model for unsaturated granular soils has been developed. Three discrete entities have been defined: particles, water menisci and pores. Local interaction forces and water transfer mechanisms have been integrated into a model through the appropriate equilibrium and balance equations. The results of several numerical tests using this model have been described and discussed. Simulations include wetting and drying under load tests, the application of suction cycles and the effect of a deviatoric stress ratio on wetting‐induced collapse. The model reacts just as true granular soil samples behave in laboratory tests. The model provides a new insight into the internal mechanisms leading to large‐scale features of behaviour such as wetting‐induced collapse or the increase in soil strength provided by suction. The paper also stresses that matric suction changes acting on a granular structure are capable of explaining most of the macroscopic features of stress–strain behaviour. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heating effect on swelling behaviour of expansive soils

To minimise potential structural damage to the overlying structures, foundation sites that contain expansive soils need treatment. One of the numerous improvement techniques currently available is thermal stabilisation. In an attempt to enhance the knowledge base on this subject matter, this paper presents the results of a study on the swelling behaviour of two heated expansive soils. The test specimens were heated in a programmable furnace at desired heating rates to desired temperatures. Swelling tests were performed to determine both the amount and rate of swelling. Based on the test results, the effect of heating on swelling behaviour was evaluated and the mechanism of swelling are discussed using the principles of physical chemistry and clay mineralogy. Meanwhile, the engineering significance of the research findings in terms of practical applications of thermal stabilisation are discussed. The findings of this study would provide a database useful for the design of structures that involve cohesive foundation soils using a holistic system approach.     

Work and energy equations and the principle of generalized effective stress for unsaturated soils

The effective stress principle has been efficiently applied to saturated soils in the soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering practice; however, its applicability to unsaturated soils is still under debate. The appropriate selection of stress state variables is essential for the construction of constitutive models for unsaturated soils. Owing to the complexity of unsaturated soils, it is difficult to determine the deformation and strength behaviors of unsaturated soils uniquely with the previous single‐effective‐stress variable theory and two‐effective‐stress‐variable theory in all the situations. In this paper, based on the porous media theory, the specific expression of work is proposed, and the effective stress of unsaturated soils conjugated with the displacement of the soil skeleton is further derived. In the derived work and energy balance equations, the energy dissipation in unsaturated soils is taken into account. According to the derived work and energy balance equations, all of the three generalized stresses and the conjugated strains have effects on the deformation of unsaturated soils. For considering these effects, a principle of generalized effective stress to describe the behaviors of unsaturated soils is proposed. The proposed principle of generalized effective stress may reduce to the previous effective stress theory of single‐stress variable or the two‐stress variables under certain conditions. This principle provides a helpful reference for the development of constitutive models for unsaturated soils. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of Cyclic Wetting Drying on Collapse Behaviour of Compacted Residual Soil

The climatic zones where residual soils occur are often characterized by alternate wet and dry seasons. Laboratory studies of earlier workers have established that the alternate wetting and drying process affects the swell-shrink potentials, water content, void ratio and particle cementation of expansive soils. The influence of cyclic wetting and drying on the collapse behaviour of residual soils has not been examined. This paper examines the influence of alternate wetting and drying on the collapse behaviour of compacted residual soil specimens from Bangalore District. Results of such a study are useful in anticipating changes in collapse behaviour of compacted residual soil fills. Experimental results indicated that the cyclic wetting and drying process increased the degree of expansiveness of the residual soils and reduced their collapse tendency. Changes in the swell/collapse behaviour of compacted residual soil specimens from wetting drying effects are attributed to reduction in water content, void ratio and possible growth of cementation bonds.     

膨胀土判别与分类的灰关联分析法

基于灰色系统理论，给出一种用于膨胀土判别与分类的新方法—灰关联分析法。实际算例表明，该法具有简单方便、结果客观可靠等优点。     

Swelling behaviour of GPA-reinforced expansive clay beds subjected to swell-shrink cycles

Granular pile-anchor (GPA) technique has been found to be an innovative foundation technique for expansive clays posing the dual problem of swelling and shrinkage. Swelling occurs during absorption of water and shrinkage during evaporation of water. Generally, in field expansive clay beds, swelling takes place during rainy seasons and shrinkage during summers. GPA is a recent innovative foundation technique devised to ameliorate the dual swell-shrink problem of structures founded on expansive clay beds. The other innovative techniques are drilled piers, belled piers and under-reamed piles. Laboratory scale model studies and field scale experiments on GPAs yielded useful results and revealed that swelling of expansive clay beds was effectively controlled by GPA technique. Studies on swell-shrink behaviour of GPA-reinforced clay beds have not been performed so far. This paper presents results obtained from laboratory scale model studies on GPA-reinforced expansive clay beds subjected to alternate cycles of swelling and shrinkage. The data presented in this paper pertain to the swelling of test clay beds under the influence of three swell-shrink cycles (N) spanning a time period of 300 days. The test clay beds were reinforced with varying number of GPAs (n = 0, 1, 2 and 3). Heave (mm) in a given swell-shrink cycle decreased with increasing number of GPAs. Further, for a given number of GPAs (n), heave (mm) also decreased with increase in depth from the top of the clay bed. It was found that the resultant thickness of the clay bed (H_r) for swelling increased with increasing number of cycles. However, the percentage heave (ΔH/H_r) decreased as the number of swell-shrink cycles (N) increased.     

Generalized plasticity state parameter‐based model for saturated and unsaturated soils. Part II: Unsaturated soil modeling

The aim of this paper is to extend the generalized plasticity state parameter‐based model presented in part 1 to reproduce the hydro‐mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. The proposed model is based on two pairs of stress–strain variables and a suitable hardening law taking into account the bonding—debonding effect of suction and degree of saturation. A generalized state parameter for unsaturated state is proposed to reproduce soil behavior using a single set of material parameters. Generalized plasticity gives a suitable framework to reproduce not only monotonic stress path but also cyclic behavior. The hydraulic hysteresis during a drying—wetting cycle and the void ratio effect on the hydraulic behavior is introduced. Comparison between model simulations and a series of experimental data available, both cohesive and granular, are given to illustrate the accuracy of the enhanced generalized plasticity equation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An evolutionary approach to modelling the thermomechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils

A new data‐mining approach is presented for modelling of the stress–strain and volume change behaviour of unsaturated soils considering temperature effects. The proposed approach is based on the evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR), which unlike some other data‐mining techniques, generates a transparent and structured representation of the behaviour of systems directly from raw experimental (or field) data. The proposed methodology can operate on large quantities of data in order to capture nonlinear and complex relationships between contributing variables. The developed models allow the user to gain a clear insight into the behaviour of the system. Unsaturated triaxial test data from the literature were used for development and verification of EPR models. The developed models were also used (in a coupled manner) to produce the entire stress path of triaxial tests. Comparison of the EPR model predictions with the experimental data revealed the robustness and capability of the proposed methodology in capturing and reproducing the constitutive thermomechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. More importantly, the capability of the developed models in accurately generalizing the predictions to unseen data cases was illustrated. The results of a sensitivity analysis showed that the models developed from data are able to capture and represent the physical aspects of the unsaturated soil behaviour accurately. The merits and advantages of the proposed methodology are also discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

膨胀土应力松弛的分数阶模型

为了更准确地描述膨胀土应力松弛的力学特性,应用分数阶微积分理论构造的软体元件取代传统元件模型中的理想黏滞元件,并考虑黏滞系数的损伤劣化,建立了可以更加准确地反映南宁膨胀土非线性应力松弛特性的三元件模型。通过一系列室内试验研究,探索了在不同含水率条件下南宁膨胀土的应力松弛规律,并根据对试验结果的分析,确定了相关的模型参数,得到了膨胀土在不同含水率条件下的应力松弛方程。与整数阶西原模型和整数阶St.Venant模型进行对比,其结果表明所提出的改进模型能更有效地模拟膨胀土应力松弛的全过程,且模型具有结构简单、计算参数少、计算精度高和便于实际应用等优点。研究结果为膨胀土在长期荷载作用下的应力松弛分析提供了理论基础。     

非饱和红粘土和膨胀土抗剪强度的比较研究

红粘土是对环境湿热变化敏感的塑性粘土,具有一般膨胀土吸水膨胀失水收缩的特性。与普通粘性土相比,红粘土与膨胀土的强度特性更为复杂。它既是土体抵抗剪切破坏能力的表征,也是计算路堑、渠道、路堤、土坝等斜坡稳定性以及支挡构筑物土压力的重要参数。通过试验研究讨论了红粘土与膨胀土的强度特性以及与一般粘性土的差别及其各种影响因素,并探讨了非饱和红粘土与膨胀土的抗剪强度指标与含水量之间的相关关系。试验结果表明,红粘土与一般膨胀土的吸水膨胀规律完全相同。其试验结果可为红粘土与膨胀土地区工程设计与建设提供参考依据。     

A thermo‐mechanical model for variably saturated soils based on hypoplasticity

The paper presents a mechanical model for non‐isothermal behaviour of unsaturated soils. The model is based on an incrementally non‐linear hypoplastic model for saturated clays and can therefore tackle the non‐linear behaviour of overconsolidated soils. A hypoplastic model for non‐isothermal behaviour of saturated soils was developed and combined with the existing hypoplastic model for unsaturated soils based on the effective stress principle. Features of the soil behaviour that are included into the model, and those that are not, are clearly distinguished. The number of model parameters is kept to a minimum, and they all have a clear physical interpretation, to facilitate the model usefulness for practical applications. The step‐by‐step procedure used for the parameter calibration is described. The model is finally evaluated using a comprehensive set of experimental data for the thermo‐mechanical behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

南宁膨胀土非线性流变模型研究

对南宁非饱和膨胀土进行一系列的加载-卸载固结蠕变试验,得到了不同含水率的膨胀土在不同应力水平下应变-时间曲线和不同时刻的应力-应变等时曲线簇。通过对膨胀土各阶段蠕变变形的分析,得到了膨胀土的固结蠕变是包含有黏弹性变形和黏塑性变形成分的非线性蠕变。采用模型流变与经验流变理论相结合的方法,将膨胀土的蠕变变形分成线性和非线性两部分进行分析,蠕变柔量和线性黏弹性模量随时间减小,而线性黏塑性模量随时间增大。结合膨胀土的线性黏塑性模型和非线性黏塑性经验模型,建立能够描述膨胀土非线性流变的黏塑性本构方程。根据试验所得数据,通过非线性拟合方法得到各模型参数,用该模型进行数值分析得到的理论与蠕变试验结果对比非常吻合。研究成果为实际工程提供了流变变形计算分析的可靠依据。