Cyclic Swell–Shrink Behaviour of a Compacted Expansive Soil

Laboratory cyclic swell–shrink tests were carried out on compacted expansive soil specimens to study in detail the effect of changes in shrinkage pattern on the swell–shrink behaviour of compacted expansive soils. Compacted soil specimens were allowed to swell and either shrank fully or partially shrank to several predetermined heights in each cycle. The tests were carried out at a surcharge pressure of 50 kPa. The test results revealed that shrinkage of compacted saturated soil specimens to predetermined height in each shrinkage cycle provides similar conditions as that of the controlled suction tests with an increasing number of swell–shrink cycles. The water content of soil specimens and hence soil suction was found to remain nearly constant for each pattern of shrinkage. For soil specimens equilibrated to a given swell–shrink pattern, suction at the end of shrinkage cycles was changed from a higher suction to a lower suction, and also from a lower to a higher suction. The experimental results showed that there may be an immediate equilibrium state attained by the soil in terms of swell–shrink potential if suction at the shrinkage cycles was less than the past suction; otherwise, the equilibrium state was accompanied by fatigue of swelling. The volumetric deformation of the soil specimen subjected greater shrinkage was found to be much larger than the corresponding vertical deformation. The compressibility index of microstructure, κ_m, was determined for several shrinkage patterns. It is shown that κ_m is heavily influenced by suction at the end of shrinkage cycles.     

Influence of matric suction on shear strength behavior of a residual clayey soil

In this paper, the shear strength with respect to the matric suction of unsaturated soils was studied. For this purpose, unsaturated triaxial testing procedures were applied to the undisturbed residual soil specimens. An apparatus for performing triaxial tests was designed and constructed. In the tests, matric suction was controlled by using the axis translation technique, and pore water volume changes were measured by means of a volume change transducer with 10⁻⁸ m³ sensitivity. The test results indicated that the matric suction contributes to the shear strength of unsaturated soil specimens, and this contribution called suction strength varies non-linearly with respect to the matric suction. The logarithmic model needing to know the air-entry value and the internal friction angle of a soil specimen for prediction of the suction strength were presented and compared with the test results. It was found that suction strength values predicted from the proposed model were in satisfactory agreement with the experimental results.     

吸力历史对非饱和弱膨胀土力学性质的影响

对经历较广吸力范围内不同吸力历史的非饱和弱膨胀土进行了一系列吸力控制的三轴剪切试验。关于最大吸力的施加,高吸力采用蒸汽平衡法;较低吸力采用轴平移技术。试验结果表明：在净应力和吸力相同条件下,经过湿化试样的应力-应变关系曲线升高、剪缩体变小;经过高吸力试样的应力-应变关系曲线也升高、剪缩体变小,随着经历过最大吸力的增加其应力比-应变关系、体变表现出的超固结土特性明显。其主要原因是前期试样受过较大的吸力,相当于受过较大前期固结压力,同时弱膨胀土失水收缩性明显,经过较大吸力后试样孔隙比明显减小,使试样剪切过程中表现出超固结黏土的特性。因此,讨论非饱和弱膨胀性土的应力-应变关系和强度时需考虑吸力历史引起的体积收缩影响。     

Comparison of testing techniques and models for establishing the SWCC of riverbank soils

The soil water characteristic curve (SWCC), also known as soil water retention curve (SWRC), describes the relationship between water content and soil suction in unsaturated soils. Water content and suction affect the permeability, shear strength, volume change and deformability of unsaturated soils. This paper presents results of the laboratory determination of the SWCC for soil samples obtained from the riverbank of the Lower Roanoke River in North Carolina. Six different testing methods were used to establish the SWCC including the filter paper, dewpoint potentiameter, vapor equilibrium, pressure plate, Tempe cell and osmotic methods. It is concluded that each suction measurement technique provides different measurable ranges of suction values, and the combined results from the different tests provide continuous SWCCs. Three widely available models were also shown to adequately fit the experimental SWCC data, particularly for matric suction values under 1500 kPa. These results will be valuable to practitioners in deciding which methods to use to establish the SWCC, and which empirical relationship to use for modeling the SWCC of riverbank soils.     

Yielding of Silt at High Temperature and Suction Magnitudes

This study presents an evaluation of yielding mechanisms for unsaturated, compacted silt using drained triaxial compression tests with control of elevated temperatures and high suction magnitudes. After anisotropic compression, some compacted silt specimens were heated by approximately 40 °C before a suction of approximately 300 MPa was applied, while others were heated after suction application. A frictional response was observed for the specimens sheared under high suction magnitudes, in the form of a consistent increase in peak shear strength with increasing net confining stress. An effective stress analysis was used to evaluate the trends in the peak shear stress and the role of stress history for the different specimens. A single peak failure envelope was observed when the shear strength data was interpreted in terms of the mean effective stress. Changes in preconsolidation stress were estimated by identifying the intersections between a thermo-elasto-plastic yield function and the experimental peak shear strength values. Soil specimens heated before application of high suction values had lower peak shear strengths than reference specimens at high suction and ambient temperature. This behaviour is consistent with thermal softening trends observed in soils heated under low suction values. However, soil specimens heated after suction application had greater peak shear strengths than the reference specimens. This indicates heating under high suction results in hardening. The impact of suction on the preconsolidation stress was found to be better represented by a power law model at high suction magnitudes than other available models. The estimated preconsolidation stress values were used to evaluate the impacts of stress history on the thermal volume change response, which matched well with data from tests on saturated specimens.     

非饱和网纹红土比例加载特性研究

本文利用应力控制式全自动GDS静三轴仪对含水率相同、干密度相同重塑网纹红土进行分级加载条件下不同恒应力比路径、不同基质吸力的三轴固结排水试验,研究了非饱和网纹红土比例加载特性。研究结果表明：在比例加载条件下,非饱和网纹红土的基质吸力平衡过程中,反压排水量有一个明显的转折点,此转折点可作为判断基质吸力是否到达平衡的时间点;通过比较不同基质吸力下的轴向应变和时间的关系曲线发现,基质吸力的增加引起轴向应变增加;在偏应力保持不变的条件下,基质吸力的增加没有引起轴向应变的明显增加;不同基质吸力下的偏应力和净平均应力呈直线关系,其斜率近似为恒应力比;提出一种可以预测非饱和网纹红土比例加载条件下的径向应变的方法。     

干湿路径影响粉土小应变剪切模量的试验研究

天然土尤其是地表浅层土常处于非饱和状态,其小应变剪切模量是预测地基变形及土工结构物动力反应的一个重要参数。通过对非饱和压实粉土三轴样进行弯曲元试验,研究了吸力和干湿路径对其小应变剪切模量的影响。试验结果表明,非饱和压实粉土样的小应变剪切模量各向异性忽略不计;小应变剪切模量G0(vh)、G0(hh)和G0(hv)均随吸力增大而非线性增大;同一吸力下不同干湿路径上的土样,饱和度不同,其小应变剪切模量随饱和度升高而减小,主要原因是土的平均骨架应力和土中毛细水的作用。根据试验结果对非饱和土小应变剪切模量的半经验公式进行了改进,同时考虑了吸力与饱和度的作用。     

Swelling pressure–suction relationship of heavily compacted bentonite–sand mixtures

This paper presents results of an experimental work to determine a relationship between swelling pressure and suction of heavily compacted bentonite–sand mixtures. For comparison, tests were also carried out on heavily compacted bentonite specimens. A series of swelling pressure tests were performed using multi-step constant-volume method where suction of the specimens tested was reduced in a stepwise manner toward a zero value. The suction reduction was induced using vapor equilibrium and axis-translation techniques. It is shown that compacted specimens did not exhibit any collapse upon suction decrease and exhibited maximum swelling pressures at zero-equilibrium suction. The development of swelling pressure with decreasing suction of the specimens showed threshold suctions below which a further reduction in suction yields an increase in the swelling pressure of the same magnitude. The magnitude of threshold suction was found to be a function of bentonite content in compacted specimens.     

Research of soil–water characteristics and shear strength features of Nanyang expansive soil

Nanyang expansive soil is investigated in its unsaturated state in this paper. The wetting–drying cycle tests of soil–water characteristics of Nanyang expansive soil have been performed in the laboratory. The test results show that the soil–water characteristic curve of the pre-load specimen can well reflect the soil property function of expansive soil. The strength features of the different suction states of the unsaturated expansive soil are also investigated. The hyperbolic model of the suction strength is presented and the parameters of this model are easily determined by tri-axial tests of unsaturated soils. The hyperbolic model is conveniently applied to predict suction strength of an unsaturated soil.     

土−水特征曲线测量过程中孔隙分布的演化规律探讨

测量了在宽广吸力范围内原状样和压实样的脱湿持水曲线,对比分析了单双峰结构持水性能的差异;并利用压汞试验测试两种土样在脱湿过程的孔隙分布,分析了两者的差异并探讨了脱湿过程孔隙的演化规律;在考虑收缩变形的基础上,基于孔隙分布曲线确定了土?水特征曲线的基本参数。试验结果表明：原状样在宽广吸力范围内基本上呈单峰孔隙结构;饱和压实样具有单峰孔隙结构,随着吸力的增加,双峰结构越来越明显,当吸力达到很大时,演化成完全双峰孔隙结构。原状样的持水曲线为经典的S形,而压实样的持水曲线在过渡段出现了水平台阶状;低吸力段,压实样的持水曲线低于原状样,而高吸力段,两者的持水曲线基本重合。基于孔隙分布曲线确定了控制持水曲线进气值和残余值的孔径,并计算出对应的吸力值,其值更符合实际物理意义。     

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.     

吸力、含水率和干密度对重塑非饱和土抗剪强度影响研究

进行了一系列控制吸力、含水率和干密度的直剪试验,研究了重塑非饱和土的抗剪强度特性。试验结果表明,在试验研究的吸力范围内,非饱和土的黏聚力随吸力线性增加,而内摩擦角随吸力的变化则很小。对于控制含水率的试验,非饱和土的黏聚力和内摩擦角均随含水率增加而线性减小,且黏聚力减小的幅度更明显。干密度对非饱和土的内摩擦角几乎没有影响,黏聚力随干密度呈指数增加。对控制吸力和含水率的试验结果进行了比较,提出的考虑含水率影响的抗剪强度公式可供实际工程参考。     

Influence of the initial water content and dry density on the soil–water retention curve and the shrinkage behavior of a compacted clay

The paper presents the results of an experimental study on the effects of the initial water content and dry density on the soil–water retention curve and the shrinkage behavior of a compacted Lias-clay. The initial conditions after compaction (initial water content and initial dry density) have been chosen on the basis of three Proctor tests of different compaction efforts. According to the eight chosen initial conditions clay samples have been compacted statically. The relation between total suction and water content was determined for the drying path starting from the initial conditions without previous saturation of the specimens. A chilled-mirror dew-point hygrometer was used for the suction measurements. For the investigation of the shrinkage behavior cylindrical specimens were dried to desired water contents step-by-step without previous saturation. The volume of the specimens was measured by means of a caliper. Based on the test results the influence of different initial conditions on the soil suction and the shrinkage behavior is analyzed. The soil–water retention curves obtained in terms of the gravimetric water content are independent of the initial dry density. At water contents above approximately 11–12.5% a strong influence of the compaction water content is observed. At smaller water contents, the soil–water retention curve is independent of the compaction water content. The results of the shrinkage tests show that the influence of the compaction dry density on the shrinkage behavior is negligible. Similar to the drying behavior of saturated samples a primary and a residual drying process could be distinguished. The primary drying process is strongly influenced by the initial water content. In contrast, the rate of the volume change of the residual drying process is unaffected by the initial water content.     

甘肃永靖黑方台地区黄土滑坡土的力学性质

与地下水位以下的饱和黄土力学性质相比,包气带黄土力学性质具有不同的表征参数和测试方法,其对黄土斜坡渗流场和稳定性的影响不容忽视.以甘肃黑方台地区黄土为例,分别采用张力计和轴平移技术量测了黄土的部分区段土-水特征曲线,依据Gardner、Van Genuchten和Fredlund and Xing 3种经验公式对轴平移测试数据进行拟合,获取了完整的土-水特征曲线.基于GDS多功能三轴仪,通过控制基质吸力的三轴剪切试验,获取了考虑基质吸力的黄土强度参数.结果显示:张力计和轴平移技术量测的部分区段土-水特征曲线具有相近的曲线形态,但张力计曲线位于轴平移技术曲线的上方;当基质吸力由100kPa减小至20kPa时,黄土内摩擦角减小约1°,粘聚力下降近22kPa;拟合所得的黑方台地区黄土的基质吸力摩擦角为15.6°.试验为进行黑方台黄土斜坡的非饱和渗流和稳定性分析提供了参数.     

Estimation of effective stress parameter of unsaturated soils by using artificial neural networks

Great efforts are required for determination of the effective stress parameter χ, applying the unsaturated testing procedure, since unsaturated soils that have the three‐phase system exhibit complex mechanical behavior. Therefore, it seems more reasonable to use the empirical methods for estimation of χ. The objective of this study is to investigate the practicability of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to model the complex relationship between basic soil parameters, matric suction and the parameter χ. Five ANN models with different input parameters were developed. Feed‐forward back propagation was applied in the analyses as a learning algorithm. The data collected from the available literature were used for training and testing the ANN models. Furthermore, unsaturated triaxial tests were carried out under drained condition on compacted specimens. ANN models were validated by a part of data sets collected from the literature and data obtained from the current study, which were not included in the training phase. The analyses showed that the results obtained from ANN models are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental results and ANNs can be used as reliable tool for prediction of χ. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

刚性挡墙后非饱和土破坏模式及主动土压力计算

目前主动土压力计算方法多仅针对土体处于饱和或干燥状态,忽略了其从非饱和到局部饱和,或饱和到非饱和的渐变过程,进而导致计算结果失真。鉴于此,首先开展了一系列刚性挡墙非饱和砂土主动土压力模型试验,揭示了墙后土体的破坏规律：（1）墙后土体顶部出现了近似竖直裂缝,且其发展深度随墙面粗糙度和含水率的增加而变大;（2）墙土界面摩擦对塑性区形状影响较小,且在挡墙移动过程中,墙后土体塑性区形状始终近似保持为平面。在试验基础上,引入广义有效应力原理,基于极限平衡分析建立了考虑吸应力效应的非饱和土主动土压力计算方法,理论与试验实测值表明,所提方法相比其他方法,更接近于试验值。分析了各主要因素对非饱和土压力分布规律的影响,结果表明：主动土压力随有效内摩擦角值增加而减少,而界面摩擦角对其分布影响较小;相比于无吸力情况,考虑吸力时主动土压力更小;随着进气值增加,吸应力对主动土压力的贡献减少,最终趋于恒定。     

Cavity expansion in unsaturated soils exhibiting hydraulic hysteresis considering three drainage conditions

Cavity expansion theory assists in the interpretation of in situ tests including the cone penetration test and pressuremeter test. In this paper, a cavity expansion analysis is presented for unsaturated silty sand exhibiting hydraulic hysteresis. The similarity technique is used in the analysis. The soil stress–strain behaviour is described by a bounding surface plasticity model. Results of oedometric compression tests, isotropic compression tests and triaxial shear tests for both saturated and unsaturated states are used to calibrate the model. The void ratio, suction, degree of saturation and effective stress are fully coupled in the analysis. The influence of where the initial hydraulic state is located on the soil–water characteristic curve on the cavity wall pressure is investigated and found to be significant. Also, the effects of three different drainage conditions (constant suction, constant moisture content and constant contribution of suction to the effective stress) on cavity wall pressure are studied. It is found that the drainage condition in which the contribution of suction to the effective stress is constant offers a good approximation to the other two. This may simplify interpretation of in situ tests. When testing occurs quickly, meaning a constant moisture content condition prevails, a constant contribution of suction condition can be assumed without loss of significant accuracy. The contribution of suction assumed in the interpretation can be taken as being equal to the in situ value, although this discovery may not be applicable to all soil types, constitutive models and soil–water characteristic curves. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

降雨入渗影响下边坡中的非饱和渗流特性

为了分析降雨入渗影响下非饱和土坡渗流特性,利用自制降雨模拟系统和实时监测系统,对降雨诱发非饱和土坡失稳过程进行全方位、多参量的实时监测,研究不同降雨条件下,不同坡度、不同压实度边坡坡体不同位置雨水入渗率和湿润峰的实变规律.结果表明:降雨入渗条件下,陡坡和高压实度土体不利于雨水入渗,而缓坡和低密实度土体入渗率变化快;实际土体吸力和含水量实时变化规律不同步,提出试验湿润峰概念,含水率（吸力）湿润峰点可按含水率（吸力）实时曲线的过渡区和雨后残余含水率（吸力）的线性交叉点确定;考虑单向吸湿或脱湿路径下土体含水率和吸力具有唯一对应关系,含水率湿润峰点与吸力湿润峰点的绝对值时差即为形成湿润峰所需时间;对比湿润峰实测值与Lumb半经验值散点分布规律,基于Lumb湿润峰深度计算公式提出非线性修正表达式.      

Capillary collapse of loose pyroclastic unsaturated sands characterized at grain scale

The reduction in volume for unsaturated soils wetted at constant total stress is indicated as capillary collapse. Several studies conducted on standard laboratory specimens (macro-scale) outlined the role of initial void ratio, confining pressure and matric suction on collapse onset. Conversely, few observations were made at grain scale, although an important influence of soil structure has been supposed since years. This paper investigated the collapse of coarse and fine sands derived from a pyroclastic soil of Southern Italy. The X-ray computed tomography was used to identify the mechanisms acting at grain scale and to measure the local variations of soil structure. The experimental procedure consisted in preparing remoulded unsaturated specimens and reducing the matric suction until the collapse occurred under self-weight. At different stages of the process, the sample was imaged by X-ray tomography. The experimental results provided original insight into: (1) transformation of soil structure during the wetting tests; (2) variation of porosity, water content and degree of saturation for the whole specimen; and (3) local variations of those variables in several representative sub-volumes. It is worth noting that collapse of coarse sand specimen occurred before saturation. This was also emphasized by the presence of macro-voids at collapse.