Influences of soil water characteristic curve on rainfall-induced shallow landslides

The analysis of slope instability induced by rainfall was usually performed using the main drying curve as the measurement of the main wetting curve is a more time-consuming and costly task. In this study, the influences of the main drying and wetting curves on rainfall-induced shallow landslides are examined. Three designed scenarios and a real case scenario are used to conduct this examination. The prediction of shallow landslide occurrence is related to the main drying and wetting curves due to the strong relation between groundwater pressure head and hysteresis effect. The main wetting curve may have a less minimum landslide-triggering rainfall amount and a less rainfall duration threshold for landslide occurrence than the drying wetting curve. For safety’s sake, an underestimation of shallow landslide occurrence may be produced by the commonly used main drying curve. In addition, besides the shallow landslide occurrence, the failure depth and the time to failure are also influenced by the main drying and wetting curves. The hysteresis effect should be taken into account for assessing rainfall-induced shallow landslides.     

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.     

Predicting Hysteresis of the Water Retention Curve from Basic Properties of Granular Soils

The water retention curve (WRC), which represents the relationship between volumetric water content (θ) and suction (ψ), is required to analyze the hydro-geotechnical response of unsaturated soils. The laboratory (or field) determination of the WRC can however be time consuming and difficult to conduct. A practical alternative, particularly useful at the preliminary stages of a project, is to estimate the WRC using a predictive model based on basic geotechnical properties that are easy to obtain. One common limitation of such predictive models is due to hysteresis effects, which are not taken into account by most of these models. The authors present in this paper an extended version of the Modified Kovács (MK) predictive model that incorporates hysteresis of the WRC along different paths, including the main wetting and drying curves and the wetting and drying scanning curves for granular soils. The model formulation is presented, and predictions are compared to experimental data obtained on different granular soils. The results show a good agreement for the main and scanning curves.     

Automatic calibration of soil–water characteristic curves using genetic algorithms

An automatic technique for the determination of the coefficients of models for soil–water characteristic curves (SWCC) or water retention curves (WRC) is presented. The technique is based on optimisation using genetic algorithms, in which the error between predictions and experimental data is minimised by varying the model parameters. The method is powerful and reasonably efficient in finding the best parameters. Four models are analysed including one accounting for hysteresis behaviour. Details of a simple genetic algorithm (SGA) and its complete application are explained. To account for the hysteresis of the SWCC, the models are programmed in a rate form, in which numerical integration is employed to advance the state variables. One advantage of the optimisation presented is that the best curves averaging both the drying and wetting paths are obtained when hysteresis is present.     

Seasonal effects on geophysical–geotechnical relationships and their implications for electrical resistivity tomography monitoring of slopes

Current assessments of slope stability rely on point sensors, the results of which are often difficult to interpret, have relatively high costs and do not provide large-area coverage. A new system is under development, based on integrated geophysical–geotechnical sensors to monitor groundwater conditions via electrical resistivity tomography. So that this system can provide end users with reliable information, it is essential that the relationships between resistivity, shear strength, suction and water content are fully resolved, particularly where soils undergo significant cycles of drying and wetting, with associated soil fabric changes. This paper presents a study to establish these relationships for a remoulded clay taken from a test site in Northumberland, UK. A rigorous testing programme has been undertaken, integrating the results of multi-scalar laboratory and field experiments, comparing two-point and four-point resistivity testing methods. Shear strength and water content were investigated using standard methods, whilst a soil water retention curve was derived using a WP4 dewpoint potentiometer. To simulate seasonal effects, drying and wetting cycles were imposed on prepared soil specimens. Results indicated an inverse power relationship between resistivity and water content with limited hysteresis between drying and wetting cycles. Soil resistivity at lower water contents was, however, observed to increase with ongoing seasonal cycling. Linear hysteretic relationships were established between undrained shear strength and water content, principally affected by two mechanisms: soil fabric deterioration and soil suction loss between drying and wetting events. These trends were supported by images obtained from scanning electron microscopy.     

Laboratory Hydraulic Testing in Unsaturated Soils

This paper synthesizes the state-of-the art of the various laboratory testing techniques presently available for measuring the water hydraulic constitutive functions of unsaturated soils. Emphasis is on the laboratory testing techniques for measuring the soil–water retention curves and the water hydraulic conductivity functions of unsaturated soils. The significant recent advances in the investigation of the hydraulic behaviour of unsaturated swelling soils, are also presented. Comprehensive recent references on each measurement method are listed and discussed.     

A density‐dependent elastoplastic hydro‐mechanical model for unsaturated compacted soils

This paper presents a three‐dimensional elastoplastic constitutive model for predicting the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. It is based on experimental results obtained from a series of controlled‐suction triaxial tests on unsaturated compacted clay with different initial densities. Hydraulic hysteresis in the water‐retention behaviour is modelled as an elastoplastic process, with the elastic part modelled by a series of scanning curves and the elastoplastic part modelled by the main drying and wetting curves. The effect of void ratio on the water‐retention behaviour is studied using data obtained from controlled‐suction wetting–drying cyclic tests on unsaturated compacted clay with different initial densities. The effect of the degree of saturation on the stress–strain‐strength behaviour and the effect of void ratio on the water‐retention behaviour are considered in the model, as is the effect of suction on the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour. The initial density dependency of the compacted soil behaviour is modelled by experimental relationships between the initial density and the corresponding yield stress and, thereby, between the initial density and the normal compression line. The model is generalized to three‐dimensional stress states by assuming that the shapes of the failure and yield surfaces in the deviatoric stress plane are given by the Matsuoka–Nakai criterion. Model predictions of the stress–strain and water‐retention behaviour are compared with those obtained from triaxial tests with different initial densities under isotropic compression, triaxial compression and triaxial extension, with or without variation in suction. The comparisons indicate that the model accurately predicts the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated compacted soils with different initial densities using the same material constant. Copyright © 2006 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.      

A novel approach for modelling soil–water characteristic curves with hysteresis

Soil–water characteristic curves can be defined as the relationship between the degree of saturation and suction of an unsaturated soil. Geomaterials, such as clays, sands, and geotextiles, usually exhibit hysteresis between drying and wetting curves. In addition, each drying and wetting curve is nonlinear in shape, which may be approximated by sigmoid curves. In geotechnical engineering, it is common to adopt analytical expressions for these curves that must be calibrated iteratively by trying different values for the constitutive parameters. In this paper, a novel approach for modelling the nonlinear saturation–suction response with hysteresis is presented, where a simple differential equation is introduced to describe the shapes of the curves. The great advantage of this new technique is the ease with which the parameters can be determined. In addition, the implementation of the resulting equations into fully hydro-mechanical models for numerical analyses is straightforward. Some features of the behaviour predicted with the new representation are studied and validations against real laboratory curves for soils are presented. The technique is simple, yet versatile due to the rational basis used in the deduction of the equations, which allows for future extensions to soils displaying more complex unsaturated behaviour.     

全吸力范围南阳膨胀土的土-水特征曲线

膨胀土的失水收缩、吸水膨胀过程分别对应着土-水特征曲线的脱湿和吸湿阶段。土-水特征曲线对于研究非饱和土的水力与力学特性有着重要作用。用压力板法（吸力范围0～1.5 MPa）、滤纸法（吸力范围0～40 MPa）和蒸汽平衡法（吸力范围3～368 MPa）,分别对南阳膨胀土进行了土-水特性试验,得到全吸力范围内的土-水特征曲线。试验结果表明：初始孔隙比大致相同土样的土-水特征曲线,在低吸力范围内脱湿曲线与吸湿曲线具有明显的滞回现象。当吸力大于300 MPa时,土-水特征曲线的滞回效应基本消失,即脱湿曲线与吸湿曲线基本重合。滤纸法所测出的土-水特性落在主脱湿和主吸湿曲线的滞回圈内。当吸力等于367.54 MPa时,含水率仅为0.325%,几乎近于0。孔隙比随着吸力的变化规律中,不仅受到吸力大小的影响,还受到吸力历史和吸力路径影响;孔隙比与吸力关系中,相同吸力时吸湿路径的孔隙比要比脱湿路径的大;在吸力低范围,吸湿路径与脱湿路径的孔隙比相近。孔隙比与饱和度关系因吸力路径的不同也存在着明显的滞回效应,接近饱和时趋近一致。变吸力情况条件下,饱和度随着孔隙比的增加而增加,蒸汽平衡法得出的孔隙比与饱和度的关系具有明显的线性关系,而压力板法做出来的低吸力范围内的线性关系不明显。     

A study of the water retention curve of lime-treated London Clay

This paper investigates the drying and wetting soil water retention curves (SWRCs) of statically compacted lime-stabilised London Clay specimens. A series of tests were performed using the contact filter paper method, pressure plate apparatus and a suction-controlled triaxial system incorporating the axis translation technique. These investigated the water retention of the soil under different boundary and stress-state conditions and simultaneously determined the volume change in the soil during drying and wetting. Factors relevant to the lime treatment of soils, such as curing period and method (air vs. water curing), were also considered. Finally, the hysteresis of the SWRC of the chemically treated soil (for which there appears to be a lack of information in the international literature) was investigated. The results showed that the treatment with lime increased the volumetric stability but reduced the water retention ability due to a more open structure enabled by the flocculation and chemical bonding effects. Curing period and method effect appears to be small. Hysteresis was noted to some degree in all instances.     

Predicting the dependency of a degree of saturation on void ratio and suction using effective stress principle for unsaturated soils

The paper presents an approach to predicting variation of a degree of saturation in unsaturated soils with void ratio and suction. The approach is based on the effective stress principle for unsaturated soils and several underlying assumptions. It focuses on the main drying and wetting processes and does not incorporate the effects of hydraulic hysteresis. It leads to the dependency of water retention curve (WRC) on void ratio, which does not require any material parameters apart from the parameters specifying WRC for the reference void ratio. Its validity is demonstrated by comparing predictions with the experimental data on four different soils taken over from the literature. Good correlation between the measured and predicted behaviour indirectly supports applicability of the effective stress principle for unsaturated soils. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some investigations to quantify hysteresis associated with water retention behaviour of fine-grained soils

The soil water retention characteristics curve (SWRC) has been reported to be quite useful for estimation of unsaturated soil properties. However, the uniqueness of SWRC is questionable due to hysteresis associated with the drying- and wetting-path SWRCs and this poses great challenge in utilising the SWRC for reliable estimation of unsaturated soil properties. Although hysteresis associated with SWRCs has been extensively studied for coarse-grained soils, due to limited studies on wetting-path SWRC for fine-grained soils, the hysteresis for fine-grained soils is not well understood. The present work attempts to address this gap, by studying the drying- and wetting-path SWRCs for eight different fine-grained soils by employing Dew point Potentiameter (WP4C®), Environmental Chamber and Controlled Water Sprinkling method. The study employs the concept of ‘Suction Hysteresis’, ψ_h, for quantification of hysteresis. Further, the influence of various soil-specific properties on the variation of ψ_h-water content relationship (viz., slope of variation of suction hysteresis, S_ψh) has also been studied and demonstrated. The findings of the study are quite encouraging and it has been realised that extensive studies on soils of different characteristics would be quite useful in quantifying the variation of SWRC during drying and wetting cycles.     

An experimental study on static and dynamic bending behaviour of piles in soft clay

Static and dynamic lateral load tests were carried out on model aluminium single piles embedded in soft clay to study its bending behaviour. Model aluminium piles with length to diameter ratios of 10, 20, 30 and 40 were used. Static lateral load tests were conducted on piles by rope and pulley arrangement upto failure and load–deflection curves were obtained. Dynamic lateral load tests were carried out for different magnitudes of load ranging from 7 to 30 N at wide range of frequencies from 2 to 50 Hz. The load transferred to the pile, pile head displacement and the strain variation along the pile length were measured using a Data Acquisition System. Safe static lateral load capacity for all piles is interpreted from load–deflection curves. Dynamic characteristics of the soil–pile system were arrived from the acquired experimental data. The soil–pile system behaves predominantly in nonlinear fashion even at low frequency under dynamic load. The displacement amplitude under dynamic load is magnified by 4.5–6.5 times the static deflection for all piles embedded in soft clay. But, the peak magnification factor reduces with an increase in the magnitude of lateral load mainly because of increase of hysteretic damping at very soft consistency. The maximum BM occurs at the fundamental frequency of the soil–pile system. Even the lower part of the pile affects the pile head response to the inertial load applied at the pile head. The maximum dynamic BM is magnified by about 1.5 times the maximum static BM for model piles in tested consistency of clay. The maximum dynamic BM occurs at a depth of about 1.5 times the depth of maximum static BM for model piles, which indicates an increase of active pile length under dynamic load.     

Correlation of unsaturated soil and dielectric property for monitoring of subsurface characteristics: development of unsaturated dielectric mixing models and its application

The behavior due to rainfall infiltrating the ground plays a role in landslides, groundwater recharge and various other ground responses. Most of these geotechnical behaviors have a correlation between soil pore space and soil volumetric water content in the unsaturated and saturated soil porous media. Therefore, the soil porosity associated with soil pores and the distribution of volumetric water content are significantly important hydrological characteristics. In the case of shallow slope failure such as landslide, the infiltration activity due to the connectivity of soil pore spaces in a porous media is induced. Slope failure may be attributed to the effect of a wetting front with the slope due to liquid infiltration, which changes the volumetric water content, soil matric suction and shear strength of the slope. This study was performed with an unsaturated injection test using a frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) dielectric device which measures the dielectric constant of unsaturated soil and the study then proposed the unsaturated dielectric mixing models to calculate soil porosity and effective porosity of unsaturated soils. From the experimental results the ratio of effective porosity to porosity of soils are measured in a range of 70–85%. These experimental results show a decrease of about 5–10% for unsaturated soil compared to the ratio of effective porosity to porosity of saturated soil. The infiltration passages of tracer material are restricted within the pore connectivity in the unsaturated soil which is caused by dead-pores in the soil. Using the FDR device and the unsaturated dielectric mixing models, we can consider the acquisition of physical properties to detect the infiltration activity, the response of the dielectric constant along with the injected tracer and hydrological parameters for the unsaturated soil porous media.     

Application of Hysteretic Trends in the Preconsolidation Stress of Unsaturated Soils

This paper involves an evaluation of a relationship describing the evolution in yield stress of unsaturated soils during hydraulic hysteresis, and an application of this relationship in an elasto-plastic framework to predict the compression curves of unsaturated soils under drained (free outflow of air and water with constant suction) or undrained (constant water content with no outflow of water and varying suction) conditions. The yield stress was quantified as the apparent mean effective preconsolidation stress obtained from compression tests reported in the literature on specimens that had experienced different hydraulic paths. It was observed that the preconsolidation stress does not follow a hysteretic path when plotted as a function of matric suction, but does when plotted as a function of the degree of saturation. Accordingly, an existing logarithmic relationship between the preconsolidation stress and matric suction normalized by the air entry suction was found to match the experimental preconsolidation stress results. This same relationship was also able to satisfactorily predict the trends in preconsolidation stress with degree of saturation by substituting the hysteretic soil–water retention curve (SWRC) into the place of the matric suction. The relationship between preconsolidation stress and suction was combined with an elasto-plastic framework to predict the compression curves of soils during drained compression, while the wetting-path relationship between preconsolidation stress and degree of saturation was combined with the framework to predict the compression curves of soils during undrained (constant water content) compression. A good match was obtained with experimental data from the literature, indicating the relevance of considering the hysteretic SWRC and preconsolidation relationships when simulating the behavior of unsaturated soils following different hydro-mechanical paths.     

网纹红土土水特征曲线试验研究及其在边坡稳定性评价中的应用

网纹红土在中国南方地区有着广泛的分布,常见于各类岩土工程中。目前对网纹红土的研究主要集中在成因和粒度特性等方面,对于其非饱和特性方面的研究相对有限。本文采用滤纸法测量不同饱和度条件下网纹红土的基质吸力,利用Van Genuchten模型得到网纹红土的干燥-浸湿过程的土水特征曲线。研究发现,由于网纹红土孔隙较小且均匀,使得网纹红土存在进气值（约为100 kPa）相对于一般黏土较大、其土水特征曲线没有明显的残余段。利用干燥-浸湿过程的土水特征曲线对一维无限边坡的干燥和浸湿过程稳定性进行研究,发现在饱和度相同的情况下,边坡处于脱湿过程的稳定性要高于吸湿过程。随着深度的增加,脱湿与吸湿过程稳定性系数相差值减小;随着饱和度的提高,两者差值也出现减小的趋势。同时,网纹红土中基质吸力对抗滑力的贡献度较大,使得网纹红土质边坡较为稳定。     

A comparison of estimated and calculated effective porosity

 Effective porosity in solute-transport analyses is usually estimated rather than calculated from tracer tests in the field or laboratory. Calculated values of effective porosity in the laboratory on three different textured samples were compared to estimates derived from particle-size distributions and soil–water characteristic curves. The agreement was poor and it seems that no clear relationships exist between effective porosity calculated from laboratory tracer tests and effective porosity estimated from particle-size distributions and soil–water characteristic curves. A field tracer test in a sand-and-gravel aquifer produced a calculated effective porosity of approximately 0.17. By comparison, estimates of effective porosity from textural data, moisture retention, and published values were approximately 50–90% greater than the field calibrated value. Thus, estimation of effective porosity for chemical transport is highly dependent on the chosen transport model and is best obtained by laboratory or field tracer tests. Received, March 1997 · Revised, August 1997 · Accepted, August 1997