Discussion of “From saturated to unsaturated conditions and vice versa” by Martí Lloret-Cabot,Simon J. Wheeler,Jubert A. Pineda,Enrique Romero,and Daichao Sheng (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-017-0577-6)

The authors (Lloret-Cabot et al. in Acta Geotech 1–23, 2017) applied the glasgow coupled model (GCM), originally proposed by Wheeler et al. (Géotechnique 53(1):41–54, 2003), to the simulation of several experimental tests that involve transition between saturated and unsaturated states. The authors show qualitatively, but not quantitatively, predictions of GCM for shrinkage during air drying of normally consolidated samples (Fig. 13) under low mechanical stress conditions, without presenting the material parameters. The discussers, who have worked with GCM to model multilayer deposition of tailings/soft soils (Qi in Numerical investigation for slope stability of expansive soils and large strain consolidation of soft soils. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa, 2017; Qi et al. in J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 143(7):04017018, 2017, Qi et al. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 143(7):04017019, 2017), have made quantitative predictions of similar cases. Satisfactory simulations of such cases using GCM are sensitive to the selection of the coupling parameters k₁ and k₂. By considering an alternative analytical form of GCM, an analytical procedure can be derived for calibrating the coupling parameters for problems involving virgin drying.