A comparison between numerical integration algorithms for unsaturated soils constitutive models

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (07) ◽  
pp. 1850066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meijuan Xu ◽  
Pengpeng Ni ◽  
Guoxiong Mei ◽  
Yanlin Zhao

The behavior of pile composite foundation is studied using the flexibility method. During the analysis, determination of the flexibility matrix (settlement) is critical. However, conventional methods of Winkler and elastic half-space foundation models are incapable of considering the time effects of soil consolidation and creep. The foundation model of Zaretsky and Tsytovich [1965] can be used to evaluate settlement for unsaturated soils, but the complexity of numerical integration over an arbitrary loading area hinders its application. In this paper, a novel scheme is proposed for numerical integration by rotating the loading surface using the equiareal transformation technique. Therefore, a simplified closed-form solution is developed to calculate time dependent settlement for foundation soils. The efficacy of the proposed technique is demonstrated using illustrative examples of an elastic half-space, a rigid raft foundation without piles, and rigid pile composite foundations with multiple piles under surface loading. Furthermore, parametric study is conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of model parameters. The permeability [Formula: see text] and Poisson’s ratio [Formula: see text] are found to be important, whereas pore pressure coefficient [Formula: see text] and degree of saturation [Formula: see text] are less significant in the calculation.


Author(s):  
Beshoy Riad ◽  
Xiong Zhang

Unsaturated soils are often used as a construction material in transportation infrastructures. In this situation, unsaturated soils are subjected to cyclic mechanical loading from traffic loads or wetting-drying cycles in seasonal climatic conditions. While mechanical hysteresis is a common feature of soils in general, hydraulic hysteresis is associated with unsaturated soils. Although several constitutive models for unsaturated soils have been proposed, the mechanical and hydraulic hysteresis behavior of unsaturated soils has been little studied. A modified state surface approach (MSSA) was first proposed for investigating the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. It was then extended to study the coupled hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils with a special focus on the consistency between different soil phases. However, hydraulic and mechanical hysteresis were neglected in MSSA formulations. In this paper, based on evidence from experimental results, the MSSA is extended further to study the coupled hydro-mechanical hysteresis behavior of unsaturated soils. The extended MSSA can reproduce several forms of mechanical and hydraulic behavior observed in experimental results that cannot be represented by existing constitutive models. To demonstrate the capabilities of the extended MSSA, typical behaviors are simulated and compared, qualitatively, with the characteristic trends of the behavior of unsaturated soils. Experimental results from the literature are then used to evaluate the model to predict, quantitatively, the observed behaviors. The agreement between measured and predicted results is considered satisfactory and confirms the possibility of the proposed approach to reproduce the hysteresis behavior of unsaturated soils.


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