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Suction-controlled triaxial tests have been widely used to characterize unsaturated soils. However, this type of test requires sophisticated and therefore expensive equipment, and is very time consuming because of the low permeability of unsaturated soils. Only a few research universities can afford the equipment, which limits the advancement and implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics. This paper proposes a new triaxial testing system for unsaturated soils based upon minor modifications on the conventional triaxial test apparatus for saturated soils. Instead of controlling suction, high-suction tensiometers are adopted to monitor matric suction variations during constant water content triaxial testing. Also, a photogrammetry-based method is used to measure volume changes of unsaturated soil specimens during triaxial testing. To evaluate the capabilities of the proposed testing system, a series of constant water content triaxial tests were performed on unsaturated soils with different moisture content. Matric suction and volume variations during testing were monitored by the high-suction tensiometers and the photogrammetry-based method, respectively. New methods were also proposed to analyze the test results. Analysis results showed that the proposed system is cost effective and efficient for unsaturated soil characterization.
The triaxial test has been extensively used to evaluate both saturated and unsaturated soil behaviors. The conventional triaxial test apparatus for saturated soils cannot be used to test unsaturated soils due to difficulties in soil volume and suction measurement. In 1961, a suction-controlled triaxial test apparatus was developed to investigate behavior of unsaturated soils. Since this development, the suction-controlled test has been widely used for unsaturated soil characterization. Most important concepts concerning unsaturated soil mechanics were developed based upon results from suction-controlled tests. However, the suction-controlled triaxial test on unsaturated soils, which is a drained test, is usually laborious, time-consuming, and costly, and may not be justifiable for routine engineering projects. The constant water content (undrained) test has been widely used to investigate saturated soil behaviors. However, for unsaturated soils, due to difficulties in direct, rapid, and reliable suction measurement, the constant water content test was rarely used for unsaturated soil behavior evaluation. In addition, accurate volume change measurement of unsaturated soils was a great challenge for researchers. Recently, the Modified State Surface Approach (MSSA) has been developed to calibrate unsaturated soil behaviors. According to MSSA, both results from suction-controlled and constant water content triaxial tests can be used for constitutive behavior calibration on unsaturated soils. In this study, a new triaxial test system was developed to investigate unsaturated soil behaviors through constant water content triaxial tests. To measure soil suction variation during testing, a new type of high-suction tensiometer was developed based on a commercial miniature pressure transducer. A 15 bar air-entry ceramic disc was used as the filter of the high-suction tensiometer. After saturation and calibration, this new type of high-suction tensiometer could be utilized for matric suction measurement on unsaturated soils with a maximum measurable suction up to 1100 kPa determined via a free evaporation test. To measure the volume change of unsaturated soils during triaxial testing, a photogrammetry-based method was developed by integrating photogrammetry, optical-ray tracing, and least-square estimation techniques. Through two validation tests on a stainless steel cylinder and a saturated sand specimen, the average point and total volume change measurement accuracy were determined to be approximately 0.065 mm and 0.05%, respectively. With this method, the conventional triaxial test apparatus for saturated soils can be used for triaxial testing on unsaturated soils without any modification. In addition to total volume change measurement, the newly developed photogrammetry-based method can also be used to investigate the deformation characteristics of soils during triaxial testing such as full-field deformation, volumetric strain non-uniformity, full-field strain distribution, and shear band evolution process. To evaluate the performance of the new triaxial testing system, a series of constant water content triaxial tests were carried out on unsaturated soils. New methods were proposed to characterize shear strength of the tested unsaturated soils. Also, an example was given to calibrate the constitutive behavior of an unsaturated soil based on results from the constant water content triaxial tests. Analysis results indicated that the proposed triaxial testing system is a cost effective and time efficient alternative to the suction-controlled triaxial testing system. In geotechnical and highway engineering, many projects involve unsaturated soils at shallow depths with low confining stresses (less than 100 kPa). To investigate the behavior of unsaturated soils at low confining stresses, the new triaxial testing system was simplified to a modified unconfined compression testing system. In this simplified system, negative air pressure (i.e., vacuum pressure) was used to provide the low confining stress for the triaxial tests. The high-suction tensiometers were used to monitor soil matrix suction variation during testing. A photogrammetric method was utilized for deformation measurements of unsaturated soils during triaxial testing. A series of undrained triaxial tests was also carried out to demonstrate the use of the modified unconfined compression testing system for unsaturated soil behavior evaluation under different confining stresses.
Significant advancements in the experimental analysis of soils and shales have been achieved during the last few decades. Outstanding progress in the field has led to the theoretical development of geomechanical theories and important engineering applications. This book provides the reader with an overview of recent advances in a variety of advanced experimental techniques and results for the analysis of the behaviour of geomaterials under multiphysical testing conditions. Modern trends in experimental geomechanics for soils and shales are discussed, including testing materials in variably saturated conditions, non-isothermal experiments, micro-scale investigations and image analysis techniques. Six theme papers from leading researchers in experimental geomechanics are also included. This book is intended for postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners in fields where multiphysical testing of soils and shales plays a fundamental role, such as unsaturated soil and rock mechanics, petroleum engineering, nuclear waste storage engineering, unconventional energy resources and CO2 geological sequestration.
This book is the second volume of the proceedings of the 4th GeoShanghai International Conference that was held on May 27 - 30, 2018. This conference showcased the recent advances and technology in geotechnical engineering, geoenvironmental engineering and transportation engineering. This volume, entitled “Multi-physics Processes in Soil Mechanics and Advances in Geotechnical Testing”, covers a wide range of topics in soil mechanics, focusing on the behaviours of partially saturated soils, combined effects of multi-physics processes in geological materials and systems, and emerging methods and techniques in geotechnical in-situ testing and monitoring. This book may benefit researchers and scientists from the academic fields of soil and rock mechanics, geotechnical engineering, geoenvironmental engineering, transportation engineering, geology, mining and energy, as well as practical engineers from the industry. Each of the papers included in this book received at least two positive peer reviews. The editors would like to express their sincerest appreciation to all of the anonymous reviewers all over the world, for their diligent work.
This volume presents selected papers presented during the 4th International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics. The papers address the geotechnical challenges in design, construction, maintenance, monitoring, and upgrading of roads, railways, airfields, and harbor facilities and other ground transportation infrastructure with the goal of providing safe, economic, environmental, reliable and sustainable infrastructures. This volume will be of interest to postgraduate students, academics, researchers, and consultants working in the field of civil and transport infrastructure.
The testing of unsaturated soils requires greater care and effort than that of saturated soils. Although unsaturated soil mechanics has been embraced by geotechnical engineering, engineering practice has not yet caught up as the characterization of unsaturated soils is difficult and time-consuming, and made harder still by a lack of standards. Laboratory Tests for Unsaturated Soils collates test procedures to cover all laboratory tests for characterising unsaturated soils. It covers the background, theory, test procedures, and interpretation of test results. Each test procedure is broken down into simple stages and described in detail. The pitfalls of each test and the interpretation of the test results are explained. Test data and calculation methods are given, along with many numerical examples to illustrate the methods of interpretation and to offer the presentation of typical results. The book is especially useful for students and researchers who are new to the field and provides a practical handbook for engineering applications.
The definitive guide to unsaturated soil— from the world's experts on the subject This book builds upon and substantially updates Fredlund and Rahardjo's publication, Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils, the current standard in the field of unsaturated soils. It provides readers with more thorough coverage of the state of the art of unsaturated soil behavior and better reflects the manner in which practical unsaturated soil engineering problems are solved. Retaining the fundamental physics of unsaturated soil behavior presented in the earlier book, this new publication places greater emphasis on the importance of the "soil-water characteristic curve" in solving practical engineering problems, as well as the quantification of thermal and moisture boundary conditions based on the use of weather data. Topics covered include: Theory to Practice of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics Nature and Phase Properties of Unsaturated Soil State Variables for Unsaturated Soils Measurement and Estimation of State Variables Soil-Water Characteristic Curves for Unsaturated Soils Ground Surface Moisture Flux Boundary Conditions Theory of Water Flow through Unsaturated Soils Solving Saturated/Unsaturated Water Flow Problems Air Flow through Unsaturated Soils Heat Flow Analysis for Unsaturated Soils Shear Strength of Unsaturated Soils Shear Strength Applications in Plastic and Limit Equilibrium Stress-Deformation Analysis for Unsaturated Soils Solving Stress-Deformation Problems with Unsaturated Soils Compressibility and Pore Pressure Parameters Consolidation and Swelling Processes in Unsaturated Soils Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice is essential reading for geotechnical engineers, civil engineers, and undergraduate- and graduate-level civil engineering students with a focus on soil mechanics.
Unsaturated Soils: Advances in Geo-Engineering comprises 136 contributions from leading international researchers and practitioners, presented at the First European Conference on Unsaturated Soils (Durham, UK, 2-4 July 2008). The papers report on the latest advances in geo-engineering aspects of unsaturated soils. It is the first collection to focu
In this research work, a novel suction-controlled true triaxial testing apparatus has been developed to test 3-in (7.5-cm) side, cubical specimens of unsaturated soil under controlled-suction states for a wide range of stress paths that are not easily achievable in a conventional cylindrical apparatus. The equipment is a mixed-boundary type of device, with the specimen seated on top of a high-air-entry ceramic disk and between five flexible (latex) membranes on the remaining sides of the cube. The new cell is an upgraded, more elaborate version of the one previously reported by Hoyos (1998), featuring two independent pore-air and pore-water pressure control systems via a PCP-5000-UNSAT pressure panel. Matric suction states in the specimens are induced during testing via the axis-translation technique. The technique is implemented by utilizing the s = ua testing concept (uw = 0). The paper outlines the full development of the new cell, including details of its main components and the step-by-step assembling process. Results from a series of constant-suction hydrostatic compression (HC), conventional triaxial compression (CTC), triaxial compression (TC), and triaxial extension (TE) tests on lightly compacted silty sand are presented. An attempt was made to calibrate and validate the Barcelona model (Alonso et al. 1990) using results from CTC and TC tests. The operational true triaxial apparatus will play a fundamental role in the complete characterization of unsaturated soil behavior under multiaxial stress paths that are likely to be experienced in the field.
Triaxial Testing of Soils explains how to carry out triaxial tests to demonstrate the effects of soil behaviour on engineering designs. An authoritative and comprehensive manual, it reflects current best practice and instrumentation.References are made throughout to easily accessible articles in the literature and the books focus is on how to obtain high quality experimental results.