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WEEK 14

Further Topics: Soil Behaviour at Unsaturated States,


Extreme Temperature, etc.

20. Broader scope: Whats left for further study?

For thirteen weeks, we have studied many features of soil behaviour, notably stiffness
(including compressibility) and shear strength. There are still lots of other topics to be learnt
concerning soil properties. In this lecture series, we have limited the variables mainly just to
stresses and strains. However, some geotechnical problems require considerations to other
variables, such as pore fluid conditions, temperature and time. As the sphere of
geotechnical activity expands, these variables are increasingly coming into mainstream
geotechnics from what might perhaps been considered more fringe issues. In this last
week of the lecture course, we shall have a glimpse of the role that these variables play in
geotechnics through their effects on soil behaviour, focusing on three specific topics.

20-1. Soil behaviour at unsaturated states

Unsaturated soil mechanics is a big branch of soil mechanics. The unsaturated states
normally mean states at which soil pores are filled with fluid (such as water) and gas (such
as air). This arrangement makes the mechanics of the system very complicated, because
now we have surface tension that works between the fluid and gas phases, in addition to
the inter-particle forces (i.e. what we know as effective stress under saturated conditions)
and the pore water pressure.

Unsaturated soils are usually encountered


at shallower part of ground above the ground
water level. In some cases, however, it can
exist to a significant depth.

Schematic illustration of unsaturated soil

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Unsaturated soils and suction

From equilibrium of force,

r Ts
ua uw =
r
If ua is the atmospheric pressure (i.e. zero),
D/2 uw is negative. In unsaturated soils, the
water pressure is often negative.

This quantity, ua uw, is called the (matric)


suction.

Kelvins model of two discs in contact In the two-disc analogy (Kelvins model),
the inter-particle force, F, is expressed as

Ts
D/2 ua
[(
F = 2(u a u w ) r + D
2
)cos + r ]
uw
F The inter-particle force is proportional to the
suction. The suction therefore gives
Ts additional stress to the soils skeleton (that
is, additional to other external forces from
the boundaries, such as overburden
pressure).
u a : Air pressure
u w : Water pressure What if the water content increases?
Ts : Surface tension of water/air interface
The pore radius r decreases and eventually
F : Inter-particle force Ts disappears, bringing the suction to zero.

Typical water content suction


relationships

Water retention curve


or
Soil-water characteristic(s) curve

(After Fredlund & Xing, 1994)

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Shear strength in unsaturated soils

How to express the strength and deformation characteristics of unsaturated soils is still a
debated issue and under extensive research. A simple expression for unsaturated soils
strength analogous to the Mohr-Coulomb criterion is:

= ( ua ) tan + c + cs
Effective stress is no longer
useful. Use total stress
(minus air pressure).

Apparent cohesion
due to the metric suction

Example of influence of matric suction


on suction strength in silty soil
(After Jotisankasa & Mairaing, 2010)

Rainfall leads to increase in the water content, decrease in suction and then decrease in
shear strength.

Shallow slope failures in 10 Pore water pressure in the slope


Thailand 5 LOWER
Pore water pressure, kPa

-5

-10

-15 Depth 1 m_lower Depth 0.60 m. Depth 0.3 m

-20
14 /08

12 /08

9/ 8
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13 /08
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31 /08

7/ 8

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30 /08

6/ 8

20 /08
27 /08
4/ /08

/1 8
08
0
/0

/0

/0

/0

11 /0
8/

0/
/5
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10

140

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Rainfall record
Rainfall intensity, mm/day

100

80

60

40

20

0
51

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1

51
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4/

11

Date (Photo and data by Jotisankasa, 2011)

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Other ways in which unsaturated soils properties become relevant to practice: Examples

(i) Changes in permeability (hydraulic conductivity)

Example of how
permeability changes
with water content:

: Water content
h : Hydraulic head
Kr : Relative permeability
(Kr = 1 when saturated)

Soi-water characteristic curves (Left) and permeability changes


(After van Genuchten, 1980)

(ii) Expansion and collapse

Unsaturated soils exhibit expansive or contractive (collapse) behaviour upon wetting (i.e.
increases in water content). These apparently contradictory features are better interpreted
and modelled in recent years. Some of the soils are intrinsically expansive (see the photo)
due to soil-water interactions at molecular levels. However, many soils can exhibit both
phenomena depending on the initial state
(e.g. Alonso et al., 1990).

e Expansion
by wetting

High suction
Collapse
by wetting Low suction

log p Expansion of bentonite upon wetting


(After Komine, 2010)

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20-2. Soil behaviour at extreme temperature

Thermal regime of ground: Whats the temperature underneath?

Temperature regime in cold regions Temperature regime under seabed:


(permafrost areas) Osaka-bay, 20-m water depth
(Andersland & Ladanyi, 2004) (Terashi et al., 1980)

High-level nuclear waste burial


(Gens et al., 2009)

Parts of ground that undergo severe temperature changes are limited in their extent.
However, they are often the most vital parts for human activities.

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Behaviour of soils at high temperature

Looking through the literature, the following features of soils behaviour at elevated
temperature are commonly reported:

- Heating normally (but not necessarily always)


causes volume decreases (e.g. Campanella
& Mitchell, 1968; Mitchell, 1976)

- At elevated temperature, soils have higher


shear strength and stiffness (Cekerevac &
Laloui, 2004; Abuel-Naga et al., 2006)

- At elevate temperature, permeability


increases. But most of the increase can be
explained by the lowered water viscosity
(Abuel-Naga et al., 2006; Studies at the
lecturers research group at Hokkaido Univ.)
Volume decrease due to heating
in saturate Illite (Mitchell, 1976)

Influence of temperature on stress-strain


relationship of Bangkok Clay Influence of temperature on permeability
(Abuel-Naga et al., 2006) of Bangkok Clay (Abuel-Naga et al., 2006)

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Behaviour of soils at low temperature (Frozen soils)

As easily imagined, frozen soil (< 0oC) has higher stiffness and shear stiffness, as the pore
ice takes part of the load. These advantageous features of frozen soil are exploited for
foundation engineering in permafrost areas, and for excavation and sampling work through
artificial freezing. As ices stiffness and shear strength themselves become higher at lower
temperature, so do frozen soils.

Unconfined compression strength Soil-ice composition and unconfined


temperature relationships (Andersland & compression strength (Goughnour &
Ladanyi, 2004; original data from Sayles, 1968) Andersland, 1968)

However, there is another important


feature to mind ; frozen soils behaviour
is very time-dependent, reflecting ices
characteristics (remind yourselves of how
glaciers flow over very long time). It means
that, even if soil can sustain high stress
instantaneously, it causes significant
deformation over long time (i.e. creep).
It therefore requires some caution when
exploiting the apparently high stiffness
and strength of frozen soils.
Typical creep patterns of frozen soils
(Andersland & Ladanyi, 2004)

In addition to how soils behave at frozen states,


mass and hear transfer processes during freezing and thawing pose very complex
problems. A particular problem among them is frost heave (this topic is planned to be
covered in the lecture next term Disaster Mitigation Geotechnology by the same lecturer).

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20-3. Time effect (Strain rate-effect, or viscosity)

The strain rate-dependent behaviour of soils derives from (at least) two different
mechanisms. One of them is related to delayed dissipation of pore water pressure, as
typically seen during primary consolidation of low-permeability soils. This is fundamentally
a soil-water coupled problem. The other kind of mechanism seems to exist, which does not
involve pore water pressure as time-dependent variable. This mechanism seems to be
more relevant to, for example, creep under sustained loads and the secondary
consolidation.

e e (Uz : Degree of consolidation)


Loading at
constant strain rate
Terzaghis theory
Creep Secondary Real behaviour
Uz consolidation
=100%
Ce = de / d (log t )
log p
log t : Time
Creep: Secondary consolidation:
Deformation under constant stress Compression beyond what is expected
from time-independent theory

e &0 10 1 &0
Soil group Ce / Cc 10 2 &0
Inorganic clays 0.025-0.075
and silts
Ce
Organic clays 0.035-0.083
and silts
1
10 2 &0 Cc
Peats 0.05-0.085
(Summary of data reported by Mesri & 10 1 &0
Godlewski, 1977) log p
Isotach behaviour in compression

In many types of soil (both sand and clay), Isotach curves of stress-strain relationships
can be drawn, which represent relationships for different, fixed strain rates. The isotach
model, one of the simplest models to interpret the time-dependent nature of soils stress-
strain behaviour, assumes that the isotach curves are smoothly transferrable if the strain
rate is changed (see the diagram).

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Examples: Two natural clays (reproduced from Tsutsumi et al., 2010)

See how the Osaka-Bay Clay obeys the isotach law, while the Louiseville Clay does not.

0 24
3.

2.
5x

6x
10

10
-7

2. 6
-6
26 s -1
Volumetric strain [%]

Volumetric strain [%]


3.3
3.

s
-1

x10
3.

3x -9 s

x1 -8
5x

5 0 -
10 -1

-6
-8 s

s 1
10

2.

s
-1

6x

-1
1
-6 s
0
3.

28 3.5
5x

-1

x1 -9
10

0 -1
-7 s

s
-1

10
30

15 32
1000 10000 200 300 400 500
'v [kPa] (Logarithmic scale) 'v [kPa] (Logarithmic scale)

Osaka-Bay Clay Louiseville Clay

The effect of strain rates is observed not only for compression behaviour but also for shear
behaviour in a wide range of geomaterials (clays, silts, sands, gravels, and indeed many
granular substances). Prof. Tatsuoka and his coworkers have been vigorously investigating
the strain-rate effects, and categorised them into four patterns (see the diagram).

In many of the existing models,


it is often assumed that

- The elastic strain component


is independent of the strain rate.
- The plastic strain component
is dependent on the strain rate.

This concept is referred to as


elasto-viscoplasticity in general.

(After Tatsuoka et al., 2008)

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References

Abuel-Naga, H.M., Bergado, D.T., Ramana, G.V., Grino, L., Rujivipat, P. and Thet, Y.
(2006) Experimental evaluation of engineering behavior of soft Bangkok Clay under
elevated temperature, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
132(7) 902-910.
Alonso, E.E., Gens, A. and Josa, A. (1990) "A constitutive model for partially saturated
soils," Geotechnique 40(3) 405-430.
Andersland, O.B. and Ladanyi, B. (2004) "Frozen ground engineering," 2nd edition, Wiley
and Sons.
Campanella, R.G. and Mitchell, J.K. (1968) Influence of temperature variations on soil
behaviour, Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, ASCE 94(SM3) 709-734.
Cekerevac, C. and Laloui, L. (2004) Study of thermal effects on the mechanical
behaviour of a clay, Int. J. Numer. Anal. Meth. Geomech. 28, 209228.
Fredlund, D.G. and Xing, A. (1994) Equations for the soil-water characteristic curve,
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol.31, pp.521-532.
Gens, A., Sanchz, M., Do, L., Guimares, N., Alonso, E.E., Lloret, A., Olivella, S., Villar,
M.V. and Huertas, F. (2009) A full-scale in situ heating test for high-level nuclear waste
disposal: observations, analysis and interpretation, Geotechnique 59(4) 377399.
Goughnour, R.R. and Andersland, O.B. (1968) "Mechanical properties of a sand-ice
system," Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, ASCE 94(SM4) 923-950.
Jotisankasa, A. (2011) Personal communication.
Jotisankasa, A. and Mairang, W. (2010) Suction-monitored direct shear testing of residual
soils from landslide-prone areas, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering 136(3) 533537.
Komine, H. (2010) Personal communication.
Mesri, G. and Godlewski, P.M. (1977) Time- and stress-compressibility interrelationship,
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE 103(GT5) 417-430.
Mitchell, J.K. (1976): Fundamentals of soil behavior, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Sayles, F.H. (1968) Creep of frozen sands, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and
Engineering Laboratory Technical Report 87-11.
Tatsuoka, F., Di Benedetto, H., Enomoto, T., Kawabe, S. and Kongkitkul, W. (2010)
Various viscosity types of geomaterials in shear and their mathematical expression,
Soils and Foundations 48(1) 41-60.
Terashi, M., Tanaka, H., Mitsumoto, T., Niidome, Y., Honma, S. (1980) Fundamental
properties of lime and cement treated soils (2nd Report), Report of the Port and Harbour
Research Institute 19(1) 33-57. (in Japanese)
Tsutsumi, A., Tanaka, H. and Kawaguchi, T. (2010) Development of an extremely slow
constant rate of strain oedometer and its application to several clays, Proceedings of the
Japan Society of Civil Engineers Series C 65(3) 660-670.
van Genuchten, M.Th. (1980) "A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic
conductivity of unsaturated soils," Soil Science Society of America Journal 44, 892-898.

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