• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.625-633
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• 2023

The volume changes associated with moisture or suction variation in expansive soils are of geotechnical and geoenvironmental design concern. These changes can impact the performance of infrastructure projects and lightweight structures. Assessment of unsaturated function for these materials leads to better interpretation and understanding, as well as providing accurate and economic design. In this study, expansive soils from different regions of Saudi Arabia were studied for their basic properties including gradation, plasticity and shrinkage, swelling, and consolidation characteristics. The unsaturated soil functions of saturated water content, air-entry values, and residual states were determined by conducting the tests for the entire soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) using different techniques. An attempt has been made to provide a prediction model for unsaturated properties based on the basic properties of these soils. Once the profile of SWCC has been predicted the time and cost for many tests can be saved. These predictions can be utilized in practice for the application of unsaturated soil mechanics on geotechnical and geoenvironmental projects.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.25-32
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• 2011

The matric suction and volumetric water content of dredging soils obtained from Saemangeum area were measured by the automated Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) apparatus under both drying and wetting conditions. Based on the test result, SWCCs of the dredging soils were estimated by the van Genuchten(1980) model. The matric suction of drying process is larger than that of wetting process at a same effective degree of saturation. The suction stresses for various matirc suctions were estimated using Lu and Likos(2006) model and the Suction Stress Characteristic Curves (SSCC) were predicted using the independent parameter of SWCC. The suction stress of drying path was increased and decreased, while the suction stress of wetting path was continuously decreased with increasing the effective degree. Also, the suction stress of drying path is larger than that of wetting path at a same effective degree of saturation. The Hydraulic Conductivity Function(HCF) was also predicted by the van Genuchten(1980) model. The hydraulic conductivity was increased with increasing the volumetric water content. The hydraulic conductivity of drying path is larger than that of wetting path at a same matric suction. According to the results of SWCCs and SSCCs, the hysteresis phenomenon of suction stress or matric suction during both drying and wetting paths was occurred. The main reason of hysteresis phenomenon is a ink bottle effect of water among soil particles.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.39-48
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• 2007

The soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) is a useful tool in the prediction of the engineering behavior of unsaturated soils. Several equations are available in the literature to mathematically represent the experimental behavior of the SWCC. Some equations are based on the assumption that the shape of curve is dependent upon pore-size distribution. Other equations assume that SWCC can be estimated from the grain size distribution and the physical properties of soils. This study evaluated the suitability of using two different SWCC equations for defining the relationship between water content and matric suction. Various parameters that influence the SWCC behavior are also briefly discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2005

In this paper, a method reasonably predicting soil water characteristic curve of domestic weathered granite soils was suggested, based on the test results obtained through experiments. In other words, a method to estimate the parameters of Fredlund and Xing's equation using an ANN (artificial neural network) was proposed. The particle size distribution, compacted water content and void ratio were used as input data in the ANN model for predicting the parameters, since it was found that these basic soil properties affect the parameters obtained from the test results and the fitting results of SWCC. The network model proposed in this study to obtain the parameters of Fredlund and Xing's SWCC equation produced reliable predictions, and the precision of the prediction results from the proposed method was high, in comparison with the prediction results of other methods.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

The influence of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) fitting parameters for an unsaturated natural slope was evaluated through seepage and slope stability analysis as a function of rainfall. Soil samples were collected from the study area in Jirisan National Park and the physical and mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soil layers were measured in laboratory tests. The saturation depth was calculated via seepage analysis by changing fitting parameters α, the parameter related to the Air Entry Value (AEV) and n, the parameter related to the slope of the SWCC in the range of natural conditions. Slope stability analysis using the limit equilibrium method considered the calculated depth of saturation. Results from seepage analysis for various rainfall conditions indicate the saturation depth in the soil layer suddenly increased as the fitting parameter α decreased; the saturation time for the entire soil layer also decreased. Slope stability analysis considering the calculated depth of saturation shows that the slope safety factor rapidly decreased as the fitting parameter α decreased, whereas the variation in slope safety factor was very small when n increased. Hence, fitting parameter α has a large effect on saturation depth during rainfall and therefore on slope stability, whereas slope stability is relatively unaffected by the fitting parameter n.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.71-78
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• 2010

The stability analysis of unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration condition was performed using the generalized effective stress that unifies both saturated and unsaturated condition recently proposed by Lu and Likos(2004, 2006). The Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) of the sand with the relative density of 75% was first measured for both drying and wetting processes. The Hydraulic Conductivity Function (HCF) and Suction Stress Characteristic Curve (SSCC) were subsequently estimated. Also, under the rainfall-induced infiltration condition transient seepage analysis of unsaturated infinite slope was performed using the finite element program, SEEP/W. Based on these results, the stability of unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration condition was examined considering the suction stress. According to the results, the negative pore water pressure and water content within the soil changed with time due to the infiltration. Also, the variation of those caused the variation of suction stress and then the factor of safety of slope changed consequently during the rainfall period.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1C
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• pp.53-63
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• 2010

Since the water retention curve is considered as a major parameter to evaluate the unsaturated ground or soils, overburden pressure and clay content on soils underneath ground surface have not been considered for estimating water retention characteristics. Therefore, a need exists that the effect of overburden pressure and clay content on water retention characteristics was assessed in typical weathered soils found in Korea. Soil-Water Characteristic Curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity were estimated using water retention characteristics under the condition of different overburden pressure, clay content, and de-saturation path. Then, these effects are evaluated with the results of SWCC tests from the laboratory. In addition to that, the unsaturated moisture capacity and diffusivity of each case is discussed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-149
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• 2020

Piles are widely used in structural foundations of engineering projects. However, the deformation of the soil around the pile caused by driving process has an adverse effect on adjacent existing underground buildings. Many previous studies have addressed related problems in sand and saturated clay. Nevertheless, the failure mechanism of pile driving in unsaturated soil remains scarcely reported, and this issue needs to be studied. In this study, a modeling test system based on particle image velocimetry (PIV) was developed for studying deformation characteristics of pile driving in unsaturated silt with different water contents. Meanwhile, a series of direct shear tests and soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) tests also were conducted. The test results show that the displacement field shows an apparent squeezing effect under the pile end. The installation pressure and displacement field characteristics are sensitive to the water content. The installation pressure is the largest and the total displacement field is the smallest, for specimens compacted at water content of 11.5%. These observations can be reasonably interpreted according to the relevant unsaturated silt theory derived from SWCC tests and direct shear tests. The variation characteristics of the soil displacement field reflect the macroscopic mechanical properties of the soil around the pile.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.247-258
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• 2020

The shear strength of unsaturated soils, a research hotspot in geotechnical engineering, has great guiding significance for geotechnical engineering design. Although kinds of calculation models for the shear strength of unsaturated soil have been put forward by predecessors, there is still need for new models to extensively consider the nonlinear variation of shear strength, particularly for the nonlinear effect of the net normal stress on the shear strength of unsaturated soil. Here, the shear strength of unsaturated soils is explored to study the nonlinear effects of net normal stress with the introduction of a general nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) strength criterion, and the relationship between the matric suction (or suction stress) and degree of saturation (DOS) constructed by the soil-water characteristics curve (SWCC) of van Genuchten is also applied for unsaturated soil. Then, two calculation models (i.e., an envelope shell model and an effective stress model) are established for the shear strength of unsaturated soils under the nonlinear strength theory. In these two models, the curve of the shear strength of unsaturated soils versus the net normal stress exhibits a tendency to gently. Moreover, the proposed formulas have flexibility and convenience with five parameters (for the effective stress model) or six parameters (for the envelope shell model), which are from the M-C strength parameters of the saturated soil and fitting parameters of SWCC of van Genuchten. Thereafter, by comparison with the classical theory of the shear strength of unsaturated soils from some actual cases, the rationality and accuracy of the present models were verified.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.53-63
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• 2008

The aim of this study was to validate the suitability of an digital image analysis (DIA) method to measure the degree of saturation in the unsaturated conditions. This study was carried out on the Joo-Mun-Jin standard sand. A one-dimensional sand column test was used in the constant water level condition to get the correlation equation between the color number ($C_n$) and the measured degree of saturation (5). In addition, the hanging wale. column technique to determine the soil-water charactenstic curve (SWCC) was performed in a Buchner funnel. The average degree of saturation ($S_{ave}$) in the SWCC could be obtained by substituting average color number at each suction head value with the $C_n\;-\;S$ correlation equation. Comparisons were made between the measured results by the hanging water column test and those obtained from DIA method. Results showed that the DIA method tested here provided fairly good saturation distribution values in the drying and wetting processes.