• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.95-102
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• 2011

A model of solid-water-air coupling in triphasic mixture is compared to that of solid-water coupling in biphasic mixture with an application to partially saturated soils. Based on thermodynamics, the mathematical framework governing the behavior of a partially saturated soil is derived by using balance equations, and numerical implementation through drainage experiment of a sand column is carried out to validate the obtained formulations. The role of the air phase in the hydro-mechanical behavior of triphasic mixture can be analyzed from the interaction among phases and from the solid skeleton's constitutive behavior, and the three-phase model found applications in geotechnical engineering problems, such as $CO_2$ sequestration and air storage in an aquifer.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2010

The paper presents a comparison between a semi-implicit time integration linear finite element implementation and fully-implicit nonlinear Newton-Raphson finite element implementation of a triphasic small strain mixture formulation of an elastic partially saturated porous medium. The pore air phase pressure pa is assumed atmospheric, i.e., $p_a$ = 0, although the formulation and implementation are general to handle increase in pore air pressure as a result of loading, if needed. The solid skeleton phase is assumed linear isotropic elastic and partially saturated 'consolidation' in the presence of surface infiltration and traction is simulated. The verification of the implementation against an analytical solution for partially saturated pore water flow (no deformation) and comparison between the two implementations is presented and the important of the porosity-dependent nature of the partially saturated permeability is assessed on comparison with a commercial code for the partially saturated flow with deformation. As a result, the response of partially saturated permeability subjected to the porosity influences on the saturation of a soil, and the different behaviors of the partially saturated soil between staggered and monolithic coupled programs is worth of attention because the negative pore water pressure in the partially saturated soil depends on the difference.