• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.233-245
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• 2014

Coupled finite element analysis is carried out to study the effect of degree of saturation on the vertical displacements and pore water pressures simultaneously by developing a FORTRAN90 code. The finite element formulation adopted in the present study is based upon Biot's consolidation theory to include partially saturated soils. Numerical methods are applied to a two-dimensional plane strain strip footing (flexible) problem and the effect of variable degree of saturation on the response of excess pore water pressure dissipation and settlement of the footing is studied. The immediate settlement in the case of partly saturated soils is larger than that of a fully saturated soil, the reason being the presence of pore air in partially saturated soils. On the other hand, the excess pore water pressure for partially saturated soil are smaller than those for fully saturated soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.91-100
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• 2012

Soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs), which represent a physical property in partially saturated soils, show the relation between volumetric water content and matric suction. The SWCCs exhibit hysteresis during wetting and drying, however experimental expressions used to describe SWCCs have generally ignored the hysteresis. In addition, the shape of SWCC may depend on the void ratio which is changed by soil skeleton deformations or hysteretic behavior under various loading conditions. Hence, it is necessary to understand, both empirically and analytically, the relationship between soil skeleton deformations and the SWCCs of various soils. The typical SWCCs experimentally have drying, wetting, and the second drying curve. The measurement of a complete set of hysteretic curves is severely time-consuming and difficult works, then the first drying curve of SWCC is generally determined to estimate the hydraulic conductivity and shear strength function of partially saturated soils. This paper presents the hydraulic-mechanical behavior of partially saturated soils (weathered soil and silty soil) for volume changes and hysteresis in SWCCs regarding the difference between the first drying and wetting curve.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.35-43
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• 2010

Partially saturated permeability should be defined by the function of suction (or degree of saturation) and porosity. However, commercial software and most researchers' model often describe as the function of suction. The stability of a soil slope can be affected by both hydraulic and shear strength properties of partially saturated soils. For both studies, we generally use an uncoupled seepage analysis program Seep/W(Geo-Slope, 2007) and a series stress-deformation analysis program Sigma/W, or slope stability analysis program Slope/W. Seep/W is performed for simulations of partially saturated flow problems in non-deformable soil media. However, under real situations, the water flow processes in a deformable soil are influenced by soil skeleton movement and the pore water pressure changed due to seepage will lead to changes in stresses and to deformation of a soil. Many researchers are currently developing their models for solving coupled hydro-mechanical problems to simulate slope stability during a rainstorm. For a proper implementation in the field, the developed model should be still needed in order to achieve appropriate accuracy of the solution for coupled hydro-mechanical problems in soil slope stability. Thus, the paper presents the comparison of slope stability between uncoupled and coupled analyses of seepage and stress deformation problems.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2022

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.223-235
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• 2022

Bearing capacity of shallow foundations is often determined for either dry or saturated soils. In some occasions, foundations may be subjected to external loading which is inclined and/or eccentric. In this study, the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations resting on partially saturated coarse-grained cohesionless and fine-grained cohesive soils subjected to a wide range of combined vertical (V) - horizontal (H) - moment (M) loadings is rigorously evaluated using the well-established limit equilibrium method. The unified effective stress approach as well as the suction stress concept is effectively adopted so as to simulate the behaviour of the underlying unsaturated soil medium. In order to obtain the bearing capacity, four equilibrium equations are solved by adopting Coulomb failure mechanism and Bishop effective stress concept and also considering a linear variation of the induced matric suction beneath the foundation. The general failure loci of the shallow foundations resting on unsaturated soils at different hydraulic conditions are presented in V - H - M spaces. The results indicate that the matric suction has a marked influence on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations. In addition, the effect of induced suction on the ultimate bearing capacity of obliquely-loaded foundations is more pronounced than that of the eccentrically-loaded footings.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.109-122
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• 2024

Standard triaxial cells are commonly used to measure the mechanical behavior of saturated soils. However, this type of standard system is difficult to use for unsaturated soil specimens since it cannot measure the changes in the pore-air volume and pressure. This paper proposes to extend the measurement possibilities of the standard triaxial testing device in a simple way and to adapt it to partially saturated soils. The system is supplied by two hygrometers installed at each end of the cylindrical unsaturated specimen to measure local relative humidity, which allows the derivation of suction. The volumetric strain of the specimen is calculated by analyzing digital photos captured from the outside of the transparent cell wall. Specimens made of kaolin clay, having different hydraulic properties, were tested to verify the reliability of the measurements, and thus, the relevance of the proposed techniques to study the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.669-685
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• 2015

A three-dimensional elastoplastic constitutive model, also known as a UH model (Yao et al. 2009), was developed to describe the stress-strain relationship for normally consolidated and over-consolidated soils. In this paper, an acoustic tensor and discriminator of bifurcation for the UH model are derived for the strain localization of saturated clays under undrained and fully and partially drained conditions. Analytical analysis is performed to illustrate the points of bifurcation for the UH model with different three-dimensional stress paths. Numerical analyses of cubic specimens for the bifurcation of saturated clays under undrained and fully and partially drained conditions are conducted using ABAQUS with the UH model. Analytical and numerical analyses show the similar bifurcation behaviour of overconsolidated clays in three-dimensional stress states and various drainage conditions. The results of analytical and numerical analyses show that (1) the occurrence of bifurcation is dependent on the stress path and drainage condition; and (2) bifurcation can appear in either a strain-hardening or strain-softening regime.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.117-127
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• 2010

Gound excavation is frequently executed in unsaturated soil conditions. In this paper, the effect of apparent cohesion in unsaturated soils on the ground behavior during underground excavation is studied. The VPPE (Volumetric Pressure Plate Extractor) test, the unsaturated triaxial test and the trap-door test were carried out to figure out how the behavior of soils varies depending on the variation of apparent cohesion. The test results show that the ground behavior is almost identical if the soil is either fully dry or fully saturated. However, if the soil is partially-saturated with the increase of water content, the ground behaves quite differently. In summary, the apparent cohesion in unsaturated soils plays key roles when excavating underground structures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.57-64
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• 2007

Since matric suction of unsaturated soil was related to soil and ground water contaminations, it is very important to analyze its mechanism that was represented by shear characteristics. In three phases of soil, a little air makes the condition of unsaturated soil on contract or shrinkage surface between water and air. Capillarity and suction in pore of unsaturated soil cause surface tension and surface force so it makes negative pore water pressure and increases effective stress as a result. Therefore, negative pore water pressure in partially saturated soil affects the soil structure and degree of saturation and it is important to evaluate accurately unsaturate flow and behavior. In this study, the shear strength characteristics of the seven sandy soils were investigated using consolidated drained triaxial tests with special emphasis on the effects of the negative pore pressure and the matric suction. These tests involved shearing under either a constant net confining pressure and varying matric suction or under a constant matric suction and varying net normal stress.