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Swelling and Collapse of Unsaturated Soils Due to Inundation Under One-Dimensional Loading

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Abstract

Volume change of unsaturated soils is controlled by two stress state variables which are net normal stress and matric suction. Volume change phenomenon due to a change in matric suction or water content can be either shrinkage, swelling or collapse, and depends on the level of net normal stress and the initial void ratio of the soil. In this paper, consolidated kaolin specimens were air dried to various water contents and then inundated with water under different net normal stresses in order to study the wetting-induced volume change. The oedometer apparatus was used to carry out the swell test while the constant-rate-of-strain apparatus was used to carry out the constant volume test. The objective of this paper is to investigate the transition of swelling and collapse phenomenon due to different net normal stresses and to derive a method to estimate the wetting induced volume and net normal stress change of unsaturated soil. Based on the tests results, the pre-consolidation void ratio for the same soil before and after inundation is the same, the slope of the normal and unsaturated compression lines are the same under constant degree of saturation conditions and slopes of the unloading line under saturated and unsaturated condition are different. Based on the test results, a method to determine the wetting-induced swelling and collapse of unsaturated soils was proposed. The proposed method was verified using data from the literature.

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Abbreviations

CRS:

Constant-rate-of-strain

Cc :

Slope of the NCL

Cr :

Slope of the unloading line

Cr,d :

Slope of the unloading line under unsaturated condition

Cr,s :

Slope of the unloading line under saturated condition

ec :

Pre-consolidation void ratio

ed,i :

Void ratio prior to inundation at Pi

ed,0 :

Void ratio at net normal stress 1 kPa at the unloading line

es,i :

Void ratio after inundation at Pi

es,0 :

Void ratio at net normal stress 1 kPa at the unloading line

eN,s :

Void ratio of the NCL at net normal stress 1 kPa

eN,d :

Void ratio of the UCL at net normal stress 1 kPa

NCL:

Normal compression line

Pc,d :

Apparent pre-consolidation pressure for Sr < 100 %

Pc,s :

Pre-consolidation pressure at the NCL

Pi :

Inundation pressure

Ps :

Swelling pressure

PT :

Transition pressure

s:

Matric suction

Sr :

Degree of saturation

ua :

Pore-air pressure

UCL:

Unsaturated compression line

w0 :

Initial water content prior to compression

Δe:

Change in void ratio due to wetting

σ′:

Effective stress

σ:

Total stress

σ-ua :

Net normal stress

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Acknowledgments

The first author gratefully acknowledges the research scholarship from Nanyang Technological University.

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  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Blk N1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    M. Wijaya & E. C. Leong

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  1. M. Wijaya
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Correspondence to E. C. Leong.

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Wijaya, M., Leong, E.C. Swelling and Collapse of Unsaturated Soils Due to Inundation Under One-Dimensional Loading. Indian Geotech J 46, 239–251 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-015-0172-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-015-0172-4

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