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Experimental and discrete element modeling study on suction stress characteristic curve and soil–water characteristic curve of unsaturated reticulated red clay

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Abstract

To explore the effect of suction stress on effective stress, shear strength, and the relationship with the soil–water characteristic curve of unsaturated reticulated red clay, a series of triaxial compression tests, soil–water retention tests, and particle flow code 3D (PFC3D) simulation under different matric suction and net confining pressure was conducted. The suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC) and soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) of reticulated red clay was obtained. These test results show that the effective stress based on suction stress converged to the unique failure envelope and that there is an internal relationship between SSCC and SWCC. The simulation results of PFC3D were very close to the laboratory measurements in the observation peak value and variation laws of the stress–strain curve. Based on the discrete element method, PFC3D takes rigid spheres or disks as basic units and simulates practical problems through the motion and interaction of the basic units. The parameters obtained by inversion of the stress–strain curve of PFC3D simulation were basically the same as laboratory measurements. Therefore, PFC3D simulation can be used to obtain SSCC and SWCC. These results are expected to promote the development of unsaturated soil mechanics.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41572269), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University (grant no. 2018zzts202), and the Key Laboratory of Metallogenic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring (Central South University), Ministry of Education (grant no. 2019YSJS24). The data in tables and figures used in this paper were obtained from experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Metallogenic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring (Central South University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, People’s Republic of China

    Chuang Zhang, Jianzhong Li, Yuxin Zhang & Tianyang Hu

  2. School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Chuang Zhang, Jianzhong Li, Yuxin Zhang & Tianyang Hu

  3. Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Chuang Zhang

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  1. Chuang Zhang
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Correspondence to Chuang Zhang or Jianzhong Li.

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Zhang, C., Li, J., Zhang, Y. et al. Experimental and discrete element modeling study on suction stress characteristic curve and soil–water characteristic curve of unsaturated reticulated red clay. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 363 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02834-5

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