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Analysis of soil drying incorporating a constitutive model for curling

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Abstract

This paper focuses on the shrinkage behavior of soil specimens involving sand, kaolinite, and kaolinite/sand mixtures subjected to desiccation under controlled conditions. Both, free and restrained shrinkage conditions are studied. The experiments show that pure soils do not curl upon unrestrained shrinkage; however, (under the same conditions) kaolinite/sand mixtures exhibited a marked curling. Furthermore, the mixture with the higher sand content broke through the middle of the sample after displaying a significant curling. Soils subjected to restricted shrinkage developed cracks with slight curling. To simulate the observed behavior, a mechanical model able to reproduce the detachment of the soil sample from the mold is proposed in this work and implemented in a fully coupled hydro-mechanical finite-element code. It is concluded that suction and differential shrinkage are key factors influencing the curling behavior of soils. The proposed framework was able to satisfactorily explain and reproduce the different stages and features of soil behavior observed in the experiments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, proc: 234003/2014-6) and Texas A&M University through the Texas A&M Energy Institute Graduate Fellowship and the Departmental Fellowship Award. The financial support from NEUP-DOE, USA, through Award DE-NE0008762 is also acknowledged.

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Author notes

  1. Duaa Aljeznawi

    Present address: Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3136, USA

    Michael Maedo, Marcelo Sánchez & Duaa Aljeznawi

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São Paulo, Brazil

    Osvaldo Manzoli

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Brazil

    Leonardo J. N. Guimarães

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São Paulo, Brazil

    Pedro Rogério Cleto

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  1. Michael Maedo
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Correspondence to Marcelo Sánchez.

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Maedo, M., Sánchez, M., Aljeznawi, D. et al. Analysis of soil drying incorporating a constitutive model for curling. Acta Geotech. 15, 2619–2635 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00920-0

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