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An effective stress-based DSC model for predicting the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in unsaturated soils

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Abstract

In this study, an analytical model is developed to establish a framework for predicting the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in unsaturated soils. To this end, the disturbed state concept (DSC) is implemented along with the concept of effective stress for unsaturated soils. Accordingly, upper and lower limits are considered for the structural disturbance of the soil during hydromechanical loading, and a suction-dependent analytical framework is proposed for calculating continuous variations of the coefficient of lateral soil pressure, from the at-rest to active state of the soil, against the effective vertical stress parameter. The functionality of the proposed model is verified against experimental results obtained from a series of laboratory unsaturated drained tests conducted on two different soil materials (a Sand–Kaolin mixture and Firouzkouh Clay) with two initial void ratios. Quantitative comparisons show excellent conformance between the predicted and experimental data. A practical example of calculating lateral soil pressure on a gravity retaining wall is also presented, in which the results obtained from the model presented in this study and the conventional classic approach of calculating the lateral soil pressure on retaining walls are compared. It is hoped that the results of this study can help researchers and designers to obtain improved values of lateral soil pressure in unsaturated soil.

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Data availability

The datasets generated or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

a, z, D u :

DSC-model parameters

a o, C a :

Fitting parameters for predicting a

C Du :

Fitting parameter for predicting Du

D :

Disturbance parameter

e :

Void ratio of the soil

e o :

Initial void ratio of the soil

F h :

Overall lateral force

GWL:

Ground water level

h unsat :

Wall height or height of the unsaturated backfill soil

h w :

Elevation above GWL

i :

Numeral

k :

Coefficient of the lateral soil pressure

k a :

Coefficient of the lateral soil pressure in the active condition

k experimental :

Experimental value of k

k FA :

k Value corresponding to zero matric suction

k predicted :

Model-predicted value of k

k o :

Coefficient of the lateral soil pressure in the at-rest condition

k ou :

Unsaturated at-rest coefficient of the lateral soil pressure

k RI :

k Value corresponding to the maximum applied matric suctions

k ψ :

Coefficient of the lateral soil pressure at a given matric suction

Max (k experimental):

Maximum of the experimental k values

Min (k experimental):

Minimum of the experimental k values

N :

Number of data in each data set

NRMSE:

Normalized root mean square error

P FA :

The soil mechanical response at the FA state

P Int :

Soil mechanical response at the intermediate phase of disturbance

P RI :

Soil mechanical response at the RI state

RMSE:

Root mean square error

S r :

Degree of saturation of the soil

S ro :

Degree of saturation of the soil at zero matric suction

S r (RI) :

Degree of saturation of the soil at RI condition

S r ( ψ ) :

Degree of saturation of the soil at a given matric suction

u a :

Pore air pressure

u w :

Pore water pressure

x :

An independent typical variable

z o , C z :

Fitting parameters for predicting z

∆e :

Changes in void ratio

α, m, n :

Fitting parameters of the van Genuchten’s suggested model for SWRC

χ :

Effective stress parameter in unsaturated soils

d ε v :

Increment of plastic volumetric strain

ε e :

Elastic volume strain

ε r :

Radial (lateral) strain

ε v :

Total volumetric strain

γ :

Soil density

γ w :

Water density

σ :

Total stress

σ′ :

Effective stress

σ h :

Net horizontal stress

σ′ h :

Effective horizontal stress

σ v :

Net vertical stress

σ′ v :

Effective vertical stress

σ net :

Net stress

σ s :

Suction-stress

σ v :

Net vertical stress

ψ :

Matric suction

ζ v :

Accumulative plastic volumetric strain

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Acknowledgements

The experimental work that is referred in this research was performed at Tarbiat Modares University, as a part of the MSc thesis of the second author. The authors of this paper deeply acknowledge the supports of Tarbiat Modares University. In addition, the first author would like to appreciate the Niroo Research Institute for providing him with the opportunity to contribute in this research. Also, the authors would like to thank Mrs. Shari Holderread for her diligence proofreading of this paper.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Power Industry Structures Research Department, Niroo Research Institute, Room 403, 4th Floor, At the end of Dadman Blvd., Shahrak Gharb, Postal Box: 14665517, Postal Code:1468617151, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Akbari Garakani

  2. The Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Pirjalili

  3. Regents Professor (Emeritus), Department of Civil and Arch. Eng. and Mechanics, Univ. of Arizona, Arizona, USA

    Chandrakant S. Desai

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  1. Amir Akbari Garakani
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Correspondence to Amir Akbari Garakani.

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Akbari Garakani, A., Pirjalili, A. & Desai, C.S. An effective stress-based DSC model for predicting the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in unsaturated soils. Acta Geotech. 16, 3813–3830 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-021-01376-6

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