Wetting-induced instabilities: triggering mechanism and predisposing factors

This paper addresses the topic of unsaturated soil stability focusing on wetting-induced instability mechanisms occurring before the attainment of the classical shear failure. The study was conducted by simulating a series of imbibition tests on elementary soil volumes by controlling water contentan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rotisciani Giada M., Desideri Augusto, Amorosi Angelo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EDP Sciences 2023-01-01
Series:E3S Web of Conferences
Online Access:https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2023/19/e3sconf_unsat2023_10006.pdf
Description
Summary:This paper addresses the topic of unsaturated soil stability focusing on wetting-induced instability mechanisms occurring before the attainment of the classical shear failure. The study was conducted by simulating a series of imbibition tests on elementary soil volumes by controlling water contentand net stresses. The behaviour of an ideal coarse-grained soil was described by combining the WR2-Unsat model for the solid skeleton and the Van Genuchten relationship for the definition of the water retention curve. The model reproduces the soil response upon wetting, modelling the activation mechanism of the volumetric instability and identifying the factors that most contribute to its triggering.
ISSN:2267-1242