1st Edition
Advanced Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics Proceedings of the International Symposium on Advanced Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics, Trento, Italy, 27-29 June 2005
The field of experimental unsaturated soil mechanics has grown considerably over the last decade. In the laboratory and in the field, innovative techniques have been introduced into mechanical, hydraulic, and geo-environmental testing. Normally, this information is widely dispersed throughout journals and conference proceedings and it is often difficult to identify suitable equipment and instrumentation for research or professional purposes. In this volume, however, the authors bring together the latest research in laboratory and field testing techniques, and the equipment employed, and examine the current state-of-the-art in a forum devoted solely to experimental unsaturated soil mechanics. The papers published in the proceedings were peer-reviewed by internationally-recognized researchers. The topics tackled by the papers include suction measurement, suction control, mechanical and hydraulic laboratory testing, geo-environmental testing, and field-testing.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Organisation xv
Suction measurement
Lessons learnt from suction monitoring during centrifuge modeling 3
C.F. Chiu, Y.J. Cui, P. Delage, E. Haza & E. De Laure
Pressure pulse technique for measuring diffused air volume 9
C.A. Lawrence, W.N. Houston, A.M. Harraz & S.L. Houston
A new soil-water characteristic curve device 15
J.M. Padilla, Y.Y. Perera, W.N. Houston & D.G. Fredlund
Soil suction measurement using the Xeritron Sensor in two different types of infiltration tests
on a swelling soil 23
G.A. Siemens & J.A. Blatz
Swelling and suction in clay minerals 27
V.K.S. Thakur & D.N. Singh
The effect of structure on the water retention of soil tested using different methods of suction
measurement 33
S.C. Walker, D. Gallipoli & D.G. Toll
Suction control
Controlled suction oedometric tests: analysis of some experimental aspects 43
C. Airò Farulla & A. Ferrari
Behavior upon drying-wetting paths of Maghnia Bentonite (west of Algeria) 49
N. Abou-Bekr, F.M. Derfouf & A. Bekkouche
An investigation into hydro-mechanical behavior of an expansive soil using axis-translation and
vapor equilibrium techniques 53
S.S. Agus & T. Schanz
Combining different controlled-suction techniques to study expansive clays 61
C. Hoffmann, E. Romero & E.E. Alonso
On the suction control techniques in studying the THM behavior of unsaturated soils 69
S. Taïbi, M.S. Ghembaza & J.M. Fleureau
Determination of water retention curves of two bentonites at high temperature 77
M.V. Villar, P.L. Martín & A. Lloret
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Advanced Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics – Tarantino, Romero & Cui (eds)
© 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 0 415 38337 4
Mechanical testing in unsaturated soils
A direct shear box improved with the osmotic technique 85
M. Boso, A. Tarantino & L. Mongiovì
Volume change measurement of partially saturated rockfill in triaxial tests 93
C. Chávez, E. Romero & E.E. Alonso
Advancement in oedometer testing of unsaturated soils 99
M. El-Sohby, O. Mazen & M. Aboushook
A tensile strength apparatus for cohesionless soils 105
N. Lu, B. Wu & C.P. Tan
Direct shear testing of interfaces in unsaturated soil 111
G.A. Miller & T.B. Hamid
Measuring lateral pressures during suction-controlled one-dimensional consolidation 117
E.E. Slatter, S.G. Fityus & D.W. Smith
Determination of the shear strength of unsaturated soils using the modified ring shear apparatus 125
S.K. Vanapalli, V.K. Garga & J.Á. Infante Sedano
Experimental study of flowslide on reconstituted samples of pyroclastic soils: soil
characterization and testing devices 131
M.C. Zingariello, L. Pagano & C. Mancuso
Mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils
Wetting paths upon shearing: experimental evidence and comparative analysis of two volcanic
soils in the area of Napoli and Roma 141
M. Cecconi, A. Evangelista, M.V. Nicotera, V. Pane, E. Cattoni & A. Scotto di Santolo
Seasonal variation of a subgrade soil resilient modulus in southern Brazil 149
J.A. Ceratti, W.Y.Y. Gehling & W.P. Núñez
Wetting and anisotropic consolidation behaviour of an expansive clay 157
R. Chen & C.W.W. Ng
Swell and shrink tests in modified oedometer apparatuses 163
M. Dobrowolsky & C. Vrettos
A study of the shear strength of two unsaturated colluvium soils 169
C. Feuerharmel, A.V.D. Bica, W.Y.Y. Gehling & J.A. Flores
Direct shear and compression behaviors for an unsaturated compacted soil with water
content and matric suction measurement 177
D. Hormdee, H. Ochiai & N. Yasufuku
Investigations on the unsaturated stress-strain behaviour and on the SWCC of Hostun Sand
in a double-walled triaxial cell 185
C. Lauer & J. Engel
Analysis of the deformability of compacted tropical residual soils 193
G.S.S. Martínez, W.Y.Y. Gehling & A.M.M. Castaneda
Stiffness of unsaturated compacted clayey soils at very small strains 199
C.E. Mendoza, J.E. Colmenares & V.E. Merchán
Experimental and modeling of unsaturated soil behavior under stress path tests 205
S.A. Mofiz, D.C. Sarker & M.R. Taha
vi
Stresses and conjugate strain-increments in plotting experimental data for unsaturated soils 211
E.J. Murray & V. Sivakumar
Influence of matric suction on the shear strength of a compacted Kaolonite under
unconfined conditions: Experimental results (Part 1) 215
J.A. Pineda & J.E. Colmenares
Influence of matric suction on the shear strength of compacted Kaolin soil under
unconfined conditions: Shear strength prediction (Part 2) 221
J.A. Pineda & J.E. Colmenares
Stress-strain behavior of an unsaturated residual soil from gneiss 227
R.M. Reis & O.M. Vilar
Experimental study of the effect of cyclic suction loading on shear behavior of collapsible soils 235
K.A. Shemsu, S. Kiyama, S. Aoyama & A. Kobayashi
Influence of sample preparation technique on the stress-strain behaviour of unsaturated soils 243
R. Sivakumar, R. Thom, V. Sivakumar & D. Hughes
An elastoplastic hydro-mechanical model for unsaturated compacted soils 249
D.A. Sun & D.C. Sheng
Seismic compression behaviour of non-plastic silty sands 257
D.H. Whang, M.S. Moyneur, P. Duku & J.P. Stewart
An empirical relationship for evaluating collapsible settlements of volcanic ash sandy soil 265
N. Yasufuku, H. Ochiai & D. Hormdee
A direct testing method for the tensile strength of compacted clays 273
R.M. Zeh & K.J. Witt
Hydraulic testing in unsaturated soils
Unsaturated soil diffusivity measurements 281
R. Bulut, C.P. Aubeny & R.L. Lytton
Quasi-steady centrifuge method for unsaturated hydraulic characterization 287
M.C. Caputo & J.R. Nimmo
Numerical modeling of constant flow method for measuring unsaturated hydrologic properties 291
W.J. Likos, N. Lu & A. Wayllace
The centrifuge permeameter for unsaturated soils (CPUS) 299
J.S. McCartney & J.G. Zornberg
Experimental hydraulic measurements in an unsaturated swelling soil using the dual-energy
gamma-ray technique 305
S. Rolland, F. Masrouri, D. Stemmelen & C. Moyne
Hydraulic behaviour of unsaturated soils
Establishment of new tropical soils differentiation factors considering suction and soil genesis 311
F.A.R. Araújo, R.G. Carvalho & E. Vertamatti
Assessment of Fredlund & Xing’s soil-water characteristic equation for tropical soils 319
F.A.R. Araújo, R.G. Carvalho & E. Vertamatti
vii
An experimental evaluation of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions for a
quasi-saturated compacted soil 325
K.V. Bicalho, D. Znidarcic & H.Y. Ko
Soil-water characteristics and volume change behavior of an artificially cemented expansive clay 331
H. Bilsel & S,. Öncü
Some remarks on physicoempirical models for the prediction of the soil water retention curve 337
M. Cecconi, V. Pane & S. Vecchietti
Determination of the soil-water characteristic curve of undisturbed colluvium soils 345
C. Feuerharmel, W.Y.Y. Gehling & A.V.D. Bica
Use of soil-water characteristics curve in determination of stability of embankments during
drying and wetting processes 351
C.P.K. Gallage, E.F. Garcia, A. Peiris, T. Uchimura & H. Ochiai
A model to predict the soil water characteristics of sand mixtures 359
E. Imre, K. Havrán, J. Lörincz, K. Rajkai, T. Firgi & G. Telekes
Evaluation of air permeability of unsaturated sandy soils 369
K. Kamiya, R.T. Bakrie & Y. Honjo
Evaluation of moisture-suction characteristics of a lateritic soil submitted to infiltration by
caustic liqueur 377
M.P.H. Moncada, T.M.P. De Campos, F.S. Antunes & A.V.F.A Bertolino
Gas permeability evolution of a sand/bentonite during controlled-suction paths 385
E. Romero, I. García & J. Knobelsdorf
Water retention curves of lime stabilised soil 391
G. Russo
Investigating water retention characteristics upon wetting paths using water-undrained
compression tests 397
S. Tombolato, A. Tarantino & L. Mongiovì
Estimation of the soil-water characteristic curve of coarse-grained soils using one point
measurement and simple properties 401
S.K. Vanapalli & M.C. Catana
Microstructure investigation
Compressibility and fabric of an unsaturated compacted swelling soil 411
O. Cuisinier & F. Masrouri
Influence of moisture content on porosity features of Red clay 419
L.W. Kong, A.G. Guo, Y.W. Zhao & Y.Y. Liu
Chemical and mineralogical properties of Residual tropical soils and their relationships
with selected geotechnical properties 425
G.S.S. Martínez, J.A.A. Flores & J.B. Queiroz de Carvalho
Techniques of sample preparation of artificial cemented highly collapsible soil 431
G.M. Medero, F. Schnaid, W.Y.Y. Gehling & S.J. Wheeler
Microstructure of clay-sand mixtures at different hydration states 437
R. Viola, M. Tuller, D. Or & J. Drasdis
viii
Drying induced alteration to the microstructure of a tropical soil 443
G. Zhang, J.T. Germaine & A.J. Whittle
Geo-environmental testing
Temperature effects on the water content-suction relation of two soils 451
A.P.L. Duarte, T.M.P. de Campos, J.T. Araruna Jr & P. Rocha-Filho
On the retention properties of a polluted sand-silt mixture 459
M. Manassero, G. Musso, C. Rabozzi & L. Ribotta
Image analysis to determine the dispersion coefficient and dispersivity in capillary
and saturated zone 467
K. Inoue, K. Inoue, T. Tanaka & A. Kobayashi
An experimental evidence in desiccation cracking in sandy silt 475
H. Péron, L. Laloui & T. Hueckel
Thermo-hydro-mechanical tests using vapor and liquid transfer on a clay based mixture 483
E. Romero & X.L. Li
Assessment of swell-shrinkage behavior of compacted sedimentary residual soil for
potential use in landfill liner 489
M.R. Taha, M.H. Kabir & R.C. Omar
Field measurement and monitoring in field applications
Laboratory versus field values of unsaturated soil diffusivity 495
C.P. Aubeny, R. Bulut & R.L. Lytton
Further tests on the fissuring of clay fill at the thorngumbald flood embankment 501
M.R. Dyer
In situ testing of unsaturated organic soils 505
K. Garbulewski, Z. Bereda, Z. Chaci´nski, S. Pisarczyk & P. Popielski
Field monitoring of matric potential and soil water content in the chalk unsaturated zone 511
A.M. Ireson, H.S. Wheater, A.P. Butler, J. Finch, J.D. Cooper, R.G. Wyatt & E.J. Hewitt
The use of the ground penetrating radar, GPR, as a non intrusive method to
measuring soil water content 519
S.L. Machado, M.A.B. Botelho, N.S. Amparo & T.C. Dourado
Instrumentation and matric soil suction measurement in a decomposed granite soil slope 527
S.A. Mofiz, D.C. Sarker, Sobhan, Rahman, M.R. Awall, M.R. Taha & M.K. Hossain
Monitoring matric suction profiles in partially saturated pyroclastic topsoil slopes 533
A. Scotto di Santolo, M.V. Nicotera & A. Evangelista
Numerical modelling of soil suction measurements in pyroclastic soils 541
G. Sorbino
First results of a monitoring experiment for the analysis of rainfall induced landslides 549
A. Thielen & S.M. Springman
Evaluation of evapotranspiration from alternative landfill covers at the Rocky Mountain Arsena 555
J.G. Zornberg & J.S. McCartney
Author Index 563
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Biography
A. Tarantino, Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy
E. Romero, Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Y.J. Cui, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, France