Analysis of Cylindrical Cavity Expansion in Partially Saturated Soils

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2020

Abstract

This paper presents an elastoplastic solution for undrained expansion of a cylindrical cavity in unsaturated soils. The classical Barcelona basic model has been used to model the mechanical behaviour of the unsaturated soil. The hydraulic behaviour of the soil during cavity expansion coupling with the mechanical behaviour is modeled through a void ratio dependent soil-water characteristic curve. With aid of an auxiliary variable, the problem is finally formulated as a system of first-order ordinary differential equations, and solved as an initial value problem. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of suction on the distributions of the stress variables and the expansion responses at the cavity wall during cavity expansion. The results show that the suction has significant effects on the expansion responses of the soil around the cavity. The proposed solution is expected to be able to better interpret the corresponding pressuremeter test data and pile installation effects in unsaturated soils.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Geotechnical Special Publication

First Page

309

Last Page

319

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