EAGER: Use of Results from the Undrain Triaxial Tests to Model Elasto-plastic Behavior for Unsaturated soils: A Feasibility Study

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

This EArly-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award provides funding for exploring the feasibility of using undrained tests to characterize unsaturated soils for the purpose of constitutive modeling. This exploratory research will mainly evaluate the influences of stress localizations and subsequent internal drainage on suction distributions of soil specimens during UTT tests and develop effective methods to eliminate such effects. The objectives of the research will be achieved through collecting and analyzing data from existing literature, equipment development, experimental testing, and constitutive modeling. This exploratory research is a preliminary study of PI's effort on developing simple and reliable methods to characterize and model fully-coupled elasto-plastic behavior for unsaturated soils. If successful, it will reduce the testing time required to characterize behavior for unsaturated soils by three orders of magnitude with more reliable measurement, more representative soil behavior, and better understanding of constitutive behavior of unsaturated soil. The test results provide solid experimental basis for resolving arguments regarding some fundamental questions in the field of unsaturated soil mechanics. This proposed research will open up new and exciting doors for fast, practical and more comprehensive and reliable soil behavior characterization. It has the potential to transform the ways of material testing and characterization for coupled problems beyond geotechnical engineering.