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Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils
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Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Geomechanics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 6503

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Laureano R. Hoyos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
Interests: characterization and modelling of unsaturated soils
Prof. Dr. Dunja Perić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Interests: characterization and modelling of unsaturated soils

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few decades, significant progress has been made in characterizing and modeling the thermo–hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils, including the decisive refinements of experimental techniques and the recent developments of reasonably robust constitutive and computational models under both static and dynamic loading conditions. The main intent of the present Special Issue of Geosciences is to assemble the most significant advances that have recently been made in the thermo-hydro-mechanical characterization and modeling of unsaturated soils. The invited contributions to be included in this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous review process and are expected to be primarily focused on recent advances in the thermo-hydro-mechanical testing of unsaturated soils, including equipment, protocols, and data interpretation, as well as postulation of refined computational modeling frameworks based on  thorough experimental evidence. The issue is hence expected to function as a high-value reference  resource for scholars and practitioners alike.

Prof. Dr. Laureano R. Hoyos
Prof. Dr. Dunja Perić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • unsaturated soils 
  • suction-controlled testing
  • thermo-controlled testing 
  • thermo-hydro-mechanical characterization 
  • thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 4068 KiB  
Article
Impact of Vetiver Plantation on Unsaturated Soil Behavior and Stability of Highway Slope
by Fariha Rahman, Avipriyo Chakraborty, Sadik Khan and Rakesh Salunke
Geosciences 2024, 14(5), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14050123 - 01 May 2024
Viewed by 354
Abstract
Due to cyclic wetting and drying, the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soil is impacted significantly. In order to assess the soil strength parameters, knowing the unsaturated behavior is important. Soil moisture content is an important parameter that can define the shear strength of [...] Read more.
Due to cyclic wetting and drying, the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soil is impacted significantly. In order to assess the soil strength parameters, knowing the unsaturated behavior is important. Soil moisture content is an important parameter that can define the shear strength of the soil. Most of the highway slopes of Mississippi are built on highly expansive clay. During summer, the evaporation of moisture in the soil leads to shrinkage and the formation of desiccation cracks, while during rainfall, the soil swells due to the infiltration of water. In addition to this, the rainwater gets trapped in these cracks and creates perched conditions, leading to the increased moisture content and reduced shear strength of slope soil. The increased precipitation due to climate change is causing failure conditions on many highway slopes of Mississippi. Vetiver, a perennial grass, can be a transformative solution to reduce the highway slope failure challenges of highly plastic clay. The grass has deep and fibrous roots, which provide additional shear strength to the soil. The root can uptake a significant amount of water from the soil, keeping the moisture balance of the slope. The objective of the current study is to assess the changes in moisture contents of a highway slope in Mississippi after the Vetiver plantation. Monitoring equipment, such as rain gauges and moisture sensors, were installed to monitor the rainfall of the area and the moisture content of the soil. The data showed that the moisture content conditions were improved with the aging of the grass. The light detection and ranging (LiDAR) analysis was performed to validate the field data obtained from different sensors, and it was found that there was no significant slope movement after the Vetiver plantation. The study proves the performance of the Vetiver grass in improving the unsaturated soil behavior and stability of highway slopes built on highly expansive clay. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils)
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34 pages, 19182 KiB  
Article
Shear Banding and Cracking in Unsaturated Porous Media through a Nonlocal THM Meshfree Paradigm
by Hossein Pashazad and Xiaoyu Song
Geosciences 2024, 14(4), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14040103 - 09 Apr 2024
Viewed by 557
Abstract
The mechanical behavior of unsaturated porous media under non-isothermal conditions plays a vital role in geo-hazards and geo-energy engineering (e.g., landslides triggered by fire and geothermal energy harvest and foundations). Temperature increase can trigger localized failure and cracking in unsaturated porous media. This [...] Read more.
The mechanical behavior of unsaturated porous media under non-isothermal conditions plays a vital role in geo-hazards and geo-energy engineering (e.g., landslides triggered by fire and geothermal energy harvest and foundations). Temperature increase can trigger localized failure and cracking in unsaturated porous media. This article investigates the shear banding and cracking in unsaturated porous media under non-isothermal conditions through a thermo–hydro–mechanical (THM) periporomechanics (PPM) paradigm. PPM is a nonlocal formulation of classical poromechanics using integral equations, which is robust in simulating continuous and discontinuous deformation in porous media. As a new contribution, we formulate a nonlocal THM constitutive model for unsaturated porous media in the PPM paradigm in this study. The THM meshfree paradigm is implemented through an explicit Lagrangian meshfree algorithm. The return mapping algorithm is used to implement the nonlocal THM constitutive model numerically. Numerical examples are presented to assess the capability of the proposed THM mesh-free paradigm for modeling shear banding and cracking in unsaturated porous media under non-isothermal conditions. The numerical results are examined to study the effect of temperature variations on the formation of shear banding and cracking in unsaturated porous media. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils)
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12 pages, 4884 KiB  
Article
Effect of Freeze–Thaw and Wetting–Drying Cycles on the Hydraulic Conductivity of Modified Tailings
by Longlong Meng, Liangxiong Xia, Min Xia, Shaokai Nie, Jiakai Chen, Wenyuan Wang, Aifang Du, Haowen Guo and Bate Bate
Geosciences 2024, 14(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14040093 - 25 Mar 2024
Viewed by 966
Abstract
Mine tailings have shown viability as the fine–grained layer in a capillary barrier structure for controlling acid mine drainage in a circular economy. Their saturated hydraulic conductivities (ksat) under wetting–drying cycles and freeze–thaw cycles remain unexplored. In this study, modified [...] Read more.
Mine tailings have shown viability as the fine–grained layer in a capillary barrier structure for controlling acid mine drainage in a circular economy. Their saturated hydraulic conductivities (ksat) under wetting–drying cycles and freeze–thaw cycles remain unexplored. In this study, modified tailings with a weight ratio of 95:5 (tailings/hydrodesulfurization (HDS) clay from waste–water treatment) and an initial water content of 12% were used. The ksat of specimens was measured after up to 15 wetting–drying cycles, each lasting 24 h, with a drying temperature of 105 °C. The ksat for wetting–drying cycles decreased from 3.9 × 10−6 m/s to 9.5 × 10−7 m/s in the first three cycles and then stabilized in the subsequent wetting–drying cycles (i.e., 5.7 × 10−7 m/s–6.3 × 10−7 m/s). Increased fine particles due to particle breakage are the primary mechanism for the ksat trend. In addition, the migration of fines and their preferential deposition near the pore throat area may also promote this decreasing trend through the shrinking and potentially clogging–up of pore throats. This could be explained by the movement of the meniscus, increased salinity, and, subsequently, the shrinkage of the electrical diffuse layer during the drying cycle. Similar specimens were tested to measure ksat under up to 15 freeze–thaw cycles with temperatures circling between −20 °C and 20 °C at 12 h intervals. Compared to the untreated specimen (i.e., 3.8 × 10−6 m/s), the ksat after three freeze–thaw cycles decreased by 77.6% (i.e., 8.5 × 10−7 m/s) and then remained almost unchanged (i.e., 5.6 × 10−7 m/s–8.9 × 10−7 m/s) in subsequent freeze–thaw cycles. The increased fine grain content (i.e., 3.1%) can be used to explain the decreased ksat trend. Moreover, the migration of fines toward the pore throat area, driven by the advancing and receding of ice lens fronts and subsequent deposition at the pore throat, may also contribute to this trend. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils)
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20 pages, 4993 KiB  
Article
Models for Considering the Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemo Effects on Soil–Water Characteristic Curves
by Yao Li, Roberto Alves, Sai Vanapalli and Gilson Gitirana, Jr.
Geosciences 2024, 14(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14020038 - 31 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1112
Abstract
The soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) is widely used as a tool in geotechnical, geo-environmental, hydrology, and soil science fields for predicting and interpreting hydro-mechanical behaviors of unsaturated soils. Several previous studies focused on investigating the influence of initial water content, stress history, temperature, [...] Read more.
The soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) is widely used as a tool in geotechnical, geo-environmental, hydrology, and soil science fields for predicting and interpreting hydro-mechanical behaviors of unsaturated soils. Several previous studies focused on investigating the influence of initial water content, stress history, temperature, and salt content on the SWCC behavior. However, there is still limited understanding to be gained from the literature on how we can systematically incorporate the influence of complex thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemo (THMC) effects into interpreting and predicting the behavior of unsaturated soils. To address that knowledge gap, in this study, the coupled influence of temperature, initial stress state, initial density, soil structure, and chemical solution effects was modeled using established SWCC equations from the literature. The methodology for incorporating the coupled effects of these influential factors is presented herein. Furthermore, we evaluated the SWCC models proposed in this study, enabling us to provide a comprehensive discussion of their strengths and limitations, using the published SWCC data from the literature. The developments outlined in this paper contribute toward facilitating a rigorous approach for analyzing the THMC behaviors of unsaturated soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils)
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16 pages, 3895 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Influence of Climate Change on Earthen Embankments with Expansive Soil
by Debayan Ghosh, Aritra Banerjee, Anand J. Puppala and Prince Kumar
Geosciences 2024, 14(2), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14020037 - 30 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1585
Abstract
Climate change is known to cause alterations in weather patterns and disturb the natural equilibrium. Changes in climatic conditions lead to increased environmental stress on embankments, which can result in slope failures. Due to wetting–drying cycles, expansive clayey soil often swells and shrinks, [...] Read more.
Climate change is known to cause alterations in weather patterns and disturb the natural equilibrium. Changes in climatic conditions lead to increased environmental stress on embankments, which can result in slope failures. Due to wetting–drying cycles, expansive clayey soil often swells and shrinks, and matric suction is a major factor that controls the behavior. Increased temperature accelerates soil evaporation and drying, which can cause desiccation cracks, while precipitation can rapidly reduce soil shear strength. Desiccated slopes on embankments built with such soils can cause surficial slope failures after intense precipitation. This study used slope stability analysis to quantify how climate-change-induced extreme weather affects embankments. Historic extreme climatic events were used as a baseline to estimate future extremes. CMIP6 provided historical and future climatic data for the study area. An embankment was numerically modeled to evaluate the effect on slope stability due to the precipitation change induced by climate change. Coupled hydro-mechanical finite element analyses used a two-dimensional transient unsaturated seepage model and a limit equilibrium slope stability model. The study found that extreme climatic interactions like precipitation and temperature due to climate change may reduce embankment slope safety. The reduction in the stability of the embankment due to increased precipitation resulting from different greenhouse gas emission scenarios was investigated. The use of unsaturated soil strength and variation of permeability with suction, along with the phase transition of these earthen embankments from near-dry to near-saturated, shows how unsaturated soil mechanics and the hydro-mechanical model can identify climate change issues on critical geotechnical infrastructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils)
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16 pages, 5727 KiB  
Article
A Multiphysics Simulation of the Effects of Wicking Geotextile on Mitigating Frost Heave under Cold Region Pavement
by Yusheng Jiang, Zaid Alajlan, Claudia Zapata and Xiong Yu
Geosciences 2024, 14(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14020034 - 28 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1239
Abstract
Geotextile offers numerous benefits in improving pavement performance, including drainage, barrier functionality, filtration, and reinforcement. Wicking geotextile, a novel variant in this category, possesses the intrinsic ability to drain water autonomously from soils. This paper details the development and application of a comprehensive [...] Read more.
Geotextile offers numerous benefits in improving pavement performance, including drainage, barrier functionality, filtration, and reinforcement. Wicking geotextile, a novel variant in this category, possesses the intrinsic ability to drain water autonomously from soils. This paper details the development and application of a comprehensive multiphysics model that simulates the performance of wicking geotextile within a pavement system under freezing climates. The model considers the inputs of various environmental dynamics, including the impact of meteorological factors, groundwater levels, ground heat, and drainage on the pavement system. The model was firstly validated using field data from a long-term pavement performance (LTPP) road section in the cold region. It was subsequently applied to assess the impacts of wicking geotextile if it was installed on the road section. The model simulated the coupled temporal and spatial variations in soil moisture content and temperature. The simulation results demonstrated that wicking geotextile would create a suction zone around its installation location to draw water from surrounding soils, therefore reducing the overall unfrozen water content in the pavement. The results also showed that the installation of wicking geotextile would delay the initiation of frost heave and reduce its magnitude in cold region pavement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Characterization and Modelling of Unsaturated Soils)
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