Synopsis It is apparent that the principle of effective stress alone is inadequate to explain volumetric behaviour of partially saturated soils subjected to external stresses. This Paper describes a method which can be adopted to explain the behavior of patially saturated soils subjected mainly to increasing proportional loading (all-round pressure and K0 loading). By treating applied stress and suction as two independent variables, it is shown that variations in void ratio and degree of saturation are represented by unique surfaces in a stress-void ratio and stress-degree of saturation space respectively. Il est évident que le principe de tension efficace seul ne suffit pas à expliquer le comportement volumétrique de sols partiellement saturés soumis à des tensions externes. Cet expose décrit une méthode que l'on peut adopter pour expliquer le comportement de sols partiellement saturés soumis principalement à des charges proportionnelles croissantes (pression dans toutes les directions et charge K0). En traitant la tension appliquée et la succion en tant que deux variables independantes, on montre que les variations de l'indice de vide et du degré de saturation sont représentées par des surfaces uniques dans un espace tension-indice de vide et tension degré de saturation respectivement.

No abstract

A code based on the discrete element method (DEM) was developed to simulate the behaviour of angular granular materials by loading assemblies of two-dimensional polygon-shaped particles. Two series of test simulations—isotropic loading–unloading and biaxial shear—were conducted on assemblies with different particle angularity. To avoid the probable effect of particle eccentricity and size distribution on assembly behaviour, equal-sized, equal-sided particles were employed. Six assemblies of particles with different angularities (one assembly for each type) were used in this study. The test results are presented in terms of macroscopic and microscopic behaviour. It was found that particle angularity had a significant influence on the behaviour of simulated granular material.

In the absence of compressibility data from laboratory tests, the total primary consolidation settlement of a structure founded on clay can be estimated from settlement measurements taken over a period of time. In this note, the hyperbolic and Asaoka methods are applied to a case history where an embankment fill was placed on a clay exhibiting secondary compression. It is shown that significant inaccuracies in time–settlement predictions can result if an appropriate time factor versus degree of consolidation relationship is not taken into account. Key words: primary and secondary compressibility, coefficient of consolidation, field measurements, hyperbolic method, Asaoka method.

No abstract