Hydro-mechanical response of collapsible soils under different infiltration events

The behavior of a partially saturated soil during surface-water infiltration is analyzed by means of an elasto-plastic constitutive model formulated in terms of effective stress and extended to unsaturated conditions. The model is calibrated considering laboratory-scale experimental results under suction-controlled conditions. The wetting process in two collapsing soils, initially loaded at in situ stresses, is simulated by imposing two different boundary conditions: surface ponding and water flow. The stress paths resulting from the imbibition process are analyzed at different points inside the layer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.