Numerical and experimental study of initiation and propagation of desiccation cracks in clayey soils

This paper presents the fundamentals and the mathematical formulation to study desiccation cracking in soils based on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics as well as a numerical analysis of a previous desiccation test program. The numerical approach implemented in MATLAB is used in 2D simulations on radial se...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Levatti, Hector Ulises, Prat Catalán, Pere|||0000-0002-2177-1758, Ledesma Villalba, Alberto|||0000-0003-3321-3849
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/130672
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/130672
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2018.09.015
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Clay soils
Desiccation cracking
Hydro-mechanical coupling
Unsaturated soils mechanics
Finite element method
Sòls argilosos
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil::Geotècnia::Mecànica de sòls
Descripción
Sumario:This paper presents the fundamentals and the mathematical formulation to study desiccation cracking in soils based on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics as well as a numerical analysis of a previous desiccation test program. The numerical approach implemented in MATLAB is used in 2D simulations on radial sections of the cylindrical specimens and in a theoretical study of the stress field in plane strain conditions. The numerical analysis, based on two stress stare variables (total net stress and suction) is consistent and in good agreement with the experimental results, including the location of cracks and time of crack initiation.