0000000001103572
AUTHOR
C. Airò Farulla
On the volumetric response of a compacted clay subjected to wetting and drying cycles
Experimental evidence on the volumetric response of a compacted clay was collected in controlled suction oedometric tests, with the aim to assess the volumetric response of this soil when subjected to wetting and drying cycles. The overall soil behaviour seems mainly to depend on the double structural arrangement observed in the compacted specimens. Selected results are presented and discussed focusing on the influence of the stress history on the volumetric response. Test results are simulated by a double-structure suction-dependent elasto-plastic constitutive model, in which the mechanical response is related to micro and macrostructural deformations and their mutual interactions. The pro…
The void ratio dependency of the retention behaviour for a compacted clay
The paper presents the results of a comprehensive experimental programme aimed to characterize the retention properties of a compacted scaly clay by determining the retention curves in terms of main wetting and main drying branches at different values of void ratio, ranging between 0.45 and 0.80. Different experimental techniques were combined in order to explore the retention properties in a wide range of suction. Vapour equilibrium technique was used to impose total suction in the range 2 ÷ 110 M Pa, while the air overpressure technique was applied to control matric suction in the range 0.01 ÷ 0.80 M Pa. Collected results clearly pointed out a strong dependence of the retention curves on …