Search results for "Effective stre"
showing 5 items of 15 documents
Hydro-mechanical analysis of volcanic ash slopes during rainfall
2016
Rainfall-induced landslides in volcanic ashes represent a major natural hazard in many regions around the world. Owing to their loose structure, volcanic ash slopes are prone to rainfall-induced landslides. The paper presents a continuum modelling approach for the analysis of wetting-induced instability phenomena at the onset of failure in loose volcanic ash slopes. A numerical simulation of a landslide-prone volcanic slope in Costa Rica is carried out with a two-dimensional hydro-mechanical finite-element slope model. A constitutive model based on the effective stress concept extended to partially saturated conditions is used to reproduce the volcanic ash hydro-mechanical behaviour. The m…
An effective stress based shear strength criterion for unsaturated compacted double-porosity clays
2015
An effective stress based shear strength criterion is proposed taking into account the fundamental effects of microstructure characteristics on retention properties of compacted double-porosity clays and their overall coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour. Results of triaxial compression tests carried out on saturated and unsaturated samples of a compacted scaly clay show that points representative of failure conditions depict a unique failure envelope when the macropore degree of saturation is used in the definition of the effective stress and its evolution with the suction is taken into account. Furthermore, the proposed criterion is very effective to consider the most relevant aspects of su…
Fatigue crack growth through particulate clusters in polycarbonate material
2011
The interaction of a crack with a perfectly bonded inclusion or a cluster of inclusions in polycarbonate matrix was investigated through both numerical simulations and fatigue tests. Stress intensity factors (K(I)) were evaluated by boundary element method for several particle sizes, position and finally for inclusion cluster as a precursor study for the experiments. The numerical simulation has shown the crack tendency to circumvent the inclusions with consequential reduction of the growth rate. Fatigue crack growth tests were carried out on several particle-filled specimens at constant value of the applied stress intensity factor range (Delta K(Iapp)) highlighting the crack delay due to t…
Generalized effective stress concept for saturated active clays
2021
Experimental evidence shows that changes in pore-water chemistry can significantly affect the mechanical behavior of saturated active clays. Despite this evidence, how the chemical composition of the pore water can be considered in effective stress definition is questionable. This paper develops the concept of generalized effective stress for active clays. To this end, physicochemical studies on water–clay mineral interactions are used to clearly define the different types of ions and water present in an active clay. In particular, the presence of both movable and non-movable ions within the liquid water is highlighted. Taking this into account, thermodynamic and geochemistry principles ar…
Hydro-mechanical modelling of a natural slope affected by a multiple slip surface failure mechanism
2009
A coupled hydro-mechanical formulation is presented for the analysis of landslide motion during crisis episodes. The mathematical formulation is used to model a natural slope affected by a multiple slip surface failure mechanism, in which pore water pressure evolution was identified as the main cause for movement accelerations. An elasto-plastic constitutive model is adopted for the behaviour of slip surfaces. Material parameters are obtained by combining the available laboratory tests and the back analysis of some crisis episodes. After being calibrated and validated, the model is applied to improve the understanding of the physical processes involved and to predict the landslide behaviour…