Search results for "Soil mechanics"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
TERRE project: interplay between unsaturated soil mechanics and low-carbon geotechnical engineering
2020
The geotechnical construction industry is a major component of the overall construction sector and is strategically important in infrastructure development (transportation, flood and landslide protection, building foundations, waste disposal). Although industry and research in the overall construction sector have been investing significantly in recent years to produce innovative low-carbon technologies, little innovation has been created in geotechnical construction industry, which is lagging behind other construction industry sectors. This paper discusses the interplay between low-carbon geotechnical engineering and unsaturated soil mechanics based on the research carried out within the pr…
One-Dimensional Transient Analysis of Rainfall Infiltration in Unsaturated Volcanic Ash
2015
The paper presents a one-dimensional hydro-mechanical analysis of rainfall infiltration in a loose volcanic ash and the utilisation of a factor of safety for the implementation of an early-warning system. Three different rainy seasons with different rainfall patterns were analysed . The analysis aims to understand the influence of the antecedent rainfall on the wetting front, the pore-water pressures and the factor of safety. The analysis was carried out in the context of a Master project of the first author at the Laboratory for Soil Mechanics of EPFL.
Small solar system bodies as granular systems
2017
Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are currently of great scientific and even industrial interest. Asteroids exist as the permanent record of the formation of the Solar System and therefore hold many clues to its understanding as a whole, as well as insights into the formation of planetary bodies. Additionally, SSSBs are being investigated in the context of impact risks for the Earth, space situational awareness and their possible industrial exploitation (asteroid mining). In all these aspects, the knowledge of the geophysical characteristics of SSSB surface and internal structure are of great importance. Given their size, constitution, and the evidence that many SSSBs ar…
Characterization of gas flow through low-permeability claystone: laboratory experiments and two-phase flow analyses
2014
For the characterization of gas migration through a low-permeability clay host rock for deep underground repositories, a comprehensive understanding of the relevant phenomena of gas and fluid flow through low-permeability clay is required. The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) in Switzerland has developed a comprehensive programme to characterize gas flow in low-permeability Opalinus Clay through laboratory tests and detailed numerical analyses for developing appropriate constitutive models. Laboratory tests were performed on cores by two different laboratories, the Laboratory for Soil Mechanics at EPFL and the Department of Geotechnical Engineering and Geos…
On the volumetric response of a compacted clay subjected to wetting and drying cycles
2009
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…
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…