A semi-analytical solution to spherical cavity expansion in unsaturated soils

Abstract

This paper presents a rigorous solution for spherical cavity expansion in unsaturated soils under constant suction condition. The hydraulic behavior that describes the saturation-suction relationship is modeled by a void ratio-dependent soil-water characteristic curve, which allows the hydraulic behavior to fully couple with the mechanical behavior that is described by an extended critical state soil model for unsaturated soil through the specific volume. Considering the boundary condition and introducing an auxiliary coordinate, the problem is formulated to a system of first-order differential equations with three principal stress components and suction as basic unknowns, which is solved as an initial value problem. Parameter analyses are conducted to investigate the effects of suction and the overconsolidation ratio on the overall expansion responses, including the pressure-expansion response, the distribution of the stress components around the cavity, and the stress path of the soil during cavity expansion. The results reveal that the expansion pressures and the distribution of the stress components in unsaturated soils are generally higher than those in saturated soils due to the existence of suction.