Elastoplastic modelling of hydraulic and stress–strain behaviour of unsaturated soils

Abstract

This paper presents an elastoplastic model for predicting the hydraulic and stress–strain behaviour of unsaturated soils. The model takes into consideration the effect of the degree of saturation on stress–strain behaviour, the effect of the void ratio on water-retention behaviour, and the influence of suction. Model predictions of the stress–strain and water-retention response are compared with those obtained from triaxial tests on unsaturated soil during isotropic and shear loading with and without suction change. The comparisons indicate that the model can quantitatively reproduce the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils.