Triaxial Tests Research Articles

A unified hardening/softening elastoplastic model for rocks undergoing brittle-ductile transition with strength-mapping and fractional plastic flow rule

A novel unified hardening/softening model is presented, addressing challenges in the constitutive modelling of rocks’ strain-hardening and strain-softening behaviours with brittle-ductile transition. The model highlights the impact of confining pressure on failure mode transition when capturing variations in initial yield, peak, and residual strength. The yield criterion and hardening/softening law are developed by a strength-mapping method, where the peak strength is considered the upper bound. The strength-mapping method relies on a mapping index formulated by plastic shear strains. The mapping index is then incorporated into the fractional plastic flow rule, leading to the proposed constitutive model with 9 easy-to-calibrate parameters. The model predictions have been validated by 4 series of rock samples on triaxial tests, where the brittle-ductile transitions have been well captured. The results indicate that it is reliable to capture the rocks’ complicated mechanical responses, particularly the brittle-ductile transition, with our proposed strength-mapping method and fractional plastic flow rule.

Fouling conditions and associated deformation characteristics of railway ballast

ABSTRACT Ballast is an essential component of the railway track substructure to facilitate load distribution and drainage. However, during service life, ballast loses its strength by reducing friction properties and gets fouled, which fails to perform as desired. Therefore, highly fouled ballast needs to be either cleaned or replaced to restore the expected load-bearing capacity, resiliency, track geometry, and drainage properties. Therefore, it is important to identify the intensity of ballast fouling and the characteristics of fouling materials along with their effect on the strength and deformation of the railway ballast. In this study, field investigation includes a collection of ballast samples from the live railway track of Bangladesh, and related tests are conducted. Based on the findings of the field identification, ballast samples on a scale of 1/5th are prepared in the laboratory with desired gradation and material properties to replicate the field samples. Compaction tests and a series of consolidated drained cyclic triaxial tests are conducted to identify the strength and deformation characteristics of the fouled ballast, considering the effect of water content. Based on the fouling index, four out of six samples are highly fouled, and the fouling materials contain both plastic and non-plastic properties. Triaxial test results indicate that consistency of the fouling material, degree of saturation, and deviator stress level significantly affect the strength and deformation characteristics of the fouled railway ballast. Fouling materials containing plastic properties increases the risk to the stability of the railway track in the presence of moisture.

Effect of wet-dry cycle on triaxial mechanical properties and constitutive models of solid waste cemented backfill

As the environmental requirements of underground mine backfilling processes have been promoted, solid waste cemented backfilling (SWCB) technology is widely exploited in goaf backfilling. Due to the groundwater circulation and geothermal drying effects, the SWCB is often exposed to the cycle period of wetting and drying state. To study the influence of wet-dry state transformation on the mechanical properties of SWCB, a series of triaxial compression tests were carried out on SWCB specimens treated with wet-dry cycle. As the cycle numbers increased, first, mass-loss behavior occurred and then hydration damage gradually accumulated in the SWCB specimen, where the maximum mass loss rate (Rw-d) was 7 %. The triaxial compressive strength (TCS) and elastic modulus of SWCB increased with the increase in confining pressure but decreased with the increase in cycle numbers. In low cycle numbers, the wet-dry cycle treatment did not damage the skeleton structure, and the SWCB specimen could still bear external load after failure. A constitutive model considering residual strength was established to describe the stress state and failure process of SWCB specimens. In high cycle numbers, hydration damage occurred and was widely distributed in the SWCB specimen. A rheology constitutive model was established to reflect the stress-strain relationship and flow failure characteristic. From the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results after SWCB specimen failure, main cracks and many partial microcracks appeared in the low and high cycle numbers, which verified the applicability for two constitutive models. Aiming at the negative effect of wet-dry cycle on the mechanical properties of SWCB, isolating water source and protecting SWCB were proposed to prevent and control the large deformation of SWCB and surface subsidence induced by rheological behavior.

Acoustic emission characteristics and damage constitutive model of high-performance concrete of freezing shaft under hydro-mechanical coupling

To examine the fracture development and damage characteristics of concrete subjected to high-bearing-pressure water in deep water-rich formations, a rock triaxial testing machine combined with an acoustic emission system was utilized to carry out the acoustic emission characterization test of high-performance concrete under hydro-force coupling conditions. The crack development and failure patterns of concrete were analyzed using an improved bi-value and Gaussian mixture model. In addition, a concrete damage model that incorporated the hydrodynamic deterioration effect and post-peak residual strength was developed. The results indicated a three-stage evolution of the bi-value throughout the stress-strain process: initial increase, subsequent fluctuating variation with a tendency to decrease, and eventual plunge. This pattern effectively captured the internal crack development in concrete. During the compression process coupled with hydraulic force, the concrete formed tension-shear composite cracks, predominantly comprising tension cracks. The proportion of shear cracks decreased as the initial water pressure increased. The influence of high-pressure water on the shear strength of concrete was mainly reflected in the weakening effect of cohesive force. By substituting the experimental strain data into the established intrinsic model for verification, the correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.96, more accurately simulating the influence of hydraulic pressure and the strain softening phenomenon caused by the peripheral pressure. The research results provide a scientific basis for understanding the concrete damage mechanism and for preventing and controlling the structural damage in concrete shaft linings.

Cyclic cumulative strain of coarse-grained soil under large cyclic stress amplitude

The deformation behavior of coarse-grained soil under large cyclic stresses, such as those induced by strong earthquakes, has received limited attention. This study aims to investigate the cyclic accumulation behaviors and hysteresis loops of coarse-grained soil during drained cyclic triaxial tests, spanning a range from small to large cyclic stresses. The cyclic triaxial tests were primarily conducted under anisotropic consolidation conditions, with an axial-to-radial stress ratio of 2.0, confining pressures ranging from 100 to 500 kPa, and cyclic stresses varying from 0.01 to 1.85 times the confining pressure. Additionally, cyclic triaxial tests under isotropic consolidation conditions and constant mean stress conditions were performed for comparison and validation. The test results reveal that the properties of the hysteresis loops exhibit significant nonlinear behavior as cyclic stress increases, particularly concerning their shape, symmetry, degree of closure, and initial tangent modulus of elasticity. The cumulative axial strain displays three stages: strain increases slightly and gently at small cyclic stress, increases rapidly and substantially at medium cyclic stress, and decreases at large cyclic stress. The delineation of these phases is largely governed by the behaviors observed during the first cycle. Moreover, the cumulative volumetric strain increases monotonically with the increase of cyclic stress, with a more rapid increase at large cyclic stress. This study provides valuable insights into the cyclic deformation and constitutive modeling of coarse-grained soil under significant cyclic stress.

Spalling Criterion of Hard Brittle Rock Mass Based on Dilatation Lateral Strain.

Spalling failure is a typical failure phenomenon after excavation and unloading of a deep, hard brittle rock mass, which seriously threatens the safe construction of deep roadways (tunnels) and other projects. From the engineering viewpoint, it is essential to accurately evaluate the range and depth of surrounding rock spalling failure. From the perspective of the laboratory and engineering site, the strength and formation mechanism of hard rock spalling failure were statistically summarized and analyzed. Under uniaxial and low confining pressure conditions, when the load reached the rock damage stress, cracks in the rock penetrated to form a failure plane approximately parallel to the axial loading direction, and the strength of rock mass spalling was much smaller than that of intact rock spalling. A triaxial compression test was conducted to analyze the dilatation axial strain and dilatation lateral strain characteristics of gneiss. The results showed that dilatation axial strain gradually increased with the increase of confining pressure, whereas dilatation lateral strain was almost unchanged. Therefore, a safety factor (FS) based on dilatation lateral strain was developed. Through comparison with other strain-based spalling criteria, the establishment and physical meaning of the method were described in detail. In addition, FS was applied to analyze the deep roadway of the Hongtoushan Copper Mine in China and the Rm415 test tunnel in Canada. The results showed that the spalling criterion could accurately indicate the range and depth of the surrounding rock spalling failure, which verified the rationality and applicability of the new spalling criterion. Thus, FS can be utilized as a new theory and analysis tool for the assessment and prevention of spalling failure in deep hard rock roadways.

Gravity wharf failure mechanism and safety analysis considering the wave-structure-soft-soil-foundation interaction

The soft soil foundations of gravity wharves are subject to the wharf weight and wave forces, and the deterioration of the wharf soil foundation strength under such cyclic loading affects the structural safety of gravity wharves. This study investigated the weakening characteristics of soft soil strength. Undrained triaxial tests were conducted on undisturbed saturated soft soil specimens under isotropic consolidation conditions, and a dynamic finite element model of the wave–gravity-structure–soft-soil-foundation interaction was established. The results indicated that the shear modulus of the soil was related to the effective confining pressure and shear strain; this relationship was fitted using the Van Genuchten equation. As the internal friction angle of the soft-soil foundation decreased, its stability decreased nonlinearly, the strength decreased, and the sliding failure surface expanded. Simply increasing the riprap layer thickness had a limited effect on the overall wharf stability. These findings will guide the design of gravity wharves with foundations on soft soils in port areas that are subjected to intense wave actions.

Study of the static mechanical properties of tailings under the influence of multiple lens types

There are many types of lenses in tailings ponds that have important influences on stability. Lens types of more than 150 tailings dams were analyzed in China’s severely cold regions, cold regions, hot summers and cold winters (the civil building thermal design code (GB50176-2016)). The mechanism of lens formation is discussed in this paper. Triaxial tests of tailings were carried out with fine mud tailing lenses, notched lenses, ice lenses and soft plastic soil lenses. Moreover, a three-dimensional triaxial test model with a flexible boundary is constructed to study the influence of different lenses on the mechanical properties of the tailings. The lens can change the failure mode of the tailings. These faults can change the dilatancy failure of tailings to failure along the “lens-tailings” interface. With increasing confining pressure, the ability of the lens to weaken the strength of the tailings increases. At 500 kPa, the strengths of the samples with fine mud tailing lenses, notched lenses, ice lenses and soft plastic soil lenses are 95.28%, 88.79%, 76.99% and 5.49%, respectively, of those of the sample without lenses. In addition to soft plastic soil lenses, other lenses provide space to accommodate the deformation of tailings, thereby reducing the bulk strain of tailings. The conclusions of this study can provide theoretical support for studying the failure mode of tailings dams under the influence of lenses and improving the local stability of tailings ponds.

Effect of flexible membrane in triaxial test on the mechanical behaviour of rockfill material using Discrete Element Method

The investigation of rockfill materials poses challenges due to their large particle size, associated high cost, and long laboratory testing duration. As a result, empirical correlations based on historical experimental studies are commonly used to design and analyse rockfill structures. However, the extensive use of rockfill in a wide range of applications and limited understanding of its mechanical behaviour emphasize the need for further research. These make it necessary to develop a robust technique capable of capturing key parameters such as particle shape and breakage, allowing for the simulation and study of large-scale assemblies with realistic boundary conditions. Given that the behaviour of rockfill is highly scale-dependent, primarily due to particle breakage, the simplified laboratory tests on the scaled-down assemblies can be misleading. Particle breakage is a fundamental phenomenon in the mechanical behaviour of rockfill and significantly affects shear strength, deformability, and porosity under different stress levels. The particle breakage is influenced by factors such as the rockfill’s maximum particle size, mineralogy, particle shape, gradation, and confining stresses. This study adopts a computationally efficient breakage method called the Modified Particle Replacement Method (MPRM) based on the Discrete Element Method. A Tile-Based Flexible Membrane (TBFM) for triaxial test modelling has been developed by employing segmental rectangular walls to create a deformable membrane. The effects of critical parameters, including particle shape, confining stress, membrane resolution, degree of flexibility, and the characteristic strength of the particles, are examined. The findings of the combined MPRM-TBFM approach demonstrate the significant influence of membrane flexibility on volumetric-related behaviour.Graphical

Compaction and shear characteristics of recycled construction & demolition aggregates in subgrade: Exploring particle breakage and shape effects

Recycling construction and demolition (C&D) wastes into useable aggregates in subgrade applications offers significant sustainability benefits. However, the characteristics of recycled aggregates, including particle morphology, crushing strength, and shear behavior, differ substantially from natural aggregates. This paper presented an extensive experimental study on the compaction and mechanics performances of recycled concrete and brick aggregates, with a particular focus on the effects of particle breakage and shape characteristics. The compaction of recycled aggregate specimens comprising three structural types was evaluated using heavy Marshall compaction (HMC) and Superpave gyratory compaction (SGC). The compaction characteristics and particle breakage were examined, enabling a profound understanding of the compaction mechanisms associated with both methods. Furthermore, triaxial shear tests were performed to scrutinize the influences of particle shape, compaction degree, and confining pressure on shear characteristics. Results showed that after 80 gyratory rotations in SGC, the compaction degree of recycled aggregates aligned with the targeted results obtained from HMC. Changes in fractal dimension after compaction exhibited direct correlations with the two-dimensional shape distribution. Axial coefficient, fractal dimension and confining pressure most strongly influenced shear strength. In light of these insights, prediction models for shear strength parameters were proposed using multiple regression analysis. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the relationships between aggregate morphology, compaction response, breakage behavior, and shear performance. These findings can facilitate optimized design and construction using recycled aggregates to advance sustainable infrastructure development.

True triaxial test and DEM simulation of rock mechanical behaviors, meso-cracking mechanism and precursor subject to underground excavation disturbance

Mechanical excavation or blasting generates stress waves that rapidly dissipate in the surrounding high-geostress rock, causing microdynamic disturbances. These disturbances trigger microcracks within the damaged rock, even inducing engineering disasters. However, the fracture behaviors and mechanisms of rockmass subjected to excavation disturbances under three-dimensional geostress remains unclear. Therefore, this study proposed a true triaxial static–dynamic combined loading method to capture the entire process of tunnel excavation damage and the continuous fracturing induced by microdynamic disturbances. True triaxial static–dynamic combined tests and numerical simulations using PFC3D-GBM were employed systematically to analyze the influence of principal stresses σ1, σ2, and σ3 on the disturbances mechanical behaviors of the gabbro. The disturbance failure under true triaxial stress indicated a three-stage pattern of deformation: deceleration, constant velocity, and acceleration. With increased σ1 or decreasing σ2 and σ3, the disturbance bearing capacity of the gabbro significantly decreased. Moreover, an increase in σ1 and σ3 corresponded to an increased proportion of intergranular shear cracks, whereas an increase in σ2 resulted in a notable increase in intragranular tensile cracks. Small-magnitude events tended to disperse during the deceleration and constant-velocity stages, whereas larger-magnitude events were concentrated during the acceleration stage. The AE parameter b-value initially increased and then decreased during disturbance fracture process. The excavation disturbance of the tunnel intensified the depth of the damage zone and the energy released, thereby increasing the risk of a catastrophic deep fracture.

Correlating ballast resilient modulus with particle movement through SmartRock sensing

The resilient modulus of ballast is a key parameter in assessing track quality and is influenced by various loading conditions, such as deviator stress, bulk stress, loading frequency, and confining pressure. These factors, when incorporated into different models, can sometimes complicate their application in track maintenance planning. Therefore, a simplified model that collectively considers these factors would be beneficial in practical applications for estimating the ballast resilient modulus. This study utilizes smart sensing technology, SmartRock, to track particle movement during large-scale triaxial cyclic loading tests, exploring the potential correlation between ballast resilient modulus and particle motion. The findings indicate that the settling acceleration of ballast particles significantly impacts the ballast resilient modulus. This effect is dependent on the applied cyclic loading pulses, an aspect previously overlooked in research. Consequently, an index termed the Cyclic Loading and Acceleration Index (CLAI) has been introduced. CLAI integrates the effects of deviator stress, loading frequency, loading pulses, and settling acceleration. Based on CLAI, a simplified model for ballast resilient modulus has been developed and validated.

Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties and Permeability Characteristics of Calcareous Mudstone under Different Confining Pressures.

Calcareous mudstone, a type of red-bed soft rock, is prevalent in the surrounding rock of the Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project (CYWDP) in Yunnan Province, China, significantly impacting both construction and operation. The mechanical properties of calcareous mudstone vary with depth. This study investigates its mechanical properties, permeability characteristics, energy evolution, and macro- and micro-failure characteristics during deformation using triaxial compression tests under different confining pressures. Results reveal distinct stage characteristics in the stress-strain behavior, permeability, and energy evolution of calcareous mudstone. Crack propagation, permeability evolution, and energy dissipation are closely linked, elucidating the deformation and failure process, with fluid pressure playing a crucial role. The confining pressure σ3 increased from 2 MPa to 4 MPa and 6 MPa, while the peak stress σc (Pw = 1 MPa) of the calcareous mudstone increased by 84.49% and 24.89%, respectively. Conversely, the permeability at σc decreased from 11.25 × 10-17 m2 to 8.99 × 10-17 m2 and 5.72 × 10-17 m2, while the dissipative energy at σc increased from 12.39 kJ/m3 to 21.14 kJ/m3 and 42.51 kJ/m3. In comparison to those without fluid pressure (Pw = 0), the value of σc at Pw = 1 MPa was reduced by 36.61%, 23.23%, and 20.67% when σ3 was 2, 4, and 6 MPa, respectively. Increasing confining pressure augments characteristic stresses, deformation and failure energy, and ductility, while reducing permeability, crack propagation, and width. These findings enhance our understanding of calcareous mudstone properties at varying depths in tunnel construction scenarios.

A non-linear stress–strain relationship for soil and rock

While many employ a hyperbolic stress–strain relationship for soils, it is known that such a relationship is accurate over the small-strain range as encountered in earthquake and soil dynamics problems. For large strains, a relationship with different input parameters is needed, as is required for finite-element analyses of large-deformation behaviour. These separate characterisations do not carry over into the other application. Here, a proposed power relationship is presented that was developed to characterise the triaxial test stress–strain behaviour of cohesionless material from lubricated or ‘frictionless’ cap and base tests (144 tests) covering a range in the natural variation in particle size, particle shape and surface roughness, over low to high confining pressure. This relationship covers the strain range from 10−6 to soil failure. To date, it has been successfully used in laterally loaded pile response characterisation (the strain wedge model) and shallow-foundation load–settlement–bearing capacity response. Most recently, it has been extended to assess the behaviour of rock-like material (caliche). The relationship and its comparison with the hyperbolic relationship for large strain and the shear modulus reduction curve for seismic behaviour are presented.

Impact of roots on the shear strength of root-reinforced soil on slopes

Abstract Tropical countries generally receive high rainfall throughout the year causing high runoff, wet soils and erosion. Undulating terrain from continuing erosion and frequent occurrences of landslides are the features of topographic evolution under such hydrological conditions. Vegetation is the only natural supporting factor that mitigates both erosion and landslides. It contributes to controlling soil erosion and strengthening of the soil by forming a mesh of roots at the surface. The objective of this study is to quantify soil strength on slopes when there is a presence of roots. Undisturbed samples were taken from two different depths of soil. The exact depth and distance varied slightly to avoid large roots and large gravel particles present in the natural environment. Immediately after sampling, the triaxial tests were performed under unconsolidated and undrained conditions. Subsequently, the tested samples were crushed carefully, to manually recover all roots and to classify the soil. From this study, it was observed that the presence of root fibres within the soil matrix has enhanced the soil strength through a binding action in the fibre-soil composite. The correlation between root content and shear strength is prominent near the surface and becomes less obvious in deeper soil layers when the root concentration becomes more sparsely distributed.

True triaxial unloading test on the mechanical behaviors of sandstone: Effects of the intermediate principal stress and structural plane

A series of true triaxial unloading tests are conducted on sandstone specimens with a single structural plane to investigate their mechanical behaviors and failure characteristics under different in situ stress states. The experimental results indicate that the dip angle of structural plane (θ) and the intermediate principal stress (σ2) have an important influence on the peak strength, cracking mode, and rockburst severity. The peak strength exhibits a first increase and then decrease as a function of σ2 for a constant θ. However, when σ2 is constant, the maximum peak strength is obtained at θ of 90°, and the minimum peak strength is obtained at θ of 30° or 45°. For the case of an inclined structural plane, the crack type at the tips of structural plane transforms from a mix of wing and anti-wing cracks to wing cracks with an increase in σ2, while the crack type around the tips of structural plane is always anti-wing cracks for the vertical structural plane, accompanied by a series of tensile cracks besides. The specimens with structural plane do not undergo slabbing failure regardless of θ, and always exhibit composite tensile-shear failure whatever the σ2 value is. With an increase in σ2 and θ, the intensity of the rockburst is consistent with the tendency of the peak strength. By analyzing the relationship between the cohesion (c), internal friction angle (φ), and θ in sandstone specimens, we incorporate θ into the true triaxial unloading strength criterion, and propose a modified linear Mogi-Coulomb criterion. Moreover, the crack propagation mechanism at the tips of structural plane, and closure degree of the structural plane under true triaxial unloading conditions are also discussed and summarized. This study provides theoretical guidance for stability assessment of surrounding rocks containing geological structures in deep complex stress environments.

Formation mechanism of loess-mudstone landslides in the Weibei Tableland Fault Active Zone of Baoji, China - Taking Wolongsi landslide as an example

The geomorphologic and environmental evolution of the Loess Plateau is greatly affected by the strong fault activity, leading to the frequent occurrence of geological hazards, particularly the loess-mudstone landslide (LML). Thus, it is crucial to investigate the formation mechanism of such landslides in active fault zones. In this study, a field survey was conducted in the Weibei tableland of Baoji where the active fault zone is developed. To study the creep behavior of LML sliding zone soil, the triaxial creep tests of multi-stage loading under different water content, confining pressure, dry density, loess-mudstone binary structure (LMBS) contact surface angle, and thickness were carried out using the sliding zone soil samples (loess, mudstone, and LMBS samples) obtained from Wolongsi landslide in the study area as an example. Experimental results revealed that: (1) Water content has a significant weakening effect on the strength of LML sliding zone soil. The strength of the LMBS sample is extremely water-sensitive. The weakening effect of water on the long-term strength of LML sliding zone soil mainly manifested in promoting the elastoplastic deformation of loess and the viscoplastic deformation of mudstone. (2) The long-term strength of the LML slip zone soil increases linearly with the increase in confining pressure and increases exponentially with the dry density. (3) The degrading effect of the stratigraphic interface dip angle on the long-term slope strength is mainly reflected in the change in the weakening degree of water on the strength of the LML sliding zone. In addition, according to the test results, the traditional Nishihara model is improved by introducing nonlinear parameters, and a new constitutive equation describing LML sliding zone soil is established. The new constitutive model can accurately describe the creep curve's whole process especially sensitively identifying the accelerated creep stage. Finally, after conducting a field investigation and laboratory tests, the main hazard factors affecting the occurrence of the LML were analyzed in the presence of fault activity on the Weibei Plateau of Baoji, China, and its formation mechanism was revealed as well.

Use of geopolymer for stabilising crushed rock base in road pavement

In recent years, the utilisation of fly ash-based geopolymer has been progressively escalating as it has proven to be a potent alternative to conventional cement. The acceptance of geopolymer is primarily credited to its ability to improve soil strength and stiffness, coupled with the advantage of reducing harmful pollution and energy usage. This study is primarily designed to investigate the mechanical performance of Geopolymer-Treated Crushed Rock Base (GTCRB), with a particular focus on uniaxial compressive strength response and the structural durability quantified by the resilient modulus and permanent deformation. This is achieved through an experimental program incorporating Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and Repeated Loading Tri-axial (RLT) tests. The outcomes of the tests suggest that the use of geopolymer tends to fortify the uniaxial compressive strength and resilient modulus of the GTCRB-tested samples, indicating an overall enhancement in the mechanical properties. Of particular note, a design mix containing 6% geopolymer produced an average UCS of 1.2 MPa, aligning with the standard UCS range for cemented lightly-bound base course material, as specified by the Austroads. In terms of the resilient modulus, while treated mixtures satisfied the requirements for permanent deformation, none of the tested samples achieved the stipulated resilience modulus range.

Enhanced Hoek-Brown (H-B) criterion for rocks exposed to chemical corrosion

Underground constructions often encounter water environments, where water–rock interaction can increase porosity, thereby weakening engineering rocks. Correspondingly, the failure criterion for chemically corroded rocks becomes essential in the stability analysis and design of such structures. This study enhances the applicability of the Hoek-Brown (H-B) criterion for engineering structures operating in chemically corrosive conditions by introducing a kinetic porosity-dependent instantaneous mi (KPIM). A multiscale experimental investigation, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pH and ion chromatography analysis, and triaxial compression tests, is employed to quantify pore structural changes and their linkage with the strength responses of limestone under coupled chemical-mechanical (C-M) conditions. By employing ion chromatography and NMR analysis, along with incorporating the principles of free-face dissolution theory accounting for both congruent and incongruent dissolution, a kinetic chemical corrosion model is developed. This model aims to calculate the kinetic porosity alterations within rocks exposed to varying H+ concentrations and durations. Subsequently, utilizing the generalized mixture rule (GMR), the kinetic porosity-dependent mi is formulated. Evaluation of the KPIM-enhanced H-B criterion using compression test data from 5 types of rocks demonstrated a high level of consistency between the criterion and the experimental results, with a coefficient of determination greater than 0.96, a mean absolute percentage error less than 4.84%, and a root-mean-square deviation less than 5.95 MPa. Finally, the physical significance of the porosity-dependent instantaneous mi is clarified: it serves as an indicator of a rock’s capacity to leverage the confining pressure effect.

An effective stress-based DSC model for predicting hydromechanical shear behavior of unsaturated collapsible soils subjected to initial shear stress

Evaluation of hydromechanical shear behavior of unsaturated soils is still a challenging issue. The time and cost needed for conducting precise experimental investigation on shear behavior of unsaturated soils have encouraged several investigators to develop analytical, empirical, or semi-empirical models for predicting the shear behavior of unsaturated soils. However, most of the previously proposed models are for specimens subjected to the isotropic state of stress, without considering the effect of initial shear stress. In this study, a hydromechanical constitutive model is proposed for unsaturated collapsible soils during shearing, with consideration of the effect of the initial shear stress. The model implements an effective stress-based disturbed state concept (DSC) to predict the stress-strain behavior of the soil. Accordingly, material/state variables were defined for both the start of the shearing stage and the critical state of the soil. A series of laboratory tests was performed using a fully automated unsaturated triaxial device to verify the proposed model. The experimental program included 23 suction-controlled unsaturated triaxial shear tests on reconstituted specimens of Gorgan clayey loess wetted to different levels of suctions under both isotropic and anisotropic stress states. The results show excellent agreement between the prediction by the proposed model and the experimental results.