GIAN course on Mechanics of Unsaturated Soils

10 to 20 December 2019, IIT Madras, Chennai

A Review on Microstructurally Based Effective Stress for Unsaturated Soils

Sruthi R Krishnan1 and Malavika M2
1
Ph.D scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
email: ce19d026@smail.iitm.ac.in
2
Ph.D scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
email: ce19d407@smail.iitm.ac.in

ABSTRACT
The paper discusses about alternative choices for
stress state variables with emphasis on effective
stress. To define effective stress of unsaturated
soils a term which brings together total stress,
suction, and degree of saturation is needed.
Relating stress state variables to the
microstructure of soil was looked into. Degree of
saturation was defined by the volume of water in
the macropores of the soil structure. The results
yielded by the microstructural interpretation of
the water retention curve with piecewise
approximation is determined to be more effective in eliminating suction effects. Two
approaches based on piecewise linear and non-linear approximations were put forward to
determine the effective degree of saturation. As plastic nature of soil shows prominence,
there is marked reduction in effect of suction on the effective stress. The implication is that at
low degrees of saturation, for high plastic soils, effective stress reduces to net stress. Analysis
using this method led to identification of the material parameter involved in the definition of
the effective degree of saturation. An equation for effective stress was proposed based on the
amount of immobile water present in pores. Interpretation of experimental data showed
consistence with the proposed method.

Malavika M
Malavika M is a Direct Ph.D. scholar, in the Geotechnical Engineering
Division, Civil Engineering Department presently working under the
supervision of Dr. D.N. Arnepalli at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
She completed her B.Tech from Government Engineering College,
Bartonhill, Trivandrum, Kerala. Her current focus centres around the
chemical, mineralogical and fabric structure quantification of fine-grained
soils for identification of efficient stabilizer.
Sruthi R Krishnan
Sruthi R Krishnan is a Ph.D. scholar (QIP) in Geotechnical Engineering
Division, Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras, working under D.N. Arnepalli. She is an Assistant professor in the
Department of Civil Engineering, TKM College of Engineering, Kerala. She
completed her M.Tech from NIT Calicut and B.Tech in Civil Engineering
from TKM College of Engineering, Kerala. Currently her area of research is
compressibility studies from a microstructural perspective.