Application of MPK framework to interpret volume change behavior of compacted unsaturated soils

The attention for unsaturated soils has grown significantly over the last four decades as a result of numerous engineering problems encountered in field where the geotechnical engineering design based on classical saturated soil mechanics principles have proven to be difficult. As a result of the significant developments in theoretical analyses and experimental investigations, by now there are number of models which can define the unsaturated soil behavior reasonably satisfactorily. However, the applicability of most of the well-defined theoretical models in routine engineering practice is still problematic primarily due to difficulty in determining input properties. In contrast, new (MPK) framework introduced by Kodikara (2012) is based on the traditional compaction curve and relatively simple and practical in defining compacted unsaturated soil behavior. The current paper presents the application of this framework to interpret the volume change behavior of compacted unsaturated soils and its validation under different state path test results.