Numerical modelling of swelling/shrinkage behaviour of unsaturated soils for buried pipe stress analysis

D. Weerasinghe, J. Kodikara, H. Bui

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearchpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The behavior of unsaturated, surficial soil layer of the earth is more complex than saturated sublayers. Depending on the mineralogy, some soils show significant volume changes (swell and shrink) with varying moisture contents, which is known as soil reactivity. Since most of the sub structures such as pipes, shallow foundations and basements etc. are buried in this surficial soil layer, consideration of these complex behaviors is essential for sustainable designs of structures. Since computer based Finite Element Analyses (FEA) is the most common analysing tool in many engineering design problems, it is interesting to investigate the applicability of common commercial FEA software packages to address these complex situations. This paper presents an analysis of moisture governed swell/shrink behavior of unsaturated soils as an application in pipe stress analysis to quantify stresses coming to pipes from reactive soil movements.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUnsaturated Soil Mechanics from Theory to Practice
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 6th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Guilin, China, 23-26 October 2015
EditorsZhenghan Chen, Changfu Wei, De’an Sun, Yongfu Xu
Place of PublicationLeiden The Netherlands
PublisherCRC Press
Pages615-620
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781315643342
ISBN (Print)9781138029217
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
EventAsia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2015 - Guilin, China
Duration: 23 Oct 201526 Oct 2015
Conference number: 6th

Conference

ConferenceAsia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2015
Abbreviated titleAP-UNSAT 2015
Country/TerritoryChina
CityGuilin
Period23/10/1526/10/15

Cite this