Acta Geotechnica 

About: Acta Geotechnica is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Solid mechanics & Geology. It has an ISSN identifier of 1861-1125. Over the lifetime, 1929 publications have been published receiving 37042 citations.

Changing grading of soil: effect on critical states

Abstract: Examples of situations are presented where the grading of a soil changes during its lifetime either by crushing of particles leading to an increase of fine material or by slow transport of fine particles with seepage leading to a decrease of fine material. Such grading changes influence the basic constitutive properties of the soil, in particular properties such as critical states which are dependent on the available range of densities of packing. Discrete element modelling is used to show the dependence of critical state conditions on grading and the way in which the particle assembly seeks out new critical state conditions as the grading changes.

Grain-scale experimental investigation of localised deformation in sand: a discrete particle tracking approach

Abstract: Recent developments in the application of x-ray micro-tomography in laboratory geomechanics have allowed all the individual grains of sand in a test sample to be seen and identified uniquely in 3D. Combining such imaging capabilities with experiments carried out “in situ” within an imaging set-up has led to the possibility of directly observing the mechanisms of deformation as they happen. The challenge has thus become extracting pertinent, quantified information from these rich time-lapse 3D images to elucidate the mechanics at play. This paper presents a new approach (ID-Track) for the quantification of individual grain kinematics (displacements and rotations) of large quantities of sand grains (tens of thousands) in a test sample undergoing loading. With ID-Track, grains are tracked between images based on some geometrical feature(s) that allow their unique identification and matching between images. This differs from Digital Image Correlation (DIC), which makes measurements by recognising patterns between images. Since ID-Track does not use the image of a grain for tracking, it is significantly faster than DIC. The technique is detailed in the paper, and is shown to be fast and simple, giving good measurements of displacements, but suffering in the measurement of rotations when compared with Discrete DIC. Subsequently, results are presented from successful applications of ID-track to triaxial tests on two quite different sands: the angular Hostun sand and the rounded Caicos Ooids. This reveals details on the performance of the technique for different grain shapes and insight into the differences in the grain-scale mechanisms occurring in these two sands as they exhibit strain localisation under triaxial loading.

Experimental investigation of the face stability of shallow tunnels in sand

Abstract: Various models have been proposed for the prediction of the necessary support pressure at the face of a shallow tunnel. To assess their quality, the collapse of a tunnel face was modelled with small-scale model tests at single gravity. The development of the failure mechanism and the support force at the face in dry sand were investigated. The observed displacement patterns show a negligible influence of overburden on the extent and evolution of the failure zone. The latter is significantly influenced, though, by the initial density of the sand: in dense sand a chimney-wedge-type collapse mechanism developed, which propagated towards the soil surface. Initially, loose sand did not show any discrete collapse mechanism. The necessary support force was neither influenced by the overburden nor the initial density. A comparison with quantitative predictions by several theoretical models showed that the measured necessary support pressure is overestimated by most of the models. Those by Vermeer/Ruse and Leca/Dormieux showed the best agreement to the measurements.

Water effects on rock strength and stiffness degradation

Abstract: Reduction in strength and stiffness in rocks attributed to an increase in water content has been extensively researched on a large variety of rock types over the past decades. Due to the considerable variations of texture and lithology, the extent of water-weakening effect is highly varied among different rock types, spanning from nearly negligible in quartzite to 90 % of uniaxial compressive strength reduction in shale. Readers, however, often face difficulties in comparing the data published in different sources due to the discrepancy of experimental procedures of obtaining the water saturation state and how the raw laboratory data is interpreted. In view of this, the present paper first reviews the terminologies commonly used to quantify the amount of water stored in rocks. The second part of the paper reviews the water-weakening effects on rock strengths, particularly focusing on uniaxial compressive strength and modulus, as well as tensile strength, under quasi-static loading and dynamic loading. The correlation relationships established among various parameters, including porosity, density and fabric of rocks, and external factors such as strain rate, surface tension and dielectric constant of the saturating liquid, absorption percentage and suction pressure, are reviewed and presented toward the end of the paper.

On constitutive modelling of unsaturated soils

Abstract: The paper presents a review of constitutive modelling of unsaturated soils. After a brief historical perspective, a number of existing constitutive models are classified and discussed according to the type of stress variables adopted in their formulation. Afterwards, attention is given to recent developments in the proposal of coupled hydraulic-mechanical models and the possibility of casting them in a sound thermodynamical framework. Finally, a double structure model for expansive soils is described. The incorporation of microstructural considerations and its use as a platform for incorporating the influence of new variables are highlighted.