Unsaturated Soil Mechanics - from Theory to Practice: Proceedings of the 6th Asia Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils (Guilin, China, 23-26 October 2015)

In the past decades advances have been made in the research and practice on unsaturated soil mechanics. In 2000 the first Asia-Pacific Conferences on Unsaturated Soils was organized in Singapore. Since then, four conferences have been held under the continued support of the Technical Committee on Unsaturated Soils (TC106) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The conferences provided an excellent forum for researchers and practitioners in the region and beyond to present the latest developments and to exchange ideas on the subjects related to unsaturated soils. Unsaturated Soil Mechanics - from Theory to Practice collects more than 140 technical papers, and 10 invited and keynote lectures presented at the sixth Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils (Guilin, China, 23-26 October 2015). The first Asia-Pacific distinguished lecture, launched at the conference, is also included. The contributions address the fundamental behavior of unsaturated soils, and present theoretical and numerical modeling and engineering applications. The topics of concern span the full spectrum from theory to practice, with strong relevance to the problems in the region and beyond such as collapse/swelling, freezing/thawing, desiccation shrinkage, rainfall-induced slope failure, contaminant transport, shale gas extraction and so on, largely representing the latest developments in unsaturated soil mechanics.

Table of Contents:
Invited and Keynote papers Relationship between the laboratory SWCCs and field stress state D.G. Fredlund Tensiometer techniques for determining soil water retention curves D.G. Toll, J.D. Asquith, A. Fraser, A.A. Hassan, G. Liu, S.D.N. Lourenço, J. Mendes, T. Noguchi, P. Osinski & R. Stirling Capillary barrier as a slope protection H. Rahardjo Evolution of mesoscale structures of unsaturated expansive soil and intact loess under various stress and hydraulic paths Z.H. Chen, Z.H. Yao, J.F. Guo & Q.Q. Miao Slope stability analysis methods and application to 1 g failure model tests Y. Kohgo Investigation of mechanical and physio-chemical coupling through swelling pressure Y.J. Cui Testing of the hydro-mechanical behaviour of shales L. Laloui, A. Ferrari &V. Favero Desiccation crack depth and tensile strength in compacted soil G.A. Miller, A. Hassanikhah & M. Varsei Monotonic and cyclic shear stiffness of unsaturated soil at different temperatures C.W.W. Ng, C. Zhou & J. Xu Moisture and gas flow properties of compacted loess final covers for MSW landfills in Northwest China L.T. Zhan Experimental study on characteristics of the collapsibility of Ili loess A.J. Zhang, Y.C. Xing, X.L. Hu, M.X. Guo & B. Zhang Unsaturated soil behaviour Microstructure Analysis on microstructure and water retention properties of lime-treated soil Y.J.Wang, Y.J. Cui, A.M. Tang, C.S. Tang & N. Benahmed The microstructure information of natural loess in different areas, China H.J. Hu, K. Zhou, Y.S. Luo,W.P. Zhao, Q. Hu & Z.Y. Zhang Understanding the collapsible behavior of loess from microstructure information P. Li, S.K. Vanapalli &T.L. Li Microstructure change of loess soil during wet collapsing X.X. Shao, H.Y. Zhang & J.W. Liu Research on evolution of meso-structure of Q2 loess during plastic and brittle failure in triaxial tests X.W. Fang, C.N. Shen, Z.H. Chen & J. Li Research on wetting-induced microstructure change of Q2 loess C.H. Li, X.W. Fang, C.N. Shen &Y.X. Ou Structural damage properties of loess under loading and moistening S. Shao, S.J. Shao &A.Z. Luo The microstructure and soil-water characteristic of unsaturated loess D.R. Hao, H.J. Liao, C.M. Ning & X.P. Shan Hydraulic behaviors of unsaturated expansive soils L.C. Miao, Y. Cui & H. Zeng Discussion on cushion material strength after freezing-thawing cycle based on pore size distribution model J.P. Yuan, Q.L.Wang, C.L. Han & K.B. Li Nuclear Magnetic Resonance assay of carbon dioxide hydrate in silt H.H. Tian, C.F.Wei, X.L. Xia & H.Wang Evolution of soil water in silt soils based on NMR technique P. Chen, C.F.Wei, J. Liu &W.J. Xue Point of Zero Charge of two highly plastic expansive soils B. Lin &A.B. Cerato Stress-strain and strength characteristics Influence of unsaturated state variables on small strain elastic behaviour A.M. Hasan & S.J. Wheeler Some remarks on the mechanical yielding of unsaturated soils M. Lloret-Cabot, J.A. Pineda, D. Sheng & M.P. Cordão Neto Deformation and yielding for intact Q3 loess under various stress paths D.F. Zhang, C.L. Chen, D.B. Yu, Y.T. Shu & P. Gao An experimental method to study the drying-wetting behaviour of a sand M. Milatz Characterizing soil mechanical response induced by drought climate using a novel micropenetrometer D.Y.Wang, C.S. Tang, S.K. Xu, K.Q. Sun, P.Wang & B. Shi Investigating the volume change characteristics of bentonite/sand mixture under hydro-mechanical coupling condition Z.G. Chen, C.S. Tang, D.Y.Wang, P.Wang, K.Q. Sun & B. Shi Deformation characteristics and permeability of saturated bentonite-sand mixtures W.J. Sun, Z.F.Wei, S.Q. Liu, C. Chen, L. Zhang & D.A. Sun Investigation on swelling-shrinkage behavior of compacted expansive soils during wetting-drying cycles N.F. Zhao,W.M. Ye, B. Chen &Y.G. Chen Cracks’ evolution characteristics of remolded expansive soils in the soaking and loading process Z.H. Yao, Z.H. Chen,W. Li, L.H. Su, Q.Q. Miao & J.H. Zhang Resilient modulus – soil suction correlations for two subgrade soils from China Z. Han & S.K. Vanapalli Wetting collapse at high degree of saturation during shearing for unsaturated sand B.J. Shwan Development of a new cyclic simple shear apparatus and test verification on loess S.J. Shao, Q.Wang & S. Shao Consolidation behavior of unsaturated Chuanxi compacted soil with soil suction control oedometer D. Lu &W. Li Experimental study of mechanical behavior of unsaturated silty clay in different loading sequences under constant water content condition A.M. Rasool, K. Jiro & T. Shinya Change in shear behavior of unsaturated volcanic coarse-grained soil due to fine particles run off X.Y. Zheng, T. Ishikawa &T. Tokoro Effect of fine grain contents on the unsaturated mechanical characteristics of embankment materials B.S. Kim, Y. Takeshita, S. Kato & S.W. Park Research on physical and mechanical properties of Xinjiang Daxigou loess Z.Q. Hu, S. Lin, Z.J. Li & H.R. Li Study on dynamic modulus and deformation characteristics of loess under bidirectional cyclic loads X.D. Zhang, Y.S. Luo, P.C.Wang & L.X. Hu Shear strength of a swelled soil examining influence of swelling boundary conditions B.F. Lim & G.A. Siemens Strength behaviors of the unsaturated silty clay based on ring shear test W.J. Xue, P. Chen & C.F.Wei Influence of matric suction on shear strength behavior of remolded unsaturated basalt residual soil J. Chen, X.W. Lei, F.Z. Cheng & Q.S. Meng Study on shear strength characteristics of the remolded laterite soil in Guilin X.J. Chen, X. Huang, G.Y. Xiao, H.B. Chen &Y.L. Qi Experimental analysis on tensile strength of unsaturated sandy clay under different initial densities and water contents R.J. Che, G.Q. Cai & C.G. Zhao Water retention and hydraulic behavior A non-linear hysteresis model for soil-water retention behaviour A.N. Zhou Common mistakes in determination of air entry value from gravimetric water content based Soil-Water Characteristic Curve A.Y. Pasha, A. Khoshghalb & N. Khalili Non-isothermal water retention curve and volume change equation for unsaturated soils A.N. Zhou, J. Li & D. Sheng A simplified method to estimate the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve Y.T. Fan & E.C. Leong Effect of specimen preparation on water retention and deformation behaviour of unsaturated soils D.A. Sun, Y. Gao &A.N. Zhou A research of affect factor on hysteresis behavior for Soil-Water Characteristic Curve J. Li & F.Y. Liu Soil water retention of a compacted sandy clay with sub-critical water repellency S.D.N. Lourenço, N. Jones, C.P. Morley, S.H. Doerr & R. Bryant Measurement of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve of expansive soil using filter paper method H. Li, L.C. Li & Z.Q. Huang Drying-wetting Soil-Water Characteristic Curves of highly expansive soil A.M. Al-Mahbashi, T.Y. Elkady & M.A. Alshamrani Measurement of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve with a continuous pressurization method S. Kato, M. Hatakeyama, H. Abe, B.S. Kim &Y. Takeshita Hydraulic properties for soils that undergo volume change as soil suction is increased F. Zhang, D.G. Fredlund & G.W.Wilson Role of unsaturated permeability function in seepage analyses A. Rahimi, H. Rahardjo & E.C. Leong Effects of variability of unsaturated hydraulic properties on stability of residual soil slopes Q. Zhai, H. Rahardjo &A. Satyanaga Measurement of hydraulic properties of unsaturated permeable polyurethane bound asphalt materials L. Renken, M. Oeser, M. Milatz & J. Grabe Hydro-mechanical behaviour of shot-clay bentonite A. Ferrari, A. Seiphoori & L. Laloui Effect of heating to Soil-Water Characteristic Curve of compacted bentonite T. Nishimura Development of test-bed and model test for one-dimensional heat and moisture transfer in soils Z.T. Zeng, Y.L. Zhao, H.B. Lu, C.F.Wei &Y. Zhang Thermal conductivity of unsaturated mixtures of loess soil with granulated rubber Z.H. Li, H.Y. Zhang &Y.M. Sheng Laboratory study on drainage-seepage controlling of fine/coarse structure in unsaturated expansive soil slope Q.H.Wu, J.F. Zhang, G.S. Zhu, H.D. Cui & X.Y. Liu Water retention properties of unsaturated coarse-grained soils: The experimental study of the effect of Microbialy Induced Calcite Precipitation R. Saffari, G. Habibagahi, E. Nikooee &A. Niazi Effect of grain size on soil moisture evaporation process S.K. Xu, C.S. Tang, K.Q. Sun & P.Wang Osmotic suction of two highly plastic expansive soils B. Lin &A.B. Cerato Modelling Fundamentals and constitutive modelling Rate effects in inter-granular capillary bridges Y. Zhang, D. Hanaor &Y.X. Gan Interaction force between pore water and soil skeleton L.T. Shao & X.X. Guo Development of a hydro-thermal coupled model for unsaturated soils N. An, S. Hemmati, Y.J. Cui &A.M. Tang Nonlinear analysis of stress-strain relations of unsaturated soils J.H. Zhang, Z.H. Chen, D. Chen, Q.Q. Miao & Z.H. Yao Problems associated with determination of yield curves for unsaturated soils X. Zhang Structural and mechanical behavior of expansive soil with pore damage M.S. Cheng, S.J.Wang, Y.Q. Zhang, S.H. Jiang & Z.H. Chen Prediction of 1-D heave of a natural expansive soil slope of Zao-yang in China using the SWCC-based and water content-based models H.Y. Tu & S.K. Vanapalli Potential of surfactants for clay improvement N. Jones, S.D.N. Lourenço & A. Paul Cam-clay model applicable to unsaturated clayey sand Q.Q. Miao, Z.H. Chen, Q.Q. Zhu, Z.H. Yao & J.H. Zhang Analysis, improvement and evaluation of the generalized Soil-Water Characteristic Curve Z.H. Chen & J.H. Zhang A fractal-based Soil-Water Characteristic Curve model for deformable soils A. Khoshghalb, A.Y. Pasha & N. Khalili The formulation of the water retention curve with deformation and hysteresis Q.D. Huang, C.G. Zhao & G.Q. Cai Validity of the bimodal equations for fitting the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve behavior of cracked expansive soils X.Wang & S.K. Vanapalli A model for thermal influence on water retention curve in high suction range B. Qin, Y. Lu, F.Z. Zhang & Z.H. Chen Evaluation of Soil-Water Characteristic Curves of sand-cement mixtures A.O. Al Shenawy, S.H. Al-hadama &T.Y. Elkady Study on the absorbed suction of unsaturated soil based on the Horsfield close packing model L.S. Tang, Y.L. Sun, Z.W. Deng & H.T. Sang Effective stress for volume change of unsaturated soils Y.F. Xu, Z.R. Cao, H.G. Zhu & F.F. Chu Failure of divide-and-conquer approach in the characterization of unsaturated soils X. Zhang Reanalysis on shear strength of unsaturated soils L.T. Shao, G.F. Zheng & X.X. Guo Influence of sodium chloride on evaporation and cracking of earthen heritages Y. Zhang,W.M. Ye, B. Chen &Y.G. Chen Prediction of swelling by effective stress of bentonite in salt solution G.S. Xiang, Y.F. Xu, T. Chen & H. Jiang An elastoplastic constitutive model for chalk with considering chalk-fluid physicochemical interaction T.T. Ma, C.F.Wei & X.L. Xia An elastoplastic constitutive model for gas hydrate-bearing soils with hydrate dissociation R.T. Yan & C.F.Wei An intelligent back analysis optimization method of constitutive parameters for surrounding rock Y. Zhang, B.C. Liu, Y.N. Hou & Z.T. Zeng Predicting liquefaction of unsaturated sands using a coupled hydro-mechanical elastoplastic constitutive model B. Zhang, K.K. Muraleetharan & C. Liu Numerical modelling Numerical modelling of swelling/shrinkage behaviour of unsaturated soils for buried pipe stress analysis D.Weerasinghe, J. Kodikara & H. Bui Numerical study on expansive soil slope stability considering the cracks and coupling effects S.C. Qi & S.K. Vanapalli A numerical model for heat and moisture migration in unsaturated freezing soil J. Teng, D. Sheng, S. Liang & S. Zhang Effective stress based numerical modelling of shallow foundations on unsaturated soil Y. Tang & H.A. Taiebat Development of a fully coupled thermo-hydro-chemical simulator for gas hydrate extraction W.T. Li, C.F.Wei & T.T. Ma Three-dimensional DEM simulation of constant-water-content triaxial tests on the unsaturated remolded loess T. Li & M.J. Jiang Simulation of particle crushing using Discrete-Element Method (DEM) Y. Xi &Y.F. Xu A new numerical method for one-dimensional compression test of crushable particles based on DEM Y.D.Wang & Y. Xi Sensitive THM coupled analysis of buffer-rock barriers for nuclear waste storage Y.F. Qiao, A. Ferrari, L. Laloui &W.Q. Ding Engineering applications and case histories Field testing Monitoring of a suburban environment: Soil-plant-atmosphere and clay movements D.A. Cameron, S.J. Vorwerk & G. Keppel Field monitoring of suction distribution in Coarse-Grained and Fine-Grained residual soil N. Gofar, H. Rahardjo & M.L. Lee Determining volume of failed soil mass in a landslide from satellite images B.J.M. Lim, E.C. Leong & K.S. Low Field monitoring to study the effect of rainfall on tree stability N. Amalia, H. Rahardjo, T.T. Lee, E.C. Leong &Y.K. Fong The impacts of climate change on expansive soil movements in Australia X. Sun, J. Li, A.N. Zhou & G. Ren A study on the feasibility of using centrifugal model test to simulate in-situ soaking test on loess S.L. Jin, Y.C. Xing,W.Q. Zhao, A.J. Zhang & P. An Model test on lateral earth pressure of highly expansive soil S.A. Khattab, M.K. Al-Shamam & K.A. Al-Juari Experimental study on the saturation changes of dredged fills during vertical vacuum preloading J.J. Ma, J.Wang, P.Wang, Y.Q. Cai & H.T. Fu Stress evolution in THMC GMZ-bentonite China-Mock-up for geological disposal of high level radioactive waste in China Y.M. Liu, S.F. Cao, J.Wang, J.L. Xie, L.K. Ma, X.G. Zhao & L. Chen Selection and analysis of enclosure structure of deep foundation pit in Lanzhou metro N. Guo, Z.H. Chen & X.H. Yang Design and installation of comprehensive instrumentation system of high-fill foundation in mountainous airport Y.P. Zhu, X.H. Yang, Z.B. Shi,W.X. Cai & H.J. Jiang Engineering applications Comparisons between the measured and predicted resilient modulus of subgrade Red clay using a SWCC based model W.L. Zou, J.F. Zhang, Y.L. Li, S.K. Vanapalli, H.Y. Tu & J. Zhang Application of MPK framework to interpret volume change behavior of compacted unsaturated soils A. Abeyrathne, T. Islam, J. Kodikara & H. Bui Behaviour of pipes subjected to fault movements in unsaturated soils using spring analysis D.J. Robert & K. Soga Engineering characteristics of granite residual soils of landslide inWuzhou, Guangxi, China Z.B.Wang, K. Li, C.F.Wei & Z.Q. Xu Cavity expansion in unsaturated silty sand exhibiting hydraulic hysteresis for three drainage conditions H. Yang & A.R. Russell Translational slip failures on slope incorporating unsaturated soil mechanics W. Huang, E.C. Leong & H. Rahardjo Investigation on the failure mechanisms of unsaturated high loess slope triggered by irrigation X.T. Zhang, T.L. Li &W.H. Liu Estimation of soil shrinkage curve M.Wijaya & E.C. Leong Effect of infiltration characteristics of soil on tree stability A. Rahimi, H. Rahardjo, E.C. Leong, T.T. Lee, A.W.K. Law &Y.K. Fong An analysis of plain strain deformation and strength characteristics of loess with vertical structure Y. Zhang, S.J. Shao & L.J.Wang Engineering properties of lead contaminated expansive soil X.Q. Zhang, F.S. Zha, J.J. Liu & K.R. Cui Feasibility investigation of a local weathered soil as final cover material for a landfill in south China J. Liu, R. Chen, T.L.T. Zhan, Z.Q. Li & C.W.W. Ng Modelling of transport and erosion of bentonite in the fracture T. Chen &Y.F. Xu Water-rock interaction for marly rocks of Badong group in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area X.J. Chen, L.L. Xia, Z.Y. Zhao, Y. Song, B. Chai, J. Tong & B. Jiang Feasibility analysis of electromagnetic field in geotechnical engineering research B.X. Shi, S.S. Chen, G.R. Zhang & C. Zhou Improvement of soil stability along rail corridors through native vegetation M. Pallewattha, B. Indraratna & C. Rujikiatkamjorn Mechanism of new anchored reinforced vegetation system for strengthening swelling rock and soil slope Y. Xu, S. Xian & S. Pei Research on the electrical resistivity of early solidified soil composing of dredged clays F.Z. Cheng, X.W. Lei, Y.S. Liao, Q.S. Meng & J. Chen The hydrological mechanism of a residual soil slope underwent deformations during rainfall C.C. Fan & S.H. Liu Comparative analysis on flexible supporting technology of different types of expansive soil cutting slope in the south and the north of China H.P. Yang, J.S. Lin & J. Xiao Effect of sodium chloride solution on adsorbed water content of clays X.L. Xia, C.F.Wei, T.T. Ma & H.H. Tian Swelling of GMZ bentonite with saline solutions and its prediction L. Zhang, D.A. Sun &Y.M. Liu Geo-Barrier System as a retaining structure H. Rahardjo, Q. Zhai, A. Satyanaga, E.C. Leong, C.L.Wang & L.H.Wong Numerical stimulation of geogrid reinforced flexible supporting treating expansive soil cut slope J. Xiao, H.P. Yang & S.Y. Zhu The effect of traffic loading to buried water mains in partially saturated soils C. Randeniya, D.J. Robert & C.Q. Li Effect of water content on long-term cyclic behaviour of railway track-bed materials F. Lamas-Lopez, Y.J. Cui, J.C. Dupla, A.M. Tang, J. Canou, N. Calon & S. Costa D’Aguiar Analogy study on surface deterioration of earthen monuments Y. Chen, J.F.Wang, H.Y. Zhang &Y.X. Gai Analysis of the failure of a polluted red clay foundation in the north Guilin karst area C.M. Mu, K.L. Han &Y. Liu