Siemens 2017

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1 THIRTY-NINTH CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL

2 COLLOQUIUM: UNSATURATED SOIL MECHANICS:
3 BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH
4 AND PRACTICE
5 Greg A. Siemens
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 80.82.77.83 on 12/26/17
6 Professor and Research Director

7 GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC
8 Department of Civil Engineering
9 Royal Military College of Canada
10 Kingston, Ontario, K7K 7B4, CANADA
11 p: +1-613-541-6000 x6396; e: siemens@rmc.ca
12 ABSTRACT
13 The majority of geoengineering applications occur in the unsaturated zone, which is in the near-surface
14 region forming the connection between meteorological phenomena above and saturated ground below.
15 The key characteristic of the unsaturated zone is that water is in tension or, put another way, pore water
16 pressure is negative. Moisture content, as well as most material properties, vary spatially and temporally
17 in the unsaturated zone and coupled processes are common. In geoengineering applications in the vadose
18 zone, unsaturated soils may be present during part or all of its design life. The question is how or when
19 to consider the unsaturated soils principles in an analysis or design. Although most geoengineering
20 applications have an unsaturated component, use of unsaturated soil mechanics in practice lingers
21 behind the prolific number of publications due uncertain benefit of accounting for unsaturated effects,
22 complexity, and conservativeness among other reasons. The focus of this colloquium is to continue
23 bridging the gap by illustrating unsaturated soils principles using application-driven examples in the
24 areas of capillarity as well as flow, strength, and deformation phenomena. As principles of unsaturated
25 soils become more understood and demand increases for incorporating climate change effects in design,
26 use of unsaturated soils principles in practice will continue to increase.
27 Keywords:
28 unsaturated soils, capillarity, seepage, strength, expansive soils
29
Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

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30 INTRODUCTION
31 The majority of geoengineering applications occur in the unsaturated, or vadose zone, which can
32 be up to hundreds of meters in depth depending on the ground profile and climate. Unsaturated soils
33 applications include foundations, excavations, and buried infrastructure (Figure 1a, Costa et al. 2003,
34 Machmer 2012, Jung et al. 2016), infiltration and landslide triggering (Figure 1b, Iverson 2000; Blatz et
35 al. 2004; Tohari et al. 2007; Cascini et al. 2010; Rahimi et al. 2010; Zhang et al. 2010; Robinson et al.
36 2016), compacted materials (Figure 1c, Siekmeier 2007), cover systems (Figure 1d, Wilson et al. 1994,
37 O’Kane et al. 1998; Aubertin et al. 2009; Dobchuk et al. 2013; Huang et al. 2015; Knidiri et al. 2016),
38 evaporation-aided mine waste consolidation (Bussiere 2007; Qi et al. 2017; Simms 2017), sampling and
39 load tests (Figure 1e, Konrad 1990; Vanapalli and Mohamed 2007; Costa et al. 2003), as well as
40 cryogenic suction processes and contaminant migration (Figure 1f, Konrad and Morgenstern 1980;
41 Lenhard and Parker 1987; Azmatch et al. 2012). The unsaturated component of these examples can be
42 broadly grouped into flow, strength, and deformation phenomena. The key characteristic of the
43 unsaturated zone is that water is in tension or, alternatively, pore water pressure is negative. Soil
44 moisture content, in turn, varies with negative pore pressure or suction. A consequence of variable
45 moisture content is that soil properties, which are relatively constant in the saturated zone, vary spatially
46 and temporally in the unsaturated zone. Unsaturated processes are often coupled, meaning they span
47 across one or more of the flow-strength-deformation groups. For example, infiltration into a slope
48 (Figure 1b) is a flow process, which is coupled with the unsaturated strength of the soil and can lead to
49 landslide triggering. Unsaturated soils, found in the near-surface region, are continually interacting with
50 the surrounding environment as they form the connection between weather systems above and saturated
51 ground below. Thus, in each of the applications in Figure 1, the unsaturated component may be present
52 during part or all of its design life.
53 The question is how or when to consider the unsaturated component in an analysis or design.
54 Unsaturated soils researchers continue to move the state-of-the-art ahead with numerous unsaturated
55 soils conferences every year. Beginning with the first issue (Hamilton 1963) and continuing with several
56 Canadian Geotechnical Colloquiums papers (Fredlund 1979; Barbour, 1998; Bussiere 2007; Simms
57 2017), the Canadian Geotechnical Journal is recognized as one of the key journals for disseminating
58 unsaturated soils research. In practice, use of unsaturated soils principles develops incrementally with
59 local expertise or in applications that have unsaturated effects at their core (e.g. cover systems or deep
60 geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel). Thus, despite numerous geoengineering applications that
61 include an unsaturated component, a gap exists between research and practice. The gap is due to a
62 number of reasons that include the perceived complicated nature of unsaturated soil mechanics. Another
63 perception that, in all cases, ignoring unsaturated effects provides additional safety in the performance of
64 a geo-structure. In some cases, if the unsaturated components are ignored in design, additional safety
65 factor may be available to the designer, which in my opinion is a reasonable approach. For example,
66 ignoring the unsaturated strength component for a foundation above the water table will underestimate
67 the strength and stiffness of the founding soil. However, in other cases, ignoring the unsaturated effects
68 can lead to inefficiencies that affect the expected performance or lead to a false conclusion of a failure
69 mechanism. For example, ignoring unsaturated soils effects in modelling transient triggering of a
70 rainfall-induced landslide. In this paper, unsaturated soils principles are presented to illustrate

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71 opportunities to broaden use of unsaturated soil mechanics. Unsaturated soils principles are illustrated
72 through application-driven examples in the areas of capillarity as well as flow, strength, and deformation
73 phenomena.
74 CAPILLARITY
75 Capillarity is a surface tension phenomenon whereby a pressure change occurs across an air-
76 water interface (Lu and Likos 2004, Fredlund et al. 2012). The shape of the air-water interface and the
77 corresponding change in pressure across the interface is described by the classic Young-Laplace
78 Equation (Maxwell and Strutt 1911). Figure 2 includes three examples of capillarity: in zero gravity, in
79 capillary tubes, and on flat surfaces. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is shown in Figure 2a on-board
80 the International Space Station with his hand coated in water. Water preferentially coats his hand as
81 surface tension forces dominate in zero-gravity conditions. Water also forms menisci between his
82 fingers and the direction of the surface tension forces are indicated on the figure. The angle at which
83 surface tension forces act with respect to his fingers is determined by the contact angle shown in Figure
84 2c, which displays a drop of water on horizontal and sloped surfaces. On a horizontal surface, the
85 interaction between air-water and the surface is apparent by the contact angle, α. In this case, the contact
86 angle is less than 90o, which indicates water is the wetting fluid and air is the non-wetting fluid. The
87 solid surface prefers to be in contact with water rather than air. Contact angle is also variable, as
88 illustrated in Figure 2c for the sloped surface. In the sloped case, there is a clear leading contact angle,
89 α1, and trailing contact angle, α2. Contact angle is a property that is unique to each fluid-fluid-solid
90 combination. In some cases, fluids can be wetting while in other cases fluids are wetting. For example,
91 mercury forms beads on a surface indicate air is the wetting fluid for an air-mercury-solid combination.
92 A classic example of capillarity is given in Figure 2b, which is capillary tubes of different sizes
93 placed into a container of water. Capillary forces act to draw water up into the capillary tubes to
94 different heights. The height that water is drawn up the capillary tube is a function of the radius of the
95 tube as well as the surface tension, contact angle, and density of water. Performing vertical force
96 equilibrium by resolving the weight of the water and surface tension forces, and solving for the capillary
97 rise height, h, gives the equation on Figure 2b. The smaller the radius of the tube the greater the height
98 of capillary rise. An important implication of the curved meniscus at the top of each water column is the
99 pressure difference between the air and water in the tube. The pressure difference between the air and
100 water phases also leads to the definition of matric suction (air pressure-water pressure or ua-uw). The
101 force arrows pointing upward and the concave shape of the meniscus indicate that air pressure is greater
102 than the water pressure. This is a physical representation of the Young-Laplace Equation (Maxwell and
103 Strutt 1911), which describes the pressure difference across curved surfaces.
104 In unsaturated ground, water is under the same surface tension forces as in the capillary tubes
105 with surface tension forces pulling soil grains together. For a visual example, Bozkurt et al. (2017)
106 recently measured surface tension forces between two glass spheres connected by a water bridge. Figure
107 3 is a hydrostatic ground profile showing pore pressure and degree of saturation versus elevation. The
108 profile is at hydrostatic equilibrium and no flow is occurring. At the groundwater table, pore pressure is
109 zero and varies hydrostatically above and below. Below the groundwater table, the ground is saturated
110 and degree of saturation is 100%. Moving up from the phreatic surface, three distinct zones are the
111 capillary zone, transition zone, and residual zone. In the capillary zone, degree of saturation remains at,

112 or close to, 100%. The soil-air-water representation shows occluded bubbles, which is reflective of a
113 continuous water phase and discontinuous gas phase. From the capillary tube analogy, the height of the
114 capillary zone is reflective of the radius of the largest pores in the soil. Moving upward into the
115 transition zone, degree of saturation decreases with elevation. In this zone, the air phase becomes
116 continuous across the element. Moving upward in the transition zone, degree of saturation continues to
117 decrease until the residual zone is reached. The vertical distance from the groundwater table to the
118 residual zone (indicated on Figure 3) is soil-type dependent and ranges from a few millimeters for
119 gravels to hundreds of meters for clays. From the capillary tube analogy (Figure 2) this vertical distance
120 is related to a continuous set of pores that have a radius less than that associated with the vertical
121 distance above the groundwater table (equation on Figure 2b). Within the residual zone, Sr=0% is
122 approached asymptotically. The air phase is continuous while the water phase has become discontinuous
123 and water only coats the soil grains (since water is the wetting fluid and air is the non-wetting fluid).
124 Storage Function

125 The storage function is the fundamental relationship for unsaturated soils (Brooks and Corey
126 1964, van Genuchten 1980, Fredlund and Xing, 1994, Barbour 1998, Lu and Likos, 2004, Fredlund et al.
127 2012). Also termed the soil water characteristic curve or water retention curve amongst other names, the
128 storage function is the relationship between water content and suction as shown schematically in Figure
129 4a. The storage function provides valuable and important information of the soil. Most often associated
130 with soils, storage functions have also been reported for geosynthetics (Bouazza et al. 2006, Bathurst et
131 al. 2007, 2009; Siemens and Bathurst 2010, Beddoe et al., 2011, Siemens et al. 2012) and are used to
132 develop frozen soil relationships (Azmatch et al. 2012). The storage function is the first, and often only,
133 function that is experimentally measured in unsaturated soils. From the storage function (van Genuchten
134 1980, Fredlund and Xing, 1994) many other unsaturated soil relationships can be estimated including
135 unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (Mualem 1976, Fredlund et al. 1994, Burdine 1953, Leong and
136 Rahardjo 1997), and unsaturated strength (Vanapalli et al. 1996).
137 The storage function in Figure 4a is essentially equivalent to the vertical profile of degree of
138 saturation for the hydrostatic pore pressure profile in Figure 3. Analogous zones and soil-air-water
139 representations appear on Figure 4a to reflect this similarity. Suction, or matric suction (ua-uw) to be
140 more precise, is expressed as the difference between the air pressure (ua) and water pressure (uw). This is
141 consistent with the pressure difference across the air-water interface explained by the Young-Laplace
142 Equation and expressed physically as the curved surface within the capillary tubes in Figure 2c. For the
143 typical case of atmospheric air pressure, suction is equivalent to the absolute value of the negative pore
144 water pressure. Similar to the vertical profile (Figure 3), the magnitude of suction at which the residual
145 water content is reached varies orders of magnitude. Because of this difference, the x-axis is adjusted to
146 ensure the entire storage function can be viewed on a single graph. Coarse-grained soils have suction
147 plotted on an arithmetic axis while fine-grained soils plotted on logarithmic axis. Similar to grain-size
148 curves, logarithmic axes are used for convenience in order to be able to visualize the entire relationship.
149 An important aspect of the storage function is interpretation of material properties including the
150 air entry value and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function from experimental data. This is
151 especially true for deformable soils, which will experience significant volumetric strains during drying
152 and cause changes to the soil’s pore-size distribution (Romero and Simms 2008). Historically, storage
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153 functions are plotted using a range of moisture content variables including degree of saturation,
154 volumetric water content, or gravimetric water content. These are mostly due to unsaturated soil
155 mechanics taking on aspects of hydrology or agriculture rather than a geo-perspective. AEV is defined
156 as the suction at which air enters the soil. Soils that experience swelling-shrinkage with changes in
157 suction are particularly susceptible to potential errors in AEV interpretation. Using gravimetric or
158 volumetric water content can cause significant errors in determining AEV or unsaturated conductivity
159 curve as changes in moisture content could reflect loss of water rather than air entering the soil. To
160 properly interpret AEV and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve, moisture content must be
161 plotted in terms of degree of saturation (Fredlund et al. 2012). In deformable soils (Fredlund et al. 2011,
162 Wijaya et al. 2015, Saleh-Mbemba et al. 2016), measurement of the shrinkage curve, in addition to the
163 storage function is recommended to ensure proper interpretation of material parameters including AEV
164 and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve.
165 FLOW PHENOMENA
166 Unsaturated flow phenomena commonly occur in the near surface zone with interactions
167 between above-ground weather systems. Examples include infiltration (Figure 1b), cover systems
168 (Figure 1d), water drawn towards a freezing front due to cryogenic suction (Figure 1f), and multi-phase
169 flow applications such as contaminant migration (Figure 1f). In each of these applications, the soil
170 serves as a conveyant for flow while also undergoing changes in storage during transient events. The
171 ability of soil to convey flow applies to movement of water in the near-surface area, water balance
172 calculations, and ground-climate interactions.
173 The fundamental principle that controls flow phenomena in unsaturated ground is that hydraulic
174 conductivity varies with suction as shown in Figure 4b. Saturated hydraulic conductivity alone is one of
175 the most variable material properties fluctuating more than ten orders of magnitude. In unsaturated
176 ground, the hydraulic conductivity of an individual soil also differs orders of magnitude due to changes
177 in moisture content. The shape of the unsaturated conductivity function (Figure 4b) resembles the
178 storage function (Figure 4a) with three distinct zones. In the capillary zone at suctions less than the air
179 entry value, the saturated conductivity is essentially retained. In the transition zone, hydraulic
180 conductivity decreases as pores desaturate and the water phase becomes more disconnected while the air
181 phase becomes continuous. In the residual zone, the water phase becomes discontinuous and hydraulic
182 conductivity decreases to essentially nil. The range of difference from saturated hydraulic conductivity
183 to the minimum is often greater than 4 orders of magnitude and can be greater depending on the soil
184 type.
185 That hydraulic conductivity varies orders of magnitude brings into question the validity of the
186 flow laws for saturated ground. Researchers found that D’arcy’s law (D’Arcy 1856) and Bernoulli’s law
187 apply, however, the process for solving the flow equation becomes more complicated. In saturated
188 ground, the differential equation for flow reduces to the Laplace differential equation, which can be
189 solved graphically. For unsaturated flow, the assumptions of isotropic and homogeneous are invalidated.
190 Therefore, a numerical solution is often used, which may take the form of finite element or finite
191 difference methods. With the advent of numerous groundwater flow software, steady-state unsaturated
192 flow problems can be solved relatively quickly using numerical solutions.

193 Unsaturated flow phenomena impact all the applications in Figure 1 making its understanding
194 vital for application. Ever more powerful computers and software make solving steady-state unsaturated
195 flow problems possible with relative ease, however, care must be taken to appreciate the underlying
196 assumptions and inputs. Unsaturated flow phenomena will be presented in this section in order to
197 illustrate where appropriate assumptions can be made to obtain a suitable answer and where detailed soil
198 information is necessary. The three applications are steady-state vertical flow, steady-state seepage in a
199 dam, and infiltration in homogeneous and layered ground. The applications will illustrate the
200 consequences of making poor assumptions in an analysis and the implications of those consequences.
201 Steady-State Flow Phenomena

202 Illustrative example #1: Determination of vertical flow direction in unsaturated ground
203 The first example illustrates the driving gradient for flow in unsaturated ground. Figure 5a plots
204 two gravimetric moisture content profiles and the question for both profiles is whether flow is upward or
205 downward. In both profiles (Figure 5a), gravimetric water content increases nonlinearly with depth and a
206 constant value is obtained at 5m depth. An initial temptation is to interpret the direction of flow as
207 following the moisture content gradient or that the both profiles show downward flow due to gravity.
208 However, D’arcy’s law and Bernoulli’s law still hold in unsaturated ground and, therefore, water flows
209 due an energy (i.e. total head) gradient. The equation for total head (Figure 5c) includes both elevation
210 head and pressure head. Thus the determination of direction of flow requires knowledge of the storage
211 function. Figure 5b plots the storage function in terms of gravimetric water content versus both matric
212 suction and matric suction head.
213 In order to properly determine the direction of flow, Bernoulli’s equation (Figure 5c) is
214 employed. A datum is set at 5m depth in order to assess the elevation head of each moisture content
215 measurement. Then the storage function (Figure 5b), is used to calculate the pressure head for each
216 gravimetric water content measurement. The moisture content measurements are plotted on the storage
217 function (ignoring hysteresis) and the matric suction head for each measurement is indicated on Figure
218 5b. Finally, the total head profile can be calculated and plotted in Figure 5c. Despite seemingly
219 comparable moisture content profiles, opposing flow gradients (one up and one down) are indicated by
220 the total head gradients. This example illustrates the principle that unsaturated flow still follows
221 Bernoulli’s equation, with flow from high total head to low total head.
222 Illustrative example #2: Unconfined flow through an earth dam

223 The second example illustrates where assuming a storage function is sufficient to obtain a
224 realistic solution to a flow problem. Terzaghi (1943) used seepage through a dam as an example of
225 where unsaturated principles can be applied. A similar example, given in Figure 6, is an earthen dam
226 with 2H:1V slopes and 2m of freeboard to retain a 10m high water reservoir. A 9m wide toe drain is
227 located on the downstream side of the dam. The solutions provided on Figure 6 include a graphical
228 solution, a finite element method solution which makes an incorrect assumption, and a finite element
229 method solution that employs a sensible unsaturated hydraulic conductivity assumption to obtain an
230 appropriate solution.

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231 The graphical solution is given in Figure 6a and a summary of the flow calculations is given on
232 the figure. In order to draw the flownet, an assumption about the water table is made. The water table is
233 assumed to be a no-flow boundary and the unsaturated component of flow is zero. This is indicated on
234 Figure 6a as K=0 in the unsaturated zone and K=Ksat in the saturated zone. Flow of 144 L/d/m of dam
235 was calculated using the flownet solution and a Ksat=10-6 m/s.
236 A second solution is shown in Figure 6b, which illustrates an incorrect, or ‘black box’, approach
237 to finite element modelling. With some effort, flow calculations can be performed using software,
238 however, proper care is required even for straightforward problems. In the case displayed in Figure 6b
239 the saturated hydraulic conductivity has been applied to the entire domain, which is indicated on the
240 figure as K=Ksat above and below the water table. This assumption could be made to be ‘conservative’
241 or by mistake. Comparing the flow calculations for Figure 6a and 6b indicate they are significantly
242 different. Assuming that the entire domain has saturated conductivity increases the total flow to 227
243 L/d/m with 86 L/d/m being the unsaturated component. The flow below the water table (141 L/d/m) is
244 comparable to the flow net (144 L/d/m). Therefore, the issue is with the unsaturated component, which
245 is too high.
246 A third solution, which sensibly accounts for the unsaturated component of flow, is shown in
247 Figure 6c. In this case, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve was assumed using ‘stock’ storage
248 function from within the software. The only input required is a saturated hydraulic conductivity and the
249 soil type. The solution, shown in Figure 6c, shows the total head contours are similar to Figure 6b.
250 However, the flow calculations are significantly different. Flow below the water table is principally
251 equivalent (141 versus 142 L/d/m) while the unsaturated component is just 13 L/d/m compared with 86
252 L/d/m in the ‘black box’ solution.
253 The most representative solution for estimating unconfined flow within a homogeneous earthen
254 dam can be made using a finite element model solution with an assumed unsaturated conductivity
255 function (Figure 6c). The flownet solution ignored the unsaturated component of flow and
256 underestimated flow by 10%. The ‘black box’ solution which applied saturated hydraulic conductivity to
257 the entire domain overestimated flow by 40% and the unsaturated component of flow by 500%. For
258 cases in which the saturated conductivity is known, assuming the unsaturated conductivity function is
259 normally acceptable for steady-state problems. In these applications, the impact of the unsaturated
260 conductivity function serves to decrease in conductivity above the water table. With some practice,
261 steady-state problems can be solved relatively quickly. Sensitivity analyses can also be performed to get
262 a sense of the impact of uncertainties in the geometry, material properties, and boundary conditions.
263 Transient Flow Phenomena

264 Transient unsaturated flow phenomena are inherently more complicated compared with steady-
265 state and require a higher level of material property measurements. For example, in cover systems
266 (Figure 1d, Wilson et al. 1994, O’Kane et al. 1998; Aubertin et al. 2009; Dobchuk et al. 2013; Huang et
267 al. 2015; Knidiri et al. 2016) transient analysis allows for consideration of soil-weather interactions,
268 which are coupled problems that include heat transfer, vapour flow, and liquid flow, to calculate
269 evaporation from the soil surface (Bitelli et al. 2008; Lehman et al. 2008; Or et al. 2013). In this section,
270 transient flow phenomena are illustrated using unsaturated transparent soil. An unsaturated transparent
271 soil experiment is shown in Figure 7a, which is a series of digital photos of infiltration in a layered
272 profile. Transparent soil is formed by matching the refractive indices of a soil and pore fluid and several
273 combinations of transparent soil are found in the literature (Iskander et al. 2015). Saturated transparent
274 soil allows for direct observation from within the soil mass of deformations, strains and soil-structure
275 interaction rather then at the boundary of an experiment. Unsaturated transparent soil takes this concept
276 in another direction (Peters et al. 2011). Observations in unsaturated experiments are often limited by the
277 number of measurement devices that can be located within an experimental apparatus. A nominal
278 number of discrete measurement points are normally included to measure pore pressure, suction, and/or
279 moisture content. Unsaturated transparent soil, combined with digital image analysis, allows for
280 measurement of degree of saturation to the millimeter resolution, which is orders of magnitude more
281 data than can be obtained from discrete measurements.
282 To illustrate transient moisture migration in a heterogeneous profile, a transparent infiltration

283 experiment is shown in Figure 7a with a fine layer between two coarse layers. A 10cm high pond was
284 placed at the surface and the wetting front descends through the profile. Digital images were collected
285 every 5s in this experiment and a select number are shown in the figure. The wetting front is clearly
286 visible and is indicated by the black arrow. As the wetting front reaches the fine layer, ponding occurs,
287 the soil above the fine layer changes to a darker colour associated with an increase in saturation. In the
288 final photo, ponding is complete and the wetting front continues to descend through the fine layer. These
289 images visually illustrate how moisture migration is affected by a relatively thin finer layer. The finer
290 layer serves as a bottleneck to the system and causes saturation above as well as development of positive
291 pore pressure.
292 Transparent soil allows for clear identification of the wetting front and measurement of the
293 degree of saturation within the profile at high spatial and temporal resolution. Each digital image is
294 processed by normalizing the image intensity between an image of a dry profile (white) and a saturated
295 profile (black) to calculate the normalized intensity, IN at the pixel scale. The calibration curve plotted in
296 Figure 7b is used to convert normalized intensity to degree of saturation. On the plot are calibration
297 points as well as a predicted curve. At IN=0, the soil is dry and IN=1, degree of saturation is 100%. At
298 90%, discrete air bubbles are visible while at lower saturations the soil visually lightens continually until
299 its dry. Details on the digital image process can be found in Peters et al. (2011) and Sills et al. (2016).
300 Transparent soil used at RMC is formed from fused quartz and comes in two types, termed the coarse
301 and fine gradations (Figure 7c). Both gradations are uniform sands with D10 equal to 0.75mm and
302 0.13mm respectively. The saturated conductivity of the two gradations differ by less than one order of
303 magnitude.
304 Impact of heterogeneities on infiltration

305 To quantitatively illustrate the impact of minor heterogeneities on unsaturated processes, detailed
306 results from two infiltration experiments are plotted in Figure 8 including degree of saturation profiles
307 during the two experiments, wetting front location versus time, and pore pressure profiles from the
308 beginning and end of the experiments. The only difference between the two experiments is the 120mm
309 fine layer placed at 510mm depth below the surface. The D10 of the finer layer is just 0.62mm less than
310 the coarse layers. The water table is located a 180mm elevation and a 10cm pond is placed on the
311 surface at the beginning of the experiment. The uniform profile experiment shows the dry degree of
312 saturation profile to start and the wetting front starting to descend at time=0s. As the wetting front
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313 descends the soil increases Sr behind the wetting front and the experiment is completed at 380s. The
314 wetting front versus time (Figure 8c) shows the wetting front descending linearly from the surface down
315 to the water table. The initial and final pore pressure results show the initial vertical suction profile
316 which then becomes a linear decrease in pore pressure from the 10cm pond at the surface to 0kPa at the
317 water table.
318 Infiltration in a layered profile shows the impact of a fine layer with D10 differing just 0.62mm
319 between the two gradations. Prior to the wetting front reaching the fine layer, the experimental results
320 are identical in terms of the change in saturation and the wetting front descent rate. As the wetting front
321 reaches the fine layer, the wetting front slows down significantly (Figure 8c). The wetting front
322 continues to descend at a slower constant rate below the top of the fine layer until the water table is
323 reached at the end of the test. The wetting front encountering the fine layer causes a ponding above the
324 top of the fine layer and a hydrostatic pore pressure profile occurs (Figure 8d). The pore pressure
325 dissipates across the fine layer and is essentially 0 kPa in the lower coarse layer.
326 Small heterogeneities affect the mobility of the wetting front, infiltration rate, and pore pressure
327 response during infiltration. In the field, small differences in grain-size leading to a layered profile often
328 occur naturally or during construction. Comparing the degree of saturation profiles at the end of
329 infiltration (last profiles on Figure 8a and 8b) shows they are identical above the fine layer in the
330 uniform and layered experiments. The wetting front also descends at the same rate until the sharp change
331 when the fine layer is reached. Below the fine layer, the wetting front moves 4-times slower compared
332 with the uniform profile. From a flow perspective, the fine layer serves as a bottleneck which reduces
333 the transmissive capacity of the system. The pore pressure response at the end of the test is also
334 significantly different. Pore pressure in the uniform coarse profile decreases from the 10cm pond at the
335 surface to 0kPa at the water table (Figure 8d). In the layered experiment, a hydrostatic profile occurs
336 above the fine layer with the initial suction dissipated below the fine layer. These experiments illustrate
337 the impact of a thin and minor heterogeneity on infiltration. The fine gradation layer is just, 120mm
338 thick and the D10 is only 0.62mm different. However, the fine layer caused important differences to the
339 pore pressure response and water balance calculations.
340 In the steady-state examples given above, estimations of the unsaturated functions were adequate
341 to model the results. However, in transient applications, the unsaturated functions have a more
342 significant role in the results. The two experiments plotted in Figure 8 were modelled using the finite
343 element method (Siemens et al. 2014) and the results are plotted on Figure 8c and 8d. The storage
344 functions and unsaturated conductivity functions were measured for coarse and fine gradations. The
345 results match the model values throughout the experiments, however, the both the experiments and
346 numerical simulations require experience to obtain reliable results. If infiltration rate is the most
347 important consideration, another option is to use Green-Ampt model (Green and Ampt 1911), which
348 gives the infiltration rate and wetting front location (Siemens et al. 2013). With proper calibration of the
349 Green-Ampt parameters and knowledge of the conductivity of the transmissive zone these models are
350 options depending on the requirements of the application.
351 Flow Phenomena Summary

352 Flow phenomena impact most geotechnical applications that include an unsaturated component.
353 Applications in unsaturated ground (Figure 1) are inherently connected to the weather systems above
354 ground and therefore will interact hydraulically. Flow mechanisms in unsaturated ground are impacted
355 by the hydraulic conductivity function which varies with suction. This section illustrated that the driving
356 energy for flow follows Bernoulli’s law, showed how reasonable assumptions can be made for steady-
357 state applications, and demonstrated the influence that small heterogeneities have on transient
358 unsaturated flow.
359 STRENGTH PHENOMENA
360 Geotechnical applications that include an unsaturated strength component include foundations
361 (Figure 1a), buried infrastructure (Figure 1a), landslides (Figure 1b), compacted construction materials
362 (Figure 1c), and pile and plate load tests (Figure 1e). For these type of applications located in the vadose
363 zone, a component of their performance is dependent on unsaturated soil principles. Within the
364 unsaturated zone, strength is a function of suction. Commonly found evidence of unsaturated strength
365 principles are sand castles constructed from a coarse-grained (also termed cohesionless) soils as depicted
366 on Figure 9. If a coarse-grained soil is dry (Sr=0) or saturated (Sr=1), the maximum slope the soil is
367 stable at is the angle of repose or angle of internal friction. However, if the soil is unsaturated it is stable
368 at steeper slopes, which allows for creation of impressive structures such as the one shown in Figure 9.
369 In an unsaturated state, surface tension forces act at the granular level to increase the normal stress
370 between particles. In this framework, the friction angle of the soil remains constant while the apparent
371 cohesion intercept is affected by suction. Figure 9 shows a Mohr-Coulomb strength envelope for
372 saturated and unsaturated soils. For saturated and dry soils (Sr=1 and Sr=0), apparent cohesion is nil and
373 the strength envelope is dependent only on the friction angle of the soil. For unsaturated soils, an
374 apparent cohesion term elevates the strength envelope vertically. The amount of apparent cohesion is
375 related to the storage function. The apparent cohesion intercept increases through the capillary zone and
376 transition zone and decreases in the residual zone (Vanapalli et al. 1996, Lu and Likos 2004, Fredlund et
377 al. 2012).
378 All soils in the vadose zone have an unsaturated component of strength associated with apparent
379 cohesion. In practice, the unsaturated component is infrequently counted on in design due to its inherent
380 transient nature. In this section, the focus is placed on examples in which ignoring unsaturated strength
381 would have led to the wrong answer/development of an application. An interesting historical example of
382 unsaturated soil strength as well as the effect of suction on plate load experiments are examined.
383 Historical Example

384 An historical application of unsaturated soil mechanics is illustrated in Figure 10a, which is a
385 wall painting from a tomb in southeastern Egypt (Newberry 1895). The wall painting shows a statue on
386 a sled being dragged over the sandy desert. The application of unsaturated soil mechanics is shown by
387 the person adding water to the ground directly in front of the sled. Once thought to be a ceremonial act,
388 he is actually using unsaturated principles to minimize interface friction between the sand and the
389 bottom of the sled.
390 In order to test this hypothesis, Fall et al. (2014) performed a set of experiments to examine the
391 influence of moisture content on interface friction. The experiment (plotted in Figure 10b as Load versus
392 Displacement) consisted of placing a mass on top of a 11x7.5cm sled and pulling it across a sandy
393 material prepared at specified water contents. The results (Figure 10b) show that an initial stiff response

Page 11 of 37
394 transitions to one where load remains constant with displacement. The volumetric moisture content of
395 each experiment is noted on Figure 10b. The authors observed that when the sand was dry or at high
396 moisture content the sled sank into the ground and plowed sand out of the way. Between these two
397 extreme moisture contents, the sled sank less into the soil and less plowing occurred. Figure 10b
398 indicates that when the soil is dry or saturated the effort to pull the sled across the sand is high compared
399 with a minimal load for VWC=5%. At VWC=5%, for this particular sandy material, the strength of the
400 material is maximized and the load to pull the sled is minimized.
401 The unsaturated soil principle illustrated in Figure 9 is displayed with this historical application.
402 Figure 9 shows that apparent cohesion is a function of saturation. At Sr=100% or Sr=0%, strength
403 reduces to the saturated value, which from an interface-friction perspective, led to plowing of the sled
404 through the sand and an increase in pulling load. At VWC=5%, the soil strength was maximized, the
405 sled slid on top of the sand and the pulling load was minimized. The Egyptians wanted to maximize
406 speed and mobility for transport of statues and construction materials. Therefore, minimizing the
407 interface friction between the sled and the ground allowed for more efficient transport. In a dry desert
408 environment, the near-surface sand would be at a moisture content less than this optimal value. Thus the
409 person on the front of the sled wetting up the surficial sand would temporarily increase the sand strength
410 and minimize pulling effort. From Figure 10b a 30% reduction in pulling load was found for the
411 optimized moisture content compared with both dry and wetter sand. Thus an 30% efficiency was
412 gained by taking advantage of unsaturated principles.
413 Plate Load Tests

414 The effect of suction on unsaturated soil strength can be important in back analysis of failures as
415 well as interpretation of insitu tests. Understanding the impact of suction on the unsaturated strength
416 envelope can significantly impact interpretation of the failure mechanism. To understand the
417 significance of suction on surface loads, Vanapalli and Mohamed (2007) performed a series of
418 laboratory experiments where they applied a vertical pressure to the surface of a soil formed at specified
419 moisture contents. The experiments were performed in a 90x90x75cm (width x length x height)
420 reinforced box and the loading surface was 10x10cm. The soil is characterized as a sandy-gravel with
421 the storage function plotted in Figure 11a. The soil has an AEV of 3 kPa (~30 cm) and its residual
422 saturation is obtained at a suction of just 8 kPa (~80 cm). The friction angle of the soil is φ’=39o.
423 The question is, what impact could 6kPa suction have on the failure load. The four plate load
424 experiments were performed at suctions of 0, 2, 4, and 6kPa with the results plotted in Figure 11b. The
425 results show that the applied stress-settlement curves differ due to the suction. In each test a peak stress
426 is obtained followed by some decrease for the lower suction tests. A stiffer response to the load is
427 notable for the unsaturated experiments. A less stiff response and a lower peak stress is apparent for the
428 test performed at 0 kPa suction (i.e. saturated). The peak value increases with increasing suction over the
429 range of tests performed. At just 6kPa suction, the peak load capacity increases 7-fold compared with
430 the saturated test.
431 Practical implications can be drawn from these tests. The only difference in the plate load
432 experiments was the moisture content of the soil. Reducing the moisture content increases suction and,
433 in turn, increases the apparent cohesion intercept of the failure envelope (Figure 9). The implication for
434 interpreting plate load tests in the field is the need to measure moisture content in the zone of influence.
435 Any variation in moisture content will have a corresponding effect on the strength of the soil. In the
436 experiments presented in Figure 11, the degree of saturation varied from 58-100% and had a 7-fold
437 effect on the peak capacity of the load test.
438 Strength Phenomena Summary

439 Unsaturated soils experience an increase in apparent cohesion associated with capillary forces
440 acting at the granular scale. However, owing to the inherent transient nature moisture migration within
441 the unsaturated zone, apparent cohesion is also a transient. In analysis of failures, and insitu tests
442 knowledge of unsaturated strength principles is recommended in order to correctly identify the
443 governing mechanisms.
444 DEFORMATION PHENOMENA

445 Deformation phenomena associated with unsaturated soils often coincide with a change in the
446 environmental conditions that alter the moisture regime. The key characteristic with respect to
447 deformation phenomena is that unsaturated soils can experience volumetric strains due to fluctuations in
448 both stress and moisture content (i.e. suction). Volumetric deformations associated with stress are
449 perhaps more intuitive compared with deformations associated with moisture fluctuations. Classic
450 examples of volumetric deformations associated with moisture changes are expansive soils and
451 collapsible soils. Expansive soils respond to wetting and drying cycles with significant volumetric
452 swelling and shrinkage as displayed on Figure 12 due to their clay mineralogy. Collapsible soils are
453 recently deposited or altered soils, which have a high void ratio, high sensitivity, and low inter-particle
454 bonding. In contrast to expansive soils, collapsible soils respond to wetting by subsiding or
455 hydroconsolidating with significant settlement (Clemence and Finbarr, 1981; Basma and Erdil 1992;
456 Rogers et al. 1994; Houston et al. 2001). Problems associated with collapsible soils include identifying
457 and characterizing them during a site investigation, predicting the magnitude of wetting, quantitative
458 predictions of collapse strains, and selecting design or mitigation alternatives (Houston et al. 2001). In
459 this section, the main principles of unsaturated soil deformation phenomena associated with wetting-
460 drying of expansive clay soils are illustrated and a conceptual framework for swelling potential is
461 presented.
462 The most well-known soils that encounter deformations associated with moisture fluctuations are
463 expansive soils. The most susceptible structures to expansive soil effects are lightly loaded infrastructure
464 such as shallow foundations (Figure 12a, Domaschuk 1986). The American Society of Civil Engineers
465 report that expansive soils cause owners more financial loss than the combined effect of hurricanes,
466 earthquakes, and tornadoes. For reference Hurricane Sandy caused approximately $65.6 billion of
467 damage (Wikipedia). In the basement schematic (Figure 12a), a combination of events induces both
468 swelling and shrinkage, which leads to damaging differential displacements. Prior to construction often a
469 vegetative layer is removed. The vegetative layer provides an elevated suction environment through the
470 root systems, which uptake moisture from the ground. Once the vegetative layer is removed and the area
471 covered, the soil beneath the house experiences a suction decrease as the house cuts off direct access to
472 the ground surface. The soil swells and the house heaves in response to the decrease in suction. Adjacent
473 to the house, a shrinkage scenario ensues as a large tree is planted and the root systems descend deep
474 below the ground in the area next to the foundation. A growing tree continually requires more moisture

Page 13 of 37
475 from the ground, which comes from its roots and leads to an increase in suction around the perimeter
476 foundation. Owing to the increasing suction, the soil shrinks in response. The overall effect of the
477 swelling under the center of the house and the shrinkage on the periphery is differential settlements and
478 cracking of the basement. The damaging cost to owners is worsened as they often occur to personal
479 dwellings and few options may be apparent, which leads to extreme actions. The photograph in Figure
480 12b shows an example of extreme actions with basement walls being removed from a house, which were
481 then replaced along with the foundation (Siemens 2007).
482 To illustrate the magnitude of volumetric strains that can occur in expansive soils, digital images
483 from a shrinkage experiment and a swelling experiment are given in Figure 12d and 12e. In the
484 shrinkage experiment (Figure 12d), the test begins with an initially saturated sample. The specimen is
485 initially located within a test ring to provide confinement, which is later removed once separation
486 between the ring and the specimen occurs. The specimen dries in the low humidity laboratory
487 environment and shrinks. After 8 days, the specimen shrinks 75% of its initial volume. The suction-
488 volumetric strain path for the shrinkage experiment is illustrated in Figure 12c, which is a constitutive
489 model for volumetric strains in unsaturated soil for both matric suction and net normal stress. Initially
490 saturated, the specimen is at 0 kPa matric suction. As evaporation of the pore water occurs, matric
491 suction increases and the soil shrinks in response. In the swelling experiment (Figure 12e), an
492 unsaturated expansive soil is given access to water through filter paper strips in contact with a water
493 reservoir (Lim and Siemens 2013). The initially unsaturated sample takes on water and swells in
494 response. After 10 days, the soil swells to -59.4% volumetric strain. Figure 12c plots the volumetric
495 strain-matric suction path, which is followed during the swelling experiment. The specimen is initially
496 unsaturated and at elevated suction. As the specimen is given access to water, matric suction decreases
497 and the sample swells in response.
498 Unifying Concept of Swelling Potential

499 Owing to the cost of damage to infrastructure constructed in expansive soils as well as their
500 importance for use as environmental barriers (i.e. landfill liners), much research has sought to
501 characterize the swelling potential of expansive soils. Swelling potential is measured in the laboratory
502 (ASTM D4546) and also estimated from index properties (Komine and Ogata 2003; Prakash and
503 Sridharan 2004; Cui et al. 2012; Ito and Azam 2013). Concepts for analysis and prediction of
504 infrastructure constructed in expansive soil are based on moisture content changes, suction, or
505 empirically based (Fredlund 1983; Briaud et al. 2003; Houston et al. 2011; Vanapalli and Lu 2012;
506 Puppala et al. 2014). Owing to the number of continuing resources and publications associated with
507 expansive soils, the research and practice communities are still in need of a practical methodology to
508 assess the effect of swelling potential to infrastructure.
509 Swell Equilibrium Limit Concept

510 A unifying concept for swelling potential is illustrated in Figure 13a using the application of a
511 retaining wall. The retaining wall is constructed on swelling ground and expansive soil is also used as
512 backfill material. An extended infiltration event occurs to induce wetting conditions to the system.
513 During wetting, swelling potential can be satisfied by a combination of volumetric expansion and
514 swelling-induced stresses, which depend on the boundary conditions during wetting. Three cases are

515 illustrated in Figure 13a and their stress-volume paths plotted in Figure 13b in terms of specific volume
516 (V=e+1) versus mean stress (p=(σ1+σ2+σ3)/3). The three cases are unconfined swelling, swelling under
517 the foundation and swelling adjacent to the retaining wall. For the first case, in front of the retaining wall
518 swelling occurs under unconfined conditions like the laboratory experiment in Figure 12e. In Figure
519 13b, the stress-volume path begins at zero stress and moves vertically upward until the swelling
520 potential is satisfied. The second case for swelling is under the foundation. In this case the expansive soil
521 is subjected to an elevated stress level prior to the infiltration event, which serves to attenuate the
522 magnitude of swelling compared with the unconfined case. In Figure 13b, the stress-volume path begins
523 at an elevated stress level and moves vertically upward until the swelling potential is satisfied. The third
524 case for swelling is adjacent to the retaining wall. In this case, volumetric confinement is provided by
525 the retaining wall, which restricts expansion. Thus swelling potential is satisfied by swelling-induced
526 stresses during wetting. From a stress-volume perspective, the soil state begins at a location associated
527 with the stress level equal to the overburden stress and a volume equivalent to the end of construction.
528 During wetting, the stress-volume path is sloped upward to the right as expansion is limited by the
529 existence of the stiff retaining wall. At equilibrium, all three soil elements’ swelling potential have been
530 satisfied and their end-points are on the Swelling Equilibrium Limit (SEL, Siemens and Blatz 2009).
531 Measurement of Swelling Equilibrium Limit

532 The SEL is unique for each soil and is measured experimentally with a series of swelling
533 experiments such as those presented in Figure 13b. The experimental methodology (Siemens and Blatz
534 2007, Lim and Siemens 2013) consists of bringing identically prepared unsaturated specimens to defined
535 initial conditions and then wetting under idealized boundary conditions (Figure 13b). Results from three
536 triaxial swelling experiments to define a SEL are plotted on Figure 13b. In each test, the specimen is
537 brought to an initial stress condition and then given access to water. During the swelling phase,
538 controlled boundary conditions define the stress-volume path followed during the test. In Figure 13b
539 each test was brought to an initial stress state of 250 kPa and then the swelling phase was initiated. The
540 three boundary conditions applied during the tests were constant mean stress (CMS, vertical path),
541 constant stiffness (CS, upward sloping path), and constant volume (CV, horizontal path). The constant
542 mean stress-volume path is equivalent to the soil swelling under the foundation in Figure 13a as the
543 initial total stress is maintained during the swelling phase. When subjected to a constant mean stress,
544 swelling potential is satisfied by volumetric expansion. The constant stiffness stress-volume path is an
545 idealized representation of swelling adjacent to the retaining wall (Figure 13b). In the experiment, the
546 soil swells against a linear-elastic spring boundary condition. The third swelling test is constant volume,
547 in which swelling potential is satisfied entirely with swelling-induced stresses. The initial volume is
548 maintained constant during swelling and a horizontal path is followed during swelling. At the end of
549 each test, swelling potential is satisfied and the soil state lies on the SEL.
550 The unifying concept of swelling potential is illustrated for three soils in Figure 13c-e, which
551 include their SELs and unsaturated isotropic compression lines. The SEL is defined by fitting a
552 logarithmic curve to the end of swelling test points as shown in Figure 13c-e for bentonite-sand buffer,
553 Bearpaw clay, and Lake Agassiz clay. The triaxial swelling experiments shown in Figure 13b have their
554 end of swelling test states plotted in Figure 13c for reference. Also on SEL plots are shown the isotropic

Page 15 of 37
555 compression line on which each of the swelling tests was initiated. The area between the SEL and the
556 isotropic compression line is the swelling potential for each soil. The swelling potential is at a maximum
557 at zero stress and decreases with increasing stress. The isotropic compression curve and SEL converge at
558 higher stresses where the confining stress overcomes the swelling potential of the expansive soil.
559 Use of Swell Equilibrium Limit

560 Practical use of SEL concept relies on knowing the initial stress and volume states of a soil and
561 the boundary conditions during swelling. For a house foundation or a retaining wall these are defined for
562 constant mean stress areas and strategies are being developed for more complex cases (Lim 2014). Finite
563 element modelling of foundations (Siemens and Blatz 2008) have shown the potential for analysis tools.
564 The question arises whether SELs can only be defined in the laboratory or whether they can be estimated
565 from readily measured material properties as has been used in other analyses (Komine and Ogata 2003;
566 Prakash and Sridharan 2004; Cui et al. 2012; Ito and Azam 2013). Lim and Siemens (2016) showed that
567 SELs can be estimated from liquid limit, free swell potential, plasticity index, and initial specific
568 volume. The process involved fitting SEL equation parameters (VSEL=A+Bln(p)) to the material
569 properties for the soils as plotted in Figure 14a-b for liquid limit. In the plots SEL parameter ‘A’
570 increases with increasing liquid limit while SEL parameter ‘B’ decreases. Parameter ‘A’ is the y-
571 intercept of the SEL equation at zero mean stress while ‘B’ is related to the curvature. In both plots
572 Figure 14a and Figure 14b linear fits are provide although, in the future, non-linear fits may be justified
573 when the database size is increased. Using the predicted values from Figure 14a-b the SEL for Regina
574 clay was estimated based on its liquid limit of 76% (Fredlund 1975). The resulting SEL is plotted
575 alongside experimental data in Figure 14c and the results are comparable.
576 Deformation Phenomena Summary

577 Expansive soils display most distinctly that volumetric deformations in unsaturated soils are
578 induced by changes in suction. Due to this susceptibility, expansive soils annually cause similar
579 financial loss as the combined effect of hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes (ASCE). The SEL
580 provides a conceptual framework to analyze and predict swelling behaviour and the ability to predict
581 SELs from index properties gives more encouragement to its use. Future research is directed at
582 development of a practical analysis tool.
583 SUMMARY
584 Unsaturated soils are found throughout nature in the vadose zone and form the connection
585 between above ground meteorological systems and saturated ground below. Geoengineering applications
586 in the vadose zone include an unsaturated component during some or all of their design lives (Figure 1).
587 Use of unsaturated principles is increasing in practice owing to knowledge accessibility, appreciation of
588 unsaturated effects on soil behavior, and increase in computing capabilities to incorporate unsaturated
589 relationships. This paper serves to make unsaturated soil mechanics more accessible and broaden their
590 use in practice. More and more designs are asked to incorporate climate change effects to predict
591 performance decades into the future. Incorporating climate change effects into design, will only serve to
592 increase the use of unsaturated soil mechanics in practice.

593 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
594 The author is very grateful to the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique and the Colloquium
595 Selection Committee for the honour of giving the Colloquium Lecture and opportunity to prepare this
596 manuscript. Contributions from current and past collaborators and graduate students have made this
597 work possible. Collaborators that have contributed to research on unsaturated soils from within the
598 GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC including Richard Bathurst, Ryley Beddoe, Richard
599 Brachman, Kerry Rowe, and Andy Take and as well as graduate students: Pedram Abootalebi, John
600 Kingswood, Stephen Laporte, Bee Fong Lim, Jesse McCaw, Chris Oldroyd, Stephen Peters, Suzanne
601 Powell, Lee-Ann Sills, and Bardia Tabiatnejad. Funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering
602 Research Council, Nuclear Waste Management Organization, Royal Military College of Canada, and
603 Canada’s Department of National Defence is gratefully acknowledged.

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604 NOTATION 628 P horizontal load

o 629 p mean stress
605 degrees
606 A, B SEL equation parameters 630 q applied stress
607 AEV air entry value 631 r capillary tube radius
608 CMS constant mean stress 632 S settlement
609 CS constant stiffness 633 SEL Swelling Equilibrium Limit
610 CV constant volume 634 Sr degree of saturation
611 c’’ apparent cohesion 635 Ts surface tension
612 d day 636 ua air pressure
613 D10 10% passing 637 ua-uw matric suction
614 e void ratio 638 uw water pressure

615 FEM finite element model 639 V specific volume, e+1
616 h height 640 w width
617 h capillary rise 641 w gravimetric water content
618 he elevation head 642 α contact angle
619 hp pressure head 643 γw unit weight of water
620 ht total head 644 εv volumetric strain
621 IN normalized pixel intensity 645 ∆ displacement
622 K hydraulic conductivity 646 ρw density of water
623 Ksat saturated hydraulic conductivity 647 φ’ friction angle
624 L liter 648 σ1, σ2, σ3 principal stresses
625 l length 649 τ shear strength
626 m meter
627

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763 Canadian Geotechnical Journal 53(9): 1495-1509 [doi: 10.1139/cgj-2015-0049].
764 Lu, N. and Likos, W.J. 2004. Unsaturated soil mechanics. Wiley, 584 pages
765 Machmer, B. 2012. Understanding the behavior of a pile foundation in unsaturated soils subjected to
766 lateral loading. Masters of Science Thesis, Civil Engineering, Clemson University, 184 pp.
767 Maxwell, J.C., Strutt, J.W. 1911. Capillary Action. Encyclopædia Britannica. 5 (11th ed.) 256–275
768 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young–Laplace_equation. Accessed 15 August 2017).
769 Mualem, Y. (1976). A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media,
770 Water Resources Research, 12(3): 513–522.
771 Newberry, P.E. 1895. El Bersheh: The Tomb of Tehuti-Hetep. Egypt Exploration Fund, London, Vol. 1.
772 O’Kane, M., Wilson, G.W., and Barbour, S.L. 1998. Instrumentation and monitoring of an engineered
773 soil cover system for mine waste rock. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 35: 828-846.
774 Or, D., Lehmann, P., Shahraeeni, E., and Shokrim, N. 2013. Advances in Soil Evaporation Physics—A
775 Review. Vadose Zone Journal. 12(4): 16 pp.
776 Peters, S.B., Siemens, G., Take, W.A. 2011. Characterization of transparent soil for unsaturated
777 applications. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal Special Issue on Innovations in Characterizing
778 the Mechanical and Hydrological Properties of Unsaturated Soil, 34(5): 445-456.
779 [doi: 10.1520/GTJ103580].
780 Powell, J.S., Siemens, G.A., Take, W.A. and Remenda, V.H. 2013. Characterizing the swell potential
781 of Bearpaw Shale. Engineering Geology. 158: 89-97 [doi: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2013.03.006].
782 Prakash, K. and Sridharan, A. 2004. Free swell ratio and clay mineralogy of fine-grained soils.
783 Geotechnical Testing Journal, 27(2): 1-6.
784 Puppala, A.J., Manosuthikij, T. and Chittoori, B.C.S. 2014. Swell and shrinkage strain prediction models
785 for expansive clays. Engineering Geology, 168: 1-8.
786 Qi, S., Simms, P., Vanapalli, S. and Soleimani, S. 2017. Piecewise-Linear Formulation of Coupled
787 Large-Strain Consolidation and Unsaturated Flow. II: Testing and Performance. J. Geotech.
788 Geoenviron. Eng., 143(7): 04017019.

789 Rahimi, A., Rahardjo, H., and Leong, E.-C. 2010. Effect of hydraulic properties of soil on rainfall-
790 induced slope failure. Engineering Geology 114: 135–143.
791 Robinson, J.D., Vahedifard, F., and AghaKouchak, A. 2016. Rainfall-triggered slope instabilities under
792 a changing climate: comparative study using historical and projected precipitation extremes. Can.
793 Geotech. J. in press, doi: 10.1139/cgj-2015-0602.
794 Rogers, C.D.F., Dijkstra, T.A., Smalley, I.J. 1994. Hydroconsolidation and subsidence of loess: Studies
795 from China, Russia, North America and Europe: In memory of Jan Sajgalik. Engineering
796 Geology. 37(2): 83-113
797 Romero, E. and Simms, P. 2008. Microstructure Investigation in Unsaturated Soils: A Review with
798 Special Attention to Contribution of Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry and Environmental Scanning
799 Electron Microscopy. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering. 26(6): 705-727.
800 Saleh-Mbemba, F. Aubertin, M., and Mbonimpa, M. and Li, L. 2016. Experimental characterization of
801 the shrinkage and water retention behaviour of tailings from hard rock mines. Geotechnical and
802 Geological Engineering, 34(1): 251-266. doi: 10.1007/s10706-015-9942-0
803 Siekmeier, J. 2007. Implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics during pavement construction QA.
804 Geo-Strata —Geo Institute of ASCE, 2011, 15(1): pg. 36,38,40,43.
805 Siemens, G.A. 2007. Replacement of a 30-year-old shallow foundation on swelling soil: a case study.
806 2nd Canadian Young Geotechnical Engineers and Geoscientists Conference (cYGEGC),
807 Ganonoque, Ontario, 25-27 October 2007, CD Proceedings.
808 Siemens, G.A. and Bathurst, R.J. 2010. Numerical parametric investigation of infiltration in one-
809 dimensional sand-geotextile columns. Geotextiles and Geomembranes. 28: 460-476
810 [doi:10.1016/j.geotexmem.20 09.12.0 09].
811 Siemens, G.A. and Blatz, J.A. 2007. A triaxial apparatus for applying liquid infiltration with controlled
812 boundary conditions and internal suction measurement. Journal of Geotechnical and
813 Geoenvironmental Engineering. 133(6): 748-752 [doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241].
814 Siemens, G.A. and Blatz, J.A. 2008. Numerical modelling of shallow foundations on swelling clay soil
815 using the swelling equilibrium limit. 1st European Conference on Unsaturated Soils (E-
816 UNSAT), Durham, United Kingdom, 2-5 July 2008, 855-860.
817 Siemens, G.A. and Blatz, J.A. 2009. Evaluation of the influence of boundary confinement on the
818 behaviour of unsaturated swelling clay soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 46(3): 339-356
819 [doi: 10.1139/T08-125].
820 Siemens, G.A., Peters, S.B. and Take, W.A. 2013. Comparison of confined and unconfined infiltration
821 in transparent porous media. Water Resources Research. 49: 851-863 [doi:
822 10.1002/wrcr.20101].
823 Siemens, G.A., Take, W.A. and Peters, S.B. 2014. Physical and numerical modeling of infiltration
824 including consideration of the pore air phase. Canadian Geotechnical Journal – Thematic Issue
825 on Unsaturated Soils. 51: 1475–1487 [doi: 10.1139/cgj-2013-0447].
Page 23 of 37
826 Siemens, G., Take, W.A., Rowe, R.K.R. and Brachman, R.W.I. 2012. Numerical investigation of
827 transient hydration of unsaturated geosynthetic clay liners. Geosynthetics International, 19(3):
828 232-251 [doi: 10.1680/gein.12.00011].
829 Sills, L-A.S., Mumford, K.G., and Siemens, G.A. 2016. Quantification of fluid saturations in transparent
830 porous media. In press, Vadose Zone Journal, (October 2016, #VZJ-2016-06-0052-ORA).
831 Simms, P. 2017. 2013 Colloquium of the Canadian Geotechnical Society: Geotechnical and
832 geoenvironmental behaviour of high-density tailings. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 54: 455–
833 468.
834 Terzaghi, K. 1943. Theoretical soil mechanics. John Wiley & Sons. 528 pp.
835 Tohari, A., Nishigaki, M., and Komatsu, M. 2007. Laboratory Rainfall-Induced Slope Failure with
836 Moisture Content Measurement. J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 133(5): 575-587
837 van Genuchten, M.Th., 1980, A Closed-Form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of
838 Unsaturated Soils, Soil Science Society of America Journal, 44: 892-898
839 Vanapalli, S.K., Fredlund, D.G., Pufahl, D.E. and Clifton, A.W. 1996. Model for the prediction of shear
840 strength with respect to soil suction. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 33: 379-392.
841 Vanapalli, S.K. and Lu, L. 2012. A state-of-the art review of 1-D heave prediction methods for
842 expansive soils. International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 6: 15-41.
843 Vanapalli, S.K. and Mohamed, F.M.O. 2007. Bearing capacity of model footings in unsaturated soils.
844 Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics, Ed. T. Schanz. 112: 483-493.
845 Wijaya, M., Leong, E.C. and Rahardjo, H. 2015. Effect of shrinkage on air-entry value of soils. Soils
846 and Foundations. 55(1): 166-180.
847 Wilson, G.W., Fredlund, D.G. and Barbour, S.L. 1994. Coupled soil-atmosphere modelling for soil
848 evaporation. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 31: 151-161.
849 Zhang, L.L., Zhang, J., Zhang, L.M., and Tang, W.H. 2011. Stability analysis of rainfall-induced slope
850 failure: a review. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Geotechnical Engineering 164
851 Issue GE5, 299–316.

Precipitation
Infiltration
Potential slip surface

a) Foundations, tunnels, and excavations b) Infiltration and landslide triggering

Dry density (Mg/m3)
Sr=100%
Reinforced wall Precipitation
Evaporation
Water content (%)
Protected
Road area
Deflected
infiltration
c) Compacted materials for construction d) Cover systems
Descending
freezing front
Water drawn up
to freezing front
e) Sampling, pile and plate load tests f) Cryogenic suction and contaminant migration
Figure 1. Geotechnical applications that include an unsaturated component: a) Foundations, tunnels and
excavations, b) Infiltration and landslide triggering, c) Construction materials for construction, d) Cover
systems, e) Sampling, pile and plate load tests, and f) Cryogenic suction and contaminant migration.
Page 25 of 37
Ts
Ts
a)
b)
c)
Figure 2. Capillarity: a) Capillarity in zero gravity (image captured from

Canada Space Agency video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TssbmY-GM
accessed 29 November 2016), b) Capillary rise in tubes, and b) Contact
angle on flat and sloped surfaces.
1m
Residual
Hydrostatic zone
pore pressure
profile
Transition Capillary Soil

zone rise type
~mm Gravel
~cm Sand
Capillary ~m Silt
zone 100m+ Clay
Saturated
ground
Negative (-) (+) Positive Degree of saturation, Sr

Pore pressure
Figure 3. Hydrostatic ground profile highlighting soil type effect on

capillary rise.
Hydraulic conductivity Degree of saturation, Sr (%)
Ksat
100%
zone
Capillary
conductivity function.
>104
Air entry
value, AEV
a)
b)
zone
Soil-type
dependent
Transition
water
content
Residual
zone
Residual
Figure 4. Typical a) Storage function and b) unsaturated hydraulic

Suction
Suction
al use only. This Just-IN manuscript is the accepted manuscript prior to copy editing and page composition. It may differ from the final official version Page 28 of 37
Flow direction
up or down?
0 5
Pressure head, hp (m)
Upward
1 -0.01 -0.1 -1 -10 4
40
Gravimetric water content, w (%)
Elevation head, he (m)

3
flow
2 30
Depth (m)
22
d flow
3 20 2
ht = h e + h p
Downwar
hp =-(ua-uw)
4 10 1
Datum
5
0
0.1 1 10 100 0
Matric suction, ua-uw (kPa)
6 b) -1
22
0 10 20 30 40 -10-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4
Gravimetric water content, w (%) Total head, ht (m)
a) c)
Figure 5. Vertical flow illustrative example: a) Two gravimetric water content profiles, b) Storage function
with gravimetric water content values added to interpret suction, and c) Total head profiles with flow
direction indicated.
Page 29 of 37
Hyd Flow
cond L/d/m %
Saturated Ksat 144 100
Unsaturated 0 0 0
K=0 144
Total
No
K=Ksat flow
a)
Hyd Flow
cond L/d/m %
Unsaturated Ksat 86 38
K=Ksat Total 227
K=Ksat
10 8
6
4
2
b)
Hyd Flow
cond L/d/m %
Unsaturated f(Sr) 13 8
K=f(Sr) Total 155
10 K=Ksat
8 6
4
2
c)
Figure 6. Steady-state flow comparison for: a) traditional flownet, b) FEM

assuming saturated conductivity in unsaturated zone, and c) FEM with
assumed unsaturated conductivity function.
a)
0.9 Sr=1.0
Coarse Fine
0.8 Predicted D10 (mm) 0.75 0.13
0.7 Sr=0.9
Saturation, Sr (−)
0.6
0.5
Sr=0.7
0.4
0.3
Sills Peters Sr=0.6
et al. et al.
0.2 2016 2011
Coarse
0.1 Fine
Coarse and Fine
Sr=0
b) 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 c)
Normalized intensity, IN (−)
Figure 7. Transparent soil for unsaturated applications showing: a) Series of

photos from an infiltration test in a layered system (Siemens et al. 2014),
b) Calibration curve for image analysis (after Sills et al. 2016, and c) Grain-size
distributions for coarse and fine transparent soils (after Siemens et al. 2014).
Page 31 of 37
Wetting
front
Coarse
a)
Degree of saturation, Sr
b)
Initial
profile
Additional
pore pressure
c) d)
Figure 8. Impact of heterogeneities on infiltration; a) Saturation profiles from

open infiltration in coarse transparent soil, b) Saturation profiles from open
infiltration in layered soil profile, c) Elevation of wetting front versus time,
and d) Equilibrium pore pressure profile (after Siemens et al. 2014).
apparent cohesion with degree of saturation.

Figure 9. Unsaturated strength phenomena illustrating variation in
Page 32 of 37
Page 33 of 37
Real-time
moisture control
a)
6 7.4%
Dry 30%
1.5% reduction
in load
Load, P (N)
5%
4
VWC
Δ
Mass P
2
Sand with variable
moisture content
0
0 5 10 15 20
Displacement, Δ (mm)
b)
Figure 10. a) Wall painting from tomb of Djehutihotep in southeastern Egypt
(after Newberry 1895), and b) Interface friction experiments plotted as load
versus displacement.
100
saturation
Saturation, Sr (%)
80 range from
~60-100%
60
40 suction range
20 from 0-6kPa
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
a) Suction, ua−uw (kPa)
1000 q
ua-uw=6 kPa
Sand
800
=39o
Applied stress, q (kPa)
ua-uw=4 kPa
600
7-fold
increase
for 6 kPa
400 ua-uw=2 kPa suction
200
ua-uw=0 kPa
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
b) Settlement, S (mm)
Figure 11. Effect of suction on plate load experiments in sand (after

Vanapalli and Mohamed 2007) showing a) Storage function and
b) Applied stress versus settlement.
Page 35 of 37
a)
d)
b)
Shrinkage
due to
increase in
matric suction
Swelling due to decrease

in matric suction
c) e)
Figure 12. Unsaturated deformation phenomena including a) Combined
effects of heave and shrinkage on a residential structure (after Domaschuk
1986), b) Removal of basement walls from a residential structure affected by
expansive soils, c) Constitutive model for volumetric strains due to changes
in suction and net normal stress, d) Shrinkage experiment, and e) Free swell
experiment (after Lim and Siemens 2013).
Page 36 of 37
2.4
Unconfined swelling
2.2
Constant mean stress (CMS)
Specific volume, V
2.0
Constant stiffness (CS)

1.8
SEL Constant volume (CV)
1.6
b) Bentonite-sand-buffer
1.4
0 500 1000 1500 2000
a) Retaining wall constructed in expansive soil Mean stress, p (kPa)
Figure 13. Swelling Equilibrium Limit results: a) Retaining wall constructed in

expansive soil illustrating swelling conditions, b) Swelling paths and experiments
for bentonite-sand-buffer, and SEL summary plots for c) Bentonite-sand-buffer,
d) Bearpaw clay, and e) Lake Agassiz clay (after Lim and Siemens 2016).

Siemens 2017

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Page 1 of 37

1 THIRTY-NINTH CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL

6 Professor and Research Director

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

124 Storage Function

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

201 Steady-State Flow Phenomena

222 Illustrative example #2: Unconfined flow through an earth dam

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

263 Transient Flow Phenomena

282 To illustrate transient moisture migration in a heterogeneous profile, a transparent infiltration

304 Impact of heterogeneities on infiltration

351 Flow Phenomena Summary

383 Historical Example

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

413 Plate Load Tests

438 Strength Phenomena Summary

444 DEFORMATION PHENOMENA

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

498 Unifying Concept of Swelling Potential

509 Swell Equilibrium Limit Concept

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

531 Measurement of Swelling Equilibrium Limit

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

559 Use of Swell Equilibrium Limit

576 Deformation Phenomena Summary

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

603 Canada’s Department of National Defence is gratefully acknowledged.

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

604 NOTATION 628 P horizontal load

614 e void ratio 638 uw water pressure

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

659 Science and Technology. 83-84: 103-109.

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Siemens (2017) 39th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Potential slip surface

a) Foundations, tunnels, and excavations b) Infiltration and landslide triggering

c) Compacted materials for construction d) Cover systems

Figure 2. Capillarity: a) Capillarity in zero gravity (image captured from

Transition Capillary Soil

Negative (-) (+) Positive Degree of saturation, Sr

Figure 3. Hydrostatic ground profile highlighting soil type effect on

Hydraulic conductivity Degree of saturation, Sr (%)

Figure 4. Typical a) Storage function and b) unsaturated hydraulic

Pressure head, hp (m)

Gravimetric water content, w (%)

Elevation head, he (m)

Figure 6. Steady-state flow comparison for: a) traditional flownet, b) FEM

Figure 7. Transparent soil for unsaturated applications showing: a) Series of

Figure 8. Impact of heterogeneities on infiltration; a) Saturation profiles from

apparent cohesion with degree of saturation.

Figure 11. Effect of suction on plate load experiments in sand (after

Swelling due to decrease

Constant mean stress (CMS)

Constant stiffness (CS)

SEL Constant volume (CV)

Figure 13. Swelling Equilibrium Limit results: a) Retaining wall constructed in