Experimental study on compression behaviours of compacted sandy loam using a Modified State Surface Approach

Abstract It is essential to study the deformation of unsaturated soil to predict the settlement of constructed embankments and foundations under precipitation and external loadings. This study conducted suction-controlled and stress-controlled oedometer tests on compacted sandy loam. The void ratio and degree of saturation were measured to study the deformation behaviours of unsaturated soil. The acquired data were analyzed using a modified state surface approach (MSSA). It was found that for the samples with an identical initial state, a unique state surface can be employed to describe the change of void ratio in an e-σ v’-s space, which consists of an elastic session and a plastic collapsible session. After yielding, the LC yield curve expands along the plastic collapsible surface with increasing loading or decreased suction, accompanied by irrecoverable plastic deformation. Along the hydraulic wetting paths (suction decreasing), the soil exhibits expansive deformation in the elastic surface but collapses into plastic collapsible after yielding. Differing from deformation behaviours, this study also demonstrated that the degree of saturation (S r) cannot be plotted in a unique surface in S r-σ v’-s space regarding hydraulic wetting and mechanical compression. This can be interpreted by different mechanisms of increasing S r by adsorbing water and mechanical compression.