Semianalytical Solution for Dissipation Process of Partially Saturated Soils Considering Nonsmooth Boundary and Stress Level

Abstract

Partially saturated soils are commonly encountered in practice. To facilitate the construction and maintenance of infrastructure, it is important to estimate the dissipation of partially saturated soils reasonably, especially for the nonsmoothing dissipation at the boundaries. In the present study, a mathematical model was established for the dissipation process of partially saturated soils by considering nonsmooth boundary conditions. The depth-dependent total stress distribution was associated with the proposed semi-analytical solution. The corresponding semi-analytical solution was obtained, and a series of scenarios were conducted to show the characteristics associated with the dissipation process. Compared with the existing analytical solutions, the derivation process is much simpler and does not use complicated mathematical methodologies. The proposed solution was verified as accurate by comparing it with analytical solutions in the literature. This study reveals that, with a nonsmooth boundary, some effects exist that hinder the pressure changes of water and air at corresponding boundaries. The pressure variations of water and air close to the nonsmooth boundary show a rebound feature. The characteristics of the depth-dependent stress distribution mainly influence the prophase of the dissipation process for both water and air.