Soil mechanics of unsaturated soils with fractal-texture

Abstract

The mechanical properties of unsaturated soils are a function of matric suction, and can be obtained based on currently available procedures. However, each procedure has its limitations and consequently cares should be taken in the selection of a proper procedure. Fractal approach seems to be a potentially useful tool to describe hierarchical systems and is suitable to model the pore structure of unsaturated soils. In this paper, the soil-water characteristics (SWC), unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function and unsaturated shear strength were derived from the fractal model for the pore-size distribution (PSD), and were expressed by only two independently physical parameters, the fractal dimension and air-entry value. The predictions of the proposed soil-water characteristics, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and unsaturated shear strength were in good accord with the published experimental data.