Over the past 50 years, several advancements have been made in the research area of the mechanics of unsaturated soils. These advancements can be categorized into two groups; (i) development (or improvement) of testing techniques (or apparatus) to determine the mechanical properties of unsaturated soils and (ii) development of (numerical, empirical or semi-empirical) models to estimate the variation of mechanical properties of unsaturated soils with respect to suction based on the experimental results. Implementation of the mechanics of unsaturated soils in conventional geotechnical engineering practice, however, has been rather limited. The key reasons for the limited practical applications may be attributed to the lack of simple and reliable methods for (i) measuring soil suction in the field quickly and reliably and (ii) estimating the variation of mechanical properties of unsaturated soils with respect to suction. The main objective of this thesis research is to develop simple and reliable techniques, models or approaches that can be used in geotechnical engineering practice to estimate sol suction and the mechanical properties of unsaturated soils. This research can be categorized into three parts. In the First Part, simple techniques are proposed to estimate the suction values of as-compacted unsaturated fine-grained soils using a pocket penetrometer and a conventional tensiometer. The suction values less than 300 kPa can be estimated using a strong relationship between the compressive strength measured using a pocket penetrometer and matric suction value. The high suction values in the range of 1,200 kPa to 60,000 kPa can be estimated using the unique relationship between the initial tangent of conventional tensiometer response versus time behavior and suction value. In the Second Part, approaches or semi-empirical models are proposed to estimate the variation of mechanical properties of unsaturated soils with respect to suction, which include: - Bearing capacity of unsaturated fine-grained soils - Variation of bearing capacity of unsaturated fine-grained soils with respect to matric suction - Variation of initial tangent elastic modulus of unsaturated soils below shallow foundations with respect to matric suction - Variation of maximum shear modulus with respect to matric suction for unsaturated non-plastic sandy soils (i.e. plasticity index, Ip = 0 %) In the Third Part, approaches (or methodologies) are suggested to simulate the vertically applied stress versus surface settlement behavior of shallow foundations in unsaturated coarse-grained soils assuming elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. These methodologies are extended to simulate the stress versus settlement behavior of both model footings and in-situ plates in unsaturated coarse-grained soils. The results show that there is a reasonably good comparison between the measured values (i.e. soil suction, bearing capacity, elastic and shear modulus) and those estimated using the techniques or models proposed in this thesis research. The models (or methodologies) proposed in this thesis research are promising and encouraging for modeling studies and practicing engineers to estimate the variation of mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils with respect to matric suction.

Pavement subsurface drainage systems (PSDS) are designed to drain the entrapped water out of pavement. To investigate the effects of various factors on the performance of PSDS, three dimensional models were developed using the finite element method to simulate the unsaturated drainage process in pavement. The finite element models were calibrated using the field information on outflow, peak flow, layer saturations, and time to drain. Through a series of parametric analyses, the factors that significantly influence the performance of PSDS were screened out, and a set of recommendations were made to improve our current drainage practices.The effects of pavement geometry on drainage were studied in this research. The analysis results indicate that edgedrain system can significantly improve the drainage efficiency of a pavement. The drainage performance of a pavement is mainly affected by the geometric factors that related to the edgedrain itself and the geometric factors related to the driving lanes have very limited effects.To investigate the influences of the properties of various pavement materials, some physical-empirical equations were developed in this research. These equations were used to predict the material hydraulic properties from their grain-size distributions and aggregate/asphalt contents. The analysis results of the models with various material properties indicate that the use of permeable base is effective in improving the drainage ability of a pavement. The performance of PSDS is not only affected by material permeability but also by their waterretention ability. The pavement works as an integrated hydraulic system and the hydraulic compatibility of materials must be considered in the PSDS design.The effects of climatic factors on pavement drainage were also studied in this research. A method was developed in this research to numerically describe the rainfall events. The analysis results of the models under various rainfall events indicate that rainfall duration is a more important parameter than the rainfall quantity in influencing the pavement drainage. Based on the analysis results, regression equations were developed for the estimation of pavement drainage. Finally, for design application purpose, a series of tables were included in this report to help with proper selected of pavement drainage options.

[pt] No presente trabalho, pretende-se avaliar os efeitos de ciclos de umedecimento e secagem na resistência ao cisalhamento do solo. Este estudo é de grande importância, particularmente,para os solos brasileiros, já que se encontram em uma região tropical, onde verifica-se a ocorrência de períodos bem definidos de chuvas e estiagem. Sabe-se que, longos períodos de chuvas podem saturar o solo, assim como durante a estiagem,pode ocorrer uma maior evaporação do que infiltração de água, o que leva o solo a uma condição não saturada, provocando o surgimento de uma nova componente de resistência, a coesão aparente. Na natureza, estes dois períodos não ocorrem de maneira uniforme, fazendo com que o solo atinja valores de sucção diferentes, dependendo do seu umedecimento e secagem. Assim sendo, ciclos de umedecimento e secagem e o nível de sucção atingido correspondente, podem afetar o comportamento mecânico do solo. Afim de verificar a influência de tais ciclos de umedecimento e secagem, determinou-se a resistência ao cisalhamento do solo, por meio de ensaios de cisalhamento direto com sucção controlada no equipamento desenvolvido na PUC-Rio. O umedecimento e a secagem do solo,foram simulados, em laboratório, através da diminuição e aumento da sucção, respectivamente. Utilizou-se o solo maduro do campo experimental II da PUC-Rio, peneirado e compactado em laboratório.Foram realizadas várias séries de ensaios, em que se modificavam os procedimentos realizados em relação aos níveis de sucção aplicados. A partir dos resultados obtidos,verificou-se a influência dos ciclos de umedecimento e secagem e dos níveis de sucção atingidos em cada caso, na resistência ao cisalhamento do solo, bem como na variação de volume total e de água nas amostras, durante o cisalhamento. / [en] This work intends to evaluate the effects of wetting and drying cycles on soil shear strength. It is a study of great importance, specially for brazilian soils, since they are found in a tropical area, where there are periods well defined of raining and dryness.It is well known that long raining periods can saturate the soil, as well as during dryness it can occur a bigger evaporation than infiltration of water, what brings soil to an unsaturated state. Unsaturated soils have an additional strength component: the apparent cohesion. In nature, raining and dryness do not occur uniformly, because of that, the soil suction can reach different values, depending on its wetting and drying, thus being, wetting and drying cycles and the corresponding suction levels can affect the mechanical behaviour of soil.Aiming at verify the influence of such cycles of wetting and drying, soil shear strength was obtained through laboratory tests of direct shear with controlled suction, using PUC-Rio s developed equipment. Soil wetting and drying had been simulated in laboratory, reducing and increasing suction. Mature soil brought from the experimental field II of PUC-Rio, sifted and compact in laboratory, was used.Many series of laboratory tests had been carried out, modifying procedures related to applied suction levels. From the gotten results the influence, of wetting and drying cycles and reached levels of suction, was verified. Such influence also occurred, on total and water volume changes, during the shear.

Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre a resistência ao cisalhamento e a condutividade hidráulica de dois solos coluvionares não saturados situados na divisa dos estados do Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina, em um dos trechos do Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil. Esses solos são constituídos por sedimentos oriundos da Formação Serra Geral (basalto – Solo RO) e da Formação Botucatu (arenito – Solo AV). O trabalho de pesquisa realizado com esses solos tem seu enfoque dividido em duas partes principais: (1) obtenção direta da resistência ao cisalhamento e da função condutividade hidráulica em diferentes níveis de sucção, e (2) previsão indireta dessas propriedades a partir da determinação da curva característica do solo e de parâmetros geotécnicos saturados. As curvas características dos solos AV e RO, nas condições indeformada e remoldada (sem e com secagem prévia do solo), foram obtidas pelo uso combinado do método do papel filtro e da placa de sucção. Para as condições indeformada e remoldada sem secagem prévia, essas curvas exibiram um formato bimodal. A dessaturação é controlada pelos macroporos, para baixas sucções, e pelos microporos, para altas sucções. Para valores de sucção intermediários, praticamente não ocorre remoção de água do solo, devido, provavelmente, à ausência de poros com tamanho intermediário. Já as curvas características das amostras remoldadas com secagem prévia do solo tendem a apresentar um formato mais próximo do unimodal. A influência do índice de vazios inicial e da história de umedecimento e secagem no formato da curva é também discutida. A resistência ao cisalhamento dos solos estudados foi determinada em laboratório através de ensaios de cisalhamento direto convencionais e com sucção controlada. Os resultados, obtidos para amostras indeformadas e remoldadas sem secagem prévia, permitiram a determinação dos parâmetros de resistência ao cisalhamento c’, f’ e fb. Para determinação direta da função condutividade hidráulica do Solo AV foi construído um permeâmetro triaxial com controle de sucção, baseado no modelo apresentado por Huang et al. (1998). Esse equipamento foi utilizado para determinação da função condutividade hidráulica do Solo AV não saturado, em diferentes trajetórias de umedecimento e secagem. Os resultados evidenciaram que as amostras do Solo AV nas três condições de moldagem - indeformada, remoldada sem e com secagem - tendem a reproduzir o comportamento de dessaturação exibido nas curvas características. A função condutividade hidráulica apresenta inicialmente um decréscimo para sucções até 50 kPa, seguido por um valor praticamente constante, para sucções até 90 kPa. / This thesis presents a study about the shear strength and hydraulic conductivity of two unsaturated colluvium soils situated at the border between the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, along one of the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline stretches. These soils are constituted by sediments originated from Serra Geral (basalt – sample RO) and Botucatu formations (sandstone - sample AV). The research performed with these soils had its focus divided in two main parts: (1) direct measurements of shear strength and hydraulic conductivity function at different suction levels and (2) indirect prediction of these properties from the soil-water characteristic curves and saturated geotechnical parameters. The soilwater characteristic curves of AV and RO Samples, in undisturbed and remolded conditions (without and with previous drying), were determined with both the filter-paper technique and the suction-plate technique. The undisturbed and remolded samples without previous drying showed a bimodal shape. The desaturation is controlled by the macropores for low suction values and by the micropores, for higher values. For intermediary suctions values, practically no removal of water from the sample occurs, possibly due to the lack of intermediate pore sizes. The remolded samples with previous drying tend to present a shape close to unimodal. The influences of void ratio and the drying and wetting history in the shape of the soil-water characteristic curve are also discussed. The shear strength of the studied soils was determined with conventional and suction-controlled direct shear tests. The results obtained for undisturbed and remolded samples without previous drying allowed the determination of shear strength parameters c’, f’ e fb. For the direct measurement of hydraulic conductivity function, a flexible-wall permeameter was built, based on the model presented by Huang et al. (1998). This equipment was used for determining the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of Sample AV in different drying and wetting paths. The results showed that Samples AV in the three molding conditions - undisturbed and remolded without and with previous drying – reproduced the desaturation behavior showed by the soil-water characteristic curves. The hydraulic conductivity function presents initially a decrease for suctions up to 50 kPa, followed by a practically constant value, for suctions up to 90 kPa.

Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre a resistência ao cisalhamento e a condutividade hidráulica de dois solos coluvionares não saturados situados na divisa dos estados do Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina, em um dos trechos do Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil. Esses solos são constituídos por sedimentos oriundos da Formação Serra Geral (basalto – Solo RO) e da Formação Botucatu (arenito – Solo AV). O trabalho de pesquisa realizado com esses solos tem seu enfoque dividido em duas partes principais: (1) obtenção direta da resistência ao cisalhamento e da função condutividade hidráulica em diferentes níveis de sucção, e (2) previsão indireta dessas propriedades a partir da determinação da curva característica do solo e de parâmetros geotécnicos saturados. As curvas características dos solos AV e RO, nas condições indeformada e remoldada (sem e com secagem prévia do solo), foram obtidas pelo uso combinado do método do papel filtro e da placa de sucção. Para as condições indeformada e remoldada sem secagem prévia, essas curvas exibiram um formato bimodal. A dessaturação é controlada pelos macroporos, para baixas sucções, e pelos microporos, para altas sucções. Para valores de sucção intermediários, praticamente não ocorre remoção de água do solo, devido, provavelmente, à ausência de poros com tamanho intermediário. Já as curvas características das amostras remoldadas com secagem prévia do solo tendem a apresentar um formato mais próximo do unimodal. A influência do índice de vazios inicial e da história de umedecimento e secagem no formato da curva é também discutida. A resistência ao cisalhamento dos solos estudados foi determinada em laboratório através de ensaios de cisalhamento direto convencionais e com sucção controlada. Os resultados, obtidos para amostras indeformadas e remoldadas sem secagem prévia, permitiram a determinação dos parâmetros de resistência ao cisalhamento c’, f’ e fb. Para determinação direta da função condutividade hidráulica do Solo AV foi construído um permeâmetro triaxial com controle de sucção, baseado no modelo apresentado por Huang et al. (1998). Esse equipamento foi utilizado para determinação da função condutividade hidráulica do Solo AV não saturado, em diferentes trajetórias de umedecimento e secagem. Os resultados evidenciaram que as amostras do Solo AV nas três condições de moldagem - indeformada, remoldada sem e com secagem - tendem a reproduzir o comportamento de dessaturação exibido nas curvas características. A função condutividade hidráulica apresenta inicialmente um decréscimo para sucções até 50 kPa, seguido por um valor praticamente constante, para sucções até 90 kPa. / This thesis presents a study about the shear strength and hydraulic conductivity of two unsaturated colluvium soils situated at the border between the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, along one of the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline stretches. These soils are constituted by sediments originated from Serra Geral (basalt – sample RO) and Botucatu formations (sandstone - sample AV). The research performed with these soils had its focus divided in two main parts: (1) direct measurements of shear strength and hydraulic conductivity function at different suction levels and (2) indirect prediction of these properties from the soil-water characteristic curves and saturated geotechnical parameters. The soilwater characteristic curves of AV and RO Samples, in undisturbed and remolded conditions (without and with previous drying), were determined with both the filter-paper technique and the suction-plate technique. The undisturbed and remolded samples without previous drying showed a bimodal shape. The desaturation is controlled by the macropores for low suction values and by the micropores, for higher values. For intermediary suctions values, practically no removal of water from the sample occurs, possibly due to the lack of intermediate pore sizes. The remolded samples with previous drying tend to present a shape close to unimodal. The influences of void ratio and the drying and wetting history in the shape of the soil-water characteristic curve are also discussed. The shear strength of the studied soils was determined with conventional and suction-controlled direct shear tests. The results obtained for undisturbed and remolded samples without previous drying allowed the determination of shear strength parameters c’, f’ e fb. For the direct measurement of hydraulic conductivity function, a flexible-wall permeameter was built, based on the model presented by Huang et al. (1998). This equipment was used for determining the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of Sample AV in different drying and wetting paths. The results showed that Samples AV in the three molding conditions - undisturbed and remolded without and with previous drying – reproduced the desaturation behavior showed by the soil-water characteristic curves. The hydraulic conductivity function presents initially a decrease for suctions up to 50 kPa, followed by a practically constant value, for suctions up to 90 kPa.

Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre a resistência ao cisalhamento e a condutividade hidráulica de dois solos coluvionares não saturados situados na divisa dos estados do Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina, em um dos trechos do Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil. Esses solos são constituídos por sedimentos oriundos da Formação Serra Geral (basalto – Solo RO) e da Formação Botucatu (arenito – Solo AV). O trabalho de pesquisa realizado com esses solos tem seu enfoque dividido em duas partes principais: (1) obtenção direta da resistência ao cisalhamento e da função condutividade hidráulica em diferentes níveis de sucção, e (2) previsão indireta dessas propriedades a partir da determinação da curva característica do solo e de parâmetros geotécnicos saturados. As curvas características dos solos AV e RO, nas condições indeformada e remoldada (sem e com secagem prévia do solo), foram obtidas pelo uso combinado do método do papel filtro e da placa de sucção. Para as condições indeformada e remoldada sem secagem prévia, essas curvas exibiram um formato bimodal. A dessaturação é controlada pelos macroporos, para baixas sucções, e pelos microporos, para altas sucções. Para valores de sucção intermediários, praticamente não ocorre remoção de água do solo, devido, provavelmente, à ausência de poros com tamanho intermediário. Já as curvas características das amostras remoldadas com secagem prévia do solo tendem a apresentar um formato mais próximo do unimodal. A influência do índice de vazios inicial e da história de umedecimento e secagem no formato da curva é também discutida. A resistência ao cisalhamento dos solos estudados foi determinada em laboratório através de ensaios de cisalhamento direto convencionais e com sucção controlada. Os resultados, obtidos para amostras indeformadas e remoldadas sem secagem prévia, permitiram a determinação dos parâmetros de resistência ao cisalhamento c’, f’ e fb. Para determinação direta da função condutividade hidráulica do Solo AV foi construído um permeâmetro triaxial com controle de sucção, baseado no modelo apresentado por Huang et al. (1998). Esse equipamento foi utilizado para determinação da função condutividade hidráulica do Solo AV não saturado, em diferentes trajetórias de umedecimento e secagem. Os resultados evidenciaram que as amostras do Solo AV nas três condições de moldagem - indeformada, remoldada sem e com secagem - tendem a reproduzir o comportamento de dessaturação exibido nas curvas características. A função condutividade hidráulica apresenta inicialmente um decréscimo para sucções até 50 kPa, seguido por um valor praticamente constante, para sucções até 90 kPa. / This thesis presents a study about the shear strength and hydraulic conductivity of two unsaturated colluvium soils situated at the border between the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, along one of the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline stretches. These soils are constituted by sediments originated from Serra Geral (basalt – sample RO) and Botucatu formations (sandstone - sample AV). The research performed with these soils had its focus divided in two main parts: (1) direct measurements of shear strength and hydraulic conductivity function at different suction levels and (2) indirect prediction of these properties from the soil-water characteristic curves and saturated geotechnical parameters. The soilwater characteristic curves of AV and RO Samples, in undisturbed and remolded conditions (without and with previous drying), were determined with both the filter-paper technique and the suction-plate technique. The undisturbed and remolded samples without previous drying showed a bimodal shape. The desaturation is controlled by the macropores for low suction values and by the micropores, for higher values. For intermediary suctions values, practically no removal of water from the sample occurs, possibly due to the lack of intermediate pore sizes. The remolded samples with previous drying tend to present a shape close to unimodal. The influences of void ratio and the drying and wetting history in the shape of the soil-water characteristic curve are also discussed. The shear strength of the studied soils was determined with conventional and suction-controlled direct shear tests. The results obtained for undisturbed and remolded samples without previous drying allowed the determination of shear strength parameters c’, f’ e fb. For the direct measurement of hydraulic conductivity function, a flexible-wall permeameter was built, based on the model presented by Huang et al. (1998). This equipment was used for determining the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of Sample AV in different drying and wetting paths. The results showed that Samples AV in the three molding conditions - undisturbed and remolded without and with previous drying – reproduced the desaturation behavior showed by the soil-water characteristic curves. The hydraulic conductivity function presents initially a decrease for suctions up to 50 kPa, followed by a practically constant value, for suctions up to 90 kPa.

Apresenta-se um estudo paramétrico acerca da infiltração de água e sua repercussão no Fator de Segurança de talude em solos não saturados. Na análise adota-se um talude de referência com geometria fixada conforme a inclinação típica para taludes em areia argilo siltosa, característica do Centro-Oeste do estado de São Paulo. A análise paramétrica foi desenvolvida a partir de uma simulação de fluxo em regime transiente utilizando o programa SEEP/W, que utiliza o método de elementos finitos, e posteriormente uma análise de estabilidade do talude de referência utilizando o método de Bishop simplificado conforme apresentado no programa SLOPE/W. Foram analisados taludes homogêneos compostos por três diferentes tipos de solo, uma areia, um silte argiloso e uma areia argilo siltosa. Os parâmetros analisados compreendem a curva de retenção de água, a função condutividade hidráulica do solo e a intensidade de precipitação. Verificou-se que a função condutividade hidráulica e a pressão de entrada de ar são os principais determinantes do comportamento da infiltração e conseqüentemente da estabilidade do talude. As simulações de fluxo evidenciaram que os taludes em solos mais arenosos apresentam taxas de infiltração maiores que as apresentadas pelos taludes compostos por solos siltosos. Consequentemente, os escorregamentos ocasionados pela perda da contribuição da sucção para a resistência ao cisalhamento ocorrem primeiramente nos taludes compostos por solos arenosos e posteriormente naqueles compostos por solos siltosos, fato este que pôde ser confirmado pelas análises de estabilidade do talude de referência. / A parametric study is presented about water infiltration and its repercussion in the safety factor of unsaturated soil slopes. In the analysis it is adopted a reference slope with determined geometry according to the typical inclination for slopes in silty clayey sand, characteristic of the mid-western region of São Paulo State, in Brazil. The parametric analysis was developed from a flux simulation in transient regime using the SEEP/W software, which uses the finite elements method, and thereafter, a stability analysis of the reference slope using simplified Bishop method, as presented in the SLOPE/W software. Homogeneous slopes composed by three different types of soil (sand, clayey silt and silty clayey sand) were considered. The analyzed parameters include the water retention curve, the hydraulic conductivity function and the precipitation intensity. It was verified that the hydraulic conductivity function and the air entry value are the main determinants of the infiltration behavior and, subsequently, of the slope stability. The flux simulations have evidenced that coarser soils slopes show higher infiltration rates than the ones presented in finer soil slopes. Consequently, the slides caused by the loss of the suction\'s contribution to shear strength occur primarily in coarser soil slopes than in fine soil slopes, what could be verified in the stability analysis of the reference slope.

A comprehensive experimental program dealing with three-dimensional overtopping and breach development as well as two-dimensional overtopping physical tests of noncohesive earth embankments has been conducted on scale models in the Hydraulic Laboratory at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa. The experimental program which consisted of three phases focused on geotechnical and hydraulic aspects of the embankment breach mechanism. The first two phases focused on two test series for the three-dimensional breach overtopping tests: drainage and compaction. The test series were designed to determine the embankment breach characteristics using test parameters which have not been adequately identified or controlled in past noncohesive physical models: initial soil-water state and optimum dry unit weight. Both parameters were controlled in laboratory tests by means of compaction effort and seepage through the embankment body, respectively. The dynamic compaction technique employed in the preliminary experimental phase was refined to represent a more realistic method. A novel method was thus designed to simulate the construction of a real-size prototype embankment, where a vibratory and static load was used to apply and control, respectively, the compaction effort. The hydraulic aspects of the embankment breach mechanism were also investigated. For the first time, scale series tests have been used to assess the Froude criterion using tilted and quasi-exact geometric scales under very low inflow within the scope of three-dimensional breach overtopping. Data measurements included a time-history of water surface levels and video footage captured from three locations: upstream, downstream and above the embankment models. The analysis for the spatial breach overtopping tests involved measurement of the breach outflow hydrograph and breach channel evolution at the upstream slope, using hydrologic routing and a developed photogrammetric technique using the video footage, respectively. An expression which estimates the breach outflow based on this apparent upstream control section was therefore derived. The relationship between the measured and estimated breach outflow was expressed in terms of breach discharge efficiency. The third phase of the experimental program was comprised of two-dimensional overtopping tests to investigate the erodibility of a steep slope in overtopped noncohesive embankment models. A novel experimental two-dimensional configuration used to measure the pore-water-pressures within the embankment model body was developed using micro and standard tensiometer-transducer-probe assemblies, designed, assembled and tested at the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory. A transient flownet analysis was developed using ArcGIS and the time-history of the pore-water-pressure measurements. All flow parameters were computed using the free water surface and bed profiles captured using a photogrammetric technique and the developed hydrologic routing method. Using the one-dimensional Saint-Venant equations, an analytical expression for the bed shear stress was derived to take into account the effects of unsteady flow, boundary seepage and steep slopes. Using the measured erosion rates and the sediment continuity principle, the bed mobility relationship expressed by the Shields and transport parameters was revisited to account for the effects of unsteady and supercritical flow on a downstream steep slope in the presence of boundary seepage. This novel transient flownet approach will lead to the development of new sediment mobility relationships for breach flows, instead of the classical sediment transport-capacity formulations which are based on steady, subcritical and normal flow conditions.

Over the past 50 years, several advancements have been made in the research area of the mechanics of unsaturated soils. These advancements can be categorized into two groups; (i) development (or improvement) of testing techniques (or apparatus) to determine the mechanical properties of unsaturated soils and (ii) development of (numerical, empirical or semi-empirical) models to estimate the variation of mechanical properties of unsaturated soils with respect to suction based on the experimental results. Implementation of the mechanics of unsaturated soils in conventional geotechnical engineering practice, however, has been rather limited. The key reasons for the limited practical applications may be attributed to the lack of simple and reliable methods for (i) measuring soil suction in the field quickly and reliably and (ii) estimating the variation of mechanical properties of unsaturated soils with respect to suction. The main objective of this thesis research is to develop simple and reliable techniques, models or approaches that can be used in geotechnical engineering practice to estimate sol suction and the mechanical properties of unsaturated soils. This research can be categorized into three parts. In the First Part, simple techniques are proposed to estimate the suction values of as-compacted unsaturated fine-grained soils using a pocket penetrometer and a conventional tensiometer. The suction values less than 300 kPa can be estimated using a strong relationship between the compressive strength measured using a pocket penetrometer and matric suction value. The high suction values in the range of 1,200 kPa to 60,000 kPa can be estimated using the unique relationship between the initial tangent of conventional tensiometer response versus time behavior and suction value. In the Second Part, approaches or semi-empirical models are proposed to estimate the variation of mechanical properties of unsaturated soils with respect to suction, which include: - Bearing capacity of unsaturated fine-grained soils - Variation of bearing capacity of unsaturated fine-grained soils with respect to matric suction - Variation of initial tangent elastic modulus of unsaturated soils below shallow foundations with respect to matric suction - Variation of maximum shear modulus with respect to matric suction for unsaturated non-plastic sandy soils (i.e. plasticity index, Ip = 0 %) In the Third Part, approaches (or methodologies) are suggested to simulate the vertically applied stress versus surface settlement behavior of shallow foundations in unsaturated coarse-grained soils assuming elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. These methodologies are extended to simulate the stress versus settlement behavior of both model footings and in-situ plates in unsaturated coarse-grained soils. The results show that there is a reasonably good comparison between the measured values (i.e. soil suction, bearing capacity, elastic and shear modulus) and those estimated using the techniques or models proposed in this thesis research. The models (or methodologies) proposed in this thesis research are promising and encouraging for modeling studies and practicing engineers to estimate the variation of mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils with respect to matric suction.

Desiccation-induced soil cracking is of significant interest in several engineering disciplines, which include geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, mining engineering, and agriculture engineering. The hydraulic, mechanical, thermal and other physico-chemical properties of unsaturated soils can be predominantly influenced due to cracks. Reliable information of these properties is required for the rational design and maintenance of earth structures taking account of the influence the soil-atmosphere interactions (e.g., for expansive soil slopes, earth dams, and embankments). In spite of significant research studies published in the literature on the desiccation-induced cracks during the past century, the fundamental mechanism of crack initiation and propagation of soils induced by drying and shrinkage is still elusive. For this reason, the focus of this thesis is directed towards understanding the tensile strength of unsaturated soils which is associated with soil crack initiation criterion (i.e. maximum tensile stress criterion). Tensile strength is the key property of soils for interpreting the initiation of soil cracking from a macroscopic point of view. A semi-empirical model is proposed for predicting the tensile strength of unsaturated cohesionless soils taking into account the effect of both the negative pore-water pressure in saturated pores and the air-water interfacial surface tension in unsaturated pores. The proposed model is calibrated and validated by providing comparisons between the model predictions and the experimental measurements on 10 cohesionless soils (i.e. five sandy soils and five silty soils) published in the literature. The proposed model is simple and requires only the information of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) and Grain Size Distribution curve (GSD), which can be obtained from conventional laboratory tests. To investigate the influence of microstructure, a practical and reliable estimation approach for predicting the evolution of the microstructural void ratio of compacted clayey soils subjected to wetting and drying paths is proposed. The microstructural evolution of 13 examined soils were investigated quantitatively using the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) results. The investigated soils include four high-plasticity clays, eight low-plasticity clays and a glacial till which is a relatively coarse-grained soil with some fines. Based on this study, a novel criterion has been developed for identifying different pore populations of compacted clayey soils. The “as-compacted state line” (ACSL) was proposed to estimate the initial microstructural void ratio based on the compaction water ratio. A constitutive stress is derived to interpret and predict the volumetric deformation of compacted clay aggregates. The linear elastic constitutive model is used for predicting the microstructural void ratio of the examined compacted soils following monotonic wetting and drying paths. The developed approach (i.e. the ACSL and the linear elastic constitutive model) is validated by providing comparisons between the predicted and interpreted microstructural void ratios for all the examined soils. In addition to the matric suction and microstructure, the confining pressure also influences the tensile strength of unsaturated compacted clayey soils. The tensile strength tests on a compacted clayey soil by both the direct method (i.e. triaxial tensile test) and the indirect method (i.e. Brazilian split test) were performed. It is found that the tensile strength increases as the compaction water content decreases for the range investigated in this study, which could be explained by the variation of the inter-aggregated capillary bonding force and the change in microstructure. The increase in the confining pressure has been found to induce the change in failure mode (i.e. from pure tensile failure mode to combined tensile-shear failure mode). In spite of limitations associated with the Brazilian split test, tensile strength is widely determined using this test due to the simple procedure of specimen preparation and wide availability of test equipment in conventional laboratories. However, the Brazilian tensile strength is found to overestimate the tensile strength of compacted specimens with water content greater than the plastic limit. This is due to the considerable plastic deformation associated with the ductile failure instead of brittle failure. In summary, this thesis is devoted to providing insight into the fundamental mechanisms associated with the desiccation-induced crack initiation by quantitatively investigating the various factors that influence the tensile strength of unsaturated soils, which include the matric suction, the microstructure, and the confining pressure from theoretical studies and laboratory investigations.