Numerical simulation of plate load tests on unsaturated soil

• Grant number: 14/10494-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Geotechnical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Roger Augusto Rodrigues
• Grantee: Isabela Augusto Silveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Unsaturated soils can be found in deposits of great thickness where engineering buildings are constructed. The purpose in understanding the stress-strain/water flow soil behavior has stimulated the development of constitutive models and experiments. This project aims to simulate the geotechnical behavior of an unsaturated sandy soil by finite element method. The information needed will be obtained from test results under controlled suction in laboratory and field tests. The CODE_BRIGHT program will be applied for simulation of test results especially on plate load tests performed in the field. Sensitivity and parametric tests will complement the numerical analyzes.