NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE WATER INFILTRATION PROCESS AND STRAIN LOCALIZATION IN PARTIALLY SATURATED SOILS

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE WATER INFILTRATION PROCESS AND STRAIN LOCALIZATION IN PARTIALLY SATURATED SOILS

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Willideman Tobón Sánchez
Edwin Fabián García Aristizábal
Carlos Alberto Vega Posada

Abstract

This paper presents one- and two-dimensional simulations of the water infiltration process on unsaturated soils by using a coupled infiltration-deformation model. Two examples are presented for the one-dimensional infiltration analysis. The first example simulates the infiltration process on a homogenous soil, and the second on a stratified soil composed of two different layers. For both cases, a one-meter column of soil was used to conduct a parametric study by assuming different values of rainfall intensity. It was found from this analysis that the one-dimensional infiltration process on the homogenous soil is highly dependent on the rainfall intensity (I) / permeability (ksW) ratio, and for the stratified soil, the infiltration process was controlled by the soil with less permeability. Finally, one example is presented to study the bi-dimensional infiltration process on a slope subjected to a high-intensity rainfall, where the localization of the failure surface is presented. The results of this analysis show the advantages of this methodology to study soil structures subjected to infiltration processes.

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Author Biographies ##ver##

Willideman Tobón Sánchez, Politecnico di Torino

Ingeniería Civil - Udea, Maestría en Ingeniería Civil - Politecnico di Torino

Edwin Fabián García Aristizábal, Universidad de Antioquia

Ingeniería Civil - Unal, Máster en Ingeniería - U de Tokyo, Doctor en Ingeniería - U de Kyoto

Carlos Alberto Vega Posada, Universidad de Antioquia

Ingeniería Civil - Unal, MSc - Ohio University, Ph.D - Northwestern University