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Heave due to Infiltration

1 Introduction
This example looks at the heave that may occur in a swelling soil due to some infiltration from
precipitation or irrigation around a building. The soil is initially assumed to be in fairly desiccated with a
uniform constant suction, and then an infiltration flux rate is specified on the ground surface beside the
building, which causes the suctions to diminish and the soil to swell.
The setup and configuration used here is the same as an example published by Vu and Fredlund (2006).
This publication presents a highly rigorous formulation for modeling the volume changes that may occur
in swelling soils due to changes in suction. Many of the material properties associated with the
formulation are three-dimensional constitutive surfaces such as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Three dimensional constitutive surfaces (after Vu and Fredlund, 2006)

SIGMA/W has not as yet reached the level of rigor proposed by Vu and Fredlund, in which four different
elasticity moduli are required. Different values are required for the soil-grain structure and the water and

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whether the effective stress change is due to a total stress change arising from external loading or due to
changes in suction arising from infiltration, for example.
The SIGMA/W formulation includes two moduli E and H, which for saturated conditions are related as
follows:

E
H
1 2v
When Poissons ratio is a 1/3, H = 3E.
This relationship becomes more complex for unsaturated conditions, but currently SIGMA/W adopts this
relationship for both saturated and unsaturated conditions. H is computed internal to SIGMA/W only E
is specified. The effect of this simplification is discussed further in the context of the swelling simulations
presented below.
Observationally, it is evident that desiccated soils are much stiffer than when the moisture content is near
saturation. This behavior can be captured in SIGMA/W with a user-specified function where the soil
stiffness E is a function of the vertical effective stress.
The objective of this example is to compare the SIGMA/W simplified approach with results obtained by
Vu and Fredlund from their much more rigorous formulation, and to determine if reasonable heave
predictions can be made with the current SIGMA/W formulation.

2 Feature highlights
GeoStudio feature highlights include:

Using the fully coupled formulation in SIGMA/W for fully unsaturated conditions and where
the effective stress changes arise due to infiltration as opposed to surface loads
Analyzing the pore-pressure changes arising from the infiltration independently with
SEEP/W and then using the SEEP/W pore-pressures in SIGMA/W to compute, in an
uncoupled procedure, the associated volume changes
Making the E modulus a function of the vertical effective stress

3 Configuration and setup

The following diagram shows the configuration and setup for the heave analysis. There is a five metre
deep layer of highly plastic clay. It is assumed that a building has been constructed on the ground surface
and the objective is to look at the heave in the clay due to some infiltration alongside the building. This
makes it a 2D flow problem since some of the moisture will migrate under the building.

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symmetric axis

Infiltration 1.73e^-3 m/day = 1.73 mm/day

4
Elevation - m

3
Regina clay
2

-1
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Distance - m

Figure 2 Configuration and setup for heave analysis

The initial suction is 400 kPa (Activation PWP = -400 kPa in the insitu analysis).
The 400 kPa suction is maintained along the bottom during the infiltration with a specified boundary
condition equal to a pressure head of -40.787 m (400 kPa / 9.807).
The infiltration is specified as a flux boundary equal to 0.00173 m/day = 1.73 mm/day.
The total unit weight of the soil is 17.27 kN/m3.
Poissons ratio is 0.4.
An estimate of the data presented by Vu and Fredlund, the E-modulus at a suction of 400 kPa is about
20,000 kPa. Based on this, the E-function for this analysis is assumed to vary linearly with the vertical
effective stress as in Figure 3.
The volumetric water content function (Figure 4) and hydraulic conductivity function (Figure 5) are also
approximations based on information provided by Vu and Fredlund.

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Regina E function
20000
Effective E-Modulus (kPa)

15000

10000

5000

0
0 100 200 300 400

Y-Effective Stress (kPa)

Figure 3 E-modulus function

Regina W-C
0.52

0.50

0.48
Vol. Water Content (m/m)

0.46

0.44

0.42

0.40

0.38

0.36

0.34
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000

Matric Suction (kPa)

Figure 4 Volumetric water content function

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Regina K function
0.01
X-Conductivity (m/day)

0.001

0.0001

0.00001
0.1 1 10 100 1000

Matric Suction (kPa)

Figure 5 Hydraulic conductivity function

4 Analysis: Initial insitu

The first step is to setup the initial insitu stress conditions. This is done with an Insitu type of analysis
with an Activation PWP of -400 kPa. The high suction makes the effective stresses fairly high while the
total stresses are basically the overburden.

Total
stress : 0
3 day
Y (m)

2
Effective
stress : 0
day
1

0
0 100 200 300 400 500

(kPa)

Figure 6 Vertical total and effective stress profiles

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5 Analysis: Heave coupled

In this analysis, the infiltration and subsequent heave are modeled using the SIGMA/W fully coupled
formulation; that is, the displacements and pore-pressure changes are computed simultaneously.
Figure 7 shows the pore-pressure distribution 175 days after the start of the infiltration. Figure 8 shows
the directions and relative rates of inflow on day 43.

-100

-15
0
-20
0
-25
0
-300

-350

Figure 7 Pore-pressures on Day 175 from coupled analysis

Figure 8 Direction of inflow on Day 43

The surface heave along the top surface starting at the center of the building is shown in Figure 9.

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Surf ace heave

0.045

0.04

0.035
Y-Displacement (m)

0.03

0.025

0.02

0.015

0.01

0.005

0
0 5 10 15

X (m)

Figure 9 Surface heave with time for the coupled analysis

6 Analysis: SEEP/W alone

The next stage is to model the infiltration separately using SEEP/W and then use the resulting pore-
pressure changes in a SIGMA/W volume change analysis. In other words, to analyze the problem in an
uncoupled manner. The pore-pressure changes and volume changes are computed separately.
Figure 10 shows the pore-pressure contours after 175 days. When this is compared with the coupled
results in Figure 7, it is evident that there are some differences. The suctions have not diminished as much
in the SEEP/W only analysis as in the fully coupled analysis. In the coupled case there is a -50 kPa
contour which is not present SEEP/W only analysis, for example.

-100
-15
0
-20
-25 0
0

-350

Figure 10 Pore-pressures on Day 175 from un-coupled analysis (SEEP/W)

7 Analysis: Volume change

In SIGMA/W, it is possible to do a volume change analysis based on changes in pore-pressures.
SIGMA/W uses the incremental change in pore-pressure over an incremental time step and computes the
associated volume change.

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Figure 11 shows the heave with time along the top surface from the volume change analysis.

Surf ace heave

0.045

0.04

0.035
Y-Displacement (m)

0.03

0.025

0.02

0.015

0.01

0.005

0
0 5 10 15

X (m)

Figure 11 Surface heave with time from the un-coupled analysis

The surface heave from the un-coupled analysis is slightly less than from the coupled analysis at early
times (Figure 12) but the results merge by Day 175 (Figure 13).

35

30

25
Heave (mm)

20
Coupled
15
Uncoupled
10

0
0 5 10 15
Distance (m)

Figure 12 Comparison of surface heave at Day 43: coupled versus uncoupled analysis

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45

40

35

30
Heave (mm)

25
Coupled
20
Uncoupled
15

10

0
0 5 10 15
Distance (m)

Figure 13 Comparison of surface heave at Day 175: coupled versus uncoupled analysis

8 Comparison with published results

Vu and Fredlund published the graph in Figure 15. The top curve in this figure is for a point on the
ground surface just to the right of the outer edge of the building, shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14 Location of comparison graph

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Figure 15 Published heave curves (after Vu and Fredlund, 2006, p. 1265)

Figure 16 compares the SIGMA/W coupled and un-coupled solutions with the Vu and Fredlund solution.
The Vu and Fredlund formulation, albeit more rigorous, compares well with the SIGMA/W coupled and
uncoupled results. In fact, the close agreement between solutions is rather encouraging considering the
differences in the formulations.

35

30

25
Heave (mm)

20

15 Coupled
Uncoupled
10
Vu and Fredlund (2006)

0
0 50 100 150 200
Time (days)

Figure 16 Comparison of SIGMA/W results with Vu & Fredlund results

9 Summary and conclusion

This example has demonstrated that SIGMA/W can be used to estimate the heave of swelling soils
resulting from environmental changes that alter the negative pore-pressures.

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The SIGMA/W formulation is not rigorously complete, but in spite of this, the results compare favorably
with other more rigorous formulations.
A key to obtaining reasonable results is to ensure that the E modulus is a function of the effective stress.
The results obtainable from SIGMA/W are realistic, especially when considering the accuracy with which
the initial suctions and material properties can be specified for field conditions. In fact, considering the
natural heterogeneity of field conditions and material properties, the results of analyses like this should at
best be considered an estimate of the volume change that may take place.

10 Reference
Vu, H.Q. and Fredlund, D.G. (2006) Challenges to Modelling Heave in Expansive Soils, Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 43, No. 12, pp. 1240-1272

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