Numerical simulation of saturated and unsaturated consolidation behaviour of marl residual soil

Consolidation tests were performed on reconstituted marl samples under saturated and unsaturated conditions in the geomechanical laboratory at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy (FCEAG). Reconstituted marl samples were used to simulate the behaviour of marl residual soil as a final product of weathering. The experimental results were implemented in the Plaxis 2D finite element software, and saturated and unsaturated consolidation tests were simulated using hydro-mechanical coupling analysis. Material parameters for the Mohr-Coulomb and Hardening Soil models were calculated from the obtained experimental results. The validity of above mentioned constitutive models for marl residual soil was evaluated using the consolidation tests results and considering the values of axial displacement and void ratio as deformation indicators for saturated and unsaturated conditions. The validity of the input parameters for unsaturated analysis (i.e. the obtained SWCC fitting parameters) and the applied boundary conditions were evaluated considering the achieved degree of saturation value for each calculation phase. © 2021, University of Split. All rights reserved.