Coupled consolidation theory for saturated and unsaturated soils

X. Zhang, R. L. Lytton & J. L. Briaud

Texas A&M University, College Station, U.S.A

ABSTRACT: Biot (1941) first proposed two constitutive relationships for consolidation of an unsaturated soil
with occluded air bubbles. Fredlund and Morgenstern (1976) later proposed that the constitutive equation for an
unsaturated soil with a continuous air phase would have the similar form based on the two stress state variables
concept. In this study, the physical meanings of the parameters in the constitutive relationships are reexamined.
A new set of differential equations for the coupled consolidation of saturated-unsaturated soils with a continuous
air phase is derived by using a thermodynamic analogue. It is found that Biots consolidation theory can only be
used for saturated soils rather than for both saturated and unsaturated soils with air bubbles. A method to solve
the derived differential equations is proposed.

1 INTRODUCTION Where u, v, and w = displacements in x-, y-, and

Terzaghi (1941) stated the effective stress principle as
follows:
(1) The effective stress is equal to the total stress minus
the pore water pressure. In this way,
Where,
= the effective stress; = the total stress;
and uw = pore water pressure.
(2) The effective stress controls certain aspects of the
soil behavior, notably compression and strength.
This means that the compression depends on the
effective stress only. Namely,
z-directions, respectively; X,Y, and Z = Body forces in
x-, y-, and z-directions, respectively; G = shear mod-
ulus of the soil; = Poissons ratio; v = volumetric
strain; uw = pore water pressure; and Cv3 = the con-
solidation coefficient for the three dimensional case.
Biot (1941) derived the coupled consolidation the-
ory for saturated soils by using two stress state vari-
ables, i.e., effective stress and pore water pressure.
Two constitutive laws were used to derive the govern-
ing differential equations for the coupled consolidation
theory for saturated soils. In Biots consolidation the-
ory, the equilibrium equation is the same as Eqs.3a, 3b,
and 3c, and the corresponding differential equation for
the water phase is as follows:

Where e is the void ratio and f( ) stands for a function

describing the consolidation curve.
By using the effective stress principle, Terzaghi
derived the uncoupled consolidation theory for satu-
rated soils. The governing differential equations for the
three- dimensional Terzaghi-Rendulic consolidation
theory are as follows:
When the assumption that the total mechanical stress
remains constant during the consolidation process is
applied (i.e. m = 0), Eq.4 turns out to be Eq.3d.
In other words, Terzaghis (uncoupled) consolidation
theory is a simplified version of Biots (coupled)
consolidation theory.
Since Terzaghi first used the principle of effec-
tive stress for saturated soils, numerous researchers
have attempted to extend the principle to the case of
unsaturated soils. Bishop (1959) modified Terzaghis
expression for effective stress of saturated soils to the
following form:

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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Where, ua is pore air pressure, and is a parameter
which depends on the degree of saturation, stress path,
soil type etc.
Jennings and Burland (1962) stated that the effec-
tive stress principle failed to explain the behaviors
of collapsible soils. Indeed, for collapsible soils, the
effective stress increases when the total volume
decreases according to Eq.5. The results finally lead
to the use of two stress state variables. Matyas and
Radhakrishna (1968) put forward the concept of con-
stitutive (state) surfaces to relate void ratio and degree
of saturation with the mechanical stress and the matric
suction. Fredlund and Morgenstern (1977) performed
null tests in which the individual components of the
stress state variables i.e., , uw and ua were var-
ied while the stress state variables, i.e. ( ua ) and
(ua uw ) remained constant. Experimental data indi-
cated that essentially no overall volume change or
water content change happened during the null tests.
They then concluded that only two stress state vari-
ables i.e. ( ua ) and (ua uw ) are needed for the
description of volume change in unsaturated soils.
Fredlund and Morgenstern (1976) proposed the
constitutive relations for volume change in unsaturated
soils by using the two stress state variables as follows:
Where ms1 = coefficient of total volume change with
respect to mechanical stress; ms2 = coefficient of total
volume change with respect to changes in matric
suction; mw1 = coefficient of the pore-water volume
change with respect to changes in mechanical stress;
mw2 = coefficient of the pore-water volume change
with respect to changes in matric suction; and m = the
mean mechanical stress.
All the coefficients in Eqs.6a and 6b can be cal-
culated from void ratio and water content constitutive
surfaces of the soil (Fredlund and Rahardjo 1993):
Where at = coefficient of compressibility with respect
to a change in mechanical stress; am = coefficient of
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
compressibility with respect to a change in matric
suction; bt = coefficient of water content change
with respect to a change in mechanical stress; and
bm = coefficient of water content change with respect
to a change in matric suction.
Fredlund and Hasan (1979) developed a general for-
mulation for one dimensional consolidation in which
the air and water phases are considered to be con-
tinuous. Similar formulation was proposed by Lloret
and Alonso (1980). Dakshanamurthy and Fredlund
(1980) studied the three dimensional uncoupled con-
solidation problem. The three dimensional coupled
consolidation formulations for unsaturated soils were
presented by Dakshanamurthy et al. (1984). Similar
work has been done by Lloret et al. (1987). Wong
et al.(1998) presented a theoretic study on coupled
consolidation in unsaturated soils where the pore air
pressure is assumed to be atmospheric and remains
unchanged during the consolidation process. As a con-
sequence, the air continuity equation was not consid-
ered in the analysis and only the equilibrium equation
and the water continuity equation were considered.
This assumption actually has been used extensively
by many researchers due to the fact that experimental
measurement of air permeability through unsaturated
soils is extremely difficult. Some other researchers
work indicates that this assumption may be reason-
able. First of all, the viscosity of air is much smaller
than that of water. Correspondingly, the permeabil-
ity coefficient of air is much higher than that of
water. Consequently the excess pore air pressure can
be considered to dissipate instantaneously and equal
the atmospheric pressure. Some experimental data
also supported this assumption. Rahardjo (1990) con-
ducted one-dimensional consolidation tests on unsatu-
rated silty sand in a specially designed K0 cylinder.The
results indicated an essentially instantaneous dissipa-
tion of the excess pore air pressure for that particular
soil. In this paper, this assumption is adopted.
Although the coupled consolidation theory for
saturated-unsaturated soils has been investigated by
many researchers, they failed to explain the physical
meanings of the parameters completely and some mis-
understandings about these parameters still exist. In
the mean time, saturated and unsaturated soils coex-
ist in most engineering problems. It is not uncommon
that unsaturated soils become saturated under many
conditions (for example, in dam construction), or vice
versa. Currently, soil mechanics for saturated and
unsaturated soils are still separate, and the existing
theories are still unable to completely solve the above
problems as many researchers claimed. Hence, it is
extremely meaningful to develop a unified theoretic
framework for both saturated and unsaturated soils.
In this paper, the constitutive laws for the coupled
consolidation of saturated and unsaturated soils are
explained. The governing differential equations for the
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coupled consolidation for saturated and unsaturated
soils are derived. Thermodynamic analogue to the cou-
pled consolidation process is discussed. An example
is used to illustrate its application.
Basic assumptions
The following assumptions are used in this paper:
(1) The soil is homogeneous and elastic; (2) The soil
particles and the water are incompressible; (3) Darcys
law is valid; (4) The air phase is continuous and the
excess pore air pressure is dissipated instantly so that
the pore air pressure can be considered as a constant
during the consolidation process.
Constitutive laws for volume change of soils
Constitutive laws are needed to describe the mecha-
nisms of some basic phenomena in the consolidation
process of saturated and unsaturated soils. These basic
phenomena are as follows:
When a load is applied to a soil in such a way that
the pore water pressure remains unchanged, the soil
volume will decrease. It can be described by Hookers
law in that the soils are considered as an incrementally
isotopic and linear elastic material.
Where E = the Youngs modulus of the material;
= Poissons ratio; G = the shear modulus; dx , dy ,
dz = the applied incremental mechanical stress in the
x, y, and z directions, respectively; and d(x ) , d(y ) ,
d(z ) = the corresponding strains in x, y, and z direc-
tions, respectively. The subscription stands for the
strains caused by the mechanical stress.
When the pore water pressure in the soils decreases
while the total stress remains unchanged, the volume
of the soil will decrease. This phenomenon is similar
to the heat expansion of a meta and can be described
by the following equations:
where = the coefficient of expansion of the soil due
to pore water pressure variations; and(dx )uw , (dy )uw ,
(dz )uw = the corresponding strains in the x, y, and z
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
directions, respectively. The subscription uw stands
for the deformation caused by the pore water pressure
variations. Note that the pore water pressure is neutral
stress and will not cause shear deformation.
Under most conditions, there are both load applica-
tions and pore water pressure variations. As a result,
the final volume of the soil will depend on the com-
bination effect of the above two processes. For any
small increment of strains, stresses and pore water
pressure variations, the principle of superposition can
be applied. The constitutive laws for coupled con-
solidation of saturated and unsaturated soils are as
follows:
When the pore water pressure in the soils decreases in
such a way that the total stress remains unchanged, the
water content in the soil decreases. This phenomenon
is very similar to the energy variation due to temper-
ature variation. If we define that the specific water
capacity of a soil Cw as the volume of water required
decreasing unit mass of soil by one kPa of pore water
pressure, then the water content variation due to pore
water pressure variations can be written as follows:
Where = volumetric water content; V0 = initial vol-
ume of the soil; dVw = volume of water supplied to
substance; Cw = the specific water capacity of the soil;
Gs = specific gravity of the soil solids; e0 = initial void
ratio of the soil; and d = dry unity weight of the soils.
Under constant pore water pressure conditions,
water can be squeezed out of the soil by mechanical
loads. the constitutive law for volumetric water content
variations due to mechanical stress variations under
constant pore water pressure condition can be stated
by using the semi-empirical method (Fredlund and
Morgenstern 1976) as follows: the water content vari-
ations (or water squeezed out of the soils) is linearly
proportional to any small mechanical stress variation,
that is,
Where mw1 = material parameter related to the ability
of mechanical stress to squeeze water out of the soil.
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The subscription stands for that the water content
variation is caused by the mechanical stress variation.
Under most conditions, there are both load applica-
tions and pore water pressure variations. As a result,
the final water content variations of the soil depend
on the combination effect of the above two processes.
The principle of superposition can be applied and the
constitutive law for water content variations in the cou-
pled consolidation of saturated and unsaturated soils
can be written as follows:
The volumetric strain for the coupled thermal stress
problem can be obtained from Eq.10 as follows:
Comparing Eq.6a, 6b with Eq.14 and 13 and consid-
ering air pressure is zero, we can found that:
Eq.15 indicates that ms1 is the inverse of bulk modulus,
ms2 is the triple of coefficient of expansion due to pore
water pressure variations, and mw2 is the multiply of
the dry unit weight of the soil and the specific water
capacity. The physical meaning ofmw1 is the ability of
mechanical stress to squeeze water out of the soil.
Differential equations for soil structure for the
coupled consolidation problem
The governing differential equations for saturated
and unsaturated soils have been derived by many
researchers. The process is recited sketchily as follows.
The stress and strain tensors need to satisfy equilibrium
and continuity equations. Equations of equilibrium for
the soil structure of an unsaturated soil are:
Where ij = components of the net total stress tensor;
and bj = components of the body force vector.
The strain-displacement equations (Cauchys Equa-
tion) for the soil structure of an unsaturated soil are
given by Eq.6.26a:
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Solve Eq.10 to get the expressions of x , y , z in terms
of x , y , z , ua uw , we have,
Combining Eq.18 and 16 gives differential equations
for equilibrium in terms of displacement:
Eq.19a, 19b and 19c are the governing differential
equations for the soil structure equilibrium for the
coupled hydro-mechanical stress problem.
Differential equations for water flow for the
coupled consolidation problem
1 Darcys Law
Darcys law is used to describe water flow through soils
in both saturated and unsaturated condition (Freeze
and Cherry 1979). A non-linear relationship can be
used to take into account the dependency between the
hydraulic conductivity and the pore-water pressure in
the unsaturated soil mass. Darcys law is written as
follows:
Where q = Darcys flux in i-direction; k = hydraulic
conductivity; which is a function of matric
suction; h = hydraulic head; and xi = the i- direction
coordinate.
Water flow in the soil also needs to satisfy the energy
equation, that is, Bernoullis equation. Bernoullis
equation states that the total head of water equals to
the sum of the elevation head, pressure head and the
velocity head, i.e.,
Where h = the total hydraulic head; z = the elevation
head; uw = is the pore water pressure; w = the den-
sity of water; g = the gravity acceleration; and v = the
velocity of the water flow.
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 Usually the velocity head in soils is much too small
to be of any consequence and thus can be neglected.
Eq.21a is converted to:
Because the water is considered to be incompressible,
the equation of soil water mass conversation is the
same as the water continuity equation in an unsaturated
soil. It can be written as follows:
Net water flow in = rate of change of stored water
The corresponding differential equation for the water
phase can be written as follows:
The left side in Eq.22 stands for net water flow in the
soil and the right-handed side stands for the rate of
change of stored water. It has two components: one
is resulted from pore water pressure variation and the
other is resulted from mechanical stress variations.
Solving m in Eq.14 (or 6a) in terms of v and uw ,
and substituting the result into Eq.13 or (6b), the volu-
metric water content variations can also be expressed
as:
Substituting Eq.23 into the right handed side of
Eq.22a, the following equation is obtained:
Eq.19a, 19b, 19c, and 22 together are the governing
differential equations for the coupled consolidation
problem for saturated and unsaturated soils. Eq.19a,
19b, 19c, and 24 together are the same as Biot (1941)
and Dakshanamurthy et al. (1984)s derivation.
Constitutive surfaces for saturated and
unsaturated soils
Currently the concept of constitutive surfaces is
used only for unsaturated soils. This fact is due to the
following reasons: 1) volume change theory for sat-
urated soils is well-established by Terzaghi and Biot.
Both of them failed to use the constitutive surfaces
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
for saturated soils. Instead, the constitutive surfaces
for saturated soils are replaced by the consolidation
curve. 2) The effective stress principle caused many
researchers to conclude that there is only one stress
state variable needed for saturated soils. As a conse-
quence, soil mechanics for saturated and unsaturated
soils are not unified. As can be seen from Eq.3a
through 3d, two stress state variables are needed for
saturated soils. Therefore, there are also constitutive
surfaces for saturated soils. The constitutive surfaces
for saturated soils can be derived from the effective
stress principle (Zhang, 2004). Combine Eqs.1 and 2,
hence,
Eq.25 is actually the mathematical expression of the
void ratio constitutive surfaces for saturated soils.
The degree of saturation surface for a saturated soil
is S=100%. Consider the following relationship,
So we have,
In other words, the water content constitutive sur-
face is the same as the void ratio constitutive surface
for a saturated soil. However, the physical meanings
for these two surfaces are totally different. The void
ratio constitutive surface (Eq.25) stands for relation-
ship between the void ratio, the normal mechanical
stress and pore water pressure, while the water con-
tent constitutive surface (Eq.27) shows relationship
between the water content, the normal mechanical
stress and pore water pressure.
For unsaturated soils, the void ratio constitutive
surface is different from water content constitutive sur-
faces because of Eq.26. The constitutive surfaces for
unsaturated soils can be directly measured by suction
controlled odometer or triaxial tests. Some researchers
also proposed methods to construct the constitutive
surfaces for unsaturated soils by interpolation (Ho
et al. 1992, Fredlund and Rahardjo 1993, Zhang 2004).
Substituting Eqs.25 and 27 into Eqs.7a through 7d,
the following relationship is obtained:
When Eq.28 is substituted into Eqs.19a, 19b, 19c,
and 22 and considering the air pressure in an satu-
rated soil is always zero, Eqs.3a, 3b, 3c and 4a (or 4b)
(Biots consolidation theory) can be obtained because
mw ms
w1 = 1s = 1 and w2 = (mw2 mw1 2s ) = 0. As can
m1 m1
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be seen, the proposed constitutive surfaces unify satu-
rated soil and unsaturated soils mechanics in a unified
system with smooth transition.
Biot (1941) proposed the coupled consolidation the-
ory similar to Eqs.19a, 19b, 19c, and 24 for saturated
soils and unsaturated soils with occluded air bubbles.
By assuming there is a potential energy in the soil Biot
concluded that for saturated soils and unsaturated soils
with occluded air bubbles, ms2 = mw1 . However, it is
questionable. Considering Eq.5, gives that for unsatu-
rated soils the void ratio constitutive surfaces can be
written as follows:
Combining Eqs.29, 7a, and 7b, we have,
For unsaturated expansive soils, 0 < < 1. For unsat-
urated collapsible soils, < 0. Combining Eqs.7c, 7d
and 26, we have,
From Eqs.30, 31 and 32, we can see that for unsatu-
rated soils ms1 = ms2 = mw1 = mw2 . ms2 = mw1 only holds
when the soil is fully saturated and Terzaghis effec-
tive stress principle holds. Without the relationship in
Eq.33, Eqs.3a, 3b, 3c and 4a (or 4b) (Biots consolida-
tion theory) can not be derived from Eqs.9a through 9e.
Therefore, Biots consolidation theory is not applicable
to unsaturated soils with occluded air bubbles.
Equivalent effective stress and excess pore water
pressure
For soil deformation, effective stress is the correspond-
ing equivalent stress to generate the same volumet-
ric strain caused by the mechanical stress variations
together with the pore water pressure variations. From
Eq.14 (or 6a), the equivalent effective stress of soil can
be calculated. For any volumetric strain caused by the
mechanical stress variation and the pore water pressure
variations, we have,
Comparing Eqs.5 and 33, we have,
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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Due to the highly nonlinearity of unsaturated soils,
both and B are functions of both mechanical stress
and pore water pressure. As a result, is not a constant
depending on soil status.
When a load is applied to an unsaturated soil, the
pore water pressure in the soil will increase at the
instant of load application because the soil is under
undrained compression. The ratio between the excess
pore water pressure and the applied load is called
excess pore water pressure parameter. The excess pore
water pressure can be calculated from Eq.13. At the
instant of load application, the soil is under undrained
compression there is no water drainage d(wGs ) = 0.
As a consequence, we have,
Where Bw = pore pressure parameter.
Substituting Eq.28 into Eqs.34 and 35, we have
= 1 and Bw = 1 for saturated soils.
Thermodynamic analogue to Coupled
consolidation of saturated and unsaturated soils
Terzaghi (1943) used the thermodynamic analogue
to explain the one dimensional (or uncoupled) con-
solidation theory for saturated soils in his theoretic
soil mechanics, where the pore water pressure is cor-
responding to temperature and the water content is
corresponding heat energy per unit mass. The the-
ory failed to explain the coupled consolidation for
saturated soils. Zhang (2004) found that the thermo-
dynamic analogue can also be applied to the coupled
consolidation theory for saturated-unsaturated soils.
By comparing Eqs.19a, 19b, 19c, and 22 with the gov-
erning differential equations three-dimensional cou-
pled thermal stress problem, it is found that the term
(m )
mw1 in Eq.22 is corresponding to the heat gen-
t
eration term in the coupled thermal stress problem.
Due to the space limit in this paper, the detailed dis-
cussions are omitted. The thermodynamic analogue
makes it much easier to understand the two stress state
variable concept. In the mean time, the coupled ther-
mal stress problem has been studied in the mechanical
engineering for decades. Some methods for solving
those problems are already well-established and a lot of
commercial software packages have been well devel-
oped such as ABAQUS and S, SUPER and ANSYS.
The thermodynamic analogue to the coupled consoli-
dation problem provides us a useful tool to investigate
the soil behaviors for saturated and unsaturated soils.
Zhang (2004) found that the Mandel-Cryer effect also
exists in unsaturated soils by using the thermodynamic
analogue to the coupled consolidation for saturated
and unsaturated soils.
CONCLUSION
In this paper, the physical meanings of the material
parameters in the constitutive laws for the coupled con-
solidation theory for saturated and unsaturated soils
are discussed. The governing differential equations
for the coupled consolidation theory for saturated and
unsaturated soils are derived. The derivations make
discussion of the thermodynamic analogue to the
coupled consolidation for saturated and unsaturated
soils much easier. By using the constitutive surfaces
proposed by Zhang (2004), it is found that the consol-
idation theory for saturated and unsaturated soils can
be unified in a unified system while saturated soils is a
special case of unsaturated soils. Biots consolidation
theory can only be used for saturated soils because
ms2 = mw1 only holds when the soil is fully saturated.
In this paper, the relationships between the equivalent
effective stress, excess pore water pressure and the
constitutive laws for the volume change of saturated
and unsaturated soils are also discussed.
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