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Assessment of the Impact of Inundation on the Strength of a Lateritic and Collapsible Soil

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Abstract

The occurrence of lateritic soils with clayey texture, unsaturated, and with high porosity is common in Brazil. When subjected to an increase in moisture (loss of suction) in the more superficial layers, such soils end up altering their stress–strain behaviors, which are complex, culminating in countless geotechnical uncertainties. A phenomenon referred to as collapse is attributed to materials subjected to variation in saturation that entail significant differential settlements. Considering this situation, following the implementation of the Geotechnical Engineering Experimental Field located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, a broad study involving laboratory tests (granulometry, x-ray diffraction, water retention curve, confined compression, direct shear (natural and inundated condition), and consolidated drained triaxial compression tests) and field tests (SPT and static pile load tests) was carried out in the natural moisture and inundated conditions to assess the conditions of saturation and loss of suction in such materials. The results indicated that the shear strength of the soil was linked to the suction, having an 81.34% decrease in the cohesive intercept, and practically maintaining the soil friction angle. Confined compression tests with inundation indicated that the soil presented itself as potentially collapsible. The results obtained from the conducted pile load tests, revealing a substantial decline in carrying capacity ranging from 29 to 43% attributed to saturation of unsaturated soils, emphasize the paramount significance of this scientific article in comprehending the potential hazards associated with diminished bearing capacity and the subsequent emergence of structural pathologies or, in extreme cases, structural collapse.

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Data Availablity

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Manancial repository of University Federal of Santa Maria, Brazil.

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Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Finance Code 001), for granting the first author’s scholarship and Universidade Federal de Santa Maria for their support.

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Author notes

  1. Magnos Baroni, Gustavo Corbellini Masutti, Rinaldo José Barbosa Pinheiro, Diego de Freitas Fagundes these authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineer Post Graduate Program, Federal University of Santa Maria, Roraima Av. 1000, Santa Maria, Rio Grande Do Sul, 97105-900, Brazil

    Patricia Rodrigues Falcão, Magnos Baroni & Rinaldo José Barbosa Pinheiro

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Cruz Alta University, Jacob Della Méa Av., Cruz Alta, Rio Grande Do Sul, 98020-290, Brazil

    Gustavo Corbellini Masutti

  3. Ocean Engineer Post Graduate Program, Federal University of Rio Grande, Italia Av. Km.8, Rio Grande, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

    Diego de Freitas Fagundes

Authors
  1. Patricia Rodrigues Falcão
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  2. Magnos Baroni
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  3. Gustavo Corbellini Masutti
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  4. Rinaldo José Barbosa Pinheiro
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  5. Diego de Freitas Fagundes
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Contributions

PRF: Conceptualization, methodology and experimental procedures, formal analysis, writing—original draft, review and editing. MB: Advisor, supervision, validation, writing—review and editing. Gustavo CM: Validation, experimental procedures, writing—review and editing. RJBP: Funding acquisition, methodology, writing—review. DFF: Validation, experimental procedures, writing—review.

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Correspondence to Magnos Baroni.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. All co-authors have observed and affirmed the contents of the paper and there is no financial interest to report.

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Falcão, P.R., Baroni, M., Masutti, G.C. et al. Assessment of the Impact of Inundation on the Strength of a Lateritic and Collapsible Soil. Geotech Geol Eng 41, 4761–4773 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02545-y

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