Multi-scale approach for modeling desiccation shrinkage in granular soils

This paper aims to identify and quantitatively evaluate various critical mechanisms associated with the processes of desiccation shrinkage and cracking in drying, silty soils. A previously developed 1D bundle-of-tubes model is refined to simulate the various stages of drying shrinkage in 2D, using the actual pore size distribution based on Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) data. Experimental evidence at a meso-scale has shown that the air entry phenomenon may occur in two possible scenarios: air incursion at the external surface and formation of vapor nucleus in the interior. Further transition of solid-water structural configuration into funicular and pendular states from the initially capillary state is simulated. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.