Coupled thermal-mechanical-hydraulic model of saturated clays subjected to heating

Due to the strong electro-chemical forces generated in clay mineral system, there exist three constituents with different physical and mechanical properties in saturated clay soils. They are solid mineral, bulk (mobile) water, and adsorbed (immobile) water which is strongly attracted by the clay platelets. A coupled thermal-mechanical-hydraulic model is proposed based on the mixture theory of two interacting constituents by considering saturated clay soils as a two-phase mixture which consists of solid mineral and adsorbed water together as one single phase and bulk water as another phase. Mass transfer between these two phases simulates the failure of adsorption forces when the temperature varies.