Constitutive and experimental modelling of the geotechnical degradation of compacted soils when exposed to environmental actions

The effects of weather-driven processes such as cyclical wetting and drying on compacted unsaturated soils has become a critical area of research in geotechnical engineering. Unsaturated soils are used as near-surface fill materials and are heavily utilised to construct infrastructure slopes and embankments. The soil near the surface of these slopes and embankments is prone to mechanical degradation through climate-induced processes that influence the infrastructure's performance. This research project will explore further the deterioration of soils subjected to cyclical wetting and drying, which are not yet fully under-stood. A preliminary review of the literature focused on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils has shown that further laboratory characterisation would benefit the existing body of knowledge. In addition, advanced laboratory characterisation of critical state parameters will be valuable in im-proving and refining existing fully coupled elasto-plastic constitutive models such as the Glasgow Coupled Model.