Numerical simulations of triaxial shearing-infiltration tests

The failure of steep slopes during rainfall is commonly associated with a decrease in matric suction in the unsaturated soil zone above the water table. The shear strength characteristics of residual soil under water infiltration have been studied in the laboratory using unsaturated triaxial tests. This paper presents a development of a numerical model for simulating a triaxial shearing-infiltration test to investigate the shear strength characteristics of a compacted kaolin under infiltration condition. Both the hydraulic and mechanical responses of the compacted kaolin are modeled using the commercial software SIGMA/W and in-house software YS-Slope. The numerical analyses result and their validation against laboratory test results are presented and discussed in this paper. The results from the numerical analyses show good agreements with those from the laboratory tests, indicating that the proposed numerical model can be used to simulate the triaxial shearing-infiltration tests in laboratory.