| Accurate modeling of soil behavior usually requires that soil properties be measured by laboratory or field tests. However, testing of soils on every slope that may possibly fail due to rainfall is not feasible. Furthermore, measurement of unsaturated soils hydraulic functions, such as the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and the permeability function, are presently time consuming and difficult. This thesis evaluates whether unsaturated soil hydraulic functions estimated by a number of published techniques can be used to predict in-situ pore pressure development in unsaturated soils.; Pore water pressures measured during a field study by Lim et al. (1996), in a residual soil slope at the campus of Nanyang Technical University, Singapore, were modeled using detailed site information; including subsurface stratigraphy, rainfall and evaporation rates, initial pore water pressures, and measured soil hydraulic properties. The case study was then repeated with estimated hydraulic functions that were based on models available in the literature and site specific grain size distribution curves. The computed pore pressures were compared to each other, and to pore pressures measured during the field study, in order to evaluate how well the estimated functions predict pore pressure development in unsaturated soils. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
