Deformation induced by wetting: a simple model

This paper presents a simple model for predicting the deformation induced by wetting. The objective is to quantify the deformation induced by saturation of an unsaturated layer of homogeneous soil, causing variation of the initial void ratio and gravimetric water content. The soil is a low-plasticity silty sand. A simple expression for the normal compression line (NCL), which depends on the parameter χ and one more parameter, will be proposed. The model may capture the progressive degradation induced by loading and wetting by linking the dependency of NCL by the parameter χ and water retention curve by porosity.