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Assessment of soil damage induced by drying

Das Projekt "Assessment of soil damage induced by drying" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Institut des sols, roches et fondations, Laboratoire de mecanique des sols durchgeführt. Drying, through its effects on soils, is likely to affect any man-made structure and building supported by the ground, as well as the safety of earth structures (such as flood embankments and dams) and land use. The related human and financial costs are incalculable. Studies on climate global change clearly suggest an increasing recurrence of drought events in some parts of the world, making the subject a burning issue. The broad objective of the research is twofold: (i) to gain a better understanding of the consequences of drying the soil, the mechanisms which induce damage and the variables which control it; (ii) to develop a comprehensive predictive model, able to assess such processes. Because of the deformable nature of soils, drying primarily induces shrinkage. More generally, drying is responsible for a large set of processes, which could be sorted as follows: (i) soil de-formation, (ii), strength modification, (iii), structure alteration, (iv), mechanical damage, and (v) fracture. The risks of degradation of buildings, of earth-structures and land use stem from these phenomena. In spite of the existing modelling capabilities, the prediction of the consequences of drying on soil behaviour is still oversimplified. This is primarily because of the lack of global conceptual models for the highly complex processes that occur during drying. We intend to tackle the problem by considering the fundamental couplings between the water retention behaviour and the mechanical behaviour. The structure changes and damages induced by drying will be the focus of our attention. In order to support our understanding of the processes and their modelling, it is planned to conduct experiments, and to measure the evolution of deformation, water saturation, particle arrangement and fracturing related to drying. The work and its planned dissemination will help communities to assess the potential environmental impact and risk on their territory more easily. This research will develop a coherent and experimentally-supported theory. Understanding soil drying shrinkage and damage and developing abilities to predict its behaviour will allow engineers to reduce the principal threat to landforms and structures. This alone will be greatly beneficial to a large portion of the population.

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