Introduction

Swelling soils are often the cause of considerable damage to foundations and roads. The soil swells and shrinks in response to climatic changes. Vu and Fredlund (2006) presented a case involving swelling soil due to infiltration from precipitation and/or irrigation around a building. The soil is initially assumed to be at a constant, and uniform, suction. An infiltration flux rate is then applied on the ground surface outside the building, which causes the suctions to diminish and the soil to swell.

SIGMA/W’s Consolidation analysis type was used to simulate this case history.