THERMO-HYDRO-MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF PARTIALLY SATURATED POROUS MATERIALS

Presents a fully coupled numerical model to simulate the slow transien t phenomena involving heat and mass transfer in deforming partially sa turated porous materials. Makes use of the modified effective stress c oncept together with the capillary pressure relationship. Examines pha se changes (evaporation-condensation), heat transfer through conductio n and convection, as well as latent heat transfer. The governing equat ions in terms of gas pressure, capillary pressure, temperature and dis placements are coupled non-linear differential equations and are discr etized by the finite element method in space and by finite differences in the time domain. The model is further validated with respect to a documented experiment on partially saturated soil behaviour, and the e ffects of two-phase flow, as compared to the one-phase flow solution, are analysed. Two other examples involving drying of a concrete wall a nd thermoelastic consolidation of partially saturated clay demonstrate the importance of proper physical modelling and of appropriate choice of the boundary conditions.