ABSTRACT
Various soil settlement equations have been introduced to quantify settlement based on the applied load or the subjected effective stress increase. These settlement equations are developed based on the effective stress concept of Terzaghi. Those equations cannot quantify settlement when there is no increase in the effective stress or loading and thus, settlement under effective stress decreases like the inundation settlement cannot be modelled. The incorporation of shear strength is inevitable to achieve a more comprehensive soil settlement model and this is where the Rotational Multiple Yield Surface Framework (RMYSF) becomes pertinent. Wetting collapse in sand was modelled in a large Rowe cell and the result substantiated that the settlement takes place under effective stress decrease; besides, another weird settlement behaviour was encountered where a bigger settlement was observed under low net stress compared to a higher net stress. The step-by-step procedure was explained for the determination of the wetting collapse settlement using the concept in RMYSF. Essentially, the application of the RMYSF can model qualitatively and quantitatively the loading collapse settlement and the weird settlement behaviours under low and high net stresses encountered in the Rowe cell tests on limestone gravel.
