Location
Arlington, Virginia
Date
14 Aug 2008, 2:15pm - 4:00pm
Abstract
Bioengineering including native vegetation is an ancient method of improving the stability of slopes. In modern railway engineering, this technique is re-captured for increasing the soil stiffness and shear strength of sub-grade beneath rail tracks. A mathematical model for the rate of root water uptake has been developed considering ground conditions, type of vegetation and climatic parameters. The three independent features in the root water uptake model considered in detail are soil suction, root distribution, and potential transpiration. In order to establish a rigorous analysis for estimating the actual transpiration or root water uptake, the above mentioned factors have been quantified through relevant equations to develop the model. A two dimensional finite element approach has been employed to solve the transient coupled flow and deformation equations. In order to validate the model, an array of field measurements conducted at Miram site in Victoria, Australia and the data have been compared with the numerical predictions. The predicted results calculated using the soil, plant, and atmospheric parameters contained in the numerical model, compared favourably with the field and the associated laboratory measurements, justifying the assumptions upon which the model has been developed.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
6th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2008 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Fatahi, Behzad; Indraratna, Buddhima; and Khabbaz, Hadi, "Case Study on the Influence of Transpiration on the Ground Behaviour" (2008). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 8.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/6icchge/session07/8
Case Study on the Influence of Transpiration on the Ground Behaviour
Arlington, Virginia
Bioengineering including native vegetation is an ancient method of improving the stability of slopes. In modern railway engineering, this technique is re-captured for increasing the soil stiffness and shear strength of sub-grade beneath rail tracks. A mathematical model for the rate of root water uptake has been developed considering ground conditions, type of vegetation and climatic parameters. The three independent features in the root water uptake model considered in detail are soil suction, root distribution, and potential transpiration. In order to establish a rigorous analysis for estimating the actual transpiration or root water uptake, the above mentioned factors have been quantified through relevant equations to develop the model. A two dimensional finite element approach has been employed to solve the transient coupled flow and deformation equations. In order to validate the model, an array of field measurements conducted at Miram site in Victoria, Australia and the data have been compared with the numerical predictions. The predicted results calculated using the soil, plant, and atmospheric parameters contained in the numerical model, compared favourably with the field and the associated laboratory measurements, justifying the assumptions upon which the model has been developed.
