Economical Ecological and Durable Earth Construction – TERREDURABLE

current actions :
- laboratory tests on real soils and scale one tests;
- soil law behaviour taking account non saturation annd occluded air;
- numerical simulation of the laboratory and scale one tests
- analysis of current practice, methodological guide for calculation design.

Measurements are currently done on a scale one experimentation (A304 cutting since 2012 and scale one compaction test in sptember 2014).
Many laboratory test on various soils are available.
A hydromechanical soil behaviour law has been developped and the soil tests results are used to assess its vallidity. In the occluded air domain, this law can bu used using FLAC software (2D) where it is implemented.
A first synthesis of current practise and interesting feedbacks on various earyhwork projects are availble.

The laboratory tests and scale one measurements will go on.
The implementation of D1 domain (unsaturated zone with free air) in FLAC software is the next step of the project.
The hydromechanical soil behaviour law and its implementation in FLAC will be used to model various tests and in-situ measurements.
The current work on practises and feedbacks will go on.

Mahmutovic, D., Monnet, J., Loret, B., Ple, O., Pelizzari, B., Boutonnier , L., Lai, B., (2014), A model for weakly unsaturated soils taking into account the three phases (air, water and soil), UNSAT 2014, Unsaturated Soils: Research & Applications Sydney Australia 2-4 July 2014, to be published.

Pelizzari, B., Plé, O., Monnet, J., Loret, B., Mahmutovic, D., Boutonnier, L., Daïan, J.-F., (2014), Physical effects of liquid-vapor water transition in unsaturated soils, UNSAT 2014, Unsaturated Soils: Research & Applications Sydney Australia 2-4 July 2014, to be published.

Wong, H., Lai, B.T., Fabbri, A., Branque, D., Morvan, M. (2014). Bounding Surface Plasticity (BSP) approach to model behaviour of unsaturated soils using a non-associative flow rule, UNSAT 2014, Unsaturated Soils: Research & Applications Sydney Australia 2-4 July 2014, to be published.

The action of research focus on the untreated fine behavior of the soil constructions, and the the hydromechanical not saturated coupling. This domain of behavior is not taken into account in the design of such constructions, it is not teached in schools and no reference guide dealing with this problem exists. The most used professionnal guide GTR indicates the conditions of use of materials (traficability and compaction). Nevertheless, the problems of stability of the constructions in fine soils, their breath (frost / unfrost, moistening, infiltration / evaporation, capillary) and deformations associated during the construction or after the reception of the construction are not approached. The analysis of the pathologies on the existing soils constructions shows that the majority of the disorders are connected to unknown hydric conditions into fine soil constructions..
The TerreDurable project provides a guide needed by profession and gives a methodology of design which is founded on on scientific data and on experience of the practitioners. The objective of this project is to propose a methodology of study for the new soil constructions but also for the repair of the existing constructions which present disorders connected to the unsaturation phenomena.
The project should be labelled by the center of excellence INDURA