Mathematical and computational modelling of vegetated soil incorporating hydraulically-driven finite strain deformation

Abstract

In this paper a new model for the hydro-mechanical behaviour of rooted soils is developed. It is a physically-based model that couples finite strain soil deformation with unsaturated water and air flow, while improving on existing cohesion-based approaches to mechanical root reinforcement and empirical soil water-uptake approaches typically used to deal with rooted slopes. The model is used to show that the dynamics of soil-water pressure and soil deformation depend strongly on the physics of the root-water uptake and the elasto-plastic soil mechanics. Root water uptake can cause suctions and corresponding soil shrinkage sufficiently large to necessitate a finite-strain approach. Although this deformation can change the intrinsic permeability, hydraulic conductivity remains dominated by the water content. The model incorporates simultaneous air-flow, but this is shown to be unimportant for soil-water dynamics under the conditions assumed in example simulations. The mechanical action of roots is incorporated via a root stress tensor and a simulation is used to show how root tension is mobilised within a swelling soil. The developed model may be used to simulate both laboratory experiments and full-scale vegetated slopes.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Nicholas Woodman: orcid.org/0000-0002-5571-0451

ORCID for Joel Smethurst: orcid.org/0000-0001-8175-985X

ORCID for Tiina Roose: orcid.org/0000-0001-8710-1063

ORCID for William Powrie: orcid.org/0000-0002-2271-0826

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