This paper describes recent advances in stability analysis that combine the limit theorems of classical plasticity with finite elements to give rigorous upper and lower bounds on the failure load. These methods, known as finite-element limit analysis, do not require assumptions to be made about the mode of failure, and use only simple strength parameters that are familiar to geotechnical engineers. The bounding properties of the solutions are invaluable in practice, and enable accurate limit loads to be obtained through the use of an exact error estimate and automatic adaptive meshing procedures. The methods are very general, and can deal with heterogeneous soil profiles, anisotropic strength characteristics, fissured soils, discontinuities, complicated boundary conditions, and complex loading in both two and three dimensions. A new development, which incorporates pore water pressures in finite-element limit analysis, is also described. Following a brief outline of the new techniques, stability solutions are given for several practical problems, including foundations, anchors, slopes, excavations and tunnels.

The paper describes the expansive phenomena affecting Lilla tunnel in Spain during construction and subsequent operation. The geology of the site and the performance of alternative support designs are described. Field observations are analysed to identify the causes of the observed swelling. It was found that long-term swelling in Lilla tunnel was the result of gypsum crystal growth in discontinuities. The phenomenon was a consequence of a few contributing factors: significant presence of anhydrite, existent or activated discontinuities, and the circulation of water. These conditions were present in the highly tectonised Tertiary claystone in Lilla. The original horseshoe cross-section was transformed into a circular one, and a reinforced concrete lining was built to resist swelling pressures. Long-term monitoring of the reinforced tunnel provided valuable data on the evolution of swelling pressures against the lining, and on the stresses developed in the resisting structure. The highly heterogeneous distribution of swelling pressures against the lining explains the low strains measured in reinforcement bars despite the very high maximum swelling pressures recorded.

This paper examines the performance of unsaturated soils under repeated loading. As part of the research, a triaxial system was developed that incorporates small-strain measurements using Hall effect transducers, in addition to suction measurements taken using a psychrometer. Tests were conducted on samples of kaolin under constant water mass conditions. The results address the effects of compaction effort and water content at the time of compaction on the overall performance of unsaturated soils, under different amplitudes of loading and different confining pressures. The results show that suction in the sample reduced with increasing number of loading cycles of the same magnitude. The resilient modulus initially increased with increasing water content up to approximately optimum water content, and then reduced substantially with further increase in water content.

Prediction of the long-term settlement of clay soils over tunnels requires a knowledge of the permeability of the soil and of the tunnel lining; however, determination of the lining permeability in the field is difficult. An important contributor to this problem is the lack of knowledge concerning the permeability of the grout between the lining and the soil. This paper presents the results of tests to characterise the properties of grout samples from London Underground tunnels, investigating permeability, porosity, microstructure and composition. The tests revealed that the newer grout was impermeable relative to the surrounding clay. However, the older samples showed much greater permeabilities and an altered grout composition, suggesting that degradation had taken place. Exposure to groundwater appeared to have caused carbonation and sulfate reaction. The combination of chemical reaction and leaching of cementitious and degradation products appears to have made these grouts more permeable, so that the grout could act as a drainage path rather than a barrier. This challenges the typical assumption that the grout acts as an impermeable barrier.

The roles of crystalline and osmotic swelling in the overall swelling of a volume of clay are poorly understood. In this paper, the swelling behaviour is simulated using the discrete-element method (DEM). The interparticle forces include mechanical, attractive (van der Waals), and repulsive (double-layer and interlayer) forces. Except for the interlayer repulsion, rational force–displacement relations had been established in previous publications. A systematic molecular dynamic study has recently been completed to establish the interlayer force–displacement relation. These relations are synthesised into a DEM study in the present paper. Numerical experiments are conducted by first forming dry powder assemblies and then saturating them under constant volume. The changes in internal fabric and the swelling pressures developing on the walls are evaluated. It is found that particles expand and fill up the interparticle pore spaces. The predicted relation of void ratio against swelling pressure is found to be reasonably close to that experimentally measured by others in the past. The results also indicate that the crystalline swelling influences swelling pressure values only when the void ratio is smaller than a certain value.

The concept of the critical state in granular soils needs to make proper reference to the fabric structure that develops at critical state. This study identifies a unique property associated with the fabric structure relative to the stresses at critical state. A unique relationship between the mean effective stress and a fabric anisotropy parameter, K, defined by the first joint invariant of the deviatoric stress tensor and the deviatoric fabric tensor, is found at critical state, and is path-independent. Numerical simulations using the discrete-element method under different loading conditions and intermediate principal stress ratios identify a unique power law for this relationship. Based on the findings, a new definition of critical state for granular media is proposed. In addition to the conditions of constant stress and unique void ratio required by the conventional critical state concept, the new definition imposes the additional constraint that K reaches a unique value at critical state. A unique spatial critical state curve in the three-dimensional space K–e–p′ is found for a granular medium, the projection of which onto the e–p′ plane turns out to be the conventional critical state line. The new critical state concept provides an important reference state for a soil to reach, based on which the key concepts in the constitutive modelling of granular media, including the choice of state parameters, dilatancy relation and non-coaxiality, are reassessed, and future exploratory topics are discussed.