Flow of air-phase in unsaturated, weathered soils and its applications

(RGC-DAG; PI: Prof. Zhang L.M.; PhD student: Mr. Bate)

The principal objectives of this project are to investigate the basic laws of the air phase in soils, to study the effects of pore-air pressure on the stability of slopes, and to develop a fast and effective system for emergency stabilisation of slopes impending to failure or under progressive failure. The state-of-the-art 400 g-ton geotechnical centrifuge facility will be used to simulate the air-phase flow in slopes and to validate the efficiency of the emergency slope stabilisation system, because the centrifuge allows reduced-scale duplication of the stresses and pressure distributions encountered in the field.