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EDITORIAL
The emergence of unsaturated soil mechanics
The past 50 years have witnessed great strides in the use of
mechanics and hydraulic principles applied to various particulate
materials. One of the primary growth areas has been the develop-
ment of unsaturated soil mechanics. Theories and physical pro-
cess formulations have followed a pattern consistent with that
originally synthesized by the founder of modern soil mechanics,
Karl Terzaghi. The emergence of unsaturated soil mechanics,
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however, has lagged almost 40 years behind the development of
saturated soil mechanics. The Canadian Geotechnical Journal has
been at the forefront of publishing fundamental theories, the
measurement and estimation of unsaturated soil properties (or
soil property functions), and in particular, the application of un-
saturated soil mechanics in engineering practice.
The term “unsaturated soil mechanics” has been used when
addressing a wide range of geotechnical engineering problems
where the pore-water pressure is negative (or soil suction is posi-
tive). The first unsaturated soil mechanics problem to attract at-
tention involved swelling or expansive soils. The first issue of the
Canadian Geotechnical Journal (published in 1963) had several re-
search papers that focused on swelling soils. Two of these papers
were “Heave of spillway structures on clay shales” by R. Peterson
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and N. Peters and “Volume changes in undisturbed clay profiles in
western Canada” by J.J. Hamilton. With time, a wide range of
geotechnical problems would be addressed under the broad cate-
gory of unsaturated soil mechanics. Theoretical developments fol-
lowed the classic areas common to saturated soil mechanics;
namely, (i) flow, (ii) shear strength, and (iii) volume change of soils.
Theoretical developments for saturated soils were extended over
time to embrace the behaviour of unsaturated soils. Heat flow and
air flow theories also became important when dealing with unsat-
urated soil behaviour.
Karl Terzaghi wrote a foreword published in the first issue of
the Canadian Geotechnical Journal. He emphasized the need for the
development of a “link between theoretical and applied soil me-
chanics.” He noted that the goal of the journal should be to “pro-
vide the practising engineer with the means to take advantage of
our knowledge of the basic principles of soil mechanics without
the risk of unwarranted generalization.” These same statements
are also relevant to the understanding and application of unsatu-
rated soil mechanics. The past 50 years have witnessed a rapid
growth in unsaturated soils theories, the determination of unsat-
urated soil properties, and the solution of a wide range of unsat-
urated soil mechanics problems. The Canadian Geotechnical Journal
has served as a vital link in the extension of saturated soil me-
chanics to unsaturated soil mechanics.
The development of unsaturated soil mechanics has, in general,
adhered to the principles laid down in the time-tested science of
continuum mechanics. It is of interest, however, to note some of
the primary differences between saturated soil mechanics and
unsaturated soil mechanics.
The basic building block for the development of a behavioural
science for any material lies in the assessment of the “state vari-
ables”, which form the basic building blocks for the development
of a science. State variables need to be independent of the physical
material properties, but can be used to describe the physical be-
haviour of a material.
In the 1930s, Terzaghi defined “effective stress” as the variable
that could be used to describe the stress state of a saturated soil.
Effective stress was defined as (␴ – uw), where ␴ is total stress and
uw is the pore-water pressure. Several decades later researchers
Can. Geotech. J. 51: ix–x (2014) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0095
became aware of the need to have two independent stress state
variables when describing physical processes associated with un-
saturated soils. The suggested variables were (␴ − ua) and (ua – uw),
where ua is the pore-air pressure. The following figure illustrates
the use of the groundwater table as a boundary between the use of
one and two stress state variables for saturated and unsaturated
soils, respectively.
The transition between saturated and unsaturated soil mechan-
ics can be visualized in terms of the separation that occurs when
going from soils with positive pore-water pressures to soils with
negative pore-water pressures. The adoption of two independent
stress state variables opened the way the way for the development
of unsaturated soil mechanics. It should be noted, however, that
there are some distinct differences between saturated and unsat-
urated soil mechanics. For example, it has become necessary to
make use of “estimation procedures” for the characterization of
unsaturated soil behaviour. These procedures have provided a
practical protocol for the implementation of unsaturated soil me-
chanics in engineering practice. Computer technology has also
played a major role, allowing many aspects of unsaturated soil
mechanics to be incorporated into routine engineering practice.
In the 1940s, at the time of the writing of the original soil
mechanics’ textbooks, attempts were made to reduce complex,
geotechnical engineering problems into simplified, closed-form
solutions. Flownets provided a graphical solution for the move-
ment of water through an isotropic, homogeneous, porous media.
Methods of slices provided the ability to calculate the factor of
safety of slopes. The calculation of settlement and pore pressure
dissipation of compressible clay layers was solved using a one-
dimensional analysis. In each case the world of soil mechanics was
reduced to a longhand solution through the use of a series of soil
property constants, (e.g., hydraulic conductivity, k; effective cohe-
sion, c ; and effective friction angle,␸ ). In the case of compressible
clay, the material properties were converted to soil property con-
stants, (e.g., compression index, Cc, and expansion index, Cs).
It became clear in the 1960s and 1970s that unsaturated soil
properties would need to be defined as nonlinear unsaturated soil
property functions (USPF). Unsaturated soil mechanics became a vi-
brant area of geotechnical research and it was apparent that we
were entering a new era that required some paradigm changes
when solving saturated–unsaturated soil mechanics problems. If
unsaturated soil mechanics was to find its way into geotechnical
engineering practice there needed to be new procedures that
could be used for obtaining unsaturated soil property functions at
reasonable cost and effort. Consequently, a wide variety of
estimation procedures emerged from research studies undertaken in
many countries. The estimation procedures relied heavily on the
saturated soil properties and an understanding of the soil–water
characteristic curve (SWCC; i.e., the relationship between water con-
tent and soil suction). In 2013, Morgenstern stated the following in
the foreword to the book Unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering
practice
“A fundamental distinction between saturated and unsatu-
rated soil behavior is the need to express the relationship in
the latter between water content and soil suction, i.e., the
soil-water characteristic curve. Since 1993, there has been an
explosion of studies into the measurement of soil suction
and the development of soil-water characteristic curves. A
particular effort has been made here to synthesize these
developments in a manner that facilitates applications”.
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 x Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 51, 2014
Visualization of the stress state descriptions for saturated and
unsaturated soils.
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The 1960s and 1970s were decades that witnessed rapid growth
in the use of numerical methods for the solution of complex
mathematical formulations. The computer could solve new math-
ematical formulations that described the physical behaviour of
saturated–unsaturated soil systems. Numerical solution methods
emerged for a variety of geotechnical engineering problems that
stretched well beyond the classic topics of saturated soil mechan-
ics. Soil mechanics problems were visualized as boundary-value
problems with the following conditions defined: (i) geometry and
stratigraphy, (ii) initial conditions and boundary conditions,
For personal use only.
(iii) soil properties (and soil property functions), and (iv) solution
techniques. In each case, the physics of soil behaviour was defined
for a referential elemental volume (REV) of the unsaturated soil con-
tinuum. The mathematical formulation describing the physics of
soil behaviour took on the form of a partial differential equation
(PDE). The derived partial differential equations were generally
found to be nonlinear because of the nonlinear unsaturated soil
property functions required as part of the mathematical formula-
tion. Computer software programs have emerged that are spe-
cially designed for solving nonlinear PDEs.
The development of unsaturated soil mechanics has benefited
from research undertaken in two primary areas; namely, (i) soil
physics and agronomy and (ii) computer technology and mathe-
matics. The rapid growth in computing capability (i.e., computer
hardware and software) has made the solution of unsaturated
soils problems possible in routine geotechnical engineering prac-
tice. Saturated–unsaturated soil mechanics problems can now be
solved within a boundary value context through use of numerical
solutions (e.g., the finite element method).
The computer has truly revolutionized the way in which soil
mechanics is now implemented in engineering practice. It is clear
that it would not be possible to numerically model saturated–
unsaturated soil mechanics problems without the use of comput-
ers. Geotechnical engineering has moved into a new paradigm that
involves the use of SWCCs, USPFs, and PDEs. It is a world in which
there are challenges related to convergence and uniqueness of the
soil mechanics solution; a world in which computer software is no
longer a luxury but a necessity in geotechnical engineering prac-
tice.
Throughout the history of the development of unsaturated soil
mechanics, the Canadian Geotechnical Journal has served as valuable
resource for research into the behaviour of unsaturated soils.
Originally unsaturated soil mechanics appeared to be related to
problems associated with expansive soils problems in western
Canada, but there also appears to have been other “drivers”
involved in the promotion of research into unsaturated soil
mechanics. Canada also experiences wide fluctuations in temperature
(and net radiation) and ground surface moisture fluxes. Original
developments in soil mechanics were largely directed towards a
world of “isothermal” conditions and as a result the influences of
temperature and ground surface moisture fluxes were largely ig-
nored. The need for better stewardship of the surrounding envi-
ronment provided impetus to combine heat and moisture flow
analyses into the design of near-ground-surface engineered struc-
tures such as soil covers.
Being a resource-rich country, Canadian geotechnical engineers
have pursued research needs in the geoenvironmental engineer-
ing area. The scope of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal has been
broadened over the years to provide a much needed research
outlet for the development of unsaturated soil mechanics. In the
process, Canadian geotechnology has become a much sought af-
ter resource around the world. Canadian geotechnical engineers
have served in leadership roles on the international scene, serving
with the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechni-
cal Engineering (ISSMGE; e.g., Subcommittee on Unsaturated Soil
Mechanics). Canadian geotechnical engineers have promoted un-
saturated soil mechanics research at national, regional, and inter-
national conferences and the Canadian Geotechnical Journal has
become a preferred journal for the publication of unsaturated soil
mechanics’ research.
Delwyn G. Fredlund
Golder Associates Ltd., Saskatoon
Published by NRC Research Press