Collapse Pattern in Gypseous Soil using Particle Image Velocimetry

Abstract Gypseous soil is prevalent in arid and semi-arid areas, is from collapsible soil, which contains the mineral gypsum, and has variable properties, including moisture-induced volume changes and solubility. Construction on these soils necessitates meticulous assessment and unique designs due to the possibility of foundation damage from soil collapse. The stability and durability of structures situated on gypseous soils necessitate close collaboration with specialists and careful, methodical preparation. It had not been done to find the pattern of failure in the micromechanical behavior of gypseous sandy soil through particle image velocity (PIV) analysis. This adopted recently in geotechnical engineering to track the motion of soil grains and using tracer particles by applying digital particle image analysis. It has also been used to study the displacement distribution in some cases of granular materials. Therefore, the goal of this study is to find out how gypseous sand medium moves when in contact with a rigid strip foundation that is under static stress and plane strain conditions. The experimental model would focus on two common types of wetting, namely water table rise and dry conditions. The PIV showed that the collapse pattern under the footing is of the type of punching shear failure. The predominant mechanism of soil deformation was the vertical compression of the gypseous granular soil. The results showed that understanding gypseous sandy grain displacement and failure patterns at the local scale is crucial for enhancing the design of foundations under static stress conditions.