This paper deals with the swelling behavior of an expansive soil under transient wetting process. The swelling behavior of soils is predicted by using a coupled procedure that involves the equilibrium of the soil structure and the continuity of thewater seepage. The coupled equations are formulated based on the general theory of consolidation for unsaturated soils. The finite element method is used for the solution of the coupled equations. The constitutive relationships for both the soil structure and the pore-water phase are formulated by using an incrementally non-linear elastic model. The phenomenological model approach is based on the concept of state surfaces that are obtained from a laboratory-testing program. The hydraulic conductivity ofthe swelling soil is estimated from the saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil - water characteristic curve. A two-dimensional example problem is analyzed to illustrate the applicability of the numerical modeling for the prediction of the behavior ofan expansive soil mass under a transient wetting process.
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