A neural network framework for mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils

摘要

In this paper, a neural network approach is used to describe the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. A sequential architecture was chosen for the network, that is, a multilayer perceptron network with feedback capability. The input layer consisted of nine neurons, where six of them represented the initial soil conditions and the remaining three neurons were continuously updated for each increment of axial strain based on outputs from the previous increment. The output layer consisted of three neurons representing values of deviatoric stress, volumetric strain, and change in suction at the end of each increment. Next, a database was developed from triaxial test results available in the literature. The database was used to train and test the network. Neural network simulations were compared with experimental results. The comparison indicates the good performance of the proposed network for predicting the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. Moreover, the trained network was employed to simulate other stress paths not present in the database to model the so-called "collapse phenomena." The results were promising. [References: 22]