Elements of thermomechanical coupling in the consolidation of unsaturated soils

Thermomechanical couplings in the consolidation of an unsaturated clayey silty sand are investigated. The couplings are analysed through the influence of the temperature (relative to the total vertical stress) on the mechanical characteristics (relative to thermal) of the consolidation. They are evidenced by means of two types of tests (thermal consolidation and mechanical consolidation). The two types of tests lead to quantitative results comparable with regards to characteristic parameters of both types of consolidation. Some elements of interpretation are proposed to integrate all of the experimental results within a framework of thinking resorting to the thermoelastoplastic behaviour of the soil under study and to the thermal and mechanical hardening phenomena.