Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society ISSN:1229-2427(Print) 2288-646X(Online) 한국지반공학회 논문집

Thermal conduction of the particulate composites or granular materials can be widely used in porous materials and geotechnical engineering. And it has continued to develop “effective thermal conductivity” of medium by modeling energy relationship among particles in medium. This study focuses on the development of the effective thermal conductivity at the unsaturated conditions of soils using the modified network model approach assisted by synthetic 3D random packed systems (DEM method, Discrete Element Method) at the particle scale. To verify the network model, three kinds of glass beads and the Jumunjin sand are used to obtain experimental values at various unsaturated conditions. The PPE (Pressure Plate Extractor) test is then performed to obtain SWCC (Soil-Water Characteristic Curve) of soil samples. In the modified network model, SWCC is used to adjust the equivalent radius of thermal cylinder at contact area between particles. And cutoff range parameter to define the effective zone is also adjusted according to the SWCC at given conditions. From a series of laboratory tests and the proposed network model, the modified network model which adopts a SWCC shows a good agreement in modeling thermal conductivity of granular soils at given conditions. And an empirical correlation between the fraction of the mean radius () and thermal conductivity at given saturated condition is provided, which can be used to expect thermal conductivity of the granular soils, to estimate thermal conductivity of granular soils.