A theory for dynamic compaction of wet porous solids

Partially-saturated porous media exhibit complex behavior including plastic distortion, irreversible crushing of pores, and dilatancy. Pressure produced by compression of the pore fluid has a strong influence on these phenomena and greatly alters the response observed in the wet solid from that observed in the dry solid. This paper describes these phenomena within the framework of a theory for immiscible mixtures. It shows how a material representation originally derived for the hydrostatic compaction of a dry solid can be generalized to wet solids subjected to both distortional and volumetric deformation. Results of stress-wave calculations are compared to data obtained from a field test in which high explosive was detonated in a formation of partially-saturated ashfall tuff.