The Role of Hydraulic Hysteresis on the Hydrological Response of Pyroclastic Silty Covers

A significant part of the recent geotechnical literature concerning pyroclastic soils is focused on the characterization of the hydrological effects of precipitations and their implications for the stability conditions of unsaturated sloping covers. Recent experience shows that suction-induced strength reduction is influenced by various factors including hydraulic hysteresis. A deeper insight into the hysteretic water retention behavior of these materials and its effects upon their response to dry/wetting conditions is a major goal of this paper, which exploits the data provided by the monitoring of a volcanic ash. Based on the parameters retrieved from data calibration, the hydrological response of a virtual slope subject to one-dimensional rainfall infiltration is investigated by numerical analyses and compared with the results obtained through the usually adopted non-hysteretic approaches. The analysis demonstrates that considering the hysteretic behavior may be crucial for a proper evaluation of the conditions leading to slope failure.