The shear strength of unsaturated soils

1978/08/01 by D. G. Fredlund, N. R. Morgenstern, R. A. Widger +1 · 15 citations
Engineering · Environmental Science · #Soil and Unsaturated Flow #Landslides and related hazards #Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics

paper · doi:10.1139/t78-029

Abstract

The shear strength of an unsaturated soil is written in terms of two independent stress state variables. One form of the shear strength equation is[Formula: see text]The transition from a saturated soil to an unsaturated soil is readily visible. A second form of the shear strength equation is[Formula: see text]Here the independent roles of changes in total stress σ and changes in pore-water pressure u w are easily visualized.Published research literature provides limited data. However, the data substantiate that the shear strength can be described by a planar surface of the forms proposed. A procedure is also outlined to evaluate the pertinent shear strength parameters from laboratory test results.

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