Influence of matric suction on the shear strength of compacted Kaolin soil under unconfined conditions: Shear strength prediction (Part 2)

摘要

The measurement of shear strength of unsaturated soils is time consuming and expensive. For this reason, shear strength of unsaturated soils has not been used commonly in engineering practice. In recent years, research attention has been focused towards the development of procedures to predict the shear strength of unsaturated soils. In this paper, the results of an experimental program to study the influence of matric suction on the shear strength of compacted samples of Kaolin are analyzed. A suction function to predict the shear strength of unsaturated soils is proposed. In addition, experimental results were used to calculate the unsaturated soil parameter M_(suction). The results show that values of M_(suction) are dependent on the initial fabric of the soil.