Behavior of a Compacted Completely Decomposed Granite Soil from Suction Controlled Direct Shear Tests
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
A series of single-staged consolidated drained direct shear tests are carried out on recompacted completely decomposed granite (CDG) soil—a typical residual soil in Hong Kong, under different matric suctions and net normal stresses. Matric suction is controlled by applying air pressure in the pressure chamber and water pressure at the bottom of the high air-entry ceramic disk. The experimental results show that the contribution of suction to shear strength is significant. Shear strength of CDG soil increases with the increase of matric suction. Net normal stress has a remarkable influence on the shear strength of unsaturated CDG soil. The increase in shear strength due to an increase in matric suction (suction envelope) is observed as nonlinear i.e., value varies with matric suction. No soil dilatancy is observed for zero matric suction (saturated case) but as the suction value is increased, higher soil dilatancy is obvious in lower net normal stresses. The rate of increase of soil dilatancy is greater in lower suction range than in higher suction range. The experimental shear strength data match closely with the shear strength predicted by existing shear strength model considering the soil-dilation effect.
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Acknowledgments
Financial supports from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a grant from Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Fund (GRF) (Grant No. UNSPECIFIEDPolyU 5338/08E) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government of China are gratefully acknowledged.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 189 - 198
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 6, 2009
Accepted: Jun 22, 2009
Published online: Jul 1, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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