Direct Shear Testing on Unsaturated Silty Soils to Investigate the Effects of Drying and Wetting on Shear Strength Parameters at Low Suction
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 3
Abstract
A modified conventional direct shear device was used to measure unsaturated shear strength of two silty soils at low suction values () that were achieved by following drying and wetting paths of soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs). The results revealed that the internal friction angle of the soils was not significantly affected by either the suction or the drying-wetting SWCCs. The apparent cohesion of soil increased with a decreasing rate as suction increased. Shear stress–shear displacement curves obtained from soil specimens subjected to the same net normal stress and different suction values showed a higher initial stiffness and a greater peak stress as suction increased. A soil in wetting exhibited slightly higher peak shear stress and more contractive volume change behavior than that of soil in drying at the same net normal stress and suction.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Promoting Fundamental Transport Technology Research of the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for the financial support for this study. This paper is based on the first author’s research completed as partial fulfillment for the Ph.D. requirements at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Therefore, the first author acknowledges the scholarship received from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture, Government of Japan (MONBUSHO) for undertaking his doctoral degree.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 3 • March 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 27, 2013
Accepted: Aug 9, 2015
Published online: Sep 10, 2015
Discussion open until: Feb 10, 2016
Published in print: Mar 1, 2016
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