Correlation between Small-Strain Shear Modulus and Suction Stress in Capillary Regime under Zero Total Stress Conditions
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 11
Abstract
The small-strain shear modulus is a fundamental property governing shear wave propagation in soil. It depends on fabric of soil particles, soil water content, and stress state. The dependency of on stress and water content was assessed by using the suction stress-based effective stress principle. Here the variation of with water content was compared with soil-water retention (SWR) behavior and suction stress behavior for 12 soils under zero total stress conditions. A recently established SWR model enables the distinction of capillary and adsorption regimes for better interpretation of the correlation between and suction stress. It is demonstrated experimentally that the variations of both and suction stress follow the same pattern but differ by a dimensionless scalar. Further correlation of the scalar with SWR provides good predictions of suction stress for different soils in the capillary regime. The established correlations among SWR, suction stress, and further confirm the validity of the suction stress-based effective stress principle.
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Acknowledgments
This research is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF CMMI-1230544).
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 11 • November 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 13, 2015
Accepted: Mar 1, 2016
Published online: Jun 14, 2016
Published in print: Nov 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Nov 14, 2016
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