Suction Stress Characteristic Curve for Unsaturated Soil
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 2
Abstract
The concept of the suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC) for unsaturated soil is presented. Particle-scale equilibrium analyses are employed to distinguish three types of interparticle forces: (1) active forces transmitted through the soil grains; (2) active forces at or near interparticle contacts; and (3) passive, or counterbalancing, forces at or near interparticle contacts. It is proposed that the second type of force, which includes physicochemical forces, cementation forces, surface tension forces, and the force arising from negative pore-water pressure, may be conceptually combined into a macroscopic stress called suction stress. Suction stress characteristically depends on degree of saturation, water content, or matric suction through the SSCC, thus paralleling well-established concepts of the soil–water characteristic curve and hydraulic conductivity function for unsaturated soils. The existence and behavior of the SSCC are experimentally validated by considering unsaturated shear strength data for a variety of soil types in the literature. Its characteristic nature and a methodology for its determination are demonstrated. The experimental evidence shows that both Mohr–Coulomb failure and critical state failure can be well represented by the SSCC concept. The SSCC provides a potentially simple and practical way to describe the state of stress in unsaturated soil.
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Acknowledgment
The writers would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their thorough and thoughtful comments.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 2 • February 2006
Pages: 131 - 142
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 16, 2004
Accepted: Jul 19, 2005
Published online: Feb 1, 2006
Published in print: Feb 2006
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