Variation of undrained shear strength due to suction changes

摘要

Water content, density and engineering properties, such as shear strength, elastic modulus and permeability, are variable during construction of earth fill embankments. Moreover, after the construction the equilibration with the surroundings begins, the soil suction and water content change and, as a consequence, engineering properties change as well. The same equilibration of suction happens to deep cuts made in hard soils. Many authors have found correlations between matric suction and engineering properties, like undrained shear strength. The paper compares the results of undrained shear strength measurements on compacted and reconstituted clay specimens with model prediction for unsaturated soils.