THE SHEARING RESISTANCE OF SATURATED CLAYS

The shearing resistance of saturated clays has to date been considered to arise either from the frictional resistance at particle contacts or from the viscosity of the pore fluid in the event of particle contact being absent. The estimates presented indicate that, while the charged nature of the clay particles influences the viscosity of the fluid surrounding them (as much as 160 times) the increased viscosity imparts a resistance to shear far less than that obtained experimentally. Thus the contribution of viscous resistance to shear strength is negligible. This indicates that a parallel plate (non-contact) model, while eminently suitable for explaining volume-change behaviour, does not adequately account for the shearing resistance of saturated clays. It can thus be inferred that edge-face linkages or mineral-mineral contacts are inevitable in a soil system possessing considerable shear strength; further, these linkages explain the non-viscous behaviour of the system at water contents below liquid limit. (TRRL)

Media Info

  • Features: References; Tables;
  • Pagination: p. 119-122
  • Serial:
    • GEOTECHNIQUE
    • Volume: 34
    • Issue Number: 1
    • Publisher: Thomas Telford Limited
    • ISSN: 0016-8505

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00390315
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: Nov 30 1984 12:00AM