STRESS STATE VARIABLES FOR UNSATURATED SOILS

An unsaturated soil is visualized as a four-phase system, the fourth phase being the air-water interface commonly referred to as the contractile skin. Suitable stress state variables for an unsaturated soil are proposed on the basis of writing force equilbrium equations for each phase, within the context of multiphase continuum mechanics. The analysis indicates that any two of three possible normal stress variables can be used to define the stress state. Experimental null-type tests verified the proposed stress state variables for the soil structure and contractile skin of an unsaturated soil. /Author/

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  • Accession Number: 00157162
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: ASCE 12919
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Nov 9 1977 12:00AM