Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82
DOI 10.1007/s12665-015-4797-5
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Determination of the related strength parameters of unsaturated
loess with conventional triaxial test
Xianli Xing1 • Tonglu Li1 • Yukai Fu1
Received: 30 January 2015 / Accepted: 8 July 2015 / Published online: 21 December 2015
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Abstract The strength and the related parameters of
unsaturated soil are the key issues in unsaturated soil
mechanics. The triaxial or direct shear apparatus with
suction control is used to measure the related parameters in
the strength formulas proposed by Bishop and Fredlund.
However, the technique is time-consuming for cohesive
soils because it takes a long time to achieve a water–air
equilibrium condition under a given suction state. In
addition, the feasibility of the technique is also doubted. Lu
et al. proposed the concept of suction stress and expressed
the unsaturated strength as a function of suction stress
which can be determined by the conventional triaxial test.
The method can avoid measuring matric suction and is
convenient in engineering application. In this paper, con-
ventional triaxial CU tests with different moisture contents
were utilized to obtain the effective steady state strength
parameters and then the suction stress characteristic curves
were obtained. To compare Lu et al.’s strength formula
with Bishop’s and Fredlund’s, the soil–water characteristic
curve of the same loess sample was also measured by the
tensiometer. Theoretically, the three strength theories are
different in physical mechanisms, but they can transform to
each other mathematically. From the point of view of
engineering applications, Lu et al.’s shear strength theory
based on suction stress is more convenient to apply in
engineering.
& Xianli Xing
xianli626@126.com
1 effective stress formula.
Department of Geological Engineering, School of Geological
Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an University,
Xi’an 710054, People’s Republic of China
Keywords Strength parameter  Unsaturated loess  Soil–
water characteristic curve  Suction stress  Matric suction
Introduction
Classical soil mechanics focused mainly on the behavior of
saturated and remolded soils. Terzaghi’s effective stress
principle, one-dimensional consolidation theory, Mohr–
Coulomb’s shear strength theory and Darcy’s seepage law
are all proposed for saturated soils (Skempton 1960,
Terzaghi 1943). However, most of the soils encountered in
engineering practice are unsaturated, whose behavior is not
consistent with the principles and concepts of classical,
saturated soil mechanics (Fredlund et al. 2012). An
increasing number of researchers dedicate to the explo-
ration of unsaturated soils. Like saturated soils, the
research on unsaturated soils is mainly focused on the
strength, consolidation and permeability among which the
strength theory and determination for the related parame-
ters are the most concerned issues.
Bishop (1959) introduced matric suction and the
parameter v to Terzagi’s effective stress formula to express
the effective stress in unsaturated soils as shown in Eq. 1:
0
r ¼ r  ua þ vðua  uw Þ ð1Þ
0
where r is total stress, r is effective stress, ua is pore air
pressure, uw is pore water pressure, (ua - uw) is matric
suction, and v is a function of the degree of saturation, for
saturated soil v = 1 and for dry soil v = 0.
So the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion can be extended
to Eq. 2 for unsaturated soil incorporating with Bishop’s
0
sf ¼ c00 þ ½ðr  ua Þ þ vðua  uw Þ tan / ð2Þ
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82 Page 2 of 11
0
where sf is critical shear strength, c0 is effective cohesion,
0
and / is effective frictional angle.
Equation 1 adds the contribution of matric suction to
effective stress. Jennings and Burland (1962) had ever
criticized Bishop’s effective stress principle with their test
results. Three types of materials that cover the range of
soils from sands to clays were used for remolded speci-
mens. Partly saturated specimens were soaked under con-
stant applied load during oedometer tests, but it was found
that settlement occurred even when soaking took place at
small load. However, according to Bishop’s effective stress
principle, soaking of the specimens would bring about a
reduction in effective stress and should therefore be
accompanied by an increase in the volume of specimen. In
the next 20 years, with improvement in experimental
technique and further understanding of the mechanism of
unsaturated soil, the applicability of Bishop’s effective
stress formula was proved with a series of experimental
results (Coleman1962; Khalili et al. 2004; Lu 2008).
Even though it has widely been accepted at present,
there are still some barriers for this formula in practical
application. Both matric suction (ua - uw) and parameter v
are the functions of moisture content. The relationship
between matric suction and moisture content can be
described with soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC).
The parameter v is relevant to the nature and degree of
saturation of soils, but has no definite physical meaning and
cannot be directly measured or controlled.
Coleman (1962) suggested the use of independent stress
variables, namely matric suction (ua - uw) and net normal
stress (r - ua), to describe the volume change in unsatu-
rated soils, which circumvented the parameter v in Bish-
op’s formula. Fredlund and Rahardjo (1978, 1993) proved
that (ua - uw) can be an independent stress variable based
on a series of suction-controlled triaxial tests, and then the
strength formula is proposed as Eq. 3 which has been the
most acceptable one so far.
0 0
sf ¼ c0 þ ðr  ua Þtg/ þ ðua  uw Þtg/b ð3Þ
b formula uses suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC)
where / is the friction angle related to matric suction.
Comparing the right-hand sides of Eqs. 2 and 3, it is
clear that
tg/b
v¼ 0 ð4Þ
tg/
0
As in low stress level, it is known that both /b and / are
constant, so v should be constant. But v is considered to be
a variable which will change with moister content as
mentioned above, which is an apparent paradox.
Both Bishop’s and Fredlund’s formulas, as the extension
of Mohr–Coulomb’s strength theory, introduced matric
suction as a new stress parameter. Matric suction is the
123
Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82
excess of air pressure over negative pore water pressure,
but there has been no technique to probe the negative pore
water pressure among the soil particles, so the axis trans-
lation technique was proposed. The technique is accom-
plished by increasing the pore air pressure to a high level
and translating the pore water pressure from negative to
positive state which can be measured. Using the axis
translation technique in triaxial or direct shear tests, matric
suction can be controlled in different level and the corre-
sponding shear strength can be measured. However, the
axis translation technique also has difficulties in test and
arguments in rationality (Lu 1999). It often takes a long
time to achieve equilibrium between air pressure and water
pressure in the specimen, such as more than a week for
sand, even several months for loess, which may be the
problem for the theory to be put into practice. In addition,
the technique provides a different condition to specimens
relative to the natural environment of soil occurrence. The
unsaturated soil in nature bears the atmospheric pressure
and negative pore water pressure, while the technique
creates a high level of air pressure so as to make the pore
water pressure equal or excess the atmospheric pressure.
Although the matric suction is the same in laboratory and
natural conditions, air pressure and water pressure are quite
different. Whether the condition would affect the test
results or not is not clear and has not been proved with
present technique.
Lu et al. (2010) proposed a strength formula based on
suction stress. Through microscopic analysis, they sug-
gested that all the shear strength, including cohesion, is
produced by friction. The friction is formed among grains
under the action of normal forces which are produced not
only by the boundary load but also by matric suction
among soil particles. He documented that saturated soils
have intergranular friction even without boundary load and
the normal stress is produced by van der Waals force in this
case (Lu 2008). Therefore, shear strength could just be
expressed as friction and the parameter suction stress was
introduced as a stress variable. Lu et al.’s friction strength
instead of SWCC, and SSCC can be measured through
conventional triaxial or direct shear test, which provides
the possibility for unsaturated soil strength theory to be
used in practice.
Based on Lu et al.’s strength theory, conventional tri-
axial CU tests have been applied to determine the related
strength parameters of unsaturated soil in this paper.
Specimens were prepared with eight different moisture
contents in the range from dry to saturated and tested under
the confining pressures of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and
500 kPa, respectively. The effective steady state shear
strengths under different moisture contents were obtained
with the aid of the effective stress paths. Consequently,
Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82
suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC) was achieved
and regressed with the function proposed by Lu and Likos
(2006). Meanwhile, soil water characteristic curve (SWCC)
of the loess was also determined using tensiometer, and the
related parameters in the strength formulas proposed by
Bishop et al. (1960) and Fredlund et al. (1978) were
determined for comparison.
Specimen preparation
The loess specimens, belonging to Middle Pleistocene
epoch, were sampled from the fifth loess layer (L5) of a
high slope near a brickyard in Longshou Village, Huan-
gling County, Shaanxi Province, China. The sampling site
is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Sampling site at the loess cut slope
Fig. 2 Particle size distribution curve of the sample
Table 1 Physical property
Specific gravity Moisture content
indexes of the sample
Gs w/ %
2.71 13.9
Page 3 of 11 82
According to the result of particle size distribution
analysis on the specimen (Fig. 2), the loess sample was
mainly composed of silt and clay. Concretely speaking, the
sample consists of 65.4 % silt (0.005*0.05 mm), 26.4 %
clay (\0.005 mm) and 8.2 % fine sand ([0.05 mm). The
natural moisture content is 13.9 % with the degree of sat-
uration of 38.6 %. The physical property indexes of the
sample are presented in Table 1.
The intact samples were shaped into cylindrical speci-
mens of 8 cm in height and 3.9 cm in diameter. The
specimens were divided into eight groups, and each group
has six specimens with same moisture content. The mois-
ture contents of the eight groups were adjusted to 3, 6, 11,
16, 21, 26, 30 and 32 %, respectively. Simply saturated by
soaking in water, the group with moisture content of
32.0 % has a degree of saturation of 88.9 %.
In order to verify that the specimens of each group had
achieved the expected values of the moisture contents, all
specimens had been dried in the oven in first. Then, the
water was dropped into each of the dried specimen on the
electronic balance according to the expected total weight
calculated. Directly enclosed with rubber membrane, the
specimen was kept in a glass vessel for a week or longer
until the moister scatters uniformly in the specimen.
The CU triaxial tests for the six specimens of each group
were conducted under confining pressures of 0, 100, 200, 300,
400 and 500 kPa, respectively. After the excess pore water
(air) pressure generated by the application of confining pres-
sure was completely dissipated, the axial stress with the axial
deformation rate 0.04 mm/min was applied to the specimen.
During the shearing phase, the drainage valve was kept closed
and the excess pore pressure was monitored at the bottom of
the specimen. Compression for each confining stress was
terminated when the axial strain reached 15–20 %. Schematic
diagram of the triaxial test equipment is shown in Fig. 3.
The results of triaxial CU test
The stress–strain curves and stress paths of the triaxial CU
tests with different moisture contents are shown in Figs. 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. It can be seen that the stress–strain curves
of the specimens with moisture content of 3 % are all strain
softening with a sharply dropping stress after the peak value.
Similar strain softening also occurs in the specimens with
moisture contents of 6 and 11 % under confining pressures of
0 and 100 kPa (Figs. 5a, 6a), where noticeably stress drop-
pings are also observed after peak values, but decreased more
Plastic limit Liquid limit Dry density Void ratio e
w P/ % wL (%) qd/g cm-3
22.8 37.0 1.37 0.972
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82 Page 4 of 11 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the triaxial test equipment

0
gently in contrast to that with moisture content of 3 %. When Effective steady state (residual) strength parameters c ,
0
the confining pressure is equal to or greater than 200 kPa, the / were obtained through the stress paths (Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7,
characteristics of stress–strain curves change to be ideal 0 0
8, 9, 10 and 11), and the relations between sf line and Kf
plastic and weak hardening. No pore pressure generates in the 0

specimens with the moisture contents of 3, 6 and 11 % line can be expressed as Eqs. 5 and 6, where Kf line is
0
(Figs. 4b, 5b and 6b). In the above cases, the stress drop is failure line in stress paths and sf line is Mohr–coulomb
caused by structural failure of the loess. When the moisture failure envelope.
contents of the specimens increase to 16.0, 21.0 and 26.0 %, 0 0
/ ¼ sin1 tan /q ð5Þ
stress–strain curves show ideal plastic or strain hardening
0
characteristics under all confining pressures (Figs. 7a, 8a and cq
0
9a). As shown in Figs. 7b, 8b and 9b, there is no pore water c ¼ 0 ð6Þ
cos /
pressure in low mean stresses, while the pore pressures,
0 0
including part of air pressure, may begin to generate when the where cq is the intercept of sf line on ordinate in the stress
0 0
mean stresses increase to certain degree. Obviously, the higher path and /q is the slope of Kf line in the stress path.
the moisture content, the higher the pore water pressures The relation between gravimetric water content and
generated in the specimens under the same confining pressure. volumetric water content is shown as Eq. 7.
When moisture content reaches 30 %, almost saturated, the
SwGs q
stress–strain curves are coarsely ideal plastic under 0–300 kPa hw ¼ ¼w d ð7Þ
S þ wGs qw
confining pressure and strain softening under 400–500 kPa
(Fig. 10a). For the specimens with moisture content of 32 %, With Eq. 7, the gravimetric water content can be trans-
being completely saturated, stress strain curves are all strain ferred to volumetric water content. Moister contents and
softening (Fig. 11a) caused by the increase in pore water effective strength parameters measured under different
pressures with the strain development. The mechanism of the moisture contents are listed in Table 1.
0
strain soften is different from that caused by structural damage The relation between w and effective cohesion c is
in the specimens with low moisture contents. shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen that the cohesion decreases

123
Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82 Page 5 of 11 82

(a) 800 (a) 600

500 σ3=500kPa
600
σ3=500kPa 400
σ3=400kPa

q(kPa)
σ3=300kPa
q(kPa)

400 σ3=400kPa 300

σ3=300kPa σ3=200kPa
σ3=200kPa 200
200 σ3=100kPa
100 σ3=0 kPa
σ3=100kPa
σ3=0 kPa 0
0 0 5 10 15
0 5 10 15
ε1(%)
ε1(%)
(b) 600
(b) 800
500 cq'=48.86kPa φq'=25.1
cq'=60.81kPa φq'=25.0
600 400

q(kPa)
q(kPa)

300
400
200
200 100

0
0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
p'(kPa)
p'(kPa)
Fig. 5 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture
Fig. 4 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture content of 6 %. a Stress–strain curves b stress path curves
content of 3 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves

with an increase in moisture content. When the moisture theory, and effective stress relationship in terms of suction
content is lower than plastic limit, the cohesion decreases stress can be expressed as Eq. 8:
significantly from 67.56 to 3.89 kPa; while it is greater 0

than plastic limit, the cohesion tends to be the lowest and a
stable value (3.89–5.76 kPa).
The effective frictional angle has no obvious correlation
with the moisture content and ranges between 24.5° and
26.0°, which means the effective frictional angle is inde-
pendent of moisture content.
Suction stress curves and Lu et al.’s unsaturated
strength formula
Lu et al. (2004, 2008, 2013) proposed the concept of suc-
tion stress and argued that the matric suction is not a
macroscopic stress variable. A transfer function is needed
to make it possible to describe the macroscopic stress
variable at multiphase air–water–solid REV (representative
elementary volume) level. He defined all the interparticle
stress (van der Waals attraction, electrical double-layer
repulsion and capillary attraction, etc.) under the concept of
suction stress rs. The concept of suction stress is rational
extension for Terzaghi’s or Bishop’s effective stress
r ¼ r  u a  rs ð8Þ
0
where r is effective stress; r is total stress; ua is pore air
pressure; and rs is suction stress.
Furthermore, Lu and Goat (2013) pointed out that suc-
tion stress corresponding to certain moisture content can be
calculated with the effective cohesion and friction by Eq. 9
and is shown in Fig. 13.
c0
rs ¼  ð9Þ
tan /0
Thus, the Mohr–Coulomb criterion can be rewritten as
Eq. 10 for unsaturated soil:
sf ¼ r0 tan /0 ¼ ðr  ua  rs Þ tan /0 ð10Þ
It can be seen from Fig. 13 that suction stress is actually
the negative normal stress when the shear stress is zero for
unsaturated soils, which is the intercept in horizontal axis
in the shear normal stress coordinate system.
With Eq. 9, the suction stresses corresponding to dif-
ferent moisture contents have been calculated and are listed
in Table 2. The upper part of Fig. 13 is Mohr–Coulomb

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82 Page 6 of 11 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82

(a) 500 (a) 300

σ3=500kPa σ3=500kPa
400
σ3=400kPa 200 σ3=400kPa

q(kPa)
300
σ3=300kPa
q(kPa)

σ3=300kPa
200 σ3=200kPa 100 σ3=200kPa
σ3=100kPa
σ3=100kPa σ3=0 kPa
100
σ3=0 kPa 0
0 5 10 15
0 ε1(%)
0 5 10 15
ε1(%) (b) 300
cq'=5.54kPa φq'=23.21
(b) 500 200

q(kPa)
cq'=24.87kPa φq'=24.0
400
100
300
q(kPa)

0
200 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
p'&p(kPa)
100
Fig. 8 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 content of 21 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves
p'(kPa)

Fig. 6 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture

content of 11 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves (a) 300
σ3=500kPa

(a) 400 200

σ3=400kPa
q(kPa)

σ3=500kPa
σ3=300kPa
300 100
σ3=400kPa σ3=200kPa
σ3=0 kPa σ3=100kPa
q(kPa)

200 σ3=300kPa 0
0 5 10 15
σ3=200kPa ε1(%)
100 σ3=100kPa
(b) 300
cq'=3.54kPa φq'=23.76
σ3=0 kPa
0 200
q(kPa)

0 5 10 15
ε1(%)
100

(b) 400
0
cq'=19.62kPa φq'=23.8 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
300
p'&p(kPa)
q(kPa)

200 Fig. 9 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture
content of 26 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves
100

0 failure lines obtained through the conventional triaxial

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
tests, and the lower part is illustrated methodology for
p'&p(kPa)
quantifying SSCC from the upper part.
Fig. 7 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture Lu et al. (2010) introduced a closed-form expression for
content of 16 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves suction stress as Eq. 11:

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Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82 Page 7 of 11 82

(a) 200 90
σ3=400kPa
σ3=500kPa
60

c′(kPa)
σ3=300kPa
q(kPa)

100 30
σ3=200kPa
σ3=100kPa
σ3=0 kPa 0
0 10 w 20 wp 30 wL 40
0 w(%)
0 5 10 15
ε1(%)
Fig. 12 Relationship between moisture content w and effective
0
(b) 200 cohesion c
cq'=2.02kPa φq'=24.0
q(kPa)

where residual volumetric water content hr is 5.0 % which

100
is equivalent to the volumetric water content of air-dried
sample; saturated volumetric water content hs is 43.8 %; hw
0 is volumetric water content.
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Based on Eq. 12, the effective degree of saturation Se
p'&p(kPa)
corresponding to each value of volumetric water content
Fig. 10 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture can be concluded. Se is a linear function of volumetric
content of 30 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves water content hw.
Substituting Eq. 12 into Eq. 11 where the suction stress
is expressed in terms of equivalent degree of saturation, a
closed-form expression of suction stress for full range of
(a) 200 saturation can be achieved as Eq. 13. Data points of the
SSCC are shown in the lower part of Fig. 13. The best
σ3=500kPa fitting values of a and n for SSCC with the data points are
q(kPa)

100 σ3=400kPa a = 0.0625, n = 1.45.

σ3=200kPa
0:24ðhw  hr Þ h n
i1n
σ3=100kPa σ3=300kPa rs ¼  ð0:24ðhw  hr ÞÞ1n  1
σ3=0 kPa a ð13Þ
0
h i2029
29
0 5 10 15 20 ¼ ð7:68  3:84hw Þ 99:33ðhw  2Þ 1 9

ε1(%)
As indicated in Fig. 13, the fitting curve accords well
(b) 200 with the measured values within the range of moisture
cq'=5.23kPa φq'=24.0 content commonly encountered in engineering practice
q(kPa)

100 (11 % B w B32 %), but somewhat deviation occurs when

the moisture content is lower than 10 % .
Thus, it can be seen that suction stress is a function of
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 moisture content which can be determined from the Mohr–
p'&p(kPa) Coulomb failure lines achieved through conventional CU
test under different moisture contents. The shear strength
Fig. 11 CU triaxial test results for the specimens with moisture formula based on the suction stress concept, avoiding
content of 32 %. a Stress–strain curves, b stress path curves
trouble of measuring matric suction, is advantageous for
the promotion in engineering practice.
Se 1n
n 1
rs ¼  ðSe  1Þn 0  Se  1 ð11Þ
a The SWCC and Bishop’s and Fredlund’s strength
where Se is effective degree of saturation; a and n are parameters
empirical fitting parameters.
And the effective saturation can be expressed as Eq. 12: Strength parameters of unsaturated soil can also be deter-
S  Sr hw  hr mined with conventional triaxial test results combining
Se ¼ ¼ ð12Þ with SWCC.
1  Sr hs  hr

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82 Page 8 of 11 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82

Fig. 13 Illustrated θw=4.11%

methodology for quantifying
θw=8.22%
suction stress characteristic
300 θw=15.07%
curve from Mohr–Coulomb θw=21.92%
failure lines obtained from θw=28.77%
conventional triaxial test θw=35.62%
41.10%
200 43.84%

τ/kPa
24.9

100

0
-200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500
σ/kPa

σ s /kPa
-200 -180 -160 -140 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0
0

10

20

θW/%
30

40

50

Table 2 Effective steady state

Sample Weight Volumetric Effective Effective Suction
strength parameters under
no. moisture moisture cohesion friction stress
different moisture contents
content content 0
c /kPa
0
angle u /° rs/kPa
w/ % hw/ %

1 3 4.11 67.56 25.8 -150.54

2 6 8.22 54.35 26.0 -104.46
3 11 15.07 27.40 24.8 -64.17
4 16 21.92 21.56 24.5 -39.26
5 21 28.77 6.06 23.9 -21.18
6 26 35.62 3.89 24.5 -10.77
7 30 41.10 3.90 24.8 -10.77
8 32 43.84 5.76 24.8 -10.77

Determination of SWCC measure the suction up to thousands kilopascal which is

Matric suction is considered as an independent variable in
unsaturated soil strength theory. There are varieties of
devices that can be used to measure matric suction in dif-
ferent ranges. Null-type pressure plate and tensiometer are
the devices commonly used. However, the former can
based on the principle of axial transfer technique, while the
latter is limited to below 100 kPa. Since failure of soils
encountered in engineering often occurs under the condi-
tion of high moisture content corresponding to low matric
suction, the portion of SWCC with low matric suction is
more valuable in engineering. In addition, the tensiometer

123
Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82
measures the negative pore water pressure and the pore air
pressure component of the matric suction is generally
atmospheric, which is the real condition that soils occur
other than an extra high air pressure as in axis translation
technique, so the tensiometer is applied to measure the
matric suction of the loess in this research.
First, a block of undisturbed loess with the dimensions
of 30 cm 9 30 cm 9 30 cm was taken from the sampling
site and air-dried in laboratory. Then, a vertical hole with
8 cm in depth and 3 cm in diameter was punched from the
center of a face on the block. The ceramic cup of the
tensiometer was saturated in advance, and then the ten-
siometer was inserted into the hole after the tube was filled
up with deaired water. Fine sands with the same humidity
as the soil was filled into the gap between the tube and the
hole wall to ensure good contact between the ceramic cup
and the soil. After that, the loss block was wrapped with
rubber membrane so as to keep it from evaporation. Once
equilibrium was achieved between the measuring system
and the soil, obtain the matric suction at the present
moisture content. Disclose the wrapped film and take a
small piece of soil to measure the moisture content. Drop
some water into the specimen and repeat the process above,
then the matric suction under different moisture contents
can be measured. The measured matric suctions and the
corresponding moisture content (SWCC) are shown as dots
in Fig. 14.
To extend the measured data to a broader suction range,
the data were applied to regress with the Fredlund and
Xing’s (1994) formula (Eq. 14):
hs
hw ¼ CðwÞ ð14Þ
fln½e þ ðw=aÞn gm
where hw is volumetric water content; hs is saturated vol-
umetric water content; w is matric suction; a is approxi-
mate air entry value of the soil; n is a parameter that
controls the slope at the inflection point in the soil–water
characteristic curve; m is a parameter that is related to the
50
40
30
θw (%)
20
L 5: a=11010, m=0.8029, n=137.6
10
0
0.1 1 10 100 1000
ua-uw(kPa)
Fig. 14 Soil–water characteristic curve of the sample
Page 9 of 11 82
residual moisture content; e is the natural number, 2.71828;
and C(w) is the correcting function defined as Eq. 15:
lnð1 þ Cwr Þ
CðwÞ ¼ 1  ð15Þ
lnð1 þ 106 =Cr Þ
where Cr is a constant related to the matric suction corre-
sponding to the residual volumetric water content. A typ-
ical value for it is about 1500 kPa.
The best fitting values of the parameters a, m, n and the
regressed SWCC curves are shown in Fig. 14, in which the
dots are the measured values with the tensiometer.
Parameters in shear strength formula proposed
by Bishop and Fredlund
The classical Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion can be
extended to Eq. 19 for unsaturated soil by incorporating
Bishop’s effective stress formula (Eq. 16).
0
r ¼ r  ua þ vðua  uw Þ ð16Þ
0
sf ¼ c þ ½ðr  ua Þ þ vðua  uw Þtg/
0
ð17Þ
Equation 17 reflects the contribution of matric suction
(ua - uw) to effective stress and consequently to shear
strength. Term v is relevant to degree of saturation of soil,
but has no definite physical meaning and cannot be directly
measured or controlled.
Fredlund’s shear strength equation for unsaturated soil is
expressed as Eq. 18:
s ¼ c00 þ ðr  ua Þtg/0 þ ðua  uw Þtg/b ð18Þ
This equation uses two independent stress state variables
and introduces the parameter /b to make the expression of
strength envelopes in mathematics and graphic more sim-
ple and clear.
The shear strength of unsaturated soil expressed by
Eq. 18 is composed of three components: the effective
cohesion, the effective frictional caused by external force
and that caused by internal matric suction. The matric
suction in Eq. 18 is served as an independent variable other
than a part of effective stress. It is beneficial to the better
understanding of the nature of unsaturated soil and its
physical meaning. As the soil closes to saturated state, the
matric suction will be zero, which implies that the third
item of Eq. 18 will be zero. In this case, the effective
0 0
cohesion c0 and effective internal friction angle / can be
measured through conventional triaxial CU or CD test with
saturated specimens. The third item of Eq. 18 is a function
of the matric suction or moisture content. If (ua - uw)
tan/b is considered as part of cohesion (apparent cohe-
sion), the total cohesion can be described by Eq. 19:
0 0
c ¼ c0 þ ðua  uw Þ tan /b ð19Þ
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82 Page 10 of 11 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82

30
Similarly, the extended Mohr–Coulomb criterion pro-
c′ = χ(ua-uw)tanφ′ + 3.07
posed by Bishop et al. (1960) can be split and rewritten as χ =0.75
Eq. 20, and the third item is also considered as part of the 20

c′(kPa)
cohesion expressed as Eq. 21. 0.75
0 0 0 10 1.00
sf ¼ c þ ðr  ua Þ tan / þ vðua  uw Þ tan / ð20Þ
0 0 0
c ¼ c0 þ vðua  uw Þ tan / ð21Þ 0
0 10 20 30 40
Obviously, the cohesion measured by conventional tri- (ua-uw)tanφ′(kPa)
axial test is the total cohesion which includes saturated 0 0
0 0 Fig. 16 Relationship curve between c and ðua  uw Þ tan u
cohesion c0 and (ua - uw) tan/b or vðua  uw Þ tan / ,
where matric suction is approximately a logarithmic
function of moisture content as the moisture content is 0
lower than plastic limit, while it will approach a constant plot effective cohesion against (ua - uw) tan / is shown
0
value c0 as it is higher than plastic limit. Equation 22 is the Fig. 16 which also is approximately a straight line. The
regressive logarithmic function of the effective cohesion to slope of straight line is the value of v, so it is obtained that
the moisture content. v = 0.75.
 Thus, the parameters v and /b in unsaturated shear
0 103:72  30:84 ln w R2 ¼ 0:98 w\wp strength formula can be obtained based on the results of
c ¼ ð22Þ
c00 ¼ 5:0ð3:89  5:76Þ w [ wp conventional triaxial test and the SWCC.
With Eqs. 14, 19 and 22, the effective cohesions and suc- The three strength formulas interpret influencing factors
tions corresponding to the moisture contents in soil–water and mechanism of unsaturated soil from different view
characteristic curve have been calculated and are shown in aspects. Bishop et al. (1960) and Lu and Goat (2013)
Table 3. Then, the effective cohesions against matric suc- express it in terms of effective stress, while Fredlund et al.
tions are shown in Fig. 15 with the data in Table 3. It (1978) directly in the contribution of matric suction to
shows a good linear correlation between effective cohesion shear strength.
0
c and matric suction (ua - uw) within the moisture content
range of 12.9–25.7 %, which means that in natural mois-
ture environment, /b may be considered independent of
Summary and conclusions
matric suction and constant, so the slope of the line in
Conventional triaxial CU tests were conducted on the loess
Fig. 15 is tan/b. As a result, /b is calculated to be 19.2°.
specimens with different moisture contents, and the suction
The data in Table 2 suggest that effective friction angle
stress function in the unsaturated soil strength formula
is independent of matric suction, so take the mean value of
0 0 proposed by Lu et al. was accomplished. Combining the
the eight specimens / = 24.9° or tan / = 0.46. Then, the
measurement of the SWCC, the parameter v in Bishop’s
formula and /b in Fredlund’s formula were obtained,
Table 3 Effective steady state cohesion under different moisture respectively. The main conclusions include:
contents
The triaxial CU tests for the loess with different mois-
w/ % 12.93 15.45 17.42 21.92 25.65 ture contents suggest that the effective cohesion decreases
0
c /kPa 24.78 19.29 15.59 8.50 3.66 logarithmically with the increase in the moisture content
ua-uw/kPa 59.3 50.0 36.0 15.7 1.0 when the moisture content is lower than the plastic limit,
and it tends to be a constant value when the moisture
content exceeds the plastic limit. The effective friction is
30 independent of the moisture content and approximated to a
c′ = 0.35(ua-uw) + 3.07 constant value.
20 The relationship between suction stress and moisture
c′(kPa)

0.35 content in Lu et al.’s unsaturated strength formula can be

1.00
10 measured through conventional triaxial tests of different
moisture contents. Since the strength formula based on
0 suction stress gets rid of measuring the matric suction, it is
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
ua-uw(kPa) more convenient to apply in practical engineering than that
of Bishop and Fredlund where the SWCC needs to be
0
Fig. 15 Correlation between effective cohesion c and matric suction measured.

123
Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:82
The axis translation technique is currently widely used
for the control of matric suction and the determination of
SWCC. However, the test is conducted under a high air
pressure which is quite different with the atmospheric
pressure. It is not clear and cannot be proved by the present
technique that whether the difference between the test and
the real condition affects the measured results or not. The
tensiometer measures matric suction in the atmospheric
environment, although the measured range is narrow
because of the cavitation of water in tensiometer. However,
the engineering damage mostly occurs under the conditions
of high moisture contents corresponding to low matric
suctions, so the tensiometer is a practicable choice in
engineering application.
Acknowledgments The authors express their gratitude to the
members of research group for their contributions and involvement in
the experiment. This work was financially supported by the Research
Fund for the Excellent Doctor of Higher Education of China
(No.310826150005), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of
Higher Eduction of China (No. 20120205110009), the National Key
Fundamental Research Program of China (No. 2014CB744703) and
National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41172256), and
the support of these agencies is gratefully acknowledged. The authors
would also like to acknowledge anonymous reviewers for the valuable
suggestions to this article.
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