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Constant water content direct shear testing of compacted residual soils

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Abstract

Mechanical behavior of residual soils are studied by performing constant water content direct shear tests on reconstituted specimens using total stress analysis. The testing program involves initial degree of saturation (Sr) and applied normal stress as the control parameters. For three different soil samples, a total of 55 direct shear tests are conducted at Sr = 60%, 80%, and saturated conditions, in the normal stress range of 15–60 kPa. The results showed that shear strength increases with decreasing Sr and the relationship between shear strength and Sr is nonlinear. More dilative response is observed with decreasing Sr and decreasing applied normal stress. Maximum dilatancy and Sr relationship is nonlinear. At large displacements, samples prepared at different Sr levels showed similar ultimate shear resistances under similar applied normal stresses. It is concluded that Sr and applied normal stress dramatically influence the mechanical behavior of compacted residual soils studied.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nabi Kartal Toker at the METU Civil Engineering Department for his valuable discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    Celal Emre Uyeturk & Nejan Huvaj

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  1. Celal Emre Uyeturk
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  2. Nejan Huvaj
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Correspondence to Nejan Huvaj.

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Uyeturk, C., Huvaj, N. Constant water content direct shear testing of compacted residual soils. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 691–703 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01893-w

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