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The Interaction Effect of Particle Composition and Matric Suction on the Shear Strength Parameters of Unsaturated Granite Residual Soil

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Abstract

The particle composition and water content of granite residual soil (GRS) vary considerably at the horizontal and vertical levels due to weathering environment. This variability has a significant influence on the strength of GRS, especially under the action of matric suction. Five groups of GRS samples with different particle compositions were prepared and tested for soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) and triaxial undrained shear strength under different matric suctions. Results show that SWCC of GRS is controlled by particle composition and the parameters of SWCC equation all have a well linear relationship with particle composition parameter (particle size fractal dimension D). The coupling of particle composition and matric suction influences the unsaturated shear strength of GRS, mainly by affecting the particle contact mode. When the matric suction varies from 0 to 500 kPa, the strength parameters (apparent internal friction angle φ and apparent cohesion c) show a good linear relationship with log of matric suction lg(ψ). With same matric suction ψ, c and φ show a linear increase and a downward parabolic relationship with particle size fractal dimension D of GRS, respectively. The results will provide some reference for future engineering construction and geological hazard prevention related to GRS.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41972267 and 41572257).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Di Wu, Hailiang Liu, Changming Wang, Xin Xu, Xiaoyang Liu & Qingyu Wang

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  1. Di Wu
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  2. Hailiang Liu
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  3. Changming Wang
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  4. Xin Xu
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  5. Xiaoyang Liu
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  6. Qingyu Wang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study. Di Wu and Changming Wang contributed to conceptualization; Di Wu and Hailiang Liu contributed to methodology; Di Wu and Hailiang Liu contributed to formal analysis and investigation; Di Wu contributed to writing—original draft preparation; Di Wu, Changming Wang, Xin Xu contributed to writing—review and editing; Xiaoyang Liu, Qingyu Wang contributed to data collation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Changming Wang.

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Wu, D., Liu, H., Wang, C. et al. The Interaction Effect of Particle Composition and Matric Suction on the Shear Strength Parameters of Unsaturated Granite Residual Soil. Arab J Sci Eng 47, 12453–12467 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-06503-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-06503-9

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