• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.139-146
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• 2002

The characteristics and prediction model for the shear strength of unsaturated residual soils was studied. In order to investigate the influence of the net normal stress on the shear strength, unsaturated triaxial tests and SWCC tests were carried out varying the net normal stress, and the experimental data for unsaturated shear strength tests were compared with predicted shear strength envelopes using existing prediction models. It was shown that the soil - water characteristic curve and the shear strength of the unsaturated soil varied with the change of the net normal stress. Therefore, to achieve a truly descriptive shear strength envelope for unsaturated soils, tile effect of the normal stress on the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength has to be taken into consideration. In this paper, a modified prediction model for the unsaturated shear strength was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.377-384
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• 2000

The characteristics and prediction model of the shear strength for unsaturated residual soils was studied. In order to investigate the influence of the initial water content on the shear strength, unsaturated triaxial tests were carried out varying the initial water content, and the applicability of existing prediction models for the unsaturated shear strength was testified. It was shown that the soil - water characteristic curve and the shear strength of the unsaturated soil varied with the change of the initial water content. A sample compacted in the lower initial water content needs a higher suction to get the same degree of saturation while the shear strength of a sample with the lower initial water content displays a lower value. In order to apply the existing prediction models of the unsaturated shear strength to granite residual soils, a correction coefficient, α, on the internal friction angle, ø'was added.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.247-258
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• 2020

The shear strength of unsaturated soils, a research hotspot in geotechnical engineering, has great guiding significance for geotechnical engineering design. Although kinds of calculation models for the shear strength of unsaturated soil have been put forward by predecessors, there is still need for new models to extensively consider the nonlinear variation of shear strength, particularly for the nonlinear effect of the net normal stress on the shear strength of unsaturated soil. Here, the shear strength of unsaturated soils is explored to study the nonlinear effects of net normal stress with the introduction of a general nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) strength criterion, and the relationship between the matric suction (or suction stress) and degree of saturation (DOS) constructed by the soil-water characteristics curve (SWCC) of van Genuchten is also applied for unsaturated soil. Then, two calculation models (i.e., an envelope shell model and an effective stress model) are established for the shear strength of unsaturated soils under the nonlinear strength theory. In these two models, the curve of the shear strength of unsaturated soils versus the net normal stress exhibits a tendency to gently. Moreover, the proposed formulas have flexibility and convenience with five parameters (for the effective stress model) or six parameters (for the envelope shell model), which are from the M-C strength parameters of the saturated soil and fitting parameters of SWCC of van Genuchten. Thereafter, by comparison with the classical theory of the shear strength of unsaturated soils from some actual cases, the rationality and accuracy of the present models were verified.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.179-191
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• 2019

Based on the effective stress principle, a new formula for shear strength of unsaturated soil is derived under the general nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) strength criterion to improve the classical strength criterion of unsaturated soil. Meanwhile, the simple irrigation model under steady seepage is adopted to obtain the distribution of the matrix suction or the degree of saturation (DOS) above the groundwater table in the slope. Then, combined with the improved strength criterion of unsaturated soil and the simple irrigation model under steady seepage, the limit equilibrium (LE) solutions for the unsaturated slope stability are established according to the global LE conditions of the entire sliding body with assumption of the stresses on the slip surface. Compared to the classical strength criterion of unsaturated soil, not only the cohesion soil but also the internal friction angle is affected by the matric suction or the DOS in the improved strength criterion. Moreover, the internal friction angle related to the matric suction has the nonlinear characteristics, particularly for a small of the matric suction. Thereafter, the feasibility of the present method is verified by comparison and analysis on some slope examples. Furthermore, stability charts are also drawn to quickly analyze the unsaturated slope stability.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.27-38
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• 2003

The characteristics and prediction model of the shear strength of unsaturated residual granite soils were studied in this paper. In order to investigate the influence of the net normal stress on the shear strength, unsaturated triaxial tests and SWCC tests were carried out by varying the net normal stress. Experimental data for unsaturated shear strength tests were compared with predicted shear strength envelopes obtained from existing prediction models. It was shown that the soil-water characteristic curve and the shear strength of the unsaturated soil varied with the change of the net normal stress. Therefore, to achieve a truly descriptive shear strength envelope for unsaturated soils, the effect of the normal stress on the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength has to be taken into consideration. In this paper, a modified prediction model f3r the unsaturated shear strength was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.379-382
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• 2003

In this study, methyl methacrylate (MMA)- modified unsaturated polyester mortar, in which the MMA was added to the unsaturated polyester resin, was developed for improving the early-age strength and the workability of the conventional polymer concrete, binder of which was the unsaturated polyester resin. Then the strength properties of the MMA-modified unsaturated polyester mortar were surveyed. The experimental results showed that early-age strength was greater when the MMA contents were increased in the range of $20{\sim}40%$, but the strength rather showed a tendency of decrease when the MMA contents was 50%.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.637-644
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• 2022

Loess soils are unsaturated and widely distributed in the northwest zone in China. Many steep slope of unsaturated are observed are observed to be naturally stable. However, a low factor of safety (FoS) for these slopes would be computed from the slope stability analysis following local code practices. It seems that the analyzed results following the local code practices do not agree with the real condition as observed in the field. It is commonly known that soil suction plays an important role in slope stability due to a higher shear strength of the unsaturated soil as compared with that of the saturated soil. In this paper, it is observed that the computed FoS can also be affected by unsaturated unit weight of the soil. However, the effect of unsaturated unit weight of the soil on the slope stability is commonly ignored in engineering practice. Therefore, both the effects of shear strength and unit weight of the unsaturated soil on the computed FoS of unsaturated soil slope are investigated in this study. It is observed that the unsaturated unit weight of soil on the computed FoS increases with increase in slope angle. It is also observed that the effects of the unsaturated shear strength and unsaturated unit weight on the computed FoS are more significant than the effect of 3D analyses compared to the 2D analyses on the FoS.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.371-376
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to investigate toughening of unsaturated polyester resin by addition of polyuretane liquid rubber. In general, unsaturated polyester resin has strong brittleness in spite of its high strength Therefore; it is difficult to use unsaturated polyester mortar for the place where impact resistance is demanded. In this study, it was evaluated strength and Gf by using to polyurethane liquid rubber. As a result, the toughness of unsaturated polyester mortar was increased by polyuretane liquid rubber.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.599-608
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• 2018

This study investigates the feasibility of adopting the results of the UC (unconfined compression) test to assess the total cohesion of the unsaturated soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted on samples of unsaturated lateritic soils of northern Taiwan. Specifically, the unconfined compression test was combined with the pressure plate test to obtain the unconfined compression strength and its matric suction of the samples. Soil samples were first compacted at designated water content and then subjected to the wetting process for saturation and the subsequent drying process to its target suction using the apparatus developed by the authors. The correlations among the matric suction, the unconfined compression strength and the total cohesion were studied. As a result, a simplified method to estimate the total cohesion using the unconfined compressive strength is suggested. The calculated results compare reasonably with the unsaturated triaxial test results. Current results show good performance; however, further study is warranted.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.4D
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• pp.571-576
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• 2011

In general, conventional road pavements are designed under the assumption that the shear strength of geomaterials are under saturated state. In reality, however, most of the pavement geomaterials exists under the unsaturated state. To deal with this gap between saturated and unsaturated conditions, in this paper, unsaturated shear strength was estimated using the results from the triaxial compression test and soil-water characteristics curves. Then, yield loads were assessed using 2-Dimensional finite element method with the selected nonlinear elastic model and the Mohr-Coulomb yield criteria. In addition, various unsaturated condition and surface layer effects on the yield load of granular materials were identified. Therefore, the results demonstrated would provide a possibility to estimate bearing capacity of paved or unpaved roads using unsaturated soil mechanics.