Abstract
Soils at the ground surface experience multiple cycles of drying and wetting. On drying, the soils experience shrinkage and cracks may appear. The development of cracks depends on the tensile strength of the soil. Such cracks increase the permeability of the soil and can cause slopes and earth structures to fail due to rainfall. Several tensile strength models have been proposed for unsaturated soils considering the effect of matric suction. However, the tensile strength models proposed are for either cohesionless (coarse-grained) or clayey (fine-grained) soils. The tensile strength models were shown to be different in their definition of suction stress and the presence or absence of a cohesion term. As tensile strength data of fine-grained soils with the same soil structure and soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) data are lacking in the literature, Brazilian tensile tests and SWCC tests were conducted on compacted fine-grained soils from two residual soil formations. The test data highlighted the problem in the friction angle used in existing tensile strength models. Using a general form of the suction stress and the extended Mohr–Coulomb criterion with the Brazilian test Mohr circle, a new tensile strength model applicable to both coarse-grained and fine-grained soils was proposed. The proposed model was shown to perform better than existing models using independent data.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Available on reasonable request.
References
Agus SS, Leong EC, Rahardjo H (2001) Soil–water characteristic curves of Singapore residual soils. Geotech Geol Eng 19(3–4):285–309. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013175913679
Ajaz A, Parry RHG (1975) Stress–strain behaviour of two compacted clays in tension and compression. Geotechnique 25(3):495–512. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.1975.25.3.495
Akin ID, Likos WJ (2017) Brazilian tensile strength testing of compacted clay. Geotech Test J 40(4):608–617. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20160180
Al-Hussaini M (1981) Tensile properties of compacted soils. In: Yong R, Townsend F (eds). Laboratory shear strength of soil. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, pp 207–225
Al-Hussaini MM, Townsend FC (1973) Tensile testing of soils: a literature review. In Misc paper S73-24. USAE Waterways Research Station, Vicksburg, Missisippi, pp 36–68
Alonso EE, Pereira J-M, Vaunat J, Olivella S (2010) A microstructurally based effective stress for unsaturated soils. Géotechnique 60(12):913–925. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.8.P.002
ASTM D1557-12e1 (2015) Standard test methods for laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using modified effort. West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D1557-12.1, www.astm.org
ASTM D3967–16 (2016) Standard test method for splitting tensile strength of intact rock core specimens. West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D3967-08.2
ASTM D4767–11 (2011) Standard test method for consolidated undrained triaxial compression test for cohesive soils. West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D4767-11.2
ASTM D5298–16 (2016) Standard test method for measurement of soil potential (suction) using filter paper. ASTM International, West Conshocken, PA, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1520/D5298-16.2
ASTM D6836-16 (2016) Standard test methods for determination of the soil water characteristic curve for desorption using a hanging column, pressure extractor, chilled mirror hygrometer, or centrifuge. West Conshohocken, PA
ASTM D698 - 12e2 (2015) Standard test methods for laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using standard effort. West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D0698-12E01, www.astm.org
Bagge G (1985) Tension cracks in saturated clay cuttings. Proceedings of 11th international conference on soil mechanics and foundations engineering, San Francisco, 2:393–395
Baker R (1981) Tensile strength, tension cracks, and stability of slopes. Soils Found 21(2):1–17
Beckett CTS, Smith JC, Ciancio D, Augarde CE (2015) Tensile strengths of flocculated compacted unsaturated soils. Geotechnique Letters 5(4):254–260. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.15.00087
Bulut R, Lytton RL, Wray WK (2001) Soil suction measurements by filter paper. In Proceedings of expansive clay soils and vegetative influence on shallow foundations, 243–261
Consoli NC, Festugato L, Consoli BS, Lopes LS (2015) Assessing failure envelopes of soil-fly ash–lime blends. J Mater Civ Eng 27(5):1–9. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001134
Das BM, Yen S, Dass R (1995) Brazilian tensile strength test of lightly cemented sand. Can Geotech J 32(1):166–171. https://doi.org/10.1139/t95-013
De Souza Villar LF, De Campos TMP, Azevedo RF, Zornberg JG (2009) Tensile strength changes under drying and its correlations with total and matric suctions. In Proceedings of the 17th international conference on soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering: the academia and practice of geotechnical engineering. Alexandria, Egypt. pp. 793–796. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-60750-031-5-793
Dexter AR, Kroesbergen B (1985) Methodology for determination of tensile strength of soil aggregates. J Agric Eng Res 31(2):139–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-8634(85)90066-6
Fahimifar A, Malekpour M (2012) Experimental and numerical analysis of indirect and direct tensile strength using fracture mechanics concepts. Bull Eng Geol Environ 71(2):269–283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-011-0402-7
Fisher RA (1926) On the capillary forces in an ideal soil; correction of formulae given by W. B. Haines. The Journal of Agricultural Science 16(3):492–505. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859600007838
Fredlund DG, Morgenstern NR, Widger RA (1978) The shear strength of unsaturated soils. Can Geotech J 15:313–321
Frydman S (1964) Applicability of the Brazilian (indirect tension) test to soils. Australian Journal Applied Science 15(4):335–343
Frydman S (1967) Triaxial and tensile strength tests on stabilized soil. In 3rd Asian regional conference on soil mechanics and foundations engineering. Haifa, 269–275
Goulding RB (2006) Tensile strength, shear strength, and effective stress for unsaturated sand. University of Missouri, Columbia. https://doi.org/10.19744/j.cnki.11-1235/f.2006.09.027
Hasegawa H, Ikeuti M (1966) On the tensile strength test of disturbed soils. In Rheology and soil mechanics / Rhéologie et Mécanique des sols. Edited by P. Kravtdrenco, J. and Sirieys and M. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. pp. 405–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-39449-6_33
He S, Bai H, Xu Z (2018) Evaluation on tensile behavior characteristics of undisturbed loess. Energies 11(8):1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11081974
Iravanian A, Bilsel H (2016) Tensile strength properties of sand–bentonite mixtures enhanced with cement. Procedia engineering, 143(Ictg): 111–118. Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.015
Jindal P, Sharma J, Bashir R (2016) Effect of pore-water surface tension on tensile strength of unsaturated sand. Indian Geotechnical Journal 46(3):276–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-016-0184-8
Kennedy TW, Hudson WR (1968) Application of the indirect tensile test to stabilized materials. Highway Research Board. Available from http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1968/235/235-004.pdf
Khrishnayya AV, Eisenstein Z (1974) Brazilian tensile test for soils. Can Geotech J 11(4):632–642. https://doi.org/10.1139/t74-064
Kim T, Kim T, Kang G, Ge L (2012) Factors influencing crack-induced tensile strength of compacted soil. J Mater Civ Eng 24(3):315–320. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000380
Kizza R (2019) Suction, hydraulic and strength properties of compacted soils. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Kim TH, Hwang C (2003) Modeling of tensile strength on moist granular earth material at low water content. Eng Geol 69(3–4):233–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-7952(02)00284-3
Kim TH, Sture S (2008) Capillary-induced tensile strength in unsaturated sands. Can Geotech J 45(5):726–737. https://doi.org/10.1139/T08-017
Kim B, Shibuya S, Park S, Kato S (2010) Application of suction stress for estimating unsaturated shear strength of soils using direct shear testing under low confining pressure. Can Geotech J 47(9):955–970
Leong EC, Wijaya M (2015) Universal soil shrinkage curve equation. In: Geoderma, 237: 78–87. Elsevier, B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.08.012
Leong E, He L, Rahardjo H (2002a) Factors affecting the filter paper method for total and matric suction measurements. Geotech Test J 25(3):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ11094J
Leong EC, Rahardjo H, Tang SK (2002b) Characterisation and engineering properties of Singapore residual soils. In Proceedings of the international workshop on characterisation and engineering properties of natural soils, Singapore, 2:1279–1304
Leong E, Tripathy S, Rahardjo H (2003) Total suction measurement of unsaturated soils with a device using the chilled-mirror dew-point technique. Géotechnique 53(2):173–182
Li D, Wong LNY (2013) The Brazilian disc test for rock mechanics applications: review and new insights. Rock Mech Rock Eng 46(2):269–287
Li HD, Tang CS, Cheng Q, Li SJ, Gong XP, Shi B (2019) Tensile strength of clayey soil and the strain analysis based on image processing techniques. Engineering Geology, 253:137–148. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2019.03.017
Lu N, Wu B, Tan CP (2007) Tensile strength characteristics of unsaturated sands. J Geotech Geoenviron 133(2):144–154. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2007)133:2(144)
Lu N, Kim T-H, Sture S, Likos WJ (2009) Tensile strength of unsaturated sand. J Eng Mech 135(12):1410–1419. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000054
Mendes J (2011) Assessment of the impact of climate change on an instrumented embankment: an unsaturated soil mechanics approach. Durham theses. Durham University. Available from online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/612/
Morris PH, Graham J, Williams DJ (1992) Cracking in drying soils. Can Geotech J 29(2):263–277. https://doi.org/10.1139/t92-030
Munkholm LJ, Kay BD (2014) Effect of water regime on aggregate-tensile strength, rupture energy, and friability. Soil Sci Soc Am J 66(3):702. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2002.7020
Murray I, Tarantino A (2019) Mechanisms of failure in saturated and unsaturated clayey geomaterials subjected to (total) tensile stress. Geotechnique 69(8):701–712. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.17.P.252
Narvaez B, Aubertin M, Saleh-Mbemba F (2015) Determination of the tensile strength of unsaturated tailings using bending tests. Can Geotech J 52(11):1874–1885. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0156
Peters J, Leavell D (1988) Relationship between tensile and compressive strengths of compacted soils. In: Donaghe RT, Chancy RC, Silver ML (eds) Advanced triaxial testing of soil and rock, ASTM STP 9. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, pp 169–188. https://doi.org/10.1520/stp29077s
Pittaro G (2019) Tensile strength behaviour of ground improvement and its importance on deep excavations using deep soil. In XVII European conference on soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. pp. 1–8. https://doi.org/10.32075/17ECSMGE-2019-0085
Shi B, Chen S, Han H, Zheng C (2014) Expansive soil crack depth under cumulative damage. The Scientific World Journal 2014:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/498437 research
Sivakugan N, Das BM, Lovisa J, Patra CR (2014) Determination of c and Φ of rocks from indirect tensile strength and uniaxial compression tests. Int J Geotech Eng 8(1):59–65. https://doi.org/10.1179/1938636213Z.00000000053
Snyder VA, Miller RD (1985) Tensile strength of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 49(1):58–65. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1985.03615995004900010011x
Tang GX, Graham J (2000) A method for testing tensile strength in unsaturated soils. Geotech Test J 23(3):377–382. https://doi.org/10.1520/gtj11059j
Tang CS, Pei XJ, Wang DY, Shi B, Li J (2015) Tensile strength of compacted clayey soil. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 141(4):04014122_ 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001267
Tang L, Zhao Z, Luo Z, Sun Y (2019) What is the role of tensile cracks in cohesive slopes? Journal of rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering, 11(2):314–324. Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2018.09.007
Tarantino A (2010) Unsaturated soils: compacted versus reconstituted states. In 5th international conference on unsaturated soil. Barcelona, pp 113–136. https://doi.org/10.1201/b10526-9
Trabelsi H, Jamei M, Guiras H, Hatem Z, Romero E, Sebastia O (2010) Some investigations about the tensile strength and the desiccation process of unsaturated clay. EPJ Web of Conferences 6:12005. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20100612005.i
Trabelsi H, Jamei M, Zenzri H, Olivella S (2012) Crack patterns in clayey soils: experiments and modeling. Int J Numer Anal Methods Geomech 36(11):1410–1433. https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.1060
Tschebotarioff G, Ward E, Dephippe A (1953) The tensile strength of disturbed and recompacted soils. In 3rd international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering. Switzerland, 207–210
Uchida I, Matsumoto R (1961) On the test of the modulus of rupture of soil sample. Soils Found 2(1):51–55. Available from http://www.mendeley.com/research/geology-volcanic-history-eruptive-style-yakedake-volcano-group-central-japan/
Van Genuchten MT (1980) A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44(5):892–898
Vaniceek I (2013) The importance of tensile strength in geotechnical engineering. Acta Geotechnica Slovenica 10(1):5–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-2836(71)90334-2
Varsei M, Miller GA, Hassanikhah A (2016) Novel approach to measuring tensile strength of compacted clayey soil during desiccation. International Journal of Geomechanics 16(6):D4016011. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)gm.1943-5622.0000705
Vesga L, Vallejo L (2006) Direct and indirect tensile tests for measuring the equivalent effective stress in a kaolinite clay. In Fourth international conference on unsaturated soils. Carefree, Arizona, United States, pp. 1290–1301
Wang JP, François B, Lambert P (2020) From basic particle gradation parameters to water retention curves and tensile strength of unsaturated granular soils. International Journal of Geomechanics 26(6):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0001677
Win SS (2006) Tensile strength of compacted soils subjected to wetting and drying. The University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia
Wong CK, Wan RG, Wong RCK (2017) Tensile and shear failure behaviour of compacted clay – hybrid failure mode. International journal of geotechnical engineering, 6362(December):1–11. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/19386362.2017.1408242
Yin P, Vanapalli SK (2018) Model for predicting tensile strength of unsaturated cohesionless soils. Can Geotech J 55(9):1313–1333. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2017-0376
Young JF (1967) Humidity control in the laboratory using salt solutions—a review. J Appl Chem 17(9):241–245. https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5010170901
Zeh R, Witt K (2005) Suction-controlled tensile strength of compacted clays. In Proceedings of international conference on soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. pp. 2347–2350
Acknowledgments
The first and third authors acknowledge the Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) scholarship for this PhD study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
The second author (E.C.L.) contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by the first author (S.B.). The manuscript was prepared by S.B. and E.C.L. The third author (R.K.) provided the test data for the fine-grained soils reported in the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest/competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bulolo, S., Leong, E.C. & Kizza, R. Tensile strength of unsaturated coarse and fine-grained soils. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 2727–2750 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-02073-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-02073-6