Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261 – 267

www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

Research of soil–water characteristics and shear

strength features of Nanyang expansive soil
Linchang Miao*, Songyu Liu, Yuanming Lai
College of Traffic Engineering, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

Received 8 December 2000; accepted 31 October 2001

Abstract

Nanyang expansive soil is investigated in its unsaturated state in this paper. The wetting – drying cycle tests of soil – water
characteristics of Nanyang expansive soil have been performed in the laboratory. The test results show that the soil – water
characteristic curve of the pre-load specimen can well reflect the soil property function of expansive soil. The strength features
of the different suction states of the unsaturated expansive soil are also investigated. The hyperbolic model of the suction
strength is presented and the parameters of this model are easily determined by tri-axial tests of unsaturated soils. The
hyperbolic model is conveniently applied to predict suction strength of an unsaturated soil. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.

Keywords: Expansive soil; Soil – water characteristic curve; Suction; Suction strength; Hyperbolic model

1. Introduction curve are difficult to determine. A number of equations

The expansive soil is a particular clay that is of spe-
cial characteristics (i.e., swell – shrinking, crack and
over-consolidation characteristics). The characteristics
of the expansive soil are strongly related to the change
in suction.
The behavior of an unsaturated soil is strongly re-
lated to the pore size and pore geometrical distribution.
As a result, the soil –water characteristic curve defines
the degree of saturation corresponding to a particular
suction in the soil and becomes a dominant relationship
for understanding unsaturated soil behavior, but para-
meters of the equation of the soil –water characteristic
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: lc.miao@jlonline.com (L. Miao),
lsong@public1.ptt.js.cn (S. Liu), ymlai@ns.lzbac.cn (Y. Lai).
have been proposed to best-fit the soil – water charac-
teristic curve empirically. The following equation is the
one proposed by Fredlund and Xing (1994) to best-fit
the soil – water characteristic curve empirically:
hðua  uw ,as ,ns ,ms Þ
hs
¼ Cðua  uw Þ ð1Þ
fln½eððua  uw Þ=as Þns gms
where: h = volumetric water content, hs = volumetric
water content at saturated, e = 2.718, ua = pore air
pressure, uw = pore water pressure, (ua  uw) = matric
suction, af = soil parameter related to the air entry of
the soil and equal to the inflection point on the curve,
nf = soil parameter related to the rate of desaturation,
mf = soil parameter related to residual water content,
and C(ua  uw) = correction factor to ensure that the
function goes through 1,000,000 kPa of suction at zero

0013-7952/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 1 3 - 7 9 5 2 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 3 6 - 3
262 L. Miao et al. / Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261–267
water content. However, the conventional soil –water
characteristic curve does not consider the actual stress
state of soil mass in the field, and some parameters are
determined with difficulty.
The shear strength equation for an unsaturated soil
is presented by Fredlund et al. (1978) as:
sf ¼ cVþ ðr  ua Þtan/Vþ ðua  uw Þtan/b
where: sf = shear strength of an unsaturated soil, c V=
effective cohesion of the soil, /V= effective angle of
shearing resistance for a saturated soil, (r  ua) = net
normal stress, (ua  uw) = soil suction, and /b = angle
of shearing resistance relative to an increase in suction,
but /b is difficult to determine.
Fredlund et al. (1994) and Vanapalli et al. (1996)
suggested several models for predicting the shear
strength of an unsaturated soil using the soil –water
characteristic curve and the saturated shear strength
parameters. Eq. (3) given below can be used for pre-
dicting the shear strength of unsaturated soil:
sf ¼ cVþ ðr  ua Þtan/Vþ ðua  uw Þtan/V
 
h  hr
hs  hr
where: hs = saturated volumetric water content, hr =
volumetric water content at residual condition. The
second term of Eq. (3) is the shear strength contribution
due to suction. It can be expressed as
 
h  hr
sus ¼ ðua  uw Þtan/V ð4Þ
hs  hr
where sus is suction strength. It indicates that the soil –
water characteristic curve can be used to compute soil
property functions for unsaturated soils approximately.
However, soil – water characteristic curve is conven-
iently measured in the laboratory, whereas the soil in the
Table 1
The physical mechanics parameters of Nanyang expansive soils
Specific Dry density NMC WP (%) WL (%) IP
gravity (g/cm3) W0 (%)
2.7 1.63 21.4 26.5 58.3 31.8
field is usually subjected to certain stress. Thus, there
are some unestimated errors using Eq. (3) to compute
soil property function for unsaturated soils. For this
reason, the soil – water characteristic curve and shear
strength features of Nanyang expansive soils have been
studied in the paper.
ð2Þ
2. Physical mechanical parameters of Nanyang
expansive soils
Nanyang is located in Henan Province, China. It is
a semi-arid region, and there is a lot of expansive soil
in Nanyang area. The canal of China Middle Route
South-to-North Water Transfer will cross through the
area. The canal is a typical cut and fill high slope in
expansive soils. In order to ensure the engineering
safety of this canal, the mechanical parameters, defor-
mation, soil –water characteristic curve, shear strength
feature and slope stability must be investigated.
The physical mechanical parameters of Nanyang
expansive soils are measured in the laboratory and
given in Table 1. The mineral components of Nanyang
expansive soils are given in Table 2. These parameters
ð3Þ show that Nanyang expansive soil is the middle grade
expansive soil and the content of illite and montmor-
illonite is higher.
3. The soil –water characteristic curve
The swell – shrinking deformation of expansive soil
is strongly related to the variation of water content. It
will be swelling as water content increases and
shrinkage as water content decreases. The soil – water
characteristic curve defines the relationship between
the soil suction and volumetric or gravimetric water
content, so the suction of the expansive soil should be
related to water content.
Free c V(kPa) / (j) Granularity (%)
sweling (%)
> 0.05 0.05 – 0.005 < 0.005 < 0.002
mm mm mm mm
74.0 32.0 21.3 6.7 48.6 44.7 24.8
 L. Miao et al. / Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261–267 263

Table 2
The mineral components of Nanyang expansive soils (%)
Montmorillonite Illite Kaolinite Felspar Hydromic Chlorite Others
23.1 38.5 8.3 10.1 5.5 6.4 8.1

The soil – water characteristic curve of a soil is con-

ventionally measured by means of a pressure plate ex-
tractor in which any vertical or confining stress cannot
be applied and volume change of the soil specimen is
assumed to be zero. The soil in the field is usually
subjected to certain stress. Although it is theoretically
recognized that the stress state of a soil has some
influence on the soil –water characteristic curve (Fred-
lund and Raharjo, 1993), Vanapalli et al. (1996, 1998) Fig. 1. Soil – water characteristic curve of no pre-load exerted on the
examined the influence of the total stress state on the specimen.
soil –water characteristic curve of a compacted fine-
grained soil indirectly. In this paper, the influence of
the stress state and wetting –drying cycles is studied for the pre-load specimen can well reflect the soil prop-
the soil – water characteristic curve of Nanyang expan- erty function of expansive soil.
sive soil. Comparing Fig. 1 with Fig. 2, the two soil –water
For Nanyang expansive soil, two group tests of the characteristic curves have obvious differences. This
soil –water characteristic curve are made using 15 bar phenomena is mainly caused by the arrangement in
of the pressure plate. One group specimen is saturated different initial stress state. Further, the size of the
allowing volumetric change (i.e., no pre-load exerting hysteresis loops of between the drying and wetting
on the specimen). The other group specimen is satu- curve seems to be dependent on the initial stress state
rated maintaining constant volume (i.e., exerting a of soil specimen. Parameters hs, hr determined would
pre-load on the specimen). The two group expansive be stable and identical for one soil using the soil –
soil specimen are remolded specimen with a dry water characteristic curve of the pre-load specimen.
density of 1.5 g/cm3. Three wetting– drying cycles Fig. 3 is the soil – water characteristic curve of the pre-
are measured for each group specimen in this test.
Fig. 1 is the soil –water characteristic curve of no
pre-load exerted on the specimen. Measured results
show that the wetting –drying cycles of the expansive
soil specimen are of obvious effect for the soil – water
characteristic curve of the no pre-load specimen.
There is a marked hysteresis between the drying and
wetting curve for all no pre-load expansive soil speci-
men. The hysteresis potential is reduced as the num-
ber of wetting –drying cycles increases, and will tend
to be stable. The soil – water characteristic curve of the
exerting pre-load expansive soil specimen is shown in
Fig. 2. From Fig. 2, it can be seen that the hysteresis
between the drying and wetting curve is more stable
as the number of wetting –drying cycles increases, and
the influence of the wetting– drying cycles of the pre-
load specimen is smaller than that of the no pre-load Fig. 2. Soil – water characteristic curve of pre-load exerted on the
specimen. So the soil – water characteristic curve of specimen.
264 L. Miao et al. / Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261–267
load Nanyang expansive soil specimen in total suction
range. The air entry value and the residual value of
Nanyang expansive soil are approximately 25 and
1500 kPa, and parameters hs = 33.7% and hr = 9.2%
according to Fig. 3, respectively.
4. Shear strength test
4.1. Shear strength test of saturated expansive soil
The shear strength test of the saturated expansive
soil is measured by using conventional tri-axial. The
specimens are the remolded expansive soil specimen
and dry density is 1.5 g/cm3. The tri-axial test results
are shown in Fig. 4. The measured parameters of remol-
ded expansive soil specimen is cV= 32 kPa, /V= 21.3j.
4.2. Shear strength test of the unsaturated expansive
soils
The specimens have been prepared to predetermine
water content and density condition by static compac-
tion. The specimens are the remolded Nanyang expan-
Fig. 3. Soil – water characteristic curve of pre-load exerted on the specimen of Nanyang expansive soil.
sive soil. The dry density is 1.5 g/cm3, and the initial
water content is 17%. The tests of unsaturated soils are
performed by controlling suction in us = ua  uw = 50,
80, 120 and 200 kPa with unsaturated tri-axial. The
tests are made under the condition of draining water,
and the shear rate is 0.009 mm/min. Figs. 5– 8 show
the stress –strain curve of the unsaturated soil tests in
us = 50, 80, 120 and 200 kPa, respectively. Tri-axial
test data are given in Table 3.
In Table 3, ctotal = cV+ sus, cV is effective cohesive, sus
is suction strength and (/b = tan  1(sus/us)) is the angle
of shearing resistance relative to an increase in suction.
/b decreases with suction increase. It is a nonlinear
relationship between /b and suction.
4.3. Hyperbola model of suction strength
The tri-axial tests of the unsaturated expansive soils
demonstrate that cVand /Vare invariable, i.e., c V( = 32
kPa) and /V( = 21.3j) are independent from suction.
Fig. 9 shows the relationship between us(us = ua  uw)
and sus, which is nonlinear. If sus and us are trans-
formed to 1/us and 1/sus, it becomes an approximate
linear relationship between 1/us and 1/sus. But when
 L. Miao et al. / Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261–267 265

Fig. 6. Tri-axial test results of unsaturated expansive soil (us = 80

Fig. 4. Tri-axial test results of saturated expansive soils. kPa).

us = 0, 1/us will be singularity, so 1/us and 1/sus may be soils, so that sus = 0. If us = 0 and sus = 0 in Eq. (5), Eq.
transformed to 1/(us + pat) and 1/(sus + pat), where pat is (5) will become:
atmospheric pressure. Fig. 10 shows the relationship 1a
between 1/(us + pat) and 1/(sus + pat). We can use a b¼ ð6Þ
pat
linear equation to describe that:
Inserting Eq. (6) to Eq. (5), we can obtain:
1 a aus
¼ þb ð5Þ sus ¼ ð7Þ
sus þ pat us þ pat 1 þ 1a
pat us

where a and b are the test parameters and are deter- Eq. (7) is a hyperbola equation. This is the hyperbola
mined by regressive analysis of test data of unsatura- model of the suction strength of unsaturated soils.
ted soil. For Nanyang expansive soil, a = 0.54 and b = When us = 0 in Eq. (7), sus = 0; and us ! l in Eq.
0.0046 kPa  1. When us = 0, the soils are saturated (7), sus ! (a/(1/  a))pat. It indicates that the limit of

Fig. 5. Tri-axial test results of unsaturated expansive soils (us = 50 Fig. 7. Tri-axial test results of unsaturated expansive soil (us = 120
kPa). kPa).
266 L. Miao et al. / Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261–267

Fig. 8. Tri-axial test results of unsaturated expansive soil (us = 200
kPa).
sus is (a/(1  a))pat. This illustrates that the suction
strength is finite. Thus, equation of unsaturated soil
strength can be re-written as:
aus
sf ¼ cVþ ðr  ua Þtan/Vþ ð8Þ
1 þ 1a
pat us
When soil is saturated, i.e., us = 0, Eq. (8) will be
reduced as follows:
sf ¼ cVþ ðr  ua Þtan/V
We can apply the hyperbola model of suction strength
to the practical engineering and predict and calculate
the shear strength of unsaturated soils based on suction
data of unsaturated soils. However, parameter a in Eq.
(7) is constant for a certain range suction of unsatu-
rated soil tri-axial, i.e., it is relative to the range suction
of the test.
Fig. 9. The relationship curve between us and sus.
model of the suction strength, Eq. (4) (Vanapalli’s
(1996) model) and Eq. (7) (the hyperbola model of
this paper) could be used to calculate suction strength
of Nanyang expansive soils, respectively. The calcu-
lating suction strength are shown in Table 4. The
calculating results show that the calculating suction
strength of Vanapalli’s model is increased as us > 1000
kPa (i.e., water content of the soil specimen is higher)
and decreased as us > 1000 kPa (i.e., water content of
the soil specimen is lower). This phenomenon illus-
trates that Vanapalli’s model might be used to describe
the strength feature of an unsaturated soil in low
suction. But the suction strength of the hyperbola
model is increased as soil suction increases and there
is a limit suction strength, which accords with prac-

4.4. Suction strength analysis

Considering the soil – water characteristic curve of

pre-load expansive soil specimen and the hyperbolic

Table 3
Shear strength data of Nanyang expansive soil
us (kPa) 50 80 120 200
Ctotal (kPa) 51.2 59 71 89.3
sus (kPa) 19.2 30.6 39 57.3
c V(kPa) 32.0 31.8 32.1 31.9
/ V(j) 21.3 21.4 21.2 21.3
/b (j) 21.0 20.9 18.0 16.0 Fig. 10. The means of parameters a and b.
 L. Miao et al. / Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 261–267
Table 4
Calculating suction strength of Nanyang expansive soils
us (kPa) 10 50 100 150
h (%) 32.9 31.6 29.6 28.1
sus (kPa) in Eq. (4) 3.8 17.8 32.5 45.1
sus (kPa) in Eq. (7) 5.2 21.9 37.0 47.9
tical condition. The hyperbola model of the suction
strength could be used to reflect the strength behavior
of an unsaturated soil. In Table 4, the calculating
suction strength of both Vanapalli’s model and the
hyperbola model are of basic agreement when soil
suction is smaller than 300 kPa, which illustrates that
the hyperbola model of suction strength is of reli-
ability to describe the strength feature of an unsatu-
rated soil.
5. Discussion
What we just discussed is the essential problem
that the engineering stability of the expansive soil
slope will be assured in the canal of Middle Route
South-to-North Water Transfer in China. The strength
of the expansive soil is a problem too. This is related
to the suction strength of expansive soil. Thus, the
following work must be done.
(1) Suction measure of the expansive soil. One
method is to directly measure soil suction with sensors
in the field. Another method will be to indirectly get
the soil suction from the soil – water characteristic
curve, but the method may produce some error. Our
research results illustrate that the soil –water charac-
teristic curve of pre-load specimen is better than that
without pre-load specimen.
(2) Stability research of expansive soil. If soil
suction has been obtained, we can use the hyperbola
model of suction strength presented in this paper to
calculate suction strength and total cohesion of expan-
sive soil and to predict the stability of expansive soil
slope.
6. Conclusions
(1) The soil –water characteristic curve and the size
of the hysteresis loops are influenced by the initial
267
200 250 300 400 500 750 1000
27.4 26.6 25.3 23.8 22.1 20.2 16.0
57.9 69.2 76.9 92.9 102.6 131.3 108.2
56.3 62.8 68.1 76.1 81.8 91.0 96.4
stress state of the soil specimen. The hysteresis poten-
tial is reduced as the number of wetting– drying cycles
increases and will tend to stabilize at last for without
pre-load expansive soil specimen.
(2) The hysteresis loops between the drying and
wetting curve for pre-load expansive soil specimen
are more stable, and the influence of the number of
wetting –drying cycles is smaller, too. The soil –water
characteristic curve of the pre-load specimen could
well reflect the soil property function of expansive
soil. Using the soil – water characteristic curve of the
pre-load specimen, parameters hs, hr determined
would be stable and identical for an unsaturated soil,
and could predict the shear strength of unsaturated
soils with Eq. (3).
(3) The hyperbola model of suction strength pre-
sented by this paper could be used to reflect the
strength behavior of an unsaturated soil and is of
reliability to describe the strength feature of an unsa-
turated soil. The hyperbola model has an advantage in
that the model parameter might be easily determined
and has obvious meaning. The hyperbola model could
conveniently be applied to predict suction strength.
References
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strength of unsaturated soil. Can. Geotech. J. 15, 313 – 321.
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