SHEAR-STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF A RESIDUAL SOIL

Shallow landslides in natural residual soils slopes are common all over the world. The slip surfaces associated with these landslides are often situated above the groundwater table. Therefore, it is important to quantify the contribution of negative pore-water pressure to the shear strength of soil. The shear-strength characteristics of residual soil from the Jurong Formation in Singapore were assessed using multistage, consolidated drained triaxial tests. These tests involved shearing under either a constant net confining pressure and varying matric suctions or under a constant matric suction and varying net confining pressures. An extended form of the Mohr–Coulomb equation was used to interpret the test results. The test results show that for matric suctions up to 400 kPa, the angle of internal friction associated with the matric suction, , is similar to the effective angle of internal friction, , which averages 26° for the residual soil of the Jurong Formation. The residual soil can maintain a high deg...