Validation of Shear Strength Relationships for Unsaturated Silty Sand

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

Abstract

The prediction of shear strength in soils is one of the fundamental is-sues in geotechnical engineering. In saturated soils, shear strength is typically defined using the Coulomb failure criterion as a function of total or effective stress components. However, in unsaturated soils, due to the presence of the air phase in the pore space, the soil behav-ior becomes more complex, and it is necessary to consider the effects of matric suction in shear strength relations. The objective of this study is to compare and validate different criteria for predicting shear strength in unsaturated silty sand soils. To this end, several well-known shear strength prediction criteria were examined based on ex-perimental results. The findings showed that some criteria exhibited high accuracy in predicting shear strength, while others displayed significant variability in results under similar conditions. The findings of this study can assist geotechnical researchers and engineers in se-lecting the appropriate criterion for predicting the shear strength of unsaturated soils.

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Journal of Modeling in Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 17 May 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 16 January 2026
  • Revise Date: 03 March 2026
  • Accept Date: 14 March 2026

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