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.
PETERH. MORRIS
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
J . GRAHAM
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man., Canada R3T 2N2
AND
DAVIDJ. WILLIAMS
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Received April 25, 1991
Accepted December 3, 1991
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Cracking in soils that are undergoing drying is controlled by soil suctions and by soil properties such as compression
modulus, Poisson's ratio, shear strength, tensile strength, and specific surface energy. The paper reviews the occurrence
and morphology of cracks in dry-climate regions of Australia and Canada. After reviewing the behaviour of unsaturated
soils and the mechanics of cracking, solutions are developed based on ( i ) elasticity theory, ( i i ) the transition between
tensile and shear failure, and (iii) linear elastic fracture mechanics. The solutions are compared and related to crack
depths observed in the field.
Key words: clay, cracks, crust, shear strength, soil suction, tensile strength, unsaturated soil, weathering.
La fissuration dans les sols subissant une dessiccation est contr81Ce par la succion et par les propriCtCs du sol telles
que le module de compression, le rapport de Poisson, la rksistance au cisaillement, la rCsistance en tension, et 1'Cnergie
de la surface spkcifique. L'article passe en revue la distribution et la morphologie de fissures dans les rCgions B climat
sec de 1'Australie et du Canada. Aprks avoir pass6 en revue le comportement des sols non saturts et la mCcanique de
fissuration, des solutions ont CtC dCveloppCes sur la base de ( i ) la thCorie d'ClasticitC, ( i i ) la transition entre la rupture
en tension et en cisaillement, et (iii) la mCcanique de fissuration Clastique 1inCaire. Les solutions sont comparCes et
For personal use only.
TABLE
1. Typical values associated with cracking natural soils
in Australia and Canada
Australia
Adelaide 1.2 4.0 1.8-2.0
Melbourne 1.2 2.0 2.0-3.0
Sydney 1.5 1.5
Hunter Valley 1.5 2.0 0.5
Brisbane 1.2 1.5 0.5
Wodonga 1.5 3.0
Canada
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Winnipeg - 3 .O 6.0
NOTE:Table adapted from Australian Standard 2870.1-1988:
Residential slabs and footings; with additional Canadian data.
'Ratio of suctions when most wet and most dry.
(a) (b)
WATER CONTENT SUCTION (ua -uW), PF
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3'-
MELBOURNE W SYDNEY W ADELAIDE NE
W = WET SEASON -TOTAL SUCTION
-- - -
D = DRY SEASON MATRIX SUCTION
FIG. 2. (a) Variation of water content with depth. Curve 1, equilibrium water content under a surface covering; curve 2, dry season;
curve 3, wet season (after Kraynski, in Chen 1975). ( b )Typical seasonal soil suction variations with depth (after Cameron and Walsh 1984).
horizontal pressures that follow rewetting in active clays ing the draining of proglacial Lake Agassiz. Inclined fissures
after infilling has washed into previously open cracks. Alter- and slickensiding are also found in these deposits. However,
natively they may result from differential shrinkage because at least some of these are due to icebergs scouring the lake-
the soil is nonuniform or the vegetation cover is variable bottom deposits (Clark et al. 1988). Close to the ground sur-
For personal use only.
(Stapledon 1970). They may also result from tectonic effects. face, the clay is very closely fissured (with spacings as close
Table 1 shows some typical values associated with crack- as 2-5 mm), with a nuggety structure produced by seasonal
ing soils in Australia and Canada. Shrinkage cracks can freeze-thaw cycles (Graham and Au 1985).
extend almost to the depth of seasonal moisture change in
the ground. However, this will not be the case where an
upwards supply of salt-rich groundwater produces high salt Moisture content and suction distributions
concentrations in the evaporative zone close to the ground The preceding section suggests relationships between crack
surface. Deposition of salts in the interparticle contact zones depths, water table levels, water contents, and suction pro-
produces enhanced tensile strength and greater resistance to files which will be explored in following sections.
cracking. This condition is seen in Adelaide where it limits Water content distributions with depth
crack depths to about 1.8-2.0 m (P. Peter, personal Figure 2a (after Kraynski, in Chen 1975) shows the equi-
communication). librium water content profile expected under a surface cover-
Observations of cracks in Australian coal mine tailings ing (curve 1). The variation of water content with depth cor-
deposits in the Hunter Valley coalfields in New South Wales responding to dry-season conditions is shown as curve 2 and
and in the West Moreton (Fig. 1) and Bowen Basin coalfields wet-season conditions as curve 3. Seasonal fluctuations are
in Queensland reveal crack depths of typically 0.5 m, com- restricted to a depth H, that is typically 1-2 m beneath nor-
pared with a water table depth of about 1-1.5 m. The crack mal ground cover in eastern Australia, about 0.5-1.0 m
depth increases with distance from the east coast of Australia below the unvegetated surface of AustraIian coal tailings,
as the annual rainfall diminishes. Rarely, cracks have been and about 3 m in Manitoba, Canada. These fluctuations are
observed to the full depth of the deposits, about 4 m. These usually insufficient to allow full equilibrium to be reached
have been associated with tailings deposits resting on, and at any given depth. Because the stress-strain behaviour of
contained by, freely draining sand- and gravel-sized coarse clays is nonreversible, the measured water contents are
reject from the mine. Initially, cracks form at about 1 m usually dry of complete equilibrium, even after climatic
spacings, with secondary cracks forming within the 1 m cycles lasting perhaps 7-8 years which are encountered in
blocks. Cracks intersect at close to 90'. the Canadian Interior Plains (Hamilton 1969). For similar
In the Lake Agassiz clays near Winnipeg, desiccation reasons, the depth H, of seasonal changes in water content
cracks frequently extend to about 6 m depth, and less fre- is usually less than the depth Hd to the permanent water
quently to the full depth of the deposit, from about 8-15 m
table. Since cracking is associated with these seasonal
(Graham and Shields 1985). The 6 m depth corresponds to changes, it corresponds more closely with H, than with Hd.
the depth of atmospheric weathering and a colour change
from brown near the surface to grey-blue at depth. Since Suction distributions with depth
the current climate produces seasonal moisture changes only If climatic conditions stayed constant long enough for full
to about 3-4 m depth (Hamilton 1969), the cracks to 6 m equilibrium conditions and a constant water table to be
depth correspond to warmer and drier climatic conditions reached in the soil profile, the matrix suction would decrease
during the hypsothermal period 9000-4500 years ago follow- linearly with depth from maximum suction at the ground
CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 29, 1992
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FIG. 3. Model of behaviour of unsaturated soil compression ( a ) , and shear strength (b) (after Fredlund 1979).
surface to zero suction (atmospheric pressure) at the water changes in matrix suction, or by any combination of the two
table (Appendix 2). However, this condition is rarely reached (Fig. 3a). In soils that are experiencing desaturation, ques-
in practice and it is more common to observe a transient tions arise about the validity of the effective stress concept
nonlinear decay of matrix suction from a peak at the surface and about the ability of Fredlund's state variables to link
to zero at the water table. Superimposed on this are tran- the pore-air and pore-water pressures in the soil. However,
For personal use only.
sient solute suctions that depend on the salt concentration at present, no better approach has been proposed.
in the pore water. Within the depth of cracking, changes Fredlund (1979) showed that the shear strength of
in matrix suction occur much more rapidly than changes in unsaturated soils can be expressed as
soil chemistry and solute suction. As mentioned earlier,
matrix suction has a greater effect on cracking than solute [l] rf = C' + (a - u,) t a n + ' + (u, - u,) t a n + b
suction within the usual time frame of engineering interest. where the effective cohesion c' in this equation is indepen-
Figure 2b shows wet- and dry-season suction profiles mea- dent of pressure and is often small, +' describes how the
sured in southern Australia (after Cameron and Walsh strength increases with total pressure, and + b describes how
1984). (The unit p F is defined as log,, (suction head in centi- the strength increases with matrix suction. The relationship
metres of water).) The depth of shrinkage cracks typically expressed by [I] is shown in Fig. 3b. (Alonso et al. 1987
coincides approximately with the depth of seasonal changes showed that [I] is perhaps oversimplified, but no additional
in water content and suction. The (perched) water table is complexity will be introduced here.) Saturated behaviour is
at, or more likely below, this depth. The profiles of total given by the plane PQRS with u, - u, = 0,that is, u, =
suction (the sum of matrix suction and solute (osmotic) suc- u,. For a given matrix suction, the apparent cohesion
tion) in Fig. 2b have an approximately constant suction of intercept cap, where the failure surface intersects the
about p F 4 (about 1000 kPa) at depth due to solute suction. T,(u, - u,)-plane is given by
The solute suction reaches a peak below the water table due
to the greater salt concentration produced there by downward [2] cap, = c' + (u, - u,) t a n + b
leaching from above. It can reach p F 4.2 or pF4.6 near trees. Cracking can be assumed to occur when the horizontal
Suggested matrix suction profiles are shown as broken lines stress at the tip of a crack becomes more tensile than the
in Fig. 2b. They tend to p F = - cx, at the water table, cor- tensile strength of the soil. Little has been published in the
responding to zero suction on the logarithmic p F scale, and geotechnical literature about the tensile strength of soils.
join the total suction profiles towards the surface, where Figure 4a (from Lee and Ingles 1968) shows how the com-
matrix suction dominates over solute suction. mon criteria for shear failure in a compressive stress field
must be modified when the stresses are tensile. Note from
Fig. 4a that the absolute value of the tensile strength t is
Compressibility and strength behaviour of significantly less than cap, cot +' . (With the sign conven-
unsaturated soil tion usual in geotechnical engineering, t is numerically
Desaturation of soils gives rise to high suction pressures. negative.) Taking t = - aTcap, cot +' , Bagge (1985) sug-
Ignoring solute suction, Fredlund and Morgenstern (1976) gested that a T lay between about 0.5 and 0.7. However,
showed that unsaturated soil behaviour can be expressed in from Fig. 4a, t = - capp/2,so a T = 0.5 tan 6' (Frydman
terms of the state variables: (i) total stress relative to the 1967; Baker 1981). In unsaturated soils, the relevant cohe-
pore-air pressure (a - u,), (ii) matrix suction (u, - u,), sion term is the apparent cohesion c,,, (eq. [2]) that
and (iii) voids ratio e (or specific volume V = 1 + e). Com- includes the contribution from matrix suction. Thus, the ten-
pression can then be caused by changes in total stress, by sile strength of an unsaturated soil can be written
MORRIS ET AL.
ZECONSTITUTED
t rn
0.5 r (c) WINNIPEG CLAY
r
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DESICCATED
100
FIG. 4. Strength envelopes indicating tensile strength after (a) Lee and Ingles (1968), (b) Bishop and Garga (1969), (c) Graham
and Au (1985), and (d) Morris (1990).
For personal use only.
[3] t = 0.5[c1 + (u, - u,) tan rpb] cot 4' Soils are particulate. Consequently, microcracks in the
sense defined by Griffith (1924) can be identified with the
Soils such as slurries and mine tailings drying from very intergranular voids and hence with conventional measures
wet conditions have low effective cohesions c' of the order of particle size. Macrocracks are produced by the growth
2-5 kPa. In this case it is conservative to set c' = 0, so of these microcracks under tensile loading at the crack tips.
[3al t = -aT(ua - u,) tan rpbcot 4' Griffith (1924) showed that for an internal crack of length
2A, the uniform tensile stress transverse to the crack that
That is, is required to cause the crack to propagate is proportional
to A -'.'. In soils, this means that in clay with small particle
These relationships will be used in subsequent sections. sizes, the tensile stress required to propagate a crack is larger
Other examples of tensile strength are shown in the than that required in silt or sand with larger particle sizes.
remaining diagrams in Fig. 4. Figure 4b shows triaxial test The simple capillary model suggests that the suction is
measurements of the tensile strength of London clay pre- inversely proportional to the radius of the capillaries and
sented by Bishop and Garga (1969). The low-stress strength hence to the particle size. Thus matrix suctions can be larger
envelope (and by implication the tensile strength) of in soils with smaller particle size and approximately propor-
Winnipeg clay is shown in Fig. 4c (Graham and Au 1985). tional to A - I . Comparison of these two relationships for
Figure 4d presents direct shear tests on coal mine tailings (i) tensile stress and (ii) matrix suction in terms of the crack
from New Hope Colliery in the Bowen Basin coalfields in length A shows that macrocracks due to soil suctions are
Queensland, Australia (Morris 1990). Here again, although more readily produced in fine-grained than in coarse-grained
the tensile strength was not measured directly, it is clearly materials.
significant. Soils generally dry downwards from the surface, where
matrix suctions are generally largest and self-weight stresses
are zero. The microcracking that is present throughout
Qualitative discussion of crack propagation bodies of soil in the form of interparticle voids is of course
Matrix suctions (u, - u,) in uncracked soils produce also present at the soil surface. Thus, conditions for crack
compressive stresses (a - u,) between the particles. This growth are most favourable at the surface of the soil.
remains true provided the uncracked soil compresses only Microcracks in the form of voids are initially distributed
one-dimensionally due to evaporation from the ground sur- randomly over the soil surface. As desiccation proceeds, they
face. (In this case, elastic theory requires that the horizontal begin to propagate downwards into the soil under the
stresses due to suction are reduced by a factor of (1 - 2v)/ influence of matrix suctions in a direction perpendicular to
(1 - v).) However, preexisting cracks in the soil, even if that of the maximum tensile stress (Meguid 1980). The ten-
small, can produce local tensile stresses at the crack tips, sile stress at the tip of any given crack is reduced by the pres-
providing that deformations are constrained. ence of adjacent cracks. Longer cracks are least affected by
268 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 29, 1992
strain E, is
SUCTION S ( k P 8 )
FIG. 6. Depth of cracking for constant suction So in profile.
stops when the decreasing size of the block in plan (and where
hence the increasing relative depth of cracking) overcomes
the restraining stresses at the base of the block and matrix
suctions attain equilibrium with the atmosphere; that is,
when the maximum suction consistent with the ambient con- For linear elasticity, C, and Ca (the volumetric compliances
ditions is reached. with respect to (total stress - pore air pressure) and suc-
After long periods of dry hot weather, blocks 300-400 mm tion, respectively) are constants. Also, for isotropic elasticity
square in plan, with depths approaching several metres, are and isotropic loading (with ax = a, = a,; E, = E, = E,),
seen in coal mine tailings ponds in the West Moreton coal- Fredlund and Morgenstern (1976) have shown that C, =
fields of Queensland. Blocks of similar size are seen in the 3(1 - 2v)/E and C, = 3/H. Thus C, has the form of a
plastic Lake Agassiz clays at Winnipeg, Manitoba, where compliance (the inverse of a bulk modulus) expressed in
cracks have been observed in trial pits to depths of 6 m. At terms of total stress and C, is a compliance related to suc-
the ground surface, crack openings may approach 50 mm. tion stresses.
Wider, longer cracks are controlled by the patterns of sur- If isotropic elasticity remains applicable, even though the
face vegetation (Ravina 1983). Cracks may extend to lengths straining is forced to be one-dimensional, a, = a, # a,; E ,
of 5-10 m. = 6,. This condition corresponds to drying from a horizon-
As in metals, cracks propagating vertically and horizon- tal surface before cracking starts. In this case
tally in soils can be stopped by weak interfaces (Lawn and
Wilshaw 1975). This happens, for example, at the interface
between fine and coarse layers typical of varved clays or and
mine tailings. Ahead of the tip of a crack propagating ver-
tically downwards, there is a zone with a vertical tensile stress
component that is sufficient to cause tensile failure at any
weak, horizontal interface lying ahead of the crack. The Hence
resulting transverse (horizontal) crack stops propagation of
the initial vertical crack by reducing the horizontal tensile
stress at the tip. Since the stresses perpendicular to the new This expression for (a, - ua) can be substituted into E, to
horizontal crack are usually compressive, this crack rarely produce the relationship
propagates far.
This mechanism is different from that occurring in hori-
zontally layered clays and slurries, where thin sheets tend
CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 29, 1992
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I I I I I
S-S0(l-zclW)
ratio E/H then becomes equal to (1 - 2v) for both isotropic
t-constant and one-dimensional straining. That is, the stress state at
- V-0.35 - the crack tip is not influential in establishing the ratio E/H.
If cracking is to be avoided, the tensile horizontal stress
For personal use only.
I I I I I
- -
VALUES OF So (kPa) 1 VALUES OF ~lrd 1
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This can then be solved for the depth of cracking zc for rea- stress that previously held the crack faces together is relieved,
sonable values of v, r , So, W, and t: and the cracks will propagate until equilibrium conditions
are restored. Stress conditions are no longer simply one-
dimensional, especially close to the tips of propagating
cracks. Refinement of the preceding analysis is therefore
needed.
For personal use only.
I I I
stress distribution in a soil with matrix suctions above a water table. If A is the depth of the crack and z is the depth
variable, the three-component stress intensity factors can be written
where
g($) = ;r w (cos 0 + 0.06233 cos38 - 0.04016 cosS0 + 0.1203 cos70 - 0.1159 cos98 + 0.04631 cos" 8)
-[- (:
\ /
+ -n2 AWAO.'- W 1.12125 sin - 0) + 0.1572 sin 0 + 0.005626 sin 40 - 0.0002247 sin 88
- 0.01182 sin3 28 + 0.003184 sinS 20
I
MORRIS ET AL.
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FIG. 12. Schematic of failure envelope in tension,, showing the effect of suction on tensile strength.
Bueckner's Principle states that the stress intensity factor ever, at the present stage of this research, and before it is
for a stress-free crack, that is, one with no real loading clear how to measure crack depths reliably in the field, exten-
(except atmospheric pressure) on the crack faces, is identical sion of the analysis to include nonlinearity is unwarranted.
with that for the same crack loaded internally with the
stresses required to produce zero relative strains at the crack Cracking related to shear strength
faces under the original loading. This is equivalent to reduc- Previous sections considered cracking to be associated
For personal use only.
ing the problem to one of calculating the stresses at the loca- with elastic behaviour. An aIternative approach is to relate
tion of the crack in the equivalent uncracked body under cracking to a transition between tensile and shear failure.
the original loading. In its simplest form, Rankine-type analysis allows the
In a separate calculation, a critical stress intensity factor estimation of crack depths in the active condition when the
KIccan be determined when the crack is just about to prop- soil at the tip of the crack is expanding laterally to close the
agate into a soil with compression modulus E and Poisson's crack under undrained total stress conditions:
ratio v (Lawn and Wilshaw 1975): 1 - sin 4'
1201 0 3 = yzc 1 sin 4'
-2rE +
1191 KIc = -
1 - v2 - 2(ua - u,) tan 4b c o s 4 ' = 0
where 3- is the specific surface energy of the soil. Lee and 1 + sin 4'
r
Ingles (1968) suggested that lies between 0.1 and 1.O J/m2. (Here again the effective saturated cohesion c' has been
The problem of evaluating the depth z, to which cracking assumed to be zero.)
will propagate therefore devolves to one of equating KI Equation [20] produces values of z, that are larger than
determined from the gravitational and suction stresses in the those in the previous section and larger than those commonly
soil (eq. 1171) to the KIc that corresponds to the physical found in practice. For example, with y = 18 kN/m3,
properties of the soil in question (eq. [19]). u, - u, = 100 kPa, 4' = 30°, and 4b = 25", z, is
Values of z, have been calculated for E = SMPa, v = calculated to be 9.0 m. This depth does not correspond well
0.3, y = 18-20 kN/m3, So = 5-100 kPa, W = 0.5-10 m, with the observed crack depths for what is only a moderate
and 3- = 0.1-1.0 J/m2. Typical results are shown in Fig. 11 suction of 1 (negative) atmosphere (101.3 kPa).
for S = So(l - zc/ W), v = 0.3 unless noted otherwise, Bagge (1985) suggested an alternative approach that will
E = 5 MPa, yd above the groundwater level = 18 kN/m3, be extended here into a more general stress system and
and y,,, below the groundwater level = 20 k ~ / m The ~ . written for unsaturated soils. Figure 3b showed the
solution predicts slope discontinuities at the line A = W = strength envelope for unsaturated soils presented by
z,, when the crack reaches the groundwater level. The Fredlund (1979). This has been redrawn in Fig. 12a into a
smallest crack possible for 3- = 0.1 J/m2 and So = 6 kPa ( p - u,),q,(u, - u,)-space that is more useful in soil
is when W = 0.97 m. Similarly, when 3- = 1.0 J/m2 and mechanics problems, and developed to include tension. The
So = 20 kPa, the smallest crack is 0.15 m. More complete parameters p (the mean stress) and q (the deviator stress)
details of the solution will be given in a future publication. are defined by p = (0, + 2u3)/3 and q = al - u3.
One of the interesting findings of this work is that cracks Figure 12b shows a section of Fig. 12a with constant
tend to close at shallower depth below the water table than (u, - u,). The sections AB and BC in the figure represent
they would in its absence, since the pore water below the generalizations of the failure surface for failures occurring,
water table acts to close rather than open the crack. respectively, in tension and shear. Along AB, failure takes
It will be appreciated that the high stresses near a propa- place in tension with a3 - u, = t(u, - u,) and al - u,
gating crack mean that the stress-strain behaviour of the > t. Along BC, u3 - u, > t, and failure takes place in
soil is probably not modelled well by linear elasticity. How- shear. Point B therefore represents the stress state at which
CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 29, 1992
4 C I I I I
VALUES OF So (kPa),
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"0 2 4 6 8 10 20 40 60 80 100
DEPTH TO GWL (m) SURFACE SUCTION So (kPa)
FIG. 13. Crack depths from solution based on transition from tensile failure to shear failure. S = S,(1 - z,)/ W ; c$~= 4 ' - 5";
t = t ( u , - u,); a, = 0.5 tan 4'. GWL, groundwater level.
the vertical stress becomes sufficiently large to inhibit fail- A similar result can be obtained more directly from the
ure in tension. The line BD with slope - % is the locus of extension of a Rankine-type analysis shown in Fig. 14. Here
a; = yzc, with the isotropic condition being at D on the the vertical stress is yz,, and failure is assumed to take
p'-axis. Thus the geometry of AB, BC, and BD established place in shear when the minor principal stress attempts to
from the strength parameters and the suction in the soil go more negative than the tensile strength t. Then
defines yzc at D, that is, the depth to which cracking will
For personal use only.
(a-ua)
A
O i Yzc
c cot +' /-
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Queens University on 09/19/13
further propagation of the cracks. The relatively close agree- Griffith, A.A. 1924. The theory'of rupture. Proceedings, 1st Inter-
ment that has come from the three quite different, indepen- national Congress on Applied Mechanics,:.Delft, Netherlands,
dent analyses in the paper suggests that the predicted values pp. 55-62.
might be broadly correct. Hamilton, J.J. 1969. Effects of environment on the performance
of shallow foundations. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 6:
65-80.
Acknowledgements Hartranft, R.J., and Sih, G.C. 1973. Alternating method applied
The work described in the paper was assisted by a grant to edge and surface crack problems. In Mechanics of Fracture I.
from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Edited by G.C. Sih. Noordhoff, Leyden, chap. 4, pp. 179-238.
of Canada a n d by funds provided by the Australian Irwin, G.R. 1957. Analysis of stresses and strains near the end of
Research Council. T h e reviewers provided useful advice on a crack. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 24: 361-364.
areas of the paper which required further clarification. Lawn, B.R., and Wilshaw, T.R. 1975. Fracture of brittle solids.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
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MORRIS ET AL. 277
tensile strength where Sr is the degree of saturation, and the total head h =
suction, surface suction uw/ywg+ z is the sum of the pressure and elevation heads.
pore-air pressure, pore-water pressure, The velocity head is small and can be considered zero. For
matrix suction steady-state conditions aS,/at = ae/at = 0, and in one-
depth to water table dimensional flow a2h/ax2= a2h/ay2= 0. The flow equa-
depth of cracking tion therefore reduces to
coefficient relating cohesion to tensile
strength t = - Q ~ C 'cot 4' a2h = 0
[A21 kz 7
strain, normal stress, shear stress a2
angle of shearing resistance with respect to Substituting for h and differentiating gives
( c - ua), (ua - ~ w ) a2uW
unit weight [A31 7 - 0
r specific surface energy a2
Subscripts:
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