Glasnik Rudarsko-geološko-građevinskog fakulteta

Journal of Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering

ISSN: Vol. 2013/1, pp. 33-38
Paper published at 2nd International Scientific Meeting GTZ2012, Tuzla June 2012.

Mustafa Hatipoğlu1
Gökhan Çevikbilen2
Ayşegül Bayın3
Recep İyisan4

RESIDUAL SHEAR STRENGTH OF COHESIVE SOILS

Summary: The minimum and constant shear strength value obtained after large displacements is called as residual shear strength of
soils. The residual shear strength parameters are especially used in slope stability problems in long-term stability checks of
reactivated slope failures at consolidated and drained conditions. These parameters are generally determined with ring shear test,
reversal direct shear test and consolidated drained triaxial compression tests in laboratory conditions. The reversal direct shear test
is widely used in practice in order to determine the residual shear strength because of the test equipment’s universality and ease of
use. Limited allowable continuous displacements, in constant cross sectional area during the test and stress concentrations are the
limitations of this test method. In this study reversal direct shear tests were carried out under three different vertical stresses on
seventeen undisturbed soil samples to determine the residual shear strength angle. The reversal direct shear tests were conducted at
shearing rate of 0.035 mm/min on the samples, having different clay fractions and plasticity indexes. The variation of residual shear
strength angle versus liquid limit and plasticity index were studied and the findings were compared with the previous studies given in
the literature.
Key words: Residual shear strength, Reversal direct shear test, Liquid limit, Plasticity index.

REZIDUALNA SMIČUĆA ČVRSTOĆA KOHERENTNOG TLA

Sažetak: Minimalna i konstantna vrijednost smičuće čvrstoće tla dobijena nakon velikih pomjeranja tog tla naziva se rezidualna
smičuća čvrstoća tla. Parametri rezidualne smičuće čvrstoće su posebno korišteni kod problema stabilnosti kosina u dugoročnoj
provjeri stabilnosti od ponovnog loma kosine za uslove konsolidovanog i dreniranog tla.Ovi parametri se uglavnom određuju u
laboratorijskim uslovima testom na aparatu za prstenasto smicanje, reverzni testom direktog smicanja i testom sa aparatom za
triaksijalno smicanje u konsolirovanim dreniranim uslovima.Test direktnog smicanja je najčešće korišten test u praksi, za
određivanje rezidualne smičuće čvrstoće jer je njegova oprema univerzalna i jednostavna za korištenje.Ograničena dozvoljena
kontinuirana pomjeranja, u konstantnom poprečnom presjeku u toku testa i koncentracija napona su ograničeni kod ove metode
testiranja.U ovom istraživanju laboratorijski testovi direktnog smicanja bili su izvedeni za tri različita vertikalna napona na
sedamnaest neporemećenih uzoraka tla kako bi se odredio rezidualni ugao smicanja.Testovi direktnog smicanja bili su provedeni za
prirast smičuće deformacije od 0,035 mm/min na ispitnim uzorcima,koji imaju različite frakcije gline i indeks plastičnosti. Varijacija
rezidualnog ugla trenja u odnosu na granicu tečenja i indeks plastičnosti bili su izučavani a zaključci su bili poređeni sa prethodnim
istraživanjima datim u literaturi.
Ključne riječi: Rezidualna čvrstoća smicanja, Reverzni test direktnog smicanja, Granica tečenja, Indeks plastičnosti.

1
PhD, Research Assistant, Mustafa Hatipoğlu, Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Maslak, Istanbul,
Turkey,hatipoglu1@itu.edu.tr
2
PhD., Research Assistant, Gökhan Çevikbilen, Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey,
cevikbil@itu.edu.tr
3
MSc., Research Assistant, Ayşegül Bayın, Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey,
aysegbayin@itu.edu.tr
4
Assoc.Prof.Dr.., Recep İyisan, Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey,
iyisan@itu.edu.tr
1. INTRODUCTION

The shear strength versus deformation characteristics of soils illustrate that the shear strength is dependent on
overconsolidation ratio for cohesive soils and relative density for coarse-grained soils. As shown in Figure 1, the
laboratory tests performed on overconsolidated clays and dense sands indicate that as the shear deformation increases
the shear stress firstly reaches to a peak value, and then gradually decreases to a constant minimum value. While the
peak value of the shear stress is known as shear strength, the minimum and constant value of shear strength is defined
as residual shear strength. Normal consolidated clays and loose sands do not illustrate a peak value; as the shear
deformation increases, the shear stress gradually increases up to a constant peak value asymptotically, which is
approximately equal to residual shear strength (Skempton, 1985). As the residual shear strength is attained at large shear
displacement, it is suitable to use the residual strength parameters for analyzing the pre-failed stability problems of
slopes in fissured clays and the progressive failures due to the strength reduction with time (Stark et. al., 2005). At these
displacement levels, platy clay particles become oriented and parallel to the direction of shear, which is called as
particle orientation. At these conditions, the shear surface became as a slicken-sided and polished surface especially for
the fine-grained soils having a high clay fraction.

Figure 1. Shear characteristics of overconsolidated clays (Skempton, 1964)

The residual in-situ conditions can be realized on site in different time periods according to displacement rate,
changing from 5 cm/year for the progressive failure of fissured clay slopes to 50 cm/day for activated landslides in
general. It is obvious that in geotechnical engineering the residual shear strength of the soil is one of the main inputs for
analyzing the progressive failure problems due to the strength reduction with displacement (Stark et. al. 2005) and the
pre-failed slope stability problems. The previous investigations reveal that residual shear strength is mainly affected by
mineralogy (Mesri and Cepeda-Diaz, 1986; Stark and Eid, 1994), effective normal stress (Maksimovic, 1989) and shear
displacement rate (Suzuki et. al., 2001).
From the view point of geotechnical engineering it is important to decide the residual shear strength parameters
as quick as possible in an acceptable precision. For that purpose, many investigators tried to correlate the residual shear
strength parameters with consistency limits, clay fraction, effective stress, shearing rate, overconsolidation ratio, etc.
For instance, Mesri and Cepeda-Diaz (1986), and Stark and Eid (1994) proposed curves relating drained residual
friction angle to liquid limit and clay fraction. Suzuki et. al. (2001) investigated the relationship between the residual
strength and shear displacement rate for different soils by using ring shear test. Mesri and Shahien (2003), proposed
relationships between drained residual friction angle and plasticity index, including effective normal stress as a variable.
It could be said that as a general statement residual friction angle decreases with increasing liquid limit, plasticity index,
clay fraction and effective normal stress.
The residual shear strength parameters of the soils are generally determined with ring shear, reversal direct shear,
and consolidated drained triaxial compression test in laboratory conditions. During the ring shear test, under an applied
uniform normal stress ring shaped specimen is subjected to an unlimited rotational shear displacement continuously
without any change in the cross-sectional area of the shear plane. Generally, three or more normal stresses are applied to
a test specimen to determine the drained residual failure envelope. The ring shear test is more convenience than the
direct shear test because of its suitability for large unlimited continuous displacement conditions, uniform distribution
of normal stress, constant cross-sectional area and analogy of its shearing mechanism to rotational landslide movement
(Stark et. al., 2005; Tiwari and Marui, 2004). Limited lateral displacement, non-uniform distribution of normal stress,
rotation at the major axes caused by the stress concentration at the edges and reduction in the cross sectional area of the
shear plane during the test is the limitations for reversal direct shear test. However it is widely used in practice in order
to determine the residual shear strength because of the test equipment’s universality and ease of use.
In geotechnical engineering, it is important to decide the residual shear strength parameters as quick as possible
in an acceptable precision. To determine the residual strength parameters in the laboratory, reversal direct shear test is
the mostly preferred method in Turkey. In this study, reversal direct shear tests were carried out under the different
vertical stresses on seventeen undisturbed soil samples having different clay fractions and plasticity indexes to
determine the residual strength parameters. Some correlations based on liquid limit and plasticity index were
established to determine the residual friction angle for practical purposes. The results of this study were also compared
with the previous studies.

2. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

To find out the residual shear strength parameters of undisturbed soil samples recovered from seventeen fine
grained soils with different clay contents and index properties, reversal direct shear tests were performed at three
different vertical stresses.

2.1. Geotechnical Properties of the Samples

Wet sieve analysis and hydrometer analysis and consistency limit tests were performed to determine the
geotechnical properties of each sample. The percentages of fine grained particles of the soil samples range between
71%-100%. The liquid limits of the samples change in the range of 28%-100% and the plasticity index values are
between 12% and 71%. The scatter plot of the samples on the plasticity chart was given in Figure 2 depending on the
consistency limits of the soil samples.
60
CH
50
Plasticity Index, PI (%)

40

30

20 CL MH-OH

10 Halloysites
CL-ML
ML-OLchlorit
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Liquid Limit, wL (%)
Figure 2. The scatter plot of soil samples on the plasticity chart (After Holtz and Kovacs, 1981).

2.2. Laboratory Testing Method and Procedures

In this study the reversal direct shear test was chosen because of its simplicity and easiness. It is commonly used
method to determine the residual shear strength parameters in Turkey. Reversal direct shear tests were performed on the
undisturbed soil samples. The reversal direct shear test equipment used in this study and a slicken-sided shear surface
of a sample obtained after the test were shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. A slicken-sided polished shear surface obtained after a reversal direct shear test and test equipment used in the study
The tests were performed on 20 mm thick samples with 60 mm × 60 mm cross-sectional area. Before the
shearing process, the specimens were subjected to the vertical consolidation pressure, predetermined as 100 kPa, 200
kPa and 300 kPa for 24 hours. The soil samples were sheared at 0.035 mm/min rate of displacement. After the test,
equipment reached its maximum allowable lateral displacement of 12 mm, by reversing the lower ring to the initial
position, the specimen was re-sheared a number of times in the same direction to determine the drained residual shear
strength of the sample. In the scope of this study it was assumed that after at least the third cycle of the shearing process
the residual value of the shear strength was attained. Before each cycle, sample was subjected to vertical consolidation
pressures for more than 16 hours. An example of a slicken-sided shear surface obtained after a reversal test is shown in
Figure 3.
Shear stress versus displacement graph of a sample shown in Figure 4 illustrates that in the first cycle of the test
for three of the consolidation pressures peak shear stresses were observed at less than 10 % lateral deformation.
Furthermore the peak stresses and the lateral deformation at this stress decreases as the number of the shearing cycle
increases. The residual shear strength illustrates almost no reduction after forth cycle for this sample. The peak and
residual shear strength parameters of the soil samples were determined according to the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria
(Figure 5) by using the peak shear stresses in the first cycle and the residual shear stresses observed at forth cycle of
shearing (Head, 1988).
200
100 kPa
160 200 kPa
300 kPa
Shear stress, t (kPa)

120

80

40

1 st Cycle 2 nd Cycle 3 rd Cycle 4 th Cycle

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Lateral Displacement, Dl (mm)

Figure 4. The shear strength – lateral displacement relationship of a sample

200

160
p
Shear Stress, t (kPa)

120

r
80

peak
40 residual

0
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320
Vertical Stress, s (kPa)
Figure 5. The shear strength envelopes of a sample

3. EVALUATION OF THE TEST RESULTS

As it mentioned before residual shear strength is mainly affected by soil structure, mineralogy, normal stress
level and shear displacement rate, etc. In fine-grained soils as the grain size decreases, flatness and specific surface
increases. Consequently water absorption capacity of the soil increases. Furthermore while the specific surface
increases, liquid limit is also expected to increase. From that point of view, consistency limits could be supposed as an
indicator of the mineralogy (Stark and Eid, 1994). In the scope of this study, the variation of the consistency limits
versus the residual shear strength angles (r) determined with reversal direct shear tests performed on seventeen
undisturbed soil samples.
Curve fitting and regression analysis were performed on the test results to find out the relationship between the
residual shear strength angle and the consistency limits. As a consequence of the statistical analysis of the liquid limit
(wL) and the residual shear strength angle (r) obtained from reversal direct shear tests performed on the samples whose
the liquid limit values varies in the range between 28% and 100%, a correlation with a high determination coefficient
(R2=0.93) is established as shown in the Figure 6. The liquid limit values are in terms of percentage in the correlation.
As seen in Figure 6 the residual shear strength angle decreases with the increase of liquid limit, but as the liquid limit
increases the rate of change in the residual shear strength angle decreases.
 30 30
R² = 0.93 R² = 0.89
25 25
20 20
15

r (°)
15

r (°)
10 10
5 5
0 0
0 30 60 90 120 0 20 40 60 80
Liquid Limit, wL (%) Plasticity Index, PI (%)
Figure 6. The variation of residual shear strength angle with liquid limit and plasticity index
The regression analysis between the plasticity index and the residual shear strength angle were also performed.
The variation of the plasticity index (PI) and the residual shear strength angles is given in Figure 6. As shown in the
figure, the residual shear strength decreases with plasticity index similarly to liquid limit curve. Depending on the test
results performed on the samples having plasticity values between %12 and %71 a correlation having a determination
coefficient of R2=0.89 is established. In the correlation the plasticity index is also in terms of percentage.
The comparison of the findings with previous studies is given in Figure 7 and Figure 8. Compared with the
former studies, there is a good harmony between the correlations. It is seen that the correlation given in this study is
placed as a lower boundary to other curves for liquid limit values more than 55%. The curves given by Tiwari and
Marui (2005) and Stark and Eid (1994) for the clay fraction, CF<20 are significantly differ from others. This situation is
mainly developed from the minerology difference of the samples. One other aspect is the test method difference of the
correlations. Furthermore the varying of shearing rates at the previous studies is also effective.
In terms of plasticity index the scatter of the curves are more obvious. The correlation given by Kanji (1974) is
the lower boundary. For both the liquid limit and plasticity index the curves for smectite-quartz mixtures given by
Tiwari and Marui (2005) is the upper boundary.

30
This study
s-q group

Eid, 1994 Marui,2005

25 k-q group

Stark Tiwari
s-k group
20 s-k-q group
r ( )

CF<20-400
15 25<CF<45-400
CF>50-400
Mesri Cepeda Diaz, 1986
10
Wesley, 2004
Deere,1976 - average
5 Cancelli, 1977
Suzuki, 2005
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Liquid Limit wL (%)

Figure 7. The variation of residual shear strength angle with plasticity index.
30
This study
25
s-q group
TiwariMarui,2005

20
k-q group
r ( )

15 s-k group

10 s-k-q group
Voight, 1973
5
Kanji, 1974
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Plasticity Index, PI (%)

Figure 8. The variation of residual shear strength angle with plasticity index
4. CONCLUSION

In this study to determine the residual shear strength parameters, reversal direct shear tests were performed. The
tests conducted on seventeen undisturbed soil samples with various plasticity index values show that the residual shear
strength angle decreases with the increase of liquid limit and the plasticity index. These findings based on the limited
number of samples may change and possible to develop by performing additional tests on different index properties of
soil samples. To predict the residual shear strength angle, the correlations between shear strength angle and other
properties of soils are useful but these findings should not be replaced site and laboratory determination of residual
shear strength parameters.

5. REFERENCES

1. Cancelli, A.: Residual shear strength and stability analysis of a landslide in fissured overconsolidated clays.” Bull. Int. Assoc.
Eng. Geol., 1977, Vol. 16, pp. 193–197.
2. Deere, D.U.: Unpublished report, ref.: Dewoolkar ve Huzjak (2005), 1974.
3. Dewoolkar M.M. and Huzjak, J.R.: Drained Residual Shear Strength of Some Claystones from Front Range, Colorado,
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 2005, Vol. 131, No. 12.
4. Head, K.H.: Manual of soil laboratory testing, Vol.2, Shear Strength Tests, Second Edition, Pentech Press, London, 1988.
5. Holtz, R.D. and Kovacs, W.D.: An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Prentice-Hall, Eaglewood Cliffs, 1981.
6. Kanji, M. A. : The relationship between drained friction angles and Atterberg limits of natural soils.” Geotechnique, 1974,
24(4), 671–674.
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274.
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Geoenvironmental Eng., 2003, Vol. 129, No. 1, pp.12-31.
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No.1, pp. 3-18.
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speed. http://donald.lib-e.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/hokoku/521/06.pdf
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Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng., 2004, Vol. 130, No. 2, pp.217-222.
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503-504.