Effect of Shearing Rate on Residual Strength of Landslide Soils

Abstract

The change in shearing rate due to the earthquake or volcanic activities may affect the residual strength of the slip surface soils of a reactivated landslide. Few studies have been performed to address the effect of shearing rate on residual strength of soils. However, the shearing rate effect and their mechanism on residual strength are not understood yet. In this study, the slow shearing rate effect on residual strength of landslide soils are studied using a ring shear machine. The shearing rate in the ring shear tests are varied in a range of 0.073 mm/min–0.586 mm/min (as 0.073 mm/min, 0.162 mm/min, 0.233 mm/min, 0.313 mm/min, 0.398 mm/min, and 0.586 mm/min) at an effective normal stress of 98.10 kN/m2. Test results show that a slight increased in residual strength after the shearing rate of 0.233 mm/min. Based on the test results, the shear-rate effect mechanism on residual strength of landslide soils are discussed.