Fractal Representation for Effective Stress of Unsaturated Soils

Abstract

AbstractBishop’s effective stress equation for unsaturated soils was abandoned for some time because of the difficulties in estimating the value of parameter χ. Only recently has it been recognized that the use of Bishop’s stress equation can lead to simpler and more realistic constitutive models for unsaturated soils. Based on the analysis of the equilibrium of solid particles, it was possible to establish an analytical expression for Bishop’s parameter χ from soil pore structure. It is shown that quantitative predictions of shear strength and volume change in unsaturated soils can be made using the effective stress concept.