Abstract
A review of literature on unsaturated soils indicates that while these soils are now considered as comprising of four phases, namely air, water, solid grains and the air-water interface (contractile skin), no attempt has been made to evaluate the stress contributed by the contractile skin and to properly account for the presence of electrical forces on the clay constituents. The electrical forces generate an osmotic suction in the soil whose nature can determine whether the soil heaves or collapses on saturation. In the present exercise a method of evaluating the stress contribution of the contractile skin is presented and suitable modifications are proposed to the effective stress equation and the stress state variables in order to account for osmotic suction and the contractile skin force.
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