Tensile Strength

In this chapter, the probabilistic porous-solid model is used to simulate the tensile strength of unsaturated soils tested at different water contents. The strength of unsaturated soils can be split into two parts: one related to the net stress and the other to suction stress. The strength generated by suction has its origin in the additional contact stresses induced to solid particles by water meniscus. This additional contact stress is called matric suction stress when it is solely related to matric suction. In such a case, the tensile strength of soils represents the matric suction stress of the material at that particular water content. The numerical and experimental comparisons of the tensile strength of unsaturated soils tested at different water contents show that the probabilistic porous-solid model can simulate this phenomenon quite accurately.