Shear Behavior of Composite Soils

2016 | Natural World

Landslides are the most common type of geohazard in mountainous areas. They have tremendous socio-economic impact, especially in developing countries. The reactivation of ancient/old landslides is a hot topic in engineering geology and geotechnical engineering. It is well known that the residual shear strength of slip zones determine the stability of ancient landslides. However, the measurement and interpretation of residual shear strength, especially for composite soils, is still a pending scientific and technical issue. This leads to uncertainties in estimating the strength parameters and therefore unreliable engineering designs. In the proposed book, basic theory of shear behavior of soil is given together with a deep review of its development since the 1920s. The modern test methods for residual shear strength are introduced in detail along with their scopes and limitations. This would lay down a solid knowledge base for scientists and engineers in this field.

The key content of this book discusses the advances in measurement of residual shear strength of composite soils and provides readers with a deep interpretation of factors influencing the residual shear behavior of such soils. This will certainly help engineers to judge and properly use the strength parameters obtained from laboratory or in-situ tests for their engineering design. Some space is given to ancient landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir. General and site-specific geological conditions as well as properties of slip zone soils, both physical and mechanical, are detailed. This would be of interest to readers, especially those outside China.

Yanrong Li (Author)