Granular Matter (2016) 18:37
DOI 10.1007/s10035-016-0645-x
ORIGINAL PAPER
Shear strength of unsaturated granular soils: three-dimensional
discrete element analyses
Zhifu Shen1,2 · Mingjing Jiang 1,2 · Colin Thornton3
Received: 26 June 2015 / Published online: 7 May 2016
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract To investigate the shear strength behavior of
unsaturated granular soils, the three-dimensional discrete
element method has been used to model soils in triaxial com-
pression tests. A simple but effective contact model with
an attractive capillary force was implemented. The effects
of matric suction and packing density on shear strength of
unsaturated granular assemblies were examined. The Mohr–
Coulomb strength parameters (apparent cohesion and friction
angle) were fitted for each matric suction examined. The
results show that matric suction can increase the strength
and modulus of granular soils and lead to increased dilation.
The peak friction angle depends on the packing density but
seems independent of matric suction. The apparent cohesion
increases with matric suction non-linearly at a decreasing
rate. Similar values of cohesion were observed for both
dense and loose assemblies, which can be explained by the
anisotropic distribution of capillary force network. Based on
the microscopic observations, the stress-induced anisotropy
of contact distributions leads to an anisotropic distribution
of capillary water and, as a consequence, the capillary stress
is anisotropic, imposing a shear effect on an assembly in
parallel with that imposed by the externally applied load-
ing. Consequently, the strength of unsaturated granular soil
is controlled by the combined effects of packing density, and
the magnitude and degree of anisotropy of the capillary stress.
B Mingjing Jiang
mingjing.jiang@tongji.edu.cn
1 Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil
Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road,
Shanghai 200092, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil
Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
3 School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
A new shear strength function for unsaturated soils, consid-
ering the anisotropic effects of matric suction, is proposed
and validated using experimental data in the literature.
Keywords Unsaturated granular soils · Shear strength ·
Capillary water · Discrete element method · Fabric ·
Anisotropy
1 Introduction
Soil mechanics based on the effective stress concept [1]
has been successfully applied in describing the mechanical
behavior of saturated soils where soil pores are filled with liq-
uid, e.g. water. However, unsaturated soils (where soil pores
are filled with both gas and liquid phases) are more often
encountered in engineering practice, especially in arid/semi-
arid areas where the underground water table is deep. The
failures of slopes, shallow foundations and embankments are
often associated with poorly-predicted strength reduction of
unsaturated soils due to the change of water content [2]. A
strong need to properly describe the strength of unsaturated
soils therefore arises. However, the mechanical behavior of
unsaturated soils is not well understood at present due to the
complex interactions of its three constituent phases, i.e., soil
skeletons, pore fluids and pore gases.
Large numbers of laboratory experiments have been car-
ried out on unsaturated soils. Based on experimental data,
the shear strength function was predicted in a single-variable
theory with Bishop’s ‘effective stress’ equation [3] or in a
double-variable theory [4]. Each theory includes a vague
material parameter that changes with matric suction, creating
difficulty in parameter calibration for engineering practice.
More recently, strength functions have been associated with
the soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) of the soils,
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37 Page 2 of 13 Z. Shen et al.

with which the strength can be predicted using the sat- normal vectors are investigated. The anisotropic effects of
urated strength parameters. Several such procedures have matric suction are examined and explained in the micro-
been proposed and validated using experimental data [5– scopic view using the stress-induced contact anisotropy. A
10]. Comprehensive comparisons have been made on the new shear strength function for unsaturated soils is proposed
capability of such procedures in predicting the strength of and validated using experimental data in the literature to
unsaturated soils [11–13]. It has been found that no proce- capture the anisotropic effects of matric suction on shear
dure can capture the strength behavior of different types of strength.
soils over a large suction range. Further investigation seems
necessary to establish a rigorous and accurate shear strength
2 DEM modeling of unsaturated granular soils
function.
The SWCC is usually measured in the laboratory with-
2.1 Simplified capillary force model
out applying stresses or only under a nominal stress state,
with the effects of stress history, stress level and microscopic
For unsaturated granular soils in the pendular state, capillary
fabric not considered. However, the stress state and soil struc-
water exists at inter-particle contact as liquid bridge which is
ture have been found to influence the SWCC [12,14–16].
isolated from each other while the air phase is continuous. At
SWCC has also been found to be related to the soil particle
each contact, the capillary water leads to an attractive force
size distribution [17,18]. These findings suggest the need to
acting on the two contacting grains. The capillary force FI
examine the strength behavior of unsaturated soils with more
includes contributions from both the matric suction and the
insight into the microscopic mechanisms. This is because the
surface tension of the contractile skin (air–water interface).
complicated behavior of unsaturated soil is dictated by the
Figure 1 presents a schematic diagram used to derive FI by
interactions of the three phases at the micro-scale level.
examining a cross-section halving the liquid bridge shared by
At the microscopic level, mono-sized regularly packed
two grains (i.e. “gorge method”). The grains are idealized as
sphere assemblies (e.g. simple cubic packing and tetrahe-
spheres for simplicity. The shape of the liquid bridge can be
dral packing) have been used to reveal the main features of
approximated by a toroidal curvature that can be described by
unsaturated granular soils [19,20]. General micro-structural
two radii R1 and R2 in Fig. 1. Note the following geometric
analyses have been carried out by incorporating capillary
relationships,
water effects into the mechanics of granular materials [20–
23]. The discrete element method (DEM), first proposed by
R1 = r (sec θ − 1) (1)
Cundall and Strack [24], has been widely used in geome-
chanics to numerically investigate the mechanical behavior R2 = −r (1 + tan θ − sec θ ) (2)
of soils which are idealized as dynamic polydisperse particle
systems with random packing [25–29]. With the introduc- where r is the sphere radius and θ is the half-filling angle.
tion of interparticle capillary forces in DEM contact models, The wetting angle is assumed zero.
the strength and deformation behavior of unsaturated granu- The matric suction Su in this paper is calculated using the
lar assemblies can be reproduced [18,30–34]. It is revealed theoretical work in [38],
from these microscopic analyses that the effects of capillary
water on the macroscopic behavior of unsaturated soils are Su = T (1/R1 + 1/R2 ) (3)
anisotropic due to its non-uniform distribution within soils
where T is the surface tension, 0.0735 N/m at a temperature
[20–22,34–36]. Such anisotropy results from the anisotropic
of 15 ◦ C.
arrangement of the soil grains and the contacts, which is
difficult to measure in experiments and has not yet been con-
sidered in shear strength functions and constitutive modeling
of unsaturated soils [37]. Instead, the effect of capillary water
is considered as an equivalent isotropic “effective stress”,
which is a quantity scaled from the matric suction. How to
consider the anisotropic effects of matric suction on the shear
strength of unsaturated granular soils constitutes the strong
motivation in this paper.
In the paper, a simplified three-dimensional capillary
water contact model is used in DEM modeling of unsaturated
granular material subjected to triaxial compression tests. The
strength and deformation behavior of the material as well as
the fabric described by the directional distribution of contact- Fig. 1 Liquid bridge and capillary force

123
Shear strength of unsaturated granular soils: three-dimensional discrete element analyses Page 3 of 13 37

Similar to [18], the inter-particle capillary force can be

expressed as:

FI = πR22 Su − 2πR2 T (4)

When a liquid bridge is shared by two spheres with differ-

ent radii r1 and r2 , the following harmonic mean radius can
be defined as:

r = 2r1r2 /(r1 + r2 ) (5)

It can be estimated according to [39] that this approxima-

tion gives an error within 5 %. This is the same level of
error introduced by the toroidal approximation as exam-
ined in [40]. The capillary force between two non-contacting
spheres is not considered. The three strong assumptions (no
capillary force between non-contacting spheres, harmonic
mean radius approximation and toroidal approximation) have
already been relaxed in the literature [32,34]. Further refined
simulations are indeed needed in this study. In reality, real
grains are rough on the surface and often contact through
flat areas that change the shape and size of the liquid bridge,
leading to a capillary force different from the one determined
by Eq. (4) [41]. The realistic behavior of capillary water is
very complex in terms of liquid bridge rupture and recovery
[42,43]. In addition, there may be coupling effect between
the capillary force and rolling resistance [18]. Anyway, DEM
simulation can still help identify the most relevant aspects
controlling the strength of unsaturated granular material,
although the DEM material is quite different from real soil in
particle shape and capillary force. Note that the observation
in DEM simulation only serves as a qualitative guidance in
quantitative evaluation of the strength envelope of real unsat-
urated soil in Sect. 4. The DEM defects are tolerated to reduce
the additional complexity in the analyses and computational
costs as long as the geotechnical engineering implication
from the DEM simulation is retained.
2.2 Simplified contact model with capillary force
Granular materials are idealized as sphere assemblies in
the DEM simulations in this study. A simple normal and
tangential spring model with constant stiffness is adopted,
regardless of possible rolling resistance at inter-particle con-
tacts. Figure 2a presents the mechanical components of
the contact model in the normal direction plus the attrac-
tive capillary force. The mechanical components include a
spring with elastic behavior, a dashpot accounting for vis-
cous energy dissipation, and a divider preserving no tension
as two spheres separate. In addition, due to the attractive
nature of the capillary force, a CW attractor (CW: Capillary
Water) is introduced in parallel with the spring and dash-
pot. Once two spheres come into contact again, the capillary
Fig. 2 Mechanical components of the contact model with capillary
water (CW capillary water): a normal direction and b tangential direc-
tion
force acts immediately. When the two spheres separate, the
capillary force disappears. Figure 3a presents the mechanical
responses implemented in DEM. The normal force Fn can
be expressed as:

K n u n − FI un ≥ 0
Fn = (6)
0 un < 0
where K n is the normal contact stiffness and u n is the overlap
of a particle pair with a negative value denoting separation.
Figure 2b presents the mechanical components of the
contact model in the tangential direction considering the
effect of capillary force. The components consist of a spring
and a dashpot for elastic property and energy dissipation,
respectively. A slider is used so that tangential sliding would
occur only when the tangential force reaches the thresh-
old controlled by K n u n (a result of externally applied load
and the capillary force). Figure 3b presents the perfectly
elasto-plastic contact behavior considered in the tangential
direction. The tangential force Fs is incrementally calculated
according to the incremental tangential displacement u s as:
Fs ← Fs + K s u s (7)
where K s is the tangential contact stiffness.
The Mohr–Coulomb sliding criterion is adopted as:
|Fs | ≤ μK n u n (8)
where μ is the inter-particle frictional coefficient.
Besides, viscous contact damping forces (Fnv in the normal
direction and Fsv in the tangential direction) can be applied
when u n ≥ 0:

Fnv = −cn u̇ n
(9)
Fsv = −cs u̇ s

123
37 Page 4 of 13
Fig. 3 Mechanical responses of
the implemented contact model
in a normal direction and b
tangential direction
where cn , cs are viscous damping coefficients and u̇ n , u̇ s
are relative normal and tangential velocities. Another type
of damping, local damping, is also available which exerts a
damping force proportional to unbalanced force on particle
center. The two types of damping have no significant effects
in quasi-static behavior. Local damping has several advan-
tages identified in PFC3D [44] and therefore was used in this
paper with a dimensionless damping coefficient of 0.7.
2.3 DEM simulation procedure
The above contact model was implemented into a DEM code
PFC3D to carry out numerical simulations of triaxial com-
pression tests. A particle size distribution (PSD) typical of
silty sands was used for which the effects of capillary forces
are significant. Figure 4 presents the PSD having 10 types of
diameter ranging from 6.6 to 10.5 μm with a mean diameter
d50 = 7.75 μm and a uniformity coefficient d60 /d10 = 1.2.
If the prototype size (6.6 to 10.5 μm) is used, both the particle
mass and contact force/capillary force are very small. Com-
putation error may arise when one small value is divided by
another small value. This can be avoided by amplifying par-
ticle size. The particle sizes were amplified 103 times and the
100
Percent smaller than by weight %)
80
60
Mean grain diameter
40
d 50 = 7.75 m
Uniformity coefficient
20
Cu = d60 /d 10= 1.2
0
5 6 7 8
Sphere diameter ( m)
Fig. 4 Prototype particle size distribution used in the DEM simulations
123
Z. Shen et al.
capillary forces (determined by the prototype particle size)
were amplified 106 times so that the model-scale behavior is
equivalent to the prototype-scale behavior because the stress
does not change with the scale-up. The similarity theorem
has been derived in [18].
A uniform rectangular parallelepiped assembly consist-
ing of 10 000 spheres with a slenderness of 2 (sample
height/width = 2) was generated using the multi-layer under-
compaction method (UCM) [27]. With UCM, an assembly
was generated layer by layer, five layers in total, in a fric-
tionless rigid wall container. Each layer consisted of an
identical number of spheres. Frictionless wall was used to
apply principal stress on the boundary and to reduce stress
inhomogeneity. To ensure the uniformity of a dense assem-
bly with a target void ratio (the ratio of void volume to the
solid volume) of 0.5 (packing fraction = 0.67), for exam-
ple, the first layer of spheres were generated randomly and
one-dimensionally compressed to a void ratio of 0.528. Like-
wise, the sphere assembly was compressed to a void ratio of
0.527, 0.521, 0.512 and 0.500 respectively after the second,
third, fourth and fifth layer of spheres were generated. Sim-
ilarly, the sequence of void ratios for a loose assembly with
a target void ratio of 0.82 (packing fraction = 0.55) was
0.930, 0.914, 0.895, 0.870 and 0.820. In preparation of a
dense (loose) assembly, the inter-particle friction was set as
0.0 (1.0) to allow the assembly to reach a dense (loose) state.
After UCM, inter-particle friction was set as 0.5 and was
assumed independent of matric suction. The way to generate
uniform assembly by changing friction was developed by trial
and error. Then, an assembly was isotropically compressed
to confining pressures of 50, 100, and 200 kPa. The gravity
is not present in the simulation. Figure 5 presents a typical
model-scale (amplified) dense assembly before shear load-
ing under a confining pressure of 50 kPa. Then, the capillary
force was implemented at each contact and the assembly was
9 10 11 allowed to reach equilibrium. Matric suction of 0 kPa (sat-
urated or dry state), 50, 100, 200 and 400 kPa was applied,
respectively. This ensures that the assemblies with different
matrix suctions have the same initial void ratio and particle
Shear strength of unsaturated granular soils: three-dimensional discrete element analyses
O are frictionless, the principal stresses of the net stress tensor
x y
257 mm
z Imagine that an effective contact force network in a dry
124
mm mm
124
Fig. 5 Typical dense assembly generated by UCM with amplified par-
ticle size (confining pressure σ3 = 50 kPa, amplified mean particle size
d50 = 7.75 mm, matric suction = 0 kPa, inter-particle friction coef-
ficient = 0.5, normal contact stiffness = 1.5 × 106 N/m, tangential
contact stiffness = 1.0 × 106 N/m)
arrangement. Then, any difference in mechanical behavior
can be attributed to matrix suction. The capillary forces were
not considered at the contacts between spheres and bound-
ary walls. A total of 30 DEM numerical tests were carried
out on dense and loose assemblies. The normal and tangen-
tial contact stiffnesses were 1.5 × 106 and 1.0 × 106 N/m,
respectively. Quasi-static axial strain was applied at a rate of
5 %/min while keeping the confining pressure and matric suc-
tion constant. The time step used in the DEM simulations was
6 × 10−6 s. Note that within unsaturated granular media, the
existence of only pair-wise liquid bridges is possible for low
saturation degrees. With the increase of saturation degree, the
radius of the menisci separating air and water increases. For a
medium saturation degree, liquid cluster between three grains
is more stable than three liquid bridges and the fusion of the
menisci occurs. Further increase of saturation degree would
result in the voids abruptly flooding with water according
to Fredlund’s study [2], which can be numerically simulated
by 2D DEM [18] but is extremely difficult to simulate by
3D DEM. This is why we did not carry out DEM tests on
the assembly with matric suction between 0 and 50 kPa in
this paper. However, such simplicity does not affect the main
conclusions in this study.
2.4 Stress variables in unsaturated granular assembly
A stress tensor σi j due to loading on the boundary can be
readily measured in laboratories or calculated in DEM sim-
ulations using boundary data. The conventional way widely
used to measure σi j is:
  spheres with a diameter of 2/5h (h: the height of an assem-
σi j = f i /s j (10)
where f i is the load acting in the i direction on the boundary
area of s j with the normal direction as j. The stress tensor σi j
is equivalent to the net stress tensor in unsaturated soils since
the pore air pressure u a is only taken as a reference pressure,
being zero in the DEM simulations. Since the boundary walls
Page 5 of 13 37
σi j (σ1 , σ2 , σ3 ) are normal to the wall faces, i.e. in the z-, x-,
and y-axis directions, as illustrated in Fig. 5.
sample is first in equilibrium with boundary loads (“external”
relative to the soil material). Then, a capillary force network
(being “internal” because it arises from inter-particle capil-
lary water) is applied and the effective contact force network
has to adjust itself to reach a new equilibrium state. There-
fore, the effective contact force in an unsaturated sample is
the result of both the externally applied loads and the capillary
forces. The effective contact force can be used to calculate a
stress tensor σij in DEM simulations over a Representative
Element Volume (REV) using forces acting on its boundary
S as:
1  β β
σij = xi F j (11)
Vm
β∈S
β β
where Vm is the volume of REV, and xi and F j are the coor-
dinate and the effective contact force vector at contact β on
the boundary S, i.e. Fβ = K n u n n+Fs where n is the contact
normal and Fs is the tangential contact force vector. The ten-
sor σi j is usually termed as effective stress from the general
view of the mechanics of granular material, if the material
is dry or fully saturated where capillary force disappears,
since it uniquely controls both the strength and deformation
of the material in these two cases. However, from the spe-
cific view of geomechanics, σi j in Eq. (11) cannot be used to
uniquely define the constitutive behavior of soil regardless of
the saturation. For example, when a sample becomes unsat-
urated from a fully saturated state, the mean effective stress
obtained from Eq. (11) will increase and, according to fun-
damental knowledge in Soil Mechanics, the sample should
be more contractive, but numerical and experimental results
reveal that it behaves more dilatively. For this reason, this
σi j was alternatively termed as generalized effective stress in
[18] and the term “effective stress” is left only for a stress
tensor that can uniquely define the mechanical constitutive
law of unsaturated soil. Due to the geomechanics background
of this study, the terminology in [18] is still followed here.
It has been checked that using all contacts mapped into
the REV actually yielded very close generalized effective
stresses to those calculated by Eq. (11). Two measurement
bly), each containing about 1,500 particles, are centered at
1/3h and 2/3h as REVs in order to measure σij during loading.
Since the generalized effective stress in an unsaturated sam-
ple is the result of both the total stress and the capillary stress
(stress due to capillary water effect), it is straightforward to
extract the total stress σi j from the generalized effective stress
σij to calculate the capillary stress σiwj :
123
37 Page 6 of 13 Z. Shen et al.

σiwj = σij − σi j
3 DEM simulation results
3.1 Stress–strain relationships
Figures 6 and 7 present the stress–strain relationships of
dense and loose assemblies obtained from DEM simulations
in the saturated state (Su = 0 kPa) and unsaturated state,
respectively. For conciseness, only the simulation results
from Su = 200 kPa are shown for the unsaturated state.
The stresses in Figs. 6 and 7 are net stresses calculated by
Eq. (10) and the strains were calculated according to the
motion of the boundary walls.
Dense assemblies in Fig. 6a demonstrate strain-softening
behavior with the initial moduli and peak deviator stresses
increasing with confining pressures. The modulus and peak
deviator stress are higher of the unsaturated assembly than
of the saturated counterpart under each confining pressure
examined. Dense assemblies in Fig. 6b show apparent dila-
tion after the initial contraction. Unsaturated assemblies are
(12) slightly denser before shearing and show more significant
dilation at large axial strain than saturated assemblies. For
loose assemblies in the saturated state, as shown in Fig. 7,
strain-hardening and contractive behavior is observed. On
the contrary, unsaturated loose assemblies are characterized
by dilation which is more apparent under lower confining
pressure. Unsaturated loose assemblies demonstrate higher
moduli and deviator stresses than saturated assemblies under
the same confining pressure.
Generally, for the range of matric suction investigated,
capillary water can increase the strength and initial modulus
of granular assemblies and induce more dilation regardless
of the density and confining pressure.
3.2 Strength parameters
The shear strength under each confining pressure means the
peak deviator stress for dense assemblies in Fig. 6 (at an axial
strain around 4 %) or the deviator stress at an axial strain of
15 % for loose assemblies in Fig. 7. The strength parameters
(friction angle and apparent cohesion) are obtained by fitting
the test data (described by net stresses) against the Mohr–

500 0.75
(kPa)

Su=200 kPa
Su= 0 kPa
400 0.70
=200 kPa
3

3
- 1

Void ratio

300
Deviator stress

0.65
200 3
=100 kPa
Su=200 kPa Su=0 kPa
0.60 3
= 50 kPa
100
3
=100 kPa

3
=50 kPa 3
=200 kPa
0 0.55
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)
(a) (b)
Fig. 6 Mechanical behavior of dense assemblies described by net stresses (under confining pressure of σ3 = 50, 100 and 200 kPa and matric
suction of Su = 0 and 200 kPa). a Deviator stress versus axial strain. b Void ratio versus axial strain

300 0.85
(kPa)

Su=200 kPa Su=200 kPa Su=0 kPa

250 Su= 0 kPa 3
= 50 kPa
3

3
=100 kPa
-

200 0.80
1

Void ratio

3
=200 kPa
Deviator stress

3
=200 kPa
150
3
=100 kPa
100 0.75

50
3
=50 kPa
0 0.70
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)
(a) (b)
Fig. 7 Mechanical behavior of loose assemblies described by net stresses. a Deviator stress versus axial strain. b Void ratio versus axial strain

123
Shear strength of unsaturated granular soils: three-dimensional discrete element analyses Page 7 of 13 37

the principal stresses of the generalized effective stress σij .

Apparent cohesion (kPa)

30 8
Friction angle ( ) 28 Figure 9 shows that there seems to be a unique peak strength
26 6
envelope for granular assemblies even with different matric
24
22
4 suctions provided that the generalized effective stresses are
20 used. According to Mohr–Coulomb strength theory, sin ϕ 
2
18 Friction angle
Dense
Cohesion
Dense (ϕ  is the friction angle) equals to the slope of the strength
Loose Loose
16 0 envelop in Fig. 9. The friction angle deduced from Fig. 9
are 28.1◦ (20.0◦ ) for dense (loose) assemblies, which is very
0 100 200 300 400
Matric suction (kPa)
close to the average friction angle of 28.6◦ (19.9◦ ) deduced
Fig. 8 Effect of matric suction on strength parameters described by from Fig. 8. It is hence recognized that the generalized effec-
net stresses tive stresses, or definitely the microscopic effective contact
forces used to define the generalized effective stresses, deter-
mine the strength of granular materials, irrespective of the
Coulomb strength envelope. Figure 8 presents the effect of saturation state (i.e. dry, saturated or unsaturated).
matric suction on the strength parameters of granular mate-
rials. Figure 8 shows that dense assemblies exhibit greater
3.3 Critical microscopic mechanisms
peak friction angle than loose assemblies but seemingly have
the same cohesion as loose assemblies subjected to the same
Figure 10 presents the effects of confining pressure and
matric suction. Figure 8 also shows that the capillary force
matric suction on coordination number Z of loose and dense
leads to a non-linear increase in cohesion with matric suc-
assemblies. Rattlers with less than 2 contacts were excluded
tion regardless of the density. However, the capillary force
in calculating Z . Figure 10a, b shows that upon the imple-
has little effect on the friction angle, which is because the
mentation of capillary forces at contacts before shearing,
inter-particle friction coefficient is assumed independent of
Z increases since capillary forces tend to clump particles
matric suction. This agrees with experiment results on one
together to slightly change the micro-structure to a denser
type of soils (e.g. in [45–47]). However, experiment results
state, as demonstrated by the slight decrease of void ratio
on the other type of soils indicate that the peak friction angle
in Figs. 6b and 7b. Z increases obviously with the confin-
does change with matric suction (e.g. in [16,48]), implying
ing pressure and increase slightly with matric suction within
that the frictional coefficient may be dependent on matric
the examined range. Figure 10c shows that the coordination
suction. Therefore, the conclusions in this study should be
number of the dense assembly under each confining pres-
applied to soils of which the friction angle does not vary
sure is larger than that of the loose counterpart and they
greatly with matric suction. However, the major topic in this
finally merge. Three critical microscopic mechanisms behind
study, i.e. the anisotropic effects of capillary water as will be
the observed macroscopic behavior of unsaturated granular
discussed below, is important for both types of soils.
materials can be identified.
Figure 9 presents the stress paths and peak strength
envelopes described by the generalized effective stresses
under
  different
 matric suctions,
  where
 q  = σ1 /2 − (1) The higher coordination number in an unsaturated
σ2 + σ3 /4, p = σ1 /2 + σ2 + σ3 /4 and σ1 , σ2 , σ3 are
    assembly than in a saturated one induces higher shear

250 150
sin ' = 0.471 sin ' = 0.342
o
' = 28.1 o ' = 20.0
Deviator q' (kPa)

200
Deviator q' (kPa)

Su=0 kPa 100 Su=0 kPa

150 Su=100 kPa Su=100 kPa
Su=200 kPa Su=200 kPa
Su=400 kPa
100 Su=400 kPa
50
50
=200 kPa
3
3
=200 kPa
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400
Mean stress p' (kPa) Mean stress p' (kPa)
(a) (b)

Fig. 9 Stress paths and peak strength envelopes described by the generalized effective stresses under different matric suctions. a Dense assemblies.
b Loose assemblies

123
37 Page 8 of 13 Z. Shen et al.

3 50kPa 3 100kPa 3 200kPa 50kPa 100kPa 200kPa

3 3 3
6.4 1 =0% 5.0 1 =0%
4.8
6.3 4.6

Z
6.2 4.4
4.2
6.1 4.0
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400
5.1 =4% 5.0
1=15%
1

4.8
4.8
Z

Z
4.6
4.5 4.4
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400
Matric suction (kPa) Matric uction (kPa)
(a) (b)

6.5
Su=200 kPa Dense sample
6.0 Loose sample
Coordinate number Z

5.5 =100 kPa

3
3
=200 kPa
5.0

4.5
3
=50 kPa
4.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Axial strain (%)
(c)
Fig. 10 Effects of confining pressure and matric suction on coordination number. a Dense sample at axial strains of ε1 = 0 and 4 %. b Loose
sample at axial strains of ε1 = 0 and 15 %. c Evolution of coordination number with axial strain

modulus and greater shear strength described by the net 3.4 Anisotropic effects of matric suction
stresses, and enhances dilation macroscopically.
(2) The capillary force can increase the effective normal Figure 11 presents the eigenvalues of the capillary stress σiwj
force and hence increase the sliding resistance at a con- with σ1w in the z-axis direction and σ2w (σ3w ) lying on the
tact. According to Eq. (6), u n increases when FI enters to x–y plane (σiwj is found to be coaxial with σi j and σij ). Fig-
play if Fn counterbalancing the externally applied loads ure 11 shows that σiwj is not isotropic because σ1w is greater
remains fixed. In this way, according to Eq. (8), FI con- than σ2w and σ3w and the difference increases with axial
tributes to the tangential sliding resistance at a contact by strain. The values of σ2w and σ3w are very close, indicating
increasing the effective contact force K n u n . Therefore, an axis-symmetric state. For dense assemblies, σ1w fluctu-
due to FI , an increased strength described by net stresses ates significantly while σ2w and σ3w decrease at a decreasing
is expected since the macroscopic strength is essentially rate with the increase in axial strain. For loose assemblies, σ1w
controlled by the sliding resistance at contacts. first increases slightly while σ2w and σ3w fluctuate over a small
(3) A higher coordination number and therefore more liq- range with the increase in axial strain. All σiw (i = 1, 2, 3)
uid bridges in a dense assembly are expected to result tend to be steady at an axial strain of 15 %.
in a higher apparent cohesion than in a loose assembly Considering the anisotropy and axis-symmetry, the stress
if described by the net stresses. However, the apparent tensor σiwj can be rewritten as:
cohesion under each matric suction examined in Fig. 8
appears to be independent of the density of granular
⎡ ⎤
assemblies. This can be explained by the stress-induced σ1w 0 0
anisotropy of the directional contact distribution and, σiwj = ⎣0 σ2w 0 ⎦
therefore, of the capillary force network within an assem- 0 0 σ3w
bly, which in turn leads to the anisotropic effect of matric ⎡ ⎤
1 + 2w 0 0
suction. This phenomenon will be discussed in detail in
= σmw ⎣ 0 1 − w 0 ⎦ (13)
the following sub-section.
0 0 1 − w

123
Shear strength of unsaturated granular soils: three-dimensional discrete element analyses Page 9 of 13 37

40 40 40 w
1
35 w
35 w 35
1 1

(kPa)

i (kPa)

(kPa)
30 30 30
25 25 25

w
w

i
i
w w
20 20 20 2 3
w w w w
15 2 3 15 2 3 15
=50 kPa =100 kPa 3
=200 kPa
3 3 10
10 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)
(a)

40 40 40
35 35 35
i (kPa)

(kPa)
30 w 30 30

(kPa)
w w
1
1 1
25 25 25
w

w
i
20 20 20

i
w w w w
w w 2 3 2 3
15 2 3 15 15
3
=50 kPa 3
=100 kPa 3
=200 kPa
10 10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)
(b)
Fig. 11 Evolution of the eigenvalues of the capillary stress (Su = 200 kPa). a Dense assemblies, b loose assemblies

w
40 0.30
Su=200 kPa Dense Loose Capillary water anisotropy index Su=200 kPa Dense Loose
35
50 kPa 0.25 50 kPa
3
=100 kPa 3
=100 kPa
200 kPa 0.20 200 kPa
m (kPa)

30
0.15
w

25
0.10
20 0.05

15 0.00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)

Fig. 12 Evolution of σmw with axial strain (Su = 200kPa) Fig. 13 Evolution of capillary water anisotropy index w with axial
strain (Su = 200 kPa)

 
where σmw = σ1w + σ2w +σ3w
/3  is the
 mean value and
w = σ1w − σ2w + σ3w /2 / 3σmw is an anisotropy
index.
Figure 12 presents the evolution of σmw with axial strain
under a matric suction of Su = 200 kPa. Figure 12 shows
that σmw in a dense assembly decreases under each confining
pressure with axial strain and then fluctuates about a mean
value after the axial strain exceeds 4 %. For loose assemblies,
σmw increases slightly before the axial strain exceeds 1 % and
then fluctuates in a small range. As expected, a higher σwm
is observed under a higher confining pressure or in a dense
assembly due to the greater coordination number and there-
fore more liquid bridges.
Figure 13 presents the evolution of the anisotropy index
w with axial strain under a matric suction of Su = 200 kPa.
Figure 13 shows that w generally increases at a decreasing
rate with axial strain for both dense and loose assemblies
under each confining pressure. A higher value of w is
observed in dense assemblies and under lower confining pres-
sures.
Note that σiwj essentially depends on the contact distri-
bution that determines the distributions of capillary water
and capillary force network in a granular assembly. Loading
can induce a higher proportion of contacts along the loading
direction compared to the proportion in the x–y plane. This
stress-induced contact anisotropy leads to the anisotropy of
σiwj as revealed in Fig. 11. To quantitatively examine the con-
tact anisotropy, a second-order contact normal fabric tensor
Fc can be defined to represent the statistical arrangement of
inter-particle contact directions in an assembly. According to
the work in [25], the tensor component Fc,i j can be calculated
as
123
37 Page 10 of 13 Z. Shen et al.

1 c k k
2N matric suction will be discussed in the next section, in which
Fc,i j = ni n j (14) the similar cohesion of dense and loose assemblies observed
2Nc
k=1 in Fig. 8 can be explained.

where Nc is the total contact number and n ik (i = 1, 2, 3) are

the direction cosines of n, which is a unit vector normal to
4 Shear strength function considering anisotropic
the tangential plane at a contact.
effects of matric suction
Let Fci denote the eigenvalues of Fc with i = 1, 2, 3
and Fc1 + Fc2 + Fc3 = 1. The tensor Fc exhibits an axis-
The above DEM simulations provide evidence of the anisotro-
symmetric state with the direction of F1c very close to the
pic effect of matric suction which definitely produces an
z-axis direction and F2c being almost equal to F3c on the
internal shear effect in a granular assembly that can move
x–y plane. An index measure of the contact anisotropy can
the assembly towards failure even under externally applied
be defined as c = Fc1 − (Fc2 + Fc3 ) /2, so that Fc can be
isotropic loading. Under externally applied deviator load-
written as
ing, this anisotropic effect of matric suction can bring the
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ assembly to failure. Consequently, the strength parameters of
Fc1 0 0 1 + 2c 0 0 unsaturated soils usually described by the net stresses (cor-
1
Fc = ⎣ 0 Fc2 0 ⎦ = ⎣ 0 1 − c 0 ⎦
responding to the externally applied loading) should depend
0 0 Fc3 3 0 0 1 − c
on the anisotropic distributions of the capillary forces. This
(15) issue will be clarified by examining an assembly loaded in
an axis-symmetric way. Based on the observed uniqueness of
Figure 14 presents the evolution of c with axial strain. strength envelope when described by the generalized effec-
The observed initial anisotropy in Fig. 14 is attributed to tive stress in Fig. 9, the failure condition can be expressed
the one-dimensional compression during sample prepara- as
tion. Figure 14 shows that c increases with axial strain at    
   σ1 + σ1w f − σ3 + σ3w f
a decreasing rate and then decreases slightly after peak for σ1 − σ3
a dense assembly or approaches an asymptotic value for a =    
σ1 + σ3 f σ1 + σ1w f + σ3 + σ3w f
loose assembly. Moreover, dense assemblies exhibit greater  
anisotropy than loose ones and assemblies under lower con- (σ1 − σ3 ) f + σ1w − σ3w f
=   = sin ϕ  (16)
fining pressures are more prone to become anisotropic. (σ1 + σ3 ) f + σ1w + σ3w f
The evolutions of w in Fig. 13 and c in Fig. 14 show
adequate similarity, confirming the aforementioned mecha- where ϕ  is the effective friction angle, assumed independent
nism leading to the anisotropy of σiwj . Since stress-induced of matric suction.
anisotropy is an intrinsic feature of granular materials and Substituting Eq. (13) into (16) and rearranging leads to
some inherent anisotropy can be observed as well before
deviator loading, the accompanied anisotropic effects of (σ1 − σ3 ) f = (σ1 + σ3 ) f sin ϕ 
matric suction need to be considered in advanced modeling of    ∗
unsaturated granular materials. As a preliminary application, + 2 sin ϕ  − 3 − sin ϕ  ∗w σmw (17)
a shear strength function considering anisotropic effects of ∗
where ∗w and σmw are the values of w and σmw at failure,
respectively.
0.14
From Eq. (17), the apparent cohesion due to matric suc-
c

0.12 tion, denoted by cs , can be derived as

Contact anisotropy index

0.10    
3 − sin ϕ  ∗ ∗
0.08 cs = 1 − 
w σmw tan ϕ  (18)
2 sin ϕ
0.06
Dense Loose Equation (18) implies that cs depends on the effective fric-
0.04
50 kPa
Su=200 kPa =100 kPa tion angle ϕ  and the two quantities characterizing the effect
0.02 3 ∗
200 kPa of capillary water (σmw and ∗w ). Generally, a dense assem-
∗
0.00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 bly exhibits greater ϕ  , σmw and ∗w than a loose one, which
Axial strain (%) however cannot mathematically guarantee a greater apparent
cohesion for dense assembly due to the combined effects of
∗
Fig. 14 Evolution of contact anisotropy index c ϕ  , σmw and ∗w .

123
Shear strength of unsaturated granular soils: three-dimensional discrete element analyses Page 11 of 13 37

0.20

w
0.16

w
Su=200 kPa Su=200 kPa

Capillary water anisotropy index

Capillary water anisotropy index

0.16 50 kPa 50 kPa
3
=100 kPa 0.12 =100 kPa
3
200 kPa 200 kPa
0.12
0.08
0.08
0.04
0.04

0.00 0.00
0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12
Contact anisotropy index c Contact anisotropy index c
(a) (b)
Fig. 15 Relationship between contact anisotropy index c and capillary water anisotropy index w . a Dense assemblies. b Loose assemblies

The term ∗w in Eq. (18) represents the degree of
anisotropy of σiwj in unsaturated soils at failure. Figure 15
presents the relationship between w and c obtained in
DEM simulations, which shows that w generally increases
with c in a non-linear way. The DEM results imply that ∗w
can be correlated to the degree of contact anisotropy ∗c (the
value of contact anisotropy index c at failure). Note that c
is used to describe the anisotropy of solid contacts while w
principally should describe the anisotropy of capillary forces
due to liquid bridges existing at solid contacts as well as at
inter-particle gaps. The effect of capillary forces at inter-
particle gaps, which exist in reality but were neglected for
simplicity in our DEM simulations, would lower the correla-
tion between ∗w and ∗c . With a decrease in water saturation,
the proportion of capillary water at inter-particle gaps will
decrease due to liquid bridge rupture, leading to an increased
proportion of capillary water at solid contacts. That is, w
should depend more on c for lower water saturation. With
this view, a power law is assumed to associate ∗w with ∗c
through a normalized water content variable ξ as
∗w = (1 − ξ )b ∗c
where b is a material parameter. The normalized water con-
tent variable ξ can be the degree of saturation, the normalized
volumetric water content, the normalized gravimetric water
content, etc.
Many functions have been proposed to associate σmw∗ in
Eq. (18) with some measurable variables in laboratory exper-
iments, e.g. matric suction and water saturation. The function
proposed in [8] was reported to give a good fit to a wide range
of experimental results, will be used in this paper, i.e.
σmw∗ =Su ξ d
where d is a material parameter.
With Eqs. (19) and (20), the shear strength function in the
τ − σ plane can be written in a complete form as
τ = c + (σn − u a ) tan ϕ 
   
3 − sin ϕ 
+ 1− (1 − ξ )b ∗c Su ξ d tan ϕ  (21)
2 sin ϕ 
where c is the effective cohesion of soil measured in the
saturated state and (σn − u a ) is the net normal stress with σn
and u a being the applied normal force on the failure plane
and the pore air pressure, respectively.
Since water migration is less hindered by the water-
particle surface interactions of coarse particles than fine
particles, the anisotropic effect of matric suction on strength
of granular soils can be more apparent than that for clayey
soils. For this reason, the triaxial compression tests in [16]
on Korean weathered granite (a kind of non-plastic silty sand
with c = 19.3 kPa and average ϕ  = 42.6◦ ) are used to pro-
vide a preliminarily validation of the proposed shear strength
function given by Eq. (21). A slight variation of 2◦ in the
friction angle ϕ  was reported for this weathered granite in
(19)
the range of matric suction examined, which is neglected
for practical purpose by using its average value. Figure 16
presents the SWCC of the weathered granite at zero net
stress and the measured/predicted shear strength values. The
weathered granite was tested under confining pressures of
0–300 kPa with a matric suction range of 0–300 kPa. The
SWCC was used to obtain the value of ξ (degree of satura-
tion) for each matric suction Su in Eq. (21). The parameters
b, ∗c and d in Eq. (21) were fitted with b and d stress-level
independent, making Eq. (21) easy to use in practice. A good
agreement is observed between the predicted and measured
shear strengths in Fig. 16b. Note that the fitting parameter
∗c in Fig. 16b decreases with the increase of net normal
(20)
stress, implying less anisotropic contact distribution under
higher stress-level, which is consistent with the observations
in DEM simulations shown in Fig. 14.

123
37 Page 12 of 13 Z. Shen et al.

100 500
weathered granite b=2.41 d=1.03

Degree of saturation (%)

Shear strength (kPa)

80 400 ( n ua)=300 kPa, *
c = 0.090

60 300 *
( n ua)=200 kPa, c = 0.259

40 200 ( n ua)=100 kPa, *

c = 0.400

*
20 100 ( n ua)=0 kPa, c = 0.556

0 -1 0 1 2 3
0
10 10 10 10 10 0 100 200 300 400
Matric suction S u(kPa) Matric suction Su (kPa)
(a) (b)
Fig. 16 Unsaturated behavior of Korean weathered granite (experimental data modified after [16]): a SWCC at zero net stress and b measured
(points) and predicted (curves) shear strength values

The above interpretation of shear strength considering
anisotropic effect of matric suction is preliminary and ten-
tative. Similar observations about the anisotropic effects of
matric suction may be the same with other cohesive contact
models. Experiments on soils under the same initial stress
state but applying different stress paths to lead to different
fabric evolutions are needed to further validate the proposed
function. However, although Eq. (21) is proposed for soils
with the effective friction angle ϕ  independent of matric suc-
tion, it can be applied to the other type of soils by considering
ϕ  as a function of matric suction. Moreover, the work here
demonstrates that although Eq. (4) is generally valid only for
low saturation degrees, the DEM results can help to establish
Eq. (21) that appears to be suitable for soils at a wide range
of saturation degree.
an anisotropic capillary stress. This anisotropy imposes a
shear effect on the assembly and consequently the appar-
ent cohesion of unsaturated granular soils turns out to be
a function of the packing density, and the magnitude and
degree of anisotropy of the capillary stress.
(3) A new shear strength function for unsaturated granular
soils has been proposed incorporating the measurable
matric suction and water saturation using three fitting
parameters. An example of good agreement with exper-
imental data is provided.
Acknowledgments The research is funded by China National Funds
for Distinguished Young Scientists with Grant No. 51025932, Program
of Shanghai Academic Chief Scientist with Grant No. 11XD1405200,
and the National Natural Science Foundation of China with Grant No.
51179128, all of which are sincerely appreciated. The authors would
also thank the second author’s former Ph.D. student Haijun Hu for his
assistance in numerical simulations.

5 Conclusions
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This paper presents numerical results of three-dimensional
(3D) DEM modeling of unsaturated granular soils in triaxial
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reached.
(1) The simplified capillary force contact model can repro-
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increases non-linearly with matric suction at a decreas-
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(2) The stress-induced anisotropy of contact distributions
leads to an anisotropic distribution of the capillary force
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