Experimental Investigations on the Evolution of Undrained Mechanical Characteristics of Cohesionless Soils Subjected to Internal Erosion

Internal erosion plays a significant role in the failure of earth structures. In this paper, the fine particle elimination method is used, and a series of triaxial consolidated undrained shear tests is conducted to investigate the evolution of undrained mechanical characteristics of soils due to internal erosion. The result indicates that the soil specimen with a larger loss rate of fine particles exhibits a lower undrained peak strength and lower undrained peak friction angle; the undrained peak strength increases with increasing confining pressure, and the initial relative density has a complex effect on the undrained peak strength and the undrained peak friction angle. Finally, the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is modified to predict the total failure shear stress of soils subjected to erosion.