ABSTRACT
Currently most experimental results on unsaturated soils are interpreted using the widely independent state variable approach. However it is believed that a single stress approach could lead to significant simplifications for practical purposes. In this paper the applicability of the effective stress based approach proposed by Khalili & Khabbaz (1998) is examined for the determination of the shear strength. The relationship is applied to unsaturated triaxial tests on remoulded silt, using both peak strength and critical state strength values. Other results from the literature are also analysed to confirm the applicability of the effective stress approach to predict shear strength of unsaturated soils.
