ABSTRACT
The conducted research enables to introduce adjustments to the conditions of strength during shear and triaxial compression. The main conclusion is that dilatancy, when constrained, constitutes a factor of stress condition and strength. This chapter presents the readers with an analysis of conditions of limiting equilibrium and strength factors of dilating non-cohesive soils during shear and triaxial compression. This chapter analyzes the influence of constrained dilatancy on resistance to shear. It turns, though, to a simpler case of contact shear and analyze the influence of deformative and geometrical characteristics on strength parameters and resistance to shear. The chapter focuses on the major factors of maximum and minimum stress states of granular medium. The Coulomb-Mohr strength theory in its traditional understanding is true only for the conditions of free dilatancy and critical initial density of a granular medium.
