Effect of moisture on the yield locus of granular materials: theory of shift

The yield locus of a wet material was shifted to the left of that of a dry specimen by a constant value equal to the compressive isostatic stress due to pendular bridges. For materials with straight yield loci, the shift was computed from the uniaxial tensile strength, either measured in a tensile strength tester or calculated from the correlation, and the angle of internal friction of the material. The predicted shift in the yield loci due to different moisture contents compare well with the measured shift in the yield loci of glass beads, crushed limestone, super D catalyst and Leslie coal. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.