Effects of the pore water's pH value on the shear strength of the Loess

Abstract

Pore water plays an important part in the shear strength of the soils. A series of shear tests involved remolded loess which mixed with different chemical solutions were performed to investigate the effects of the pH values of the solution on the shear strength of the Loess. The results show that the pore water’s pH value has strong effects on the cohesive force of the loess, even on the grain size, while it has non-remarkable affection on the internal friction angle. When the loess is soaked in strong acid solutions, the cohesive force of the loess will increase following the equilibrium time, while when the loess soaked in alkaline solutions, the cohesive force of the remolded soils will decrease.