Effect of Moisture Content On The Time-Dependent Mechanical Characteristics of Loess

Abstract It is of great significance to study the time-dependent mechanical properties of loess, as loess landslides are closely related to them. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of moisture content on instantaneous and time-dependent deformation, strength and failure behaviors of undisturbed loess specimens from Nangou in Yan'an City, Shanxi Province, China, via triaxial shearing tests and multi-loading triaxial creep tests under moisture contents of 5%, 10%, 17% and 22%. The results show that the time-dependent deformation of loess increase with the moisture content, while the time-dependent deformation rate decreases slowly. The soil deformation is divided into four stages based on the peak strain rate. Furthermore, the instantaneous and long-term strength of loess decrease with increasing moisture content, and the instantaneous strength decreases more than the long-term strength. The failure mode of undisturbed loess changes from shear failure to homogeneous failure with increasing moisture content; when the failure mode is shear failure, the thickness of the shear band that forms at the specimen surface over time is smaller than the corresponding thickness that forms instantaneously. Finally, the macroscopic morphology and microstructure of loess specimens were considered together to analyze the effect of moisture content on the instantaneous and long-term mechanical behavior of loess and to discuss the process of loess deformation to failure.