Change of high liquid limit clay intensity during humidification and dehumidification process of the dry-wet cycle

High liquid limit undisturbed clay quick shear tests with different moisture were carried out through different dry-wet cycle path,including humidification and dehumidification process of the dry-wet cycle.Test results show that,with moisture content of high liquid limit clay increasing or decreasing in the process of humidification and dehumidification of dry-wet cycle,the shear strength of clay soil exhibits similar trend of weakening or strengthening effect.The specific performance is that the increase of the moisture content can lead to reduction of the cohesive force of the high liquid plastic clay in the form of approximate power function and the internal friction angle is approximately in the form of quadratic function decay.For the same moisture content,the shear strength of undisturbed high liquid limit clay is quite different in humidification and dehumidification process tests.Usually,the results tested in humidification process are higher than that in dehumidification process.