Deviatoric behaviour of compacted unsaturated soils within ($${\varvec{q}},\boldsymbol{ }{{\varvec{v}}}_{\mathbf{w}},\boldsymbol{ }{\varvec{p}}$$) space—an experimental study

Abstract The coexistence of air and water as a mixture in void spaces unsaturated soils, makes its mechanical behaviour relatively complex difficult to be addressed by classical saturated soil mechanics principles. In addition, many engineering problems encountered practical situations had some part deal with soils therefore the clear understanding various behavioural patterns is crucial. To date, large number attempts are reported evaluating different stress spaces. present study evaluates deviatoric compacted deviator stress–specific volume–mean net ( $$q, {v}_{\mathrm{w}}, p$$ q , v w p ) space. effect moisture content, confinement history on kaolin subjected triaxial compression was assessed results showed that there exists critical state surface for $$q- {v}_{\mathrm{w}}- -