Decoupling the mechanical role of pore liquids in soils to liquid viscous effect and solid–liquid adhesion effect

This paper presents a novel conceptual approach for evaluating the mechanical effect of pore liquids on the overall geotechnical behavior. The approach is based on empiric correlations between mechanical findings at different measuring scales; the pore-scale liquid viscosity, the micro-scale solid–liquid adhesion, and the macro-scale shear strength. These findings are studied through three independent testing methods; (1) rheometer test for the liquid's viscosity, (2) a centrifugal adhesion balance (CAB) test for the solid–liquid mechanical interaction, (3) and triaxial testing for the geotechnical behavior. The empirical investigation is demonstrated for artificial samples containing idealized granular particles and viscous liquids for a complete decoupling between the different mechanical effects, but it can be further used for the study of other combinations of solids and liquids composing a soil sample.