Rate-dependency of residual shear strength of soils: implications for landslide evolution

Shear-rate weakening or strengthening behaviours can effectively control landslide runouts, defining sudden runaway sliding or years-long slow-creep phases. These behaviours are partly controlled by the properties of the basal material. Understanding its stress–strain–time response is crucial in physically-based assessments of landslide dynamics and the associated risk. We investigate the frictional resistance of a calcium bentonite, a kaolin and a quartz sand by means of a conventional ring-shear apparatus under normal stresses representative of landslide shear zones. Results for the fine-grained soils, in line with literature on pure clays, indicate important velocity strengthening, whereas small shear-rate effects were observed in sand. As long as effective stresses remain constant, a velocity strengthening response can exert a feedback that, under certain conditions, counteracts perturbations in boundary conditions and prevents fast runouts on pre-existing shear zones. Accordingly, we argue that specifically testing for shear-rate-dependency and incorporating observed behaviours in model formulations can be beneficial for better predicting landslide fates.