Abstract: To research the shear strength property of unsaturated chlorine saline soil and to provide fundamental basis for engineering application, we performed conventional triaxial shear strength test on artificial chlorine saline soil. On the basis of qualitative analysis, we quantitatively analyzed the relations of chlorine saline soil strength and its indexes with salt content. The test results indicated that the critical salt content was 9% under the test conditions. When the salt content was less than 9%, shear strength and its indexes decreased with the increase of salt content; when the salt content was more than 9%, shear strength and its indexes increased with the increase of salt content.

Key words: unsaturated chlorine saline soil , shear strength , critical salt content