Abstract: Based on governing equations of saturated porous media and Liapunov’s stability here, onset conditions matrix of porous media used by solid stress and Terzaghi’s effective stress constitutive description under seepage flow state, are presented, which have different forms with different representation of the solid phase, matrix or skeleton, constitutive model of porous media. The main difference relates with how to describe the interaction between solid phase and liquid phase in constitutive model. The derived onset condition of strain localization under Terzaghi’s effective stress description can be used to interpret different failure types, piping effect, landslides and mudflows, by means of the type and the magnitude ratio of relative movement between solid phase and liquid phase. Examples here illuminate the onset condition of how to work.

Key words: porous medium, solid stress, constitutive model of matrix, Terzaghi’s effective stress, onset condition of strain localization