Through a series of triaxial shear tests and soil cutting tests with prototype rake tooth in Huanghua port area,we probe into the shear dilation characteristic of the saturated dense silt and its influence on the cutting resistance of the rake tooth.The triaxial test results show that the saturated dense silt in Huanghua area exhibits significant strain softening during the shear process.The relationship between the peak stress and the confining pressure is nearly linear.In shearing process,the soil shows shear contraction and then dilatancy.With the increase of confining pressure,the properties of shear contraction are more and more obvious.The stress-strain curve should be divided into 4 different stages.The soil cutting tests with prototype rake tooth show that the cutting resistance of the saturated soil grows faster than that of the unsaturated soil.The maximum value of the cutting resistance of saturated soil is 2.7～3.3 times as that of unsaturated soil.For the saturated soil,the fluctuation range is larger than that of the unsaturated soil after the cutting resistance is stable.The test results show that the soil dilatancy effect on the cutting resistance of the rake tooth is very significant and appropriate measures for reducing the influence of dilatancy on the cutting resistance should be taken.