Chapter 1 (cont) Soil Mechanics Review Part B

1.9 Shear Strength

Introduction

Soil strength is measured in terms of shear resistance

Shear resistance is developed on the soil particle contacts

Failure occurs in a material when the normal stress and the shear
stress reach some limiting combination

Normal Load

Shear
Resistance
Water
Pressure

Voids (Water and/or Air)

Soil Particles

Figure 1.5 Shear Strength Model.

Shear Strength Formula

Shear strength formula is based on the Mohr-Coulomb failure

criteria, = c + ' tan
Where: = shear strength
c = cohesion
= angle of shearing resistance

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Shear Strength Testing
Direct shear test simple, inexpensive, limited configurations

Figure 1.6 Direct Shear Test.

Triaxial test may be complex, expensive, several configurations

Figure 1.7 Triaxial Test.

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Undrained Loading ( = 0 Concept)

Total stress change is the same as the pore water pressure

increase in undrained loading, i.e. no change in effective stress

Changes in total stress do not change the shear strength in

undrained loading

Unconfined Compression Test

A special type of unconsolidated-undrained triaxial test in which

the confining pressure, 3, is set to zero

The axial stress at failure is referred to the unconfined

compressive strength, Qu (not to be confused with qu)

Qu
The unconfined shear strength, cu, may be defined as, c u =
2

Figure 1.8 Unconfined Compression Test.

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Effect of Shear Strength on Clays and Sands

Volume changes occur in drained loading

Pore water pressures develop in undrained loading which effect
the effective stress and in turn the shear strength

Loose Arrangement Dense Arrangement

- Loose sands
- NC clays
- Tries to decrease volume
- Positive pore water pressure
- Decreases effective stress
- Dense sands
- OC clays
- Tries to increase volume
- Negative pore water pressure
- Increases effective stress

Volume Change (Drained)

+

Dense or OC

Loose or NC
-

Pore Pressure (Undrained)

+
Loose or NC

Dense or OC
-

Figure 1.9 Effect of Shear Strength on Clays and Sands.

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1.10 Vertical Stress Increase with Depth

Allowable settlement, usually set by building codes, may control

the allowable bearing capacity

The vertical stress increase with depth must be determined to

calculate the amount of settlement that a foundation may undergo

Stress due to a Point Load

In 1885, Boussinesq developed a mathematical relationship for

vertical stress increase with depth inside a homogenous, elastic
and isotropic material from point loads as follows:

3P
=
5
2 z 2
( )
1 + r
z
2

2

For this solution, material properties such as Poissons ratio and

modulus of elasticity do not influence the stress increase with depth,
i.e. stress increase with depth is a function of geometry only.

Figure 1.10 Stress Increase from a Point Load.

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For r/z >1, the Boussinesq solution reduces to approximate
expressions:

Stress under a continuous strip load:

Stress due to a Circular Load

The Boussinesq Equation as stated above may be used to derive
a relationship for stress increase below the center of the footing
from a flexible circular loaded area:
3

= q o 1 1 +

(B 2 z
)2

2

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 Figure 1.11 Stress Increase from a Circular Load.

The stress increase may also be calculated at a distance, r, from

the center of the flexible circular footing using Table 1.6

Table 1.6 Variation of /qo for Circular Areas.

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 Figure 1.12 Variation of stress increase under a circular load

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Stress due to a Rectangular Load
The Boussinesq Equation may also be used to derive a
relationship for stress increase below the corner of the footing from
a flexible rectangular loaded area:

Figure 1.13 Stress Increase from a Rectangular Load.

The incremental stress may also be expressed using

Influence Factors, = q o I Where: I = Influence Factor

The influence factors are complex to calculate but may be

B L
graphed in terms of m and n, where: m = & n=
z z

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 Figure 1.14 Variation of Influence Factor for Stress Increase from a
Rectangular Load.

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 The stress increase may also be calculated at other points within
the footing by dividing the area into four rectangles, calculating the
stress increase from the corner of each rectangle and summing
the four values, (SUPERPOSITION)

The stress increase may also be calculated at the center of the

footing using Table 1.7 where:
L
m1 =
B
z
n1 =
B

2
= q o I c

Table 1.7 Variation of Ic for Rectangular Areas.

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Newmarks Influence Chart

The increase in stress under any type of a flexible loaded area can
be easily determined using Newmarks Influence Chart, developed
in 1942.

The graphical form is based on equations of R/z

The method consists of concentric circles drawn to scale, each

square contributes a fraction of the stress

Most charts contain 200 circles and each square contributes 1/200
(or 0.005) units of stress (influence value, IV)

Follow the 5 steps to determine the stress increase:

1. Determine the depth, z, where you wish to calculate the stress

increase

2. Adopt a scale of z=AB

3. Draw the footing to scale and place the point of interest over the
center of the chart

4. Count the number of elements that fall inside the footing, N

5. Calculate the stress increase as: = q o (IV ) (N )

Example 3.3

A flexible rectangular footing, 5 m by 2.5 m, is located on the ground

surface and loaded with qo=250 kPa, determine the stress increase
caused by this loading at 2.5 m outside the edge of the footing at a
depth of 5 m below grade

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Figure 1.15 Newmarks Chart.

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Simplified Methods
page 215 of your text contains a number of approximate solutions
for various loaded areas.

2:1 Method

The 2:1 method is an approximate method of calculating the

apparent dissipation of stress with depth by averaging the stress
increment onto an increasingly bigger loaded area based on
2V:1H.

This method assumes that the stress increment is constant across

the area (B+z)(L+z) and equals zero outside this area.

The method employs simple geometry of an increase in stress

proportional to a slope of 2 vertical to 1 horizontal

Figure 1.16 2:1 Method.

According to the method, the increase in stress is calculated as

q o BL
follows: =
(B + z ) (L + z )

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1.7 Consolidation
Introduction

Settlement total amount of settlement

Consolidation time dependent settlement
Consolidation occurs during the drainage of pore water caused by
excess pore water pressure

Figure 1.16 Spring Analogy for the Consolidation Process.

Settlement Calculations
Settlement is calculated using the change in void ratio

Figure 1.17 Settlement from the Phase Diagram.

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 e
Settlement, S = Ho
1 + eo
Where: e = change in void ratio
eo = initial void ratio
Ho = initial height
Change in void ratio, e = C c (log ' f log ' o )
Where: Cc = compression index
Settlement is dependent on the preconsolidation pressure, pc or c

Figure 1.18 Settlement from Consolidation Curves.

Note: the slope of the consolidation curve changes after the

preconsolidation pressure which effects the change in void ratio
and in turn the total settlement

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Example 1.1

Calculate the total settlement by drawing down the water table

from surface to a depth of 3 m, i.e. to the upper sand/clay
interface

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Consolidation Calculations

Consolidation is calculated using Terzaghis one dimensional

consolidation theory

Need to determine the rate of dissipation of excess pore water

pressures

Figure 1.19 Drainage of Excess Pore Water Pressure.

K
Coefficient of consolidation, c v =
mvw

Where: K = hydraulic conductivity

mv = volume coefficient of compressibility

w = unit weight of water

t
Time factor, T = c v 2
H dr

Where: t = time

Hdr = length of drainage path

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 St
Consolidation ratio, U =
Smax

Where: St = settlement at time, t

Smax = maximum settlement

Figure 1.20 Plot of Time Factor versus Consolidation Ratio.

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Example 1.2

Calculate the total settlement by placing the 120 kPa load on the
clay surface

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Calculate the time for 20 cm of consolidation

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1.6 Lateral Earth Pressure

Figure 1.21 Active Earth Pressure

1 sin
x = KA z - 2cKA KA =
1 + sin
The Active Case wall moves away from the soil

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 Figure 1.22 Active Failure Wedge and Pressure Distribution

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 Figure 1.23 Active and Passive Earth Pressures

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 Figure 1.24 Passive Earth Pressure

1 + sin
x = KP z + 2cKP KP =
1 sin

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 Figure 1.25 Active Failure Wedge and Pressure Distribution

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Earth Pressure at Rest

KO= (1-sin) OCRsin

Consider the physical meaning of this

Example: for a clayey till with B = 20 kN/m3, =33, c= 5 kPa that

extends from surface to depth with WT at 3 m BGS, what is the
horizontal effective stress at 3 and 15 m depth if the preconsolidation
pressure c (or pc) is 600 and 800 kPa at 3 and 15 m respectively ?

a) at 3 m BGS z = 60 kPa so OCR= 600/60 = 10

x = (60 kPa) (1-sin33) 10sin33 = 96 kPa

b) at 15 m depth z = 15209.812 = 182 kPa so OCR= 800/182 = 4.4

x = (182 kPa) (1-sin33) 4.4sin33 = 185 kPa

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