EAT 212 SOIL MECHANICS

Chapter 4:
SHEAR STRENGTH
OF SOIL
PREPARED BY
SHAMILAH ANUDAI@ANUAR
 LESSON PLAN
SHEAR STRENGTH CONSOLIDATION
OF SOIL OF SOIL

WEEK 11 WEEK 14
15/11 & 17/11 6/12 & 8/12

WEEK 12 WEEK 15
22/11 & 24/11 13/12 & 15/12

WEEK 13 TEST 2 will be on 15/12

29/11 & 1/12
CONTENT
 Strength of different materials

Steel Concrete Soil

Tensile Compressive Shear

strength strength strength

Presence of pore water

Complex
behavior
4
 Shear Failure In Soil
The shear strength of a soil can be described as
its maximum resistance to shearing stresses.
When this strength is exceeded failure occurs
along planes in the soil mass called slip surfaces.
The shear strength of soil has two components :-
a) Frictional strength,
b) Cohesive, c
Influencing Factors on Shear
Strength
Soil Composition - mineralogy, grain size and
grain size distribution, shape of particles, pore fluid
type and content, ions on grain and in pore fluid.
Initial State - State can be describe by terms
such as: loose, dense, over-consolidated, normally
consolidated, stiff, soft, etc.
Structure - Refers to the arrangement of particles
within the soil mass; the manner in which the
particles are packed or distributed. Features such
as layers, voids, pockets, cementation, etc, are
part of the structure.
 shear failure of soil
shear failure of soil

TYPES OF SOIL
FAILURE

shear failure of soil

Sliding failure of soil

Shallow slope stability failure shear failure of soil shear failure of soil
 Drained condition
Occurs when there is no change in
pore water pressure due to external
loading
Pore water pressure can drain out of
the soil easily, causing volumetric
strains in the soil
 Undrained condition
Occurs when the pore water pressure is unable to
drain out of the soil
Rate of loading is much quicker than the rate at
which the pore water pressure is able to drain out
of the soil
The tendency of soil to change volume is
suppressed
Clays have low hydraulic conductivity, hence most
often assumed to be under undrained during
loading or construction period in short term, and
the shear strength must be analyzed accordingly.
 Isotropic confinement
Stress increment stress

Excess
pore
pressur
e

DRAINED UNDRAINED
Mohr-coulomb failure
criterion

f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take

without failure, under normal stress of .
Mohr-coulomb failure
criterion (cont)
Peak and Residual-Strength
Envelopes for clay
Graphical representation of
Mohr-Coulomb failure
criteria
Normal Case
Granular (non-cohesive) soil

Failure envelopes of
cohesion less soil
Saturated, plastic
clays
Shear stress, vs. effective stress,

Nearly linear Slightly non-linear

Hence, use idealized linear function
a) intercept of the line is c
b) slope of the line is
Shear strength of saturated
sands & gravel
Shear strength of
saturated clays
Shear strength
evaluation
 DIRECT SHEAR TEST
Normal
Top Platen load

Load cell to
Motor measure shear
Drive force
Porous
plate
Rollers
 DIRECT SHEAR TEST (cont)
Only slow drained tests are performed in this
test. Shearing rate for clays must be chosen
to prevent excess pore pressures building up.
For sands and gravels tests can be performed
quickly.
Tests on sands and gravels are usually
performed dry. Water does not significantly
affect the (drained) strength.
If there are no excess pore pressures and as
the pore pressure is approximately zero the
total and effective stresses will be identical .
 Advantages of Direct Shear
Test
Easy and quick test for sands and gravels
Large deformations can be achieved by reversing
shear direction. This is useful for determining the
residual strength of a soil.
Large samples may be tested in large shear boxes.
Small samples may give misleading results due to
imperfections (fractures and fissures) or the lack of
them.
Samples may be sheared along predetermined
planes. This is useful when the shear strengths
along fissures or other selected planes are required.
 Disadvantages of Direct

Shear Test
Non-uniform deformations and stresses in the
specimen. The stress-strain behavior cannot be
determined. The estimated stress may not be those
acting on the shear plane.
There is no means of estimation pore pressures so
effective stresses cannot be determined from
undrained tests
Undrained strengths are unreliable because it is
impossible to prevent localized drainage without high
shearing rates.
In practice shear box tests are used to get quick and
crude estimates of failure parameters.
 Direct shear test
Analysis of test results

Normal force (P)

Normal stress
Area of cross section of the sample

Shear resistance developed at the sliding surface (S)

Shear stress
Area of cross section of the sample

Note: Cross-sectional area of the sample changes with the horizontal

displacement

32
Direct shear tests on sands
Stress-strain relationship

Shear stress,
Dense sand/
OC clay
f
Loose sand/
f NC clay

Shear displacement
Expansion
Change in height
of the sample

Dense sand/OC Clay

Shear displacement
Compression

Loose sand/NC Clay

33
Direct shear tests on sands
How to determine strength parameters c and

Shear stress,

Normal stress = 3
Normal stress = 2
Normal stress = 1
f2
f1
f3
Shear displacement
f
Shear stress at failure,

Mohr Coulomb failure envelope

Normal stress, 34

Direct shear tests on clays
In case of clay, horizontal displacement should be applied at a very
slow rate to allow dissipation of pore water pressure (therefore, one
test would take several days to finish)

Failure envelopes for clay from drained direct shear tests

Overconsolidated clay (c 0)
Shear stress at failure,

Normally consolidated clay (c = 0)

Normal force,

35
 Example 12.1
Direct shear tests were performed on
a dry, sandy soil. The size of the
specimen was 50mm x 50mm x
19mm. Test results as follows:
Test no. Normal Normal Shear Shear
force stress force at stress
(N) = failure at
(kN/m3) (N) failure

(kN/m3)
1 89 35.6 53.4 21.4
2 133 53.2 81.4 32.6
3 311 124.4 187.3 74.9
4 445 178 267.3 106.9
 Exercise
A drained shear box test was carried out
on a sandy clay and yielded the following
results:

Area of shear plane = 60 mm x 60mm

Determine the apparent cohesion and
angle of friction for the soil.
 Example 12.2
Following are the results of four drained direct
shear tests on an overconsolidated clay
Diameter of specimen = 50mm
Height of specimen = 25mm

Test no. Normal Shear force Residual

force (N) at failure, Shear force
Speak (N) Sresidual (N)
1 150 157.5 44.2
2 250 199.9 56.6
Determine
3 the350 257.6 for peak
relationships 102.9
shear
strength
4 (f) and
550 residual363.4
shear strength
144.5 (r)
 Exercise
The following results were recorded
during shear box tests on specimens of a
sand compacted to the same initial
density :
Normal load (N) 110 216 324 432
Ultimate Shear load 66 131 195 261
(N)
Peak shear load (N) 85 170 253 340

Determine the peak and ultimate angles

of friction and the angle of dilation
 Triaxial Test
Deviator Load

Confining
cylinder
Cell water
Rubber
O-ring Membrane
Seals
Porous Filter
Disc
Cell Pore Pressure
pressure and volume
change
 Triaxial Test (cont)
Depending on whether drainage is allowed
or not during
i) initial isotropic cell pressure application
and
ii) shearing
There are 3 types of triaxial tests
i) consolidated drained (CD) test
ii) Consolidated undrained (CU) test
iii) Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) test
 Consolidated Drained (CD)
Test (slow test)
Drainage valves OPEN during consolidation as well as
shearing phases.
Complete sample drainage is achieved prior to application
of the vertical load.
The load is applied at such a slow strain rate that particle
readjustments in the specimen do not induce any excess
pore pressure.
Since there is no excess pore pressure total stresses will
equal effective stresses.
Very slow shearing to avoid build-up of pore pressure
Can give the value of c and
c and can be used for analyzing fully drained situations
for long term stability of very slow loading )
 Example 12.3
A consolidated-drained triaxial test was
conducted on a normally consolidated
clay. The results are as follows :
3 = 276 kN/m2
(d)f = 276kN/m2
Determine
a) Angle of friction,
b) Angle that the failure plane makes with the
major principal plane
 Exercise
A drained triaxial compression test carried out
on three specimens of the same soil yielded the
following results :
Test no. 1 2 3
Cell pressure (kPa) 100 200 300
Deviator stress at failure 210 438 644
(kPa)
Draw the shear strength envelope and
determine the peak strength parameters, c and
p, assuming that the pore pressure remains
constant during the axial loading stage
 Example 12.4
Refer example 12.3
A) Find the normal stress and the
shear stress f on the failure plane
B) Determine the effective normal
stress on the plane of maximum
shear stress
Solution refer page 453
 Example 12.5
The equation of the effective stress
failure envelope for normally
consolidated clayey soil is f = tan
30. A drained triaxial test was
conducted with the same soil at a
chamber-confining pressure of 69
kn/m2. Calculate the deviator stress
at failure
Solution refer page 454
 Example 12.6
The results of two drained triaxial test
on a saturated clay follow :
Specimen I :
3 = 70kN/m2
(d)f = 130kN/m2
Specimen II
3 = 160kN/m2
(d)f = 223.5kN/m3
 Consolidated Undrained
(CU) Test
Apply and wait until the soil consolidates
3

Drainage valves OPEN during consolidation phase but

Closed during the shearing phase. (Drainage and
consolidation is allowed to take place during the application
of the confining pressure 3).
Loading does not commence until the sample cases to drain
(or consolidate).
This test can simulates long-term as well as short-term
shear strength for cohesive soils if pore water pressure is
measured during the shearing phase.
Pore pressure develops during shear to measure
Also gives c and
Faster than CD test
 Exercise
The following results were obtained from
undrained tests on specimens of a saturated
normally consolidated clay. Determine :
Cell pressure (kPa) 100 200 300
Ultimate deviator stress 137 210 283
(kPa)
Ultimate pore pressure 28 86 147
(kPa) stress parameters c and c
(a) the effective
(b) The critical state parameter M
 Exercise
The following results were obtained
from undrained tests on specimens
of an overconsolidated clay :
Cell pressure (kPa) 100 250 400
Deviator stress at failure 340 410 474
(kPa)
Deviator pore pressure -42 64 177
Determine
(kPa) the effective stress
parameters c and p
 Unconsolidated Undrained
(UU) Test (quick test)
Pore pressure develops during shear. Pore
pressure is not measured, thus is unknown
Analyse in terms of can gives the values of
Cu and u
3 and are applied fast so the soil does not
have time to consolidate
The test is performed with the drain valve
closed for all phases of the test ( water is not
allowed to drain)
For this test, = = 0
 CD Test

CU Test

UU Test
 Advantages of Triaxial Test
Easy to control drainage
Useful stress-strain data
Can consolidate sample
hydrostatically
Can simulate various loading
conditions
 Disadvantages of Triaxial
Test
Apparatus more complicated than
other types of tests
Drained tests on fine grained soils
must be sheared very slowly
Unconfined compression
test
Axial compressive load applied to specimen until
it fails
Cross-sectional area at failure :
Af = A0 / 1-f
where Af = cross-sectional area of failure
A0 = initial cross-sectional (d2/4)
f = axial strain at failure

Figure : Loading and failure mode in an unconfined compression test.

 No lateral confinement, so 3 = 0

Unconfined compressive strength :

q u = P f / Af
where Pf = normal load at failure
Af = cross-sectional area at failure
Undrained shear strength :
su = Pf / 2Af
 Vane Shear Test
Vane shear test is commonly
used to measure the shear
Torque and angular
strength and sensitivity of clay displacement scale
This test is useful when the
soil is soft and its water Handle to
content is nearer to liquid limitapply torque
such as clay. Sample
Vane
Suitable for determination of
in-situ undrained shear Laboratory vane test
strength of non-fissured fully
saturated clay

Classification of soil based on

sensitivity
 Advantages of Vane Shear
Test
Very rapid and
inexpensive
 Disadvantages of Vane
Shear Test
Not applicable to soils with fissures,
silt seams, varves, other defects, or
less than 100% saturation
Sample disturbance not
systematically
accounted for
Worked Example
 Worked Example
Using data given, compute shear
strength, s on
horizontal and vertical planes at Point
A,B and C
 Solution
Point A
vertical
vertical effective stress, z = H u
z = [(17.0 x 3) + (17.5 x 1.1)] (9.8 x 1.1)
= 59.5 kPa
s = c + tan
= 10 + (59.5 tan 28o)
= 41.6 kPa
horizontal
horizontal effective stress, x = K z
x = (0.54)(59.5)
= 32.1 kPa
s = c + tan
= 10 + (32.1 tan 28o)
=27.1 kPa USING SIMILAR STEPS, COMPUTE FOR POIN
 Solution (cont)
POINT B
Vertical : s = 57.2 kPa
Horizontal : s = 35.5 kPa
POINT C
Vertical : s = 68.1 kPa
Horizontal : s = 54.4 kPa
 THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTIO