Shear strength of soils
• Like any other materials, soils deform and can fail (i.e., “break”) under stress
• Soils fail in shear – i.e. by sliding on a plane within the mass
• The soil’s ability to resist such a shear failure is called its shear strength
• Stress vs strength: Stress < Strength (peak stress)
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Shear strength of soils
• Evaluation of soil shear strength is therefore necessary in investigating most
soil stability problems, e.g.,
— finding the bearing capacity for foundations and other loads applied to the
soil
— finding the maximum safe slope for an embankment or excavation, e.g.,
for a road cut or building foundation
— determining the stability of a retaining wall
— finding the shear resistance between soil and piles or caissons
• Shear strength is not a unique value - it is affected by several factors such as
— the size, shape and state of packing of the particles
— the soil’s moisture content (and changes in same)
— the soil’s history of loading and unloading
— effective stress and particle attraction (cohesion)
• Soils with particles closely packed and/or well-graded (range of particle sizes)
have higher ρ, lower e, and greater strength and stiffness, and vice versa
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Shear strength of soils
Developing a shear strength criterion – ‘Brick on bench’ analogy
→ 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑚, 𝐻 = 𝑅 sin 𝛼
↑ 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑚, 𝑊 = 𝑅 cos 𝛼
• 𝛼 increases with increasing H
• 𝛼 → 𝛼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ∅ when sliding
occurs
• ∅ = friction angle and 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅
is coefficient of friction
• 𝑯𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝑵 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅
• When it relates to soil, ∅ is called the angle of (internal) friction or friction
angle
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Shear strength of soils
Developing a shear strength criterion – ‘Brick on bench’ analogy
• If there were “glue” between the brick and the bench, an extra force C would
have to be applied to break the bond of the glue so sliding could occur
• Here,
𝑻𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝑪 + 𝑯𝒎𝒂𝒙
𝑻𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝑪 + 𝑵 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅
• When it relates to soil, 𝑪 is called the cohesion
• Each of these terms can now be divided by the plan area of the brick to give
equivalent stresses;
𝝉𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝒄 + 𝝈𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
• Many soil problems are approximately 2-D in layout (i.e., one dimension is long
compared to the other two), e.g., strip footings, embankments, road
pavements, excavations and slopes
• Mohr’s circle can be used to analyze this situation and find critical parameters
(i.e., C and ∅, see later) relating to the strength of the soil
It can be shown that,
𝝈𝟏 −𝝈𝟑
𝝉= 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝜽 and
𝟐
𝝈𝒏 = 𝝈𝟑 + (𝝈𝟏 − 𝝈𝟑 )𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜽
• It can be also shown that,
𝜎1 +𝜎3 2 𝜎1 −𝜎3 2
𝜎𝑛 − + 𝜏2 = → 𝑥−𝑎 2 + 𝑦−𝑏 2 = 𝑟 2 (a circle)
2 2
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Mohr circle diagram of stresses
• Back estimating 𝜏 and 𝜎𝑛 from the Mohr circle diagram
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
• Mohr (1900) presented a theory for rupture in materials that suggests that ‘a
material fails because of a critical combination of normal stress (𝝈𝒏 ) and
shear stress (𝝉) and not from either maximum normal or shear stress alone’
• With cohesion,
Mohr-Coulomb Failure criterion
𝝉 = 𝒄 + 𝝈𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅
𝒄, ∅ are ‘strength parameters’
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
• The equation above can be shown on a 𝝉 vs 𝝈𝒏 plot - the straight line
produced represents the “strength envelope”
• A plane in the soil can resist any combination of 𝜏 and 𝜎𝑛 acting on it as long as
the combination plots beneath this envelope
• A point on the line indicates that shear failure would occur, as the strength of
the soil has been reached - the soil can resist no greater shear stress at the
given normal stress - it is not therefore possible to have a point above the line
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Orientation of the plane with a particular stress state
• To find the orientation of the plane on which a given pair of stresses act, draw
a line from the point representing stresses on a known plane, parallel to that
plane until it cuts the Mohr circle at Op
𝜎𝑏 and -𝜏𝑏 act on the
vertical plane
• Op is called the origin of planes, or the pole - a line drawn from Op to any
other point on the circle is parallel to the plane on which stresses represented
by that point are acting
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Inclination of the failure plane
2𝜃 = 90 + ∅
Therefore,
∅
𝜃 = 45 +
2
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Dense versus loose soil
• The resistance to sliding can come from (a) cohesion (b) sliding friction (c) the
need to lift overlying particles (or dilate the soil structure)
• The sliding component of ∅ will remain
constant for a given soil, but the dilation
component will depend on the density
of the soil, i.e., how closely the particles
are packed
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Effect of water
• Consider the brick on bench analogy again - Imagine there is water in the
spaces between the rough brick and bench, with a membrane or skirt around
the lower edge of the brick sealing the water in
• If the water is put under pressure u, it will push up on the brick with a force U
= u.A, where A is the plan area of the brick
• The “effective” force between brick and bench will now be (W – U), and (with
no “glue”) 𝑇𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑊 − 𝑈 tan ∅
• By dividing forces by area and adding cohesion it can be shown that
𝝉′ = 𝒄′ + 𝝈′𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅′
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Drained versus undrained conditions
• Drained is when the water can squeeze out and undrained refers to conditions
where water cannot squeeze out
• In the previous brick on bench analogy, because water is sealed in under the
brick and can’t get out, the system is said to be undrained
• Undrained conditions
— 𝝉𝒖 = 𝒄𝒖 + 𝝈𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅𝒖 , where 𝒄𝒖 and ∅𝑢 are the undrained cohesion and
friction angle
— Because water is incompressible, if the normal load is increased, e.g., by
adding another brick on top of the first, the water pressure between brick
and bench will increase to balance the added weight
— In this case, although total stress changes, there is no increase in effective
stress between brick and bench, so the frictional resistance to sliding will
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Drained versus undrained conditions
— Resistance is therefore independent of the normal stress, so that ∅𝑢 can be
considered as zero
— Undrained analysis is similar to total stress analysis (i.e. 𝝉 = 𝒄 + 𝝈𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅)
— Fine-grained soils (especially clays) behave as if undrained (since they have
very low permeability) and so deform at constant water content (and
constant volume if saturated)
— The strength of saturated fine-grained soils in terms of total stress can
therefore be taken as 𝝉𝒖 = 𝒄𝒖
If the soil is unsaturated, the air will compress
under the increased load and allow some
increase in the normal force. In this case, an
increase in W causes some increase in
shearing resistance, & a value of ∅𝒖 > 0 occurs
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Shear strength of soils
Two dimensional stresses in soil and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
Drained versus undrained conditions
• Drained conditions
— Under drained conditions, water is almost immediately squeezed out when
an increase in total stress is applied (due to high permeability). Increased
pore water pressure is transferred to soil particles at the same time (i.e.
effective stress increases)
— Coarse-grained soils (sands and gravels) behave in drained manner
— Therefore their strength can generally be expressed in terms of effective
stress, i.e., 𝝉′ = 𝒄′ + 𝝈′𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅′
— Coarse-grained soils are rarely cemented (the “no glue” equivalent) → 𝒄′ =
𝟎. Thus, 𝝉′ = 𝝈′𝒏 𝐭𝐚𝐧 ∅′
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• It is clear from the above that either (or both) 𝒄′ and ∅′ ( sometimes called 𝒄𝒅
and ∅𝒅 ) and 𝒄𝒖 and ∅𝒖 may be needed for analysis, depending on the soil
situation
• Laboratory tests are done on representative soil samples using
loading/drainage conditions as similar as possible to those pertaining in the
field
• The commonly used tests, in order of increasing complexity and cost, are
1. Unconfined compression strength (UCS or 𝑞𝑢 ) tests
2. Direct shear tests
3. Confined compression or triaxial tests (CD, CU and UU)
• How representative the results of laboratory tests on the field-scale behavior
of soils?
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Direct shear test (*Video)
— Generally used to test dry, coarse-grained soils (but can be used for drained
tests on any soil and undrained tests on clays)
— Sample is subjected to normal load and then sheared horizontally by
moving upper and lower halves of the box relative to each other
— Shear stresses at failure can be measured for a series of (increasing)
normal loads, and then 𝝉 is plotted against 𝝈𝒏 to find the angle of friction
(𝒄′ = 𝟎 for dry sands). Note however that for an undrained test on clay,
values of 𝒄𝒖 and ∅𝒖 would be obtained
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Triaxial test – consolidated drained (CD) (*Video)
— Typically used to find 𝒄𝒖 and ∅𝒖 for “undisturbed” fine grained soil samples,
but length of time needed to carry out test is a significant disadvantage (can
also be used on dry/quick draining sands, then quick)
— Note typical triaxial test setup and consider 2 steps, i.e.
1. application of cell pressure 𝝈𝟑 (all around sample)
2. application of deviator stress ∆𝝈 = 𝝈𝟏 − 𝝈𝟑
— Assume porewater pressure developed in sample due to 𝝈𝟑 is 𝒖𝒂 , and due
to (𝝈𝟏 − 𝝈𝟑 ) is 𝒖𝒅
— In this test, complete drainage is allowed in step 1, so 𝒖𝒂 = 𝟎, and then ∆𝝈
is applied so slowly in step 2 that complete drainage also occurs and 𝒖𝒅 = 𝟎
— Under these conditions, the major principal stress at failure = 𝝈𝟏 = 𝝈′𝟏 (since
there is no pore pressure), and the minor principal stress = 𝝈𝟑 = 𝝈′𝟑
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Triaxial test – consolidated drained (CD) ctd…
— Several tests can be done with increasing 𝝈𝟑 values, and Mohr’s circle at
failure can be plotted for each – the common tangent’s intercept on the
shear stress axis and slope gives 𝒄′ and ∅′ for the soil
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Triaxial test – consolidated undrained (CU)
— Probably the most common laboratory triaxial test – typically used to find
𝒄′ , ∅′ and/or 𝒄𝒖 , ∅𝒖 for samples as in CD test, but is much quicker than CD
for clays
— In this test, complete drainage is allowed in step 1, so 𝒖𝒂 = 𝟎, and then ∆𝝈
is applied relatively quickly (few hrs) in step 2 – drainage is not allowed so
that 𝒖𝒅 ≠ 𝟎 and pore pressures are measured
— In this case, the major principal total stress at failure = 𝝈𝟏 and the minor
principal total stress = 𝝈𝟑 . The corresponding effective stresses can be
found by subtracting pore pressures from the total values
— Several tests can be done with increasing 𝝈𝟑 values, and two Mohr’s circles
at failure can be plotted for each, i.e., one for total and one for effective
stresses
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Triaxial test – consolidated undrained (CU) ctd…
— For the total stress circles, the common tangent’s intercept on the shear
stress axis and slope gives 𝒄𝒖 and ∅𝒖 for the soil
— For the effective stress circles, the common tangent’s intercept on the
shear stress axis and slope gives 𝒄′ and ∅′ for the soil
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Triaxial test – unconsolidated undrained (UU) ctd…
— Is used to find the undrained shear strength 𝝉𝒖 of a saturated soil - can be
done very quickly (15 mins)
— In this test, no drainage is allowed in step 1, so 𝒖𝒂 ≠ 𝟎, and then ∆𝝈 is
applied and sample is sheared in step 2 - drainage is again not allowed so
that 𝒖𝒅 ≠ 𝟎, but pore pressures are not measured
— In this case, the major principal total stress at failure = 𝝈𝟏 and the minor
principal total stress = 𝝈𝟑
— Several tests can be done with increasing 𝝈𝟑 values, and total stress Mohr’s
circles at failure can be plotted for each
— For saturated clays, ∆𝝈 is a constant, regardless of 𝝈𝟑 value, so that
tangent is horizontal, 𝝉𝒖 = 𝒄𝒖 , ∅𝒖 = 0
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
Pore Pressure Parameters A and B
— These parameters were introduced to indicate porewater pressure changes
in undrained triaxial tests when the confining pressure 𝝈𝟑 and then the
deviator stress (𝝈𝟏 − 𝝈𝟑 ) are separately applied
— If 𝒖𝒂 = 𝑩𝝈𝟑 and 𝒖𝒅 = 𝑩𝑨 (𝝈𝟏 − 𝝈𝟑 ), the total pore pressure u developed
in the test = B[𝝈𝟑 + A (𝝈𝟏 − 𝝈𝟑 )] – A and B can be found directly from the
test
— NB: some texts give the above equation in the form u = [B𝝈𝟑 + 𝑨(𝝈𝟏 −
𝝈𝟑 )] , so that BA above = 𝑨, hence care is needed in looking up value of A
(or 𝑨)
— For saturated soils B ~ 1, while A at failure ~0.4 - 0.7 for sandy clays, 0.7 -
1.3 for NC clays, and -0.5 - 0.7 for OC clays
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Shear strength of soils
Determination of shear strength parameters (i.e. C and ∅)
• Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test
— A special type of UU triaxial test where confining pressure 𝝈𝟑 is zero – is
used to find undrained shear strength 𝝉𝒖 of saturated clays very quickly
— Major principal total stress = ∆𝝈 = 𝑞𝑢 and minor principal total stress = 0; axial
stress at failure (𝑞𝑢 ) is called the unconfined compression strength (UCS), but the
undrained shear strength 𝝉𝒖 = 𝒄𝒖 = 𝒒𝒖 /𝟐
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Shear strength of soils
• Application of Laboratory Tests to Field Problems
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Shear strength of soils
• Operative Strength of Soils
— Sands and gravels: operate in drained state - use ∅′ to find strength, with
𝒄′ = 0 – as it is difficult to get undisturbed samples, ∅′ is usually found
from the (corrected) number of blows in the SPT
— Silts: if sandy, use method above to find f’; if clayey, take undisturbed
samples for triaxial testing
— Soft (𝒄𝒖 < 40 kPa) or NC clays: develop positive pore pressures when
subjected to undrained shear – have lowest strength during and straight
after construction – will reach greatest strength some time afterwards
— OC clays: are strongest during / straight after construction – will be
weakest when soil reaches fully drained condition, relevant parameters
are then 𝒄′ and ∅′
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Shear strength of soils
• Some typical values of strength/strength parameters
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