WEEK 3

Effective Stress and Pore Water Pressure Changes

5. Effective stress path under undrained conditions

5-1. Definition of effective stress: A review

As you must have learnt that the effective stress, , in soil is defined as

= u
Where is the total stress and u the pore water pressure. Note that the pore water does
not take any shear force (in typical situations), so this concept of effective stress is valid
only for normal stresses. Therefore

~ = ~ u~ ~t = { x y z xy yz zx }
~t = { x y z xy yz zx }
u~ t = { u u u 0 0 0 }

The proposal by Karl Terzaghi that soils behaviour is described by the effective stress is
universally accepted. Put in other words, deformation of soil skeleton occurs when the
effective stress changes. However, it is often the total stress that we change by working on
soil, and conversely, it is the total stress that exerts pressure/force to structures in contact
with soil. So we need to retain the two notions (i.e. total stress & effective stress) at the
same time, and adopt a double-decked approach.

Pressure from soil:

Total stress

Pressure from footing:

Change in total stress

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Undrained compression

Consider a change in the total mean effective

principal stress (p ) under undrained conditions.
This will result in some changes in the mean
p effective stress (p) and pore water pressure (u).

Assumption: Soil particles are rigid.

v0

v0 + v

The stress-strain relationship is:

p = p + u
= K s p + K w w
v v
= K s + Kw n : Porosity
v0 nv0
K s : Bulk modulus of soil skeleton
= (K s + K w / n ) p
K w : Bulk modulus of water
p
p =
K s + K w / n
p nK s
=
u Kw

A typical value for Kw is 2200 MPa, while Ks for most soil is in order of 100 MPa or less.
The ratio p/u = is therefore typically less than a few percent. Practically it is considered
to be zero in many situations, meaning that total stress changes under undrained
compression are all taken up by pore water pressure changes.

It also means that the mean effective stress, p, cannot be changed by undrained
compression. Note: Each effective stress component (i.e. x, y, etc.) can still change
under undrained conditions.

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5-2. Effective stress path

Let us consider effective stress paths in drained and undrained conditions. As an example,
we consider a triaxial compression test in which 1 is increased while 3 is kept constant.

(i) Drained conditions:

Pore water pressure, u, is controlled at a given value. If the pore water pressure is kept
constant, as in a typical triaxial test, effective and total stress paths are parallel to each
other.

Stress changes Linear Strain

isotropic
q q 0 elasticity q q / 3G 0
= + = +
p p 0 p p / K 0
~ ~ u~ ~ ~ e ~ p

Linear
isotropic q q / 3G qp
elasticity = + p
+ plasticity p p / K p
~ ~ e ~ p

Pore water
q pressure, u = u0

Effective
stress path

Total stress path

p, p
Stress paths

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(ii) Undrained conditions:
Under undrained conditions, we cannot control the pore water pressure changes, u,
any more. It changes spontaneously according to the imposed total stress. This nature
makes an effective stress path more complicated. For simplicity, let us assume that the
bulk modulus of water is infinite (see 2 pages earlier). This makes an undrained
condition equivalent to a constant-volume condition (i.e. = 0)

Case of linear isotropic elasticity:

Stress changes Strain

q q 0 q q / 3G 0
= + = +
p 0 u p p / K 0
~ ~ u~ ~ ~ e ~ p

q q / 3G 0
= +
p = u 0 0 0
Constant
volume

q Excess pore water pressure, u

(due to compression)

u0

u = u0+u

p, p
Stress paths

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Case of linear isotropic elasticity + plasticity:

Plasticity means that volumetric strain is induced by shear deformation (explained more in
next week).

Stress changes Strain

q q 0 q q / 3G qp
= + = + p
p ? ? p ? p
~ ~ u~ ~ ~ e ~ p

q q q q / 3G q
p
0
= p+ p = p + p
p K p p + K p 0 p p
Constant
volume

u due to plastic deformation (i.e. dilatancy): K pp

q u due to compression: p
u0

The effective stress path depends

on how much plastic volumetric strain
u = u0+u is generated.

p, p
Stress paths

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Case of linear isotropic elasticity + plasticity (continued):

Dilatancy is plastic volumetric straining due to shear deformation, and controls the direction
of effective stress paths.

Loose sand, normally consolidated clay, etc.: Negative dilation (volume decreases)

q K pp > 0
p
u0 An extreme example of this is liquefaction,
in which the effective stress path reaches
p = 0.

u = u0+u

p, p

Dense sand, over-consolidated clay, etc.: Positive dilation (volume increases)

q
p
u0

u = u0+u

K pp > 0
p, p

Implications:
Under undrained conditions, shearing tends to reduce the mean effective stress for loose,
normally consolidated soils, making it softer and weaker than under drained conditions. On
the contrary, the mean effective stress increases under undrained conditions for dense,
over-consolidated soils, making it stiffer and stronger than under drained conditions.