CE 240

Soil Mechanics & Foundations

Lecture 11.1

Shear Strength of Soil I

(Das, Ch. 11)
 Class Outlines
• Shear strength in soils
– Introduction
– Definitions
• Mohr-Coulomb criterion
– Introduction
– Lab tests for getting the shear strength
• Direct shear test
– Introduction
– Procedure & calculation
– Critical void ratio
 Shear Strength
• The strength of a material is the
greatest stress it can sustain;
• So that the unit of strength is the same
as stress (Pa in SI unit system);
 Significance of Shear Strength
• The safety of any geotechnical structure
is dependent on the strength of the soil;
• If the soil fails, the structure founded on
it can collapse.
• Understanding shear strength is the
basis to analyze soil stability problems
like:
– lateral pressure on earth retaining
structures (Chs. 12, 13),
– slope stability (Ch. 14), and
– bearing capacity (Ch. 15).
Shear Failure in Soils
Slope Failure in Soils

Failure due to inadequate

strength at shear interface
Static: Transcosna Grain Elevator
Canada (Oct. 18, 1913)

West side of foundation sank 24-ft

Bearing Capacity Failure
Dynamic: Foundation failure by liquefaction
after the 1964 Niigata Earthquake. (USGS)
Dynamic: Lateral Spreading caused by the 1906 San
Francisco Earthquake at Moss Landing, CA
(USGS Professional Paper 993)
 Shear Strength in Soils
• The shear strength of a soil is its resistance to
shearing stresses.
• It is a measure of the soil resistance to
deformation by continuous displacement of its
individual soil particles
• Shear strength in soils depends primarily on
interactions between particles
• Shear failure occurs when the stresses between
the particles are such that they slide or roll past
each other
 Shear Strength in Soils
(cont.)
• Soil derives its shear strength from two
sources:
– Cohesion between particles (stress
independent component)
• Cementation between sand grains
• Electrostatic attraction between clay particles
– Frictional resistance between particles (stress
dependent component)
 Shear Strength of Soils: Cohesion
„ Cohesion (C), is a measure of the forces that
cement particles of soils

„Dry sand with no cementation

„Dry sand with some cementation
„ Soft clay
„ Stiff clay
 Shear Strength of Soils; Internal
Friction
„ Internal Friction angle (φ), is the measure of the
shear strength of soils due to friction
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criteria

• This theory states that a material fails

because of a critical combination of
normal stress and shear stress, and not
from their either maximum normal or
shear stress alone.
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure
Criterion

Shear
Strength,S
φ = φ′

C′

Normal Stress, σn = σ′ = γ h
τ f = c + σ n tan φ = c + µσ n (11.2)
′ ′ ′
τ f = c + σ n tan φ = c + µ 'σ n
' '
(11.3)
where
τ f = shear strength
c = cohesion; c′ =effective cohesion
φ = angle of internal friction; φ′ = effective angle of internal friction
µ = coefficient of friction; µ ' = effective coefficient of friction.
µ=tanφ’

0.51-0.58
0.58-0.70
0.70-0.78

0.58-0.70
0.70-0.84
0.84-1.00
0.67-1.11
0.49-0.70
 Mohr-Coulomb shear failure criterion

σ1 τ
τf = c’ + µ’σn’
σn σ3 Failed Zone
φ
σ3
τf (σ, τ)

σ1 φ 2θ
c’
σff
σ3 σ1
σ
From trigonometric equalities we have
 Way 1: Increase the normal
stress in one direction
σ1 major principle stress

σn
σ3 σ3
τf Minor principle stress
Confining stress

σ1
 Way 2: directly apply the shear stress
Consider the following situation:
Normal stress σn
- A normal stress is applied
vertically and held constant
- A shear stress is then applied Shear
until failure stress τ

Normal stress σn
Determination of Shear Strength Parameters
The shear strength parameters of a soil are
determined in the lab primarily with two types
of tests: 1) Direct Shear Test; and 2) Triaxial
Shear Test.
(1) (2)
Normal stress σn

Shear stress σ3 σ1
Soil

σ3
 Direct Shear Test
• Direct shear test is Quick and Inexpensive
• Shortcoming is that it fails the soil on a
designated plane which may not be the
weakest one
• Used to determine the shear strength of
both cohesive as well as non-cohesive
soils
• ASTM D 3080
 Direct Shear Test (cont.)
• The test equipment consists
of a metal box in which the
soil specimen is placed
Normal stress σn
• The box is split horizontally
into two halves
• Vertical force (normal Shear stress σ 3

stress) is applied through a Soil

metal platen
• Shear force is applied by
moving one half of the box
relative to the other to
cause failure in the soil
specimen
Direct Shear Test
Direct Shear Test
Direct Shear Test
 Direct Shear Test Data
Shear stress
Peak Strength

Residual Strength
Direct Shear Test Data:
Volume change

∆H
 Direct Shear Test: Procedure
1.Measure inner side or diameter of shear box and find the
area
2.Make sure top and bottom halves of shear box are in
contact and fixed together.
3.Weigh out 150 g of sand.
4.Place the soil in three layers in the mold using the funnel.
Compact the soil with 20 blows per layer.
5.Place cover on top of sand
6.Place shear box in machine.
7.Apply normal force. The weights to use for the three runs
are
2 kg, 4 kg, and 6 kg if the load is applied through a lever arm,
or 10 kg, 20 kg, and 30 kg, if the load is applied directly.

Note: Lever arm loading ratio 1:10 (2kg weight = 20 kg)

 Direct Shear Test: Procedure
8. Start the motor with selected speed (0.1 in/min) so that
the rate of shearing is at a selected constant rate
9. Take the horizontal displacement gauge, vertical
displacement gage and shear load gage readings.
Record the readings on the data sheet.
10. Continue taking readings until the horizontal shear load
peaks and then falls, or the horizontal displacement
reaches 15% of the diameter.
 Calculations
1. Determine the dry
unit weight, γd
Gs γ w
e= −1
2. Calculate the void γd
ratio, e
N V
σ = ; τ =
3. Calculate the normal A A
stress & shear
stress
 Figures
Peak Stress
s3
Shear stress, s

s2

s1 N3 = 30 kg

N2 = 20 kg

N1 = 10 kg

Horizontal displacement, ∆H
 Figures (cont)
Shear Stress, s (psf)

(σ2,s2)
(σ3,s3)
φ

(σ1,s1)

C′

Normal Stress σ, psf

 Figures (cont)
Vertical displacement

Horizontal displacement
Reading Assignment:
Das, Ch. 11
HW: Problem 11.1