Soil Mechanics &

Foundation Engineering
(Course Code – DCE-501)
Unit 4 B
4th October 2021
Mohammad Shahid Akhtar
Associate Professor
University Polytechnic
Jamia Millia Islamia
 Shear Strength of Soil

• The Shear Strength is defined as the ability of soil to resist sliding along
internal surfaces within a soil mass. In another word, we can say, that
the shear strength of a soil is the property due to which it resists the
movement of a part of it relative to the rest part
 Importance Shear Strength of Soil
• It governs the stability of slopes of all kinds, bearing capacity and earth pressure
against retaining structures

Shear Failures in Soil

 Importance of Shear Strength of Soil

Shear Strength of soil is one of the most important engineering property of soil.

Shear Strength is important for the following:

1. To determine the bearing capacity of soil

2. To determine lateral earth pressure on any earth retaining structure
3. To analyze the stability of earth slopes
 Factors Governing the Shear Strength of Soil

• Soil derives its shear strength from two sources:

1. Internal Friction– i.e. due to particle interlocking

2. Cohesion – i.e. resistance due to internal structural bond which tends to hold the
particles together
 The Mohr-Coulomb Equation
The Shear Strength (𝜏𝑓 ) Equation was first introduced by Coulomb (1776) and he
expressed the shear strength of a soil at the plane of failure inside the soil mass is a linear
function of normal stress (𝜎) acting on that very plane
𝜏𝑓 ∝ 𝑓(𝜎)

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇
𝛷
Mohr (1900) presented a theory for rupture in material and
contented that a material fails at a critical combination of normal
stress and shearing stress. Thus the failure can be expressed in the
following form:
c

𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐 + 𝜎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷 Where,
Normal Stress, 𝜎

𝜏𝑓 = Shear Strength Mohr-Coulomb Strength Envelope

This equation is known as 𝑐 = 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐶𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
the Mohr-Coulomb 𝜎 = 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢re
Failure Criterion. 𝛷 = 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
c and 𝜱 are called Shear Strength parameters
 The Modified Mohr- Coulomb Equation(Terzaghi
Equation)
Terzaghi (1936) introduced the concept of pore water
pressure (𝑢) in mobilizing the shear strength and he
expressed that shear strength of soil at plane of

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇
failure inside the soil mass is not the linear function of 𝛷′
total normal stress acting at that very plane rather it
is a linear function of effective stress which is acting
on that very plane ′
𝜏𝑓 ∝ 𝑓(𝜎 ) c’

Effective Normal Stress, 𝜎′

𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐 ′ + 𝜎 ′ 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′ Coulomb- Terzaghi Strength Envelope

Where,
𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐′ + (𝜎 − 𝑢)𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′ 𝜏𝑓 = Shear Strength
𝑐 ′ = 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐶𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝜎 ′ = 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
u = Pore Water Pressure
𝛷′ = 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Based on total strength properties soils may be classified into the followings:
Cohesionless Soil
Purely granular soils possess no cohesion (c=0). The shear Strength of such soils are given by

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇
𝜏𝑓 = 𝜎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷
𝛷

Coulomb Strength Envelope for cohesionless Soil

Normal Stress, 𝜎
Cohesive Soil
Fine soils possess cohesion and no friction (𝛷=0). The shear Strength of such soils are given by

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇
𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐
𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐

c
Coulomb Strength Envelope for cohesive Soil
Normal Stress, 𝜎
Based on total strength properties soils may be classified into the followings:
c-𝛷 Soil
Soil which possess both cohesion and friction is called c-𝛷 soil. The shear strength of such soil is given by

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇
𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐 + 𝜎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷 𝛷

c
Coulomb Strength Envelope for c- 𝛷 Soil
Normal Stress, 𝜎
 Mohr’s Circle of Stress
• Mohr’s Circle of Stress :- This is a graphical representation of the stress conditions in a soil mass which
enables one to find out the stresses developed on any plane within the soil due to an external loading
system
• At any stressed point, there exists three mutually perpendicular planes on which there are no shearing
stresses acting. These are known as Principal Planes. The normal stresses that act on these planes are
called the Principal Stresses.
• The largest of these is called Major Principal Stress (𝜎1). The smallest, the minor principal stress (𝜎3) and
the third one is called Intermediate Principal Stress (𝜎2).
• The corresponding planes are respectively designated as Major, Minor and Intermediate Principal
Planes.
• For Two dimensional analysis, we consider only major and minor principal stresses acting, neglecting
the intermediate stress
• Fig 4.1A shows an element within the stressed soil mass in two dimensional stress system
• The direction and magnitude of major and minor principal stresses (𝜎1 & 𝜎3) are known as shown in the
figure. Then the normal (𝜎n) and shear stress (𝜏) on a plane inclined at angle 𝜃 to the major principal
plane is given by
𝜎1 + 𝜎3 𝜎1 − 𝜎3 𝜎1 − 𝜎3
𝜎n = + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜃 𝜏= 𝑆𝑖𝑛2𝜃
2 2 2
• According to Mohr’s Circle, it is simply the coordinate of any point on the circumference of the circle
given the stress condition on a particular plane
 Mohr’s Circle of Stress
𝜎1

B B (𝜎n , 𝜏)
𝜎n 𝜏 𝜃
𝜏 𝜎3 𝑟 𝜏
𝜎3
A 𝜃 2𝜃
𝜃 O 𝜎3 D 𝜎1
C
Fig 4.1B
A 𝜎n
𝜎1 − 𝜎3 𝜎1 + 𝜎3
𝑟= 𝑂𝐶 = 𝐶𝐷 = 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜃
2 2
𝜎1 𝜎n = 𝑂𝐶 + 𝐶𝐷
Fig 4.1A 𝜎1 + 𝜎3 𝜎1 − 𝜎3
𝜎n = + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜃
2 2
𝜎1 > 𝜎3
𝜎1 = 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝜏 = 𝐵𝐷 = 𝑟𝑆𝑖𝑛2𝜃
𝜎3 = 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝜎1 − 𝜎3
𝜏= 𝑆𝑖𝑛2𝜃
2
 Mohr’s Circle of Stress
𝜎1

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇
𝜎n 𝛷
B 𝛷
𝜎3 𝜏 𝜎3
𝜃 𝜏
A c c
𝛷 A 𝜃 2𝜃
O′ O 𝜎3 C 𝜎1 Normal Stress, 𝜎
Mohr-Coulomb Strength Envelope
𝜎1 In a right angled triangle O’BC,
2𝜃 = 90o + 𝛷
𝜃 = 45o + 𝛷/2
Under this combination of loading system, the shear failure will
occur at a plane having inclination, with respect to principal
plane 𝜃 = 45o + 𝛷/2, where 𝜏𝑓/𝜎𝑛 is maximum. This is the
unique combination of 𝜏𝑓 and 𝜎𝑛 acting on the plane of failure
 Liquefaction of Soil
• If a foundation is resting on a loose, saturated fine or medium sand, then under dynamic loading, e.g.
during the earthquake, soil volume decreases due to shaking action and pore water pressure
increases very high, momentarily because it does not have sufficient time to dissipate.
• As a result, soil effective stress reduces to zero and thereby its shear strength also becomes zero.
• Then under this condition, the soil behaves just like fluid mass momentarily (i.e. soil liquefies), loosing
all its supporting power/bearing capacity and thereby foundation resting on such a soil under this
condition fails catastrophically due to liquefaction of soil

𝜏𝑓′ = 𝜎′ tan 𝜙′ • When pore water pressure (𝑢) rises equal to 𝜎, then
effective stress of soil reduces to zero and thereby 𝜏𝑓 = 0
= (𝜎 − 𝑢 ) tan 𝜙′

𝜏𝑓 = 0
Methods of Determination of Shear Strength of Soil
There are the following four different methods by which shear strength of soil can be
determined
1) Direct Shear Test
2) Triaxial Compression Test
3) Unconfined Compression Test
4) Vane Shear Test

The above three methods/tests can be performed only in laboratory whereas the fourth
method/test can be performed in laboratory as well as in the field in-situ condition
 Direct Shear Test
• Direct Shear test is the most simple and quick method to determine the shear strength of soil
• This method is more suitable for granular soil
• The soil specimen which is to be tested is kept in shear-box which is made of brass or gun metal (size of
box is 60mm x 60mm x 50mm)
• It is of square cross-section which splits into two halves horizontally. Both these halves are held together
by locking pins
• The lower half of the box can slide relative to the upper half when pushed by hand-operated or
motorized drive unit, while a yoke supporting a load hanger providers the normal stress. The upper half
of the box butts against a proving ring which measures the shearing force.
• The horizontal displacement of the bottom box is measured by the dial gauge
• First normal stress is applied in the soil sample and kept constant, then shear force is applied at a
constant rate of strain till failure occurs in shear.
• This process is repeated three to four times on specimens with varying normal stress and the
corresponding shear stress on failure plane is recorded.
• While performing the experiment, shear strain is also recorded through dial gauge
• The values of shear stress at failure are plotted against normal stress observed each time
• Thus, the shear strength parameters are obtained from best fit straight line through these points
Direct Shear Test
 Direct Shear Test

Shear Stress, 𝝉𝒇 𝛷

Normal Stress, 𝜎

Normal Stress (𝜎) = P/A

Shear Stress (𝝉) = F/A
Where,
A = cross sectional area of soil specimen
P = Normal force acting on the failure plane
F = Shear force acting on the failure plane
This test is simple and fast and suitable for granular soils.
Disadvantages:
i. The plane of failure is pre-determined which may not
necessarily be the weakest one
ii. The distribution of shear stress on the failure plane is
non-uniform
iii. Difficult to control the damage and there is no way to
measure the pore water pressure
 Tri-axial Compression Test
• This test is most versatile, suited for all types of soils under different drainage conditions simulating the
field condition
• In this test, cylindrical soil specimen on 3.8cm diameter and 7.6 cm height enclosed in an impermeable
rubber membrane and placed inside a triaxial cell
• In this test, loading is applied in two stages :
i. Confining pressure (𝜎c) is applied and kept constant. This one is consolidation stage.
ii. In the second stage, axial load i.e. deviator stress (𝜎d) is applied till the sample fail in shear
• This process is repeated three times at different confining pressure, deviator stress are recorded for the
failure of soil sample
• Then Mohr’s Circle is drawn with the data obtained taking. Major and Minor principal stress on x-axis, a
common tangent touching all the semi-circles give the failure envelope, its intercept with y-axis gives
cohesion (c) of soil and the slope of the failure envelope gives the angle of shearing resistance (𝜙) of soil
• But depending the drainage condition under the two stage of loadings (I and II), we have the following
different value of shear strength parameters c and 𝜙

cuu 𝜙uu UU – Unconsolidated Undrained

ccu 𝜙cu CU – Consolidated Undrained
ccd 𝜙cd CD – Consolidated Drained
 Tri-axial Compression Test
Stage 1 Stage 2
𝜎𝒅

𝜎𝒅

𝜎𝒄 = 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆
𝜎𝒅 = 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔
𝜎𝟏 = 𝜎𝒄 + 𝜎𝒅 = 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔
𝜎𝟑 = 𝜎𝒄 = 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔
 Tri-axial Compression Test
Advantages :
i. The test can be performed with complete

Shear Stress (𝝉𝒇)

drainage control
ii. Pore water pressure can be measured
during the test 𝜱′
iii. There is device to measure the change in
volume in the soil specimen during the
test
iv. The distribution of stress on the failure
plane is uniform
v. This test can be used for any type of soil 𝒄′
𝜎3𝑎 𝜎3𝑏 𝜎1𝑎 𝜎3𝑐 𝜎1𝑏 𝜎1𝑐

Normal Stress (𝝈′ )

Disadvantages :
i. The test setup is more complicated than any other shear test. It requires skilled person to handle the
apparatus precisely
 Unconfined Compression Test
• Unconfined compression test is a special type of tri-axial test where confining pressure is zero. That’s
why it is called ‘Unconfined Compression Test’
• It is suitable only for cohesive soils
• This test is performed on a cylindrical soil sample having height to diameter ratio 2:1 (ht. = 76mm and dia
= 38mm)
• In this test, soil sample is tested in a simple load frame to which the axial load is gradually increased till
the sample fail in shear
• This is quick test and it gives undrained shear strength value of soil
𝑃

𝜎1 = 𝑃/𝐴
𝜏𝑓 𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐𝑢
𝑐𝑢 = 𝜎1/2

𝑐𝑢
𝜏𝑓 = 𝜎1/2

𝜎1
𝑃
 Vane Shear Test
• Vane Shear Test is a quick test which can be used for determining undrained shear strength of clays
• It can be performed in the laboratory as well as in the field
• This method is most suitable for soft, sensitive clays for which it is difficult to obtained undisturbed
sample
• For such soils, field vane shear test is more suited
• The apparatus consists of four blades (called vanes) orthogonally welded to each other and attached to a
long rod
• Typically the blades height and diameter ratio is 2:1
• The vanes are inserted inside the soil and rotated by applying torque at the top of the rod
• The torque required to fail the soil is shear is recorded and undrained shear strength of the soil is
calculated as given by the formula below :

Where,
𝑇 Cu = Undrained Shear Strength of Soil
𝐶𝑢 =
ⅆ2𝐿 𝑑3 T = Torque at failure
𝜋 +
2 6 D = dia. of vane
L = height of vane
Vane Shear Test

𝑇 = 𝑇1 + 𝑇2

𝑑ൗ
2
𝑑
𝑇 = 𝜋𝑑𝐿𝐶𝑢 + 2 න ( 2𝜋𝑟𝑑𝑟𝐶𝑢)𝑟
2
0

ⅆ2𝐿 𝑑3
𝑇 = 𝜋𝐶𝑢 +
2 6

𝑇
𝐶𝑢 =
ⅆ2𝐿 𝑑3
𝜋 +
2 6