Effective Stress and

Permeability
Martin Wijaya, S.T., Ph.D.
Effective Stress
Terzaghi Effective Stress

P  P '  A  Ac  uw
P = Total vertical force
P’ = Intergranular force
A = Total cross section (Engineering) area
Ac = Contact area between grains
(A-Ac)uw = Hydrostatic force
Terzaghi Effective Stress
P P '  A  Ac 
   u
A A  A     ' uw
P'  A   '    uw
   1  c  u
A  A

P' Ac ’ = Effective stress

 ' a  = Total stress
A A
uw = Pore-water pressure
a = Contact area between particles per unit gross area of the soil
   ' 1  a  u

In granular materials, the contact areas approach point areas,

hence a approaches zero
 Water in Fine Grained Soils
1. Adsorbed water held on the surface of the particle by powerful forces of
electrical attraction and virtually in a solid state. This layer is of very small
thickness, perhaps of the order of 0.005 μm. This water cannot be removed by
oven drying at 110°C, and may, therefore, be considered to be part of the solid
soil grain.
2. Water which is not so tightly held and can be removed by oven drying, but not by
air drying (hygroscopic moisture).
3. Capillary water, held by surface tension, generally removable by air drying.
4. Gravitational water, which can move in the voids between soil grains and is
removable by drainage.
5. Chemically combined water, in the form of water of hydration within the crystal
structure. Except for gypsum and some tropical clays, this water is not generally
removable by oven drying.

For routine soil test, oven drying at 105-1100C

Cation

Region A = Region of immobilization (water molecules are strongly held in the field of
the ion and are immobile). It is fixed and forming a permanent part of ion.

Region B = Water molecules have less structure but are held to the ion. Can be
removed by air drying.

Region C = Water with normal structure but the water molecules are polarized by the
weak ionic field. Can be removed easily by air drying.
Clay Micelle
Clay mineral surrounded by negatively
charged inner mineral core surrounded by
positively charged cations (i.e. Na+) that
neutralize the mineral charge.
High concentration of cations at one
location over that in another location will Beyond the line, the
cause the migration of water molecules effect of the surface
toward the location of higher concentration forces is negligible, and
and is referred as osmosis and water the cation concentration
attracted by higher cation concentration is is the same as that in the
referred as osmotic water. free water in the soil
Water held by the surface forces is referred as
adsorbed water

Clay particle and the cations, along with Near the surface, cation
water of hydration and osmotic water that concentration is the
is held closely to the inner mineral core, highest
form the micelle (Lambe 1958)
Terzaghi Effective Stress
For clays, mineral crystal might not be in physical contact since they are
surrounded by a tightly bound water film. The inter particle force fields
is extremely difficult to interpret and impossible to measure. However,
experimental evidence and careful analysis shows that effective stress is
an excellent approximation to reality (Skempton, 1960)
Terzaghi Effective Stress
• When there is an increase in effective stress, there is a reduction in
volume and increase in shear strength
• When there is a decrease in effective stress, there is an increase in
volume and decrease in shear strength
Calculating Effective Stress
 Quiz

5m gb = 20 kN/m3

5m gb = 18 kN/m3

10m

Calculate total stress, hydrostatic water pressure and effective stress

Permeability
Where the water flows?
• From high place to low place?
• From high pressure to low pressure?

Correct answer:
From high total head to low total head:

H  hP  he
u
hp 
gw
Where:
H = total head
hp = pressure head
he = elevation height

Unit length (mm, m, etc)

Why water in a pool stay still?
Water flow in a soil
Head loss due to flow of water through soil

As water flow through soil particles, energy dissipated due to friction between
water and soil particles resulting in head loss (DH). Hence, hp,A > hp,B

DH  h p , a  h p , b
Since there is a head difference, then there is a flow
Darcy’s Law
• Darcy (1856) proposed that average flow velocity (v) through a soil is
proportional to the gradient of the total head
dH
vk
dx Turbulence
k = soil permeability (hydraulic conductivity)
dH = change in total head over a distance dx

Darcy’s law only valid for laminar flow (Reynolds number less than 2100)
Laminar
WDH W = mass flowrate of the fluid
Re 
A DH = hydraulic diameter of the pipe
 = Dynamic viscosity of the fluid
A = Pipe cross sectional Area
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_number
Darcy’s Law

Flow through a soil is only occur through the interconnected voids. Velocity of
water through the void space is called seepage velocity (vs) and is obtained
from: v ki
vs  vs 
n n
Volume rate of flow (q) is given as:
DH
vk  ki
L q  Av  Aki
DH
i
L
i = hydraulic gradient
Permeability
Permeability is affected by:
1. Soil type: Coarse-grained soils have higher permeability than fine-grained
soils. The water in the double layer in fine-grained soils significantly
reduces the seepage pore space.
2. Particle size: Permeability depends on D50 or D10 for coarse grained soils
3. Viscosity: lower viscosity ( leads to higher permeability (dynamic
viscosity of water is 1.12 x 10-3 N.s/m2 at 15.60C)
4. Void ratio: lower void ratio leads to lower permeability
5. Degree of saturation: Lower degree of saturation leads to lower
peremability
Permeability

Typically used number:

Gravel: 10-2 m/s
Sand: 10-4 m/s
Silt: 10-6 m/s
Clay: 10-8 m/s
 Empirical correlation for k
For homogeneous soil (Taylor, 1948):
g w C1e3
kD 2
D50 = Diameter related to 50% passing
 1 e
50
gw = Unit weight of water
 = Dynamic viscosity of water (1.12 x 10-3 N.s/m2 at 15.60C)
e = Void ratio
C1 = Empirical constant from laboratory experiment

For coarse grained soils (Hazen, 1930):

k = permeability in cm/s
k  CD102
D10 = Diameter related to 10% passing (mm)
C = Empirical constant varying between 0.4 to 1.4. Typically taken as 1.

Hazen equation is tested for D10 ranging from 0.1mm to 3mm with Cu < 5.
Empirical correlation

Louden (1952)
Kenney et al. (1984)
Flow Parallel to soil layers
Parallel flow:
1. Hydraulic gradient is the same at all points
2. Flow through the soil mass as a while is equal to
the sum of flow through each of the layers
qx  Av  k x ,eq iH 0
n
qx  z1k x1i  z2 k x 2i  ...  zn k xn i   z j k xj i
j 1
n
k x ,eqiH 0  i  z j k xj
j 1
n

z k
j 1
j xj

k x ,eq 
H0
 dH
Flow Normal to soil layers veq  keq
H0

veq  v1  v2  ...  vn  v

dH dH1 dH 2 dH n
keq  k1  k2  ...  kn
H0 z1 z2 zn
n
DH  DH1  DH 2  ...DH n   DH i
i 1

veq H 0 n n
vi zi
DH    DH i  
keq i 1 i 1 ki
Normal flow:
veq H 0 n
vi zi
1. The head loss in the soil mass is the sum of the 
head losses in each layer keq i 1 ki
2. Velocity in each layer is the same
H0 n
zi H 0 n
z
v  v ;  i
keq i 1 ki keq i 1 ki

H0
keq  n
zi

i 1 ki
Quiz
Solution
Determination of Permeability
• Constant head test
• Falling head test
• Pumping test
• Oedometer test (Soil mechanics 2)
Constant Head test
• Suitable for coarse-grained soils
• Water level is maintained
DH  h
h
i
L
Q Q is water quantity collected
q in the measuring cylinder over
t time t

q QL T C
0
kz   k200 C  kT 0C  kT C RT RT  2.42  0.476 ln T 
20 C
0
Ai tAh 0
Falling Head test
dh
v
dt
dh a is cross sectional area of the tube
qin  a
dt

h
qout  Aki  Ak A is cross sectional area of the soil
L

Continuity equation requires qin = qout

dh h Ak dh
a  Ak ; dt  
dt L aL H • Suitable for fine-grained soils
Integrating between t1 and t2 • Change in water level is recorded over time
t h
Ak 2 2
dh

aL t1
dt   
h1
H

aL h 
k ln  1 
A  t2  t1   h2 
Temperature Correction
• Temperature correction depends on standard

T C
0
k200 C  kT 0C  kT C RT RT  2.42  0.476 ln T 
20 C
0
0
Pumping Test
1. Pump water at a constant flow rate from a
well
2. Measure the decrease in ground water level
at observation wells

Assumption:
1. Soil is homogeneous isotropic and infinite size
2. Darcy law is valid
3. Flow is radial toward the well
4. Hydraulic gradient at any point in the water
bearing stratum is constant and is equal to the
slope of ground water surface (Dupuit’s
assumption)
Pumping test
The drop in total head over a distance dr, according to Dupuit’s
assumption, hydraulic gradient is equal to:
dz
i
dr
Area of flow at a radial distance r from the center of the pumping well
is:
A  2 rz

Where z is the thickness of an elemental volume of the previous layer.

Based on the Darcy’s law, the flow is

dz
q  Av  Aki  2 rzk
dr
r2 h
dr dr 2

q   2 k  zdz q    2 k   zdz q ln  r2 / r1    k  h22  h12 

r r1
r h1

q ln  r2 / r1 
k
  h22  h12 
Quiz