Coulomb's Equation and Mohr-Coulomb Criterion

In his
investigations concerning the lateral pressure acting against retaining walls, Coulomb (1776) needed the
knowledge of shearing strength of the backfill material. He observed that one component of the shearing
strength, called the intrinsic cohesion (sometimes called the apparent cohesion), is constant for a given soil and
IS independent of the applied stress. The other component, namely, the frictional resistance, somewhat similar
to siding friction in solids, varies directly as the magnitude of the normal stress on the plane of rupture.
Coulomb's equation is written thus:
c+O Gtan g_uS (10.4)
where = shear strength of the soil
C =apparent cohesion
o = normal stress on the plane of rupture
angleangle of internal friction
and o are also_referred to as the shear strength parameters of the soil. The graphical representation of
oulomb's equation is a straight line, as can be seen in Fig. 10.8. From the Figure, it will be seen that the
ercept made by the straight line on the T-axis represents the cohesion c and the slope of the plot gives the
nction angle or the angle of shearing resistance . It is important to realise that c and are not inherent
of the soil. These are, in fact, related to the type of test and the
Pproperties which these are
conditions under
nCasured. This will be elaborated in the sections to follow. cand o are values obtained by plotting the results
 Basic and Applied Soil Mechanics
294

T soil. For certain conditions, o could

of a shear test on the
and under certain other conditions
be zero, so that T= c
so that t,= O
tan o.
c could be z e r o

Coulomb equation (Eq. 10.4)

is combined with
The
in Eq. 10.3. For
the Mohr failure criterion, expressed
calculations involving the stability
of a soil mass, it would
which is repre-
be convenient to use a failure relationship
sented by a straight line. Hence, the curvilinear Mohr
Fig. 10.8. Graphical representation of the line over a particular
envelope is replaced by a straight
Coulomb equation shear strength parameters for
range of o. The Coulomb
the appropriate stress range would enable the equation of
the straight line to be written. The Mohr-Coulombfailure criterion can now be expressed in the form

T=c+Ortan o (10.5)
The Mohr Coulomb failure criterion is a simple but useful criterion. It is preferred to many other
sophisticated failure criterja, in spite of some limitations. The criterion affords a procedure by which the stresses
on the failure plane at failure can be determined. In problems where potential rupture surfaces can be identified
in the soil mass, such as in the analysis of the stability of
slopes or foundations, determination of stresses acting
on the failure surface is very useful. The effect of intermediate
principal stress, O2 is ignored in the Mohr failure
criterion, irrespective of the magnitude of O2. In reality, the intermediate principal stress will have some
influence on the strength of soils but the Mohr failure criterion is a only simplified two-dimensional analysis
of the stress system.
The angle of the failure plane relative to the major principal plane, 0, can be expressed in terms of the
angle of shearing resistance o, by using Mohr failure hypothesis. Fig. 10.9 illustrates the
method. In the triangle
DFC,

26, 90°+0
or
=45°+ /2 (10.6)
Ea. 10.6 can be derived analytically by using the fact that
the failure plane is the
between the shear strength ty and the shear stress T (given by one on which the difference
Eq. 10.2) is the minimum.
The Mohr failure hypothesis brings out another
interesting fact. The shear stress on the failure
is not the maximum shear stress in the element. The
maximum shear plane.
to the major principal plane and in magnitude is stress, tmay acts on planes inclined at
equal to
(O1y-O3) /2. t< Tmax (Fig. 10.9). But failure does 4
not occur on the 45°
planes because on these planes, the available shear strength is
shearing stress tmax, that is, tf max: Of Deones cqual to 45 only o 0, greater than the maximun
is a horizontal line. This will happen in the that is, when the Mohr envelope
=

Case or the so called 'purely cohesive soil',

not develop in such soils. but in fact, rupture ao
Mahr Coulomb failure criterion can be expressed in terms of the
Oy and Or From Fig. 10.9, relationship between the principal stresse
sin = . DC
sin FC CO+ OF (-O3)/2
(O+ O3)/2+ccot o
Shear Streng th of Soils
295

availabeax
F
Fig. 10.9 Angle df failure plane and angle of shearing resistance

( 1 - Oy) = (G1/t+ O,r) sin o +2 c cos o

Rearranging terms,

1+sin C
Oy Oy1-sin cos
t1-sin o
O1f 3f|(1+ sin + 2 c1 / tsino
sin |+2¢N-
I1- sin -

9 sin
(10.7)

Eq. 10.7 is also expressed in the form

O1f O3stan" (45°+0/2)+2ctan (45+2)

or O1y = O3y No +2 c VNo

1+ sin o _tan (45+/2)

where
No1
N sin
If. c = 0 (a purely frictional soil)

1+
sin
O1fO3f| 1-sin
O1f 1+sin o
1 sin
tan (45+/2) (10.8)

Eq. 10.8, known as the obliquity relationship, is valid only for soils havingc =0. In Fig. 10.9, D is the
point of tangency of the Mohrenvelopeon the Mohr circle. The stress coordinates of D, namely, (o, t) are the
stresses on the plane of maximum obliquity in the soil element. That is, the ratio Tp/ is a maximum on the
plane of maximum obliquity and not on the plane of maximum shear stress. On the plane of maximum shear
Siress, the angle of obliquity is equal to tan Itmax/(1y+ Oay)/2] which is less than tan" (ty/Oq). The plane
maximum obliquity, then, is the criterion governingfailure.
The original form of the Coulomb's equation (Eq. 10.4) was in terms of total normal stress. This has beon
Ound to be incorrect. After Terzaghi established his effective stress principle, it became known that the shear
 296 Basic and Applied Soil Mechanics

1s, fact, related The modified form of the Coulomb equation is, therfore
uCgn in to the effective stress.
written in the form:
(10.9)
Since O ,
=c+(o- u) tan o (10.10)
where cohesion-intercept orcohesion referred to effective stress
effective
G effective normal stress on the plane of rupture
angle of shearing resistance referred to effective stress
u = pore pressure on the plane of rupture at failure

In terms of total stress, the equation can now be written as

y=Cu +Otan u (10.11)

where Cu= cohesion referredto total stress
u=angle of shearing resistance refenred to total stress
The strength parameters in terms of effective stresses, c' and ¢ would take constant values for a soil,
provided the void ratio, density and pore pressure all remain the same for different normal stress values. Since
this never happens in practice, it is the normal practice to qualify the measured values with the type of test and
the conditions under which those values were obtained.