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Shear Strength of Soil
Shear Strength of Soil
of Soils
N. Sivakugan 1
Shear failure
Soils generally fail in shear
embankment
strip footing
failure surface
The soil grains slide over
each other along the
failure surface.
No crushing of
individual grains.
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Shear failure
f c tan
e lo p e
re env
failu
friction angle
cohesion
f
c
f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take
without failure, under normal stress of . 5
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Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
Shear strength consists of two components:
cohesive and frictional.
f
f c f tan
f tan
onen t frictional
comp component
e
c esiv
c coh
f
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c and are measures of shear strength.
Y
X X
Y Soil elements at
different locations
X ~ failure
Y ~ stable
Mohr Circles & Failure Envelope
The soil element does not fail if
the Mohr circle is contained
within the envelope
GL
c
Y c
c c+
Initially, Mohr circle is a point
Mohr Circles & Failure Envelope
As loading progresses, Mohr
circle becomes larger…
GL
c
Y c
c
c c+
Mohr circles in terms of & ’
v v’ u
h h ’
X
= X
+ X u
effective stresses
total stresses
h ’ v’ h v
u
Envelopes in terms of & ’
Identical specimens
initially subjected to
different isotropic
f
stresses (c) and then
c c
loaded axially to failure
c c
uf
Initially… Failure
c,
At failure,
in terms of
3 = c; 1 = c+f
c’, ’
3’ = 3 – uf ; 1’ = 1 - uf in terms of ’
Triaxial Test Apparatus
piston (to apply deviatoric stress)
failure plane
O-ring
impervious
membrane
soil sample at
failure
porous
stone
perspex cell
water
cell pressure
pore pressure or
back pressure
pedestal volume change
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Types of Triaxial Tests
deviatoric stress ()
yes no yes no
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For unconsolidated
undrained test, in
terms of total
stresses, u = 0
gives c’ and ’
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CD, CU and UU Triaxial Tests
Consolidated Undrained (CU) Test
pore pressure develops during shear
Measure ’
gives c’ and ’
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CD, CU and UU Triaxial Tests
Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) Test
pore pressure develops during shear
Not measured = 0; i.e., failure envelope
’ unknown is horizontal
analyse in terms of gives cu and u
very quick test
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1- 3 Relation at Failure
1
X 3
3 1
3 1 tan ( 45 / 2) 2c tan(45 / 2)
2
v Stress Point
h X
t stress point
stress point
(v-h)/2
h v s
(v+h)/2
v h
t
2
v h
s
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Stress Path
During loading…
Stress path
is the locus
t of stress
points
Stress path
s
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Failure Envelopes
t failur
e
tan-1 (sin )
s
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Pore Pressure Parameters
B = f (saturation,..)
For saturated soils, B 1.