MULUNGUSHI UNIVERSITY

SOIL MECHANICS – CIE 352

SHEAR STRENGTH IN SOILS

BENG CIVIL ENG. III

SHEAR STRENGTH
Lecture overview:
o Introduction;
o Friction;
o Normal and shear stresses on a plane;
o Principal planes and principal stresses – Mohr’s circle;
o Shear strength theories for soils;
o Shear strength tests. 2
INTRODUCTION
• Shear strength analyses of soils are necessary in the
design of embankments, slope stability studies and
earth dam construction.
• From Mechanics of materials, you learnt that solids
undergo shear deformation when subjected to
loading.
• Slope failure is an example of shear failure in soil. 3
INTRODUCTION

• Shear strength can, thus, be defined as the ability to

resist shear stresses.
• How are shear stresses brought about in soils?
• What practical examples can you think of that
would induce shear stress in soil?
4
INTRODUCTION

Shear strength in soils may come from:

I. Resistance from interlocking particles
II. Cohesion of soil particles
III. Frictional resistance between individual grains.

5
INTRODUCTION
• Granular soils (sands) may develop shear strength
through resistance and friction.
• Whilst, cohesive soils may develop their strength
from friction and cohesion of particles.
• Often, soils are partly granular and cohesive,
thereby deriving shear strength from all three
processes. 6
FRICTION

Friction is the main source of shear strength in soil.

Therefore, we need to understand these key concepts about
friction:
Friction between solid bodies
When a soil mass is subjected to an imposed load, frictional
resistance opposes forces that would make the soil mass fail
or slide.
7
FRICTION
• The coefficient of friction comes into play here.
• This coefficient is dependent upon the type of soil and the
loading condition when it comes into contact with the soil.

8
FRICTION

• If a soil is subjected to a load with a normal force only, no

frictional force will be mobilised.
• However, if a horizontal force is also applied, then a
corresponding resultant force acting at an angle α will
resist the load.
• An equivalent frictional force from the soil will also be
mobilised fully to counteract this horizontal load.
9
FRICTION
The frictional resistance from the soil can be expressed as;

where μ is the coefficient of friction.

• The angle of friction, φ, is a material property
independent of the applied force P.
• Also, the frictional resistance is only mobilised when a
shear force is applied.
10
FRICTION
Internal friction within granular soils
• Frictional resistance in granular or cohesionless soils is a
little more complex than that of solid bodies.
• The friction angle is now referred to as the angle of
internal friction.
• The frictional resistance is provided partly by sliding and
partly by rolling friction.
11
FRICTION

• The angle of internal friction can be considered

constant in a soil.
• Because failure in a soil mass could occur along any
plane in the soil, it is important to understand the
relationship between stresses and strains in soil.
• As well as their subsequent behaviour.
12
NORMAL AND SHEAR STRESSES IN SOILS

• Consider a soil element that is two dimensional and is

subjected to normal and shear stresses.
• Take normal stress in the y-axis to be greater than normal
stress in the x-axis (σy > σx).
• We can draw a free body diagram to sum up the forces
acting on a hypothetical plane EF which lies at an angle θ.
13
NORMAL AND SHEAR STRESSES IN SOILS

Summation of component forces can give us the normal (σn)

and shear stresses (τn).
Let:

14
NORMAL AND SHEAR STRESSES IN SOILS
If we sum forces in the N and T directions from the free-body
diagram,

or

This can be simplified to:

𝒚 𝒙 𝒚 𝒙
𝒏 𝒙𝒚
15
NORMAL AND SHEAR STRESSES IN SOILS
To equate shear stress, τn, take:

This can be simplified to:

𝒚 𝒙
𝒏 𝒙𝒚
16
NORMAL AND SHEAR STRESSES IN SOILS
If we take the angle θ that gives shear stress
𝒙𝒚
𝒚 𝒙

Using the equation above will give two values of θ that are
90° apart.
This gives us two planes (principal planes) that are at right
angles to each other.
On the principal planes, shear stress is equal to 0. 17
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

Normal stresses that act on principal planes are called

principal stresses.
The values of principal stresses can be summarised below
as:
Major principal stress:

18
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE
Minor principal stress:

To plot the Mohr’s circle we need to adopt sign conventions.

Compressive stresses are positive.
Tensile stresses are negative.
Counter-clockwise shear stresses are positive. 19
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

• The intermediate principal stress (σ2) is normally ignored

in geotechnical analyses.
• Otto Mohr (1882) developed the Mohr’s circle that
represents the principal stresses graphically.
• The Mohr’s circle has it’s centre on an axis and it cuts the
axis at values σ1 and σ3.

20
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

• For the normal and shear stresses on plane AD, σx is

positive and τxy is positive too.
• On plane AB, normal stress is +σx and shear stress is -τxy.
• The figure shows an example of a Mohr’s circle with the
points R and M representing the stress conditions at AD
and AB.
• O is the point of intersection with the normal stress axis
(x). 21
 PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

• The Mohr’s circle MNQRS is

plotted with the radius OR.
• The radius of the circle will be:
𝟐
𝒚 𝒙 𝟐
𝒙𝒚

22
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

• The normal stress (σn) and shear stress (τn) on the plane EF
can be found by moving an angle 2θ from point M in a
counter-clockwise direction.
• The points N and S have y-axis values of zero. They
represent the stresses on principal planes.
• The x-axis value for points N and S give the values for σ1
and σ3.
23
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

• If AB and AD were major and minor principal planes, σn

and τn on plane EF can be found by substituting τxy = 0.
Thus,

24
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

The general Mohr’s circle for stress conditions will look like:

25
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

• We can use the method of origin of planes to find the

stresses along a plane on the Mohr’s circle.
• First, draw a line from a known point on the circle parallel
to the plane on which the stress acts.
• Where this line intersects the Mohr’s circle is called a pole.
• Refer to the next figure. The point M represents the stress
conditions along the plane AB. The line MP is drawn
parallel to AB and P is the pole. 26
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE
• To find stresses along EF, draw a line from the pole
P parallel to the plane EF.
• This line intersects the Mohr’s circle at point Q. The
co-ordinates at point Q give the stress values along
plane EF.
• Also, angle QOM is equal to 2θ.
27
PRINCIPAL PLANES AND STRESSES
MOHR’S CIRCLE

28
EXAMPLE – MOHR’S CIRCLE

For the element of soil under stress shown, use the pole
method (method of origin of planes) to determine:
a) Major principal stress,
b) Minor principal stress,
c) Normal and shear stress along the plane DE.
29
EXAMPLE – MOHR’S CIRCLE

30
EXAMPLE – MOHR’S CIRCLE

Step 1: Identify your . Remember that .

Step 2: Plot the points ( ) and ( ).
Step 3: Draw a line joining the two points across the normal
stress axis.
Step 4: Using the distance OM or ON as the radius, draw
the Mohr’s circle.
Step 5: Draw the line PN that is parallel to the plane AD on
the soil mass. 31
EXAMPLE – MOHR’S CIRCLE

Step 6: The point P is your pole. Now draw the line parallel
to the plane DE that lies at angle θ.
Step 7: The co-ordinates of the point where this line
intersects with the Mohr’s circle are the stress values along
the plane DE.
32
EXAMPLE – MOHR’S CIRCLE

From the Mohr’s circle:

a) Major principal stress = 170.7 kN/m2.
b) Minor principal stress = 29.3 kN/m2.
c) Along plane DE, normal stress is 164 kN/m2 and shear
stress is -29.9 kN/m2.
33
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

• A soil mass under analysis with any stress-strain

relationship can be referred to as a constitutive model.
• Most soils in nature do not exhibit isotropy. That means
the values of material properties may differ within the
mass.
• The relationship between stress and strain is also non-
linear in soils.
• This can make the solutions for soil problems difficult. 34
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

• We can assume idealistic stress-strain relationships to

apply to allow for computations.
• Hooke’s law is one such idealisation that can be applied to
assume a linear elastic behaviour.
• This idealisation of movement from linear elastic to plastic
strain is shown in the figures following.
• This is known as elastic-perfectly plastic model of
material behaviour. 35
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

36
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

• If, for instance, you are only analysing the soil at collapse
(failure) then we can consider only the plastic phase of
behaviour of the soil.
• This is known as a rigid-perfectly plastic model material
behaviour.
• The third idealised soil model is where plastic strain
beyond the yield point causes more stress to develop. 37
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

• Thereby entailing soil hardening or strengthening as the

strain increases.
• In this elastic-strain hardening plastic model, when there
is reloading and unloading concurrently occurring, a new
yield point at a higher stress level than the first yield point
will develop in the soil.
• This increase in yield stress is characteristic of the strain
hardening soil model. 38
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

39
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

• The fourth idealised model for soil is the elastic-strain

softening plastic model.
• In this model, plastic strain beyond the yield stress causes
the material to soften.
• Simply put, strain increase follows stress decrease.
• All these models mentioned allow analysis of soils to
follow a yield function, hardening law or flow rule. 40
SHEAR STRENGTH THEORIES

• The Mohr-Coulomb criterion is one such yield function if

perfectly plastic behaviour is assumed.
• Our calculations and analysis in this course will be
restricted to consider only elastic-perfectly plastic
behaviour.
• Elastic behaviour will be assumed to be isotropic.
• Plastic behaviour will follow the Mohr-Coulomb criterion.41
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

• Coulomb (1776) first developed the soil shear strength

theory. Mohr (1900) later generalised to the now-known
Mohr-Coulomb theory.
• There is a relationship between the normal stress on any
plane and the shear strength available.
• This relationship is linear and expressed as:

42
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

• That equation is known as the Mohr-Coulomb failure

criterion.
• c is the apparent cohesion, φ is the angle of internal
friction and σ is the normal stress on the failure plane.
• Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is a mathematical
equation of the failure envelope when shear stress is
plotted against normal stress. 43
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

• For a purely cohesionless soil, c

= 0.
• For a purely cohesive soil
where φ = 0, c = τ.

44
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

45
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

• When expressed in terms of effective stress, the Mohr-

Coulomb expression becomes:

• The significance of this equation can be shown in the

previous figure.
• If σ’ and τ along the plane ab plot at point A, then shear
failure will not occur along that plane. 46
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

• Shear failure on a plane will only occur if the shear stress

satisfies the Mohr-Coulomb criterion.
• Failure will only occur at point B, as the point C will not
exist.
• If we consider a 2-dimensional element ABCD, that is
subjected to stresses, σ’1 and σ’3, the inclination of the
failure plane EF can be determined. 47
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

• A relationship between angle θ and the principal stresses

can be derived from the Mohr’s circle.
• The line fgh on the following figure is the failure envelope
defined by the previous equation given.
• The line ad defines the failure plane EF at an angle 2θ.

48
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

49
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY
Also,

From the same Mohr’s circle:

50
MOHR-COULOMB THEORY

But,

Using trigonometry and substituting the above equations gives:

The same expression can be used to using total stress

parameters. 51
SHEAR STRENGTH TESTS

Direct Shear Test

• Representative in situ soil samples can be tested in the lab
to determine soil shear strength and stiffness parameters.
• Test equipment is a metal (shear) box which may be
square or circular cross-section.
• It is about 25mm high and the box is split in half
horizontally with a small clearance maintained. 52
SHEAR STRENGTH TESTS

53
SHEAR STRENGTH TESTS

• The shear box is designed to represent stress conditions along

the failure (slip) plane that lies at angle θ.
• If the specimen is saturated, porous plates are placed below
and on top of the sample.
• If it is dry then solid plates are used.
• A vertical force N is applied to the loading plates.
• Shear displacement is then applied gradually to the horizontal
plane by causing the two halves to move relative to each
other. 54
SHEAR STRENGTH TESTS

• The induced shear stress of the sample along the slip

plane will be equal to the applied stress needed to shear
the two halves of the box.
• Depending on the equipment being used, the test may
either be stress or strain-controlled.
• For stress-controlled tests, the shear force is applied
incrementally until the specimen fails. 55
SHEAR STRENGTH TESTS

• After each incremental load, the shear displacement is

measured by a horizontal dial gauge.
• For strain-controlled tests, the shear displacement is
applied to one-half of the box.
• The rate of shear displacement can be measured by a
horizontal dial gauge.
• The resisting shear force corresponding to the
displacement can then be read off a proving ring. 56