FUNDAMENTAL CONSIDERATIONSON TI$E SHEAR

STRENGTH OF SOIL
LAIJRITS

bY *
B JERRUM

SYNOPSIS
In this Paper attention is drawn to the importance of the water content in relatidn to the shear
strength of saturated clay.
Following
Hvorslev,
the shear strength
is
divided into a true cohesion, which is merely a
function of the water content at the point considered, and an internal friction, determined by the
effective normal stress on the plane under consideration.
It is suggested in the shear-strength diagram
(Fig. 1) that the cohesion be plotted as a function
of the equivalent consolidation pressure ; a curve
then appears which indirectly establishes the relationship between cohesion and water content.
For normally consolidated saturated clay it can
be stated that an interdependence exists between
water content and effective major principal stressthat is, the water content depends solely on the
magnitude of the effective major principal stress
and, conversely, if the external stresses are changed
under undrained conditions,
the effective major
principal stress remains unaltered at the value
corresponding to the water content.
These rules
are illustrated in the Paper by means of drained
and undrained triaxial tests (Figs 2 and 3).
If, for a normally
consolidated
clay, shear
strength is plotted against water content at failure,
all points will fall on or near a single curve, independent of the method of test, pore-water pressures,
Fig. 4 shows such a strength/waterand so on.
content curve, which is seen to run approximately
parallel to the consolidation curve.
From the relationship between cohesion and
water content it can be stated that, in the same
way that different initial water contents result in
different consolidation
curves, there will be a
strength/water-content
curve for each initial water
content (Fig. 6).
The most important shear-strength property of
a clay is, apart from the angle of internal friction,
the relationship between cohesion and water content.
In Fig. 7 the cohesion water-content curves
are plotted for ten different c Iays, whilst, in Fig. 8,
the same curves are replotted with the consistency
index as ordinate.

Cette etude est consacme B limportance de la

teneur en eau en relation avec la resistance au
cisaillement des argiles saturbs.
Selon Hvorslev
on divise la resistance au
cisaillement en deux parties : la cohesion vraie,,
qui depend seulement de la teneur en eau, et le
frottement inteme, qui est determine par la tension
normale effective sur le plan consider&
Dam le diagramme de resistance au cisaillement
(Fig. 1) on suggere de reporter la cohesion en
fonction de la pression de consolidation equivalente.
Ainsi appardt une courbe qui Btablit indirectement
la relation entre cohesion et teneur en eau.
Pour les argiles satun% normalement consolid&
on peut affirmer quil existe une interd&endance
entre la teneur en eau et la plus grande tension
principale effective, cest-&dire que la teneur en
eau depend uniquement de la grandeur de la tension
principale maximale et quinversement
la tension
principale maximale effective conserve la valeur
con&ante qui correspond B la teneur en eau lorsquon
modifie les sollicitations exterieures sans drainer.
Des es&s triaxiaux avec et sans drainage illustrent
ces regles dam letude (Figs 2 et 3).
Si Ion reporte pour un argile normalement
consolide la resistance au cisaillement en fonction
de la teneur en eau B la rupture, tous les points se
situent approximativement
sur une courbe unique,
independante
de la technique de lessai, de la
pression de leau interstitielle, etc.
La Fig. 4
montre une telle courbe dont on remarquera le
parallelisme approximatif avec la courbe de consolidation.
De la relation entre la cohesion et la teneur en
eau on peut ddduire que, de m&me quil des teneurs
en eau initiales differentes correspondent di%rentes
courbes de consolidation, on aura differentes courbes
de r&&ance en fonction de la teneur en eau pour
chaque teneur en eau initiale (Fig. 6).
La propriete la plus fmportante
dun argile
mlativement a la r&sistance au cisaillement est. a
c&6 de langle de frottement interne, la relation
entre la cohesion et la teneur en eau.
Dans la
Fig. 7 la cohesion est report&e en fonction de la
teneur en eau pour dix argiles differents et la
Fig. 8 montre les m@mes courbes obtenues en
reportant en ordonnee lindice de consistance.

INTRODUCTION
In Vienna,
from 1934 to 1937, Hvorslev carried out a great number of direct shear tests
on two different remoulded clays, and thereby confirmed in principle the validity of Coulombs
law. The two main discoveries resulting from Hvorslevs research work were :(1) that the cohesion depends merely on the water content ;
(2) That the angle of internal friction is a soil characteristic which influences the
strength even of rather colloidal clays.
These findings are most important to the present knowledge of the shear strength of soils.

209

210

LAURITS

BJERRUM

Hvorslev (1937) expressed shear strength as a function of water content and effective
stresses, and application therefore requires an analysis of the deformation properties.
In 1948, Skempton made an attempt to analyse the results of undrained triaxial tests
based on Hvorslevs results. Through the introduction of the coefficients of elasticity for
compression and for expansion, he succeeded in obtaining expressions for the effective stresses
and the strength. Skemptons h-theory is a most valuable method in research work ; it
is, however, rather complicated in practical application, and the determination of the introduced coefficient is quite difficult (Skempton, 1948u--.
A new method of considering the shear strength of soil is reported in a review of the
American Triaxial Shear Research Program (U.S. War Department, 1947). This review states
two important facts : first, that the shear strength found by tests can be interpreted as being
dependent only on the water content ; and, secondly, that the water content is a function
of the major principal stress only.
Applying those two observations to the results of Hvorslevs investigations, it is possible
to develop a simple working hypothesis for the analysis of the shear strength of normally
consolidated saturated homogeneous soil. In a treatise which has not yet been published,
the Author has made an attempt to do so ; and in this Paper some of the fundamental findings
are summarised.
The object of this Paper is, first and foremost, to try to make a contribution to a better
understanding of the fundamental strength properties of cohesive soils. For this purpose,
shear strength is divided into cohesion and frictional resistance ; these two properties are
considered in relation to the factors which respectively determine their magnitude.
Since
the terms cohesion and angle of internal friction are often loosely used, an attempt
has been made to define these terms clearly.

THE

SHEAR

STRENGTH

OF A SOIL

On any plane a, passing through a point in a stressed soil mass, a direct stress u, normal
to the plane and a shear stress T. in the plane will, in general, be acting. A failure will occur
in any plane if the shear stress 7,_ exceeds the shear strength s,,. Now, if the strength on all
planes through the same point were equal, failure would take place in the two planes with
maximum shearing stresses-that
is to say, on the two planes which intersect the directions
of the principal stresses at an angle of 45 degrees. Compression tests on soil samples, however,
show first that the angle between the failure planes generally deviates from 90 degrees, and
secondly that this angle is constant for any one soil. Therefore it may be considered a fact
that the shear strengths%n the different planes through a point in a stressed soil mass are
not equal but depend on the normal stress a,. which acts on the planes.
In general, the strength s, can be expressed by the Coulomb failure criterion :s, =c

+cr,tan+,

(1)

It is known that, for sand, this expression is valid for c = 0. In 1937, Hvorslev stated that
equation (1). could also be applied to clay. The angle +I can, with sufficient accuracy, be
considered constant for a clay, but Hvorslevs tests showed that the magnitude of c varied
with the water content. The Coulomb-Hvorslev failure criterion (equation (1)) may in this
way be accepted as a basis for a strength analysis of all types of saturated clays. It is assumed
here that the soil is homogeneous and isotropic (Casagrande and Carillo, 1944).
Expressed in words, equation (I) states that the strength in a plane through a point in a
soil mass is composed of two essentially different parts.
The first component, c, is characterized by the fact that its magnitude is the same in all
planes through the considered point. This part of the shear strength is &led the cohesion.
The magnitude of the cohesion depends, for saturated soils, merely on the water content at

FUNDAMENTALS

OF

SHEAR

STRENGTH

OF SOILS

2x1

the point under consideration ; in a soil mass the cohesion therefore varies from point to
point with the water content.
The second component is the frictional resistance, the magnitude of which is proportional
to the effective normal stresses on the planes through the point under consideration.
4,
devotes the angle of internal friction, being a characteristic constant of the soil in question.
If, at the considered point, an excess hydrostatic pore-water pressure exists, the efective
stress will determine the frictional resistance (Terzaghi, 1938 ; Bishop and Eldin, 1950).
It is most important to keep clearly in mind these definitions of cohesion and frictional
resistance ; in this respect, it cannot be too strongly emphasized that the true cohesion has
nothing to do with the shear strength of the unloaded sample.

THE

SHEAR-STRENGTH

DIAGRAM

In the shear-strength diagram the Mohr stress-circle enables a graphical determination to

be made of the stresses in the different planes through a point in a stressed body. On the
same diagram the shear strength alone the different planes through the considered point can
be plotted as a function of-the not&al
stress on the planes, resulting in a straight
line (equation (1)).
As stated above, however, it is not
possible to determine the shear strength
of a cohesive soil merely from statical considerations. The cohesion is a function of
the water content, and it therefore appears
to be an obvious course to establish the
relationship between cohesion and water
content in the strength diagram. If the
results of a standard consolidation test are
plotted above the shear-strength diagram,
a curve will result which gives the water
content as a function of the consolidation
pressure, as shown in Fig. 1. Now, a
certain water content corresponds to any
point on the consolidation curve, and, the
slkss : KILOGRAUS
PCRso. c-w
cohesion being a function merely of the
Shear mwqth
diagram (Wiener Togo1 : after
water content, there is also a certain coHvor8lev, 1937)
hesion corresponding to this point on the
consolidation curve. It is therefore suggested that, in the shear-strength diagram, the
magnitude of the corresponding cohesion be plotted below each point on the consolidation
curve. A curve then appears which, as desired, establishes the relation between water content
and cohesion.
Fig. 1 shows the cohesion curve for the tile clay investigated by Hvorslev. If, at any point
in this clay, the water content is WO, the magnitude of the cohesion can be found from the
cohesion curve below that point on the consolidation curve which corresponds to the water
content Wo. as illustrated in Fig. 1. On any arbitrary plane through the considered point,
the total shear strength wiIl be :
s,=c+u,tan+

(1)

in which a, is the normal stress on the considered plane. This equation gives the common
failure line in Fig. 1.
At an adjoining point in the soil mass the water content is, perhaps, smaller, and the

212

LAURITS

BJERRUM

cohesion correspondingly greater. For this point the failure line (showing the shear strength
in the different planes through the point) runs parallel to the first failure line, but intercepts
the vertical axis at another value of c. For a cohesive soil, consequently, the failure criterion
cannot be illustrated by a single line on the strength diagram. The failure lines, expressed
by equation (l), form a system of parallel lines with the cohesion as parameter.
For clays normally consolidated from the liquid limit, the cohesion curve will be a straight
line, often passing through the co-ordinate origin, with the inclination K (known from Hvorslev
(1937) and Skempton (1943~4)).
As will be shown below, it may be assumed for non-preconsolidated clays that the water content depends only on the effective major principal stress, al.
For such soils the cohesion curve gives the cohesion directly as a function of ul.
DETERMINATION

OF WATER

CONTENT

AND

EFFECTIVE

STRESSES

It has been shown above that a determination of shear strength can be made from the
magnitude of the water content and the effective stresses. An analysis of shear strength
consequently requires a knowledge of the deformation properties.
In a review of the American Triaxial Shear Research Program (U.S. War Department,
1947) two fundamental test results are reported.
First, it was observed that, if the water content of a clay were plotted against the effective
major principal stress, all points conformed to a single curve, independent of the magnitudes
of the minor and intermediate principal stresses.
Secondly, if the compressive strength, determined in the triaxial apparatus, were plotted
against the water content at failure, all points would fall on or near a single curve, independent
of method of test, pore-water pressures, and so on.
When those two test results are interpreted it is found that an interdependence must
exist between the effective major principal stress and the water content.
This interdependence can be used as the basis for the development of a working hypothesis which
enables the water content and the effective stresses to be determined from the external total
pressures. This working hypothesis can be summarised by the following points :(1) The water content of a clay element is dependent solely on the magnitude of the
effective major principal stress.
(2) If, by a shear, the total external stresses are changed so quickly that the water
content of the clay element remains constant, an excess hydrostatic pore-water
pressure will arise, the magnitude of which will adapt itself in such a way that the
effective major principal stress remains unaltered.
(3) Provided that the pore water can escape, the effective intergranular stresses will,
after a certain time, be equal to the applied external pressures.
This working hypothesis (which, in terms of Skemptons work, can be called a h = 0
theory) is not valid for all soils ; it is known, for instance, that it cannot be applied to nonsaturated or preconsolidated clays. It can, however, be shown that, if the points resulting
from plotting strength against water content at failure fall on a single curve, independent of
the method of test, pore-water pressures and so on, then the working hypothesis outlined
above may be applied to the soils in question.
DRAINED

AND

CONSOLIDATED-UNDRAINED

TRIAXIAL

SHEAR

TESTS

The application of the strength diagram described above and of the proposed working
hypothesis will be illustrated by considering the triaxial test.
Figs 2 show diagrammatically three stages of a drained triaxial shear test carried out on a
cohesive sample, normally consolidated under the pressure ue. For each stage the shear
stresses and the normal stresses in the different planes through the sample are indicated by
the Mohr circles, and the shear strengths in the planes are given by the failure lines. The

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHEAR

STRENGTH

OF SOILS

213
diagram shows how the water content decreases as the major principal stress increases ;
consequently, the cohesion will increase and the failure line will rise. During the drained
triaxial test the strength will consequently increase as the axial load increases. The shear
stresses, however, exhibit a more rapid increase, and, when the axial load has reached a certain
value, a failure will occur.
Figs 3 illustrate, in the same way, three stages of a consolidated-undrained triaxial
shear test. During this test the water content remains unaltered and, consequently, the
cohesion and the failure line will be the same for all stages of the test. As the normal load
increases, however, an excess pore-water pressure will arise, and the effective intergranular
stresses will therefore decrease during the test. Using the working hypothesis described
above, it can be assumed that, for the type of clay under consideration, the effective major
principal stress remains unaltered during the consolidated-undrained test, because the water
content remains constant. The Mohr circles for the external total stresses, as well as for the
internal effective stresses, are shown in Figs 3 for the three stages in question.
STRENGTH/WATER-CONTENT

RELATIONSHIP

Analysis of the two types of triaxial test (Figs 2 and 3) shows the relation between shear
strength and water content. On comparison of the two diagrams it is seen that, for equal
water contents at failure for both types of tests, cohesions, effective major principal stresses,
and failure lines are equal. It may now be concluded that the Mohr stress-circles will be

2x4

LAURITS

BJERRUM

identical for equal water contents at failure. Consequently a drained shear test and a consolidated-undrained shear test will give equal shear strengths for equai water contents at
failure. Conversely it may be concluded that if, for any soil, equal water contents at failure
result in equal magnitudes of shear strength, the working hypothesis proposed above may be
applied to the soil in question.
It is a fact that, if the strengths found by direct or triaxial shear tests are plotted against
the failure water content, the points will fall on or near a single curve, independent of method
of test, pore-water pressures, and so on (U.S. War Department, 1947), provided that the soil
is saturated and normally consolidated (not preconsolidated).
Fig. 4 shows graphically
the results of a series of direct shear tests carried out with a remoulded talus-clay from
Zurich. Strength is plotted against water content and, on the same diagram, the standard
consolidation curve is shown, running approximately parallel to the strength/water-content
curve.
THE

INITIAL

WATER

CONTENT

It has been indicated above that, if strength is plotted against water content, a single
curve is found ; this is, however, the case only for sampIes consolidated from the same initial
water content.
In the same way that different initial water contents result in different
consolidation curves, there will be a strength/water-content curve for each initial water
content.
Fig. 5 shows the consolidation curves for two samples of the same clay consolidated from
different initial water contents.
If these two samples are consolidated to the same water
content, the sample with the higher initial water content requires a higher load than the
other sample. If the two samples are now subjected to consolidated-undrained shear tests,
during which the water contents remain unchanged, the cohesion must be equal for both
samples, and in the shear-strength diagram the two tests must consequently show the same
failure line (Fig. 5) ; but the effective major principal stresses are different, corresponding
to the different consolidation pressures, and the normal stresses on the failure planes are
consequently different also. The frictional resistance, and therefore the total shear strengths
found by the two tests, have thus different magnitudes, and the smaller strength is found for
the sample with the lower initial water content, as indicated in Fig. 5.
In the strength/water-content diagram (Fig. 6) the results of shear tests on samples
consolidated from the two different initial water contents show two curves, each running
approximately parallel to the corresponding consolidation curve. It may be noted in this
connexion that the more cohesive the soil the less pronounced is the dependence on the
initial water content.
Fig. 6 shows the strength/water-content curves resulting from two series of direct shear
tests with two different initial water contents. For each series the strengths found fall on a
single curve independent of the method of test, and it may be observed that the strength/
water-content curves run approximately parallel to the corresponding consolidation curves.
Using corresponding values of shear strength, normal stress on the failure plane (directly
measured in the drained direct shear test), and major principal stress (indirectly determined
from the water content at failure), each of the two test series in Fig. 6 permits a determination
of the true angle of internal friction. The tests carried out with samples consolidated from
an initial water content equal to the liquid limit thus give an angle of 21 degrees, whereas
the tests in which an initial water content of 31 per cent. was used result in an angle of 20
degrees.
It is now possible, for both of the test series, to divide the shear strengths into their component parts, cohesion and friction resistance.
If, moreover, the calculated value of the
cohesion is plotted against the water content in the strength/water-content diagram in
Fig. 6, the points from both test series fall on a single curve. It is therefore proved that the
relationship between cohesion and water content is independent.of the method of test and

Fig. 4

Fig. 6

Consolidation

A Resutisol
undromrd

cows

consdidatid(CU) tests

0 Results of consolidatedconstant-vokme@XV)

STRESS
KILOGRAMS
PER SO.
:

CW.

content relation&p.
slammary
of reoulto o! dir+
ohear
toot0
with romoulded Uetlibag
day oonoolidatod
f&m
an initial water oontant = liquidlimit

Shear otrongth/water

= 63porcant

Mobrm circloa for two mamplsa

with equal water coatant at
failure, but conmolidrted &ona
diflaront initial water contont8
twi)

content rolationohip.
Summary
o! remalb of two oerhs
of direat ohaar toot0
camiod out with remoulded tile clay, Zurioh, oonsolShoor--/water

idat@d from initial water con-t8

of 44 per coat N
(liquid limit) and 31 per cent mqmtively
z

2x6

LAURITS

._

B JERRUM

r,

I I I/I./l I I I
I

FUNDAMENTALS

OF SHEAR

STRENGTH

OF SOILS

2x7

the initial water content.

In Fig. 6 such a curve is shown ; it is seen to run approximately
parallel to the strength/water-content
curve relating to samples consolidated from the liquid
limit.
COHESION,/WATER-CONTENT

CURVES

The magnitude of the cohesion of a saturated intact clay is a function of the water content
only, and the best impression of this relationship is obtained by plotting the logarithm of the
The resultant
curve is characteristic
for the soil in
cohesion against the water content.
question, being independent
of all factors which otherwise affect the total shear strength.
Figs 4 and 6 each show such a curve, and in Fig. 7 the cohesion/water-content
curves are
It may be observed that the magnitude
of the cohesion
plotted for ten different clays.
shows a logarithmic
increase for decreasing water content,
the curves being straight or
slightly curved lines. Moreover, the inclinations
of the curves show a regular decrease from
the colloidal clays at the top of the diagram to the silty and sandy clays at the bottom.
If the cohesion curves are compared with the corresponding
Atterberg limits, a certain
regularity may be observed.
In Fig. 8 the curves from Fig. 7 are re-plotted, the water content
in this case being expressed

in terms of the consistency

index tl

--:L.

The zero ordinate

corresponds in this graph to the liquid limit and the lOO-per-cent. ordinate to the plastic limit.
The diagram shows that the cohesion reaches a magnitude
of 03-3*0 kilograms per square
centimetre at the plastic limit, the highest values relating to the more colloidal clays. Halfway between the liquid limit and the plastic limit the cohesion amountsto
O-03-0-1 kilogram
per square centimetre.
No test results are available for water contents higher than SO per
cent.
For normal clays the cohesion is negligible above this value ; for the more colloidal
clays, however, the thixotropic
effect will be more pronounced
for water contents close to
the liquid limit.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Author is indebted to Professor Dr h.c. E. Meyer-Peter,

Director of the Federal
Institute
of Hydraulics and Soil Mechanics, Zurich, and to Professor Dr R. Haefeli for permission to carry out the shear tests described above and to publish the results.
REFERENCES
BISHOP, A. W.. and ELDIN, G., 1950. Undrained triaxial tests on saturated sands and their significance
in the general theory of shear strength. Gktechnique. 2 : 13-32.
CASAGRANDE,
A., 1939. Ueber die Scherfestigkeit von Boeden.
(On the shear strength of soils.) Bodenmechanik und neuzeitlicher Strassenbau-Zweite
Folge. (Soil mechanics and modern road-construction.Second series.)
Volk und Reich, Berlin.
CASAGRANDE, A., and CARILLO,N., 1944. Shear failure of anisotropic materials. J. Boston Sot. Civ.
31 : 74-87.
Eng.
COOPERATIVERESEARCHON STRESS-DEFORMATION
AND STRIXNGTHCHARACTERISTICS
OF SOILS, 1944.
Seventh Progress Report.
COULOMB,C. A., 1776. Essai sur une application des regles de maximis et minimis a quelques pmblbmes
de statique. (Essay on the application of maxima-and-minima rules to some statics problems.) M&noives
Acadmie
Royale des Sciences, Paris.
7 : 353A-353C.
HAEFELI, R., 1948. Shearing strength and water content, a complement to the shearing theory. Pvoc.
Second Int. Coltf. Soil Mech.
3 : 38-44.
HAEFELI. R.. and SCHAERER.C.. 1946. Der Triaxialanparat.
(The triaxial apparatus.)
Schweizerische
__
__
Ba&ei&g.
128 : 51-53; 65-67, 81-84.
HANSEN. T. B.. and GIBSON.R. E.. 1949. Undrained shear stieneths of anisotronicallv
_
- consolidated clavs.
GLloieihnique.
1 : 189-iO4.

HVORSLEV,M. J.. 1937. Ueber die Festigkeitseigenschaftengestoerter bindiger Boeden. (On the strength
properties of disturbed cohesive soils.) Ingeniavvidenskabelige
Skvifter.
A. No. 45.
159 pp.
JURGENSON,L., 1934. The shearing resistance of soils. J. Boston Sot. Civ. Eng.
21 : 242-275.
(On the shear strength of cohesive
PWNIRCIOGLU, H., 1939. Ueber die Scherfestigkeit bindiger Boeden.
5oils.J Degebo No. 7. Springer, Berlin.

.w?.

218

B JERRUM:

FUNDAMENTALS

OF

SHEAR

STRENGTH

OF

SOIL

SKEMPTON, A. .W., 194&a. A study of the immediate triaxial test on cohesive soils.
Proc. Second Znr.
ConJ Soil Mech.
1 : 192-196.
SKBMPTON, A. W., 19486. The effective stresses in saturated clays strained at constant volume.
Proc.
Seventh Znt. Gong. Appl. Mech.
1 : 378-392.
SKEMPTON,A. W., 1948c. The I&= 0 analysis of stability and its theoretical basis. PYOC.Second Znt. Conf.
Soil Mech.
1 : 72-78.
Gtotechniqne.
SKE;PT~~_N~A.W., I948d.
A study of the geotechnical properties of some post-glacial clays.
SKEM~TON, A. W., 194&.
Vane tests in the alluvial plain of the River Forth near Grangemouth.
Gdotechnique.
1 : 111-124.
SKEMPTON, A. W., 1948f. A possible relationship between true cohesion and the mineralogy of clays.
Proc. Second Znt. Conf. Soil Mech.
7 : 45-46.
TERZAGHI, K.. 1936. The shearing resistance of saturated soils and the angle between the planes of shear.
PYOC.Znt. Conf. Soil Mech.
1 : 54-56.
(Influence of
TERZAGHI, K.. 1938. Einfluss des Porenwasserdruckes auf dem Scherwiderstand der Tone.
pore-water pressure on the shearing resistance of clays.)
Dentsche Wassctwirtschaft.
9 pp.
U.S.
U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT, 1947. Triaxial shear research and pressure distribution studies on soils.
Watevw. Expt. Sta. 332 pp.