Geotechnical Engineering–II [CE-321]

BSc Civil Engineering – 5th Semester

Lecture # 1
6-Sep-2017

by
Dr. Muhammad Irfan
Assistant Professor
Civil Engg. Dept. – UET Lahore
Email: mirfan1@msn.com
Lecture Handouts: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/geotech-ii_2015session
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 SOIL STRENGTH
Construction Materials
Concrete, Steel, Bricks, Wood, Aggregate,
Soil, etc.

Most important property for Civil

Engineers? Material Strength
Compressive
• Concrete, Brick, Wood 
strength
• Steel  Tensile Strength
• Soil ?

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 SOIL STRENGTH
SOIL
• Mostly loaded in compression
• But fails mostly in shear

Embankment
Strip footing

Failure surface

Mobilized shear
resistance
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 SHEAR STRENGTH
• Greatest shear stress a material can sustain before failure
• Safety of geotechnical structure dependent on soil shear strength
• Failure of soil → Failure of whole structure

Typhoon triggered landslide

Wakayama, Japan (September 2011)

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 SHEAR STRENGTH OF SOILS
• Resistance to shearing stresses
• Shear failure occurs due to sliding or rolling of particles past each
other.
• Sources of soil shear strength
– Cohesion (stress independent component)  Cohesion (c)
• Cementation between sand grains
• Electrostatic attraction between clay particles
– Frictional resistance (stress dependent component)  Angle of internal
• Interlocking between sand grains friction (f)

Rolling of particles Sliding of particles

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 SHEAR FAILURE OF SOIL
Soils generally fail in shear
Embankment

Strip footing

Failure surface
Mobilized shear
resistance

At failure, shear stress/resistance along failure surface (mobilized

shear resistance) reaches the shear strength.
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SHEAR FAILURE OF SOIL
Soils generally fail in shear

Retaining wall

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 SHEAR FAILURE OF SOIL
Soils generally fail in shear

Mobilized shear
Retaining wall resistance

Failure
surface

At failure, shear stress/resistance along failure surface (mobilized

shear resistance) reaches the shear strength.
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SHEAR FAILURE MECHANISM
Failure Surface

Y
• Soil grains slide/roll
over each other along
Difference in shear strength of X & Y? the failure surface.
• No crushing of
individual grains.
At failure, shear stress/resistance along failure surface ()
reaches shear strength (f).
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 MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA
The relationship between normal and shear stress on the failure
plane σ1
  f ( )
Graphical
 f  c   tan f representation
σ3


f = shear strength
c = cohesion
 = normal stress
f
Φ = angle of internal friction

Cohesion Friction angle

f
c
 
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MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA
Non-cohesive/Granular Soils Cohesive Soils
 (c = 0; f > 0)  (c > 0; f = 0)

f
c

 

c-f Soils
 (c > 0; f > 0)

c

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 MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA
Basic Concepts For a continuous material
N Normal stress: σ = N / A
Area: A (compression: +ve)

T Shear stress: τ = T / A
(counter-clock-wise: +ve)

Principle Stress: Max. and min. value of normal stresses

Principle Plane: Plane on which principle stresses act
• Normal stresses are either max. or min. on principle planes
• Shear stresses are zero on principle planes
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 MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA
 In terms of Total Stress

 f  c   tan f

Friction angle
Cohesion
f
c
 

f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without failure,
under any particular normal stress of . 14
 MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA
 In terms of Effective Stress

 f  c    tan f 
  u
f’
 = Total stress
u = Pore water
Effective
Effective pressure
cohesion
f friction angle
c’
’ ’

f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without failure,
under any particular normal effective stress of ’. 15
REFERENCE MATERIAL
Principles of Geotechnical Engineering – (7th Edition)
Braja M. Das
Chapter #12

Geotechnical Engineering – Principles and Practices – (2nd Edition)

Coduto, Yueng, and Kitch
Chapter #12

CONCLUDED
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