CE 332

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING I

Lecture 3: Stress changes within a soil due to application

of an external load
Mrs Honoria Homu-Hedziga
Room 116
State of Stress at a point due to self-weight

• For a saturated soil with no water movement, equilibrium

exists between stresses in the solid and liquid phase
• The stress related to the internal forces acting on the contact
points of the particles is termed effective stress whilst the stresses
within the liquid phase is termed pore pressure. The
combination of these two stresses represents the total stress at a
point.
• Terzaghi’s concept of effective stress states that:
 = ’ + u
In order to fully understand the concept of effective stress, let
us consider an example.
State of Stress at a point due to self-weight

Consider a cylinder containing coarse granular material in a

dry or a wet condition subjected to a force ‘N'

If we assume there is no friction between the soil

particles and the inner surface of the cylinder, the
entire force N is transmitted completely to the
base. The average vertical stress at the base of the
cylinder is the ratio of N to the internal cross-
sectional area of the cylinder. This stress is much
less than the stresses created at the contact points.

As there is no pore pressure in the system the total stress and

effective stress at the base of the cylinder are identical.
State of Stress at a point due to self-weight

Consider now that the cylinder is filled with water until the
soil is fully saturated and that a force ‘U’ is applied through
another piston
The loading plate that carries force ‘N’ has a hole
‘h’ for passage of water to ensure a uniform pore
pressure through the whole system.
If the self-weight of the components are negligible
then the total vertical stress at the bottom of the
cylinder is the sum of the pore pressure caused by
‘U’ and the effective vertical stresses caused by ‘N’.
In this example, the loading systems for the particles and the
water are independent with no apparent relationship.
Soil Strength: Stress analysis
One key question concerning any geotechnical structure is its
safety.
To answer this, two points must be addressed:
1. How are the applied loads (due to external sources and the
soil’s own weight) distributed within the soil mass as
stresses?
2. Is the soil strong enough to withstand these stresses?

•The loads and forces applied to a solid body such as a soil

mass are distributed within the body as stresses.
Soil Strength: Stress analysis
Imagine a cubical element within a 3-D body under a state of
stress, there could be three independent stresses action on each
pair of opposite faces
Soil Strength: Stress analysis
•Two of the stresses on each face act parallel to the face, at
right angles to each other: these are the shear stresses, and a
denoted by 
•The third stress acts perpendicular to the face of the cube: it
is known as the normal (or direct) stress, and is denoted by  if it
is a total stress and ’ if it is an effective stress.
Soil Strength
•In geotechnical engineering, strength may be defined as the ability
to resist shear. It is the ability of a material to resist shear which
enables the principal stresses to be different in different directions.
•Unless a material can withstand shear stresses, it will not be
possible to form and maintain non-horizontal surfaces such as
embankments and cutting slopes
•Soil can withstand shear stresses, while water cannot. Therefore it
is necessary to distinguish the component of stress carried by the
soil skeleton from the component carried by the pore water,
according to the principle of effective stress.
•Soil is able to withstand shear stresses as a result of interparticle
friction. Thus interparticle friction is the main source of strength
for nearly all soils.
State of Stress at a point due to External Forces

•External loading increases the total stress at every point in a

saturated soil above its initial value.
•In clay soils immediately after the application of the load, the
pore pressure increases to almost equal the applied load and
the pressurised water tends to move towards the free drained
boundaries.
•Over time, the excess pore pressure dissipates and the pore
pressure approaches its initial value. The volume of the clay
layer decreases to balance the volume of the transported water
and remains saturated.
•The applied load is gradually transmitted to the solid particles
and the associated volume change causes the settlement of the
layer. This phenomenon is known as consolidation.
State of Stress at a point due to External Forces

Consider a cylinder with a spring supporting a piston and

filled with water to the top of the spring.
The piston seals the
water but has smooth
contact with the walls
of the cylinder. The
valve is then closed and
the system is in
equilibrium. There is no
force in the spring and
no pressure in the water.

If a normal force N is applied to the piston, the water will resist the
force because it is incompressible, and there will be no deformation.
State of Stress at a point due to External Forces
If the valve is opened for a specified period of time, the pressurised
water drains through the valve (b). As a result, the spring undergoes
a shortening equal to the vertical displacement of the piston and
the load N is resisted by both the water and the spring.

If the valve remains open until the water pressure decreases to zero (c), the
spring takes the entire force applied to the piston.
The time over which the force N is transmitted from the water to the spring
depends on the diameter of the valve, the volume of water inside the cylinder
and the elastic characteristics of the spring.
State of Stress at a point due to External Forces
•In a real soil the valve represents the voids between the solid
particles and the spring represents the solid particles. The load N is
normally applied through a footing or a similar type of structure.
•A gradual process of redistribution of load to the particles starts
immediately after application of the external load (consolidation).
This process is associated with volume change (equal to the drained
water) and surface settlement.
•The rate at which the total load is applied also affects the soil
deformation behaviour. If the external load is applied in small
increments over a long period of time and the soil has free draining
boundaries, there will be no excess pore pressure and the applied
increments of load will be resisted by the solid particles. Volume
change will occur in increments similar to the loading. This type of
loading is termed drained loading.
State of Stress at a point due to External Forces
•In undrained loading the load is applied very quickly and the seepage
of water from the voids to the free boundaries takes place slowly.
•In the field, the lateral boundaries of an element of soil are not as
rigid as the walls of the cylinder model, and thus, it will undergo
vertical and horizontal deformations most probably in the reverse
directions to keep the volume unchanged.
•In the lab, drained loading is assumed when there is slow application
of load whilst rapid application of load represents undrained loading
•Compression of a clay layer may occur if the water table is drawn
downwards as a resulting of pumping. The ’ increase due to the
reduction in the level of the water table. If pumping is stopped, the
water table will recover to its initial position after time but most of the
settlement that occurred in the clay layer will not be recovered. For
this reason, soil stabilisation techniques are used to minimise volume
change due to external loading.
Stress distribution and settlement in soils
We will now deal with stress distribution and the calculate of
settlement within an idealised soil mass due to applied
external and internal loading. The elastic properties include
the Modulus of Elasticity E, and Poisson’s ratio, v.
•Stresses and settlements within a soil mass a caused by both
external and internal loading.
•External loading includes vertical loads applied on the
ground surface or near the ground surface.
•Internal loading is applied inside the soil mass away from the
ground surface (e.g., piles) and may include a vertical
concentrated force or a distributed shear stress, or a
combination of both.
Stresses and equilibrium
In 2-D space, the state of stress is represented by the three
stress components, x, z and xz
Equating the sum of the
forces in the x and z
directions to zero, two
corresponding
differential equations of
equilibrium for the
element are obtained:

where  is the unit

weight of the soil
Stresses and equilibrium
•A 2-D stress field describing the three unknown components
of stress at every point in the soil cannot be created by
considering only the two equations of equilibrium, and a third
condition is needed to relate the state of stress to the elastic
behaviour of the soil.
•Compatibility of deformations to keep the body intact thus
creates the third condition, and in elastic analysis, this
conditions of based on Hooke’s law that defines the
proportional relationship between stresses and strains.
•In 3-D space there are six components of stress that satisfy
the three differential equations of equilibrium:
Stress distribution due to external and internal loading
•The state of stresses within an elastic soil can be studied in 2-
D and 3-D systems. Stresses generated under the following
loading conditions are examined in 3-D space:
1. A concentrated vertical load applied at ground surface
2. Loaded areas using concentrated loads and concept of
superposition
3. A circular loaded area and the construction of influence
charts
4. A rectangular loaded area
5. A concentrated line load of finite length
•2-D states of stress are examined for the following
conditions:
1.A concentrated line load of infinite length
2.A uniformly or linearly loaded infinitely long strip
Boussinesq’s Solution
More than a century ago Boussinesq (1883) solved the
problem of stresses produced at any point in a homogeneous,
elastic, and isotropic medium as the result of a point load
applied on the surface of an infinitely large half-space.
•The analysis did not include body forces and the stress field
described only the effect of the external concentrated load.
The stress field satisfied the three conditions of equilibrium,
compatibility and the stress boundary conditions.
•Although independent of the Modulus of Elasticity, it does
depend on the magnitude of the Poisson’s ratio.
•Boussinesq used the conditions of equilibrium and
compatibility, together with the stress-strain relationship for
the material, to determine the stresses and strain at any point
within an isotropic, homogeneous, elastic half-space
Boussinesq’s Solution
•Boussinesq used the conditions of equilibrium and
compatibility, together with the stress-strain relationship for
the material, to determine the stresses and strains at any point
within an isotropic (having the same properties in all
directions), homogeneous (having the same properties at any
point), elastic half-space (a body of infinite depth and lateral
extent, so that it occupies half of all possible space) resulting
from the application of a point load at the surface.
•Boussinesq’s solution may be integrated for a collection of
point loads acting over any given area of the surface of the
half-space to determine the stresses and strains arising from
the application of any pattern of applied load.