A stress on the soil depends on the load per unit area.

Construction of a foundation mainly

increases the stresses on the soil. It is necessary to estimate the net increase of vertical stresses
acting upon the soil as a result of construction of a foundation so that we can calculate the
settlement strategy. As the stress increases in the soil, the soil can be deformed by the stress.
There are two stresses can acts on a plane: normal stress () and shear stress() .

Stresses acting on a soil plane

Consider a two dimensional soil element where all the stresses are acting on the side of the soil
element as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Soil element subjected to stresses

As can be seen in the figure, the normal stress is always perpendicular to the shear stress. We
are now going to determine the normal stress and shear stress acting on the inclined plane that
makes an angle 𝜃 to the side of the block.
Draw first the free body diagram of the triangle EFC.

Figure 8. Free body diagram

The block is said to be in steady state since the forces are equal and opposite forces are acting
on the block.

Let the normal stress and shear stress be represented by 𝜎𝑛 and 𝜏𝑛 , respectively.

From geometry: 𝐸𝐶 = 𝐸𝐹 cos 𝜃 and 𝐹𝐶 = 𝐸𝐹 sin 𝜃

If we let the total normal force acting on EF plane be F 1, then

𝐹1 = 𝜎𝑛 𝐸𝐹, where 𝜎𝑛 is the stress and EF is the area

From equilibrium condition:

 𝐸𝐹 𝜎𝑛 = 𝐹𝐶𝜎𝑥 sin 𝜃 + 𝐹𝐶 𝜏𝑥𝑦 cos 𝜃 + 𝜎𝑦 𝐸𝐶 cos 𝜃 + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 𝐹𝐶 sin 𝜃
𝐸𝐹 𝜎𝑛 = 𝐸𝐹 𝜎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 𝐸𝐹 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 + 𝐸𝐹𝜎𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 + 𝐸𝐹𝜏𝑥𝑦 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃
𝜎𝑛 = 𝜎𝑥 sin2 𝜃 + 2𝜏𝑥 𝑦 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 + 𝜎𝑦 cos2 𝜃

Simplifying using identities:

𝜎𝑥+𝜎𝑦 𝜎𝑦 −𝜎𝑥
𝜎𝑛 = 2
+ 2
cos 2𝜃 + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 sin 2𝜃 (eq. 07)

Applying equilibrium to solve for 𝜏𝑛 :

𝜏𝑛 𝐸𝐹 = 𝜎𝑥 𝐸𝐹 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 + 𝜎𝑦 𝐸𝐹 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 − 𝜏𝑥𝑦 𝐸𝐹 cos2 𝜃 + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 𝐸𝐹 sin2 𝜃

𝜏𝑛 = 𝜎𝑥 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 + 𝜎𝑦 𝐸𝐹 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 − 𝜏𝑥𝑦 (cos2 𝜃 − sin2 𝜃)

Solving for the shear stress:

𝜎𝑦 −𝜎𝑥
𝜏𝑛 = 2
sin 2𝜃 − 𝜏𝑥𝑦 cos 2𝜃 (eq.08)

Solve for the value of 𝜃:

Let 𝜏𝑛 = 0
𝜎𝑦 −𝜎𝑥
𝜏𝑛 = 2
sin 2𝜃 − 𝜏𝑥𝑦 cos 2𝜃 = 0

𝜏𝑥𝑦
tan 2𝜃 = ⁄𝜎𝑦 −𝜎𝑥
2

2𝜏𝑥 𝑦
2𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( )
𝜎𝑦 −𝜎𝑥

1 2𝜏𝑥 𝑦
𝜃 = 2 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 (𝜎 ) (eq. 09)
𝑦 −𝜎𝑥

The plane that makes an angle 𝜃 with the block, which only has normal stress is called the
principal plane.

There are two principal stresses that can be formed by making an angle of 90 0 to each other
where the shear stress is zero. They are called the major principal stress, 𝜎1 , and the minor
principal stress, 𝜎3 .

𝜎𝑥+ 𝜎𝑦 𝜎𝑦 −𝜎𝑥 2
𝜎1 = 2
+ √( 2
) + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 2 (eq. 10)

𝜎𝑥+𝜎𝑦 𝜎𝑦−𝜎𝑥 2
𝜎3 = 2
− √( 2
) + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 2 (eq. 11)
Mohr’s Circle of Stress

Mohr’s circle can be used to determine the normal stress and shear stress acting on a plane. In
the Mohr’s circle each and every point on the circumference of the circle is a stress component.

To plot the stresses on the Mohr’s circle, we consider the normal compressive stress to be positive
and the shear stress that produces the motion of an element in a counter clockwise direction as
positive.

Using Figure 7, the coordinates on planes AD and CD are as follows:

For plane AD: normal stress is +𝜎𝑥 and shear stress is +𝜏𝑥𝑦

For plane CD: normal stress is +𝜎𝑥 and shear stress is -𝜏𝑥𝑦 since it produces counter clockwise
rotation.

In order to draw Mohr’s circle on a Cartesian coordinate system, the x-axis and y-axis are
identified as the σ-axis and τ-axis, respectively. The first two points of the circle to plot
are point 1 (σx, τxy) and point 2 (σy, -τxy). The line connecting these two points is the
diameter of the circle, knowing this, the circle can now be drawn. The center of the circle
is located where the diameter intersects the σ-axis, it is also the average normal stress
(σavg). The average normal stress can be read from the coordinate system if it was drawn
to scale or it can be calculated using the formula
𝜎𝑥 +𝜎𝑦
𝜎𝑎𝑣𝑒 = (eq. 12)
2

The two end points of the horizontal diameter are 𝜎1 and 𝜎3 . The point σ1 represents the
maximum normal stress (σmax) and the point σ3 is the minimum normal stress (σmin). The
equations for finding these values are shown in equation 10 and equation 11,
respectively.
The vertical diameter passes through σavg and goes up to positive 𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 and down to
negative 𝜏𝑚𝑖𝑛 . The equation to find the value of 𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥,𝑚𝑖𝑛 which represents the radius of the circle
is:
𝜎𝑥−𝜎𝑦 2
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥,𝑚𝑖𝑛 = ±√( 2
) + 𝜏𝑥𝑦 2 (eq.13)

Figure 9. Mohr’s circle of stress

Example 04:
A soil particle is found to be subjected to a maximum stress of 14.6 kN/m2, and a minimum stress of -4.18
kN/m2 . Find the normal and shear stress on the plane of 𝜃 = 50𝑜 with respect to the major principal stress
and also find the maximum shear stress.
Solution:
Solve for the normal stress:
𝜎1+𝜎3 𝜎1−𝜎3 14.6−4.18 14.6+4.18
𝜎𝑛 = 2
+ 2
cos 2𝜃 = 2
+ 2
cos 2(50𝑜 )

𝝈𝒏 = 𝟑. 𝟓𝟖 𝒌𝑷𝒂
Solve for the shear stress normal to the plane:
𝜎1−𝜎3 14.6+4.18
𝜏𝑛 = 2
sin 2𝜃 = 2
sin 2(500 )

𝝉𝒏 = 𝟗. 𝟐𝟓 𝒌𝑷𝒂
Solve for the maximum shear stress:
𝜎1−𝜎3 14.6+4.18
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 = =
2 2

𝝉𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝟗. 𝟑𝟗 𝒌𝑷𝒂