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Effective Stress: Clay 3 Clay (Sat) 3 Sand (Sat) 3

The document discusses effective stress in soils and provides an example problem. It defines total stress, effective stress, and pore water pressure. For a given soil profile with clay overlying sand, it calculates the total stress, pore water pressure, and effective stress at different depths. When fill is placed on top of the clay, it explains that the effective stress initially remains the same as the excess pore pressure increases, but over time the pore pressure dissipates and the effective stress increases to match the added total stress.

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466 views2 pages

Effective Stress: Clay 3 Clay (Sat) 3 Sand (Sat) 3

The document discusses effective stress in soils and provides an example problem. It defines total stress, effective stress, and pore water pressure. For a given soil profile with clay overlying sand, it calculates the total stress, pore water pressure, and effective stress at different depths. When fill is placed on top of the clay, it explains that the effective stress initially remains the same as the excess pore pressure increases, but over time the pore pressure dissipates and the effective stress increases to match the added total stress.

Uploaded by

slawek780303
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

EFFECTIVE STRESS

The principle of effective stress states that in a fully saturated soil, the total
vertical stress is equal to the effective stress plus the pore water pressure.

 = ' + u
(i) Total vertical stress () at a point in a soil is the stress exerted by the
weight of soil above that point.
(ii) Effective stress (') is the stress exerted in the soil skeleton i.e. across
the inter-particle contacts.
(iii) Pore water pressure (u) is the pressure in the water contained in the
voids between the soil particles.

PROBLEM:

A site investigation revealed that 9m of clay overlay 4m of sand, resting on


bedrock. The water table occurs at 1.5m below ground
level. The densities for the soils are as follows;

ρclay = 1.796 Mg/m3 ρclay (sat) = 1.844Mg/m3 ρsand (sat) = 1.885Mg/m3

Draw the profile of total and effective stress and pore water pressure down
to the bedrock.

A layer of fill 3m thick (unit weight = 19kN/m3) is placed on top of the clay.
Describe how the effective stress at the bottom of the clay layer changes over
time.

SOLUTION:

Depth (m) Total stress (σ) Porewater Effective stress


kN/m2 pressure (u) (σ’) kN/m2
kN/m2
0 0 0 0
1.5 1.5x1.796x9.81 0 26.43
= 26.43
9m 26.43 + 7.5x1x9.81 162.1 – 73.58
7.5x1.844x9.81 = 73.58 = 88.53
= 162.1
13m 162.1 + 11.5x1x9.81 236.1 – 112.8
4x1.885x9.81 = 112.8 = 123.3
= 236.1
ρ = 1.796Mg/m3 1.5m 26.43
W.T.

clay
ρsat = 1.844Mg/m3 7.5m

73.58 88.53
sand
ρsat= 1.885Mg/m3 4m
112.8 123.4

u σ’ σ (kN/m 3)

Immediately after placing the fill, the particles of soil will try to move closer
and increase the effective stress to carry the total stress increase
( = 3 x19 = 57 kN/m2). However, the water trapped between the particles is
incompressible and will resist the particle rearrangement. This causes an
increase in the pore water pressure (excess pore-water pressure) above the
static value (73.58kN/m2). The magnitude of the excess pore water pressure
is 57 kN/m2 i.e. equal to the total stress increase. Before the excess pore
water pressure dissipates, the soil particles cannot re-orientate themselves
and so cannot increase the effective stress between them. Consequently,
immediately after placing the fill, the effective stress remains the same as
prior to the stress increase.
σ + ∆σ = σ’ + (u + ∆σ)
162.1 + 57 = 88.53 + (73.58 + 57) (kN/m 2)

In the long-term the pore water pressure will dissipate and as the water
drains away the particles can now rearrange themselves and cause an
effective stress increase equivalent to the pore water pressure reduction i.e.
the total stress increase is gradually transferred from the pore water to the soil
skeleton and the pore water pressure returns to the static value.

σ + ∆σ = (σ’ + ∆σ) + u
162.1 + 57 = (88.53 + 57) + 73.58 (kN/m 2)

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