Geotechnical and Geological Engineering – CVE214

Effective Stress and Pore Water Pressure

The total stress within a mass of soil at any point below a water
table is equal to the sum of two components, which are known as;
effective stress and pore water pressure.

 Effective stress is defined as the total force on a cross

section of a soil mass which is transmitted from grain to
grain of the soil, divided by the area of the cross section,
including both solid particles and void spaces. It
sometimes is referred to as inter-granular stress.
 Pore water pressure is defined as the unit stress carried by
the water in the soil pores in a cross section.

Effective stress governs soil behavior and can be expressed as:

σ' = σ- u
Where:
σ' = the effective stress in the soil
σ= total (or applied) stress
u = pore water pressure

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Soil Strength

One of the most important engineering properties of soil is its

shearing strength, or its ability to resist sliding along internal surfaces
within a given mass. Shear strength is the property that materially
influences the bearing capacity of a foundation soil. The basic
principle is similar in many respects to an object resting on a table.

For example, imagine a brick resting on a table top as shown in above

Figure.The brick is in equilibrium under its own weight and the equal
and opposite reaction force is provided by the table.
 Now imagine a horizontal force is applied to the brick near the
table-top. If this horizontal force is small, the brick will remain
at rest, and the applied horizontal force will be balanced by an
equal and opposite force. This resisting force is developed as a
result of the roughness characteristics of the bottom of the brick
and the table surface.
 If the applied horizontal force is gradually increased, the
resisting force will also increase, always being equal in
magnitude to the applied force. When the applied force equals or
exceeds the resistance, the brick will slide across the table-top.
The slippage is a shear failure. The applied horizontal force is a
shearing force and the developed force is shear resistance.

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 Geotechnical and Geological Engineering – CVE214

The shear strength is the maximum shear resistance that the materials
are capable of developing.

Shear strength consists of two parts. The first part is the friction
between particles (physical property). The second part is called
cohesion, or no-load shear strength due to a chemical bond
between particles.

1. Angle of Internal Frictionn

The shear strength of a granular soil, such as sands, gravels and
some silts, is closely analogous to the frictional resistance of
solids in contact, as described above and shown in above Figure.
The relationship between the normal stress acting on a plane in
the soil and its shearing strength can be expressed as,
τf = σ tan φ
Where:
τf = the shearing stress at failure, or the shear strength
σ = normal stress acting on the failure plane
φ = friction angle

The internal friction of a given soil mass is related to,

A. The sliding friction between individual soil grains
B. The interlocking of soil particles.
Shear strength attributable to friction requires a normal force (σ),
and the soil material must exhibit friction characteristics, such as
multiple contact areas.
In dense soils, the individual soil grains can interlock, much like
the teeth of two highly irregular gears. For sliding to occur, the
individual grains must be lifted over one another against the
normal stress (σ). Therefore, the force required to overcome
particle interlock is proportional to the normal stress, just the
same as sliding friction is proportional to normal stress. In soil
mechanics φ is designated the angle of internal friction, because
it represents the sum of sliding friction plus interlocking.
The angle of internal friction (φ) is a function of density,
roundness or angularity, and particle size.

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2. Cohesion

When a saturated clay is consolidated, that is, when the

volume of voids decreases as a result of water being squeezed
out of the pores, the shear strength increases with normal
stress.
If the shear strength of clays which have a previous history
of consolidation (i.e. pre-consolidated) is measured, the
relationship between shear strength and normal stress is no
longer a line intersecting the ordinate at zero. The clays
exhibit a memory, or cohesive shear strength.
In other words, the clays remember the pre-consolidation
pressure they were previously subjected to. This means
considerable shear strength is retained by the soil.

Above figure is an example of the relationship between shear

strength and normal stress for a pre-consolidated plastic clay
as derived from a triaxial shear test. The inter-section of the
line at the ordinate is called the cohesion.

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Cohesion is associated with fine grain materials such as clays

and some silts. Cohesion is the attraction between soil
particles. It is a function of clay mineralogy, moisture content,
particle orientation (soil structure), and density.

Coulomb Equation for Shear Strength

The equation for shear strength as a linear function of
total stress is called the Coulomb equation because it
was first proposed by C.A. Coulomb in 1773.

τf = c + σ tan φ
In terms of effective stress:

τf = c + (σ - u) tan φ
where:
τf = shear strength
c = cohesion
σ = total stress acting on the failure plane
φ = friction angle
u = pore water pressure

Above two equations are the most widely used equations in

geotechnical engineering, since they approximately describe the shear
strength of any soil under drained conditions. They are the basis for
the bearing capacity equations.

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Soil Compaction

Compaction and Objectives

• Many types of earth construction, such as dams, retaining walls,

highways, and airport, require man-placed soil, or fill. To
compact a soil, that is, to place it in a dense state.
• The dense state is achieved through the reduction of the air voids
in the soil, with little or no reduction in the water content. This
process must not be confused with consolidation, in which water
is squeezed out under the action of a continuous static load.

Objectives:
(1) Decrease future settlements
(2) Increase shear strength
(3) Decrease permeability

 Compaction - General Principles:

The degree of compaction of soil is measured by its dry unite weight

I.Loose Soils must be compacted to:
a. Increase their unite weights,
b. Increase the strength characteristics of soils, thereby increasing
bearing capacity,
c. Decrease the amount of undesirable settlement, Reduce
compressibility, water absorption and Permeability.
d. Increase Stability of slopes of embankments.

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 Geotechnical and Geological Engineering – CVE214
Factors Affecting Compaction:

1. Water content
2. Amount of compaction / Compaction Energy
3. Soil Type
4. Admixtures (calcium chloride acts as soil flocculent, causes slight
increase in the compaction density)

Soil Improvement

1. Compaction
2. Theory of Compaction
3. Properties and Structure of Compacted Fine-Grained Soils
4. Field Compaction Equipment and Procedures
5. Field Compaction Control and Specifications
6. Estimating Performance of Compacted Soils

General Compaction Methods

Comparison-Why?
• In the early days of compaction, because construction equipment
was small and gave relatively low compaction densities, a laboratory
method that used a small amount of compacting energy was required.
As construction equipment and procedures were developed which
gave higher densities, it became necessary to increase the amount of
compacting energy in the laboratory test.

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 Geotechnical and Geological Engineering – CVE214
• The modified test was developed during World War II by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineering to better represent the compaction
required for airfield to support heavy aircraft. The point is that
increasing the compactive effort tends to increase the maximum dry
density, as expected, but also decrease the optimum water content.

Theory of Compaction (Laboratory Test)

For the similar compacting efforts, the dry unite weight of
compacted soil is increase as the moisture content increases. The
laboratory test generally used to obtained max. dry unite weight of
compaction and the optimum moisture content is called ' Proctor
Compaction test'.

Origin
The fundamentals of compaction of fine-grained soils are relatively
new. R.R. Proctor in the early 1930’s was building dams for the old
Bureau of Waterworks and Supply in Los Angeles, and he developed
the principles of compaction in a series of articles in Engineering
News-Record. In his honor, the standard laboratory compaction test
which he developed is commonly called the proctor test.

Purpose
The purpose of a laboratory compaction test is to determine the proper
amount of mixing water to use when compacting the soil in the field
and the resulting degree of denseness which can be expected from
compaction at this optimum water

Impact compaction
The proctor test is an impact compaction. A hammer is dropped
several times on a soil sample in a mold. The mass of the hammer,
height of drop, number of drops, number of layers of soil, and the
volume of the mold are specified.

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Test Equipment

Variables of Compaction
Proctor established that compaction is a function of four variables:
(1) Dry density (d) or dry unit weight d.
(2) Water content w
(3) Compactive effort (energy E)
(4) Soil type (gradation, presence of clay minerals, etc.)

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Procedures and Results

Procedures
1. Several samples of the same soil, but at different water contents,
are compacted according to the compaction test specifications.
2. The total or wet density and the actual water content of each
compacted sample are measured.
3. Plot the dry densities d versus water contents w for each
compacted sample. The curve is called as a compaction curve.

Relative Density of Granular

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Procedures and Results-Explanation

Procedures and Results-Notes

1. Each data point on the curve represents a single compaction

test, and usually four or five individual compaction tests are
required to completely determine the compaction curve.
2. At least two specimens wet and two specimens dry of
optimum, and water contents varying by about 2%.
3. Optimum water content is typically slightly less than the
plastic limit (ASTM suggestion).
4. Typical values of maximum dry density are around 1.6 to
2.0 Mg/m3 with the maximum range from about 1.3 to 2.4
Mg/m3. Typical optimum water contents are between 10%
and 20%, with an outside maximum range of about 5% to
40%.

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Effects of Soil Types on Compaction

The soil type-that is, grain-size distribution, shape of the soil grains,
specific gravity of soil solids, and amount and type of clay minerals
present.

Engineering Properties-Summary

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Engineering Properties-Notes

a. Engineers must consider not only the behavior of the soil

as compacted but the behavior of the soil in the
completed structure, especially at the time when the
stability or deformation of the structure is most critical.
b. For example, consider an element of compacted soil in a
dam core. As the height of the dam increases, the total
stresses on the soil element increase. When the dam is
performing its intended function of retaining water, the
percent saturation of the compacted soil element is
increased by the permeating water. Thus the engineer
designing the earth dam must consider not only the
strength and compressibility of the soil element as
compacted, but also its properties after is has been
subjected to increased total stresses and saturated by
permeating water.

Measurement of Field Compaction

Most common methods are:
1) Sand cone method
2) Rubber balloon method
3) Nuclear method
Sand Cone Test

Dry weight of calibrated sand to fill the hole

Volume of the hole 
Dry density of calibrated sand

Dry weight of the soil extracted from the hole

 dry in the field 
Volume of the hole

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