Virginia Polytechnic Institute

And State University

The Charles E. Via, Jr.
Department of Civil Engineering
CENTER FOR
GEOTECHNICAL PRACTICE AND RESEARCH
USE AND MEASUREMENT OF
FULLY SOFTENED SHEAR STRENGTH
By
Bernardo A. Castellanos
and
Thomas L. Brandon
Report of a study performed by the Virginia Tech Center for
Geotechnical Practice and Research

November, 2014
CGPR # 80

CGPR
Center for
Geotechnical Practice and Research
200 Patton Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061

UseandMeasurementof
FullySoftenedShearStrength
byBernardoA.CastellanosandThomasL.Brandon
CharlesE.Via,Jr.DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering

ABSTRACT
ThefullysoftenedshearstrengthwasdefinedbySkempton(1970)asthepeakdrainedshear
strengthofaclayinanormallyconsolidatedstate.Alltheexperienceavailableontheapplicability
ofthefullysoftenedshearstrengthforslopesisbasedonbackanalyses.Backanalysesoffirst
timefailuresincutsinstifffissuredclaysandembankmentsconstructedoffatclayshaveshown
that,overalongperiodoftime,theshearstrengthgetsreducedfromwhatismeasuredinthe
laboratoryusingundisturbedsamplestothefullysoftenedshearstrength.Thesebackanalyses
require knowledge or assumption of pore pressures in the slope, which will have a significant
influenceontheshearstrengthobtained.
KarlTerzaghi,in1936,wasthefirstpersonthatqualitativelyexplainedthebehaviorofcutslopes
instifffissuredclays.AccordingtoTerzaghi(1936),asofteningprocessisinitiatedbythewater
percolatingintothefissurescausingswellinganddecreasingtheoverallshearstrengthoftheclay
mass.InvestigationspresentedlaterbySkemptonandhiscolleaguesshowedthatthecontrolling
shearstrengthforcutsinstifffissuredclayswasequaltothefullysoftenedshearstrengthand
recommendedthisshearstrengthtobeusedfordesign(Skempton1970;ChandlerandSkempton
1974;Chandler1974;Skempton1977).Skempton(1977)concludedthatdisplacementscaused
byprogressivefailuredecreasetheshearstrengthofstiffclaystowardthefullysoftenedshear
strength.
Atfirst,itwasbelievedthatonlystifffissuredclaysweresubjectedtosofteningandthatintact
clays should be designed using the peak shear strength measured using undisturbed samples
(SkemptonandBrown1961;Skempton1964,1970).Recentpublicationshaveshowedthatthe
likelihoodofaclayexperiencingsofteningismoredependentontheplasticityoftheclayrather
thanthefissures(Bjerrum1967;Chandler1984a;MesriandAbdelGhaffar1993).Fatclays,when
comparedtoleanclays,tendtobemorebrittle.Thismeansthatfatclayshaveamorepronounced
decreaseinshearstrengthafterthepeakshearstrengthisachievedandforthisreasonaremore
susceptibletoprogressivefailure.
Firsttime failures in stiff clays usually occur a long period of time after construction. For this
reason,steadystateseepagewasusedinthebackanalysesofthecasehistoriespresentedby
Skemptonandhiscolleagues.Theyfoundthataporepressureratioof0.3wasapplicabletofirst

timefailuresincutsinstifffissuredclays(James1970;VaughanandWalbancke1973;Chandler
1974;Skempton1977).
InvestigationspresentedbyProfessorSteveWrightandhiscolleaguesoftheUniversityofTexas
at Austin showed, based on backanalyses, that the fully softened shear strength is also the
controllingshearstrengthofcompactedembankmentsconstructedofhighlyplasticclays(Green
andWright1986;KayyalandWright1991;Wright2005;Wrightetal.2007).SteveWrightandhis
colleaguesconcludedthatweathering,expressedincyclesofwettinganddrying,wasthemain
mechanism decreasing the shear strength of compacted clay embankments toward the fully
softenedshearstrength.Failuresinthistypeofprojectswerefoundtobeshallow(lessthan10ft
deep)andtooccurnumerousyearsafterconstruction(USACE1983;StaufferandWright1984;
KayyalandWright1991;Wrightetal.2007).Aporepressureratiorangingfrom0.4to0.6was
foundtobeapplicableforthecasehistoriesanalyzedbyWrightandhiscolleagues.DayandAxten
(1989)recommendedtheuseoftheinfiniteslopemethodwithseepageparalleltotheslopeface
forslopestabilityanalyses.ThissamerecommendationwaspresentedbyLade(2010).Aseepage
paralleltotheslopefacecorrespondstoaporepressureratiorangingfrom0.4to0.5forslopes
withratiosof2H:1Vto5H:1V.Failuresoncompactedclayembankmentsrelatedtosofteninghave
beenreportedinTexas(StaufferandWright1984;KayyalandWright1991;Wright2005;Wright
etal.2007),andMississippi(USACE1983).AccordingtoMcCook(2012),softeningofthistypeof
structuresalsooccurinLouisiana
To perform slope stability analyses using fully softened shear strength parameter, the type of
soils,typeofprojects,anddepthswherethisshearstrengthisapplicable,andtheporepressures
andfactorofsafetytobeusedindesignshouldbedetermined.Asstatedabove,thefullysoftened
shear strength has been found to be the controlling shear strength of cuts in stiff clays and
compacted embankments constructed of highly plastic clays. Steady state seepage conditions
shouldbeusedtodesigncutsinstiffclays,andaporepressureratiorangingfrom0.4to0.6ora
phreaticsurfaceatthesurfaceoftheslopeshouldbeusedtodesigncompactedembankments
madeoffatclays.
Incutsinstiffclays,bothshallowanddeepfailuresrelatedtofullysoftenedshearstrengthhave
beenobserved.Forthistypeofproject,therecommendedmethodologyfordesignistoassigna
curvedfullysoftenedfailureenvelopetothewholeslope,searchforthecriticalfailuresurface,
andobtainthefactorofsafety.Thisapproachwillprovidethecorrectfactorofsafetybutthe
critical surface obtained might not be what is expected to occur in situ. Pore pressures
correspondingtosteadystateseepageshouldbeusedfordesign.Itshouldbeemphasizedthat
therecommendationtousefullysoftenedshearstrengthinfirsttimefailuresinstiffclaysisbased
on the backanalyses of case histories. Research is required to better understand progressive
failureanditsinfluenceontheshearstrengthmobilizedinsitu.
In compacted embankments constructed of fat clays, only shallow failures related to fully
softened shear strength have been observed. For this type of projects, the recommended
methodology for design is to assign a curved fully softened failure envelope to the whole
iii

embankment, search for the critical failure surface, and obtain the factor of safety. If for any
reasondeepfailuresaretobeconsideredindesigningcompactedembankmentsconstructedof
fatclays,basedonthefactthatfailuresinthistypeofprojectsareusuallyshallow,thefirst10ft
below thesurfaceofthe slopeshould beassumed tohaveashearstrength equaltothe fully
softenedshearstrength.Porepressuresshouldbecalculatedbasedonawatertablecoincident
withtheslopeface.
The fully softened shear strength should not be used in the foundation soil. If any softening
occurredinthefoundationsoil,thisshouldbereflectedintheshearstrengthmeasured using
undisturbed samples. Softening of the foundation soil is not expected to occur after the
embankmentisconstructed.
The consequences of shallow and a deep failures are usually not the same. For this reason, is
reasonablethatthesamefactorofsafetyshouldnotberequiredforbothcases.Ashallowfailure
maybeconsideredbysomeagenciessolelyasamaintenanceissue.Thefactorofsafetyshould
bebasedontheuncertaintiesintheparametersbeingusedfordesignandtheconsequencesof
failureofthestructure(DuncanandWright2005).Theparametersthathavemoreimpactonthe
factor of safety obtained for slope stability are shear strength and pore pressures. The fully
softenedshearstrengthisthelowestshearstrengthexpectedtobemobilizedinfirsttimeslides.
This shear strength, coupled with a conservative assumption of pore pressure gives a low
uncertaintyintheparametersthathavethemostinfluenceinthefactorofsafety.
Forshallowfailures,theconsequencesoffailureareverylow.Forthisreason,ifthefullysoftened
shear strength is used, coupled with a water table corresponding to the worst case scenario
possible,afactorofsafetyaslowas1.25canbeused.Fordeepfailures,theconsequencesof
failurewillvarydependingonthestructure.Theporepressureforthistypeofanalysesshouldbe
basedontheworstseepageconditionexpectedthroughoutthelifeoftheproject.Inthiscase,
forstructureswithlowtomidconsequencesoffailure,afactorofsafetyof1.35canbeused.For
structureswithahighconsequenceoffailure,afactorofsafetyof1.50canbeused.Thesefactors
ofsafetyarebasedontherecommendationspresentedbyDuncanandWright(2005)forfactors
ofsafetybasedonuncertaintiesintheparametersandconsequencesoffailures.
The fully softened shear strength should be measured using normally consolidated remolded
specimensasrecommendedbySkempton(1977).Soilsamplesshouldbehydratedfortwodays
usingdistilledorsitespecificwater.Thesoilsampleshouldthenbewashedorpushedthrougha
No.40(425m)sieve.Toachievethedesiredwatercontent,thesoilsamplecabbeairdriedor
morewatershouldbeadded.Watercontentsequaltoorhigherthantheliquidlimitshouldbe
usedtopreparetestspecimensforfullysoftenedshearstrengthmeasurements.
Thedirectsheardeviceis recommendedforfullysoftenedshear strength measurements. The
Bromheadringsheardevicedoesnotprovideaccuratevaluesoffullysoftenedshearstrength.
Thetriaxialdevicerequiresmoretimeandefforttomeasurethefullysoftenedshearstrengthand
providesaboutthesamefullysoftenedshearstrengthasthedirectsheardevice.
iv

The fully softened shear strength failure envelope can be estimated using the correlation
presentedin Figure6.59forthe parametersrequiredforEquation4.1.This correlationis only
intended to be used in preliminary design or if better information is not available. Laboratory
determinationoffullysoftenedshearstrengthisalwaysrecommendedforfinaldesigns.Ifthisis
notpossible,theconfidencelimitspresentedinFigure6.59shouldbeusedtodeterminethefully
softenedshearstrengthparameters.