52

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Module 4:
Lecture 3 on Stress-strain relationship
and Shear strength of soils

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Contents
Stress state, Mohrs circle analysis and Pole, Principal
stress space, Stress paths in p-q space;
Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria and its limitations,
correlation with p-q space;
Stress-strain behavior; Isotropic compression and
pressure dependency, confined compression, large stress
compression, Definition of failure, Interlocking concept
and its interpretations, Drainage conditions;
Triaxial behaviour, stress state and analysis of UC, UU, CU,
CD, and other special tests, Stress paths in triaxial and
octahedral plane; Elastic modulus from triaxial tests.

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Total and effective stress circles
The total stress and
effective stress
Mohr circles have
the same radius,
but are separated
along the axis by
an amount equal to
the pore pressure.

Inability of the pore

water to resist shear
stress, so that shear
stresses are resisted
entirely by contact
forces between soil Shear stresses
grains. are not affected
by pore pressure

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Principal stress space:
The principal stresses (s1, s2, s3) experienced by a point
in our soil continuum can be used as Cartesian
coordinates to define a point D in a three-dimensional
space, called principal stress space.

This point in principal stress space only displays the

magnitudes of the principal stresses and cannot fully
represent the stress tensor because the three data
establishing the directions of the principal stresses are
not included.

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Principal stress space:
Consider a case of the point D which is having principal
stresses as 12, 6, and 3.
So, below figure shows the principal stress space for the
Point D :-
3

D
3
12
6
1
Principal stress space
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Principal stress space: The division of the principal stress
tensor into spherical and deviatoric parts.
12 1
6 = 2

3 3
1 0 1
( + 2 + 3 ) ( 3 ) + ( 3 1 )
= 1 1 + 2 1 0
3 3 3
1 1 1
1
( 2 )
+ 1 1
3
0
1 0 1 1
= 7 1 + 1 1 + (3) 0 + 2 1

1 1 1 0

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 7 0 3 2
= 7 + 1 + 0 + 2 = OA + AB + BC + CD = OD

7 1 3 0
3 3
2
1
A 2 A -1
B
7 7
O O
7 7
7 7
1 1 Principal
3 3
2 2 stress
1 -1 1 -1 space
A A
+3 +3
B B
7 -3 7 -3
O O C +2
7 C 7 -2
7 7 D
1 1
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Principal stress space is
particularly favored for
representation of the theories
of the yield strength of perfectly
plastic materials
For a perfectly plastic material
the principal stress axes can be 1
x= ( 1 + 2 + 3 )
converted to Cartesian axes as, 3
1
y= ( 2 1 )
2
1
z= (2 3 2 1 )
6

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Basic concepts for stress paths
Line OA is called a load path or force path
Line OB represents a load path
It is important to note that the response, stability and
failure of the system depend on the force path.
Force F applied
at an angle

(After Budhu, 2004)

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Basic concepts for stress paths
Soils, of course, are not marbles but the underlying
principle is the same.
The soil fabric can be thought of as a space frame with
the soil particles representing the members of the
frame and the particle contacts representing joints. The
response, stability, and failure of the soil fabric or the
space frame depend on the stress path.
Stress paths are presented in a plot showing the
relationship between stress parameters and provide a
convenient way to allow geotechnical engineer to
study the changes in stresses in soil caused by loading
conditions.
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Basic concepts for stress paths
Let us consider isotropic compression loading condition 1
By using incremental form q = (1 - 3)
of stress variants B
q
Stress invariants of isotropic
compression are:

3
2 C
3
Stress invariants at the end
of loading 1 are: 1
OA = stress path
for loading 1
p = (1+ 2 + 3)/3 p
Slope of stress path OA
O A
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Basic concepts for stress paths

Let us consider loading 2, 3 constant (i.e. 3 = 0)

but continue to increase 1

Increase in stress variants for

loading 2 are:

Stress variants at the end of

loading 2 are:

AB = stress path for loading 2

Slope of stress path AB =

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Basic concepts for stress paths

Let us consider loading 3, 1 constant (i.e. 1 = 0)

but continue to increase 3

Increase in stress variants for

loading 3 are:

Stress variants at the end of

loading 3 are:

BC = stress path for loading 3

Slope of stress path BC =

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Basic concepts for stress paths
If the soil pore water is allowed to drain from the soil
sample, the increase in stress carried by the
porewater, called excess PWP (u), will continuously
decrease to zero and the soil solids will have to
support all of the increase in applied stresses.
Let us assume loading 1 represents isotropic
consolidation.
Since the excess PWP (u1) dissipates as the pore
water drains from the soil, the mean effective stress at
the end of each increment of loading 1 is equal to the
mean total stress; i.e.
The effective stress path (ESP) and the total stress
path (TSP) are the same and represented by OA
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Total and effective stress paths
Assume that during loadings 2 and 3, sample is un-drained
q, q
B u2 B
TSP
ESP ESP
3
2 C
3 C
OA = ESP u3
1
and TSP for
loading 1 TSP

p, p
O A
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Stress paths in p-q space :
Stress variable s and t are two dimensional variables that do not
capture the effect of 2.
The mechanical response of the soil is mainly expressed in terms of
p and q which are defined as follows in terms of the principal
stresses.
Thus p and q are normal and shear stresses that are
representative of the three dimensional stress state at a point.

1
p = ( 1 + 2 + 3 )
3
1
q= ( 1 3 ) 2 + ( 1 2 ) 2 + ( 2 3 ) 2
2
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Stress paths :
So, A stress path is a plot in - space of the progression of (s,t) points
representing the loading process on a soil sample.
1/2(1+3) Stress point (s, t)

1/2(13)

3 1

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Stress paths :
So, A stress path is a plot in - space of the progression of (s,t) points
representing the loading process on a soil sample.

Stress path

3 1failure

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Stress paths
Representation of successive states of stress as 1 increases with
3 constant. Points A, B, C, represent the same stress conditions
in both diagrams
q = (1 - 3)/2

p = (1 + 3)/2

Mohr circles p q diagram

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Stress paths
Depiction of successive states of stress that exist in a
specimen is represented by a series of Mohr circles.
Plane of max. and
Plot with series of
45 to principal
stress points, and to planes E
45
connect these points D
is called a stress path
(1 - 3)/2
C
(i.e. locus of stress B
points)
Stress path represents
a state of stress and A
successive states of 3 (1 + 3)/2 1
stress.
Stress path need not Successive Mohr circles as 1
be a straight line increases with constant 3
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 When only 1 changes
1 1
ds = (d 1 + d 3 ) dt = (d 1 d 3 ) d3 = 0 and
2 2 1
ds = d 1
2
1
t 1 unchanged dt = d 1
1 2
3
3 unchanged
When only 3 changes
(s0, t0) d1 = 0 and
1
ds = d 3
1 unchanged 2
1 3 1
3 unchanged dt = d 3
2
s

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

All possible stress paths when only one of 1or 3 When only 1 changes
changes are straight lines at 45 with the d3 = 0 and
horizontal, with dt/ds=1 when 1 alone changes, 1
and dt/ds=1 when 3 alone changes. ds = d 1
2
1
t 1 unchanged dt = d 1
1 2
3
3 unchanged
When only 3 changes
(s0, t0) d1 = 0 and
1
ds = d 3
1 unchanged 2
1 3 1
3 unchanged dt = d 3
2
s

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Example problem

Initial conditions: v = h
(hydrostatic compression)

During loading or unloading

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Solution

(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)

Different stress paths for initially hydrostatic conditions
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Solution
The initial conditions for all stress paths are p0 = (v + h)/2
= v = h and q0 = 0
Final conditions are:

Thus the stress path A moves out on the p-axis by an

amount v = h

Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Solution
The initial conditions for all stress paths are p0 = (v + h)/2
= v = h and q0 = 0
For stress path B, h = v/2

These values are the (p, q) co-ordinates of the end of the

stress path B. q and p both increase by v/4 and 3v/4;
This implies stress path B has a slope of 1/3 or 18.4
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Example problem
The initial conditions for all stress paths are p0 = (v + h)/2
= v = h and q0 = 0
For stress path C, h = 0; v > 0 (increased by some amount )

These values are the (p, q) co-ordinates of the end of the

stress path C. q and p both increase by v/2 and v/2;
This implies stress path C has a slope of 1 or 45
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Solution
The initial conditions for all stress paths are p0 = (v + h)/2
= v = h and q0 = 0
For stress path D, h = -v

qf = [(v+ v) (h-v)]/2 =
= (v - v)/2 +(v)
pf = [(v+ v) + (h-v)]/2 =
= (v + v)/2 = v

These values are the (p, q) co-ordinates of the end of the

stress path D. q and p both increase by v and v; This
implies stress path D has a slope of 90
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Example problem
The initial conditions for all stress paths are p0 = (v + h)/2
= v = h and q0 = 0
For stress path E, v = 0; h < 0 ( decreases by some amount )

qf = [(v+ 0) (v-h)]/2 =
= (h)/2
pf = [(v+ 0) + (v-h)]/2 =
= v + (h)/2

These values are the (p, q) co-ordinates of the end of the

stress path E. q and p both decrease by h/2 and h/2;
This implies stress path E has a slope of 1 or 45
Prof. B V S Viswanadham, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay