Effective Stress

• Soil is a multi phase system

• To perform any kind of analysis - we must
understand stress distribution
• The concept of effective stress:
• The soil is “loaded” (footing for example)
• The resulting stress is transmitted to the
soil mass
• The soil mass supports those stresses at the
point to point contacts of the individual soil
grains
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 Effective Stress

Water H

HA
Soil

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 Effective Stress
The total stress at A is calculated from:
The weight of the soil above A
The weight of the water above A
σ = Hγw + (HA - H) γsat

σ = Total Stress at A
γw = Unit Weight of Water (62.4 pcf)
γsat = Saturated Unit Weight
HA = Height of A to Top of water
H = Height of water
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 Effective Stress
• σ is the stress applied to the soil by its own
weight
• As you go deeper in the soil mass, the stress
increases
• Like in a swimming pool, as you go deeper, the
stress of the weight of the water increases
• The soil carries the stress in 2 ways:
• A portion is carried by the water (acts
equally in all directions)
• A portion is carried by the soil solids at
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their point of contact.
 Effective Stress
• The sum of the vert. components of the forces at
their points of contact per unit of X- sectional area is
the effective stress.
a1 a2 a3 a4

P1 P2 P P4
3

Cross Sectional Area = A

an = Area of points of contact
A = Cross Sectional area of soil mass 5
Pn = Forces acting at points of contact
 Effective Stress
• The sum of vertical components of forces over the area is
the effective stress σ’
σ’= (P1v+P2v+P3v .....+Pnv) / A
If as = a1 + a2 + a3 +...an
Then the space occupied by water = A - as

Assume u = HA * γw Ht of water * γw = stress due

to water (ft*pcf = psf = stress)
σ = σ’ + u(A - as) / A Since as is very small,
assume 0
σ = σ’ + u 6
 Effective Stress
Recall the following equation:
σ = Hγw + (HA - H) γsat
Now, σ’ = σ - u
Substituting: σ’ = [Hγw + (HA - H) γsat] - HA * γw
Rearranging: σ’ = (HA - H)(γsat - γw)
Height of Soil Column * γ’ Where γ’ = γsat - γw
γ’ = EFFECTIVE UNIT WEIGHT
Effective Stress is independent of height of water
In the equation: σ = σ’ + u
σ’ is the soil skeleton stress
u is the stress in the water, or pore
water pressure 7
 Quick sand condition or boiling:
 When flow takes place in an upward direction, the
seepage pressure also acts in the upwards direction
and the effective pressure is reduced.
 If seepage pressure becomes equal to the pressure
due to submerged weight of soil, the effective
pressure is reduced to zero.
 In such a case, to move up in the direction of flow.
This phenomenon of lifting of soil particles is called
quick condition or boiling condition or quick sand.
Effective stress is given by

Since

For effective stress to become zero,

Therefore,

Substituting the value of submerged unit weight in terms of void ratio,

• Point to be noted for quick sand condition:

 Quick sand is not a type of sand. It is a hydraulic

condition.

 A sand soil becomes quick when the flow is upward

under a hydraulic gradient which reduces effective
stress to zero.

 In a typical sand soil, the critical hydraulic gradient

is about 1.

 Quicksand condition occurs mainly in fine sands.

 High artesian pressure in a coarse sand is one of the
most important reasons for the development of
quicksand condition.

 In clays the shear strength of soil does not get

reduced to zero even when the effective stress
becomes zero, due to its cohesion. Hence, quicksand
condition does not occur in clays.

 Quicksand condition may occur on the d/s of the

dam.
Seepage

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 One-dimensional flow

Discharge = Q = v. A = k . i . A= k (h/L). A

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 One-dimensional flow
Water In

Head Loss or
Head Difference or
Energy Loss
h =hA - hB

i = Hydraulic Gradient
hA
(q)
Water
out
hB

ZA ZB

Datum
Two-dimensional flow

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Two-dimensional flow

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 Laplace equation of Continuity
• In reality, the flow of water through soil is not in one direction only, nor is it
uniform over the entire area perpendicular to the flow.
• The flow of water in two dimensional is described using Laplace equation.

• Laplace equation is the combination of the equation of continuity and Darcy’s

law.

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 Laplace equation of Continuity
Flow in: vx dydz vz dxdy
 v   v 
Flow out:  v x  x dx dydz  v z  z dz dxdy
 x   z 

Flow in = Flow out (Continuity equation)

 v   v 
 v x  x dx dydz   v z  z dz dxdy  v x dydz  v z dxdy
 x   z 
By simplification, we get

v x v
dxdydz  z dxdydz  0
x z

vx vz
 0
x z
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 Laplace equation of Continuity
From Darcy’s Law:
dh dh
vx  k x vz  k z
dx dz

Replace in the continuity equation

 2h  2h
kx 2  kz 2  0
x z
If soil is isotropic (i.e. kx = kz = k)

 2h  2h
 2 0
x 2
z

Laplace equation
This equation governs the steady flow
condition for a given point in the soil mass 20
 Flow nets
• Flow nets are a graphical solution method of Laplace equation for 2D flow in a
homogeneous, isotropic aquifer.
• In an isotropic medium, the continuity equation represents two orthogonal
families of curves:
1. Flow lines: the line along which a water particle will travel from upstream to the
downstream side in the permeable soil medium
2. Equipotential lines: the line along which the potential (pressure) head at all
points is equal.

Datum
21
 Flow nets
• Flow nets are the combination of flow lines and equipotential lines.
• To complete the graphic construction of a flow net, one must draw the flow and
equipotential lines in such away that:
1. The equipotential lines intersect the flow lines at right angles.
2. The flow elements formed are approximate squares.

Flow channel
Flow line
Equipotential line

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 Flow Net Drawing Technique
1. Draw to a convenient scale the geometry of the problem.
2. Establish constant head and no flow boundary conditions and draw flow and
equipotential lines near boundaries.
• Constant head boundaries (water levels) represent initial or final
equipotentials
• Impermeable (no-flow) boundaries are flow lines
3. Sketch flow lines by smooth curves (3 to 5 flow lines).
• Flow lines should not intersect each other or impervious boundary
4. Draw equipotential lines by smooth curves adhering to right angle
intersections and square grids conditions (aspect ratio =1).
5. Continue sketching and re-adjusting until you get squares almost
everywhere. Successive trials will result in a reasonably consistent flow
net.

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Boundary Conditions

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 H

H 0

H-3Dh

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Flow Net Construction

26
h1

= h1 - h2
h2

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Seepage Flow

channel”

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29
 Seepage Calculation from Flow Net
Flow element
• In a flow net, the strip between any two
adjacent flow lines is called a flow
channel.
• The drop in the total head between any two
adjacent equipotential lines is called the
potential drop.
• If the ratio of the sides of the flow element are the same along the flow channel,
then:
1. Rate of flow through the flow channel per unit width perpendicular to the flow
direction is the same.
Dq1 = Dq2 = Dq3 = Dq
2. The potential drop is the same and equal to:
H
h1  h2  h2  h3  h3  h4 
Nd
Where H: head difference between the upstream and downstream sides. 30
Nd: number of potential drops.
 Seepage Calculation from Flow Net
From Darcy’s Equation, the rate of flow is
equal to:

 h  h2   h  h3   h  h4 
Dq   1 l1   2 l2   3 l3  ...
 l1   l2   l3 
 1 
Dq  k H  
 Nd 

• If the number of flow channels in a flow net is equal to Nf, the total rate of flow
through all the channels per unit length can be given by:

 Nf 
Dq  k H  
 Nd 
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Example on estimating the total flow under dam

Example: if k = 10-7 m/sec, what would be the flow per day over
a 100 m length of wall?

Dam
cutoff
50 m of water
5 m of water

Low permeability rock

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 Calculations
Nf = 5
Nd = 14
Dh = 45 m
k = 10-7 m/sec

Answer:

= 10-7(5/14) 45 x 100 m length

= 0.000161 m3/sec
= 13.9 m3/day
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 Pressure head at any point

Total head = hL - # of drops from upstream x Dh

hL
Elevation head = -z

Pressure head = Total head – Elevation head Nd
+ve
hL
datum
H T = hL concrete dam HT = 0

z -ve

Dh X

impervious strata
 Uplift Pressure under Hydraulic structures
At point a:
ua/gw = (7- 1x1) - (-2)
Datum
= 8 kN/m2
At point b:
ua/gw = (7- 2x1) - (-2)
= 7 kN/m2
At point f:
ua/gw = (7- 6x1) - (-2)
= 3 kN/m2

Dh = hL/Nd = 7/7=1
 Example of Dam Failure
Around 7:00 am on June 5, 1976 a leak about 30 m from the
top of Teton dam was observed.

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 Example of Dam Failure
The Dam Broke at 11:59 AM

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 Example of Dam Failure

Post Failure Investigation

• Seepage piping and internal erosion
• Seepage through rock openings
• Hydraulic fracture
• Differential settlement and cracking
• Settlement in bedrock 38
 Piping in Granular Soils
At the downstream, near the dam,

Dh
the exit hydraulic gradient iexit 
Dl

H
concrete dam
Dl
Dh = total head drop

impervious strata
 Piping in Granular Soils
If iexit exceeds the critical hydraulic gradient (ic), first
the soil grains at exit get washed away.
This phenomenon progresses towards the upstream, forming a
free passage of water (“pipe”).

concrete dam

no soil; all water

impervious strata
 Critical hydraulic gradient, ic

The critical hydraulic gradient (ic),

g   g sat  g w

Consequences:

no stresses to hold granular soils together

 soil may flow 

“boiling” or “piping” = EROSION

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 Piping in Granular Soils
Piping is a very serious problem. It leads to downstream
flooding which can result in loss of lives.
Therefore, provide adequate safety factor against piping.

ic
Fpiping  3
iexit

concrete dam

impervious strata
 Filters
Used for:
 facilitating drainage

 preventing fines from being washed away

Used in: Filter Materials:

 earth dams  granular soils
 retaining walls  geotextiless

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 Granular Filter Design
granular filter
The proper design of filters should
satisfy two conditions:
Condition 1:
The size of the voids in the filter material should be
small enough to hold the larger particles of the
protected material in place
Condition 2:
The filter material should have a high hydraulic conductivity to
prevent buildup of large seepage forces and hydrostatic pressures in
the filters.
 Granular Filter Design
Condition 1: Condition 2:
D15( filter) D15( filter)
 4 to 5  4 to 5 after Terzaghi &
D85( soil ) D15( soil ) Peck (1967)

D15( filter) D15( filter)

5 4
D85( soil ) D15( soil )
D50( filter) after US Navy
 25
D50( soil ) (1971)

D15( filter)
 20
D15Curves
GSD ( soil ) for the soil and filter must be parallel
 Granular Filter Design D15( filter)
 4 to 5
D85( soil )

D15( filter)
 4 to 5
D15( soil )

GSD of Soil

GSD Curves for the soil and filter must be parallel

 EXAMPLE
• A stiff clay layer underlies a 12 m thick silty sand deposit. A
sheet pile is driven into the sand to a depth of 7 m, and the
upstream and downstream water levels are as shown in the
figure. Permeability of the silty sand is 8.6 × 10-4
cm/s. The stiff clay can be assumed to be impervious. The void
ratio of the silty sand is 0.72 and the specific gravity of the
grains is 2.65.
• (a) Estimate the seepage beneath the sheet pile in m3/day per
meter.
• (b) What is the pore water pressure at the tip of the sheet pile?
• (c) Is the arrangement safe against piping?

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EXAMPLE

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Solution

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