2006

Critical-State Soil Mechanics

For Dummies
Paul W. Mayne, PhD, P.E.

Civil & Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0355
www.ce.gatech.edu
Email: paul.mayne@ce.gatech.edu
PROLOGUE
Critical-state soil mechanics is an effective stress
framework describing mechanical soil response
In its simplest form here, we consider only shear-
induced loading.
We merely tie together two well-known concepts:
(1) one-dimensional consolidation behavior,
represented by e-logo
v
curves; and (2) shear
stress-vs. normal stress (to
v
) from direct shear
box or simple shearing.
Herein, only the bare essence of CSSM concepts
are presented, sufficient to describe strength &
compressibility response.
Critical State Soil Mechanics (CSSM)
Experimental evidence provided by Hvorslev (1936; 1960,
ASCE); Henkel (1960, ASCE Boulder) Henkel & Sowa (1961,
ASTM STP 361)
Mathematics presented elsewhere, including: Schofield &
Wroth (1968); Burland (1968); Wood (1990).
In basic form: 3 material constants (|', C
c
, C
s
) plus initial
state (e
0
, o
vo
', OCR)
Constitutive Models, include: Original Cam-Clay, Modified Cam
Clay, NorSand, Bounding Surface, MIT-E3 (Whittle, 1993) &
MIT-S1 (Pestana) and others (Adachi, Oka, Ohta, Dafalias)
"Undrained" is just one specific stress path
Yet !!! CSSM is missing from most textbooks and undergrad &
grad curricula in the USA.
One-Dimensional Consolidation
Sandy Clay (CL), Surry, VA: Depth = 27 m
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1 10 100 1000 10000
Effective Vertical Stress, svo' (kPa)
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e
C
c
= 0.38
C
r
= 0.04
o
vo
'=300 kPa
o
p
'=900 kPa
Overconsolidation Ratio, OCR = 3
C
s
= swelling index (= C
r
)
c
v
= coef. of consolidation
D' = constrained modulus
C
oe
= coef. secondary compression
k hydraulic conductivity
o
v

Direct Shear Test Results
o
v

t
Direct Shear Box (DSB)
o
v

t
Direct Simple Shear (DSS)
t
o
t

s
Slow Direct Shear Tests on Triassic Clay,NC
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Displacement, o (mm)
S
h
e
a
r

S
t
r
e
s
s
,

t


(
k
P
a
)
o
n
'
(kPa)=
214.5
135.0
45.1
Slow Direct Shear Tests on Triassic Clay, Raleigh, NC
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 50 100 150 200 250
Effective Normal Stress, o
n
' (kPa)
S
h
e
a
r

S
t
r
e
s
s
,

t


(
k
P
a
)
0.491 =tan| '
Strength Parameters:
c' =0; | ' =26.1
o
Peak
Peak
Peak
CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
Effective stress o
v
'
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
CSL
CSSM Premise:
All stress paths fail
on the critical state
line (CSL)
CSL
|'
c'=0
CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
STRESS PATH No.1
NC Drained Soil
Given: e
0
, o
vo
, NC (OCR=1)
e
0
o
vo
'
o
vo
'
Drained Path: Au = 0
t
max
= c' + o' tan|'
e
f
Ae

Volume Change is Contractive:
c
vol
= Ae/(1+e
0
) < 0
Effective stress o
v
'
c=0
CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
STRESS PATH No.2
NC Undrained Soil
Given: e
0
, o
vo
, NC (OCR=1)
e
0
o
vo
'
o
vo
'
Undrained Path: AV/V
0
= 0
+Au = Positive Excess
Porewater Pressures
o
vf
'
o
vf
'
Au
t
max
= c
u
=s
u
Effective stress o
v
'
CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
Note: All NC undrained
stress paths are parallel
to each other, thus:
s
u
/o
vo
= constant
Effective stress o
v
'
DSS: s
u
/o
vo

NC
= sin|
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
C
S
o
p
'
o
p
'
OC
Overconsolidated States:
e
0
, o
vo
, and OCR = o
p
/o
vo

where o
p
= o
vmax
= P
c
=
preconsolidation stress;
OCR = overconsolidation ratio
CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
C
S
OC
Stress Path No. 3
Undrained OC Soil:
e
0
, o
vo
, and OCR
o
vo
'
e
0

o
vo
'
Stress Path: AV/V
0
= 0
Negative Excess Au
Effective stress o
v
'
o
vf
'
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

Au
CSSM for Dummies
Log o
v
'
Effective stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
C
S
OC
Stress Path No. 4
Drained OC Soil:
e
0
, o
vo
, and OCR
Stress Path: Au = 0
Dilatancy: AV/V
0
> 0
o
vo
'
e
0

o
vo
'
Effective stress o
v
'
Critical state soil mechanics
Initial state: e
0
, o
vo
, and OCR = o
p
/o
vo

Soil constants: |, C
c
, and C
s
(A = 1-C
s
/C
c
)
For NC soil (OCR =1):
Undrained (c
vol
= 0): +Au and t
max
= s
u
= c
u
Drained (Au = 0) and contractive (decrease c
vol
)
For OC soil:
Undrained (c
vol
= 0): -Au and t
max
= s
u
= c
u
Drained (Au = 0) and dilative (Increase c
vol
)

Theres more ! Semi-drained, Partly undrained, Cyclic..
Equivalent Stress Concept
Log o
v
'
Stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
C
C
tan|'
CSL
CSL
CSL
C
S
OC
1. OC State (e
o
, o
vo
, o
p
)
o
vo
'
2. Project OC state to NC
line for equivalent stress, o
e

3. o
e
= o
vo
OCR
[1-Cs/Cc]
o
vo
'
e
0

Effective stress o
v
'
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

o
p
' o
p
'
o
e
'
o
e
'
s
u

o
vf
'
e
p

Ae = C
s
log(o
p
/o
vo
)
Ae = C
c
log(o
e
/o
p
)
Ae
at o
e

s
uOC
= s
uNC
Critical state soil mechanics
Previously: s
u
/o
vo
= constant for NC soil
On the virgin compression line: o
vo
= o
e

Thus: s
u
/o
e
= constant for all soil (NC & OC)
For simple shear: s
u
/o
e
= sin |
Equivalent stress:
Normalized Undrained Shear Strength:
s
u
/o
vo
= sin| OCR
A


where A = (1-C
s
/C
c
)
o
e
= o
vo
OCR
[1-Cs/Cc]
Undrained Shear Strength from CSSM
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
sin|'
s
u
/
o
v
o
'

N
C


(
D
S
S
)
AGS Plastic
Amherst
Ariake
Bootlegger
Bothkennar
Boston Blue
Cowden
Hackensack
J ames Bay
Mexico City
Onsoy
Porto Tolle
Portsmouth
Rissa
San Francisco
Silty Holocene
Wroth (1984)
s
u
/o
vo
'
NC (DSS)
=sin|'
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Undrained Shear Strength from CSSM
0.1
1
10
1 10 100
Overconsolidation Ratio, OCR
D
S
S

U
n
d
r
a
i
n
e
d

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h
,

s
u
/
o
v
o
'

Amherst CVVC
Atchafalaya
Bangkok
Bootlegger Cove
Boston Blue
Cowden
Drammen
Hackensack
Haga
Lower Chek Lok
Maine
McManus
Paria
Portland
Portsmouth
Silty Holocene
Upper Chek Lok
20
30
40
|' = 40
o
20
o
30
o
s
u
/o
vo
' = sin|' OCR
A
Note: A = 1 - C
s
/C
c
~ 0.8
Intact
Clays
Porewater Pressure Response from CSSM
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
1 10 100
Overconsolidation Ratio, OCR
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

P
o
r
e
w
a
t
e
r

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

A
u
/
o
v
o
'

Amherst CVVC
Atchafalaya
Bangkok
Bootlegger Cove
Boston Blue
Cowden
Drammen
Hackensack
Haga
Lower Chek Lok
Maine
McManus
Paria
Portland
Portsmouth
Silty Holocene
Upper Chek Lok
20
30
40
A = 0.9 0.8 0.7
Intact
|' = 20
o
30
o
40
o
Au
s
/o
vo
' = 1 - cos|'OCR
A
Yield Surfaces
Log o
v
'
Normal stress o
v
'
S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
s
s

t

V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

NC
NC
CSL
CSL
CSL
OC
Normal stress o
v
'
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e

o
p
'
o
p
'
OC
Yield surface represents
3-d preconsolidation

Quasi-elastic behavior
within the yield surface
Port of Anchorage, Alaska
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Effective Stress, p'* = (o
1
'+o
2
'+o
3
')/(3o
p
')
D
e
v
i
a
t
o
r
i
c

S
t
r
e
s
s

=

q
*

=

(
o
1
-
o
3
)
/
o
p
'
Bootlegger
Cove Clay
M
c
= (q/p')
f
= 1.10
M
c
= 6sin|'/(3-sin|')
|' = 27.7
o
0.1
1
10
1 10 100
Overconsolidation Ratio, OCR
S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

R
a
t
i
o
,

s
u
/
o
v
o
'
DSS Data
CIUC Data
MCC Pred CIUC
MCC Pred DSS
Critical State Soil Mechanics
(Modified Cam Clay)
|' = 27.7
o
A = 0.75
Cavity Expansion Critical State Model for Evaluating
OCR in Clays from Piezocone Tests
OCR
M
q u
T b
vo
=
+
|
\

|
.
|

(
2
1
195 1
1
. '
/
o
A
where M = 6 sin|/(3-sin|)
and A = 1 C
s
/C
c
~ 0.8
q
c
f
s
u
b
q
T
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Overconsolidation Ratio, OCR
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
e
t
e
r
s
)
CPTU
CRS
IL Oed
RF
Bothkennar, UK
Critical state soil mechanics
Initial state: e
0
, o
vo
, and OCR = o
p
/o
vo

Soil constants: |, C
c
, and C
s
(A = 1-C
s
/C
c
)
Using effective stresses, CSSM addresses:
NC and OC behavior
Undrained vs. Drained (and other paths)
Positive vs. negative porewater pressures
Volume changes (contractive vs. dilative)
s
u
/o
vo
= sin| OCR
A
where A = 1-C
s
/C
c

Yield surface represents 3-d preconsolidation