Hillel, pp.

341-382

Soil mechanics a short introduction

Picture: Tennessee Department of Transportation

Picture: Ch. Salm, Terre AG

CE/ENVE 320 Vadose Zone Hydrology/Soil Physics

Spring 2004

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or 2002-2004

Why mechanics of soils?

Like other solid materials (e.g. metals, rock), soils deform
when they are exposed to forces.

Force

Unlike many other materials in our

environment , soils show a wide range of
possible mechanical behavior which
influences considerably their use for
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Why mechanics of soils?

foundation of buildings
or agricultural production

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Why mechanics of soils?

Understanding soil deformation behavior is crucial to:

design slopes and retaining walls

build tunnels in soft rock
assess hazards due to land slides
prevent soil from compaction
optimize soil management techniques

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Definition of stress and strain

The reaction of a solid body to a force F or a combination of forces acting
upon or within it can be characterized in terms of its relative deformation
or strain. The ratio of force to area where it acts is called stress.

normal stress
= Fn / A
shear stress
= Fs / A

normal strain
= z / zo
shear strain
= h / zo

Note that compressive stresses and strains are positive and

counter-clockwise shear stresses and strains are positive.
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Total vs. effective stresses

When a load is applied to soil, it is carried by the water in the pores as well
as the solid grains. The increase in pressure within the pore water causes
drainage (flow out of the soil), and the load is transferred to the solid
grains.
The rate of drainage depends on the permeability of the soil.
The strength and compressibility of the soil depend on the stresses within
the solid granular fabric. These are called effective stresses.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stress in homogeneous soil

The total vertical stress acting on a soil element below the ground surface
is due to the weight of everything lying above: soil, water, and surface
loading.
In a homogeneous soil, the total
vertical stress v on an element
with distance z from the surface is
determined by the weight of the
overlying soil and can be calculated
as:

v b 1 m g z

With b the soil bulk density, m the gravimetric water content and g
the gravity constant. Typical values of b are 1000 1800 kg m-3.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stress in homogeneous soil

Any change in total vertical stress v may also result in a change of total
horizontal stress h on the same soil element. There is no simple
relationship between horizontal and vertical stress.

In a homogeneous soil, the total

horizontal stress h on an element
with distance z from the surface can
be estimated as :

v is the vertical stress and soil Poissons ration. Typical values for
Poissons ratio are between 0.25 and 0.4. For practical purposes a ratio of
h / v = 0.5 provides a good first estimation.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stress in a multi-layer soil

The total stress v at depth z
is the sum of the weights of
soil in each layer above.
For example the total vertical
stress v at a depth z in
layer 3 is

v b1 1 m1 g d1
b 2 1 m 2 g d 2

b 3 1 m 3 g z d1 d 2
where

b1 , b 2 , b 3
m1 , m 2 , m3
d1 , d 2 , d 3

the bulk density of the layers 1 to 3

the gravimetric water content of the layers 1 to 3
the thickness of the layers 1 to 3
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stress in soil with a wide surface load

The addition of a surface load will
increase the total stresses below it.
If the surcharge loading is
extensively wide, the increase in
vertical total stress below it may be
considered constant with depth
and equal to the magnitude of the
surcharge q.

The vertical total stress at depth z under a wide load q becomes then

v b 1 m g z q

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stress in soil with a narrow surface load

For narrow loads, e.g. stresses at the soil
surface under a strip footing or a wheel, the
induced total vertical stresses will decrease both
with depth and horizontal distance from the
center of the load.
In such cases, it is necessary to use a suitable
model to estimate the stress distribution in the
soil under the surface load (Boussinesq (1885),
Froehlich (1934) ). For a vertical load q,
homogeneously distributed over a circular area
of radius R, the vertical stress v,q(z) in depth z
in the soil can be calculated as

R
q
z

v ,q

2
q 1 1 R z

3 2

v,q
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stress in soil with a narrow surface load

The total vertical stress v in the depth z due to a homogeneous surface
load q on a circular area and the overlying soil can therefore be
calculated as

v b 1 m

g z q 1 1 R z

3 2

with b the soil bulk density, m the gravimetric water content, g the
gravity constant, q the surface load and R the radius of the contact
area.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Uniaxial stress and strain Hooks law

Steel
wire

Leonardo da Vincis (14521519) uniaxial tension test

Youngs modulus

E d a d a

Poisson's ratio

d a d r

Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio are

measured directly in uniaxial compression or
extension tests, i.e. tests with constant (or
zero) stress on the horizontal surfaces.
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Shear stress and strain

As the shear stress increases materials distort (change shape). This
change in shape can be expressed as an angular shear strain . The
shear modulus G' relates the change in shear stress d to the change
in shear strain d .

Shear modulus

G d d
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Isotropic compression
As the isotropic stress increases, materials compress (reduce
in volume). The bulk modulus K' relates the change in
volumetric strain dv=dV/V to the change in isotropic stress .

Bulk modulus

K ' d d v
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Stiffness of soil material

The relationship between a strain and stress is termed stiffness

OA: linear and recoverable

ABC: non-linear and irrecoverable
BCD: recoverable with hysteresis
DE: continuous shearing

The stress-strain curve of a soil has features which are characteristic for
different material behavior. Soils show elastic, plastic and viscous
deformation when exposed to stresses.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Elastic deformation
In linear-elastic behavior (OA) the stress-strain is a straight line and strains
are fully recovered on unloading, i.e. there is no hysteresis. The elastic
parameters are the gradients of the appropriate stress-strain curves and are
constant.
Youngs modulus

E d a d a a a const.
Poisson's ratio

d a d r a r const.
Shear modulus

G d d const.
Bulk modulus

K ' d d v v const.
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Typical values of elastic moduli E and

Typical E
Unweathered overconsolidated clays

20 ~ 50 MPa

Boulder clay

10 ~ 20 MPa

Keuper Marl (unweathered)

Keuper Marl (moderately weathered)
Weathered overconsolidated clays
Organic alluvial clays and peats
Normally consolidated clays
Steel

30 ~ 150 MPa
3 ~ 10 MPa
0.1 ~ 0.6 MPa
0.2 ~ 4 MPa
205 MPa

Concrete

Soil
Rock
Steel
Concrete

>150 MPa

30 MPa
Typical
0.25-0.4
0.3
0.28
0.17
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Relationships between elastic moduli

In bodies of isotropic elastic material the three stiffness moduli E',
K' and G' and Poissons ratio (') are related as:

E'
21

K'

E'
31 2

Therefore the deformation behavior of an isotropic elastic material

can be described by only two material constants.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Plastic deformation
With increasing stress the material
behavior goes over from elastic to
plastic. This transition is called yield
(A). Plastic strains (AB) are not
recovered on unloading (BC).
Unloading (BC) and reloading (CD)
show a hysteresis. With increasing
strain (at constant stress) the material
eventually fails if brittle or flows if
ductile (E).

yield

Soils material behavior is often simplified

as elastic-perfectly plastic. During
perfectly plastic straining (AB), plastic
strains continue indefinitely at constant
stress. In a brittle perfectly plastic
material, the yield stress at point A this is
the same as the failure stress at a point
B.
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Viscous deformation
Change in volume and shape of soils are generally time-dependent.
One way to capture this time-dependency is to model soil as a viscous
solids. For the case of simple shear for example, this means that the
shear stress is proportional to the shear strain rate d dt. The
viscosity relates the change in shear stress d to the change in
shear strain rate d dt.

Viscosity
Linear viscosity

Shear
stress
.
.

d d

Shear strain rate

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Soil strength precompression stress

The yield stress of a soil under
compression is called precompression
stress. It separates the stress ranges
where elastic and plastic deformation
can be expected.
If a soil is not loaded above the
precompression stress, deformation is
elastic (no irrecoverable deformation)
and rather small.
elastic

plastic

Precompression stress Pv
If a soil is loaded above the
precompression stress,
deformation is large and
plastic ( irrecoverable
deformation).
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Soil strength undrained shear

The maximum value of stress that may be sustained by a material is
termed strength.

The strength is independent of the normal stress since the response to

loading simple increases the pore water pressure and not the effective
stress.
The shear strength f is a material parameter which is known as the
undrained shear strength su.
f = ( a - r) = constant
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Soil strength the angle of friction

The strength increases linearly with increasing normal stress and is zero
when the normal stress is zero.
'f = 'n tan'
' is the angle of friction
In the Mohr-Coulomb criterion the material parameter is the angle of friction
and materials which meet this criterion are known as frictional. In soils, the
Mohr-Coulomb criterion applies when the normal stress is an effective normal
stress.
Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Soil strength - cohesion

..

The strength increases linearly with increasing normal stress and is positive
when the normal stress is zero.
'f = c' + 'n tan'
' is the angle of friction
c' is the 'cohesion' intercept
In soils, the Mohr-Coulomb criterion applies when the normal stress is an
effective normal stress.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Typical values of , c and su

Undrained shear strength
Hard soil

su > 150 kPa

Stiff soil

su = 75 ~ 150 kPa

Firm soil

su = 40 ~ 75 kPa

Soft soil

su = 20 ~ 40kPa

Very soft soil

su < 20 kPa

Drained shear strength

c (kPa)

(deg)

Sands

30 - 45

Clays

0 - 30 kPa

0 - 20

Precompression stress Pv
soft

0-50 kPa

firm

50-150 kPa

stiff

> 150 kPa

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Summary
The aim of this class was to

introduce the concept of stress and strain in solid material,

especially soils.

give you an idea what stiffness and strength of soil materials

are and

provide you a short overview over the mechanics of one of the

most complex solid materials known.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004

Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge

Prof. John Atkinson, City University, London, and Prof.

Sarah Springman, ETH, Zurich, who provided me with
many of the graphs I used for this presentation,

Prof. Dani Or, UConn, Storrs, who gave me the

opportunity to talk about soil mechanics and

you, the audience, for coming and staying with me.

Copyright Markus Tuller and Dani Or2002-2004