Lec.

Shear Strength of Soil

‫مقاومة القص للتربة‬
Principle Stresses - Shear Box Test
 Shear Strength
Determination of shear strength parameters of soils (c, Φ or c’, Φ’)

Laboratory tests Field tests

Most common laboratory tests 1. Vane shear test

to determine the shear strength 2. Torvane
parameters are, 3. Pocket penetrometer
4. Fall cone
1.Direct shear test 5. Pressuremeter
2.Triaxial shear test 6. Static cone penetrometer
3.Unconfined test 7. Standard penetration test
 Shear Strength

Field conditions of Soil Loading

A representative
soil sample
z z
sv sv + Ds
For isotropic
and
homogenous sh =sv sh =sv sh =sv sh =sv
condition
s =s
h v sv sv + Ds

Before construction After and during

construction 3
 Shear Strength
Mohr Circle
Graphical representation of relation between normal and shear stress on different planes in
soil sample. ‫عالقة بيانية بين االجهاد العمودى واجهاد القص على مستويات مختلفة من العينة‬
Each point on Mohr circle presents stresses on a specified plane in soil. Then there is an
infinite number of planes on Mohr circle. ‫كل نقطة على دائرة مور تمثل اجهادات مستوى ما ويوجد عدد ال‬
‫نهائي من المستويات‬ 
Failure surface  f  c's ' tan  '
Mohr Circle and Failure Envelope

Y
Y X
X

s’
Soil elements at different locations

Y safe
X failure
 Shear Strength

Mohr Circle and Failure Envelope As loading progresses, Mohr

circle becomes larger…

Initially Mohr circle is a

point
GL

Ds
s3
Y s3
s3 s3+Ds

Finally failure occurs when

Mohr circle touches the
envelope
 Shear Strength
Mohr Circle and Principle Stresses

• Principle Planes: Planes in soil subjected only to normal stresses

‫مستويات يؤثر عليها نوع واحد من االجهادات هي االجهادات العمودية‬
• Principle Stresses: Normal Stresses that act on principle planes
σ1, σ3 ‫إجهادت عمودية تؤثر على المستويات الرئيسية‬
Major principle plane: Principle plane in which minor normal stress act
σ1 ‫مستوى يؤثر عليه فقط أعلى قيمة لالجهادات العمودية‬
• Minor principle stress: Principle plane in which minor normal stress act
σ3 ‫مستوى يؤثر عليه فقط أقل قيمة لالجهادات العمودية‬
• Pole: origin of all planes. it is a point on Mohr circle, in which a line is drawn parallel to a
plane this line Cuts Mohr Circle in a point indicates the stresses of such plane
‫هي نقطة نقطة تقاطع كل المستويات وعند رسم خط من هذه النقطة يوازى مستوى فان هذا الخط يقطع دائرة مور في‬
‫نقطة تحمل إجهادات هذا المستوى‬
 Shear Strength

Mohr Circle and Principle Stresses

s 1'  s 3'
2

s 3' s 1'  s 3' s 1' s’

2

PD = Pole w.r.t. plane

 Shear Strength
Mohr Circle and Principle Stresses
Failure envelope
s’1

s’ (s’, f)
s’3 s’3
 (90 – q)
q
s’1 ’ q
s 3' s 1'  s 3' s 1' s’
2

PD = Pole w.r.t. plane

Therefore,
q  45 + ’/2 Q Angle of failure envelope
90 – q  ’ = q ‫زاوية ميل مستوى االلنهيار‬
 Shear Strength
Mohr Circle
Graphical representation of relation between normal and shear stress on different planes in
soil sample. ‫عالقة بيانية بين االجهادا لعمودى واجهاد القص على مستويات مختلفة من العينة‬
Each point on Mohr circle presents stresses on a specified plane in soil. Then there is an
infinite number of planes on Mohr circle.
s’1

s’
s’3 s’3

Soil element q
s’1 s 1'  s 3'
 Sin 2q
2
Normal stress at failure σn and shear strength τ
s '
 s '
s '
 s '
can be calculated from principle stresses : s '  1 3  1 3 Cos2q
2 2
 Shear Strength
Behavior of granular soil in shear Dense state:
Dense soil is initially packed and needs much effort
Dense sand/
to overcome interlocking. For shear to continue
Shear stress, 

OC clay particles are to be moved and dilation occurs. As shear

f
increases soil dilates till the critical state.
f
Loose sand/ ‫• التربة المتامسكة تكون حبيباتها متقاربة ونجد مقاومة كبيرة عند‬
NC clay
‫التحميل باجهاد القص في البداية ( المنحنى األول) >ومع زيادة حمل‬
interlocking ‫القص يمكن التغلب على قوى التداخل بين الحبيبات‬
‫• لكي يستمر القص يحدث زيادة في حجم التربة مع حمل القص‬
Shear displacement ∆
)‫ (المنحنى الثاني‬Dilation‫وهو ما يسمى‬
Expansion

H
Change in height

Dense sand/OC Clay Loose state:

of the sample

Loose soil does not need much shear stress as shear

Compression

Shear begins, and compression occurs.

displacement
Loose sand/NC Clay ‫التربة المفككة بها نسبة فراغات عالية (ولن تحتاج لجهد عالي‬
‫لالنضغاط كما بالمنحنى األول) وعند تعرضها لحمل قص فانها‬
‫تنضغط وحبيباتها تتقارب كما يتضح من المنحنى الثاني‬
Behavior of granular soil in shear depends initially on normal stress.
 Shear Strength
Behavior of granular soil in shear
Peak shear Strength
P Max shear strength soil can reach
Dense sand/
Shear stress, 

OC clay
At point p, rate of dilation is the maximum, in which after it
f dilation decreases.
Loose sand/
f
NC clay
τ
τp
Shear displacement ∆ H
Expansion

τc
Change in height

Dense sand/OC Clay

of the sample

Φp ˃ Φc
Compression

Shear displacement
Loose sand/NC Clay

σ
 Shear Strength
s3 + Ds
‫نعين إجهادات‬
Simulating field conditions in lab τ, σn ‫االنهيار‬
s3 s3 ‫عن طريق‬
‫االجهادات‬
‫الرئيسية‬
0 s3
s3 + Ds

s3 s3 sn
0 0
‫نعين إجهادات‬
 τ, σn ‫االنهيار‬
s3 ‫مباشرة من‬
0  ‫االختبار‬

sn
Representative Step 1 Step 2
soil sample from
Set the specimen in Apply the field stress
the site
the apparatus and conditions s1
apply s3 12
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test Steel ball
N
Pressure plate
• The apparatus is a Porous
steel box of 6*6 cm2, plates
or circular with 6 cm
diameter.
S
• It is composed of two
parts, one is movable,
the other is stable.
• Used to determine Proving ring
the shear parameters to measure
: c, φ shear force

13
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test Direct shear test is most suitable for consolidated drained tests
specially on granular soils (e.g.: sand) or stiff clays
Preparation of a sand specimen

Porous
plates

Components of the shear box Preparation of a sand specimen

14
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Preparation of a sand specimen Pressure plate

Leveling the top surface Specimen preparation

of specimen completed

15
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test N Steel ball

Test procedure Pressure plate

Porous
plates

T
Proving ring
to measure
shear force

Step 1: Apply a vertical load to the specimen and wait for consolidation

Step 2: Lower box is subjected to a horizontal displacement at a constant rate

16
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Test procedure
• Place the soil in smooth layers (approximately 10 mm thick). If a dense sample is desired
tamp the soil. ‫توضع التربة في صندوق القص المكون من جزئين‬
• Apply the desired normal load, e.g.: Add 5 kg normal stress 0.5 kg/cm2 .
)‫توضع احمال رأسية (عمودية على مستوى القص‬
• Start the motor (with constant speed:0.1 in/min). Record the horizontal displacement
gauge, vertical displacement gauge and shear load gage readings.
‫ اإلزاحةا ألفقية – اإلزاحة‬:‫ لتسبب قوة قص للعينة مع تسجيل القراءات‬،)‫يحرك أحد نصفي الصندوق (الجزء المتحرك‬
)‫ اجهاد القص‬-‫الرأسية‬
• Increase shear force with constant rate till failure and record shear stress at failure. (until
the horizontal shear load peaks and then falls, or the horizontal displacement reaches
15% of the diameter). )‫يتم زيادة قوى القص حتى االنهيار وتسجيل اجهادا لقص عند االنهيار‬
• Repeat the experiment with other samples with different normal loads, record the shear
stress at failure for each sample
• ‫تكرر التجربة على عينات متماثلة بقوى عمودية مختلفة اليجاد جهد القص عند االنهيار‬
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test

Example of the Reading of Direct shear box Test

 Shear Strength
Direct shear test Dial gauge to
measure vertical
Shear box displacement

Proving ring
to measure
shear force

Loading frame to Dial gauge to

apply vertical load measure horizontal
displacement

19
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Analysis of test results
Normal force (N)
s  Normal stress 
Area of cross section of the sample
Shear resistance developed at the sliding surface (T)
  Shear stress 
Area of cross section of the sample
First Second Third
Test Test Test

Shear Stress, τ (kPa)

τf
τf

τf


Normal Stress, σn(kPa)

 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Φ dense˃ φloose
Analysis of test results Shear Stress τ
Dense Sand
Dense sand/
Shear stress, 

OC clay
f
Loose Sand
Loose sand/
f
NC clay

Shear displacement
Normal Stress, σ
Expansion
Change in height

Dense sand/OC Clay

of the sample

Compression

Shear displacement
Loose sand/NC Clay
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Notes

Sand
• Direct shear tests are drained and pore water pressures are dissipated, hence u = 0.
Therefore, Φ’ = Φ and c’ = c = 0.
‫ ولذلك فان معامالت القص المحسوبة في هذه‬،‫• نظرا لنفاذية الرمل العالية لذلك يتصرف الماء بسهولة من الرمل‬
Drained shear parameters (calculated on effective stress) ‫الحالة تسمى‬

In case of clay,
• horizontal displacement should be applied at a very slow rate to allow dissipation of
pore water pressure (therefore, one test would take several days to finish)
.‫في حالة الطين يطبق االختبار ببطء للسماح لضغط الماء المتولد بالخروج لذلك فاالختبار قد يستغرق عدة ايام‬
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test

Failure envelopes for clay Failure envelopes for sand

Overconsolidated
Shear stress at failure, f

clay, (c’ ≠ 0)

Shear stress at failure, f

Mohr – Coulomb
Normally consolidated failure envelope
clay (c’ = 0) 
’

Normal force, Normal stress, s

s
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test

Advantages of Shear Test

• Direct shear test is Quick and Inexpensive

• Used to determine the shear strength of both cohesive as well as non-cohesive soils
• Results are directly obtained from curves
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Limitations (Disadvantages) of Shear Test
(a) Predefined surface failure in which shear happens, which is different to filed
conditions. ‫مستوى االنهيار أفقي محدد مسبقا مما يخالف الطبيعة‬
(b) The area of shear surface changes as test progresses.
‫مساحة المقطع ال تظل ثابتة ولكنها تتغير خالال االختبار‬
(c) Shear stresses are unequally distributed over the shear surface.
‫اجهادات القص ال تتوزع بالنتظام على المساحة‬.
(d) The water content of saturated samples of many types of soil changes as a
result of change of stress. ‫يؤثر االختبار على المحتوى المائي للعينة حيث يصعب التحكم في‬
‫تصرف العينة‬
(e) Shear failure does not take place simultaneously at every point of the shear
surface. It starts at the edges and proceeds towards the centre. Therefore, the
peak value of shear resistance measure in the test is lower than the real
value.
‫ لكنه يبدأ من حواف مساحة المقطع ويتحرك الى‬،‫ال يحدث االنهيار ممباشرة على كل نقطة بعد تطبيق الحمل‬
‫ لذلك فان قيمة مقاومة االنهيار المحسوبة أقل من الحقيقية‬،‫منتصف العينة‬
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Example 1
A direct shear box test was carried out on dry coarse sand. The box is 6 x 6 cm. When a normal load of
28.8 kg was applied, the shear load at failure was 17.3 kg. find the angle of internal friction of the sand
. Find the magnitude and direction of the principal stresses at failure.
𝟐𝟖. 𝟖
𝝈= = 𝟎. 𝟖 𝒌𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟐
𝟔∗𝟔
𝟏𝟕. 𝟑
𝝉= = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟖 𝒌𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟐
𝟔∗𝟔
Pt a is known (0.8, 0.48)
Draw line OA∅
𝟎.𝟒𝟖
= 𝐭𝐚𝐧−𝟏 𝟎.𝟖 = 𝟑𝟏𝟎
𝝈𝟑 = 𝟎𝟓𝟐𝟖 𝒌𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟐
𝝈𝟏 = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟒𝟖 𝒌𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟐
 Shear Strength
Direct shear test
Example 2
Quick shear box tests were carried out on three specimens of partially saturated clay. Results
are as follows: Normal stress – kg/cm2 1.45 2.41 3.37
Shear stress – kg/cm2 1.03 1.17 1.32
Find the apparent cohesion and angle of internal friction. Determine the unconfined
compressive strength of a specimen of the same soil.
Sol.
• Points: P, Q, and R present the three
tests
• Join the given points P,Q and R to
obtain the rupture line, from which :
• cu = 0.81kg/cm2, - φ= 8.6o