CHAPTER 1: VERTICAL STRESS ON

SOILS
By
Siti Fatimah bt Sadikon
Lesson Outcomes:
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:-
Explain the total stress and effective stress analysis.
Solve total stress and effective stress problems.
Analyze the empirical analysis for point load, line load, strip load, circular
load and rectangular load by using Boussinesq Theory, Fadums Chart and
Newmarks Chart.
INTRODUCTION
When soils are subjected to external loads due to buildings,
embankments or excavations, the state of stress within the soil
in the vicinity changes.
To study the stability or deformations of the surrounding soil,
as a result of the external loads, it is often necessary to know
the stresses within the soil mass fairly accurately.
EFFECTIVE STRESS CONCEPT
In saturated soils, the normal stress () at any point within the soil mass
is shared by the soil grains and the water held within the pores.
The component of the normal stress acting on the soil grains, is called
effective stress or intergranular stress, and is generally denoted by '.
The remainder, the normal stress acting on the pore water, is knows as
pore water pressure or neutral stress, and is denoted by u.
Thus, the total stress at any point within the soil mass can be written as:

tot
= + u
This applies to normal stresses in all directions at any point
within the soil mass.
In a dry soil, there is no pore water pressure and the total stress
is the same as effective stress.
Water cannot carry any shear stress, and therefore the shear
stress in a soil element is carried by the soil grains only.
VERTICAL NORMAL STRESSES DUE TO
OVERBURDEN
Unsaturated soil
a) Single layer
In a dry soil mass having a unit weight of , the
normal vertical stress at a depth of h is:
= h
If there is a uniform surcharge q
placed at the ground level, this stress
becomes:
= h + q
GL
X
h
q
b) Layered soil
In a soil mass with three different soil
layers as shown in Figure above, the
vertical normal stress at X is :
=
1
h
1
+
2
h
2
+
3
h
3
GL
h
1 1
h
2
h
3
Soil 1,
1
Soil 2,
2
Soil 3,
3
X
Saturated soil
a) Single layer
Assume that the water table is at the
ground level.
The total vertical normal stress at X is
given by:
=
sat
h + q
The pore water pressure at this point is
simply,
u =
w
h
Therefore, the effective vertical normal
stress is,
=
sat
h -
w
h + q
=

h + q
where =
sat

w
GL
X
h
1
q
h
2

sat
When the water table is at some depth below the ground
level as shown in Figure above, the total and effective
vertical stresses and the pore water pressure can be written
as:
' = h
1
+ (
sat
h
2
-
w
h
2
) + q
= h
1
+

h
2
+ q
When computing total vertical stress, use saturated unit
weight for soil below the water table and bulk or dry unit
weight for soil above water table.
b) Layered soil
At point A:

A
=
1
h
1
At point B:

B
=
1
h
1
+ (
2

w
)h
2
At point X:

x
=
1
h
1
+ (
2
-
w
) h
2
+ (
3
-
w
)h
3
=
1
h
1
+
2
h
2
+
3
h
3
GL
h
1 1
h
2
h
3
Soil 1,
1
Soil 2,
2
Soil 3,
3
X
A
B
Soil response to stress
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.
OA: linear and recoverable
ABC: non-linear and irrecoverable
BCD: recoverable with hysteresis
DE: continuous shearing
The relationship between a strain and stress is termed stiffness
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.
. ' const d d K
v v
= = = c o c o
Bulk modulus
Poisson's ratio
. const d d
r a r a
= = =
'
c c c c v
Youngs modulus
. const d d G =
'
=
'
=
'
t t
Shear modulus
. const d d E
a a a a
= = =
'
c o c o
Typical values of elastic moduli E and v
Typical E
Unweathered overconsolidated clays 20 ~ 50 MPa
Boulder clay 10 ~ 20 MPa
Keuper Marl (unweathered) >150 MPa
Keuper Marl (moderately weathered) 30 ~ 150 MPa
Weathered overconsolidated clays 3 ~ 10 MPa
Organic alluvial clays and peats 0.1 ~ 0.6 MPa
Normally consolidated clays 0.2 ~ 4 MPa
Steel 205 MPa
Concrete 30 MPa
Typical v
Soil 0.25-0.4
Rock 0.3
Steel 0.28
Concrete 0.17
Relationships between elastic moduli
In bodies of isotropic elastic material the three stiffness moduli E', K' and
G' and Poissons ratio (v') are related as:
( ) v
'
+
=
'
1 2
' E
G
( ) v
'

=
2 1 3
'
'
E
K
Therefore the deformation behavior of an isotropic elastic material can be
described by only two material constants.
Plastic deformation
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.
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
Elastic-plastic
GEO-SLOPE International Ltd, Calgary, Alberta, Canada www.geo-slope.com
VERTICAL STRESS DUE TO VARIOUS TYPES OF
LOADING
There are many types of loading such as point load, line load, circular
load, triangular load, rectangular load and etc.
Factors affecting vertical stress:
Size and shape of foundation.
Load distribution.
Contact pressure (surcharge load)
Modulus of elasticity.
Type of soil.
Rigid boundary.
In estimating the soil stresses, 3 assumptions have to be made:
Soil mass in elastic medium and modulus of elasticity is constant.
The soil mass is homogeneous, isotropic and linear, where its constituent parts
or elements are similar.
Soil mass is semi-infinite.
The calculation of vertical stress is using Boussinesq Equation.
VERTICAL STRESS UNDER A POINT LOAD
Boussinesq Equation for vertical stress:
Q = surcharge load
z = depth
r = radius
It simplified using Boussinesq influence factor.
The values of influence factor, I
p
for point load
given as in Table Ia and Ib.
The equation become:
Y
r
z
Q (kN)
StressDistributionDiagramofstressintensityfor
PointLoad
a) Isobar diagram
- An isobar is a contour connecting
all points below the ground
surface of equal vertical stress.
- the vertical stress value of the
outer isobar contour will state
less value than inner isobar
contour.
b) Vertical stress distributions
diagram in horizontal plane
c) Vertical stress distributions on
vertical line.
VERTICAL STRESS UNDER A LINE LOAD
Boussinesq Equation for vertical stress:
It simplified using Boussinesq influence factor.
The values of influence factor, I
L
for line load
given as in Table III.
The equation become:
z
r X
Q
(kN/m)
VERTICAL STRESS UNDER A UNIFORM
CIRCULAR LOAD
Boussinesq Equation for vertical stress:
It simplified using Boussinesq influence
factor.
The values of influence factor, I
C
for
uniformly circular load given as in Table
II.
The equation become:
A
Q (kN/m
2
)
GL
z
r
a
VERTICAL STRESS UNDER A UNIFORM STRIP
LOAD
Boussinesq Equation for vertical stress:
If x 0 or
If x = 0
It simplified using Boussinesq influence factor.
The values of influence factor, I
s
for uniform
strip load given as in Table IV.
The equation become:
A

2b
Q
x
GL
z
B
VERTICAL STRESS UNDER A UNIFORM
TRIANGULAR LOADD
Boussinesq Equation for vertical stress:
It simplified using Boussinesq influence
factor.
The values of influence factor, I
T
for
uniform triangular load given as in
Table V.
The equation become:

A
Q
C
X
Z
VERTICAL STRESS UNDER A UNIFORMLY
LOADED RECTANGULAR AREA
Boussinesq Equation for vertical stress:
Where: m = B/z and n = L/z
It simplified using Boussinesq influence factor.
The values of influence factor, I
r
for uniform rectangular load given as
in Table VI or using Fadums chart.
The equation become:
For using Table VI and Fadums chart, it can be used by the case of
determining the
z
right at below any one corner of the rectangle.
Besides, the vertical stress also could be determined by using
Newmarks chart.
Q
B
L
Z
A
FADUMS CHART
NEWMARKS CHART
A plan of the loaded area is drawn
on a tracing paper to indicate the
scale.
The plan of the loaded area is
placed over the chart such that
the point below which pressure is
required coincides with the centre
of the chart.
The vertical stress could be
determined as;

z
= Q x influence value x number of area units covered