CHAPTER 5

SECTION 5.9 5.13

by: Group
16

5.9 Porewater
Pressure Under
Axisymmetric
Undrained Loading

5.9 Porewater Pressure Under

Axisymmetric Undrained Loading
The
porewater pressure changes in soils are

due to the changes in mean total and

deviatoric (shear) stresses. Skempton (1954)
proposed the following equation to determine
the porewater pressure under axisymmetric
conditions:

(eq.5.44)
where:

is the increase in lateral principal stress,

is the deviatoric (shear) stress increase,
B is a coefficient indicating the level of saturation, and
A is an excess porewater pressure coefficient.

5.9 Porewater Pressure Under

Axisymmetric Undrained Loading
The
A coefficient is due to the deviatoric

(shear) stress. The coefficient B is 1 for

saturated soils and 0 for dry soils. However,
B is not directly correlated with saturation
except at high values of saturation (S >
90%). At failure,

5.9 Porewater Pressure Under

Axisymmetric Undrained Loading
where
is the change in excess porewater pressure

resulting from changes in deviatoric (shear)

stresses. Experimental results of presented by
Skempton (1954) are shown in Table 5.2.
Table 5.2
Values

5.9 Porewater Pressure Under

Axisymmetric Undrained Loading
Equation
(5.44) is very useful in determining

whether a soil is saturated in an axisymmetric

test. Let us manipulate Equation (5.44) by
dividing both sides by , resulting in
(eq. 5.46)
During isotropic consolidation, and Equation.
(5.46) becomes
(eq. 5.47)

5.9 Porewater Pressure Under

Axisymmetric Undrained Loading
If a soil is saturated, then B = 1 and u
= . That is, if we increase the
consolidation
stress
or
confining
pressure by , the instantaneous
excess porewater pressure change
must be equal to the increase of
confining pressure. Equation (5.47)
then provides a basis to evaluate the
level of saturation of a soil sample in
an axisymmetric test.

5.9 Porewater Pressure Under

Axisymmetric Undrained Loading
The essential points are:
1. Under an axisymmetric loading
condition, the porewater pressure
can be predicted using Skemptons
porewater pressure coefficients, A
and B.
2. For a saturated soil, B = 1.

5.10 OTHER
LABORATORY DEVICES
TO
MEASURE SHEAR
STRENGTH

5.10 OTHER LABORATORY DEVICES TO

MEASURE SHEAR STRENGTH
Simple Shear Apparatuses
The purpose of a simple shear test is to determine
shear strength parameters and the stressstrain
behavior of soils under loading conditions that closely
simulate plane strain and allow for the principal axes
of stresses and strains to rotate. Principal stress
rotations also occur in the direct shear test, but are
indeterminate. The stress states in soils for many
geotechnical structures are akin to simple shear.

5.10 OTHER LABORATORY DEVICES TO

MEASURE SHEAR STRENGTH
True Triaxial Apparatus
The purpose of a true triaxial test is to determine soil
behavior and properties by loading the soil in three
dimensions. In a true triaxial test, a cuboidal sample is
subjected to independent displacements or stresses on
three Cartesian axes. Displacements are applied through a
system of rigid metal plates moving perpendicularly and
tangentially to each face, as shown by the arrows in the
figure.

5.10 OTHER LABORATORY DEVICES TO

MEASURE SHEAR STRENGTH
Hollow-Cylinder
Apparatus
The purpose of a hollowcylinder test is to determine
soil properties from a variety
of plane strain stress paths.
In
the
hollow-cylinder
apparatus (a), a hollow, thinwalled cylindrical sample is
enclosed in a pressure
chamber
and
can
be
subjected to vertical loads or
displacements,
radial
stresses on the inner and

5.11 FIELD
TESTS

5.11 FIELD TESTS

Vane

Shear Test (VST)

The shear vane device consists of four thin metal
blades welded orthogonally (90) to a rod. The vane is
pushed, usually from the bottom of a borehole, to
the desired depth. A torque is applied at a rate of 60
per minute by a torque head device located above
the soil surface and attached to the shear vane rod.
After the maximum torque is obtained, the shear
vane is rotated an additional 8 to 10 revolutions to
measure the residual torque, T(res). The ratio of the
maximum torque to the residual torque is the soil
sensitivity, St, where:
Sensitivity is a measure of the reduction of undrained
shear strength due to soil disturbance. The results of a

5.11 FIELD TESTS

Vane Shear Test (VST)

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
SPT was developed circa 1927 and it is perhaps
the most popular field test. The SPT is
performed by driving a standard split spoon
sampler into the ground by blows from a drop
hammer of mass 63.5 kg falling 760 mm (Figure
3.7). The sampler is driven 152 mm (6 in.) into
the soil at the bottom of a borehole, and the
number of blows (N) required to drive it an
additional 304 mm is counted. The number of
blows (N) is called the standard penetration
number.

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The
Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
The word standard is a misnomer for the standard
penetration test. Several methods are used in
different parts of the world to release the hammer.
Also, different types of anvils, rods, and rod lengths
are prevalent. Various corrections are applied to the
N values to account for energy losses, overburden
pressure, rod length, and so on. It is customary to
correct the N values to a rod energy ratio of 60%.
The rod energy ratio is the ratio of the energy
delivered to the split spoon sampler to the freefalling energy of the hammer. The corrected N values
are denoted as N60 and given as:

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
Results from SPT have been correlated to several soil
parameters. Most of these correlations are weak.
SPTs are not recommended for fine-grained soils, so
the correlation shown in Table 10.7 should be used
only to provide an assessment of the relative shear
strength of fine-grained soils.

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The
Dutch Cone Penetrometer Test
(CPT) and Piezocone
The Dutch cone penetrometer is a cone with a
maximum area of 10 that is attached to a rod. An
outer sleeve encloses the rod. The thrusts required
to drive the cone and the sleeve into the ground are
measured independently so that the end resistance
or cone resistance and side friction or sleeve
resistance may be estimated separately. Although
originally developed for the design of piles, the cone
has also been used to estimate the bearing capacity
and settlement of foundations
The piezocone is a Dutch cone penetrometer that
has porous elements inserted into the cone or sleeve
to allow for pore water pressure measurements (Fig.

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The Dutch Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT) and
Piezocone

5.11 FIELD TESTS

The essential points are:
1. Various field tests are used to
determine soil strength parameters.
2. You should be cautious in using these
correlations of field test results,
especially SPT, with soil strength
parameters in design.

5.12 EMPIRICAL
RELATIONSHIPS FOR
SHEAR STRENGHT
PARAMETERS

5.12 EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIPS FOR

SHEAR STRENGHT PARAMETERS
Some suggested empirical relationships for the shear strength of
soils are shown in Table 10.8. These relationships should only be
used as a guide and in preliminary design calculations.

5.13 SUMMARY

5.13 SUMMARY
The strength of soils is interpreted using
four failure criteria. Each criterion is
suitable for a certain class of problem.
For example, Coulomb failure criterion is
best used in situations where planar slip
planes may develop. All soils, regardless
of their initial state of stress, will reach a
critical state characterized by continuous
shearing at constant shear-to-normaleffective-stress
ratio
and
constant
volume.

5.13 SUMMARY
The initial void ratio of a soil and the
normal effective stresses determine
whether the soil will dilate or not. Dilating
soils often exhibit (1) a peak shear stress
and then strain-soften to a constant
shear stress, and (2) initial contraction
followed by expansion toward a critical
void ratio. Non-dilating soils (1) show a
gradual increase of shear stress,
ultimately reaching a constant shear
stress, and (2) contract toward a critical
void ratio. The shear strength parameters
are the friction angles (p and cs) for

5.13 SUMMARY
A number of laboratory and field tests are
available to determine the shear strength
parameters.
All
these
tests
have
shortcomings. You should use careful
judgment in deciding what test should be
used for a particular project. Also, you
must select the appropriate failure
criterion to interpret the test results.

CONCLUSION