Shear Strength of Soils

1
 Strength of different materials

Steel Concrete Soil

Tensile Compressive Shear

strength strength strength

Presence of pore water

Complex
behavior
2
 What is Shear Strength?
• The Shear strength of a soil mass is the internal resistance per unit area
that the soil mass can offer to resist failure along any plane inside it. One
must understand the nature of shering resistance in order to analyze soil
stability problems such as bearing capacity, slope stability and lateral
pressure on earth retaining structure. This resistance is due to physical
bonds in soil:

a. Particle interlocking

b. Atoms sharing electrons at surface contact points

c. Chemical bonds (cementation) such as crystallized calcium

carbonate
3
Influencing Factors on Shear Strength
• The shearing strength, is affected by:

– soil composition: mineralogy, grain size and grain size distribution,

shape of particles, pore fluid type and content, ions on grain and in pore
fluid.

– Initial state: State can be describe by terms such as: loose, dense, over-
consolidated, normally consolidated, stiff, soft, etc.

– Structure: Refers to the arrangement of particles within the soil mass;

the manner in which the particles are packed or distributed. Features
such as layers, voids, pockets, cementation, etc, are part of the
structure.
4
 Soil Failure and shear strength.
• Soil failure usually occurs in the form of “shearing” along internal surface
within the soil.

• Thus, structural strength is primarily a function of shear strength.

• Shear strength is a soils’ ability to resist sliding along internal surfaces

within the soil mass.

5
 Slope Stability:
Failure is an Example of Shearing Along Internal Surface

6
Mass Wasting: Shear Failure

7
Shear Failure Under Foundation Load

8
 Shear failure
Soils generally fail in shear

embankment

strip footing

mobilized shear
resistance

failure surface

At failure, shear stress along the failure surface reaches the shear strength.

9
Shear failure

failure surface
The soil grains slide over each other
along the failure surface.

No crushing of individual grains.

10
 Shear failure mechanism

At failure, shear stress along the failure surface ()

reaches the shear strength (f).
11
 Shear failure of soils
Soils generally fail in shear

Retaining
wall

12
 Shear failure of soils
Soils generally fail in shear

Mobilized
Retaining
shear
wall
resistance

Failure
surface

At failure, shear stress along the failure surface

(mobilized shear resistance) reaches the shear strength.
13
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion

 f  c   tan 


friction angle
cohesion
f
c


f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take
without failure, under normal stress of . 14
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
(in terms of total stresses)


 f  c   tan 


Friction angle
Cohesion
f
c



f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without

failure, under normal stress of . 15
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
(in terms of effective stresses)


 f  c' ' tan  '

 '  u
’
u = pore water
Effective
pressure
cohesion Effective
f friction angle
c’
’ ’

f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without

failure, under normal effective stress of ’. 16
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
Shear strength consists of two
components: cohesive and frictional.


f
 f  c' ' f tan  '
’f tan ’ frictional
’ component

c’ c’
’f '

17
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
Shear strength consists of two
components: cohesive and frictional.


f
 f  c   f tan 
f tan  frictional
 component
c c
f 
c and  are measures of shear strength.
18
Higher the values, higher the shear strength.
19
Determination of shear strength parameters of
soils (c,  or c’, ’)

Laboratory tests on Field tests

specimens taken from
representative undisturbed
samples

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
7. Standard penetration test
Other laboratory tests include,
Direct simple shear test, torsional
ring shear test, plane strain triaxial
test, laboratory vane shear test, 20
laboratory fall cone test
 Assignment

Write a detail note on direct and tri axial shear test.

Also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the direct shear
test.
Submission date: Next class

21