Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Soil Mechanics
Lecture 3
Effective Stress
Dr. Y.M. Cheng
[email protected] Introduction
A soil can be visualised as a skeleton of solid particles enclosing continuous voids
which contain water and/or air. For the range of stresses usually encountered in practice,
the individual solid particles and water can be considered incompressible; air, on the
other hand, is highly compressible. The volume of the soil skeleton as a whole can
change due to rearrangement of the soil particles into new positions, mainly by rolling
and sliding, with a corresponding change in the forces acting between particles. The
actual compressibility of the soil skeleton will depend on the structural arrangement of
the solid particles, i.e. the void ratio, e. In a fully saturated soil, since water is considered
to be incompressible, a reduction in volume is possible only if some of the water can
escape from the voids. In a dry or a partially saturated soil a reduction in volume is
always possible, due to compression of the air in the voids, provided there is scope for
particle rearrangement.
Shear stress can be resisted only by the skeleton of solid particles, by means of
reaction forces developed at the interparticle contacts. Normal stress may similarly be
resisted by the soil skeleton through an increase in the interparticle forces. If the soil is
fully saturated, the water filling the voids can also withstand normal stress by an increase
in pore water pressure.
Effective stress
The importance of the forces transmitted through the soil skeleton from particle to
particle was recognised by Terzaghi (1943), who presented his Principle of Effective
Stress, an intuitive relationship based on experimental data. The principle applies only
to fully saturated soils, and relates the following three stresses:
1 - the total normal stress () on a plane within the soil mass,
being the force per unit area transmitted in a normal direction
across the plane, imagining the soil to be a solid (single-
phase) material;
2 - the pore water pressure (u), being the pressure of the water
filling the void space between the solid particles;
3 - the effective normal stress (’) on the plane, representing
the stress transmitted through the soil
skeleton only (i.e. due to interparticle forces).
The relationship is: ’= -u
Concept of Effective stress
Example 1
A layer of saturated clay 4 m thick is overlain by sand 5 m deep, the water table being 3
m below the surface, as shown. The saturated unit weights of the clay and sand are 19
and 20 kN/m3 , respectively; above the water table the (dry) unit weight of the sand is
17 kN/m3 . Plot the values of total vertical stress and effective vertical stress against
depth. If sand to a height of 1 m above the water table is saturated with capillary water,
how are the above stresses affected?
Example 2
A 5-m depth of sand overlies a 6-m thick layer of clay, the water table being at the
surface; the permeability of the clay is very low. The saturated unit weight of the sand is
19 kN/m3 and that of the clay is 20 kN/m3 . A 4-m depth of fill material of unit weight 20
kN/m3 is placed on the surface over an extensive area. Determine the effective vertical
stress at the centre of the clay layer (a) immediately after the fill has been placed,
assuming this to take place rapidly, and (b) many years after the fill has been placed.
Since the fill covers an extensive area, it can be assumed that the condition of zero lateral
strain applies. As the permeability of the clay is very low, dissipation of excess pore water
pressure will be very slow; immediately after the rapid placement of the fill, no
appreciable dissipation will have taken place. The initial stresses and pore water pressure
at the centre of the clay layer are
v=5x19+3x20=155 kPa; u=8x9.81=78 kPa
’v=155-78=77 kPa
Example 2 (cont’d)
Many years after placement of the fill, dissipation of excess pore water pressure should
be essentially complete such that the increment of total stress from the fill is entirely
carried by the soil skeleton (effective stress). The effective vertical stress at the centre
of the clay layer is then
’v=77+4x20=157 kPa
Immediately after the fill has been placed, the total vertical stress at the centre of the
clay increases by 80 kPa due to the weight of the fill. Since the clay is saturated and
there is no lateral strain, there will be a corresponding increase in pore water pressure
of u = 80 kPa (the initial excess pore water pressure). The static pore water pressure
was calculated previously as u = 78 kPa. Immediately after placement, the pore water
pressure therefore increases from 78 to 158 kPa, and then during subsequent
consolidation gradually decreases again to 78 kPa, accompanied by the gradual
increase of effective vertical stress from 77 to 157 kPa.
Effect of seepage on effective stress
When water is seeping through the pores of a soil, total head is dissipated as viscous
friction producing a frictional drag, acting in the direction of flow, on the solid
particles. A transfer of energy thus takes place from the water to the solid particles, and
the force corresponding to this energy transfer is called seepage force. Seepage force
acts on the particles of a soil in addition to gravitational force, and the combination of
the forces on a soil mass due to gravity and seeping water is called the resultant body
force.
Effect of Hydraulic gradient on effective stress adjacent to sheet
pile
If the factor of safety against heave is
considered inadequate, the embedded
length d may be increased or a
surcharge load in the form of a filter
may be placed on the surface AB,
Critical hydraulic gradient
When the hydraulic gradient is icr = (Gs-1)/(1+e), the effective normal stress on any
plane will be zero, gravitational forces having been cancelled out by upward seepage
forces. In the case of sands, the contact forces between particles will be zero and the soil
will have no strength. The soil is then said to be liquefied, and if the critical gradient is
exceeded the surface will appear to be ‘boiling’ as the particles are moved around in the
upward flow of water. It should be realised that ‘quicksand’ is not a special type of soil,
but simply sand through which there is an upward flow of water under a hydraulic
gradient equal to or exceeding icr. In the case of clays, liquefaction may not necessarily
result when the hydraulic gradient reaches the critical value because of the cohesive
strength.
Example
The flow net for seepage under a sheet pile wall is shown below, the saturated unit
weight of the soil being 20 kN/m3 . Determine the values of effective vertical stress at
points A and B. Determine the factor of safety against failure by heaving adjacent to the
downstream face of the piling. The saturated unit weight of the soil is 20 kN/m 3 .
Z=0
Total head at A, hA = 5.2 m
Elevation head at A, zhA = –7.0 m
Pore water pressure at A, uA = w (hA – zA ) = 9.81(5.2 + 7.0) = 120 kPa
i.e. boundary water force on bottom surface = 120 kN
Net vertical boundary water force = 120 – 39 = 81 kN
Total weight of the column = 220 kN
Vertical component of resultant body force = 220 – 81 = 139 kN
i.e. effective vertical stress at A = 139 kPa.
Example
