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CHAPTER3
Soil Mechanics Principles
For slope stability analysesto be useful, they must rep-
resent the correct problem, correctly' .fttrmuLoted.This
requires(l) mastery of the principles of soil mechan-
Lcs.(2) knowledge of geology and site conditions. and
-31knowledge of the propertiesof the soils at the site.
In thrs chapter we deal with the principles of soil me-
ihanics that are needed to understand and to fbrmulate
.inalysesof slope stability problems correctly.
DRAINED AND UNDRAINED CONDITIONS
The conceptsof drained and undrained conditions are
,rf fundamentalimportance in the mechanicalbehavior
,rf soils, and it is worthwhile to review these concepts
.it the beginning of this examinationof soil mechanics
principles. The lay definitions of drained antl un-
.lruined (drained : dry or emptied, undrained - not
,lry or not ernptied) do not describe the way these
t ords are used in soil mechanics.The definitions used
in soil mechanicsare relatedtcl the easeand speedwith
n hich water rroves in or out of soil in comparisonwith
rhe length of tirne that the soil is subjected to some
;hange in load. The crux of the issue is whether or not
ihanges in changes in load cause changes in pore
J)ressure:
. Druined is the condition under which water is able
to flow into or out of a mass of soil in the length
o1 time that the soil is subjectedto some change
in load. Under drained conditions, changesin the
loads on the soil do not causechangesin the water
pressurein the voids in the soil, becausethe water
can move in or out of the soil frecly when the
volume of voids increasesor decreasesin responsc
to the changing loads.
. IJndruined is the condrtion under which there is
no flow of water into or out of a mass of soil in
the length of time that the soil is subjectedto some
change in load. Changes in the loads on the soil
cause changesin the water pressurein the voids,
b e c a u s et h e w a t e r c a n n o t m o v e i n o r o u t i n r e -
sponse to the tendency lor the volume of voids to
change.
An example that illustrates these conditions is
shown in Figure 3.1, which shows a clay test specimen
in a direct shear test apparatus.The permeability of the
clay is low, and its compressibility is high. When the
normal load P and the shear load Z are increased,there
is a tendency for the volume of the clay to decrease.
This decreasein volume of the clay would take place
entirely by reduction of the volume of the voids be-
causethe clay particlesthemselvesare virtually incom-
pressible.However, fbr the volume of the voids in the
clay to decrease,water would have to run out of the
clay becausewater is also virtually incornpressible.
If the loads P and T were increasedquickly, say in
1 second,the clay specimenwould be in an undrained
state lbr some period of time. Within the period of I
secondinvolved in increasingP andT, there would not
be enough time for any si-qnificantamount of water to
flow out of the clay. It is true that even in a period of
1 second there would be some small amount of flow,
but this would be insignificant. For all practical pur-
poses the clay would be undrained immediately afler
the loads were changed.
If the loads P and I were held constantfor a longer
period. say one day, the state of the clay specimen
would change fiom undrained to drained. This is be-
cause within a period of one day. there would be suf-
ficient time tbr water to flow out of the clay. Within
this time the volume of the voids would decreaseand
come essentiallytct equilibriLrm.It is true that equilib-
rium would be approacl-rcd asyrnptotically.and strictly
l9
20 3 sotl MECHANICs PRTNCTPLES

Metalplate

Porousstone

Normal load P Shearbox

Shear loadT

F'igure3.1 Dircct sheal test apparatus

spcaking.ecluilibrir-rm woulcl be approachedclosely bLrt
never bc rcached. However. firr all practical purposcs
thc clay would be clraincd alfcr the loacls were helcl
constant lirr one day.
It is clear from this exarnple that the dil'l'erencebe-
tween undriiined and drained. as these words are r.rsed
in soif mechanics,is time. Every mass of soil has cherr-
acteristics that determinc how long is required fbr tran-
sition liom an undrained to a drained condition. A
practical rneasurcclf this tirne is 1,),r, the tinte reqr"rired
to achieve 99% o1' thc equilibrium volume change,
which 1or practical plrrposes,we consider to be equi-
l i b r i u m . U s i n g T e r z a g h i ' st h e o r y o f c o n s o l i d a t i o n w
can estimatethe value of /.,.,:
D)
t,,,,: 4 -
(1,,
where /,,.,is the time required for 994/r,of the equilib-
rium volume change,D the greatestdistancethat water
must travel to flow out of the soil mass (length units),
and r:,.the coefhcient of consolidation(length squared
p e r u n i t o f t i m e ) . F o r t h e t e s t s p e c i m e ni n F i g u r e 3 . 1 ,
D w o u l d b e h a l f t h e s p e c i m e nt h i c k n e s sa. b o u t 1 . 0c m ,
and c,,would be about 2 cm)/h ( l9 ft':lyr). Using these
numbers. we would estimate that /,,.,would be 2.0 h.
One second after the new loads were applied, the test
specimenwould be undrained.Afier 2 hours or longer,
the test specimenwould be drained.
Parenthetically,it should be noted that the use of
the direct shear test as an example of drained and un-
drained conditions is not meant to indicate that the
direct shear apparatus is suitable fbr both drained and
unclrainedshear tests on soils. Direct shear tests are
sr"ritahlcfirr drained shcar tests on soils, but not firr
r-rndrained tests. Drair.redclirecttcsts are perlbrrncd Lls-
i n g t h i n s p e c i r n e n s o t h a t 1 ) i s s r n a l l ,a n d u s i n g a s l t l w
ratc o['shearing so that the specimen is drainecl
throughout thc tcst. Direct shcar tests are not good fbr
undrainedtests.becausethe only way to preventdrain-
agc is to apply the loads very quickly, which can rcsult
in higher r.ncasuredstrength due to strain rate efl'ects.
Triaxial tests are better sr-ritcdto undrained testing in
thc laboratory,bccausedrainagccan be preventcdctlnt-
p l e t e l y b y s c a l i n g t h e t e s t s p c c i m e n si n i m p e r m e a b l e
, e lletrbranes. [Jndrained triaxial tests can therefirre be
perfbrrnedslowly enough to eliminate undesirablerate
ell'ects.and still be undraincd.
( - 1I.)
Recapitulation
. The difl'erencebetweenundrainedand drained
conditionsis time.
. Undrainedsignifiesa conditionwherechangesin
loadsoccur more rapidly than watercan flow in
or out of the soil. The pore pressuresincreaseor
decrease in response to the changesin loads.
. Drained signifiesa conditionwhere changesin
load are slow enough,or remain in place long
enough,so that wateris ableto flow in or out of
the soil, permittingthe soil to reach a stateof
equilibriurnwith regard to water flow. The pore
pressures in the drainedconditionare controlled
by the hydraulicboundaryconditions,andareun-
affectedby the changesin loads.

TO'TAL AND EFFECTIVE STRESSES
.Ii'e.rs is delined as force per unit area. Total s/ress is
:hc sum of all fbrces, including those transmitted
.hrough interparticle contacts and those transmitted
:hrough water pressures,divided by the total area.Total
ri'r,c includes both the area of voids and the area of
.rrlid.
Effective s/ress includes only the forces that are
:ransmitted through particle contacts. It is equal to the
:,rtal stressminus the water pressure.The total normaL
'ri?.r.ron the potential shear plane in the test specimen
n Fi-eure3.1 is equal to
W+P
(.3.2)
.,.hereo is the total stress(force per unit of area);W
:hc weight of the upper half of the specimen,porous
.tone,metalplate,and the steelball throughwhich the
.rradis applied;P the appliednormalload (F); and A
:he total area(L2).For a typical direct shearapparatus,
.rith a 102-mmr(4-inr) shearbox, W would be about
] ] . 4 N ( 2 . 8r b ) .
Before any load is applied to the specimen(when
P : 0), the normalstresson the horizontalplaneis
*': #.,,*l\: 1 . 2k P a (3.3)
The eff-ectivestressis equalto the total stressminus
lhe water pressure.Considerthe condition before any
load is appliedto the specimen(when P : 0): If the
\pecimenhas had enoughtime to come to a drained
;ondition, the waterpressurewould be hydrostaticand
rts value would be governedby the depth of water in
rhereservoiraroundthe shearbox. For a typical direct
.hear apparatusthe depth of water (h in Figure 3.1)
rrouldbe about2 in. (about0.051m). The correspond-
rng hydrostaticwater pressureat the level of the hor-
jzontalplanewould be
m,;: 0.-5kPa (.34)
it,,: y,,h: (9.81kN/mr.110.051
n here a,,is the initial water pressurein the specimen.
y,, the unit weight of water : 9.81 kN/m3, and li the
heightof waterabovethe horizontalplans : 0.051m.
With o : 1.2 kPa and nn - 0.5 kPa, the effective
\rfessis equalto 0.7 kPa:
- ou - u, - 1.2kPa - 0.5 kPa : 0.7 kPa
rr,i,, (3.5)
ToTAL AND EFFECTIVE STRESSES 21
where oi. is the initial eff'ectivestress.If a load P :
200 N is appliedto the specimen,the changein normal
stresswould be
200N :
Ao: 19.4kPa (3.6)
0 . 0 1 0m
3,
and the total stressafter the load is appliedwould be
(r: (r,.+ Arr - 1.2kPa + 19.4kPa: 20.6kPa
(3.7)
The valuesof total stressare definedwithout ref'er-
ence to how much of the fbrce might be carried by
contactsbetweenparticlesor to how much is trans-
mitted throughwaterpressure.Total stressis the same
fbr the undrainedand drainedconditions.The valueof
total stressdependsonly on equilibrium;it is equal to
the total of all normal forcesdivided by the total area.
When the load P is appliedrapidly and the specimen
is undrained, the porepressure changes. The specimen
is confined within the shearbox and cannot defbrm.
The clay is saturated(the voids are lilled rvith water),
so the volume of the specimencannotchangeuntil
water flows out. In this condition. the addedload is
carriedentirelyby increasedwater pressure. The soil
skeleton(the assemblageof particlesin contact with
one another)does not changeshape,does not change
volume,and carriesnone of the new appliedload.
Under theseconditionsthe increasein water pres-
sureis equal to the changein total stress:
L , u: L , o : 1 9 . 4k P a (3.8)
whereAa is the increasein waterpressuredue to the
changein load in the undrainedcondition.The water
pressureafter the load is appliedis equalto the initial
water pressureplus this changein pressure:
L t : u o * A u : 0 . 5k P a + 1 9 . 4k P a : 1 9 . 9k P a
(3.e)
The effective stress is equal to the total stress [Eq.
(3.7)l minus the water pressure[Eq. (3.9)]:
o' : 20.6kPa - 1 9 . 9k P a : 0 . 7 k P a (3.10)
Becausethe increasein water pressurecaused by the
200-N load is equal to the increasein total stress,the
efl'ective stress does not change.
22 3 sort- MECHANICS PRINCIPLITS
The effective stress after the load is applied [Eq.
(3.10)l is the same as the efl'ective stress before the
l o a d i s a p p l i e d t E q . ( 3 . 5 ) 1 .T h r s i s b e c a u s et h e s p e c i -
men is undrained. Water does not have time to drain
as the load is applied. so there is no volume change in
the saturatedspecimen. As a result, the soil skeleton
does not strain. The load carried by the soil skeleton,
which is rneasuredby the value of efl'ectivestress,does
not change.
If the load is maintained over a period of time,
clrainagewill occur. and eventually the specimen will
be drained. The drained condition is achieved when
there is no difl-erencebetween the water pressuresin-
side the specimen (the pore pressure) and the water
pressure outside. governed by the water level in the
reservoir aror-rndthe direct shear apparatus.This con-
dition will be achieved(tbr practical purposes)in about
2 hours and will persistuntil the loird is changedagain.
Afier 2 hours the specimen will have achieved 997o
equilibrium, the volume change will be essentially
complete,and the pore pressureon the horizontal plane
will be equal to the hydrostiitic head at that level. tt :
0.5 kPa.
In this drained condition the ell'ectivestressis
c' : 20.6kPa - 0.5 kPa : 20.1kPa (3.11)
andall of the 200-Nloadis carriedby the soil skeleton.
Recapitulation
. TotaL s/res.r is the sum of all forces. including
those transmitted through particle contacts and
those transmittedthrough water pressures.divided
by total area.
. E/|et'tive .s/rz.ssis equal ttt the totirl stress tninus
the water pressure. It is the torce transmitted
through particle contacts,divided by total area.
DRAINED AND UNDRAINED SHEAR
STRENGTHS
Sl'terrrstrenglft is defincd as the maximum value of
shear stress that the soil ciin withstand. Thc slteur
.rr,?.r.ron the hclrizontalplane in the direct shear test
specirnenin Fi-gure3.1 is equal to the shear firrce cli-
vided bv the area:
I
( 3 .I 2 )
r-i
The shear strength of soils is controlled by effec-
tive stress.whether tailure occurs under drained or un-
ilrained conditions. The relationship between shear
strength and eflective stress can be represented by a
Mohr-Coulomb strengthenvelope,as shown in Figure
3.2. The relationshipbetween r and o' shown in Figure
3.2 can be expressedas
r' : c' + ,rLtan(b' (3.13)
where c'' is the efl'ective stress cohesion. oi, the efl'ec-
tive stress on the failure plane at failure, and rf' the
efTectivestressangle of internal friction.
Sources of Shear Strength
I1 a shear load 7 is applied to the test specimenshown
i n F i g u r e 3 . 1 , t h e t o p o f t h e s h e a rb o x w i l l m o v e t o
the lefi relative to the bottom of the box. If the shear
load is large enough, the clay will fail by shearingon
the horizontal plane, and the displacementwould be
very large. Failure would be accompaniedby devel-
opment of a ruptr-rrezone, or break through the soil,
along the horizontal plane.
As the upper half of the specimenmoved to the lefi
with respect to the lower half and the stren-ethof the
soil was mobilized, the particles within the rupture
zone would be displaced fiom their original positions
relative to adjacentpalticles. lnterparticlebonds would
be broken. some individual particles would be broken'
particles would rotate and be reoriented into new po-
sitions" and particles would slide across their contacts
with nei-ehboringparticles. These movements of the
particles would be resistedby the strengthof interpar-
ticle bonds, by fiictional resistanceto sliding, and by
fbrces fiom adjacent particles resistin-edisplacement
ancl reorientation. These types of resistanceare the
sourccsof shear strength in soils.
The two most inlportant factors -eoverning the
strengthsof soils are the magnitudeof the interparticle
contact firrces and the density of the soil. Larger in-
terparticle contact fbrces (larger values of efl'ective
stress)and higher densitiesresult in higher stren-eths.
As r increases.the shear displacement(A"r) between
the top and the bottom of the shearbox would increase.
as shown in Ftgure 3.3. This sheardisplacementresults
from shear strains in the rupture zone. The shear dis-
placementsin direct sheartestscan be measuredeasily.
but shear strains cannot be determincd. because the
thickness of the shear zttne is not known. While the
clirect shear tcst can be used to measllre the shear
slrengths of soils. it providcs only qr-ralitativcinlbr-
rnation about strcss strain bchavior. It is ptlssible tcr
c l e t e r r n i n ew h c t h e r s o i l s a r e d u c t i l e ( s h e a r r e s i s t a n c e
 DRAINED AND UNDRAINED SHEAR S'fRENGTHS 23
F o rp r e s s u r e>sp r e c o n s o l i d a t i o n
p r e s s u r e ,n v e l o peex t e n d b
sack
t h r o u g ho r i g i n( c ' = 0 )

(D
H i g hp r e c o n s o l i d a t i o n
o
(g
q)
c
a

Effectivestress- o'
la)

E n v e l o p e sa r e s l i g h t l y
c u r v e o ,m o r e s o a t
h i g h e rd e n s i t y

@
Q loo""
c)
@
$
C)
g
a

Effectivestress- o'
(b)

Figure3.2 Ellbctive stressshearstrengthenvelopes:(a) for clay; (b) fbr sands,gravels.and

rockfill.

femains high afier failure) or brittle (shear resistance
decreasesafter tailure).
Drained Strength
Drained strength is the strength of the soil when it is
loaded slowly enough so that no excesspore pressures
are induced by applied loads. In the tield. drained con-
.litions result when loads are applied slowly to a mass
trf soil, or where they persist fbr a long enough time
.o that the soil can drain. In the laboratory, drained
conditions are achieved by loading test specimens
.lowly so that excesspore pressuresdo not develop as
the soil is loaded.
Imagine that the direct sheartest specimenshown in
Figure 3.1 reacheda drained condition under the load
of 200 N and was then loaded to failure by increasing
Z slowly so thatexcessporepressures did not develop.
As shown by Eq. (3.11).the eff'ectivestresson the
horizontalplaneat equilibriumunderthe 200-N load
would be 20.1 kPa. and it would remainconstantas
the clay was shearedslowly.
The strengthof the specimen canbe calculated using
Eq. (3.13). If the clay is normally consolidated, c'
would be zero. The value of rf' would probablybe
between25 and 35" tor normallyconsolidated sandy
or silty clay. As an example,supposethat @' is equal
to 30". The drainedstrengthof the clay would be
s: c ' t c i , t a n6 ' : 0 + ( 2 0 . 1 ) ( 0 . 5 8 )1: 1 . 6k P a
( 3 .1 4 )
wherec' : 0 and tan 6' : tan 30" : 0.-58.
24 3 sott- MECHANTCS PRTNCIPLES
I
+l
tll
t<- r
Duclile
_/ _ (."gg'"9
/-
a
a
I
a Brittle
(g
(sensitive)
q)
-c
a
- Ax
Horizontaldisplacement
Figure 3.3 Shear stress-sheardisplacementcurvesfor direct
shear test.
Volume Changes During Drained Shear
Whether a soil tends to compress or dilate when
sheared depends on its density and the effective stress
that confines it. In dense soils the particles are packed
tightly together, and tight packing results in a great
deal of interference between particles when they move
relative to one another. In very dense soils, particles
cannot move relative to each other unless they ride up
over each other. which causes dilation.
Higher effective stressestend to prevent dilation, be-
cause work is required to cause the soil to expand
against the effective con{ining pressure.If the eft-ective
confining pressure is high enough, the soil may not
dilate. Instead,as shearingtakes place, individual par-
ticles will be broken.
ln soils with low densities the soil particles are far-
ther apart on average, in a loose assemblage.As a
loose soil is sheared,particlestend to tall into the gaps
between adjacentparticles.and the volume of the soil
decreases.
The lower the density and the higher the efl'ective
stress,the more likely the soil is to compress when
sheared. Conversely, the higher the density and the
lower the confining pressure,the more likely the soil
is to dilate. In clays, density is governed primarily by
the hi,ehestef-fbctivestressto which the clay has been
sub.jected.
A tnrntully consoliduted soll is one that has not
been subjected to an efl'ective stress hi-{her than the
present efl'ective stress, and its density is the lowest
possible for any given efl'ective stress. As ii result,
normally consolidatedclays tend to compresswhen
sheared.
An overconsolidated clay is one that was subjected
previously to higher eff'ectivestressand thus has a
higherdensitythanthat of a normallyconsolidatedsoil
at the sameeffective stress.As a result, overconsoli-
dated soils compressless when shearedthan do nor-
mally consolidatedsoils,or if the previousmaximum
effective stresswas much higher than the effective
stressduring shearing,the clay will dilate.
Pore PressureChangesDuring UndrainedShear
The tendencyof normally consolidatedand lightly ov-
erconsolidated clays to compresswhen shearedresults
in increasedpore pressureswhen shearstressesin-
creaseunder undrainedconditions.The tendencyof
heavily overconsolidated soils to dilate when sheared
resultsin negativechangesin pore pressureswhen
shear stressesincrease under undrained conditions.
Thus, when clays are shearedunder undrainedcondi-
tions, the effectivestresson the potentialfailure plane
changes,becoming lower in normally consolidated
soils and higherin heavilyoverconsolidated soils.
UndrainedStrength
Undrained strength is the strengthof the soil when
loaded to failure under undrainedconditions.In the
field, conditions closely approximatingundrained
condtionsresult when loads are applied to a massof
soil faster than the soil can drain. In the laboratory,
undrainedconditionsareachievedby loadingtestspec-
imens so rapidly that they cannotdrain, or by sealing
them in impermeablemembranes.(As noted previ-
ously, it is pref'erableto control drainagethrough the
use of impermeablemembranesratherthan very hi-eh
ratesof loading,to avoid high strainratesthat are not
representative of lield conditions.)
Imaginethat the direct sheartest specimenshownin
Figure3.1 reacheda drainedconditionunderthe load
of 200 N and was then loadedto failure by increasing
Z rapidly.As shownby Eq. (3.11),the effectivestress
on the horizontalplaneat equilibriumunderthe 200-
N load. befbrethe shearload was increased,would be
20.I kPa. The pore pressurebeforethe shearload was
increased would be 0.5 kPa.as shownby Eq. (3.4).
As the shearload 7 was appliedwithout allowing
tirne fbr drainage,the pore pressurewould increase,
becausethe clay is normally consolidated under the
20.1 kPa ef1-ective stress.As the shearload I is in-
creased, the pore pressurewithin a specimenof a typ-
ical normallyconsolidated clay undertheseconditions
would increaseby aboutl2 kPa,and the efl'ectivenor-
mal stresson the tailure plane at tailure (oi) would

decreaseby the sameamount.The effectivestresson
rhe lailure planeat failure would thus be equalto 20.1
kPa - 12 kPa, or about 8 kPa. The undrainedshear
:trengthof the clay would thus be about4.6 kpa:
.r: c'* o'tanS':0 + (8.0X0.58):4.6kpa
Figure 3.4 shows the stresspaths and shear strengths
lbr drained and undrained failure of the direct shear
test specimen. The drained stress path is vertical, cor-
responding to an increase in shear stress and constant
:ftective normal stress on the horizontal plane. The
,rndrained stresspath curves to the left, as the increase
in shear stress is accompanied by a decrease in eff-ec-
tire normal stressdue to the increasein pore pressure.
As is typical fbr normally consolidated clays, the
undrained strength is lower than the drained strength.
This is due to the fact that the pore pressure increases
.rnd the effective stress decreases during undrained
.hear. For very heavily overconsolidated clays, the re-
',erse is true: The undrained strength is greater
than the
,lrained strength, because pore pressure decreasesand
:tfective stress increases during undrained shear.
\trength Envelopes
itrength envelopesfor soils are developed by perfbrm-
ng strength tests on soils using a range of pressures
,,nd plotting the results on a Mohr stressdiagram, as
.jrown in Figure 3.5. Both eff-ectivestress and total
.tfess strength envelopes can be developed. The
.trength envelopesshown in Figure 3.5 are represen-
.rtlve of the results of tests on undisturbedspecimens
i clay. all trimmed fiom the same undisturbed sample
.nd therefore all having the same preconsolidation
Undrained ,
stresspath-/
10 15 20
Effeclivestress- 6' (kPa)
I igure 3.4 Drained a n d u n d r a i n e d s t r e s s p a t h s a n d s h e a r
:.'ncths.
DRAINED AND UNDRAINED SHEAR STRENCTHS
a
a
E
a
(3.1s) (6
c) Totalstress(undrained)
c
a
c'
I
Effectivestressor total stress- o' or o
Figure 3.5 Drained and undrained strength envelopes for
saturated clav.
pressure. The effective stress envelope represents the
fundamental behavior of the clay, because the strength
of the clay is controlled by effective stressand density.
The total stress envelope reflects the pore pressures
that develop during undrained shear as well as the fun-
damental behavior in terms of efl'ective stresses.
EfTective stress strength envelopes fbr clays consist
of two parts. At high stressesthe clay is normally con-
solidated, and the high-pressure part of the envelope
extends back through the origin. At low stressesthe
clay is overconsolidated.The strengthenvelopein this
range of pressuresdoes not extend through the origin.
The values of the effective stress shear strength pa-
rameters c' and @' depend on whether the clay is nor-
mally consolidatedor overconsolidated.If the clay is
testedin a range of pressureswhere it is normally con-
solidated, c'' is zero and g' is constant.If the clay is
tested in a range of pressureswhere it is overconsoli-
dated, c' is greater than zero and $' is smaller than the
normally consolidatedvalue. Becausethe values of r''
and @' that characterize the strength of the clay depend
on the magnitude of the stressesin relation to the pre-
consolidationpressure.it is important that the range of
stressesused in laboratory strength tests should cor-
respond to the range of stressesinvolved in the prob-
lem being analyzed.
The total stressenvelope is horizontal. representing
shear strength that is constant and independentof the
magnitude of the total stressused in the test. This be-
havior is characterizedby these relationshios:
25
{t : .t// (3.16a'1
(b,,- 0 (3.r6b)
26 3 sorl MECHANICS PRINCTPLES

where c: is the total stress cohesion intercept, s,, the gible and virtually all of the change in total stress is
undrained shear strength, and @,,the total stressfiiction reflected in change in efI'ective stress. At degrees of
angle. saturation approaching l00Vo, the opposite is true: Vir-
The shear strength is the same for all values of total tually all of the change in total stress is reflected in
normal stress because the clay is saturated and un- change in pore pressure, and the change in efl'ective
drained. Increasing or decreasing the total normal stressis negligible. This behavior is responsiblefor the
stressresults only in a change in pore pressurethat is curvature of the total stressenvelope in Figure 3.6: The
equal in n-ragnitudeand opposite in sign to the change degree of saturation increases as the total confining
in normal stress.Thus. the effective stressis constant. pressure increases. Therefore, at low values of total
and becausethe eff-ectivestressis constant the strength stress. where the degree of saturation is lower, the en-
is constant becausestrength is controlled by etfective velopc is steeper because changes in e1I-ectivestress
strcss. Although strength is controlled by ef-fbctive are a larger portion of changes in total stress. At high
stress.it is more convenientfbr some purposesto Llse values of total stress,where the degreeof saturationis
the total stress envelope and the corresponding total higher, the envelope is flatter because changes in ef-
stress parameters. Use of efI'ective and total stress pa- fective stress are a smaller portion of changes in total
rameters in stability analysesis discussedlater in the StTCSS.
chapter.
If the clay were only partly saturated,the undrained
Recapitulation
strength envelope wor"rldnot be horizontal. Instead, it
would be inclined and shapedas shown in Figure 3.6. . Sheor strensthis dellned as the maximum shear
As the total normal stressincreases.the strength also
stressthat the soil can withstand.
increases.becausechangesin total stressdo not cause . The strength of soil is controlled by efl-ective
equal increasesin pore pressure.As the total stress
stresses.whetherfailure occursunderdrainedor
applied to a partly saturated specimen is increased,
undrainedconditions.
both the pore pressure and the eff'ective stressincrease. . Drained strengthis the strengthcorespondingto
This occurs because.with both water and air in the
failure with no changein effective stresson the
voids of the clay, the pore fluid (the mixture of water
tailureplane.
and air) is not incompressible,and only part of the . Undruinedstrengthis the strengthcorresponding
added total stress is carried by the pore fluid. The bal-
to tailurewith no changein watercontent.
ance is carried by the soil skeleton,which results in an . EfTectivestressstrengthenvelopesrepresentfun-
increase in eflective stress.
damentalbehavior.becausestrengthis controlled
How much of a change in total stress is borne by
by eftectivestressand density.
the change in pore pressure and how much by change . Total stress strength envelopesreflect the pore
in effective stress depends on the degree of saturation
pressuresthat developduring undrainedshear,as
of the clay. At degrees of saturation in the range of
well as fundamentalbebaviorin termsof ef-tbctive
10% and lower, the change in pore pressureis negli-
SITCSS.
. Total stressstrengthenvelopesfor saturatedclays
are horizontal,correspondingto c : s,,,6,, - 0.
Effectivestress Total stressenvelopesfor partly saturatedclays
(drained and are not horizontal,and @,,is greaterthan zero.

o
BASIC REQUIREMENTSFOR SLOPE STABILITY
ANALYSES
o
o
c
a Whether slope stability analysesare perfbrmed fbr
drainedconditionsor undrainedconditions,the most
basicrequirementis that equrlibriummustbe satisfied
in terms of total stresses. All body fbrces(weights;,
and all externalloads,includingthose due to water
E f f e c t i v es t r e s so r t o t a ls t r e s s- a ' o r o
pressures acting on externalboundaries, must be in-
l'igure 3.6 Draincd and undrained strength envelopcs firr cludedin the analysis.Theseanalyses providetwo use-
oartlv saturatcdclav. ful results: ( l) the total normal stresson the shear
 BASIC REQUIREMENTS FoR SLoPE STAB]I-ITY ANAIJSES
\Lrrface and (2) the shear stress required for equilib-
rium.
The foctor of ,safetl,fbr the shear surface is the ratio
of the shear strength of the soil divided by the shear
;tress required for equilibrium. The normal stresses
along the slip surface are needed to evaluate the shear
stren-eth: Except fbr soils with @ : 0, the shear
strength depends on the normal stress on the potential
plane of failure.
In efl-ectivestress analyses,the pore pressuresalong
the shear surface are subtracted from the total stresses
to determine efl-ectivenormal stresses.which are used
to evaluate shear strengths. Therefilre, to perfbrm ef'-
t'ectivestressanalyses,it is necessaryto know (or to
estimate) the pore pressuresat every point along the
shear surface. These pore pressures can be evaluated
rvith relatively good accuracy fbr drained conditions,
rvhere their values are determined by hydrostatic or
steady seepage boundary conditions. Pore pressures
can seldom be evaluated accurately for undrained
condtions, where their values are determined by the
fesponseof the soil to external loads.
In total stressanalyses,pore pressuresare not sub-
tracted fiom the total stresses,because shear strengths
are related to total stresses.Therefbre. it is not neces-
sary to evaluate and subtract pore pressuresto perfbrm
total stressanalyses.Total stressanalysesare applica-
ble only to undrainedconditions.Thc basic premise of
Iotol stressanctlt,sisis this: The pore pressuresdue to
LrndrainedIoading are deterrnineciby the behavior of
the soil. For a given value of total stresson the poten-
tial failure plane. there is a unique value of pore pres-
sure and therefbre a unique value of efl'ective stress.
Thus, although it is true that shear strength is really
controlled by el1'ectivestress,it is possible fbr the un-
tlrained condition to relate shear strength to total nor-
rnal stress.becauseeffbctive stressand total stressare
Lrniquelyrelated for the undrained condition. Clearly,
this line of reasoning does not apply to drained con-
ditions. where pore pressuresare controlled by hy-
draulic boundary conditions rather than the response
o l ' t h e s o i l t o e x t e r n a ll o a d s .
.{nalyses of Drained Conditions
Druined contlitions are those where chanses in load
are slow enough,ur where they have been in place long
cnough, so that all ol the soils reach a stateof equilib-
rium and no excess pore pressuresare caused by the
loads. In drained conditiclns pore pressuresare con-
tlolled by hydraulic boundary conditions. The water
n'ithin the soil may be static. or it ntay be seeping
steadily.with no change in the seepagcover tinte and
no increaseor decreasein the amount of water within
21
the soil. If these conditions prevail in all the soils at a
site, or if the conditions at a site can reasonably be
approximated by these conditions, a drained analysis
is appropriate. A droined anall-sis is perfbrmed using:
. Total unit weights
. EfTective stress shear strength parameters
. Pore pressuresdetermined from hydrostatic water
levels or steady seepageanalyses
Analyses of Undrained Conditions
Undrained conditions are those where changes in loads
occur more rapidly than water can flow in or out of
the soil. The pore pressures are controlled by the be-
havior of the soil in responseto changes in external
loads. If these conditions prevail in the soils at a site,
or if the conditions at a site can reasonably be approx-
imated by these conditions, an undrained analysis is
appropriate. An undruined unul\si.v is performed usin-t:
. Total unit weights
. Total stress shear strensth Darameters
How Long Does Drainage Take?
As discussed earlier, the di1l-erencebetween undrained
and drained conditions is time. The drainage charac-
teristics of the soil mass, and its size, detennine how
long will be requrredfor transition fiom an undrained
to a drained condition. As shown by Eq. (3.1):
,D. (3.11)
t u , , -4 -
L7,
where /,,,,is the tin-rerequired to reach 99c/cof drainage
equilibrium, D the length of the drainagepath, and r',,
the coefficient of consolidation.
Values of c. fbr clays vary fiom about 1.0 crn:/h
(10 firlyr) to about 100 times this valr.re.Values of r',,
tbr silts are on the order of 100 times the values fbr
clays. and values of c,. fbr sands are on the order ol'
100 times the valuesfor silts, and higher.Thcsc typical
values can be used to develop surne rou_ehideas o1'the
lengths of time required to achieve drained conditions
in soils in the lleld.
Drainage path lengths are related to layer thick-
nesses.They are half the layer thicknessfbr layers that
are bounded on both sides by l.norc permeablc soils.
and they are equal to the layer thicknessfor layers that
are drained only on one side. Lenses or layers of silt
or sand within clay layers provide internal drainage.
reducin-ethe drainagepath length to half ol'the thick-
ness between internal drainace lavers.
28 3 sorr- MECHANTcsPRINCTPLES
Values of /.,.,calculated using Eq. (3.17) are shown
in Figure 3.7. For rnost practical conditions, many
years or tens of years are required to reach drainage
equilibrium in clay layers. and it is usually necessary
to corrsiderundrainedconditions in clays. On the other
hand, sand and -9ra'',elslayers almost always reach
drainage equilibrium quickly, and only drained condi-
tions need be consideredfbr these materials.Silts fall
in between sandsand clays, and it is often difficult to
anticipate whether silt layers are better approximated
as dritined or undrained.When there is doubt whethcr
a l a y e r w i l l b e d r a i n e do r u n d r a i n c d ,t h e a n s w e r i s t o
analyze both conditrons, to cover the range of possi-
bilities.
Short-Term Analyses
Shrtrl ternr ref'ers to conclitions dr-rringrlr lirllowing
construction-thc time irlrnediately fbllowing the
changc in load. For exanrple. if constructins a sand
e r n b a n k n r e not n a c l a v l i r u n d a t i o nt a k e s t w o r r o n t h s ,
the short-terrnconclitionfirr the enrbankntcntwoulcl bc
t h e e n c l o f c o n s t r u c t i o n .r l r t w o l n ( ) n t h s .W i t h i n t l t i s
p c r i o d o l ' l i r n c . i t w o u l d b e a r e a s o n a b l ea p p l o x i n t a t i o n
that no drainage wor-rldoccur in the clay firundation,
whcrcas thc sand crnbankrnentwould bc I'ully clraincd.
F o r t h i s c o n d i t i o n i t w o u l d b c l o g i c a l t o p e r f i r r ma
d r a i n e da n a l v s i so l ' t h e e r n b a n k r n e nat n d a n u n d r a i n e d
Years
10,000
1,000
'100
10 100
Months
1 Days
100
1 0 Ho u r s
100
1 I ^.,iut'
Figure 3.7 Time required fbr' drainage of' soil deposits {1.,.,based on Terzagh's theory ol'
consolidation).
analysis of the clay fbundation. There is no problem
with perfbrming a single analysis in which the em-
bankment is considered to be drained and is treated in
terms of effective stresses.and in which the fbundation
is consideredto be undrained and is treated in terms
of total stresses.
As discussed earlier, equilibrir-rmin terms of total
stresses must be satisfied tor both total and efl-ective
stressanalyses.The only difl'erencesbetweentotal and
efl'ective stressanalysesrelate to the strength pararn-
cters that arc uscd and whether pore pressuresare spec-
ified. In the case o1' short-terrn analysis ol' a sand
embankmcnt on a clay fbundation, thc strength of thc
sand would be charircterized in terms ol' ell'ective
s t r e s s e s( b y a v a l u e o l ' r f ' l b r t h e s a n d ) ,a n d t h e
strcngthof the clay would bc charactcrizcdin tcrrls of
t o t a l s t r c s s c s( b y v a l u c so 1 ' s , ,- r ' v a r y i n g w i t h d c p t h ,
wilh d-l,,: 0 lbr a saturatedclay).
Porc pressureswould be specifiedlirr thc sand rf thc
water table was above the top of the clay or if there
was seepagethlough the embankrnent.but pore pres-
sureswould not be specilieclfirr tlre clay. There woLrld.
<lf course. be pore pressLrres in the clay. However, be-
c a u s ct h c s t r c n g t ho 1 ' t h c c l a y i s r c l a t c dt o t o t a l s t r c s s ,
it would be unnecccsaryto specify these nonzero val-
ucs. Becausc lnost computcr programs subtract porc
p r e s s u r e sw h e n t h e y a r e s p e c i f r e d .s p e c i l y i n g p ( ) r e
D r a i n a g ep a t h l e n g t h- m
10 3.0 10
f-q2+
"*49
a$"
---f-
Drainagepath length- ft

pfessuresfor soils that are being treatedas undrained
.-anresultin errors.Therefore,for soils that are treated
pore pressuresshouldbe set
rn terms of total stresses,
rr) zero,eventhough,in fact, they are not zero. (In the
particularcaseof $ : 0, no enor will result if pore
pressuresare not specifiedas zero, becausestrengths
.rre independentof normal stress,and misevaluating
normal stress does not result in strengthsthat are
nrongly evaluated.)
Externalwaterpressuresactingon the surfaceof the
tbundationor the embankmentwould be specifiedfor
hoth materials,becauseexternalwater pressuresare a
romponentof total stress,and they must be included
to satisfyequilibrium in terms of total stress.
Long-TermAnalyses
.\fier a periodof time. the clay foundationwould reach
.i drainedconCition,and the analysisfbr this condition
ri ould be perfbrmedas discussedearlierunder "Anal-
i:es of Drained Conditions,"becauselong term and
.lruined conditions cany exactly the same meaning.
Both of thesetermsrefer to the conditionwheredrain-
:rveequilibriumhas beenreachedand thereare no ex-
Jesspore pressuresdue to externalloads.
For the long-termcondition,both the sandembank-
nrent and clay foundationwould be characterizedin
ic'rrnSof eff-ectivestresses.Pore pressures,determined
irom hydrostaticwater levels or steadyseepageanal-
i ses.would be specifiedfor both materials.External
',\ater pressureson the surfaceof the foundation or
.'rrbankmentwould be specihedfor both materials,as
.rlrvays;thesemust be includedto satisfyequilibrium
ln (ermsof lotal stress.
Excavatedslope
1'::i:>
a 6
F
a q
d 6
0)
c s
</)
D i s p l a c e m e n- tA x
Figure 3.8 Mechanism of progressive failure of an excavated slope in overconsolidated clay
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR ST,OPE STABILITY ANALYSES 29
Failure
Progressive
One of the fundamentalassumptionsof limit equilib-
rium analysesis that the strengthof the soil can be
mobilized over a wide range of strains,as shown by
the curve labeled"ductile" in Figure 3.3. This implicit
assumptionarisesfrom the fact that limit equilibrium
analysesprovide no information regardingdeforma-
tions or strains.
Progressivefailure is a strongpossibilityin the case
of excavatedslopes in overconsolidatedclays and
shales, particularly stifT-fissuredclays and shales.
These materialshave brittle stress-straincharacteris-
tics, and they contain high horizontal stresses,often
higher than the vertical stress.When an excavationis
madein stiff fissuredclay or shale,the excavatedslope
reboundshorizontally,as shown in Figure 3.8. Finite
elementstudiesby Duncanand Dunlop(1969),(1910)
showedthat shearstressesare very high at the toe of
the slope,and there is a tendencyfbr failure to begin
at the toe and progressback beneaththe crest. as
shownin Figure3.8.
Immediatelyafter excavationof the slope (at time
at point A mightjust havereachedthe
/r), the stresses
peakof the stress-displacement curve,and the stresses
at pointsB and C would be lower.With time, the slope
would continueto reboundinto the cut. due to a de-
layed responseto the unloadingfiom the excavation,
and possiblyalso due to swellingof the clay as its
water content increasesfollowing the reduction in
stress.At a later time (r.), therefore,the displacements
at A, B, and C would all be larger,as shownin Figure
3.8. The shearstressat point A would deceaseas it
moved beyond the peak, and the shear stressesat
O v e r c o n s o l i d a t ec dl a v
-\ z# P o t e n t i asl l i ps u r f a c e
B l--_
C
-
o a
o
0) o)
o
(u T i m et 3
o 0)
a u)
D i s p l a c e m e n- tA x D i s p l a c e m e n- tA x
30 3 sott- MECHANICS PRINCIPLES
pointsB and C would increase.At a later time (r',),the
displacementat point B would be largeenoughso that
the shear stress there would fall below the peak'
Through this process, progressively,lailure would
spreadaroundthe slip surface,without evermobilizing
the peak shear strengthsimultaneouslyat all points
along the slip surface.
Becauseprogressivefailure can occur for soils with
brittle stress-strain characteristics,peak strengths
shoulclnot be usedfor thesesoils in limit equilibrium
analyses; usrngpeakstrengths fbr brittlesoilscan lead
to inaccurate and unconservative assessment of stabil-
ity. As discussed in Chapter 5, experience with slopes
in overconsolidated clays, particularlyfissuredclays'
shows that fullv softenedstrength,s are appropriatefor
thesematerialsin cases where slickensides have ncll
developed,and residuol strengthsare appropriatein
conditionswhereslickensides havedeveloped.
RecaPitulation
. Equilibrium must be satisfiedin terms of total
stressfor all slopestabilityanalyses.
. ln el'fectivestress analyses,pore pressuresare
subtractedfrom total stressesto evaluatethe ef'-
fective stresseson the shearsurface.
. In total stressanalyses,pore pressuresare not
subtracted.Shear strengthsare related to total
SITCSSCS.
, The basic premiseof total stressanalysesis that
there is a uniquerelationshipbetweentotal stress
and effective stress.This is true only for un-
drainedconditions.
' Total stressanalysesare not applicableto drained
conditions.
' The time requiredlbr drainageof soil layersvar-
ies from minutesfor sandsand gravelsto tens or
hundredsof yearslbr claYs.
r In short-termconditions,soils that drain slowly
may best be characterizedas undrained.while
soils that drain more quickly are best character-
ized as drained.Analysesof such conditionscan
be performed by using effective stressstrength
parameterstor the drained soils and total stress
strengthparametersfbr the undrainedsoils.
. When eff'ective stress strength parametersare
used, pore pressuresdeterminedfiom hydraulic
bounclaryconditions are specified.When total
stressstrengthparametersare used,no pore pres-
suresare specified.
. An implicit assumption of limit equilibriumanal-
yses is that the soils exhibit ductile stress-strain
behavior.Peak strengthsshould not be used for
materialssuch as stiff fissuredclays and shales
which have brittle stress-straincharacteristics'
becauseprogressivetailure can occur in these
materials.Using peak strengthscan result in
inaccurateand unconservative evaluationsof sta-
bilitv.