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Strength of Civil engineering materials
Concrete
Strength of Civil engineering materials
Steel
Shear strength failure
The safety of any geotechnical structure is dependent on
the shear strength of soil.
If the soil fails, a structure founded on or in it can collapse,
endangering lives and causing economic damage.
Engineering Material
Shear strength is controlled by their molecular structure.
Failure of these materials requires breaking the molecular bonds that hold the
material together
Steel – very strong molecular bonds *» high shear strength
Plastic – weaker bonds *» lower shear strength
Soil
Shear strength primarily depends on interactions between the particles, not their
internal strength.
These interaction can be divided into frictional strength and cohesive strength
FRICTIONAL STRENGTH
(1) Mineralogy – Soil includes many different minerals. The friction angle in
Sands of pure quartz is typically 30 - 36. However, the presence of mica given
smaller ’.
(2) Shape – angular particles is much higher than rounded ones
(3) Gradation – Well graded soil have more interlocking between particles than
poorly graded
(4) Void ratio – decreasing the void ratio (eg. by compaction) increase interlocking
and give higher ’.
(5) Organic material – the presence of organic material will decrease the friction
angle.
COHESIVE STRENGTH
(1) Cementation – Chemical bonding due to the presence of cementing agents (CaCO3,
Fe2O3)
(2) Electrostatic – can hold particles together, forces very small
(3) Negative pore water pressures – presence in soils above ground water table. Example,
moist unsaturated sands can stand in vertical cut
(4) Negative excess pore water pressures– some soil tend to dilate or expand when sheared.
Dilation draws water into voids. When the rate of shearing is rapid than the rate at
which water can flow, large negative excess pore water pressures can develop in the soil
COHESIVE STRENGTH
• Some soils have shear strength even when the effective stress, ’
is zero.
•If a soil has both frictional and cohesive strength, the equation
becomes:
f = c’ + ’tan’
Where:
f = Shear strength
c’ = Effective cohesion
’= Effective stress on shear surface
’= Effective friction angle
Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
f c tan
friction angle
f
cohesion c
f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take
without failure, under normal stress of .
Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
f
f c f tan
f tan frictional
component
c c
f
c and are measures or parameters of soil shear
strength.
Higher the values, higher the shear strength.
c’ = 0 =0
c c
•overconsolidated •Sand
clays •Inorganic silt
•Normally
consolidated clays
FRICTIONAL STRENGTH
EXAMPLE:
c=0
= 30
4.3 m
C
3.7 m
B
7m
A
Mohr Circles & Failure Envelope
Y
X X
Y Soil elements at
different locations
X ~ failure
Y ~ stable
Mohr Circles & Failure Envelope
The soil element does not fail if
the Mohr circle is contained
within the envelope
GL
c
Y c
c c+
Initially, Mohr circle is a point
Mohr Circles & Failure Envelope
As loading progresses, Mohr
circle becomes larger…
GL
c
Y c
c
? ?
How to determine the shear strength
of soil ?
?
Determination of the shear strength of soil
Normal force
Normal stress, σ
Area of cross section area
f
f ' tan ' ' tan
1
'
•A drained test will be performed and the rate of loading must be slow enough
to avoid build up of pore water pressure
• The rate of loading for clay must be much slower than sand due to its
permeability properties
•
Advantage and disadvantage of direct shear test
Advantage Disadvantage
Solution:
3
Under all-around Shearing (loading)
cell pressure 3
yes no yes no
gives c’ and ’
gives c’ and ’
Deviator stress
Deviator stress
Consolidated Drained Test
Consolidated Drained Test
Example
Try to understand :-
Example 10.2
Example 10.3
Example 10.4
Example of CD test
Answers
A) 34
B) 36
C) 38
D) 40
Example of CD test
Solution 1
3 19kN / m 2 ; 48kN / m 2
1 3 19 48 67kN / m 2
1 1 sin
3 1 sin
1 3
sin
1
1 3
1 48
sin 33.9 34
86
Example of CD test
Solution 2
1 3
sin 2
1
33.9
1 3
2
1 3
For sand, 2
c=0
1 3
2
Consolidated undrained test
Deviator stress
Loose sand
and normally
consolidated
clay
Dense sand
and over
consolidated
clay
Consolidated undrained test
Consolidated undrained test
Unconsolidated undrained test
Unconfined Compression Test
• No confining pressure, 3
Unconfined Compression Test
qu (undisturbed )
sensitivit y, St
qu ( remolded)
Type of clay St
Most clays 1 to 8
Flocculent 10 to 80
marine clay
Sensitivity and Thixotropy of clay
Spring 4
Spring 3
Spring 2
Spring 1
Degree of rotation
Cu=T / [πd2(h/2 + d/6)]
Cu Undrained shear strength of the soil
T Maximum torque at failure
h height of the vane
d diameter of the vane
Vane Shear Test At Site
Device that
measures the
required Torque
Sand
Clay
Buried Crust
Clay
Characteristics of the failure plane
Shear stress, f
Strength Envelope
180-2θ
θ
c 2θ
θ
A
B 3 C Normal stress,
1
Characteristics of the failure plane
2 o o
1 3 tan 45 2c tan 45
2 2
Characteristics of the failure plane
1 3 1 3
Normal stress, n = cos 2
2 2
1 3
Shear stress, f = sin 2
2
1- 3 Relation at Failure
1
X 3
3 1
t stress point
stress point
(v-h)/2
h v s
(v+h)/2
v h
t
2
v h
s
2
Stress Path
During loading…
Stress path
is the locus
t of stress
points
Stress path
s
t failure
tan-1 (sin )
s
1 90 54
2 135 82.35
3 315 189.5
4 450 270.5
120
Shear stress, f (kN/m 2)
100
80
60
40
20
31
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Normal stress, (kN/m 2)
Shear Stress (kN/m2)
1
B
2θ
O 3 = 112 A 1 = 287 Normal Stress (kN/m2)
(a)
1'3 '
AB 2 (b)
sin 0. 438
OA 1' 3 '
o 26
2 45 45 58 o
2 2
26o
Example 3.2
(c) ’ (on the failure plane )
1'3 ' 1'3 '
cos 2
2 2
287 112 287 112
cos( 2x 58 ) 161kN /m2
2 2
Shear stress, f
' '
1 3 sin 2
2
287 112
sin( 2x 58 ) 78. 6 kN /m2
2
(d) The maximum shear stress will occur on the plane
with θ = 45.
1'3 ' 1'3 '
cos 2
2 2
287 112 287 112
cos( 2x 45 ) 199.5 kN /m2
2 2
Example 3.3
The equation of the effective stress failure envelope for normally
consolidated clayey soil is f = ’ tan 30. A drained triaxial
test was conducted with the same soil at a chamber confining
pressure of 70 kN/m2. Calculate the deviator stress at failure.
Solution
1' 3 ' tan2 45
2
30
70 tan2 45 210 kN /m
2
2