Chapter 3

Shear Strength of Soil

PRESENTED BY:
JOMMAR V. TAGALOG, CE
The shear strength of a soil mass - is the internal resistance per unit area that the soil mass
can offer to resist failure and sliding along any plane inside it.

3 Basic Components of Shear Strength

(a) Frictional resistance to sliding between solid particles
(b) Cohesion and adhesion between particles
(c) Interlocking and bridging of solid particles to resist deformation

Importance of understanding the nature of shearing resistance:

to analyze soil stability problems, such as
• bearing capacity
• slope stability
• lateral pressure on earth-retaining structures.
Laboratory Test for Determination of
Shear Strength Parameters
Direct shear test
Triaxial test
Direct simple shear test
Plane strain triaxial test
Torsional ring shear test
Direct Shear Test
.
Plot of test results to obtain the friction angle (Ø)
Formula:

𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
Normal stress (σ) =
𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠−𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛

𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒

Shear stress (τ) =
𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠−𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛
Example 3.1
Following are the results of four drained direct shear tests on an over-consolidated clay:
Diameter of specimen = 50mm
Height of specimen = 25mm

Determine the relationships for peak shear strength (𝜏𝑓 ) and residual shear strength
(𝜏𝑟 ).
Example 3.2
The results of four drained shear tests on an over consolidated clay are as follows:
Size of specimen = 50mm x 50mm
Height of specimen = 25mm
Determine the cohesion and angle of internal friction.

Test No. Normal Force, (N) Shear Force, (N)

1 120 114
2 220 179
3 320 239
4 420 286
Example 3.3
A 7m thick soil has water table 3m below the ground surface. The soil above the
water table has degree of saturation of 45%, void ratio of the soil is 0.4 and the solids
have specific gravity of 2.70. Tests show that the soil have angle of internal friction of
320 and cohesion of 14.6kPa. What is the potential shear strength on a horizontal
plane at a depth of 2m below the ground surface?
Tri-axial Tests

Consolidated-drained test (CD Test)

Consolidated-undrained test (CU Test)
Unconsolidated-undrained test (UU Test)
Consolidated-drained test (CD Test)
Consolidated-undrained test (CU Test)
Unconsolidated-undrained test (UU Test)
Example 3.4
A consolidated-drained triaxial test was conducted on a normally consolidated clay.
The result are as follows:
𝜎3 = 16𝑝𝑠𝑖
∆𝜎𝑑 = 25𝑝𝑠𝑖

Determine:
a. Angle of friction
b. Angle that the failure plane makes with the major principal plane.
Example 3.5
The results of two drained tri-axial tests on a saturated clay follows:

Specimen I:
𝜎3 = 70𝑘𝑃𝑎
∆𝜎𝑑 = 130𝑘𝑃𝑎
Specimen II:
𝜎3 = 160𝑘𝑃𝑎
∆𝜎𝑑 = 223.5𝑘𝑃𝑎

Determine the shear strength parameters.

Example 3.6
A specimen of saturated sand was consolidated under an all-around pressure of 12psi.
The axial stress was then increased and drainage was prevented. The specimen failed
when the axial deviator stress reached 9.1psi. The pore water pressure at failure was
6.8psi. Determine:
a. consolidated-undrained angle of shearing resistance
b. drained friction angle
Example 3.7
The results of a consolidated-drained tri-axial conducted on normally consolidated
clay, are as follows:

Chamber confining stress = 250kPa

Deviator stress at failure = 350kPa

a. Calculate the angle of friction of the soil sample

b. Calculate the shear stress on the failure plane.
c. Calculate the effective normal stress on the plane of maximum shear.
Example 3.8
A tri-axial test on a saturated soil has the following results:

Cell Pressure (kPa) Deviator Stress (kPa) Pore Pressure (kPa)

200 119 142.5
400 143 275.5
600 178 396

a. Determine the angle of internal friction of the soil (drained & undrained).
b. Determine the cohesion of the soil in drained condition.
Example 3.9
The subsoil at the site consists of a 10m thick homogenous layer of dense sand having
the following properties: ɣd = 16kN/m3 , Ø = 350, sp.gr. = 2.68. The natural ground water
table lies at 2m below the ground surface.
(a) Determine the shear strength of the soil along a horizontal plane through the middle
of sand layer.
(b) If during monsoon, the water table rises to the ground level, determine the shear
strength of the soil along a horizontal plane through the middle of sand layer.
(c) Determine the change in shear strength at 10m depth.
Example 3.10
An unconfined compression test was carried out on a saturated clay sample. The
maximum load the clay sustained was 127N and the vertical displacement is
0.8mm. The size of the sample was 38mm diameter x 76mm long.
a. Calculate the axial strain of the soil sample.
b. Calculate the major principal stress at failure.
c. Calculate the undrained shear strength of the soil sample.
Jommar V. Tagalog
jommar.tagalog@yahoo.com
Department of Civil Engineering
Southern Leyte State University

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