In Situ Stresses

Geotechnical Engineering II

topics
! Stresses in Saturated Soil without Seepage
! Stresses in Saturated Soil with Upward Seepage
! Stresses in Saturated soil with Downward Seepage
! Seepage Force
! Effective Stress in Partially Saturated Soil
! Capillary Rise in Soils
! Effective Stress in the Zone of Capillary Rise

Stresses in Saturated Soil w/o Seepage

(total stress) can be divided into:

1. A portion is carried by water in the
continuous void spaces. This portion acts
with equal intensity in all directions.
2. The rest of the total stress is carried by
the soil solids at their points of contact.

Effective Stress ():

The sum of the vertical components of the
forces developed at the points of contact of
the solid particles per unit cross-sectional
area of the soil mass.

The space occupied by water

(total stress)
(effective stress)
u (neural stress)

The effective stress at any point is

independent of the depth of water above
the submerged soil.
The definition of effective stress is mostly
true for granular soils; however, for finegrained soils, intergranular contact may
not physically be there, because the clay
particles are surrounded by tightly held
water film.

Important Notes on Effective Stress ():

1. It is approximately the force per unit area
carried by the soil skeleton.
2. It controls the volume change and
strength of soil mass.
3. Increasing the effective stress induces soil
to move into a denser state of packing.
4. The compressibility and shearing
resistance of soil depend to a great extent
on the effective stress.

Important Notes on Effective Stress ():

5. It is important in solving geotechnical
engineering problems, such as the lateral
earth pressure on retaining structures, the
load-bearing capacity and settlement of
foundations, and the stability of earth slopes.

Example:

Calculate the total stress, pore water pressure, and

effective stress at points A, B, and C.

Stresses in Saturated Soil with

Upward Seepage

If water is seeping, the effective stress at any

point in a soil mass will differ from that in
the static case.
It will increase or decrease, depending on
the direction of seepage.

If the rate of seepage and thereby the hydraulic

gradient gradually are increased, a limiting
condition will be reached.
Under such situation, soil stability is lost. This
situation is referred to as boiling, or a quick
condition.

Example:

A 20ft thick layer of still saturated clay is underlain

by a layer of sand. The sand is under artesian
pressure. Calculate the maximum depth of cut H
that can be made in the clay.

Stresses in Saturated Soil with

Downward Seepage

Exercise:

Refer to the soil profile provided:
a. Calculate the variation of , u, and with
depth.
b. If the water table rises to the top of the
ground surface, what is the change in the
effective stress at the bottom of the clay
layer?
c. How many meters must the groundwater
table rise to decrease the effective stress by
15kN/m2 at the bottom of the clay layer.

Seepage Force

Soil Volume

#Heaving in Soil Due to Flow Around

Sheet Piles

Seepage force per unit volume of soil can be used

for checking possible failure of sheet pile structures
where underground seepage may cause heaving of
soil on the downstream side.
Terzaghi concluded that heaving generally occurs
within a distance D/2 from the sheet piles (when D
equals the depth of embedment of sheet piles into
the permeable layer).

for Flow around a sheet pile in a homogeneous soil:

#Use of Filters to Increase the Factor

of Safety against Heave
vIn practice, a minimum factor of safety of about 4 to 5 is
required for the safety of the structure.
vOne way to increase the factor of safety against heave is to use
a filter in the downstream side of the sheet-pile structured.

A FILTER is a granular material with openings

small enough to prevent the movement of the
soil particles upon which it is placed and, at the
same time, is pervious enough to offer little
resistance to seepage through it.

#Filter Design
When seepage water flows from a soil with
relatively fine grains into a coarser material,
there is danger that the fine soil particles may
wash away into the coarse material.
This process may clog the void spaces into the
coarser material.

Conditions
1. The size of the voids in the filter should be
small enough to hold the larger particles of
the protected material in place.
2. The filter should have a high hydraulic
conductivity to prevent buildup of large
seepage forces and hydrostatic pressures in
the filters.

If three perfect spheres have diameters greater

than 6.5 times the diameter of a smaller sphere,
the small sphere can move through the void
spaces of the larger ones.

If the pore spaces in a filter are small enough to

hold D85 of the soil to be protected, then the
finer soil particles also will be protected.
The effective diameter of the pore spaces in the
filter should be less than D85 of the soil to be
protected.
The effective pore diameter is about 1/5 (D15)
of the filter.

US Navy conditions for the design of filters:

Assignment:

Submit a 2 to 3-page written report
on the research article:

A Case Study on Seepage Failure of
Bottom Soil within a Double-SheetPile-Wall-Type Ditch.

Effective Stress in Partially Saturated Soil

In partially saturated soil, water in the void
spaces is not continuous, and it is a three-phase
system:
Solid
Pore Water
Pore Air

represents the fraction of a unit cross-sectional

area of the soil occupied by water.
= 0, for dry soil
= 1, for saturated soil

Intermediate values of will depend primarily

on the degree of saturation S.
It is also influenced by factors such as soil
structure.

Capillary Rise in Soils

The continuous void spaces in soil can behave as
bundles of capillary tubes of variable cross
section.
Because of surface tension force, water may rise
above the phreatic surface.

The smaller the capillary tube diameter, the

larger the capillary rise.

Notes:
1. Capillary tubes formed in soils because of the
continuity of voids and have variable cross
sections.
2. There is a variation of the capillary rise due
to nonuniformity of void spaces.
3. There is a variation in the degree of
saturation with the height of the soil caused
by capillary action.

Hazen, 1930

With the decrease of D10, the pore size in soil

decreases, which causes higher capillary rise.

Effective Stress in the Zone of

Capillary Rise

The pore water pressure at a point in a layer of soil

fully saturated by capillary rise is:

u = -wh
h = height of the point under consideration measured
from the groundwater table.

For Partial Saturation caused by capillary action,

the pore water pressure is:

Exercise by pair:
The soil profile as shown, plot the variation of
, u, and with depth. H1 = 5m, H2 = 3m, H3
= 3.5m, S = 65% in the capillary rise zone.

Example:
Find the factor of safety against heave on the
downstream side of the single-row sheet pile structure.
Thickness of permeable layer = 10m and depth of
penetration of sheet pile = 6m. Assume sat = 19kN/m3.

Exercise by pair:
Calculate , u, and at A, B, C, and D for the
following cases and plot the variation with depth.