CIVL 4720

Geotechnical Analysis and Design

CIVL 4720 Geotechnical Analysis and Design

(2014/2015)
Lecture Schedule :

Monday (09:00 - 10:20) LTE

Wednesday (09:00 - 10:20) LTE

Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2

Monday
Monday

Instructor :

Professor Jidong Zhao

Website:

To be confirmed by Professor Jidong Zhao

18:30 19:20 Room 2302

14:00 14:50 Room 3006

Course Descriptions
Applications of fundamental principles of soil mechanics to
geotechnical analyses and designs.
This course covers lateral earth theories, design of earth
retaining structures, slopes, shallow and deep foundations
and reinforced earth structures, and geotechnical centrifuge
modelling.

Course Contents
1. Lateral earth pressure
1.1 Lateral earth pressure at rest (Ko)
1.2 Rankines theory
1.3 Coulombs theory
1.4 Assignment and worked examples

Weeks 1-2

2. Design of retaining walls

2.1 General design philosophy
Weeks 3-4
2.2 Gravity & cantilever concrete walls
2.3 Cantilever sheet pile walls
2.4 Anchored sheet pile walls
2.5 Soil arching
2.6 Pore pressure distributions behind retaining wall
2.7 Assignment and worked examples

Course Contents
3. Braced cuts or multi-propped excavations
3.1 General design philosophy
3.2 Short-term lateral wall stability & strut loads
3.3 Base heave in clays
3.4 Piping in sands
3.5 Ground settlement & swelling
3.6 Case history 1 - Lion Yard at Cambridge
3.7 Case history 2 - Dragon Centre in Kowloon
3.8 Assignment and worked examples

Weeks 5-6

4. Shallow Foundations
4.1 General behaviour and design principles
4.2 Terzaghis general ultimate bearing capacity theory
Weeks 7-8
4.3 Other bearing capacity theories
4.4 Vertical stress distributions below shallow foundations
4.5 Settlements of shallow foundations
4.6 Assignment and worked examples

Course Contents
5. Deep Foundations
Weeks 9-10
5.1 Types and uses of pile foundations
5.2 Design principles of vertically loaded single piles
5.3 Design of barrettes, rock socketed piles and resisting NSF piles
5.4 Pile tests
5.5 Assignment and worked examples
6. Reinforced Earth Structures
6.1 Types and considerations of soil reinforcement
6.2 Failure mechanisms
6.3 Assignment and worked examples

Week 11

Course Contents
7. Geotechnical Centrifuge Modelling
7.1 Introduction & history of centrifuge modelling
7.2 Principle of centrifuge modelling and its applications
7.3 Scaling laws
Week 11
7.4 Examples
7.5 Limitations and Future development
8. Slope Stability
8.1 Slope characterisation
8.2 Methods of slope stability analysis
8.3 Practical consideration of methods of analysis
8.4 Choice between total and effective stress analysis
8.5 Examples
8.6 Assignments

Weeks 12-13

Reference Books
1.

Craig. R.F. (2012) Soil Mechanics. 8th edition, E & FN SPON.

2.

Budhu. M. (2011). Soil Mechanics and Foundations John Wiley, 3rd edition.

3.

Das. B. M. (2011). Principles of Foundation Engineering. 7th edition, 2011.

ISBN: 0495082473. . 416p.

4.

Das. B. M. (2012). Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering. 4th edition.

ISBN: 0534492940

5.

Ng, C.W.W., Simons, N. & Menzies, B. (2008). Soil-structure Engineering

of Deep Foundations, Excavations and Tunnels. Publisher:
Thomas Telford, UK. ISBN:0727732633. 3rd Reprint. 416p.

6.

Powrie. W. (2004). Soil Mechanics - Concept and Applications, 2nd edition,

E & FN SPON.

Ng, C.W.W., Simons, N. & Menzies, B. (2008). Soil-structure Engineering of Deep Foundations, Excavations and Tunnels.
Publisher: Thomas Telford, UK. ISBN: 0-7277-3263-3. 424p. 3rd re-print

Mark Allocations
Tutorial Assignments

Mid-term Examination

15%

25%

**Chapters 1-3 in November

Final Examination

60%

TAs
Name: Feng Song (Mainland China)
Ph.D Topic: Theoretic study of coupled water-gasheat flow in unsaturated soils considering the
effect of vegetation and methane oxidation
Date of Registration: Fall 2012
Name: Ni Junjun (Mainland China)
Ph.D Topic: Bioengineering of landfill cover
Date of Registration: Fall 2013

Name: Sk Belal Hossen (Bangladesh)

M.Phil Topic: Hydro-mechanical properties of
unsaturated loess
Date of Registration: Fall 2013

TAs
Name: Chen Zhong Kui, Bruce (Mainland China)
Ph.D Topic: Experimental study of water-gas-heat
coupled flow mechanisms in landfill covers
Date of Registration: Fall 2012

Name: Su Yuchen, Andy (Mainland China)

M.Phil Topic: Debris impact on rigid retaining
wall protected by energy absorption materials
Date of Registration: Fall 2013
Name: Song Dongri (Mainland China)
Ph.D Topic: Debris impact on flexible barrier
Date of Registration: Fall 2012

CIVL 4720 - Geotechnical Analysis and Design

Chapter 1 Lateral Earth Pressure

Course Contents
1.0 - Lateral earth pressure
1.1 - Lateral earth pressure at rest
1.2 - Rankines earth pressure theory
1.3 - Coulombs earth pressure theory

1.4 - Assignment

What is Geotechnical Engineering Design ?

1. Soil Mechanics - theory and science
2. Foundation Engineering - art, experience,
judgement, and applications of the principles of soil
mechanics and some structural theories to the
analysis and design of foundations

What are the Design Limit States ?

1. Serviceability limit state - serviceable

2. Ultimate limit state - prevent catastrophic collapse

1. 1 - Lateral earth pressure at rest

Earth pressure at rest

If the lateral strain in the soil is zero, the

corresponding lateral pressure is called the earth
pressure at rest (Ko) and is usually expressed in
terms of effective stress by the following equation:

Earth pressure at rest

Since the at-rest condition does not involve failure of the soil,
the Mohr circle representing the vertical and horizontal stresses
does not touch the failure envelope and the horizontal stress
cannot be evaluated using the Monhr circle. Therefore, the value
of Ko is mainly determined by experimental means such as using
a triaxial apparatus or by field measurements.

One-dimensional loading and unloading loop (Ng, 1995)

AB=deposition or
lowering of water table
BC=erosion or rising
water table
CB=re-deposition or
refilling

Some common expressions of K0

By considering conditions at the centre of the base of a heap of granular
material, Jaky (1944) related Konc (for normally consolidated soils) with the
maximum angle of friction and derived the following equation:

For engineering purposes, the above expression has been simplified as follows:

The expression has subsequently become one of the most widely known
geotechnical engineering formulae.

Empirical approach first approximation

Figure 1-3

Empirical approach first approximation

Figure 1-4

Ng, C.W.W. (1995). Numerical analysis of geological effects on Ko.

Proc. 10th Asian Regional Conf. on Soil Mech. & Fdn. Engng, Beijing , Vol. 1, 55-58

Path-dependent behaviour
(i.e., different Ko at A, B and C)

Schmidt (1966) studied laboratory results from five clays with different
mineralogy and stress history, and proposed the following empirical
mathematical expression for clays subjected to loading and unloading:

Along PQ

where 1max is the maximum principle effect stress. He commented that the
formula did not fit data from tests on sand.

How can we account for some aspects of the observed behaviour of soils
subjected to unloading-reloading cycles ?

Along QS
To account for some aspects of the observed behaviour of soils subjected to
unloading-reloading cycles, Schmidt (1983) proposed the following equation
to describe soil behaviour at a state between
OCR= OCRmax and OCR=1,

where OCR and OCRmax are the current and the maximum over consolidation
ratios respectively.

Ng, C.W.W. (1995). Numerical analysis of geological effects on Ko.

Proc. 10th Asian Regional Conf. on Soil Mech. & Fdn. Engng, Beijing , Vol. 1, 55-58

How to estimate Ko at A, B and C ??????

OCRA=OCRB=OCRC

OCRmax

Some other common expressions of K0

Mayne & Kulhawy (1982) reviewed laboratory data from over 170
soils and presented an empirical relationship between Ko and OCR
for primary loading-unloading-reloading conditions as follows:

However, it should be noted that for the case of reloading, the

expression was merely based on limited available data at low OCR.
More importantly, the last two equations do not seem to have based
on experimental data with more than one loading-unloadingreloading cycle.

Ng, C.W.W. (1995). Numerical analysis of geological effects on Ko.

Proc. 10th Asian Regional Conf. on Soil Mech. & Fdn. Engng, Beijing , Vol. 1, 55-58

F
E

1.2 - Rankines earth pressure theory

Rankines Theory of Earth Pressure (1857)

This lower bound plastic solution with the
following assumptions:

Plane strain

Perfectly plastic, homogenous and isotropic

material
Frictionless wall with horizontal ground surface

Rankines Theory of Earth Pressure

Craig (1997)

For a Mohr-Coulomb material in a state of plastic equilibrium, we have:

Why did he has to assume frictionless wall ?

Figure 1-5

where P is the pole point of the Mohr stress circle

What is active earth pressure?

Consider a normally consolidated soil element behind a smooth wall, its stress state can be
represented by the Mohr stress cycle (M1) shown in the diagram. If the soil is assumed to be
homogenous and isotropic, the soil element at depth z is subjected to a vertical stress z and a
horizontal stress x and, since there can be no lateral tranfer of weight if the surface is
horizontal, no shear stresses exist on horizontal and vertical planes. The vertical and horizontal
stresses, therefore, are principle stresses. Why the stress component, z, is the major principle
stress in this situation? Will there be a difference if the soil element, locates at 5m below ground
(say), has been subjected to an overburden pressure of 1000 kPa (say), which was then
subsequently removed and the wall was rigid throughout?
Correction - No dash
Craig (1997)

Figure 1-6

Active earth pressure

Craig (1997)

If there is a movement of the wall away from the soil, the value of
horizontal stress x decreases as the soil dilates or expands outwards. In
terms of Mohr stress circle representation, this means that there is an
increase in size of the circle from M1 to M2 as shown in Figure 1-6. The
decrease in x is a non-linear function of the lateral strain and soil stiffness.
If the expansion is large enough, the value of x will decrease to a minimum
value such that a state of plastic equilibrium develops. Since this state is
developed by a decrease in the horizontal stress x, this must be the minor
principle stress (3). The vertical stress z is the major principle stress (1).
The stress 1= 2 is the overburden pressure at depth z and is a fixed value
for any depth. The value of 3=x is determined when a Mohr circle through
the point representing 1 touches the failure envelop for the soil. The
relationship between 1 and 3 when the soil reaches a state of plastic
equilibrium can be derived from this Mohr-circle.

Active earth pressure

From the previous figure,

Correction - No dash

Rearrange,

At stated,

is the overburden pressure at depth z

Craig (1997)

Active earth pressure

Craig (1997)

The horizontal stress for the condition is defined as the ACTIVE

PRESSURE (Pa), being due directly to the self-weight of the soil. If

is defined as the active pressure coefficient then

Craig (1997)

Active earth pressure

When the horizontal stress becomes equal to the active pressure, the soil is
said to be the ACTIVE RANKINE state, there being two sets of failure planes
each inclined at
to the horizontal (the direction of the major principle
plane).

Figure 1-7

Craig (1997)

Passive earth pressure

In the above derivation a movement

of the wall away from the soil was

considered. If, on the other hand, the wall is moved against the soil mass,
there will be lateral compression of the soil and the value of x will increase
until a state of plastic equilibrium is reached, i.e. the Mohr circle will shrink
initially from M0 to M1 and then gradually expands to M3 at which the cycle
touches the failure envelope. For this condition, x becomes a maximum value
and is the major principal stress 1. The stress z, equal to the overburden
pressure, is then the minor principle stress i.e,

Figure 1-8

Craig (1997)

Passive earth pressure

In this case, the horizontal stress is defined as the PASSIVE PRESSURE (Pp)
Representing the maximum inherent resistance of the soil to lateral
compression. By considering the Mohr stress circle, it can be easily shown that

define

as the passive pressure coefficient,

then

When the horizontal stress becomes equal to the passive pressure, the soil is
said to be in the PASSIVE RANKINE state, there being two sets of failure
planes each inclined at
to the vertical as shown previously.

Craig (1997)

Active and passive pressures

Inspection of the active and passive pressure equation it is obvious that the
pressures increase linearly with depth as shown below.

Figure 1-9
Active and passive pressure distributions

When C=0, triangular distributions are obtained in each case. When C>0, the
value of Pa is zero at a particular depth z0. It can be shown that

This means that in the active case, there is a tension crack formed between the
surface and depth z0 as soils cannot take tension generally.

Geoguide 1 (1993)

Notes:
1.The depth of the tension zone Z0
may be calculated. Negative earth
pressures within this zone should be
ignored. Water in the tension crack is
assumed to exert a hydrostatic
pressure.
is the soil unit weight above the
water table, and
are are the
saturated unit weights of the soil
below the water table.
2. Water pressure is assumed to be
hydrostatic, which implies that the
retaining wall and the lower boundary
are impermeable. For non-hydrostatic
conditions and the presence of
perched water tables, the effect of
pore water pressures should be
properly assessed.

Figure 1-11 Calculation of Active Earth Pressure for a Vertical Retaining Wall Using the Rankine-Bell Equation

Effect of wall movement on earth pressure in sand (CFEM, 1993)

Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual, CFEM (1993)

Geoguide 1 (1993)

1.3 - Coulombs earth pressure theory

Craig (1997)

Coulombs theory (1776) of earth pressure

1. Consideration of the stability of soil as a whole
2. Defining a trial failure plane and calculating limiting equilibrium
of the soil mass
3. Consideration of wall friction
4. Upper bound plastic solution (choose a failure plane) underestimate active & overestimate passive thrust
5. When
, the Coulomb theory is identical to
Rankine theory (lower bound plastic solution)

Craig (1997)

Assumptions
1. The point of application of the total active thrust is not
given by the Coulomb theory but is assumed to at a
distance of H/3 above the base of the wall
2. The acceptance of plane failure surfaces

Craig (1997)

Actual failure curves

Figure 1-12

Backfill material

Range of (deg)

Gravel

27-30

Coarse sand

20-28

Fine sand

15-25

Stiff clay

15-20

Silty clay

12-16

General range of wall friction

angles for masonry concrete
walls

Coulomb theory: active case with c = 0

Direction of block movement (ABC) = downward (relative to the wall)

Craig (1997)

Coulomb theory: active case with c = 0

The maximum force P between the soil and the wall is given
by

where

Craig (1997)

Coulomb theory: active case with c = 0

Graphical Method

Alternative Expression:

Figure 1-14
Ref: Principle of Foundation Engineering by DAS

Coulomb theory: active case with c > 0 and a

tension crack

Figure 1-15

Craig (1997)

Coulomb theory: active case with c > 0

Coulomb theory: passive case with c = 0

Direction of block movement (ABC) = upward (relative to the wall)

Craig (1997)

Coulomb theory: passive case with c=0

The minimum force P between the soil and the wall is given
by

where

Craig (1997)

Coulombs passive pressure

Graphical Method
Alternative expression:

Figure 1-16
Ref: Principle of Foundation Engineering by DAS

Active and passive pressure cases

Active pressure case

Passive pressure case

Figure 1-17

Nature of failure surface in soil with wall friction for (a) active pressure
case and (b) passive pressure case (Das, 2002)

Note: Figure based on NAVFAC

(1982b) and Caquot & Kerisel
(1948)

Figure 18- Active Earth Pressure Coefficients

for Different Wall Configurations and
Retained Slope Angles

Note: Figure based on NAVFAC

(1982b) and Caquot & Kerisel
(1948)

Figure 19- Passive Earth Pressure Coefficients

for a Vertical Wall Retaining Sloping Ground

Effective Stress Analysis

- Drained or Undrained (Analysis)

where
where

or

Total Stress Analysis Undrained (Analysis)

where
or

Chapter 1 - Assignments 1-4

61