University of Nairobi

Department of Civil and Construction Engineering

FCE 412
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
IIB

Shear Strength
Lateral Earth Pressure
Retaining Walls
Slope Stability

DR. ENG. OSANO NYAMBANE

[email protected]
G.ENG. Pauline kariuki
[email protected]

4TH YEAR, 2022/2023 – SEMESTER 2

LECTURE NOTES
FCE 412 – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING IIB

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................ 1

COURSE DESCRIPTION 1
PREREQUISITE 1
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME 1
TEACHING METHODOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES 1
REQUIRED TEXT BOOKS 2

1 SHEAR STRENGTH.............................................................................. 3

1.1 INTRODUCTION 3
1.2 THE MOHR CIRCLE DIAGRAM 3
1.2.1 PRINCIPAL PLANES 3
1.2.2 THE MOHR CIRCLE – A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION 5
1.3 THE MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERION 7
1.3.1 THE FAILURE CRITERION 7
1.3.2 TOTAL AND EFFECTIVE STRESS 9
1.3.3 INCLINATION OF THE PLANE OF FAILURE CAUSED BY SHEAR 10
1.4 LABORATORY DETERMINATION OF SHEAR STRENGTH PARAMETERS 12
1.4.1 THE DIRECT SHEAR TEST 12
1.4.2 TRIAXIAL SHEAR TEST 16
1.4.3 THE VANE SHEAR TEST 20
1.5 PORE PRESSURE PARAMETERS 22
1.5.1 DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION 22
1.5.2 USES AND APPLICATION OF PORE PRESSURE PARAMETERS 23
1.6 THE STRESS-STRAIN PROPERTIES OF SOILS 23
1.6.1 STRESS-STRAIN CURVES 23
1.6.2 THE DRAINED RESIDUAL STRENGTH 24
1.6.3 TESTING OF RESIDUAL STRENGTH 25

2 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE ............................................................. 32

2.1 INTRODUCTION 32
2.2 RANKINE’S THEORY FOR LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE 33
2.3 AT-REST, ACTIVE AND PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURES 33
2.4 RANKINE’S EARTH PRESSURE AGAINT SMOOTH VERTICAL WALL WITH
COHESIONLESS BACKFILL 36
2.4.1 BACKFILL HORIZONTAL – ACTIVE EARTH PRESSURE 36
2.4.2 BACKFILL HORIZONTAL – PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE 37

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2.4.3 ACTIVE PRESSURE – BACKFILL SOIL SUBMERGED WITH THE SURFACE HORIZONTAL 37
2.4.4 ACTIVE PRESSURE – BACKFILL SOIL PARTLY SUBMERGED WITH UNIFORM SURCHARGE LOAD 38
2.5 RANKINE’S EARTH PRESSURE AGAINT SMOOTH VERTICAL WALL WITH
COHESIVE BACKFILL 39
2.5.1 THEORY OF RANKINE’S ACTIVE PRESSURE 39
2.5.2 BACKFILL HORIZONTAL (COHESIVE) – ACTIVE EARTH PRESSURE 42
2.5.3 THEORY OF RANKINE’S PASSIVE PRESSURE 46
2.5.4 BACKFILL HORIZONTAL (COHESIVE) – PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE 47
2.6 RANKINE’S EARTH PRESSURE FOR INCLINED BACKFILL 49
2.7 COULOMB’S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY FOR COHESIONLESS SOIL FOR
ACTIVE STATE 52
2.7.1 INTRODUCTION 52
2.7.2 ASSUMPTIONS 52
2.7.3 PRINCIPLE 53

3 EARTH RETAINING STRUCTURES .................................................... 57

3.1 INTRODUCTION 57
3.2 TYPES OF RETAINING STRUCTURES 57
3.2.1 GRAVITY WALLS 57
3.2.2 SEMI GRAVITY RETAINING WALLS 58
3.2.3 FLEXIBLE WALLS - SHEET PILE WALLS 59
3.3 DESIGN OF RETAINING STRUCTURES 60
3.3.1 STABILITY REQUIREMENT 60
3.3.2 DESIGN OF RW STEPS 61

4 SLOPE STABILITY ............................................................................ 66

4.1 INTRODUCTION 66

4.2 ANALYSIS FOR THE CASE OF

u  0 66
4.3 THE METHOD OF SLICES 69
4.4 ANALYSIS OF A PLANE TRANSLATIONAL SLIP 73
4.5 EMBANKMENT DAMS 76

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OVERVIEW

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course deals with strength of soils and focuses on shear strength of
soils, Lateral Earth Pressures, Earth Retaining Structures and Slope Stability
Analysis. The syllabus is as follows;
Shear Strength:
Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Shear strength tests. Shear strength tests of sands. Shear
strength test of saturated clays. Total and effective stress analysis. Pore pressure
coefficients. Residual shear strength. Insitu piezometer measurements.
Lateral Earth Pressures:
Introduction, state of plastic equilibrium. Rankine’s theory and applications. Coulombs
theory - graphical applications. Tension cracks, points of application of active and passive
thrusts, wall movement sufficiency. Choice of backfill material and backfill drainage.
Earth Retaining Structures:
Gravity and cantilever walls. Sheet pile wall Cantilever and anchored piles. Free earth
support method. Fixed earth support methods. Introduction to braced excavations,
diaphragm walls and reinforced earth.
Slope Stability
Introduction. Total stress analysis for = 0 soils - Taylor stability charts. Methods of slices,
total and effective stress analysis for C-Soils. Infinite slope slip. Stability of earth
embankment dams, rapid draw downs.

PREREQUISITE

Basic Soil Mechanics

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME

Upon successful completion of this course, the students should acquire the following
knowledge:
a) Understand and apply the Principle of shear strength of soils
b) Determine lateral earth pressures and understand basic retaining walls design
principles;
c) Analyze problems of slope stability

TEACHING METHODOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES

This course relies on lectures and Power Point presentation by the lecturer. Worked
examples will be offered. Students will then be required to contribute to discussions
based on the explanations and will need to read the corresponding section in the
assigned textbook.

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REQUIRED TEXT BOOKS

a) Craig F R., ‘Soil mechanics’, Fourth Edition (1989) English Language Book Society/ Van
Nostrand Reinhold (international ), London;
b) GN Smith and Ian Smith (1998), ‘Elements of Soil Mechanics’, Seventh Edition ,
Blackwell Science , London;
c) Venkatramaiah C., ‘Geotechnical Engineering’, Fourth Edition 2012, New Age
International (P) Limited Publishers, New Delhi;
d) Ralph B. Peck, Walter E. Hanson and Thomas H. Thornburn (1973) ‘Foundation
Engineering’, Second Edition, 1973 , John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York;
e) Bharat Singh and Shams Prakash, ‘Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering’, Second
Edition (1985), New Chad and Bros, Roorkee, India.

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1 SHEAR STRENGTH

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The property that allows a material to remain in equilibrium when its surface is not
level is known as its shear strength. Soils have no shear strength in their liquid
state. As the soil state changes from liquid through plastic to solid state it gains
shear strength. Soil mobilizes its shear strength from development of friction and
from its cohesion.

The shear strength of a soil mass is therefore the internal resistance per unit area
that the soil mass can offer to resist failure and sliding along any plane inside it. One
must under-stand the nature of shearing resistance in order to analyze soil stability
problems such as bearing capacity, slope stability, and lateral pressure on earth
retaining structures.
The development of shear strength is attributed to one or more of the following;
1. The frictional resistance between the particles at their points of contact
(combination of sliding friction and rolling friction);
2. Cohesion or force of attraction between particles;
3. The structural resistance to displacement because of interlocking of particles
and cementation or adhesion between particles.

1.2 THE MOHR CIRCLE DIAGRAM

1.2.1 Principal Planes

In soil testing, cylindrical samples are commonly used in which radial and axial
stresses act on principal planes. The vertical plane is usually the minor principal
plane whereas the horizontal plane is the major principal plane. The radial stress (σr)
is the minor principal stress (σ3), and the axial stress (σa) is the major principal stress
(σ1).

Fig. 1-1: Principal planes in cylindrical sample

In the case of a body acted on by external stress, at every plane in the mass the
plane is acted upon by a force at an angle to the plane. This stress is equivalent to a

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normal stress σ and a tangential stress  . A plane acted upon by normal stress only
where there is no tangential or shear stress present is known as the principal plane.

In a stressed mass only three principal planes can exist. These planes are mutually
orthogonal and can be seen in Fig. 1-1 above. The principal planes corresponding to
these principal planes are major, intermediate and minor. The largest of these
stresses, σ1 acts on the major plane. The intermediate stress σ2 acts on the
intermediate plane while the minor stress σ3 acts on the minor plane. In
practice it is sufficiently accurate to assume a two dimensional case and analyze
stress situations with σ1 and σ3

σ1

σ3

σ2

Fig. 1.2: Mutually orthogonal principal planes

Consider an element subjected to 2-dimensional stress system as shown in Fig. 1-3.

Fig. 1-3: 2-dimensional stress system

xx represents the plane of major principal stress σ1 and yy the plane of minor
principal stress σ3. The intermediate principal plane is the plane of the figure, which
is supposed to carry no stress. It can be proved analytically that on any plane AB
normal to the plane of the figure, and which is defined by its inclination θ to the
major principal plane, the normal and shear stresses are given by;

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Normal stress

1   3 1   3
   cos 2
2 2

...... Equation 1-1

Shear stress

1   3
  sin 2
2

...... Equation 1-2

1.2.2 The Mohr Circle – a Graphical Representation

To visualise the normal and shear stresses acting on any plane within the soil
sample, a graphical representation of stresses called the Mohr circle is obtained by
plotting the principal stresses. The sign convention in the construction is to consider
compressive stresses as positive and angles measured counter-clockwise also
positive.
In this method, a system of coordinate exes (Fig. 1-4) is established in which the x-
axis represents the normal stress and the y-axis represents the shear stress.

Fig. 1-4: Mohr’s Coordinates

The principal stresses σ1 and σ3 are plotted on the x-axis as shown in Fig. 1-5.

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Fig. 1-5: Mohr Circle

A circle is the drawn with its centre F on the x-axis and cutting the x-ais at the
abscissa of σ1 and σ3. The radius of the circle is thus;
1   3
2
...... Equation 1-3

It usually suffices to draw only the upper half of the circle. If from point P a line PQ
is drawn parallel to the plane AB (Fig. 1-3) i.e, at an angle θ to PD, the coordinates
of the point Q on the Mohr circle (Fig. 1-5) represent the normal and shear stresses
on the plane AB. From Fig 1-5:
The angle QFD = 2θ
σ = OE = OF + FE
1   3 1   3
=  cos 2
2 2
...... Equation 1-4

1   3
and   QE  sin 2
2
...... Equation 1-5

Thus any line through the point P parallel to any arbitrarily chosen plane interest the
circle at a point the coordinates of which are the normal and tangential components
of stress on that plane. Any point on the Mohr circle represents the coordinates of
stress on some plane. If a line is drawn from any point on the circle parallel to the
plane whose stress components are represented by that point, it will intersect the
circle at point P. The direction of the plane at which any given state of stress acts is
determined by joining the point P to the point on the circle representing that state of

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stress. The point P is, therefore, a unique point and it is called the origin of planes or
the pole.

Referring to Fig. 1-5, the following relations can be established:

1   3
(i) The maximum shear stress  max is and it occurs on planes with θ
2
equal to 45 degrees.

(ii) The resultant stress on any given plane is  2   2 and its angle of obliquity
 
 is equal to arc tan  .
 

1.3 THE MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERION

1.3.1 The Failure Criterion

When the soil sample has failed, the shear stress on the failure plane defines the
shear strength of the soil. Thus, it is necessary to identify the failure plane.

For the present, it can be assumed that a failure plane exists and it is possible to
apply principal stresses and measure them in the laboratory by conducting a triaxial
test. Then, the Mohr circle of stress at failure for the sample can be drawn using the
known values of the principal stresses.

If data from several tests, carried out on different samples upto failure is available, a
series of Mohr circles can be plotted. As stated before, it is convenient to show only
the upper half of the Mohr circle. A line tangential to the Mohr circles can be drawn,
and is called the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope.

Fig 1-6: Mohr-coulomb failure envelop

If the stress condition for any other soil sample is represented by a Mohr circle that
lies below the failure envelope, every plane within the sample experiences a shear
stress which is smaller than the shear strength of the sample. Thus, the point of
tangency of the envelope to the Mohr circle at failure gives a clue to the
determination of the inclination of the failure plane. The orientation of the failure
plane can be finally determined by the pole method.

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Fig 1-7: Mohr-coulomb failure criterion

The Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion can be written as the equation for the line that
represents the failure envelope. The general equation is;
 f  c  tan 
...... Equation 1-6
If a at a point on any plane within a soil mass the shear stress equals the shear
strength of the soil, failure will occur at that point.
Where
 f =shear stress on the failure plane
c = apparent cohesion
 f = normal stress on the failure plane
 = angle of internal friction
The failure criterion can be expressed in terms of the relationship between the
principal stresses. From the geometry of the Mohr circle,
1   3
R 2
sin   
c. cot   p 1   3
c. cot  
2
...... Equation 1-7

Rearranging;

 1  sin   1  sin 
 1   3    2c
 1  sin   1  sin 
...... Equation 1-8

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Where;

 1  sin     
   tan 2  45  ) 
 1  sin    2 
...... Equation 1-9

1.3.2 Total and Effective Stress

In saturated soil, the total normal stress at a point is the sum of the effective stress
(σ') and pore water pressure (u), or
σ' = σ – u
...... Equation 1-10
The effective stress σ' is carried by the soil solids.
According to Terzaghi’s fundamental concept the shear stress in a soil can only be
resisted by the skeleton of solid particles and is expressed as a function of effective
stress as follows;
 f  c' f ' tan  '
...... Equation 1-11

where c' = cohesion and  ' = friction angle, based on effective stress.
Thus, Eqs. 1.10 and 1.11 are expressions of shear strength based on total stress
and effective stress. The value of c’ for sand and inorganic silt is 0. For normally
consolidated clays, c’ can be approximated at 0. Over consolidated clays have
values of c' that are greater than 0. The angle of friction,  ' , is sometimes referred
to as the drained angle of friction. Typical values of  ' for some granular soils are
given in Table 1.1;
Table 1.1: Typical Values of Drained Angle of Friction for Sands and Silts

Soil type  ' (deg)

Sand: Rounded grains
Loose 27-30
Medium 30-35
Dense 35-38
Sand: Angular grains
Loose 30-35
Medium 35-40
Dense 40-45
Gravel with some sand 34-48
Silts 26-35

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The significance of Equation 1-11 can be explained by referring to Fig. 1-8, which
shows an elemental soil mass. Let the effective normal stress and the shear stress on

Fig. 1-8 (a) and (b): Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion

the plane ab be  ' and  ' , respectively. Fig. 1-8(b) shows the plot of the failure
envelope defined by Equation 1-8. If the magnitudes of  ' and  ' ΄on plane ab are
such that they plot at point A in Fig. 1-8(b), shear failure will not occur along the
plane. If the effective normal stress and the shear stress on plane ab plot at point
B (which falls on the failure envelope), shear failure will occur along that plane.
A state of stress on a plane represented by point C cannot exist, because it plots
above the failure envelope, and shear failure in a soil would have occurred already.

1.3.3 Inclination of the Plane of Failure Caused by Shear

As stated by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, failure from shear will occur when
the shear stress on a plane reaches a value given by Equation 1-11. To determine
the inclination of the failure plane with the major principal plane, refer to Fig. 1-9,

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Fig. 1-9: Inclination of failure plane in soil with major principal plane

Where  1 ' and  3 ' are, respectively, the major and minor effective principal
stresses. The failure plane EF makes an angle  with the major principal plane. To
determine the angle  and the relationship between  1 ' and  3 ' , refer to Fig. 1-10,
which is a plot of the Mohr's circle for the state of stress shown in Fig. I-9.

Fig. 1-10: Mohr's circle and failure envelope

In Fig. 1-10, fgh is the failure envelope defined by the relationship  f  c' ' tan  ' .
The radial ine ab defines the major principal plane (CD in Fig. 1-9), and the radial
line ad defines the failure plane (EF in Fig. 1-9). Lt can be shown that
'
bad  2  90   ' or   45 
2

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1.4 LABORATORY DETERMINATION OF SHEAR STRENGTH

PARAMETERS

There are several laboratory methods now available to determine the shear
strength parameters (i.e., c,  , c',  ' ) of various soil specimens in the
laboratory. They are as follows:
a. Direct shear test
b. Triaxial test
c. Torsional ring shear test

1.4.1 The Direct Shear Test

a) Description of Apparatus
To visualise the normal and shear stresses acting on any plane within the soil
sample, the Direct Shear Test is a commonly used techniques for determining
the shear strength parameters.

The direct shear test is the oldest and simplest form of shear test arrangement.
A diagram of the direct shear test apparatus is shown in Fig. 1-11. The test
equipment consists of a metal shear box in which the soil specimen is placed.
The soil specimen is square in plan. The size of the specimen generally used is
about 51 mm X 51 mm or 102 mm x 102 mm across and about 25 mm high. The
box is split horizontally into halves. Normal force on the specimen is applied from
the top of the shear box. The normal stress on the specimen can be as great as
1050 kN/m2. Shear force is applied by moving one-half of the boxes relative to
the other to cause failure in the soil specimen.

Depending on the equipment, the shear test can be either stress controlled or
strain controlled. In stress-controlled tests, the shear force is applied in equal
increments until the specimen fails. The failure occurs along the plane of split of
the shear box. After the application of each incremental load, the shear
displacement of the top half of the box is measured by a horizontal dial gauge.
The change in the height of the specimen (and thus the volume change of the
specimen) during the test can be obtained from the readings of a dial gauge that
measures the vertical movement of the upper loading plate and enables changes
in density and voids ratio during shear to be evaluated..

In strain-controlled tests, a constant rate of shear displacement is applied to

one-half of the box by a motor that acts through gears. The constant rate of
shear displacement is measured by a horizontal dial gauge. The resisting shear
force of the soil corresponding to any shear displacement can be measured by a
horizontal proving ring or load cell. The volume change of the specimen during
the test is obtained in a manner similar to that in the stress-controlled tests. Fig.
1-12 shows cross-section of specimen during shearing.

The test is normally carried on a number of identical specimens using different

vertical stresses so that a graph of shearing resistance against vertical stress can
be plotted.

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Fig. 1-11: The shear box

Apparatus contains the following parts;

 Shear box
 Shear box container
 Base plate with cross groves on its top
 Porous stones (2 Nos)
 Plain Grid plates (2Nos)
 Perforated grid plates (2Nos)
 Loading pad with steel ball
 Digital weighing machine
 Loading frame with loading yoke
 Proving ring
 Dial gauges (2 Nos)
 Weights
 Tampering Rod
 Spatula
 Rammer
 Sampler

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Grid to improve transmission

of shear load from box to soil Compressive force

Porous stone

Soil Line of
Shear force shear
specimen

Square box

Weep holes for Porous stone

saturation of
soil
specimen

Fig. 1-12: The shear box specimen during shearing

b) Testing
A small clearance is left between the two halves of the box. Porous plates are
placed below to allow drainage. A vertical load N is applied to the specimen. A
shearing force is then applied to the top half while the lower half is held in
position. The horizontal displacement is also measured to give the horizontal
strain.

The main drawback of this test is that the drainage conditions cannot be
controlled. Since the pore pressure cannot be measured the values obtained are
basically total normal stresses. This is equal to zero in most of the tests. The
apparatus forces the soil to fail on a predetermined surface. It has been shown
that the shear stress varies on the shear plane. Failure progressively occurs on
the edges and towards the centre of the specimen. Plot of shear stress against
the normal stress is produced to give cu and  u.

The advantage of the strain-controlled tests is that in the case of dense sand,
peak shear resistance (that is, at failure) as well as lesser shear resistance
(that is, at a point after failure called ultimate strength) can be observed and
plotted. In stress controlled tests, only the peak shear resistance can be
observed and plotted. Note that the peak shear resistance in stress-controlled
tests can be only approximated because failure occurs at a stress level
somewhere between the prefigure load increment and the failure load
increment.

For a given test, the normal stress can be calculated as

Normal force
 = Normal stress =
Cross - sectional area of the specimen

...... Equation 1-12

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The resisting shear stress for any shear displacement can be calculated as;

Resistign shear force

 = Shear stress =
Cross - sectional area of the specimen

...... Equation 1-13

It is important to note that, in dry sand,

   ' and c' = 0

c) Observation and Calculation

 Size of the box =
 Area of the box =
 Thickness of specimen =
 Mass of specimen =
 Volume of specimen =
 Bulk Density of soil =
 Dry density of soil =
 Void ratio =
 Mass of box + base plate + porous stone + grid plate =
 Mass of box + base plate + porous stone + grid plate + Soil specimen =

Now plot a graph between normal stress and shear stress by taking normal
stress on abscissa and shear stress at failure on ordinate. The graph looks like as
Fig. 1-13 shown below.

Fig. 1-13: The shear test result

From the graph cohesion intercept (c’) and angle of shearing resistance (  ' ) can
be known and shear strength (  ) can be calculated from the Equation 1-11,
given as  f  c' f ' tan  '

d) Advantages and Disadvantages

The test has several advantages;

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1. It is easy to test sands and gravels.

2. Large samples can be tested in large shear boxes, as small samples can
give misleading results due to imperfections such as fractures and
fissures, or may not be truly representative.
3. Samples can be sheared along predetermined planes, when the shear
strength along fissures or other selected planes are needed.
The disadvantages of the test include;
1. The failure plane is always horizontal in the test, and this may not be the
weakest plane in the sample. Failure of the soil occurs progressively from
the edges towards the centre of the sample.
2. There is no provision for measuring pore water pressure in the shear box
and so it is not possible to determine effective stresses from undrained
tests.
3. The shear box apparatus cannot give reliable undrained strengths
because it is impossible to prevent localized drainage away from the
shear plane.

1.4.2 Triaxial Shear Test

a) Description of Apparatus
Developed by Casagrande in an attempt to overcome some of the serious
disadvantages of the direct shear test. Advantages over DST;
• More Versatile
• Drainage can be well controlled
• There is no rotation of the principal stresses like the direct shear
test
• Also the failure plane can occur anywhere

The triaxial compression test is used to measure the shear strength of a soil
under controlled drainage conditions. A cylindrical specimen of soil is encased
and subjected to a confining fluid/air pressure and then loaded axially to
failure. The test is called "triaxial" because the three principal stresses are
assumed to be known and are controlled.

In this test, a soil specimen about 36 mm in diameter and 76mm long is

generally used. The specimen is encased by a thin rubber membrane and
placed inside a plastic cylindrical chamber that is usually filled with water or
glycerine. The specimen is subjected to a confining pressure by compression
of the fluid in the chamber. (Note: Air is sometimes used as a compression
medium). To cause shear failure in the specimen, one must apply axial stress
through a vertical loading ram (some times called deviator stress). This stress
can be applied in one of two ways:
1. Application of dead weights or hydraulic pressure in equal increments
until the specimen fails. (Axial deformation of the specimen resulting
from the load applied through the ram is measured by a dial gauge);
2. Application of axial deformation at a constant rate by means of a geared
or hydraulic loading press. This is a strain-controlled test.
The axial load applied by the loading ram corresponding to a given axial
deformation is measured by a proving ring or load cell attached to the ram.

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Connections to measure drainage into or out of the specimen, or to measure

pressure in the pore water (as per the test conditions), are also provided.
During shear, the major principal stress, σ1 is equal to the applied axial stress
(∆σ = P/A) plus the chamber (confining) pressure, σ3. The applied axial
stress, σ1-σ3 is termed the “principal stress difference” or sometimes the
“deviator stress”. The intermediate principal stress, σ2 and the minor principal
stress, σ3 are identical in the test, and are equal to the confining or chamber
pressure. A typical triaxial cell is shown in Fig. 1-14a. and Fig. 1-14b shows
the stress system in triaxial test.

Fig. 1-14a: Typical triaxial cell

Fig. 1-14b: Stress System in triaxial test

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In calculating the principal stress difference, the fact that the average cross-
sectional area (A) of the specimen does not remain constant throughout the
test must be taken into account. If the original cross-sectional area of the
specimen is A0 and the original volume is V0 then, if the volume of the
specimen decreases during the test,

1 v
A  Ao
1  a
...... Equation 1-14

where  v is the volumetric strain (V / Vo ) and  a is the axial strain (l / lo ) .
If the volume of the specimen increases during the test the sign of V will
change and the numerator in Equation 1-14 becomes 1   v .

The relation between principal stresses at failure can be obtained by drawing

a Mohr circle as shown in Fig. 1-15. At failure, the Mohr circle is tangent to
the strength envelope for soil.

Fig. 1-15: Mohr Circle and Failure Envelope for a Triaxial Compression Test

QF QF
Sin '  
EF EO  OF

( 1 ' 3 ' ) / 2

 ' '
c' cot  ' 1 3
2
 1 ' 3 '
=
( 1 ' 3 ' )  2c' cot  '

or

 1 ' 3 '  2c' cos '( 1 ' 3 ' ) sin  '

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or

1  sin  ' cos  '

1'  3 '  2c'
1  sin  ' 1  sin  '

' '
  3 ' tan 2 (45  )  2c' tan(45  )
2 2
...... Equation 1-15

b) Standard types of triaxial tests

The following three standard types of triaxial tests are generally conducted:
1. Unconsolidated – Undrained test (UU test)
2. Consolidated - Undrained test (CU test)
3. Consolidated – Drained test (CD test)

Unconsolidated – Undrained test (UU test)

This test is also called the quick test. σ3 and ∆σ are applied fast so the soil
does have time to settle or consolidate. In this test the sample is prevented
from draining. The test is performed with the drain valve closed for all phases
of the test. (Water is not allowed to drain). UU test simulates short term
shear strength for cohesive soils.
The sample is sheared immediately by application of the deviator stress (σ1-
σ3). This test is good for clays and gives the weakest state of the soil.

Fig. 1-16: Triaxial test results for unconsolidated undrained test results

The failure envelope is a horizontal straight line and hence UU  0

Consolidated -Undrained test

The sample is consolidated under a specified all-round pressure (σ3) until
consolidation is completed. The deviator stress is then applied (σ1 - σ3) with no
drainage being permitted. The rate to application of deviator stress is low to
allow pore pressure to distribute itself in the sample. Pore pressure
measurement is done. The effective deviator stress is the total deviator stress
minus the pore water pressure. The test results are plotted as shown on Fig
1.17.

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Consolidated - Drained test

In the test the sample is drained under all round pressure (σ3). With
drainage being allowed the sample is sheared by application of the deviator
stress (σ1-σ3) at a slow rate to allow excess pore pressure to remain at zero.
The test results are plotted as shown on Fig 1.17.

Fig. 1-17: Triaxial test results for CU and CD tests

For tests involving drainage in the first stage, when Mohr circles are plotted in
terms of total stresses, the diameter increases with the confining pressure.
The resulting failure envelope is an inclined line with an intercept on the
vertical axis.

c) Application of the test results

The test results obtained by the above tests are relevant when the situation
in the field correspond to the laboratory conditions. The shear strength
parameters under undrained conditions are denoted as cu and u . These are
different from the drained conditions denoted as c’ and  ' . Undrained
conditions apply in situations where the dissipation of pore pressure is not
there at present. This is most applicable in loaded clays immediately after
construction.

Drained conditions apply in situations where the excess pore pressure is zero.
This is most applicable
1) In loaded permeable soils which drain on application of load.
2) This applies to situations where the rate of dissipation keeps the same
pace as the rate of change of total stress
3) The soil has had a long term loading and all the excess pore water
pressure has dissipated

1.4.3 The Vane Shear Test

A direct measurement of undrained shear strength of soft cohesive soils can be made
by a shear vane test. This test can be performed on a soil sample made in a
laboratory, or into the undisturbed soil in situ at the bottom of a bore hole.

A shear vane essentially consists of four steel plates, called vanes, welded
orthogonally to a steel rod (Fig. 1-18).

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Fig. 1-18: Principle of Vane Shear Test

After pushing the vane gently into the soil, it is rotated at a uniform speed (usually 1o
per minute or at 0.10 per second) by applying a turning moment (torque) through
the steel torque rod. The rotation of vane shears the soil along a cylindrical surface.
If the top end of the vane is embedded deep into the soil, both the top and bottom
ends also partake in shearing the soil. Let  f be the unit shear strength of soil, H the
height of vane and d the diameter of vane. If it is further assumed that shear
resistance of soil develops uniformly on the cylindrical surface and on the top n the
bottom of the sheared cylinder, the maximum total shear resistance at failure equals
to;

 d /2

 .d .H . f  2  2 .r.dr. f 
 0 
where r is the radius of the sheared surface. The maximum moment of the total
shear resistance about the axis of torque rod equals the torque T at failure:

d /2

 2 .r.dr.
d
T   .d .H . f   2 f r
2 0

or,

d 2H d 3 
T   f   
 2 6

...... Equation 1-16

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If only the bottom end of the vane partakes in shearing the soil, Equation 1-16
becomes;

d 2H d 3 
T   f   
 2 12 

...... Equation 1-17

For saturated clay,  f is replaced in Equation 1-16 (or 1-17) by cu.

A typical laboratory vane is 20mm high and 12 mm in diameter with a blade

thickness from 0.5 to 1mm. Thin blades are made of high tensile steel. The vane is
rotated by a worm gear and worm wheel arrangement at top, the rotation of which is
transferred to the vane through a calibrated torsion spring. The rotation of the spring
in degrees is indicated by a pointer moving on a graduated dial attached to the worm
wheel shaft. The torque applied is then obtained by multiplying the dial reading with
the spring constant. The field shear vane is from 10 to 20cm in height and from 5 to
10 cm in diameter. The blade thickness is about 2.5mm.

1.5 PORE PRESSURE PARAMETERS

1.5.1 Definition and Description

A knowledge of pore pressure is required if effective stress parameters (c’ and  ' )
are to be used ins strength and deformation problems of soil. If a drained condition
is applicable then no excess pore pressures are generated. The changes in pore
pressure due to change in total stresses under undrained conditions can be
expressed in terms of ‘pore pressure parameters’.
Consider a cylindrical soil element as in triaxial compression test. Let the minor
principal (or radial) total stress increase by  3 and let the major vertical total
stress increase by  1 . These stress increments will generate an excess pore
pressure u , greater than existing pore pressure. The total pressure u may be split
in two components: ub = pressure generated due to an isotropic change of stress
 3 and u a = pressure generated due to a uniaxial change of stress ( 1   3 ) ,
i.e. due to change in deviater stress. Thus by the principle of superposition,
u  ub  u a
...... Equation 1-18
Assuming that pore pressure changes are simple functions of stress changes,
ub   3 and u a  ( 1   3 )
...... Equation 1-19

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where B and  = empirical pore pressure parameters determined experimentally.

The total pore pressure change u can thus be expressed as follows (Simon and
Menzies, 1977):
u   3  ( 1   3 )
...... Equation 1-20
Skempton (1954) derived and expressed the pore pressure equation as;
u   3  ( 1   3 )
...... Equation 1-21
i.e
  
...... Equation 1-22
The pore pressure parameters ‘B’ and ‘A’ may be measured in a triaxial compression
test. To mesure B, a sample is set up under any value of cell pressure and the pore
pressure is measured. Under undrained conditions the confining pressure is then
increased by an amount  3 and the change in pore pressure ub measured,
enabling the calculation of B from Equation 1-18. To further measure A, the sample
is then loaded axially again under undrained condition and the pore pressure
increase u a measured.

For practical purposes, B=1 for saturated soils (and    ), and B=0 for dry soils.
Like parameter B, the parameter A also is not constant. It depends on factors such
as strain, initial stress system (isotropic or anisotropic), stress history (over
consolidation ratio) and type of stress change (loading or unloading).

1.5.2 Uses and Application of Pore Pressure Parameters

One example is the construction of an earth embankment or a dam over a soft clay
deposit. If the pore water develops faster than it is being dissipated undrained
conditions could set in. there is reduction in shear strength and failure could result. It
is therefore necessary to predict the likely increase in pore pressure as the total
stresses are increased. In that way a suitable rate of construction is proposed

1.6 THE STRESS-STRAIN PROPERTIES OF SOILS

1.6.1 Stress-Strain Curves

When stress is applied to a specimen of soil, some deformation is caused, and

elementary theories of engineering mechanics postulate relationships between the
applied stress and the resulting deformation. In a linearly elastic theory, for instance,
the strains in the material will be directly proportional to the applied stresses, and
are reversible: that is, removal of a stress causes the material to revert to its original,
unstressed, shape.

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The soil in a shear box may be thought of as representing an element of soil in a

developing landslide. By moving the box halves relative to each other, stress-
displacement relationship can be explored.

At failure, if stable yielding persists, the stress-strain curve is flat. However, for
dilatant soils and for soils with clay content greater than 30%, unstable yielding
occurs requiring a negative stress increment for a positive strain increment.
Ultimately, stable yielding will be re-established at the residual strength where a
dominant displacement discontinuity forms that is able to accommodate all further
imposed deformation. These features are shown in Fig. 1-19.

p Stable yielding
Unstable yielding
Shear stress

Stable yielding

Brittle
Non brittle

Horizontal displacement

Fig. 1-19: Typical stress-strain curve showing the stable and unstable yielding

In non-brittle soils, the load transmitted will rise to a point and then remain constant,
or nearly so, regardless of further displacement. In contrast, the deformation
required to achieve the maximum, or peak, load-carrying capacity of a brittle soil can
be passed. Continuing displacement in this way causes the load-carrying capacity to
decline to an ultimate or residual value. This is usually accompanied by the formation
of shearing surfaces in the soil on which strains are concentrated. Thus only part of
the soil mass will develop these surfaces of weakness. For a brittle (strain-softening)
soil, therefore, it is possible to talk of both peak and residual strengths, each acting
over part of the soil mass. The selective development of these shear surfaces due to
non-uniform straining of the soil in a slope is fundamental to the progressive
development of a landslide.

1.6.2 The Drained Residual Strength

Fig. 1-19 explains peak and residual shear strength parameters. If shearing is
continued after the peak point to the maximum displacement of the apparatus
(indefinite for the ring shear, explained in Section 1.6.3), a curve of the type shown
in Fig. 1-19 for the brittle material is obtained. The shear strength reduces rapidly
from the peak value at first, but eventually reaches a steady state (ultimate) value,
which is maintained as the displacement increases. The residual strength occurs after
a very large movement. In some landslides, it could be more than 1 m.

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1.6.3 Testing of Residual Strength

For clays the testing can be done in a shear box with a large travel of about 150mm.
for the large strains to be measured. Alternatively this can be achieved in the shear
box which allows reversal of after the travel to its maximum. The displacement of
the sample is usually taken as the number of reversals times the travel of the box.

Some research laboratories have a more sophisticated ring shear box developed by
Bishop in 1979 (Fig. 1-20). The displacement of the sample is got as the sample is
sheared in the ring to beyond the peak value

The Bromhead Ring Shear measures the fundamental and important soil strength.
The ring shear specimen is annular with an inside diameter of 7 cm and an outside
diameter of 10 cm. Drainage is provided by annular bronze porous stones secured to
the bottom of the specimen container and to the loading platen. The specimen
container confines the specimen radially, which is 0.5 cm deep. The general
arrangement of the ring shear apparatus is shown in Fig. 1-20a and b.

Vertical force

Loading cap
Water bath rough surface
Lower part of cell Sample
Ball race
rough surface
Driving gears
to rotate
lower cell
(a)

Torsion beam Torque reaction

Torque reaction

(b)
L

Fig. 1-20: General arrangements of ring shear apparatus: (a) cross section, (b) plan
showing torque reaction forces from load rings on torsion beam (graduated scale of
degrees not shown). (Reproduced from Fig. 4 of BS 1377: part 7: 1990)

An annular ring (Fig. 1-21), subjected to a constant normal stress , is confined
laterally, and ultimately caused to rapture on a plane of relative motion.

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Fig. 1-21: The Ring Specimen showing the shear plane

Example 1-1
The following results were obtained from direct shear tests on specimens of a sand
compacted to the in-situ density. Determine the value of the shear strength
parameter  ' .

Normal stress (kN/m2) 50 100 200 300

Shear stress at failure (kN/m2) 36 80 154 235

Would failure occur on a plane within a mass of this sand at a point where the shear
stress is 122kN/m2 and the effective normal stress 246 kN/m2?

Solution
The values of shear stress at failure are plotted against the corresponding values of
normal stress, as shown in Fig. 1-22.

Fig. 1-22: Example 1-1

The failure envelope is the line having the best fit to the plotted points; in this case a
straight line through the origin. If the stress scales are the same, the value of  ' can
be measured directly and is 380.

The stress state  = 122kN/m2,  ' = 246 kN/m2 plots below the failure envelope,
and therefore would not produce failure.

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Example 1-2
The results shown in Table 1-2 were obtained at failure in a series of triaxial tests on
specimens of a saturated clay initially 38mm in diameter by 76mm long. Determine
the values of the shear strength parameters with respect to (a) total stress and (b)
effective stress.

Table 1-2: Example 1-2 – Results of Triaxial tests

Solution
The principal stress difference at failure in each test is obtained by dividing the axial
load by the cross-sectional area of the specimen at failure (Table 1-3). The corrected
cross-sectional area is calculated from Equation 1-14. There is, of course, no volume
change during an undrained test on a saturated clay. The initial values of length,
area and volume for each specimen are:
lo  76 mm, Ao  1135 mm2, Vo  86  10 3 mm3.

Table 1-3: Example 1-2 – Analysis of Triaxial tests

The Mohr circles at failure and the corresponding failure envelopes for both series of
tests are shown in Fig. 1-23. In both cases the failure envelope is the line nearest to
a common tangent to the Mohr circles.

Fig. 1-23: Example 1-2 Mohr Circles

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The total stress parameters, representing the undrained strength of the clay, are
cu  85 kN/m2, u  0
The effective stress parameters, representing the drained strength of the clay, are
c ' 0 kN/m2,  ' 270

Example 1-3
The results shown in Table 1-4 were obtained for peak failure in a series of
consolidated–undrained triaxial tests, with pore water pressure measurement, on
specimens of a saturated clay. Determine the values of the effective stress
parameters.

Table 1-4: Example 1-3 – Analysis of Consolidated-Undrained Triaxial test results

Solution
Values of effective principal stresses  '3 and  '1 at failure are calculated by
subtracting pore water pressure at failure from the total principal stresses as shown
in Table 1-5 (all stresses in kN/m2). The Mohr circles in terms of effective stress are
drawn in Fig. 1-24.
Table 1-5: Example 1-3 – Effective principal stresses  '3 and  '1 at failure

The Shear strength parameters are measured as c’=16 kN/m2 and  ' 290 .

Fig. 1-24: Example 1-3 Mohr Circles in terms of effective stress

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Example 1-4
Following are the results of four drained direct shear tests on an overconsolidated
clay:

Diameter of specimen : 50 mm
Height of specimen : 25 mm

Table 1-6: Example 1-4 – results of four drained direct shear tests on an
overconsolidated clay

a
See Fig. 1-19
Determine the relationships for peak shear strength (  f ) and residual shear
strength(  r ).

   50 
2

Area of the specimen ( A      0.0019634 m2). Now Table 1-7 can be

 4  1000 
prepared;

Table 1-7: Example 1-4 – peak shear strength (  f ) and residual shear strength(  r )

The variations of  f and  r with  ' are plotted in Fig. 1-25. From the plots,
we find that

Peak strength:  f (kN/m2)= 40   ' tan 27

Residual strength:  f (kN/m2)=  ' tan 14.6

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(Note: For all overconsolidated clays, the residual pressed as

 r   ' tan r '

where  r ' effective residual friction angle.

Fig. 1-25: Example 1-4 - variations of  f and  r with  '

Example 1-5
The equation of the effective stress failure envelope for normally consolidated clayey
soil is  f   ' tan 25 . A drained triaxial test was conducted with the same soil at a
0

chamber confining pressure of 80 kN/m2. Calculate the deviator stress at failure.

Solution
For normally consolidated clay, c' = 0. Thus, from Equation 1-15,

'
 1 '   3 ' tan 2 (45  )
2
1 ' 25 0

25
 1 '  80 tan 2 (45  )  197 kN/m2
2
( d   1 ' 3 '  197  80  117 KN/m2

Example 1-6

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The results of two drained triaxial tests on a saturated clay are as follows

Specimen I  3   3 '  70 kN/m2

( d ) f  130 kN/m2

Specimen I  3   3 '  160 kN/m2

( d ) f  223.5 kN/m2

Determine the shear strength parameters c’ and  ' .

Solution
For Specimen I, the principal stresses at failure are
 3   3 '  70 kN/m2
and
 1 '   1   3  ( d ) f  70  130  200 kN/m2
Similarly, the principal stresses at failure for Specimen II are
 3   3 '  160 kN/m2
and
 1 '   1   3  ( d ) f  160  223.5  383.5 kN/m2

Using the relationship given in Equation 1-15

' '
 1 '   3 ' tan 2 (45  )  2c' tan(45  )
2 2
Thus, for Specimen I,
' '
200  70 tan 2 (45  )  2c' tan(45  )
2 2
and for Specimen I,
' '
383.5  160 tan 2 (45  )  2c' tan(45  )
2 2
Solving the two preceding equations, we obtain
 ' 200 c ' 20 kN/m2

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2 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Structures that are built to retain vertical or nearly vertical earth banks or any other
material are called retaining walls. Retaining walls may be constructed of masonry or
sheet piles.
All the walls listed in Fig. 2-1 have to withstand lateral pressures either from earth or
any other material on their faces.
Gravity walls resist movement because of their heavy sections. They are built of
mass concrete or stone or brick masonry.
In all these cases, the backfill tries to move the wall from its position. The movement
of the wall is partly resisted by the wall itself and partly by soil in front of the wall.

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Fig 2-1: Retaining Structures

2.2 RANKINE’S THEORY FOR LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Rankine's theory is applied to uniform cohesion-less soil only. Later it was extended
to include cohesive soil by Bell in 1915.
Rankine approached the lateral earth pressure problem with the following
assumptions:

1. The soil is homogeneous and isotropic, which means c,  and γ have the same
values everywhere, and they have the same values in all directions at every point
(i.e., the strength on a vertical plane is the same as that on a horizontal plane);
2. The most critical shear surface is a plane. In reality, it is slightly concave up, but
this is a reasonable assumption (especially for the active case) and it simplifies
the analysis;
3. The ground surface is a plane (although it does not necessarily need to be level);
4. The wall is infinitely long so that the problem may be analyzed in only two
dimensions;
5. The wall moves sufficiently to develop the active or passive condition.
6. The resultant of the normal and shear forces that act on the back of the wall is
inclined at an angle parallel to the ground surface.

2.3 AT-REST, ACTIVE AND PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURES

A retaining wall backfilled with cohesionless soil is shown in Fig. 2-2. If the wall does
not move even after back filling, the pressure exerted on the wall is termed as
pressure for the at rest condition of the wall.
If suppose the wall gradually rotates about point A and moves away from the
backfill, the unit pressure on the wall is gradually reduced and after a particular
displacement of the wall at the top, the pressure reaches a constant value. The
pressure is the minimum possible.
This pressure is termed the active pressure since the weight of the backfill is
responsible for the movement of the wall.

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The variation in the magnitude of the lateral earth pressure with the movement of
the wall is illustrated in Fig. 2-2.

Fig 2-2: Movement of Wall and the Lateral Earth Pressure

If the wall surface is smooth, the resultant pressure acts normal to the face of the
wall. If the wall is rough, it makes an angle  with the normal on the wall. The
angle  is called the angle of wall friction. As the wall moves away from the backfill,
the soil tends to move forward.

(b) Passive earth pressure

Fig 2-3 (a) and (b): Active and Passive Earth Pressures

When the wall movement is sufficient, a soil mass of weight W ruptures along
surface ADC shown in Fig. 2-3 (a). This surface is slightly curved. If the surface is
assumed to be a plane surface AC, analysis would indicate that this surface would
make an angle of 45° + ɸ/2 with the horizontal (refer to Section 1.3.3 Chapter 1).
If the wall is now rotated about A towards the backfill, the actual failure plane ADC is
also a curved surface Fig. 2-3 (b).
However, if the failure surface is approximated as a plane AC, this makes an angle
45° - ɸ/2 with the horizontal and the pressure on the wall increases from the value
of the at rest condition to the maximum value possible.
The maximum pressure P that is developed is termed the passive earth pressure.
The pressure is called passive because the weight of the backfill opposes the
movement of the wall. It makes an angle  with the normal if the wall is rough.

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If the wall is rigid and does not move with the pressure exerted on the wall, the soil
behind the wall will be in a state of elastic equilibrium. Consider a prismatic element
E in the backfill at depth z shown in Fig. 2-4.

Fig 2-4: Pressures on a Prismatic Element

Element E is subjected to the following pressures;

Vertical pressure,  v  z

Lateral pressure =  h

where  is the effective unit weight of the soil. If we consider the backfill is
homogeneous then both  v and  h increase linearly with depth z. In such a case,
the ratio  z and  h remains constant with respect to depth.

h h
  constant = K0. Ko is called the coefficient of earth pressure for the at rest
 v z
condition or at rest earth pressure coefficient.
The lateral earth pressure  h acting on the wall at any depth z may be expressed as
1
 h  K 0z and P0  K 0H 2 . According to Jocky ( 1940) ,
2
K 0  1  sin 
...... Equation 2-1

Example 2-1:
If a retaining wall 5 m high is restrained from yielding, what will be the at-rest earth
pressure per meter length of the wall? Given: the backfill is cohesionless soil having
ɸ= 30° and ɣ = 18 kN/m3. Also determine the resultant force for the at-rest
condition.
Solution: For soil at rest condition, the lateral coefficenet

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K 0  1  sin   1  sin 30 0  0.5

 h  K 0H  0.5 18  5  45 kN/m2

1 1
P0  K 0H 2   0.5  18  5 2  112.5 kN/m length of wall
2 2

2.4 RANKINE’S EARTH PRESSURE AGAINT SMOOTH VERTICAL WALL

WITH COHESIONLESS BACKFILL

2.4.1 Backfill Horizontal – Active Earth Pressure

A semi-infinite mass is replaced by a smooth wall AB in Fig. 2-5.

Fig 2-5: Active Earth Pressure

The lateral pressure acting against smooth wall AB is due to the mass of soil ABC
above failure line AC which makes an angle of 45° + ɸ/2 with the horizontal. The
lateral pressure distribution on wall AB of height H increases in simple proportion to
depth. The pressure acts normal to the wall AB. pa  HK a .

The lateral active pressure at A is;

H H
1
Pa   p z dz  K A  zdz  K AH 2
0 0
2
where,
1  sin 
K A  tan 2 (450   / 2) 
1  sin 
...... Equation 2-2

Pa acts at a height H/3 above the base of the wall.

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2.4.2 Backfill Horizontal – Passive Earth Pressure

If wall AB is pushed into the mass to such an extent as to impart uniform

compression throughout the mass, soil wedge ABC in Fig. 2-6 (a) will be in Rankine's
passive state of plastic equilibrium.
The inner rupture plane AC makes an angle 45° + ɸ/2 with the vertical AB. The
pressure distribution on wall AB is linear as shown in Fig. 2-6 (b).

Fig 2-6: Passive Earth Pressure

The passive pressure pp at A is p p  HK p .

The total pressure against the wall is ;

H H
1
Pp   p z dz  K P  zdz  K P H 2
0 0
2
where,
1  sin 
K P  tan 2 (450   / 2) 
1  sin 
The ratio of Kp and KA may be written as;
K P tan 2 (45 0   / 2)
  tan 4 (45 0   / 2)
K A tan (45   / 2)
2 0

1
KP 
KA
...... Equation 2-3

2.4.3 Active Pressure – Backfill Soil Submerged with the Surface Horizontal

When the backfill is fully submerged, two types of pressures act on wall AB, as
shown in Fig. 2-7.

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Fig 2-7: Active Earth Pressure due to Submerged Soil

1. The active earth pressure due to the submerged weight of soil;

2. The lateral pressure due to water.
At any depth z the total unit pressure on the wall is a  p a  p w   b zK A   w z

At depth z = H, we have a   b HK A   w H

where  b is the submerged unit weight of soil and  w the unit weight of water. The
total pressure acting on the wall at a height H/3 above the base is;
1 1
a  pa  p w   b H 2 K A   w H 2
2 2
...... Equation 2-4

2.4.4 Active Pressure – Backfill Soil Partly Submerged with Uniform

Surcharge Load

The soil upto depth H1 is moist whereas below this point for depth H2 is submerged
(Fig. 2-8).

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Fig 2-8: Backfill Soil Partly Submerged with Uniform Surcharge Load
At depth H1 at the level of the water table;
pa  qK A  H1 K A
At depth H we have the lateral pressure due to surcharge, the moist soil for depth
H1, the submerged soil for depth H2 and water pressure for depth H2;
pa  qK A  H1 K A   b H 2 K A   w H 2
pa  qK A  (H1   b H 2 ) K A   w H 2
The total pressure Pa acting per unit length of the wall may be written as equal to;
1 1 2
pa  qHK A  H 1 K A  H 1 H 2 K A  H 2 ( b K A   w )
2

2 2
...... Equation 2-5

The point of application of Pa above the base of the wall can be found by taking
moments of all the forces acting on the wall about A.

2.5 RANKINE’S EARTH PRESSURE AGAINT SMOOTH VERTICAL WALL

WITH COHESIVE BACKFILL

2.5.1 Theory of Rankine’s Active Pressure

Fig. 2-9 shows a soil mass that is bounded by a frictionless wall, AB, that extends to
an infinite depth. The vertical and horizontal effective principal stresses on a soil
element at a depth z are  'v and  'v respectively. If the wall AB is not allowed to
move, then  ' h  K o 'v .

Fig 2-9: Rankine Active Earth Pressure

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The stress condition in the soil element can be represented by the Mohr's circle a in
Fig. 2-10.

Fig 2-10: Rankine Active Earth Pressure

However, if the wall AB is allowed to move away from the soil mass gradually, the
horizontal principal stress will decrease. Ultimately a state will be reached when the
stress condition in the soil element can be represented by the Mohr's circle b, the
state of plastic equilibrium, and failure of the soil will occur. This situation represents
Rankine's active state, and the effective pressure  ' a on the vertical plane (which is
a principal plane) is Rankine's active earth pressure. We next derive  ' a in terms of
 , z , c' , and  ' from Fig. 2.10.
CD CD
sin  '  
AC AO  OC

But
 'v  'a
CD = radius of the failure circle =
2

AO  c' cot  '

and
 'v  ' a
OC 
2
So

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 'v  ' a
sin  '  2
 'v  ' a
c' cot  '
2
or

 'v  ' a  'v  ' a

c' cot  ' sin  ' 
2 2
or

1  sin  ' cos  '

 ' a   'v  2c'
1  sin  ' 1  sin  '
...... Equation 2-6

But
 'v =vertical effective overburden pressure = z

1  sin  '  ' 

 tan 2  45  
1  sin  '  2
and
cos  '  ' 
 tan  45  
1  sin  '  2

Substituting the preceding values into Equation 2-6, we get

 '   ' 
 ' a  z tan 2  45    2c' tan  45  
 2  2
...... Equation 2-7
The variation of  ' a with depth is shown in Fig. 2-11. For cohesionless soils, c’=0 and

 ' 
 ' a   'v tan 2  45  
 2
...... Equation 2-8

The ratio  ' a to  'v is called the coefficient of Rankine's active earth pressure and is
given by
 'a  ' 
Ka   tan 2  45  
 'v  2
...... Equation 2-8

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Fig 2-11: The variation of  ' a with depth

Again, from Fig. 2-10, we can see that the failure planes in the soil make
 (45   ' / 2) degree angles with the direction of the major principal plane - that is,
the horizontal. These are called potential slip planes and are shown in Fig. 2-12.

Fig 2-12: Directions of failure planes

2.5.2 Backfill Horizontal (Cohesive) – Active Earth Pressure
Fig. 2-13 shows a frictionless retaining wall with a cohesive soil backfill. The active
pressure against the wall at any depth below the ground surface can be expressed as
Equation 2-7, i.e.  ' a  K a z  2c' K a

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Fig 2-13: Frictionless Retaining Wall with Cohesive material

The variation of K a z with depth is shown in Fig. 2.14(a), and the variation of
2c' K a with depth is shown in Fig. 2.14(b).

(a) (b) (c)

Fig 2-14: Rankine's active earth pressure distribution against a retaining wall with cohesive
soil backfill

Note that 2c' K a is not a function of z, hence Fig. 214(b) is a rectangle. The
variation of the net value of  ' a with depth is plotted in Fig. 2-14(c). Also note that,

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because of the effect of cohesion,  ' a is negative in the upper part of the retaining
wall. The depth z0 at which the active pressure becomes equal to 0 can be found
from Equation 2-7 as
K a z 0  2c' K a  0

2c '
z0 
 Ka
...... Equation 2-9
The depth z0 is usually referred to as the depth of tensile crack, because the tensile
stress in the soil will eventually cause a crack along the soil-wall interface. Thus the
total Rankine active force per unit length of the wall before the tensile crack occurs
can be found from the area of the total pressure diagram Fig. 2-14 (c), or

1
Pa  K a H 2  2 K a c' H
2
...... Equation 2-10
After the occurrence of the tensile crack, the force on the wall will be caused only
by the pressure distribution between depths 𝑧=𝑧0 and 𝑧=𝐻, as shown by the
hatched area in Fig. 2-15.

Fig 2-15: Rankine's active earth pressure distribution

It may be expressed as

1
Pa  ( H  z 0 )(HK a  2c' K a )
2
...... Equation 2-11
Or
1 2c '
Pa  ( H  z 0 )(HK a  2c' K a )
2  Ka
...... Equation 2-12

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Example 2-2
A 6-m-high retaining wall is to support a soil with unit weight 𝛾=17.4 kN/m3, soil
friction angle 𝜙’=26°, and cohesion 𝑐’=14.36 kN/m2. Determine the Rankine active
force per unit length of the wall both before and after the tensile crack occurs, and
determine the line of action of the resultant in both cases.
Solution
For 𝜙’=26°,
'
K a  tan 2 (45  )  0.39
2
K a  0.625

 ' a  HK a  2c' K a

Refer to Fig. 2-15,

At z=0,  ' a  2c' K a  17.95kN / m 2

At 𝑧=6 m, 𝜎’a =(17.4)(6)(0.39)−2(14.36)(0.625)=40.72−17.95=22.77 kN/m2

Active Force before the Occurrence of Tensile Crack:
1 1
Pa  K a H 2  2 K a c' H  (6)(40.72)  (6)(17.95)  122.16  107.7  14.46kN / m
2 2
The line of action of the resultant can be determined by taking the moment of the
area of the pressure diagrams about the bottom of the wall, or
6 6
Pa z  122.16   107.7 
3 2
Or
244.32  323.1
z  5.45m
14.46
Active Force after the Occurrence of Tensile Crack:
2c' 2(14.36)
z0   2.64m
 K a (17.4)(0.625)
Using Equation 2-11 gives
1 1
Pa  ( H  z 0 )(HK a  2c' K a )  (6  2.64)22.77  38.25kN / m
2 2
Fig. 2-15 shows that the force 𝑃𝑎=38.25 kN/m is the area of the hatched triangle.
Hence the line of action of the resultant will be located at a height of z  ( H  z 0 ) / 3
above the bottom of the wall, or
6  2.64
z  1.12m
3

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For most retaining wall construction, a granular backfill is used and 𝑐’=0. Thus
example 2 is an academic problem; however, it illustrates the basic principles of
the Rankine active earth pressure calculation.
2.5.3 Theory Of Rankine’s Passive Pressure
Rankine's passive state can be explained with the aid of Fig. 2-16 – 2-19.

Fig 2-16: Rankine's passive earth pressure on frictionless wall

AB is a frictionless wall that extends to an infinite depth (Fig. 2-16). The initial stress
condition on a soil element is represented by the Mohr's circle a in Fig. 2-17.

Fig 2-17: Mohr’s Circle

If the wall is gradually pushed into the soil mass, the effective principal stress  ' h
will increase. Ultimately the wall will reach a situation where the stress condition for
the soil element can be expressed by the Mohr’s circle b. At this time, failure of the

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soil will occur. This situation is referred to as Rankine's passive state. The lateral
earth pressure  ' p which is the maior principal stress, is called Rankine's passive
earth pressure. From Fig. 2-17, it can be shown that

 '   ' 
 ' p  z tan 2  45    2c' tan  45  
 2  2
...... Equation 2-13
The derivation is similar to that for Rankine's active state.
Fig. 2-18 shows the variation of passive pressure with depth.

Fig 2-18: Variation of passive pressure with depth

For cohesionless, soils, (c’=0),

 ' 
 ' p   'v tan 2  45  
 2
...... Equation 2-14

 'p  ' 
 K p  tan 2  45  
 'v  2
...... Equation 2-15

Kp (the ratio of effective stresses) in the preceding equation is referred to as the

coefficient of Rankine's passive earth pressure.
2.5.4 Backfill Horizontal (Cohesive) – Passive Earth Pressure
Fig. 2-19 shows a retaining wall with backfill.

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Fig 2-19 a and b: Rankine's passive earth pressure distribution against a retaining wall
with cohesive soil backfill

Rankine's passive pressure against the wall at depth z can be given by Equation 2-
13;
 ' p  K p z  2 K p c'
At z=0

 ' p  2 K p c'

...... Equation 2-16

At z=H
 ' p  K p H  2 K p c'

...... Equation 2-17

The variation of  ' p with depth is shown in Fig. 2-19b. The passive force per unit
length of the wall can be found from the area of the pressure diagrams as

1
Pp  K p H 2  2 K p c' H
2
...... Equation 2-18

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2.6 RANKINE’S EARTH PRESSURE FOR INCLINED BACKFILL

If the backfill of a frictionless retaining wall is a granular soil (𝑐’=0) and rises at
an angle 𝛼 with respect to the horizontal (Fig. 2-20), the active earth pressure
coefficient, 𝐾𝑎, may be expressed in the form

Fig 2-20: Notations for Active pressure equations

cos  cos 2   cos 2  '

K a  cos
cos  cos 2   cos 2  '
...... Equation 2-19

Where
𝜙’=angle of friction of soil.

At any depth, z, the Rankine active pressure may be expressed as

 ' a  zK a
Also, the total force per unit length of the wall is
1
Pa  H 2 K a
2

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Note that, in this case, the direction of the resultant force, 𝑃𝑎, is inclined at an angle
𝛼𝛼 with the horizontal and intersects the wall at a distance of 𝐻/3 from the base of
the wall.

The preceding analysis can be extended for an inclined backfill with a 𝑐’−𝜙’ soil. The
details of the mathematical derivation are given by Mazindrani and Ganjali (1997) as

 'a  zK a  zK 'a cos

where,

 
 c 
 2 cos   2  cos  ' sin  '
2

1   z   1
K 'a   
cos 
2
  
2
c c
 4 cos  (cos   cos  ' )  4 z  cos  '8 z  cos  sin  ' cos  ' 
2 2 2 2 2

       

...... Equation 2-20

For a problem of this type, the depth of tensile crack, 𝑧0, is given as

2c' 1  sin  '

z0 
 1  sin  '

Example 2-3
A 6 m high retaining wall is shown in Fig. 2-21. Determine

a) The Rankine active force per unit length of the wall and the location of the
resultant
b) The Rankine passive force per unit length of the wall and the location of the
resultant

Fig 2-21: Diagram of Retaining Wall

Solution
(a) Because c'= 0, to determine the active force, we can use Equation 2-8

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 ' 
 'a   'v tan 2  45    K a z
 2
Where
1  sin  '  ' 
Ka   tan 2  45  
1  sin  '  2

1  sin  ' 1  36'

Ka    0.26
1  sin  ' 1  36

At z=0,  ' a =0; at z=6m,

 'a  (0.26)(15)(6)  23.4 kN/m2

The pressure distribution diagram is shown in Fig. 2-22.

Fig 2-22: Active Pressure Distribution Diagram

The active fore per unit length of the wall is as follows;

1
Pa  (6)(23.4)  70.2 kN/m
2
6
z  2m
3

(b) To determine the passive force, we are give c’=0. So, from Equation 2-14 and
2-15
 ' p  K p z

1  sin  ' 1  36
Kp    3.85
1  sin  ' 1  36'

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At z=0,  ' p  0 ; at z=6m,

 ' p  (3.85)(15)(6)  346.5 kN/m2

The pressure distribution diagram is shown in Fig. 2-23.

Fig 2-22: Passive Pressure Distribution Diagram

The passive force per unit length of the wall is

1
Pp  (6)(346.5)  1039.5 kN/m
2
Also
6
z  2m
3

2.7 COULOMB’S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY FOR COHESIONLESS

SOIL FOR ACTIVE STATE

2.7.1 Introduction
More than 200 years ago, Coulomb (1776) presented a theory for active and passive
ures against retaining walls. In this theory, Coulomb assumed that the failure surface
is a plane. The wall friction was taken into consideration. The following sections
discuss the general principles of the derivation of Coulomb's earth pressure theory
for a cohesionless backfill (shear strength defined by the equation  f   ' tan  ' )

2.7.2 Assumptions

Coulomb made the following assumptions in the development of his theory:

a) The soil is isotropic and homogeneous;
b) The rupture surface is a plane surface;
c) The failure wedge is a rigid body;
d) The pressure surface is a plane surface;
e) There is wall friction on the pressure surface;
f) Failure is two-dimensional; and

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g) The soil is cohesionless.

2.7.3 Principle
Fig. 2-23 shows the back face of a retaining wall supporting a granular soil, the
surface of which is constantly sloping at an angle  with the horizontal. Coulomb
Active Pressure diagram

Fig 2-23: Coulomb Active Pressure (a) trial failure wedge (b) force polygon

In Fig 2-23,
a) AB is the pressure face
b) The backfill surface BE is a plane inclined at an angle ß with the horizontal
c)  is the angle made by the pressure face AB with the horizontal
d) H is the height of the wall
e) AC is the assumed rupture plane surface, and
f) θ is the angle made by the surface AC with the horizontal

The weight of the wedge W may be written as

W  A
where A = area of wedge ABC.

Area of wedge ABC = A = 1/2 AC x BD, where BD is drawn perpendicular to AC.

From the law of sines, we have

sin(   ) H
AC  AB , BD  AB sin(   ) , AB 
sin(   ) sin 
...... Equation 2-21

Making the substitution and simplifying we have,

H 2 sin(   )
W  A  sin(   )
2 sin 
2
sin(   )
...... Equation 2-22

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The various forces that are acting on the wedge are shown in Fig. 2-23(a).

As the pressure face AB moves away from the backfill, there will be sliding of the soil
mass along the wall from B towards A. The sliding of the soil mass is resisted by the
friction of the surface. The direction of the shear stress is in the direction from A
towards B.

lf Pn is the total normal reaction of the soil pressure acting on face AB, the resultant
of Pn and the shearing stress is the active pressure Pa making an angle δ with the
normal. Since the shearing stress acts upwards, the resulting Pa dips below the
normal. The angle δ for this condition is considered positive.

As the wedge ABC ruptures along plane AC, it slides along this plane. This is resisted
by the frictional force acting between the soil at rest below AC, and the sliding
wedge. The resisting shearing stress is acting in the direction from A towards C. If
Wn is the normal component of the weight of wedge W on plane AC, the resultant of
the normal Wn and the shearing stress is the reaction R. This makes an angle ϕ with
the normal since the rupture takes place within the soil itself.

Statical equilibrium requires that the three forces Pa, W, and R meet at a point. Since
AC is not the actual rupture plane, the three forces do not meet at a point. But if the
actual surface of failure AC'C is considered, all three forces meet at a point.
However, the error due to the non concurrence of the forces is very insignificant and
as such may be neglected.

The polygon of forces is shown in Fig. 2-23(b).

We have
Pa W

sin(   ) sin(180         )
0

or

W sin(   )
Pa 
sin(1800         )
...... Equation 2-23

In Equation 2-23 , the only variable is θ and all the other terms for a given case are
constants. Substituting for W, we have

H 2 sin(   )  sin(    
Pa   sin(    ) 
2 sin  sin(180         ) 
2 0
sin(   ) 
...... Equation 2-24

The maximum value for Pa is obtained by differentiating Equation 2-24 with respect
to θ and equating the derivative to zero, i.e.
dPa
d 0
d

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...... Equation 2-25

The maximum value of Pa so obtained may be written as

1
Pa  H 2 K A
2
...... Equation 2-26

Table 2-1: Active earth pressure coefficients KA for ß=0 and  = 90 deg

Table 2-2: Active earth pressure coefficients KA for   0 ,  varies from -300 to
+300 and  from 700 to 1100

where KA is the active earth pressure coefficient.

sin 2 (   )
KA  2
 sin(   ) sin(   ) 
sin  sin(   ) 1 
2

 sin(   ) sin(   ) 

...... Equation 2-27

The total normal component Pn of the earth pressure on the back of the wall is
1
Pn  Pa cos   H 2 K A cos 
2

If the wall is vertical and smooth, and if the backfill is horizontal, we have
 =  = 0 and  = 90 deg. Substituting these values in Equation 2-27

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1  sin   
KA   tan 2  45  
1  sin   2
...... Equation 2-28

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3 EARTH RETAINING STRUCTURES

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Retaining walls are structures used to retain earth or water or other materials such
as coal, ore, etc; where conditions do not permit the mass to assume its natural
slope. The retaining material is usually termed as backfill. The main function of
retaining walls is to stabilize hillsides and control erosion. When roadway
construction is necessary over rugged terrain with steep slopes, retaining walls can
help to reduce the grades of roads and the land alongside the road. Some road
projects lack available land beside the travel way, requiring construction right along
the toe of a slope. In these cases extensive grading may not be possible and
retaining walls become necessary to allow for safe construction and acceptable slope
conditions for adjacent land uses. Where soils are unstable, slopes are quite steep, or
heavy runoff is present, retaining walls help to stem erosion. Excessive runoff can
undermine roadways and structures, and controlling sediment runoff is a major
environmental and water quality consideration in road and bridge projects.

3.2 TYPES OF RETAINING STRUCTURES

On the basis of attaining stability, the retaining structures are classified into
following:
3.2.1 Gravity Walls
Gravity walls are stabilized by their mass. They are constructed of dense, heavy
materials such as concrete and stone masonry and are usually reinforced. Some
gravity walls do use mortar, relying solely on their weight to stay in place, as in the
case of dry stone walls. They are economical for only small heights.

Fig 3-1: Gravity Retaining Walls

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3.2.2 Semi Gravity Retaining Walls

These walls generally are trapezoidal in section. This type of wall is constructed in
concrete and derives its stability from its weight. A small amount of reinforcement is
provided for reducing the mass of the concrete. This can be classified into two:
a) Cantilever retaining wall
b) Counterfort retaining wall

(a) Cantilever retaining wall

This is a reinforced concrete wall which utilizes cantilever action to retain the backfill.
This type is suitable for retaining backfill to moderate heights(4m-7m). In cross
section most cantilevered walls look like “L”s or inverted “T”s. To ensure stability,
they are built on solid foundations with the base tied to the vertical portion of the
wall with reinforcement rods. The base is then backfilled to counteract forward
pressure on the vertical portion of the wall. The cantilevered base is reinforced and is
designed to prevent uplifting at the heel of the base, making the wall strong and
stable.

Fig 3-2: Cantilever Walls

(b) Counterfort retaining wall

When the height of the cantilever retaining wall is more than about 7m, it is
economical to provide vertical bracing system known as counterforts. In this case,
both base slab and face of wall span horizontally between the counter forts.

Fig 3-3: Counterfort Retaining Wall

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3.2.3 Flexible Walls - Sheet Pile Walls

Sheet piles are generally made of steel or timber. The use of timber piles is generally
limited to temporary structures in which the depth of driving does not exceed 3m.
For permanent structures and for depth of driving greater than 3m, steel piles are
most suitable. Moreover, steel piles are relatively water tight and can be extracted if
required and reused. However, the cost of sheet steel piles is generally more than
that of timber piles. Reinforced cement concrete piles are generally used when these
are to be jetted into fine sand or driven in very soft soils, such as peat. For tougher
soils, the concrete piles generally break off. Based on its structural form and loading
system, sheet pile walls can be classified into 2 types: (i) Cantilever Sheet Piles and
(ii) Anchored Sheet Piles.

(i) Cantilever Sheet Piles

Sheet pile walls are classified as flexible retaining structures. The stability is
provided through an embedment of the wall on the ground working as a
cantilever structure (see Fig. 3-4), so the wall is subject to bending moments.
One of the main benefits is the minimization of used material, in contrast to
the needs of rigid retaining structures.

Fig 3-4: Cantilever Sheet Piles

(ii) Anchored Sheet Piles

Anchored sheet pile walls (Fig. 3-5) are held above the driven depth by
anchors provided at a suitable level. The anchors provide for the stability of
the sheet pile, in addition to the lateral passive resistance of the soil into
which the sheet piles are driven.

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Fig 3-4: Anchored Sheet Piles

3.3 DESIGN OF RETAINING STRUCTURES

3.3.1 Stability Requirement

The stability of a gravity retaining wall is due to the self-weight of the wall, perhaps
aided by passive resistance developed in front of the wall. Walls of this type are
uneconomic because the wall material (masonry or mass concrete) is used only for
its dead weight. Cantilever walls of reinforced concrete are more economic because
the backfill itself is employed to provide most of the required dead weight. Both
types of wall are liable to rotational or translational movements and the Rankine or
Coulomb theories are used for the calculation of lateral pressure.
The wall is designed to obtain an acceptable factor of safety with respect to
a. Overall slope stability failure of the soil around the wall
b. Overturning.
c. Sliding.
d. Ensuring that allowable soil bearing pressures is not exceeded at the
base of the wall. This is critical at the toe of the wall

Fig 3-5: Overturning and Sliding

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3.3.2 Design of RW Steps

The design steps of a retaining wall can be summarized as follows;

(i) Start with an assumed geometry of the wall. For a cantilever wall the following
dimensions are generally good;
a. The footing width, to be about 0.4 to 0.7 of the height of the wall
b. The toe projection is with 1/3 to 1/4 of the width of the base
c. The footing thickness and the stem width at the footing is 1/10 to 1/14H
of the height of the wall.

Fig 3-6: T- Shaped Wall proportioning

(ii) Compute overturning moments, calculated about the front (toe) bottom edge
of the footing;
(iii) Compute resisting moments based upon the assumed footing width, calculated
about the front edge of the footing;
(iv) An overturning factor of safety (resisting moments/ overturning moments) of
at least 1.5 is considered safe;
(v) Check sliding. A factor of safety with respect to sliding of 1.5 is considered
safe.
(vi) In the absence of more accurate data, the coefficient of friction may be taken
as;

Soil Coefficient of friction

Where the supporting base soil has a Tan (  ) where  = 2/3Ø

strength parameter is Ø and C=0
For coarse grained soil without silt 0.55
For coarse grained soil with silt 0.45
For silt 0.35

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(vii) Calculate the pressure below the base;

(viii) Calculate the eccentricity of the total vertical load. Is it within or outside the
middle-third of the footing width?
(ix) Calculate the soil pressure at the toe and heel. If the eccentricity e> b/6
(b=width of footing), it will be outside the middle third of the footing width
not recommended!), and because there cannot be tension between the
footing and soil, a triangular pressure distribution will be the result. If this
condition cannot be avoided, then adjust the wall dimensions.
Let the resultant R due to W and Pa lie at a distance x from the toe.

x
M
W
where
 W =sum of all moments about toe.
b b
Eccentricity of the load = e  x
2 6

Minimum pressure at heel = Pmin 

W 1  6e   0 For zero pressure,
b  b 
b
e , resultant should cut the base within the middle third.
6

Maximum pressure at toe = Pmax 

W 1  6e   Safe Bearing Pressure of
b  b 
soil.

Fig 3-6: Soil Pressures Computation

(x) Design depth of foundation. From Rankine’s formulae;

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2
SBC 1  sin   SBC 2
Df     ka
 1  sin   

Fig 3-7: Depth of Foundation

(xi) Design the stem. Start at the bottom of the stem where moments and shears
are highest. Then, for economy, checkup the stem to determine if the bar size
can be reduced or alternate bars dropped. The thickness of the stem may
vary, top to bottom.
(xii) Design footing for moments and shears.
Example 3-1 – Cantilever RW
Design a cantilever retaining wall (T-type) to retain earth for a height of 4m. The
backfill is horizontal. The density of soil is 18kN/m3. Safe Bearing Capacity of soil is
200 kN/m2. Take the co-efficient of friction between concrete and soil as 0.6. The
angle of repose is 30°.

Solution;
Data: h' = 4m, SBC= 200 kN/m2, = 18 kN/m3, μ=0.6,  =30°.

Depth of Foundation;
To fix the height of the Retaining Wall,
H=h’+Df

2
SBC 1  sin   SBC 2
Df     k a =1.23, say 1.2. Therefore, H=5.2m.
 1  sin   

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Fig 3-8: Depth of Foundation

Proportioning of Wall;
Thickness of base slab=(1/10 to 1/14)H = 0.52m to 0.43m, say 450 mm.
Width of base slab=b = (0.5 to 0.6) H = 2.6m to 3.12m say 3m.
Toe projection= pj= (1/3 to 1/4)H = 1m to 0.75m say 0.75m.
Provide 450 mm thickness for the stem at the base and 200 mm at the top.

Fig 3-9: Proportioning of Wall

Stability Analysis;

Bending
Distance from A,
Load Magnitude, (kN) Moment about A
(m)
(kN-m)
Stem W1 0.2  4.75  1 25  23.75 1.1 26.3
1 2
Stem W2  0.25  4.75 1 25  14.84 0.75   0.25  0.316 13.60
2 3
Base slab W3 3.0  0.45  1 25  33.75 1.5 50.63
Backfill W4 1.8  4.75  1 18  3153 .9 2.1 323.20
Total W  226.24 W R  413.55
Earth
W
1 H 5.2
PH   0.33318  5.2 2    140.05
Pressure=PH 2 3 3
O

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Stability Checks;
Check for Overturning

FOS =
M R
 2.94  1.5 , safe
MO

Check for sliding

  WR
FOS =  2.94  1.5 , safe
PH
Check for subsidence

X
M  1.20m 
b b 3
and e   x   1.2  0.3m 
b
W 3 2 2 6
Pressure below base slab
Pmax = 120.66 kN/m2 < SBC, safe
Pmin = 30.16 kN/m2 > 0, No tension or seperation, safe.

Fig 3-10: Forces acting on the wall and the pressure below the wall

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4 SLOPE STABILITY

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Gravitational and seepage forces tend to cause instability in natural slopes, in slopes
formed by excavation and in the slopes of embankments. The most important types
of slope failure are illustrated in Fig. 4-1. In rotational slips the shape of the failure
surface in section may be a circular arc or a non-circular curve. In general, circular
slips are associated with homogeneous, isotropic soil conditions and non-circular slips
with non-homogeneous conditions. Translational and compound slips occur where
the form of the failure surface is influenced by the presence of an adjacent stratum
of significantly different strength, most of the failure surface being likely to pass
through the stratum of lower shear strength. The form of the surface would also be
influenced by the presence of discontinuities such as fissures and pre-existing slips.
Translational slips tend to occur where the adjacent stratum is at a relatively shallow
depth below the surface of the slope, the failure surface tending to be plane and
roughly parallel to the slope. Compound slips usually occur where the adjacent
stratum is at greater depth, the failure surface consisting of curved and plane
sections. In most cases, slope stability can be considered as a two-dimensional
problem, conditions of plane strain being assumed.

Fig 4-1: Types of slope failure

4.2 ANALYSIS FOR THE CASE OF u  0

This analysis, in terms of total stress, covers the case of a fully saturated clay under
undrained conditions, i.e. for the condition immediately after construction. Only
moment equilibrium is considered in the analysis. In section, the potential failure
surface is assumed to be a circular arc. A trial failure surface (centre O, radius r and
length La) is shown in Fig. 4.2. Potential instability is due to the total weight of the

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soil mass (W per unit length) above the failure surface. For equilibrium the shear
strength which must be mobilized along the failure surface is expressed as;

f cu
m  
F F

where F is the factor of safety with respect to shear strength. Equating moments
about O:

cu
Wd  La r
F

therefore

cu La r
F
Wd
...... Equation 4-1

The moments of any additional forces must be taken into account. In the event of a
tension crack developing, the arc length La is shortened and a hydrostatic force will
act normal to the crack if it fills with water.

It is necessary to analyse the slope for a number of trial failure surfaces in order that
the minimum factor of safety can be determined.

Fig 4-2: The u  0 analysis

Based on the principle of geometric similarity, Taylor D.W. (1937) published stability
coefficients for the analysis of homogeneous slopes in terms of total stress. For a
slope of height H the stability coefficient (Ns) for the failure surface along which the
factor of safety is a minimum is;
cu
Ns 
FH

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...... Equation 4-2

For the case of u  0 , values of Ns can be obtained from Fig. 4.3. The coefficient Ns
depends on the slope angle  and the depth factor D, where DH is the depth to a
firm stratum.

Fig 4-3: Taylor’s stability coefficients for u  0

Example 4-1
A 450 slope is excavated to a depth of 8m in a deep layer of saturated clay of unit
weight 19 kN/m3: the relevant shear strength parameters are cu=65 kN/m2 and
u  0 . Determine the factor of safety for the trial failure surface specified in Fig. 4-
4.

Solution
In Fig. 4-4, the cross-sectional area ABCD is 70m2.
Weight of soil mass = 70 x 19 = 1330kN/m

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Fig 4-4: Example 4-1

The centroid of ABCD is 4.5m from O. The angle AOC is 89½ and radius OC is 12.1
m. The arc length ABC is calculated as 18.9 m. The factor of safety is given by

cu La r 65  18.9 12.1
F   2.48
Wd 1330 4.5

This is the factor of safety for the trial failure surface selected and is not necessarily
the minimum factor of safety. The minimum factor of safety can be estimated by
using Equation 4.2. From Fig. 4.3,   450 and assuming that D is large, the value of
Ns is 0.18. Then

cu 65
F   2.37
N s H 0.18 19  8

4.3 THE METHOD OF SLICES

In this method the potential failure surface, in section, is again assumed to be a
circular arc with centre O and radius r. The soil mass (ABCD) above a trial failure
surface (AC) is divided by vertical planes into a series of slices of width b, as shown
in Fig. 4.5. The base of each slice is assumed to be a straight line. For any slice the
inclination of the base to the horizontal is and the height, measured on the
centreline, is h. The analysis is based on the use of a lumped factor of safety (F),
defined as the ratio of the available shear strength (  f ) to the shear strength (  m )
which must be mobilized to maintain a condition of limiting equilibrium, i.e.
f
F
m

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Fig 4-5: Method of Slices

The factor of safety is taken to be the same for each slice, implying that there must
be mutual support between slices, i.e. forces must act between the slices.

The forces (per unit dimension normal to the section) acting on a slice are:
a) The total weight of the slice, W  bh (  sat where appropriate);
b) The total normal force on the base, N (equal to l ). In general this force has
two components, the effective normal force N (equal to  ' l ) and the
boundary water force U (equal to ul ), where u is the pore water pressure at
the centre of the base and l the length of the base;
c) The shear force on the base, T   m l ;
d) The total normal forces on the sides, E1 and E2;
e) The shear forces on the sides, X1 and X2.

Any external forces must also be included in the analysis. The problem is statically
indeterminate and in order to obtain a solution assumptions must be made regarding
the interslice forces E and X; in general the resulting solution for factor of safety is
not exact.

Considering moments about O, the sum of the moments of the shear forces T on the
failure arc AC must equal the moment of the weight of the soil mass ABCD. For any
slice the lever arm of W is r sin  , therefore

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Tr  W r sin 
Now

f
T   ml  l
F

f
 l  W sin 
F

F
 l f

W sin 
For an effective stress analysis (in terms of tangent parameters c’ and  ' ):

F
 (c' ' tan  ' )l
W sin 
c' La  tan  '  N ')
F
W sin 
...... Equation 4-3a

Where La is the arc length AC. However, the critical-state strength is normally
appropriate in the analysis of slope stability, i.e.  '   'cv and c’=0, therefore the
factor of safety is given by;

tan  'cv  N ')

F
W sin 
...... Equation 4-3b

The Fellenius (or Swedish) solution

In this solution it is assumed that for each slice the resultant of the interslice forces is
zero. The solution involves resolving the forces on each slice normal to the base, i.e.

N '  W cos   ul

Hence the factor of safety in terms of effective stress (Equation 4.3a) is given by

c' La  tan  '  (W cos   ul )

F
W sin 
...... Equation 4-4

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The components W cos  and W sin  can be determined graphically for each slice.
Alternatively, the value of  can be measured or calculated. Again, a series of trial
failure surfaces must be chosen in order to obtain the minimum factor of safety.

Example 4-2
Using the Fellenius method of slices, determine the factor of safety, in terms of
effective stress, of the slope shown in Fig. 4.6 for the given failure surface (a) using
peak strength parameters c’=10kN/m2 and  ' =290 and (b) using critical-state
parameter  'cv  310 . The unit weight of the soil both above and below the water
table is 20 kN/m3.

Solution

(a) The factor of safety is given by Equation 4.4. The soil mass is divided into slices
1.5m wide. The weight (W) of each slice is given by

W  bh  20 1.5  h  30h kN/m

Fig 4-6: Example 4-2

The height h for each slice is set off below the centre of the base, and the normal
and tangential components h cos  and h sin  , respectively, are determined
graphically, as shown in Fig. 4.6. Then

W cos   30h cos 

W sin   30h sin 

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The pore water pressure at the centre of the base of each slice is taken to be  w z w ,
where zw is the vertical distance of the centre point below the water table (as shown
in the figure).

The arc length (La) is calculated as 14.35 m. The results are given in Table 4.1.

W cos  30 17.50  525 kN/m

W sin   30  8.45  254 kN/m
 W cos  ul   525  132  393 kN/m
Table 4-1: Example 4-2

c' La  tan  '  (W cos   ul )

F
W sin 
(10  14.35)  (0.554  393)
F  1.42
254

(b) In terms of critical-state strength

tan 310  393

F  0.93
254

Deformation is likely to result in strains along a potential failure surface exceeding

the value corresponding to peak strength. Therefore the strength mobilized for
stability is likely to fall below the peak value and to approach the critical-state value.
Therefore the slope is unsafe.

4.4 ANALYSIS OF A PLANE TRANSLATIONAL SLIP

It is assumed that the potential failure surface is parallel to the surface of the slope
and is at a depth that is small compared with the length of the slope. The slope can
then be considered as being of infinite length, with end effects being ignored. The

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slope is inclined at angle  to the horizontal and the depth of the failure plane is z,
as shown in section in Fig. 4.7. The water table is taken to be parallel to the slope at
a height of mz (0 < m < 1) above the failure plane. Steady seepage is assumed to
be taking place in direction parallel to the slope. The forces on the sides of any
vertical slice are equal and opposite, and the stress conditions are the same at every
point on the failure plane.

In terms of effective stress, the shear strength of the soil along the failure plane
(using the critical-state strength) is

 f  (  u ) tan  'cv

and the factor of safety is

f
F


Fig 4-7: Plane Translational Slip

The expressions for  ,  and u are

  (1  m)  m sat z cos 2 

  (1  m)  m sat z sin  cos 
u  mz w cos 2 

If the soil between the surface and the failure plane is not fully saturated (i.e. m=0)
then

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tan  'cv
F
tan 
...... Equation 4-5

If the water table coincides with the surface of the slope (i.e. m=1) then

 ' tan  'cv

F
 sat tan 
...... Equation 4-6

Example 4-3
A long natural slope in an overconsolidated fissured clay of saturated unit weight 20
kN/m3 is inclined at 120 to the horizontal. The water table is at the surface and
seepage is roughly parallel to the slope. A slip has developed on a plane parallel to
the surface at a depth of 5 m. (1) Determine the factor of safety along the slip plane
using (a) the critical-state parameter  'cv  28 0 and (b) the residual strength
parameter  'r  200 (2) Analyse the stability of the slope by the limit state method.

Solution
1. Equation 4.6 applies in both cases.
 ' tan  'cv 10.2 tan 28 0
(a) In terms of critical-state strength, F    1.28
 sat tan  20 tan 12 0

 ' tan  'cv 10.2 tan 20 0

(b) In terms of residual strength, F    0.87
 sat tan  20 tan 12 0
2. In the limit state method the characteristic values of the  ' parameters are
divided by the partial factor 1.25. Thus the design values are

 tan 28 0 
 'cv  tan 1    230
 1.25 
 tan 20 0 
 ' r  tan 1    16 0
 1 .25 
With the water table at the surface the value of m=1
(a) The design disturbing force per m2 is
S d   sat z sin  cos   20  5  sin 12 0 cos 12 0  20.3 kN
The design resisting force per m2 is
Rd  (  u ) tan  'cv  ( sat   w ) z cos 2  tan  'cv  10.2  5  cos 2 12 0 tan 230

Rd  20.7 kN

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FCE 412 – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING IIB

The design disturbing force is less than the design resisting force;
therefore, in terms of critical-state strength, the limit state for overall
stability is satisfied.

(a) With  ' r  160 , the design resisting force becomes 14.0 kN. The design
disturbing force remains 20.3 kN; therefore, in terms of residual strength,
the limit state is not satisfied.

4.5 EMBANKMENT DAMS

An embankment dam would normally be used where the foundation and abutment
conditions were unsuitable for a concrete dam and where suitable materials for the
embankment were present at or close to the site. An extensive ground investigation
is essential, general at first but becoming more detailed as design studies proceed, to
determine foundation and abutment conditions and to identify suitable borrow areas.
It is important to determine both the quantity and quality of available material. The
natural water content of fine soils should be determined for comparison with the
optimum water content for compaction.

Most embankment dams are not homogeneous but are of zoned construction, the
detailed section depending on the availability of soil types. Typically a dam will
consist of a core of low-permeability soil with shoulders of other suitable material on
each side. The upstream slope is usually covered by a thin layer of rockfill (known as
rip-rap) to protect it from erosion by wave action. The downstream slope is usually
grassed. An internal drainage system, to alleviate the detrimental effects of seeping
water, would normally be incorporated. Depending on the materials used, horizontal
drainage layers may also be incorporated to accelerate the dissipation of excess pore
water pressure. Slope angles should be such that stability is ensured but
overconservative design must be avoided: a decrease in slope angle of as little as 20-
30 (to the horizontal) would mean a significant increase in the volume of fill for a
large dam.

Fig 4-8: Failure below an embankment.

Failure of an embankment dam could result from the following causes: (1) instability
of either the upstream or downstream slope, (2) internal erosion and (3) erosion of
the crest and downstream slope by overtopping. (The third cause arises basically
from errors in the hydrological predictions.)

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FCE 412 – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING IIB

The factor of safety for both slopes must be determined as accurately as possible for
the most critical stages in the life of the dam. The potential failure surface may lie
entirely within the embankment or may pass through the embankment and the
foundation soil. In the case of the upstream slope the most critical stages are at the
end of construction and during rapid drawdown of the reservoir level. The critical
stages for the downstream slope are at the end of construction and during steady
seepage when the reservoir is full. The pore water pressure distribution at any stage
has a dominant influence on the factor of safety of the slopes and it is common
practice to install a piezometer system so that the actual pore water pressures can
be measured and compared with the predicted values used in design (provided an
effective stress analysis has been used). Remedial action could then be taken if the
factor of safety, based on the measured values, was considered to be too low.

Most slope failures in embankment dams occur either during construction or at the
end of construction. Pore water pressures depend on the placement water content of
the fill and on the rate of construction. A commitment to achieve rapid completion
will result in the maximization of pore water pressure at the end of construction.
However, the construction period of an embankment dam is likely to be long enough
to allow partial dissipation of excess pore water pressure, especially for a dam with
internal drainage.

Stability analysis during rapid drawdown is an important consideration in the design

of embankment dams. During rapid drawdown, the stabilizing effect of the water on
the upstream face is lost, but the pore-water pressures within the embankment may
remain high. As a result, the stability of the upstream face of the dam can be much
reduced. The dissipation of pore-water pressure in the embankment is largely
influenced by the permeability and the storage characteristic of the embankment
materials. Highly permeable materials drain quickly during rapid drawdown, but low
permeability materials take a long time to drain.

Dept. of Civil & Const. Eng., University of Nairobi Page 77