ECE 2302

BASIC SOIL MECHANICS

REVIEW OF SOIL MECHANICS

SOIL FORMATION, TRANSPORTATION AND DEPOSITION

Geotechnical engineers classify soils into two major categories residual soils and transported soils.
Residual soils
• When weathering process is faster than the transport induced process included by water, wind
and gravity, much of the resulting soils remain in place.
• Its is know as residual soil, and typically retains many of the characteristics of the parent rock.
• The transition with depth from soil to weathered rock to fresh rock is typically gradual with no
distinct boundaries.
• In tropical regions, residual soils layer can be very thick, sometimes extending for hundred of
meters before reaching unweathered bedrock.
• Cooler regions and more arid regions normally have much thinner layers and no residual soil at
all.
• Example are
 Decomposed granites: sandy residual derived from weathering of granites.
 Saprolite: Not completely weathered and still retain much structure of parent rock
 Laterite: Found in tropical regions. Typically cemented with iron oxides to give it high
strength.
 SOIL FORMATION, TRANSPORTATION AND DEPOSITION

Geologists classify soils into two major categories residual soils and transported soils.
Transported soils
• Transported soils are formed by the deposition of the sediments that have been transported from
their place of origin by various agents.
• Example are
 Glacial soils (Drift) : Transported by glaciaL. Can be categorized as till, glaciofluvial soils and
glaciolacustrine soils.
 Alluvial soils (fluvial or alluvium): Transported by rivers or streams.
 Lucustrine and Marine Soils: Deposited beneath lakes.
 Aeolian soils: Deposited by winds. This mode of transportation produces poorly graded soils.
 Colluvial soils: Transported downslope by gravity..
 Soils
Groups of soils
• In civil engineering soil is earth material that can be disintegrated by water by gentle agitation
• Soil deposit can be grouped into two main groups
 Transported soils
o Materials that’s have been moved from their place of origin
o Soil particles are segregated according to size by or during transportation process
o Process of transportation and deposition has effect on the properties of the resulting soil
o Agents of transportation can be gravity, wind, glacial, river
 Residual soils
Residual soils or sedentary soils have principally formed from weathering of rocks or accumulation of
organic materials and remain at the location of origin.

Soils Types
Depending on the grain size soil can be grouped as
 Gravel (60mm-2 mm)
 Sand(2mm-0.075 mm)
 Clay(>0.075 mm)
 Silt(>0.0075 mm)
 Gravel and Sand are considered granular/ soil while Clay and Silty are considered fine grained soils
 Clay and Silt can be distinguished based of Plasticity Index
 Engineering Properties of Soils

Soil index properties

 They serve as indices of engineering behavior
 They include grain size distribution, Atterberg limits phase relationship, relative
density and

Soil identification
 Soil can be identified in a number of ways behavior
 Particle size. Identifying the main groups by visual examination and feel. Gravel
particles (> 2 mm) are clearly recognisable; sand (0.075 mm <d<2 mm) have a
distinctive gritty feel between the fingers; silt (0.002 mm <d<0.075 mm) feel slightly
abrasive, but not gritty; clays (0.002 mm) feel greasy.
 Grading: Grading of the soil refers to the distribution of the sizes;
 A well-graded soil has a wide distribution of particle sizes.
 Poorly graded soil contains only a narrow range of sizes range of sizes.
 Compactness: Compactness or field strength may be estimated using hand spade or by
driving a wooden peg; the soil is reported as being loose, dense, slightly cemented or as
appropriate
 Cohesion, plasticity and consistency. If the particles stick together, a soil posseses cohesion and if can
be easily molded with cracks, it possesess plasticity. Both of these behaviors depend on the moisture
content.
 Particle size distributions

 The particle size distribution sizes a soil is obtained

through a process called particle size analysis or
sometimes called the mechanical analysis or gradation
test.
 Two methods are generally used to find the particle Sieve analysis
size present in a soil expressed as a percentage of  Soil is shaken though a series of sieves
the total dry weight. stuck together
(a) Sieve analysis- for particles sizes larger than 63 m (  Amount of soil retained in each sieve is
for US standards 75 m). Soil shaken through a weighed
series of sieve Hydrometer analysis
(b) Hydrometer analysis-for particles sizes smaller than 63  For soils of size less than 63 m (for US
m (for US standards 75 m) standards 75 m)
 Uses Stroke’s law (settling velocity) to
determine the particle size.
 Sieve sizes used in the US and UK

Sieve opening
(mm or micron) Sieve #

Gravel

We do not need to use all sieves/

that many of sieves

Sand

Clay &
Silt
 EXAMPLE 1: Distribution of stress underneath structures
(1) Determine the mass of the soil Example: The results of a dry-sieving test are given below.
retained on each sieve (i.e. M1, The quantity of soil passing 63 m sieve and collected in the
M2…… Mn)and in the pan (Mp) pan was 3.9 g. Plot the particle size distribution curve of the
(2) Determine the total mass of the soil and classify the soil.
soil: M1+ M2+…+ Mi +… Mn
=∑M
(3) Determine the cumulative mass
of the soil retained above each
sieve. For the ith sieve for
example it is M1+ M2+…+ Mi
(4) The total mass passing the ith is
∑M-M1+ M2+…+ Mi
(5) The percentage of soil passing ith
sieve or percentage finer is

F
M  M  M 2  ......M i
1

M
the calculations are plotted on semi
logarithm paper with the percentage
finer as the ordinate (arithmetic scale)
and the sieve opening as the x-axis
(logarithmic scale). This plot is
referred to as the particle size distribution
curve.
 Particle size distribution

100

Percentage passing (%)

80

60

40

20

0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Particle size (mm)

The identified particle sizes are

The soil is classified as Sand
 Classification of coarse-grained soils
100
D10 is the grain size corresponding to 10% finer
Percentage passing (%)

80
D30 is the grain size corresponding to 30% finer
60
D60 is the grain size corresponding to 60% finer.
40
Uniformity coefficient (Cu):
20

0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Particle size (mm)
The smallest value of Cu is equal to 1 and
corresponds to a perfectly uniform assemblage of
identical sizes.
Classification of sand and gravel If Cu ≤3 uniform soil
Particle size distribution curves enable sands and If Cu≥3 well graded soil
gravel to be classified into three main types: uniform Coefficient (Cz):
graded well graded and poorly grades.
(a) Uniform graded soil: In uniform graded soils,
majority of the grains are nearly the same size
(b) Well graded soil: Well graded soil contains wide By definition,
and even distribution of particle sizes.  gravel are considered to be well graded when Cu
(c) Poorly graded soil: Poorly graded soil is any soil >4 and 1< Cz <3, s
that does not comply with the description of  and are considered to be well graded when Cu
well graded soil. Poorly graded soils are >3 and 1< Cz <3.
deficient in certain size. Gap graded soils are
example of poorly graded soil with missing
ranges of particles.
Hydrometer Analysis
• The hydrometer analysis is based on the
principle of sedimentation of soil grains in
water.
• When a soil specimen is dispersed in water,
the particles settle at different velocities,
depending on their shape, size and weight and
the viscosity of water.
• Dispersion agent is added to prevent the soils
particles from flocculating
Diameter of the particle
D ( mm) 18 g . sec/ cm 2  L (cm)
 
10 (G s  1)  w ( g / cm )
2
t (min)  60

30 L
D 
(Gs  1)  w t

= viscosity of the fluid

Gs= specific gravity of soil particle
w= density of water
 Atterberg limits
• The mechanical properties of a clay are altered by changing the water content.
• A clay softens when water is added and with sufficient water, forms a slurry that behaves as a viscous liquid;
this is known as liquid state.
• If the water content is gradually reduced by drying it slowly, the clay eventually begin to hold together and
offer some resistance to deformation; this is called plastic state.
• With further loss of water, the clay shrinks and its stiffness increases until it becomes until it becomes brittle;
this is the semisolid state.

The smooth transitions are empirical defined by the introducing the liquid limit LL, plastic limit, PL and
shrinkage limit SL.
(a) Liquid Limit, LL: is the water content, when a rolled thread of soil just begins to harden and crack (water
content at which the soil stops acting as liquid).
(b) Plastic Limit, PL: is the water content at the point where soil is changing from a fluid to plastic state.
(c) Shrinkage Limit, SL: is the water content at the point where the volume of soil ceases to decrease on drying.
The moisture content between the PL and LL is the plasticity index, PI.

The moisture content

between the PL and LL is
the plasticity index, PI.

PI LLPL
 Determination of Limit
• Liquid limit test is generally determined by standard Casagrande
device.
• The device consists of brass cup and a hard rubber base. The
brass cap can be dropped onto the base by a cam operated by a
crank.
• To perform the liquid limit test, place a soil paste in the cup.
• A grove is then cut at the center of the soil pat with a standard
grooving tool. By using the crank operated cam, the cup is lifted
and dropped from a height of 10 mm.
• The moisture content in percentage required to close a distance of
12.7 mm along the bottom of the groove after 25 blows is defined
as the liquid limit.
• At least 3 tests for the same soil are conducted at varying moisture
content.
• With the number of blows, N required to achieve a closure
varying between 15 and 35. The relationship between moisture
content and Log N is approximated as a straight line. This line is
referred to as the flow curve. The moisture content corresponding
to N=25, determined from the flow curve gives the liquid limit of
the soil. The slope of the flow curve is defined as the flow index
where If = flow index and may be written as
w1 = moisture content of soil in
percentage, corresponding to N1 blows w1  w 2
I f 
w1 =moisture content corresponding to N2 N 
log  2 
blows.  N1 
 Example 2: Determination of Limit
Example:
Given the liquid limit data below,
(a) Draw from the data in the table
above, plot of flow curve and
determine the LL of the soil
(b) Determine the flow index

(b) To determine the flow index, find the

(a) Plot water content verses the slope of the flow curve. Extend the flow
log of number of blows as curve to the limits of the graph (shown by
shown in Figure below. From the the dotted lines and obtain the following
curve find the water content at points
25 blow to be 22.2 %
25
N= 50 w= 20.55%
water content , w (%)

24
N=10 w= 24.4%
23

22 w 24.4  20.55 3.85

Slope     5.56
 N2   50  log 5
21 log  log 
N
 1  10 
20
10 20 30 40 50
Number of blows, N
 Determination of Plastic limits
• Plastic limit test is test is used to determine
the lowest moisture content at which the soil
behaves plastically.
• It is carried only on the soil fraction passing
though 425 m sieve.
• It is usually performed in conjunction with the
liquid limit test.
• By convection, the plastic limit test of a soil is
defined as the water content at which the soil
begins to crumble when rolled into a thread of 3
mm in diameter.

The moisture content

between the PL and LL is
the plasticity index, PI.
PI  LL  PL
 Liquidity index
 We have changed the state of fine grained soils by changing the water content.
 Since engineers are interested in the strength and deformation of materials, we can
associate specific strength characteristics with each of the soil states.
 At one extreme, the liquid state, the soil has the lowest strength and the largest
deformation. At the other extreme, the solid state, the soil has the largest strength and
the lowest deformation.
 A measure of soil strength using the Atterberg limits is known as the liquidity index
(LI) and is expressed as

 Liquidity index is the ratio of the difference in water content the natural or insitu
water content of the soil and its plasticity limit to its plasticity index.
 Activity of fine grained soils
 Skempton (1953) showed that for soils with a particular mineralogy, the plasticity
index is linearly related to the amount of the clay fraction.
 He coined a term called activity (A) to describe the importance of the clay fractions on
the plasticity index. The equation for A is

 Clay fraction is the number of particles less than 0.002mm

 Activity of fine-grained soils
fine-grained soil has a liquid limit of 300% and a plastic limit of 55%. The natural water content of
the soil in the field is 80% and the clay content is 60%.
a) Determine the plasticity index, the liquidity index, and the activity.
b) What is the soil state in the field?
c) What is the predominant mineral in this soil?
d) If this soil were under a concrete slab used as a foundation for a building and water were to seep
into it from watering of a lawn, what would you expect to happen to the foundation?

𝑎 𝑃𝐼 𝐿𝐿 𝑃𝐿 300 55 245% 𝑤 𝑃𝐿 80 55
𝐿𝐼 0.1
𝑃𝐼 245
𝑃𝐼 245
𝐴 4.1
𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 % 60

𝑏 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 4.4 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝐿𝐼 0.1 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒

𝑐 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 4.5 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 4.6 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒
(d) Seepage from lawn watering will cause the soil to expand (montmorillonite is an expansive soil).
Because the water content in the montmorillonite will not increase uniformly under the foundation,
the expansion will not be uniform. More expansion will occur at the edge of the slab because the
water content will be greater there. Consequently, the concrete foundation will curl upward at the
edge and most likely crack. Construction on expansive soils requires special attention to water
management issues such as drainage and landscape. Generally, plants and lawns should be at least 3
m away from the edge of the foundation and the land should be sculpted to drain water away from
the foundation.
 Plasticity Charts
• Fine grain soils, silts and clay are those having 50% or more passing 63 m sieve, and they are
classified according to their Atterberg limits and whether they contain significant amount of organic
matter.
• Based on the Casagrande plasticity chart a distinction is made between soils with LL less or greater
than 50 (symbol L for Low and H for High ), and between inorganic soil above the A-line.
• The A-line { PI=0.73 (LL-20)}generally separates clay from silt from clay (symbol C and M). The
U- line is the upper limit line { PI=0.9 (LL-8)}.
• Casagrande developed this chart by plotting the Atterberg limits of the various soils around the
word and he found that no soil plotted above the U-line.
• Silt and clay that contain sufficient organic matter to influence their properties are classified as
organic. It can be Organic high or Organic low (OH. OL)

PI LLPL
PI=65-22=43
From the plasticity chat, LL=65 and
PI=43,
The soil is classified as CH (Clay of High
Plasticity
Soil Classification Systems-(Unified Classification System)
EXAMPLE 2: Soil Classification Systems-(Unified Classification System)
Soil Classification Systems-(AASHTO Classification System)
Example 3: Soil Classification Systems-(AASHTO Classification System)
Example 3: Soil Classification Systems-(AASHTO Classification System)
Example 3: Soil Classification Systems-(AASHTO Classification System)
 Weight Volume Relationship

• In general, any soil mass consists of solid particles

with voids in between.
• The solids are small grains of different minerals,

Specific volume 1+e

whereas the voids can be filled with either water or
other fluid (contaminant) or with air (or with other
gas) or filled partly with or some of each The total
volume Vt of the soil mass consists of the volume
of soil solids Vs and the volume of voids, Vs. The
volume of voids is in general made up of the
volume of water Vw and the volume of air Va .
A phase diagram is an ideal diagram showing the three
phases separately.
 Important volumetric Relationship
(6) Water content, w (1) Void ratio, e
important to know the Ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of
amount of water present in solids Vv
e
the voids relative to the Vs
amount of the solids in the
soil; we define the ration as Void ratio varies between 0 and ∞
water content, w. (2) Porosity, n
Mw Ratio of volume of voids to total volume
w 100 % Vv
Ms n 100 % 
Vt

(3) Degree of saturation The maximum range of n is between 0 and

The ratio of volume of water to the volume of voids 100 %
Vw
Void ratio and porosity are related as
Sr  100 %  e
Vv n
The degree of saturation tells us what percentage of the total void spaces 1 e
n
contains water. Depending on the amount of water in the void spaces, soil can be e
1 n
described as;
 Dry if the voids are full of air (degree of saturation is zero)
 Saturated if the voids are full of water (degree of saturation is 100%) (5) Specific gravity
 Partially saturated if the voids contains both air and water The ratio of mass of a given volume of solids
(4) Specific volume, v to the mass of the same volume of water is
termed as the specific gravity of the solids.
The total volume of the soil model in phase diagram is equal to 1+e. known as
the specific volume Ms
Gs 
v  1 e V s w
 Laboratory determination of water content
 The water content is easily determined from the EXAMPLE:
laboratory.
 A representative sample is selected, and its A specimen of wet soil in a dry dish has a mass of 462 g.
total or wet mass is determined. After drying in an oven at 110°C overnight, the sample
 Then it is dried to a constant mass in a and the dish have a mass of 364 g. the mass of the dish
conventional oven at 110°C. alone is 39 g. Determine the water content of the soil.
 Normally a constant mass is obtained after the
sample is left in the oven overnight (24 hrs). Solution:
 The mass of drying dish must, of course be Set up calculation scheme as follow; fill the given
subtracted from both the wet and dry masses. quantities a, b and d
 The water content is calculated according to Mass of total (wet) sample + dish = 462 g
equation . Mass of dry sample + dish = 364 g
Mass of water (a - b)= 98 g
Mw
w 100 % Mass of dish= 39 g
Ms
Mass of the dry soil (b – d) = 325 g
Water content (c/e) ×100% = 30.2 %
 Laboratory determination of Specific Gravity
• For fine soil, density bottle of about 50 ml capacity is used. For coarse soil 500 ml or 1000 ml container is used, with either
ordinary gas jar or a special gas jar fitted with a conical screw top, which is called a pycnometer.
• An appropriate quantity of dry soil is placed in a jar and weighed.
• The jar is the filled with de-aired water and agitated to remove any air bubbles.
• After carefully topping up with water, the jar is weighed again. Finally, the jar is emptied and cleaned and then filled with de-
aired water and weighed again.
Now M1 = Mass of the empty jar
M2=Mass of the jar + dry soil
M3 = Mass of the jar + soil + water
M4=Mass of the jar + water only
Then the specific gravity of the soil sample is obtained thus;
Mass of soil
Gs 
Mass of equal volume of water
M 2  M1

M 4  M 1   M 3  M 2 
Example
A pyconometer used in a specific gravity test was found to have a mass of 524 g when empty and 1557 g when full of clean
water. An air-dried sample of cohesionless soil having a mass of 512 g was placed in the jar and stirred to expel any entrapped
air. The pycnometer was then carefully filled with clean water, when it has a total mass of 1878 g. Determine the specific gravity
of the soil
Solution:
M1 =524 g Ms =512 g M3 =1878g and M4 =1557g

512
Gs   2.68
1557  1878  512
 Relationship between e, Sr, w and Gs
Vv
Void ratio, e e
Vs

therefore Vv  eVs

Degree of saturation Sr
Vw
Sr 
Vv
Vw
Vv 
Sr
Vw
Sr 
eVs
also
Ms
Vs 
s

Mw
Vw 
w
1 M 
Sr   w  s
e Ms w
Substitute
1 M  𝜌
Sr   w  s 𝐺
e Ms  w 𝛾
Therefore
wG s
Sr 
e
 Soil Densities
(a) Bulk density/ Unit weight
For Partially saturated soils
Specific volume 1+e

Total mass M  Mw
Bulk density   s
Total volume V s  Vv

M s  M w G s  w  wG s  s
b  
v 1 e

Also wG s
Sr 
e

(b) Saturated density G s  w (1  w)

For a saturated soil, the degree of saturated soil is 100%, therefore Sr =1 b 
1 e
Substituting the value of Sr =1 for the bulk density equation
 w (Gs  eS r )  w (Gs  eS r )
b  b 
1 e 1 e

 w (Gs  e) (c) Dry density

 sat 
1 e For a soil the water content is w=0%
soil, the degree of Substituting the value
(a) Submerged density, buoyant density or effective density
of w =0 for the bulk density equation
The submerged density of a soil is the notational effective mass per  w Gs
unit volume, when submerged.      d 
sub sat w
1 e

 
 G s
w 𝛾
d
1  e 𝛾
1 𝑤
 w (G s  1)
 sub 
1 e
Relationship for densities
Relationship for densities
 Example
A saturated sample was found to have a bulk density of 19.33 kN/m3 and water content of 27%. Determine the dry density,
void ratio, porosity and specific gravity of the soil particles.
If the bulk density of the soil is known, it is convenient to consider 1 m3 of the soil and draw appropriate soil-phase diagram

V v= Vw Water Mw

V = 1 m3
Vs Soil Ms

Figure 3 Phase diagram

SOLUTION Porosity
M
w  w  100  27 M w  0.27 M s
Ms e
n
1 e
M  M w  M s  19 .33 kN / m 3
0.724
n  0.419
1.27 M s  19.33 kN / m 3
1  0.724
Ms=15.23 kN/m3 Specific gravity
Ms
Mw=0.27×15.23=4.11 kN/m3 Gs 
Vs  w
Mw 4.11
Vw    0.42
w 9.81 15.23
Gs   2.68
0.58  9.81
Vs  1  Vs  1  0.42  0.58
Void ratio e  Vv
Vs
0.42
e  0.724
0.58
 Laboratory determination of water content
 The water content is easily determined from the EXAMPLE:
laboratory.
 A representative sample is selected, and its A specimen of wet soil in a dry dish has a mass of 462 g.
total or wet mass is determined. After drying in an oven at 110°C overnight, the sample
 Then it is dried to a constant mass in a and the dish have a mass of 364 g. the mass of the dish
conventional oven at 110°C. alone is 39 g. Determine the water content of the soil.
 Normally a constant mass is obtained after the
sample is left in the oven overnight (24 hrs). Solution:
 The mass of drying dish must, of course be Set up calculation scheme as follow; fill the given
subtracted from both the wet and dry masses. quantities a, b and d
 The water content is calculated according to Mass of total (wet) sample + dish = 462 g
equation . Mass of dry sample + dish = 364 g
Mass of water (a - b)= 98 g
Mw
w 100 % Mass of dish= 39 g
Ms
Mass of the dry soil (b – d) = 325 g
Water content (c/e) ×100% = 30.2 %
 Laboratory determination of Specific Gravity
• For fine soil, density bottle of about 50 ml capacity is used. For coarse soil 500 ml or 1000 ml container is used, with either
ordinary gas jar or a special gas jar fitted with a conical screw top, which is called a pycnometer.
• An appropriate quantity of dry soil is placed in a jar and weighed.
• The jar is the filled with de-aired water and agitated to remove any air bubbles.
• After carefully topping up with water, the jar is weighed again. Finally, the jar is emptied and cleaned and then filled with de-
aired water and weighed again.
Now M1 = Mass of the empty jar
M2=Mass of the jar + dry soil
M3 = Mass of the jar + soil + water
M4=Mass of the jar + water only
Then the specific gravity of the soil sample is obtained thus;
Mass of soil
Gs 
Mass of equal volume of water
M 2  M1

M 4  M 1   M 3  M 2 
Example
A pyconometer used in a specific gravity test was found to have a mass of 524 g when empty and 1557 g when full of clean
water. An air-dried sample of cohesionless soil having a mass of 512 g was placed in the jar and stirred to expel any entrapped
air. The pycnometer was then carefully filled with clean water, when it has a total mass of 1878 g. Determine the specific gravity
of the soil
Solution:
M1 =524 g Ms =512 g M3 =1878g and M4 =1557g

512
Gs   2.68
1557  1878  512
 In class example
In its natural state, a soil moisture has a volume of 9.34x10-3 m3 and weights 177.6x10-3kN. The oven dried
weight is 153.6x10-3kN.If Gs =2.67 calculate
(a) Moisture content (%)
(b) Bulk density (kN/m3)
(c) Dry unit weight(kN/m3)
(d) Void ratio
(e) Porosity
(f) Degree of saturation
 In class example
The mass of moist soil sample from the field is 465 rams and its over dried mass is 405.76 grams. The
specific gravity of the soil solids was determined in the laboratory to be 2.68. If the void ration of the soil
sample is 0.83, find
(a) Bulk density in the field (kg/m3)
(b) Dry density of the soil in field (kg/m3)
(c) Mass of water in kilograms to be added per cubic meter of the soil in the field for saturation(kN/m3)
 Stresses in Mass
Vertical stress
• In a soil mass having a horizontal surface, the vertical
stress is caused by a soil at a point below the surface is
equal to the weight of the soil lying directly above the
point.
• Vertical stress can be calculated as the weight of column
of soil extending above the unit are as show in the figure
• For homogeneous soil having a density  or t , the
vertical stress v at a depth Z or H m below the ground
surface is
v =  Z

Effect of ground water

• When soil exists below the groundwater table, the submerged soil particles are subjected to buoyant forces
resulting from hydraustatic pressure
• The submerged weight of the soil, sub or ’ is termed as the effective soil density
• The effective stress represents the actual intergranular pressure that occur between the soil particles
• The effective strength is the stress that influence the shear strength of the soil
• If a condition exist where water exists at the ground surface and the soil mass is homogeneous, the effective
stress ’v’at a depth Z or H is
’v = ’ Z
• If the weight of the soil above the water table is  the effective stress is
’v = v -u= Z- w Z = ’ Z
w is the weight of water, u is the pore water pressure equal to w Z
Stresses caused by Soil Mass
Example
 STRESSES WITH SOIL MASS FROM SURFACE LOADING

Vertical Loading
• When vertical load from a structure on any
other body is applied at the surface of a soil
mass, a new stress is created with the soil
mass
• Because of the shearing resistance developed
within the soil mass, loading transfer to the
soil mass will be spread laterally with
increasing depth from the point of
application.
• With increasing depth, the area over which
new stress develop will increase , but the
magnitude of stress will increase.
 Boussinesq’s Stress Distribution
Boussinesq’s Stress Distribution
• Bossiness solved the problem of stress
distribution produce at any point in
homogeneous soil mass
• The solution is for normal stress at a point
caused by point load, P
• The change in vertical stress, z due to
point load at any distance can be expressed
as;
Example
 Stress below Rectangular loaded area
Stress distribution below rectangular loaded area
• The rectangular loaded area is divided into four parts (Figure 10.27)
• The new B and L are the width and length of the new rectangle
• Stress distribution is found at the corner of the rectangular loaded area
• Determine m=B/z and n=L/z and then read the value of I for each loading condition Figure 10.26
• The stress increase caused by the entire loaded area can be given by
Example for Rectangular loaded area
 Approximate Method (2H:1V Method)
2H: 1V Method
• Method widely used for making rough estimate of subsurface stress from loaded foundation
• It's assumed that the subsurface stress spread out uniformly with depth, the stress are increase at a slope
of 1 m horizontally for every 2 m of depth as measured from the edge of the foundation.
• The new B and L are the width and length of the new rectangle
• Stress at a depth in the middle of the loaded area is calculated as

P
P
L

P
(B+Z)+(L+Z)
 Example for (2H:1V Method)

2H: 1V Method Depth Z is taken directly below the loaded area.

Determine the change is vertical stress
below the square foundation at regular z
Layer Depth, B +Z (m) L +Z (m)
Z(m) (kN/m2)
interval of 0.5 m to a depth of 12.5 m 0 1 1 180.0
0.5 1.5 1.5 80.0
below the foundation using 2H: 1V 1 2 2 45.0
1.5 2.5 2.5 28.8
method. SAND 2 3 3 20.0
with clay 2.5 3.5 3.5 14.7
P=180 kN 3 4 4 11.3
3.5 4.5 4.5 8.9
4 5 5 7.2
4.5 5.5 5.5 6.0
Df=0.5m 5 6 6 5.0
5.5 6.5 6.5 4.3
B=1.0 m 6 7 7 3.7
6.5 7.5 7.5 3.2
5m

Loose SAND with silt

4.5 m

Unit weight=16 kN/m3 7 8 8 2.8

Water content, w=10% 7.5 8.5 8.5 2.5
8 9 9 2.2
Sandy
8.5 9.5 9.5 2.0
Gravel
9 10 10 1.8
with Silt
9.5 10.5 10.5 1.6
Very dense Sandy Gravel 10 11 11 1.5
with Silt 10.5 11.5 11.5 1.4
8m

Unit weight=18 kN/m3

11 12 12 1.3
11.5 12.5 12.5 1.2
12 13 13 1.1
12.5 13.5 13.5 1.0
 TOTAL STRESS BELOW LOADED AREA
2H: 1V Method
Total vertical stress= Vertical overburden stress + change in
Determine the total vertical stress
vertical stress due to loading
vertical below the square foundation at
regular interval of 0.5 m to a depth of
Unit stress
'z z  'z+ z
12.5 m below the foundation using 2H: Layer Depth,
B +Z L +Z
weight, due to 2 2
Z(m) Z(m) (m) (m) (kN/m ) (kN/m ) (kN/m2)
(kN/m3) layer
1V method. 0 0 1 1 17 0 0.0 180.0 180.0
0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 17 8.5 8.5 80.0 88.5
1 0.5 2 2 17 8.5 17.0 45.0 62.0
P=180 kN 1.5 0.5 2.5 2.5 17 8.5 25.5 28.8 54.3
SAND 2 0.5 3 3 17 8.5 34.0 20.0 54.0
with clay 2.5 0.5 3.5 3.5 17 8.5 42.5 14.7 57.2
3 0.5 4 4 17 8.5 51.0 11.3 62.3
3.5 0.5 4.5 4.5 17 8.5 59.5 8.9 68.4
Df=0.5m 4 0.5 5 5 17 8.5 68.0 7.2 75.2
4.5 0.5 5.5 5.5 17 8.5 76.5 6.0 82.5
B=1.0 m 5 0.5 6 6 18 9 85.5 5.0 90.5
5m

Loose SAND with silt 5.5 0.5 6.5 6.5 18 9 94.5 4.3 98.8
4.5 m

Unit weight=16 kN/m3 6 0.5 7 7 18 9 103.5 3.7 107.2

Water content, w=10% 6.5 0.5 7.5 7.5 18 9 112.5 3.2 115.7
7 0.5 8 8 18 9 121.5 2.8 124.3
7.5 0.5 8.5 8.5 18 9 130.5 2.5 133.0
8 0.5 9 9 18 9 139.5 2.2 141.7
Sandy
8.5 0.5 9.5 9.5 18 9 148.5 2.0 150.5
Gravel
9 0.5 10 10 18 9 157.5 1.8 159.3
with Silt
Very dense Sandy Gravel 9.5 0.5 10.5 10.5 18 9 166.5 1.6 168.1
with Silt 10 0.5 11 11 18 9 175.5 1.5 177.0
8m

Unit weight=18 kN/m3 10.5 0.5 11.5 11.5 18 9 184.5 1.4 185.9
11 0.5 12 12 18 9 193.5 1.3 194.8
11.5 0.5 12.5 12.5 18 9 202.5 1.2 203.7
12 0.5 13 13 18 9 211.5 1.1 212.6
12.5 0.5 13.5 13.5 18 9 220.5 1.0 221.5
TOTAL STRESS BELOW LOADED AREA

Stress (kPa)
0 50 100 150 200 250
0

2 Overbudden
Foundation stress

Depth below footing (m)

4 Total stress

10

12

14