Department of Civil Engineering

National Institute of Technology Warangal

Critical State Soil Mechanics

A frame work for elastic-plastic behaviour of soils

Rakesh J. Pillai
rakeshpilla@gmail.com

November 13, 2014

Content
1

Introduction
Soil behaviour under different conditions
Critical State Line and Roscoe Surface
Critical State Line
Drained and Undrained Planes
The Roscoe Surface
Shape of Roscoe Surface
Hvorslev Surface
Behaviour of OC Clays
Hvorslev Surface

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Normally Consolidated (NC) clays

CD Tests

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Normally Consolidated (NC) clays

CIU Tests

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Over Consolidated (OC) clays

CD Tests

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Over Consolidated (OC) clays

CIU Tests

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Normally Consolidated (NC) clays

Families of Undrained Tests

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Normally Consolidated (NC) clays

Families of Drained Tests

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The Critical State

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Critical State Line

9

Data from Parry (1960)

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The single and unique line of

failure points of both drained
and undrained tests is defined
as the critical state line

The crucial property is that

failure of initially isotropically
compressed samples will
occur once the stress state of
the samples reach the line
irrespective of the test path
followed by the samples

Failure is manifested as a
state at which large shear
distortions occur with no
change in stress or in specific
volume (v)

Critical State Line

10

Projection of CSL to the q 0 p0

space
q 0 = Mp0
CSL in v ln(p0 ) space
v = ln(p0 )
M, , N, and are the soil
constants (or parameters)

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Critical State Line

11

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Drained and Undrained Planes

Undrained Planes

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12

Undrained stress path lie on

the constant v plane, which is
parallel to the plane
containing q 0 , p0 axes

Failure point is where the

undrained plane touches the
CSL

The initial state of the sample

and the test conditions
completely determine the
precise point on the CSL
where the sample fail

Undrained Plane
13

Mathematically the undrained paths can be derived:

Suppose a sample is isotropically compressed to a mean normal

effective stress (p00 ) and a specific volume of (v0 )

We can determine the qf0 , pf0 and vf at failure in a standard

undrained triaxial test using the following three equations
vf = v0
pf0

= exp [( vf )/]
qf0 = Mpf0

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Drained and Undrained Planes

Drained Planes

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14

Drained plane should make a

projection of line with a slope
3 in the q 0 p0 space

Exact shape of the stress

path within the drained plane
depends on the experimental
relationship between the
increase in q 0 and the change
in v as the test proceeds

Whatever be the shape it

should lie on the drained
plane

Drained Plane
15

I
I

If we know the initial stress state and if drained triaxial

compression is conducted, the final point can be determined as
the intersection of drained plane with the CSL
Suppose a sample is isotropically compressed to a mean normal
effective stress (p00 ) and a specific volume of (v0 )
We can determine the qf0 , pf0 and vf at failure in a standard
drained triaxial test using the following equations
qf0 = 3(pf0 p00 )
qf0 = Mpf0
qf0 = 3Mp00 /(3 M)

vf = ln[3p00 /(3 M)]

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Importance of CSL
16

If we know the (i) initial conditions of the sample, (ii) the position
of the CSL (values of M, and ) and (iii) the conditions of the
triaxial test (drained on undrained), the failure state of the sample
can be uniquely determined

Final states can be determined for other loading conditions like

triaxial extension, constant p tests etc.

The knowledge of the position of CSL for a particular soil allows

as to predict the stress state and void ratio at failure of NC clays,
subjected to a variety of stress paths

We know where the soil state is going to be at failure.........!!!

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The Roscoe Surface

Undrained and Drained Planes

Undrained planes for different

initial conditions
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17

Drained planes for different initial

conditions

The Roscoe Surface

18

Both the undrained and

drained stress paths seem to
define a curved 3-D surface
linking the NCL and the CSL

Whether the drained and

undrained tests on NC
samples define the same
surface in the q 0 : p0 : v space
???

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The Roscoe Surface

19

One way to check whether the

surface is unique is to see
whether the samples
subjected to drained and
undrained loading have the
same specific volume when
subjected to the same
effective stress

In this figure whether the

samples have same specific
volume at point B ???

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The Roscoe Surface

20

Perform a series of drained

tests on NC samples

Construct a series of contours

of constant v in the q 0 p0
space (remember that
undrained stress paths are
contours of constant v )

Now the question is whether

the two contours are
consistent and having the
same shape ???

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The Roscoe Surface

Experimental Evidence

Experimental evidence - from

the studies of Henkel (1960)

We can conclude that the

curved surface traced out in
q 0 : p0 : v space by families of
drained and undrained tests is
identical for both families of
tests

This surface is called the

Roscoe Surface

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21

Shape of the Roscoe Surface

22

Can we have a direct

comparison between the
drained and undrained stress
paths?
The difficulty is that v
changes during a drained test
and the test path through a
succession of constant v
sections of the Roscoe
surface, each section being of
different sizes
Noramalization can be done
to account the variation in
specific volume during the test

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Consider undrained stress

paths

Stress paths have same

shape, but different sizes
based on the initial isotropic
consolidation pressure (pe0 )

Normalize with pe0

Shape of Roscoe Surface

23

Equivalent pressure (pe0 ) at any

specific volume is obtained from
the equation for the normal
consolidation line using current
value of v , irrespective of the
stress state
pe0 = exp[(N v )/]

Drained stress paths can be

normalized by equivalent
pressure

Data from Balasubramanian

(1969) for tests carried out on
Kaolinite clays show that the
Roscoe surface is unique for
different loading conditions
Data from drained, undrained and constant p tests

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Roscoe Surface as a State Boundary Surface

24

Now we will consider the

behaviour of lightly
overconsolidated samples

Consider the undrained

behaviour of a family of samples,
isotroically compressed and
unloaded to different OCRs as in
first picture

All the samples have same initial

specific volume (void ratio)

If the initial void ratios are

different, the stress paths can be
normalized by equivalent
pressure

Typical test data obtained by

Loudon (1967) is shown in
second picture

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Roscoe Surface as a State Boundary Surface

25

All stress paths start from points

below the Roscoe surface
(Roscoe surface coincides with
the stress path of NC sample)

Lightly OC samples also fail at

the CSL

Close observation shows that the

stress paths of OC samples rise
almost vertically towards the
Roscoe surface and then move
close to the surface towards the
CSL

Roscoe surface forms a

boundary beyond which test
paths do not pass (remember
NCL!!!)

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Behaviour of Overconsolidated Samples

26

Stress paths
Stress-strain and volume change
behaviour (Drained test)
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The Hvorslev Surface

27

Similar to the case of NC clays

we normalize with pe0 , so that the
drained and undrained test
results can be compared

Failure states of the samples are

plotted in the normalized stress
space

The failure points of both drained

and undrained tests lie on a
single line

At right hand side the line meet

the critical state line at the end of
Roscoe surface

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At the left end, the line is

bounded by the fact that soil
is not able to withstand any
tensile stresses

The Hvorslev Surface

28

If the soil cannot withstand

tensile effective stress, then the
value of 3 cannot be less than 0.

Then the corresponding q 0 /p0

value will be 3 (for 3 = 0,
q 0 = 10 and p0 = 10 /3)

This straight line where the OC

samples fail is called "The
Hvorslev surface"

The significant feature of the

surface is that the shear strength
of a specimen at failure is a
function of both mean normal
stress (p0 ) and of the specific
volume (v ) of the samples at
failure

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Expression for Hvorslev Surface

29

Assuming the equation of Hvorslev surface as,

q 0 /pe0 = g + h(p0 /pe0 )

(1)

q 0 = gpe0 + hp0

(2)

We know that, pe0 = exp[(N v )/]; substituting in equation (2)

q 0 = g exp[(N v )/] + hp0

(3)

The Hvorslev surface intersects the CSL given by the equations,

qf0 = Mpf0 and vf = ln(pf0 )
Then equation(3) at the point of CSL, (pf0 , qf0 ) becomes,
(M h)pf0 = g exp[(N vf )/]



N
(M h)pf0 = g exp
+ lnpf0

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(4)
(5)

Expression for Hvorslev Surface

30

From equation (5) we get,


g = (M h) exp

Thus the equation of Hvorslev Surface can be written as:



v
+ hp0
q 0 = (M h) exp

(6)

(7)

This equation explicitly states that the deviatoric stress at the

failure of an OC specimen depends on the mean normal effective
stress (p0 ) and the specific volume (v )

If two OC samples fail at the same p0 but at different specific

volumes, the one with lower specific volume will exhibit higher
deviatoric stress (q 0 )

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Behaviour of OC Clays after Failure

31

There are experimental difficulties in the case of OC clays to

determine the critical state; after failure strain localization happens
There are proofs form carefully done experiments that the stress
state moves towards CSL after failure in the case of CSL

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The Complete State Boundary Surface

32

Roscoe surface, Hvorslev surface

and tension failure line forms the
complete state boundary surface
in q/pe0 p0 /pe0 space

Any constant v section of the

state boundary surface will have
a shape as in figure 1

The complete state boundary

surface is shown in figure 2

The critical state line forms a

ridge seperating the Roscoe and
Hvorslev surfaces

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Thank You!