CE 240

Soil Mechanics & Foundations

Lecture 8.1

Stresses in a soil mass I

(Das, Ch. 9)
 Class Outline

Normal stress and shear stresses on a

plane
Mohrs circle
The pole method of finding stresses
Stress Tensor

But the force has directivity, i.e.,

force is a vector and can be
decomposed into components in 3
orthogonal directions.
Meanwhile, the surface on which
the force is acting on, also has
directivity, it can be facing any
direction.
If we use a unit vector n to
represent a unit area on this
surface, it can also be
decomposed into components on
three orthogonal directions. So, the
stress is a tensor and has 9
components.
Actually, since the force is a vector, and can act on any
direction, it can be dissolved into 3 orthogonal
directions (e.g., x, y, z, in Cartesian coordinate); a
surface in or on the solid can face any direction, too. The
normal of that surface is also a function of x, y, z.
Consequently, a complete stress should be a tensor with
9 elements.
zz
z
yz

xx xy xz
zy

= yx yy yz
xz

zx yy

zx zy zz
yx xy
x
xx
Normal and shear stress
on a plane

The force on the plane ABC can be

decomposed in to the component
normally acting on the surface N
and in plane component T. By
dividing we get the normal stress
n and the shear stress n on plane
ABC. And can be expressed by the
stress components on the 3 axis
planes. For simplification we
demonstrate this procedure by a
2D case as shown in the next
slide.
 xx = x , yy = y , xy = xy
EB = EF cos , FB = EF sin
N = n ( EF ) = x sin ( FB) + y cos EB + xy cos ( FB) + xy sin ( EB)
= x sin ( EF ) sin + y cos ( EF ) cos + xy cos ( EF ) sin + xy sin ( EF ) cos
= x ( EF ) sin 2 + y ( EF ) cos 2 + 2 xy ( EF ) sin cos
 n ( EF ) = x ( EF ) sin 2 + y ( EF ) cos 2 + 2 xy ( EF ) sin cos
n = x sin 2 + y cos 2 + 2 xy sin cos
by the following 3 trigonormetric equalities
1 + cos 2 1 cos 2
cos =
2
and sin =
2

2 2
and 2sin cos = sin 2
we get
1 cos 2 1 + cos 2
n = x + y + xy sin 2
2 2
y + x y x
n = + cos 2 + xy sin 2
2 2
Again, for the shear stress we also have
T = n ( EF ) = x cos ( FB ) + y sin EB xy cos ( EB ) + xy sin ( FB)
= x cos ( EF ) sin + y sin ( EF ) cos xy cos ( EF ) cos + xy sin ( EF ) sin
= [ y sin cos x sin cos xy (cos 2 sin 2 )]( EF )
1 1
= [ y sin 2 x sin 2 xy cos 2 ]( EF )
2 2
and finally we get (9.4)
y x
n = sin 2 xy cos 2
2
if we can choose a plane with the vaule = m ,
on which the shear stress is equal to zero, i.e.,
n = 0
then we get
2 xy
tan 2 m = (9.5)
y x
Expressing the principal stresses
by stress components

Figure 9.2: The

Mohrs circle
After rotating the coordinate axis to the principal directions we have

The Mohrs circle

Mohrs Circle (cont.)
The normal stress and shear stress on a
given plane are the functions of 1 and 3 center :
and fall on a circle. 1
0 = ( 1 + 3 )
2
radius :
1
r = ( 1 3 )
2
pole
In the directions of the principal stresses (1, and 3) there is no shear stress.
Rock mechanic experiments show that the shear stress reaches its maximum
in the direction of about 30 degrees from the maximum principle stress 1.
Theoretical prediction is 45 degrees from the principle directions.
The stress-strain relation of rock deformation
 Elastic Deformation

A temporary change in shape or size

that is recovered when the applied
stress is removed.
 Ductile (Plastic) Deformation

A permanent change in shape or size

that is not recovered when the stress
is removed.

i.e. it flows or bends

Lets consider only on the elastic part of
soils deformation at the moment.

The elastic property of soil are described by

the elastic parameters.
Youngs modulus E

Youngs modulus is the stress needed to

compress the solid to shorten in a unit
strain.
1
E=
z / z
Poissons ratio

Poissons measures the relativity of the

expansion in the lateral directions and
compression in the direction in which the
uni-axial compression applies.

r / r
=
z / z
Shear Modulus (cont.)

F/A
=
x / y
Bulk Modulus K

Imagine you have a small cube of the material making up

the medium and that you subject this cube to pressure by
squeezing it on all sides. If the material is not very stiff, you
can image that it would be possible to squeeze the material
in this cube into a smaller cube. The bulk modulus
describes the ratio of the pressure applied to the cube to the
amount of volume change that the cube undergoes. If k is
very large, then the material is very stiff, meaning that it
doesn't compress very much even under large pressures. If
K is small, then a small pressure can compress the material
by large amounts. For example, gases have very small Bulk
Modulus . Solids and liquids have large Bulk Modulus.

F/A
K= v
v / v
Hookes law in
macroscopic form

f = ku
Hookes law in
microscopic form

= M
The linear relationship between the stress and
strain in the elastic part of the deformation
process can be well described by the Hookes
law in a simple form of
= M, and a complete form of:

is called the Lames constant and

it related to Yongs modulus E and
Poissons ratio .
Reading Assignment:
Das, Ch. 9
Homework:
9.3