Stresses in Soil

Stress in a Soil Mass

 Normal and Shear Stresses on a Plane
 The Pole Method of Finding Stress Along a Plane
 Vertical Stress Caused by a Point load
 Vertical Stress Caused by a Line Load
 Vertical Stress Caused by a Horizontal Line Load
 Vertical Stress Caused by a Strip Load
 Vertical Stress Due to Embankment Loading
 Vertical Stress Below the Center of a Uniformly Loaded Circular area
 Vertical Stress at Any Point Below a Uniformly Loaded Circular Area
 Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangularly Loaded Area
 Influence Chart for Vertical Pressure
 Normal and Shear Stresses on a Plane

and

Summing the components of forces that act on the element in the direction of N
and T, we have
 a) b)

Figure 10.1 (a) A soil element with normal and shear stresses acting on it;
(b) free body diagram of EFB as shown in (a)

The normal stresses that act on the principal planes are referred to as
principal stresses. The values of principal stresses can be found by substituting
Eq. (10.5) into Eq. (10.3), which
 Major Principal Stress:

Minor Principal Stress:

The normal stress and shear stress that act on any plane can also be
determined by plotting a Mohr’s circle, as shown in Figure 10.2.
The points R and M in Figure 10.2 represent the stress conditions on
planes AD and AB, respectively. O is the point of intersection of the normal stress
axis with the line RM. The circle MNQRS drawn with O as the center and OR as the
radius is the
Mohr’s circle for the stress
conditions considered. The
radius of the Mohr’s circle is
equal to:
Figure 10.3 (a) Soil element with AB and AD as major and minor principal
planes; (b) Mohr’s circle for soil element shown in (a)
 The Pole Method of Finding Stresses
Along a Plane
Another important technique of finding stresses along a plane from a Mohr’s
circle is the pole method. Figure 10.5 ( a) is the same stress element that is
shown in Figure 10.1a; Figure 10.5 (b) is the Mohr’s circle for the stress
conditions indicated.

Figure 10.5 (a) Soil element with normal and shear stresses acting on it;
(b) use of pole method to find the stresses along a plane
 •Stress Caused by a Point Load
 Boussinesq (1883) solved the problem of stresses produced at
any point in a homogenous, elastic, and isotropic medium as
the result of a point load apllied on the surface of an infinitely
large half space
 The Boussinesq equations for the stresses due to
concentrated load are :
Stress Caused by a Point Load
Stress Caused by a Point Load
 Vertical Stress Cause by a Line Load

When a line load of infinite length having an intensity of q (kN/m) acts on the
surface of a soil mass, the vertical stress Δp, inside the soil mass is given by
:

This equation can be written as:

Vertical Stress Caused by a Line Load
Vertical Stress Caused by a Line Load

d
Vertical Stress Caused by a Horizontal Line
Load
Figure 10.10 shows a horizontal flexible line load on the surface of a semi-
infinite soil mass. The vertical stress increase at point A in the soil mass can be
given as
 Vertical Stress Due to a Vertical Strip Load
(Finite width and infinite length)
The fundamental equation
for the vertical stress
increase at a point in a soil
mass as the result of aline
load can be used to
determine the vertical
stress at a point caused by
a flexible strip load of
width B.
Vertical Stress Due to a Vertical Strip Load
(Finite width and infinite length)
Vertical Stress Due to Embankment Loading
Vertical Stress Due to Embankment Loading
Vertical Stress Due to Embankment Loading
Vertical Stress Below Center of Uniform
Loaded Circular Area
 Vertical Stress Below Center of Uniform
Loaded Circular Area

The increase in the stress at point A caused by the entire loaded area can be found by
integrating Eq. (10.24):
Vertical Stress Below Center of Uniform
Loaded Circular Area
 Vertical Stress at Any Point Below a
Uniformly Loaded Circular Area

Where
Vertical Stress at Any Point Below a Uniformly
Loaded Circular Area
Vertical Stress at Any Point Below a Uniformly
Loaded Circular Area
Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangular Load
(under corner of the loading area)
 Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangular Load
(under corner of the loading area)
The increase in the stress, at point A caused by the entire loaded area can now
be determined by integrating the preceding equation. We obtain

Where:

B
m
Z
L
n
Z
I3 is a funcation of m and n is shown in the table
Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangular Load
Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangular Loaded
Area
Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangular Load

30
Vertical Stress Caused by Rectangular Load
Area
z  q(I  I  I  I )
2(1) 2(2) 2(3) 2(4)

1 2

3 4
 Influence Chart for Vertical Pressure
Newmark (1942) presented an influence chart
based on Boussinesq’s theory that can be used to
determine the vertical pressure at any point
below a uniformly loaded flexible area of any
slope. This chart is based on Eq. 5. 12. The
influence value of the chart is 1/N, where N is
equal to the number of elements.

Equation (10.25) can be rearranged

and written in the form
Influence Chart for Vertical Pressure
 Influence Chart for Vertical Pressure
The procedure for obtaining vertical pressure at any point below a loaded area is as
follows:
1. Determine the depth z below the uniformly loaded area at which the stress
increase
is required.
2. Plot the plan of the loaded area with a scale of z equal to the unit length of
the chart ( AB).
3. Place the plan (plotted in step 2) on the influence chart in such a way that the
point
below which the stress is to be determined is located at the center of the chart.
4. Count the number of elements (M) of the chart enclosed by the plan of the loaded
area.
The increase in the pressure at the point under consideration is given by

Where= IV influence value

q= pressure on the
loaded area
 Newmark’ Chart

• Determine the depth, z, where

you wish to calculate the stress
increase
• Adopt a scale as shown in the
figure
• Draw the footing to scale and
place the point of interest over
the center of the chart
• Count the number of elements
that fall inside the footing, N
• Calculate the stress increase as:
35
Problem No. 1
A soil element is shown in Figure. The magnitudes of
stresses are σx = 2000 lb/ft2 , T = 800 lb/ft2 , σy = 2500
lb/ft2 and Θ = 20º. Determine

a. Magnitudes of the principal stresses

b. Normal and shear stresses on plane AB. Use Eqs. (10.3),

(10.4), (10.6), and (10.7).
Solution No. 1
Solution No. 1
Solution No. 1
Problem No. 2
For the stressed soil element shown in
Figure. determine
a. Major principal stress
b. Minor principal stress
c. Normal and shear stresses on the
plane AE
Problem No. 2

Use the pole method.

 Solution No. 2
On plane AD:
Normal stress = 90 lb/in2
Shear stress = 60 lb/in.2
On plane AB:
Normal stress = 150 lb/in2
Shear stress = 60 lb/in2
Solution No. 2
The Mohr’s circle is plotted in Figure From
the plot,
Part a. Major principal stress 187.1 lb/in2
Part b. Minor principal stress 52.9 lb/in2
Part c. NP is the line drawn parallel to the
plane CD. P is the pole. PQ is drawn parallel
to AE (see Figure.) The coordinates of point
Q give the stresses on the plane AE.
Normal stress = 60 lb/in2
Shear stress = 30 lb/in2
Problem No. 3
Solution No. 3
Problem No. 4
The figures shows two line loads on
the ground surface. Determine the
increase of stress at point A.
Solution No. 4
Solution No. 4
Problem No. 5
The cross section and plan of a column
footing are shown in Figure 10.28. Find the
increase in vertical stress produced by the
column footing at point A.
3 m  25 mm
Solution No. 5
Point A is located at à depth 3 m below the bottom of the
footing. The plan of the
square footing has been replotted to a scale of 3 m and placed
on the
influence chart (Figure 10.29) in such a way that point A on the
plan falls directly
over the center of the chart. The number of elements inside the
outline of the plan
is about 48.5. Hence,
 660 
z  (IV) q M  0.005  48.5 17.78kN / m
 2
 
 3x3 
Reference

 Geotechnical Engineering book by

Braja M Das or
 Fundamentals of Getechnical
Engineering by Gillesania
Leader: Magtuto, Andrea

Member: Dabuet, Justin Ian

Encallado, Joyce Marie
Leonen, Shamea
Oliveria, Rica Leisa