Volume Change During Shearing

(and what happens if there is no volume change)

What determines how much volumetric strain the
sample will undergo in drained shearing?
 Volume Changes During Shearing: Shear Box

σ'v τ/σ’v
τ ∆S OC
peak
∆v
tanφ′cs
Ho U=0 critical
state
NC v
=1+e
γ= ∆S/Ho NC
εv= ∆v/Ho γ
critical
-ve OC state 1D
dilation
OC NCL
εv
γ
+ve
comp- logσ’v
ression NC

 when sheared to critical states normally consolidated NC and overconsolidated OC samples (or loose and dense sands) have the
same final specific volume (or void ratio) for a given stress

 (NB we could not actually plot this as the volumetric strains in shear box are too inaccurate – we must use a triaxial)

 watch vocabulary – we say “dilation” when a soil expands when we shear it but “swelling” when it expands because we reduce
the load we apply to it in compression
Volume Changes During Shearing: Triaxial Apparatus
σa

σr standard drained triaxial p' = (σ'a + 2σ'r)/3

∆u = 0 ∆σr = 0 ∆σa +ve
u
q’ = (σ'a - σ'r)

v=e+1
q’/p’
peak
OC
M
critical
state
NC v

NC
εa
critical
-ve OC state Isotropic NCL
dilation
OC
εv
εa
+ve
comp- ln p’
ression NC

 similar behaviour to ideal behaviour in shear box but watch that p’ changes during shearing
 Comparison of Critical State Line and Normal Compression Lines

v Shear Box v
Triaxial Apparatus

1D
Isotropic NCL
NCL

Critical state line

Critical state line
logσ’v
ln p’

v
1D NCL
Γ  all samples of all stress levels will reach critical states on the same
Isotropic
NCL critical state line (CSL) – parallel to compression lines with intercept
at p’=1kPa of Γ

Critical
state line λ

p'=1kPa ln p’
What is a Critical State?
σ'n
τ
LOOSE

Critical State

DENSE
τ σ'n
when sheared to large strains, the density of the soil (quantified with v or e) under turbulent movement will be independent of its initial value and
only dependent on the current normal stress (the density will be greater for larger stresses – lower e or v) – the critical state
loose soils will have to compress to reach this state while dense soils will have to dilate (expand)

for dense soils the dilation causes work done as the particles have to ride up over each other – we can think of a saw tooth analogy – this gives
the peak strength in dense (or overconsolidated) soils

Fn Fn
Fs = μFn Fs increased due to expansion