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TECHNICAL

NOTES

The influence of an undrained change in stress on the pore pressure in porous media of low compressibility
A. W. BISHOP*

INTRODUCTION

In soil mechanics, and latterly in rock mechanics, considerable attention has been directed towards the prediction and measurement of the pore pressure set up by changes in the state of stress under undrained conditions. Some statement of the magnitude of this pressure was a necessary starting point for Terzaghis classical theory of consolidation in which the rate of decay of the initial pressure set up in the water filling the voids of a saturated soil controls the rate of volume decrease following a sudden application of load. Though it is clear that the magnitude of the pore pressure must be a function of the relative compressibilities of the porous soil skeleton, of the pore fluid filling the voids and of the solid material comprising the skeleton, together with the porosity and possibly the intergranular contact area, Terzaghi himself did not apparently present an analytical derivation of the initial pore pressure assumed. In a formal presentation in Theoretical soil mechanics Terzaghi (1943) makes the following assumptions (p. 266) (a) the voids of the soil are completely filled with water (b) both the water and the solid constituents of the soil are perfectly He also makes the further supplementary assumptions that incompressible

(c) the soil is laterally confined (d) an increase in effective normal stress reduces the void ratio of the soil (e) the effective normal stress u is given by the expression (using current terminology) a=o-U . . . . . . . . . - (1)

where (Tdenotes total normal stress and u denotes pore pressure. Terzaghi then states (p. 273) at the instant of load application, t = 0, the void ratio of the clay has not yet changed, but the total normal pressure on every horizontal section has inpressure is equal to u=p, creased by pl. Therefore at time t=O the excess hydrostatic throughout the layer. This statement, as will be shown subsequently, is correct on the basis of the assumptions madel, but does not adequately represent the behaviour of soils or porous rocks of low compressibility. Terzaghi had made a more qualified statement at an earlier date (Terzaghi, 1925) to the effect that immediately after the surcharge is applied, the compression of the clay is practically equal to zero, hence the hydrostatic pressure at this time is almost equal to the surcharge. It is possible that laboratory measurements of pore pressure subsequently made by Rendulic (1937) Taylor (1944), and others on compressible

* Professor of Soil Mechanics, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London. 1 These assumptions are in fact more than adequate, since it can be shown (Bishop and Eldin, 1950 and Bishop, 1959) that assumption (e) follows from the second part of assumption (6).

436

TECHNICAL

NOTES

soils, which indicated how small was the departure from the prediction of the idealized assumptions, encouraged the use of the pore pressure equation without this qualification. Before re-examining the problem from first principles it is of interest to note several other contributions. Bruggeman et al. (1939) give an expression for the case in which water is considered as compressible (using current terminology)
1 Au = Aul+n(K,Kw) . . . . . . . . .

where K denotes bulk modulus of the soil skeleton K, denotes bulk modulus of water n denotes porosity (i.e. volume of voids per unit volume of soil or rock) Au =4_(Aux + Au, + AaJ where suffixes x, y, z denote total normal stress components along the co-ordinate axes Bruggeman et al. (1939) assumed that the use of the effective stress equation (1) depended on the acceptance of a value of zero for the intergranular contact area between the soil particles. This is clearly a poor approximation at high stresses when the intergranular forces are large. However, Bishop and Eldin (1950) showed that for soils with particles of zero compressibility the effective stress equation for changes in volume is u = u - u irrespective of the magnitude of the intergranular contact area and derived an expression, which is likewise valid irrespective of intergranular contact area, relating change in pore pressure to change in equal all-round stress
Au= Au~+~(~~,~)

where C denotes the compressibility of the soil skeleton C, denotes the compressibility of the pore water This expression is thus the same as that due to Bruggeman et al. for the particular stress system, but is not restricted to soils of negligible intergranular contact area. A further extension of this analysis was made by Bishop (1966) to include the influence of the compressibility of the soil grains (or of the solid material of the skeleton of any porous mass with intercommunicating pores) denoted C,, and this led to the expression

It is the purpose of this Note to show how this expression is derived from first principles, though it is of interest to note that it can also be derived from an expression given by Geertsma (1957) for the change in pore volume in porous rocks and that it leads to the same expression for undrained compressibility as that obtained by Gassmann (1951). An expression for Au/Au given by Biot (1941) is related to experimental parameters other than C, and CW
DERIVATION OF PORE PRESSURE RATIO Au/Au

The analysis in its simplest form requires the following assumptions


(a) the pores of the porous medium are inter-connecting

(b) the solid material forming the skeleton of the porous medium is elastic and isotropic (c) the bulk behaviour of an element of the skeleton when subject to a change in boundary stress with zero change in pore pressure is that of an elastic isotropic material

TECHNICAL

NOTES

437

(d) the distribution of pore space within the skeleton is statistically random (e) the fluid (usually water) filling the pore space is linearly compressible Consider an element of volume V of the saturated porous medium. The volume of the pore fluid is nV and the volume of the solid material forming the skeleton is (1 - n) V. Apply an equal all-round increment of total stress do and let du be the value of the pore pressure change under conditions of zero drainage. i.e. zero flow of fluid across the boundary of the element and no cavitation (if the change is negative). Following the approach adopted by Bishop and Eldin (1950) the strains and volume changes may be considered to be the sum of those obtained by imposing, (a) a total stress and pore pressure change equal in magnitude to du and (b) an additional total stress at constant pore pressure, of magnitude do - du. For the stage (a) the following terms may then be considered. (i) The decrease in volume of the pore fluid is given as (nv>CJu (1-n)VCJu VCJU
. . . . . . . . . .

(5) (6) (7)

(ii) The decrease in volume of the solid material is given as


. . . . . . . . . .

(iii) The decrease in the overall volume of the element is


. . . . . . . . . .

as the components of strain along any continuous path across the solid skeleton within the element are equal to those within the solid material of the skeleton. For stage (b) two terms must be evaluated. (iv) A decrease in the overall volume of the element which is given by VC@du)
. . . . . . . . . .

(8)

where C is the bulk compressibility measured under drained conditions with u constant. (v) A decrease in the volume of the solid components of the skeleton due to the excess of the total stress over the pore pressure. As the pores are assumed to be statistically random in distribution, the area porosity on a plane intersecting the element at any level or orientation is equal to the volumetric porosity2 iz. The average normal stress in the solid material of the skeleton in any plane intersecting the element is thus [l/(1 -n)](da-du). The volume decrease in the solid component is then

(1 -

-(Au-Au) 4vc(~!n)

= VC,(Aa-Au)

For zero drainage the decrease in volume of the element given by summing terms given in (iii) and (iv) must equal the decrease in volume of the pore fluid (term (i)) and of the solid material of the skeleton (terms (ii) and (v)). Thus VC&+ VC(da-du) = nVCJu+(l -n)VCJu+ VcS(du-du) (10) rearranging du(C- C,) = &[(Cand thus
AU

C,) +n(C,-

C,)]

1 KG= 1+n(C,-C,)/(C-C,)

(11)

a This theorem, which is accepted proved by summing the volumetric

by Bruggeman et al. (1939) and demonstrated to be valid by Biot (1955), can be porosities of infinitesimally thin plane slices intersecting the porous medium (Fig. 1).

438

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NOTES

Fig. 1.

Simplified thin slice through porous medium

It will be noted that the derivation of this expression does not involve any assumption about the intergranular contact area. The same expression may be obtained by using the equation relating the change in volume of pore space dV, to the changes in total stress and pore pressure, obtained by Geertsma (1957)

ov, c du+l(C-C)(Au-Au) . = VP n
for zero drainage VP& VP substituting
n(C,-C,).Au = (C-C,)Au-(C-C,)Au 1

(12)

Au w

******.**

(13)

and

AU -= Aa

1 +n(C,-CJ(C-C,)

(14)

Gassmann (1951) carried out a closed system analysis of a saturated elastic porous medium, but expressed his conclusion in the form of an undrained compression modulus

where

(16)
and the modulus K is the reciprocal of the coefficient of compressibility C with the appropriate suffixes. The undrained compressibility c is given by &-AVl -V Au . . . . . . . . . (17)

where d V is the sum of the two terms forming the left hand side of equation (10). Substituting the value of Au given by equation (11) we obtain the expression given by Bishop (1966) c = n.&+(l--n)C,-C,2/C l+nC,/C-(1 +n)C,/C
. * . * w

This expression can likewise be obtained by substituting l/C for Kin equations (15) and (16). The methods of analysis adopted by Gassmann (1951), Geertsma (1957) and the Author are thus shown to lead to consistent conclusions.

TECHNICAL

NOTES

439 OF EFFECTIVE STRESS expressing the principle of effective stress have not been explicitly expression for Au/Au given in equation (11) or the expression for c However, if the effective stress u is defined as the function of total which produces the same volume change in the element, when assovalue of bulk compressibility, as the particular combination of 0 and volume change is taken from the left-hand side of equation (10) it VCAa = VC,Au+ VC(AaC I-2 c 1 ( Au) . ***.*** . . . . . (19) (20)

THE PRINCIPLE

Particular equations invoked in deriving the given in equation (18). stress and pore pressure ciated with the relevant u, and if the elemental follows that

or

Aa = Au-Au

Equation (20) is the expression for effective stress in the case of volume change given by Bishop (1953) and discussed in detail by Skempton (1960). However, as pointed out by Bishop and Blight (1963), equation (20) has important limitations when applied to non-Hookean materials. In the present context it may be noted that the strains represented by the coefficient C, are fully reversible and almost linearly elastic,3 while those represented by C are not always fully reversible even in the case of rocks and do not obey a linear stress-strain law except for small changes in stress, the value of C varying by a factor of 5 or more within the range of experimental observations (for example Zisman (1933), Bruhn (1972)). The stress level which controls the magnitude of C is not the effective stress relating to overall volume change given by equation (20) but, to a very close approximation, 4 the excess of total stress over pore pressure (CJ u). This distinction is of great importance when predicting or interpreting the undrained behaviour of rock in cases where the magnitude of the pore pressure is very large. In terms of the volume change-stress space illustrated in Fig. 2, the value of C is not determined by the magnitude and sign of the overall volume change A V/V but by the stress path as projected in the direction A0 on to the (o--u), AVjV plane. Thus the effective stress with respect to compressibility of the skeleton is given by the expression &=a-u . . . . . . . . . (21)

PREDICTED

RANGE OF VALUES OF Au/Au

It is of interest to note the probable range of values of Au/Au. In the limiting case of C, =0 and C, =0 assumed by Terzaghi (1943), equation (11) leads to Au/Au= 1. If C, is equated to zero but not C,, then Au/Au will be greater than unity, which indicates the caution which must be exercised in making simplifying assumptions. The possibility that C, is greater than C, is slight in real soils and rocks which are fully saturated, but might be contrived in artificial two-phase systems or result from the crushing of particles containing occluded gas (such as are found in pulverized fuel ash). The influence of the value of the compressibility C and of the porosity n are illustrated in Fig. 3. It will be noted that for values of the skeletal compressibility greater than that of water the difference between the values of Au/Au given by equations (11) and (3) is not significant. For C=C, the values of Au/Au are identical. However, as the value of C approaches C, major errors arise from the use of the simplified expression. A wide range of values of C has been reported for porous and fissured rocks, but taking as a typical value 3 C, and C, vary slightly with pressure if accurately
measured over a wide pressure range (see for example (1928) and Adams and Williamson (1923)). 4 An estimate of the error has been made by Skempton (1960). Bridgman

440

TECHNICAL

NOTES

Fig. 2.

Volume change-stress space for porous media where C. is constant but C is stress path dependent

08

05

0.3 0.2 01 0

I.0

IO
Compressibility: C

100
per kg/cm 2

IOOOX IO."

Fig. 3.

Variation of d&lo with value of compressibility C

TECHNICAL

NOTES

441

C= 10.5 x lo+ per kg/cm2 reported by Bruhn (1972) for Berea Sandstone at a stress level (a-u) of approximately 650 kg/cm2, we obtain values of Au/Au of 0.53 and 0.77 for values of n = 0.15 and 0.05 respectively. The reported initial porosity of this particular sandstone was 0.187, indicating a value of Au/da of about 0.48 subject to a small error due to differences in the assumed value of C,. For values of C approaching C,, Au/da may be of the order 0.1 but will be very sensitive to the value of n. Few observations are currently available to confirm these predictions, and a truly undrained observation is indeed difficult to obtain. In their earlier series of tests Bishop and Eldin (1950) included a special test where it was ensured that no water flowed from the base of the specimen by continuously adjusting the zero of the null indicator to allow for the compression of the water and expansion of the tubes and valve forming the measuring system. A value of Au/Au for saturated sand of approximately 0.997 was obtained. This technique was not adopted in tests reported by Bruhn (1972), and the value of O-17 obtained for Berea Sandstone must be considered as partly drained. The problem of system compressibility has been discussed by Bishop and Henkel (1962), Wissa (1969) and Bruhn (1972). The various factors make a convincing undrained value difficult to achieve in porous materials of low compressibility except with very specialized equipment.

PORE PRESSURE

PARAMETERS

In the case of an ideal elastic porous material the equal all-round pressure do in equation (11) may be replaced by Aa=4_(Ao, + Au, + Au,) where the suffixes denote principal stresses. For the axial compression test in which Au, = Aus, equation (11) reduces to the form
Au =

l+n~c,_c,~,~c_c~~[A~,+~(A~~-A~~)l

(22)

and the pore pressure parameter B defined by Skempton (1954) becomes 1 B = l+n(C,-C,)/(C-Cs)
* * * *

REFERENCES Adams, L. H. & Williamson, E. D. (1923). The compressibility of minerals and rocks at high pressures. Jnl Franklin Inst. 195, 475. Jnl Appl. Phys. 12, 155-164. consolidation. Biot, M. A. (1941). General theory of three-dimensional Biot, M. A. (1955). Theory of elasticity and consolidation for a porous anisotropic solid. Jnl Appf. Phys 26, 182-185. Bishop, A. W. (1953). Private communication. Tek. Ukebl. No. 39, 859-863. Bishop, A. W. (1959). The principle of effective stress. Znaug. Lect. Imp. Coil. Sci. Technol. Bishop, A. W. (1966). Soils and soft rocks as engineering materials. 6,289-313. Bishop, A. W. & Blight, G. E. (1963). Some aspects of effective stress in saturated and partly saturated soils. GPotechnique 13, No. 3, 177-197. Bishop, A. W. & Eldin, G. (1950). Undrained triaxial tests on saturated sands and their significance in Gt!otechnique 2, No. 1, 13-32. the general theory of shear strength. Bishop, A. W. & Henkel, D. J. (1962). The measurement of soilproperties in the triaxial test. London: Edward Arnold (2nd edition). Am. Jnl Sci. 15,287-296. Bridgman, P. W. (1928). The compressibility of thirteen natural crystals. Bruggeman, J. R., Zanger, C. N. & Brahtz, J. H. A. (1939). Memorandum to Chief Designing Engineer: US Department of the Interior Technical Memorandum No. 592. notes on analytical soil mechanics.

442

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NOTES

Bruhn, R. W. (1972). A study of the effects of pore pressure on the strength and deformability of Berea US Department of the Army Technical Report, Engineering Study Sandstone in triaxial compression. No. 552. Mitteilungen aus dem Institut fur Ceophvsik, Gassmann, F. (1951). Uber die Elastizitat porijser Medien. No. 17. Geertsma, J. (1957). The effect of fluid pressure decline on volumetric changes of porous rocks. Sot. Petrol. Engrs, Los Angeles, October 14-17. Rendulic, L. (1937). A fundamental law of soil mechanics and its verification by experiment. Bauing. 18, 459-467. Skempton, A. W. (1954). The pore pressure coefficients A and B. Geotechnique 4, No. 4, 143-147. Conf: Pore Pressure and Suction in Skempton, A. W. (1960). Effective stress in soils, concrete and rocks. Soils, 4-l 6. Taylor, D. W. (1944). Cylindrical compression research program on stress-deformation and strength characteristics of soils. MIT 10th Progress Report to US Engineer Department. Terzaghi, K. (1925). Principles of soil mechanics: VII-Friction in sand and in clay. Engineering News Record 95, No. 26, 1026-1029. Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics. New York: John Wiley. Wissa, A. E. Z. (1969). Pore pressure measurement in saturated stiff soils. JnZ Soil Mech. Fdns Div. Am. Sot. Civ. Engrs 95, SM4, 1063-1073. Zisman, W. A. (1933). Compressibility and anisotropy of rocks at and near the earths surface. Proc. Natn Acad. Sci. 19, 666-679.

A note on the interpretation of Coulombs analysis of the thrust on a rough retaining wall in terms of the limit theorems of plasticity theory
I. F. COLLINS

INTRODUCTION

This note is concerned with the interpretation, in the light of the modern theory of plasticity, of Coulombs classic analysis (1773) of the earth pressure on a vertical retaining wall. It was prompted by Heymans commentary (1972) on Coulombs notes. Coulomb obtained an expression for the thrust on a retaining wall by considering the overall static equilibrium of a family of triangular wedges of soil. In the case of a smooth wall, his formula is identical to that obtained by applying the upper bound theorem of limit analysis. However, the conventional limit theorems cannot be applied when the wall is rough; so it would appear, as noted by Heyman, that Coulombs expression for this situation cannot be interpreted in terms of plasticity theory and that the corresponding thrust estimates are not strict bounds. The main purpose of this Note is to demonstrate that in fact, in the rough case also, Coulombs results can be interpreted in terms of upper bounds by using a generalized limit theorem given by Collins (1969) which does apply in the presence of rough boundaries. As will beseen this result follows simply from the assumption of Coulombs criterion for yield; it does not depend on assuming any specific form for the flow rule.
*Department of Mathematics,
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology

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