Introduction

Efforts have been directed at defining the undrained strength of a soil as a function of the effective overburden stress. The undrained strength (S_u) often increases in direct proportion to S_u the effective overburden stress (𝜎'_v). This relationship is represented using a ratio of shear 𝜎'_v strength to vertical effective stress (τ/𝜎'_v). Ladd and Foott (1974) suggested that the ratio can be refined to reflect the stress history of the soil, as defined by the over-consolidation ratio (OCR). They developed a special testing procedure to capture this phenomenon and called it the SHANSEP method (Stress History and Normalized Soil Engineering Property).

This example discusses the use of the SHANSEP undrained strength model in SLOPE/W, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that the effective stress regime is consistent with the stress state used for testing.