The use of pore pressure coefficients in practice (1954)

Bishop, A. W.
- This paper presents a brief discussion about the use of the pore pressure parameters A and B in practice.
It focuses on a study of the pore water pressure changes which occur in the impervious fill of an earth
dam during construction and during rapid draw-down.
- As outlined by Skempton (1954), the pore-pressure ratio for a given soil element beneath an earth dam
experiencing major and minor principal stresses 1 and 3 is given by:

u    3  
 B  B 1  1  A 1    ……………….. Eq. (1)
 1    1  

where 𝐵̅ is the overall pore-pressure coefficient.

- Since in compacted earth fill materials, A is less than unity and in many cases, close to zero, it follows
from Eq. (1) that the shear stresses set up during construction which are represented by values of 3/1
̅ lower than the pore pressure ratio B obtained by applying an
of less than unity, lead to values of 𝐵
all-around pressure to the sample.
- The magnitude of 3/1 depends on the condition of the problem being investigated. If the at rest
earth pressure condition prevails, then the ratio of the minor and major effective principal stresses is K0 =
’3/’1. If at-rest condition does not prevail, then the ratio of the principal effective stresses would have
its minimum value corresponding to failure in the triaxial test. This limit is represented by the value Kf.
- Actual construction with a factor of safety greater than unity will lie between the upper mentioned two
values (K0 and Kf) and is represented by the value K, which is given as:

 3  3  u  3  B   1
K   …………….. Eq. (2)
 1  1  u  1  B   1

Substituting Eq. (2) into Eq. (1) leads to the expression:

1  1  A1  K 
B  B …………………………Eq. (3)
1  B  1  A1  K 

- Eq. (3) can be used to estimate the change in the pore-pressure for a given K ratio.
- Likewise, the pore pressure on rapid draw-down may be estimated in terms of the reduction in the
principal stresses due to the removal of water load. If u0 is the initial pore pressure in an element beneath
the upstream slope of an earth dam, then after a rapid draw-down, the pore pressure would be:

u  u0  u and u  B  1 .Thus, u  u0  B  1 ………………………..... Eq. (4)

- It is shown from Eq. (4) that the lower the value of 𝐵̅the greater will be the residual pore
pressure and, therefore, the lower will be the factor of safety.