This book presents a new theory of effective stresses in soils which takes into account the
internal stresses caused by the molecular electrostatic and structural mechanical forces.
These forces exist in thin hydrate films of adsorbed water molecules at the contacts of
structural elements producing the so-called disjoining effect. They can be evaluated by
incorporating theoretical achievements of molecular physics and colloidal chemistry. The novel
theory described in this book considers not only external but also internal stresses and gives
different results for effective forces compared with the Terzaghi theory widely applied in soil
mechanics. The book provides equations for the actual effective stresses at the contacts of
particles thus improving the Terzaghi theory in physicochemical context.
