203CIV/6

SUMMER 2008 Coventry University Faculty of Engineering and Computing

203CIV Geotechnology I
Instructions to candidates

Time allowed: 3 Hours

Answer: FOUR questions including Question 1 (40 marks) and THREE from the remainder (20 marks each)

For ease of calculation use g = 10 m/s2, w = 1.00 Mg/m3, and w = 10 kN/m3 Symbols, where used, have their conventional meaning. Numerical answers must be supported by adequate calculations and / or graphical constructions. For this examination you will be supplied with the following: Graph paper Formula Sheets 3 pages U Tv Table Bearing capacity chart

IMPORTANT: You may take this question paper away at the end of the examination. Please keep it in a safe place for future reference.

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Question 1 This question is compulsory A grouted anchor is installed in the sandy gravel ground behind a retaining wall as shown in Figure Q1. CD triaxial tests were performed on a saturated sample of the sandy clay to obtain soil parameters to be used to calculate the long term (effective) collapse loads of the grouted anchor. The initial size of the samples is diameter, D0 = 38 mm and length L0 = 76 mm. The detailed results for one of the tests conducted at 3 = 100 kPa are as follows. The negative sign () indicates expansion: Data number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 L (mm) 0 0.228 0.76 2.28 2.66 3.8 5.32 6.84 7.6 8.36 V (cm3) 0.00 0.03 0.50 2.00 2.24 2.60 2.67 2.64 2.66 2.63 P (N) 0.0 94 202 293 299 279 253 230 223 224 a (%) v (%) Ac (mm2) ('1 '3) = P/Ac (kN/m2)

a)

Complete the data analysis and plot the graph of deviator stress vs axial strain and from it determine the peak (p) and the critical state (cs) strengths of the soil, the initial elastic modulus (E'0) and the secant elastic modulus at peak shear stress (E's). (26 marks) Plot the graph of Mohrs circle for critical state and determine the value of 'cs. (6 marks) Estimate the tensile load which will cause the anchor to fail by pulling out of the saturated ground if the pore water varies along the anchor from 40 kPa at depth of 5.5.m to 70 kPa at depth of 9 m. Assume that failure will occur by slippage between the grout and the surrounding soil, rather than between the steel tendon and the grout; that the angle of friction between the soil and the grout is the same as the critical state angle of friction of the soil and that the effective stress at any depth is the same in all directions. (8 marks)

b)

c)

Question 1 continued overleaf

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Question 1 continued Figure Q1

Question 2 a) A slope stability analysis for 6 slices has been initiated using the Swedish Method for a potential rotational slip surface in a soil with the following properties: = 20 kN/m3 and 'cs = 30. Determine the long term stability of the slope using the part analysed information provided in the table below. Part analysed information of a slope stability analysis Slice Area of slice (m2) 3.8 14.4 15.3 13.8 10.2 3.8 Angle of slice base to the horizontal, () 54 36 20 4 10 25 Length of Slice base, l (m) 4.0 3.7 3.2 3.0 3.0 3.2 Height of water in the slice, hw (m) 1.4 3.0 4.0 3.8 2.8 1.4 (13 marks) b) Give an outline of the procedure for finding the minimum factor of safety of a slope using the method in Question 1 a). (7 marks)

1 2 3 4 5 6

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Question 3 a) It is proposed to build a rectangular wall 9 m high and 5 m wide with concrete material of unit weight 24 kN/m to retain a soft clay soil with properties c = 20 kN/m2 and = 0, and unit weight 16 kN/m. Assuming that the wall face is smooth and that cracks develop in the tension zone of the soft clay and that these can fill with water during a rainstorm: i) use Bells equation to determine the thrust on the back of the wall, (6 marks) determine the safety factor against both overturning and sliding, and find the vertical pressure under the toe. (9 marks)

ii)

b)

Give your critical assessment of the design of the retaining wall in a) from the stability point of view. (5 marks)

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Question 4 Figure Q4 (drawn to scale) shows a sheet-pile wall cofferdam 6 m wide and 60 m long driven to a depth of 5 m in a 9 m thick deposit of sand overlying impermeable bedrock. The water level outside the pile is 3 m above the sand, and 1 m of sand is excavated from within the cofferdam. The properties of the sand are sat = 20 kN/m3 and the coefficient of permeability is 7 10 -5 m/s. Calculate: a) The total steady state seepage flow into the excavation. (5 marks) b) The exit hydraulic gradient at point A. (2 marks) c) The pore pressure on the back face of the sheet-pile at point B 4 m below the base of the excavation. (4 marks) The factor of safety against heave of the soil block ABCD and comment on the value obtained from the stability view point. (9 marks) Figure Q4

d)

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Question 5 a) A vertical concrete column is to carry a total load of 520 kN, inclusive of self weight above ground level. The column is to be supported by a square concrete footing founded at a depth of 1.5 m in a 14 m thick deposit of firm saturated glacial till which overlies Bunter sandstone. The properties of the glacial till are cu = 56 kN/m2 and mv = 0.00012 m2/kN. Neglecting the difference in density between the concrete and the clay, calculate: i) the size of footing required to provide a factor of safety of 3 against an undrained shear failure of the foundation, (6 marks) the consolidation settlement of the footing. (4 marks) b) A long footing with a base 3 m wide and founded 1 m below the ground surface is subjected to an inclined load. The vertical and horizontal components of the base reaction are 282 kN/m and 102 kN/m respectively: the eccentricity of the base reaction is 0.36 m. If the appropriate shear strength parameters for the foundation soil are c' =0 and = 35, and the unit weight of the soil is 18 kN/m, determine the factor of safety against shear failure. (10 marks)

ii)

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Question 6 a) A uniform deposit of soil with the water table at 2 m from the ground level has a water content of 30% and degree of saturation of 0.6 above the water table and a water content of 40% below the water table. Calculate the effective stress for a soil element at a depth 5 m. Gs = 2.7. (6 marks) A sample of sand, 5 cm in diameter and 15 cm long, was prepared at a porosity of 60% in a constant-head apparatus. The total head was kept constant at 30 cm and the amount of water collected in 5 seconds was 40 cm3. Calculate the coefficient of permeability and the seepage velocity. (4 marks) A standard compaction test carried out on a sample of the soil to be used for construction of an embankment yielded a maximum bulk unit weight of 20.5 kN/m3 at an optimum water content of 11.5%. Calculate the field dry unit weight that would be attained if the specifications state that relative compaction should be 95 %. What would be the field degree of saturation. Gs = 2.7. (4 marks) At a vertical stress of 200 kN/m2, the void ratio of a normally consolidated soil sample was 1.52 and lies on the normal consolidation line. An increment of vertical stress of 150 kPa compresses the sample to a void ratio of 1.43 and a height of 18 mm. The sample was then unloaded to a vertical stress of 200 kN/m2 which caused the sample to swell by 0.5 mm and its void ratio to increase to 1.45. Sketch a simple graph of e v showing the soil response and determine the compression index Cc, the modulus of volume compressibility mv, and the over consolidation ratio (OCR) of the soil. (6 marks)

b)

c)

d)

oooOooo

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FORMULAE 1. SOIL PROPERTIES V = total volume; Vv = volume of voids; Vs = volume of solids; Vw = volume of water Void ratio: e =

n Vv ; e= (1 n) Vs

where n = porosity

Porosity: n =

e Vv ; n= (1 + e) V

where e = void ratio

Specific volume: v =

G V ; v = 1 + e ; also v = s w Vs dry

where Gs = specific gravity = 2.65 - 2.71

and w and dry are density of water and dry density of soil respectively. Density, =
mG s Vw Vw = ; also S = Vv eVs v 1

M V

Degree of saturation:

S=

Moisture content:

m=

M w eS = M s Gs

Unit weight: =

W Mg = = g where W = weight, M = mass, = density, g = gravity accel V V

Bulk unit weight:

bulk =

W w G s + w eS w (G s + eS ) w G s (1 + m) = = = V 1+ e 1+ e 1+ e

Saturated unit weight: S = 1 i.e. soil is saturated thus bulk = sat: sat = also sat =

w (G s + e)
(1+ e)

w (G s + v 1)
v

Dry unit weight: S = 0 i.e. soil is dry thus bulk = dry: dry = 2. COMPACTION

wGs
(1+ e)

also dry =

Gs w v

dry =

bulk

(1+ m)

for plotting compaction graph

dry =

Gs w for A = 0 graph, and G s m +1 A Gs w ) for A > 0 graph, 100 G s m +1

dry = (1

where A = Percentage Air Voids Content

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3. PERMEABILITY COEFFICIENTS AND SEEPAGE ANALYSIS QL aL H Constant Head Test: k = Falling Head Test: k = ln 1 H 2 Aht At r q ln 2 r 1 Field pumping Test (unconfined aquifer): k = 2 (h2 h12 ) Seepage: q = kH

Nf Nd

Head: h =

+z

Hydraulic gradient: i =

h L

Maximum hydraulic gradient: imax = Critical hydraulic gradient: icr =

h Lmin

Gs 1 w Gs 1 = = w 1+ e w 1+ e
(flow is downwards) (flow is upwards)

Vertical effective stress: = + i w z z z Vertical effective stress: = i w z z z

4. CONSOLIDATION Consolidation (final) settlement: S c = mv v H Coefficient of Consolidation: C v =

k mv w

where mv =

1 1 + e0

e v

Cvt d2

Dimensionless Time factor: Tv =

Consolidation settlement at any time t: S t = U S c

where U is degree of consolidation

5. GROUND STRESSES AND LATERAL EARTH PRESSURES Vertical total stress: v = h

Vertical effective stress: v = h

Pore water pressure: u = w hw Coefficients of lateral earth pressure At rest: K o = 1 sin Active state: K a = (1 sin ) /(1 + sin )

where = sat w

Terzaghi effective stress equation: Vertical total stress: = u

Passive state: K p = (1 + sin ) /(1 sin ) Rankine Lateral earth pressure: h = K v Bell Lateral earth pressure: h = K v 2cu K where K can be either Ko, Ka or Kp Retaining wall Resistance against sliding: R s = V tan

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6. SHEAR STRENGTH Mohr-Coulomb equation of shear strength: = c + n tan ; = T / A ; n = N / A A c = A 0 (1 v ) / (1 a ) for Drained Test ; and A c = A 0 / (1 a ) for Undrained Test

v = V /V0 ; a = L / L0 ; = / H 0 ; = 45 ( / 2) ; ( 1 3 ) = P / Ac
where;
T = shear force; N = normal force; A = cross sectional area; A0 = original sample cross sectional area; Ac = corrected sample cross sectional area; V = change in sample volume; V0 = original sample volume; v = volumetric strain (%); L = change in sample length; L0 = original sample length; a = axial strain (%); = shear strain (%) = horizontal displacement (shear box test); H0 = original height of sample; = angle of failure plane to horizontal (+) and to vertical (); (1 3) = deviator stress; P = axial load

7. SLOPE STABILITY Undrained: FS = Drained: FS =

f c l + (W cos ul ) tan = m W sin

f cl + (W cos ul ) tan = m W sin

where:

FS =

2 Resisting Moment R cu = Wx Disturbing Moment

W = bh b l= cos u = w hw (simplified)

u = w hw cos2 (from Flownet) = angle in radians

8. BEARING CAPACITY Ultimate bearing capacity (qult) Continuous strip footing: qult = q s N q +

B
2

N + c N c

where: q s = D D: foundation depth

D B N c = 51 + 0.2 1 + 0.2 B L

Square footing: qult = q s N q + 0.4 B N + 1.3c N c Circular footing: qult = q s N q + 0.6 B N + 1.3c N c Net allowable bearing capacity: q a =

B = L for square footing Also FS =

qult q s + qs FS

qult max q s
where: max = the max vertical pressure; B = B 2e ; e = the eccentricity

Eccentric and Inclined loading 2 Trapezoidal stress distribution: max = ( PV / B ) + (6ePV / B ) Triangular stress distribution: max = 2 PV / 3(0.5 B e) Inclination factors i = (1 / ) 2 for adjusting the bearing capacity factor N

ic = iq = (1 / 90 ) 2 for adjusting the bearing capacity factors Nc and Nq

= tan 1 ( PH / PV ) where is the angle of inclination of the resultant load; and PH and PV
are vertical and horizontal components respectively of the inclined load (kN/m).

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U Tv Table

% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

U Decimal 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Tv 0.008 0.031 0.071 0.126 0.197 0.287 0.403 0.567 0.848

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Bearing Capacity Factors Chart

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