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Soil Mechanics Manual v1.0
Soil Mechanics Manual v1.0
VERSION 1.0
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LAB REPORT OUTLINE .................................................................................................................... 2
EXPERIMENTAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................... 3
DIRECT SHEAR ............................................................................................................................... 3
CALCULATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 3
DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 4
ATTERBERG ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................... 5
CALCULATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 5
DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 6
COMPACTION ................................................................................................................................. 7
CALCULATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 7
DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 8
PERMEABILITY .............................................................................................................................. 9
CALCULATION .............................................................................................................................. 9
DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................ 10
GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................... 11
CALCULATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 11
DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................ 15
Name of Experiment
Name of Student
ID #
Group #
Course Code
Year/Semester
TITLE
TABLE OF CONTENT
AIM
OBJECTIVE
INTRODUCTION (2-3 short paragraphs including equations)
PROCUDURE
RESULTS
ANALYSIS (CALCULATIONS)
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
DISCUSSION
1- State the importance of finding the internal angle of friction and cohesion in Civil
Engineering.
2- Compare the determined internal angle of friction () for both wet and dry sand
sample to typical values that are usually obtained, giving reasons for any differences
found.
3- Explain why the internal angle of friction () is different for both the wet and dry
sample.(If internal stress are a cause determine what this values might be?)
4- If from your plots of maximum shear stress versus the corresponding vertical stress a
cohesion value exist or does not exist give a reason why?
5- Give 3 sources of error and precautions that may be taken to avoid them.
6- State what can be done to improve the experiment as it may relate to its accuracy and
precision.
ATTERBERG ANALYSIS
(Refer to Krishna Reddv Exp. 7 Atterberg Limits)
CALCULATIONS
A- Liquid Limit, LL
1- Plot the relationship between the water content, w, and the corresponding number of drops,
N, of the cup on a semi-logarithmic graph with water content as the ordinates and
arithmetical scale, and the number of drops on the abscissas on a logarithmic scale. Draw
the best fit straight line through the 3 or more plotted points.
2- Take the water content corresponding to the intersection of the line with the 25 drop
abscissa as the liquid limit, LL, of the soil.
B- Plastic Limit, PL
1- Compute the average of the water contents obtained from the three plastic limit tests. The
plastic limit, PL, is the average of the three water contents.
C- Plasticity Index
Figure 1: Plasticity Chart (Budhu, M., Soil Mechanics and Foundations, 3rd Edition. 2010: John Wiley & Sons,
Incorporated)
DISCUSSION
1- State the importance of finding the plasticity index in Civil Engineering. Explain the
significance of Liquid Limit and Plastic Limit of a soil.
2- Give 2 examples in which these values are used in the construction industry.
3- Give 3 sources of error and precautions that may be taken to avoid them.
4- State what can be done to improve the experiment as it may relate to its accuracy and
precision.
COMPACTION
(Refer to Krishna Reddv Exp. 9 Moisture-Density Relation (Compaction) Test)
CALCULATIONS
(1) Calculate the moisture content of each compacted soil specimen by using the average of
the two water contents.
(2) Compute the wet density in grams per cm3 of the compacted soil sample by dividing the
wet mass by the volume of the mould used.
(3) Compute the dry density using the wet density and the water content determined in step
1. Use the following formula:
=
1+
where: = moisture content in percent divided by 100, and = wet density(Bulk Density) in
grams per cm3.
(4) Plot the dry density values on the y-axis and the moisture contents on the x-axis. Draw a
smooth curve connecting the plotted points.
(5) On the same graph draw a curve of complete saturation or zero air voids curve. The
values of dry density and corresponding moisture contents for plotting the curve can be
computed from the following equation
= (
1
)
1
(100 + )
where:
= dry density of soil grams per cm3
Gs = specific gravity of the soil being tested (assume 2.70)
= density of water in grams per cm3 (approximately1 g/cm3)
= moisture content in percent for complete saturation.
(6) Identify and report the optimum moisture content and the maximum dry density.
Make sure that you have recorded the method of compaction used (e.g., Standard
Proctor, Method A) on data sheet.
DISCUSSION
1- State the importance of finding the optimum moisture content and the maximum
dry density in Civil Engineering.
2- Give 4 examples in which these values are used in the construction industry.
3- Give 3 sources of error and precautions that may be taken to avoid them.
4- State what can be done to improve the experiment as it may relate to its accuracy and
precision.
5- Question from Dr. Gay.
PERMEABILITY
(Refer to Krishna Reddv Exp. 10 Permeability)
CALCULATION
(1) Calculate the permeability, using the following equation:
=
Where:
KT = coefficient of permeability at temperature T, cm/sec.
L = length of specimen in centimetres
t = time for discharge in seconds
Q = volume of discharge in cm3 (assume 1 mL = 1 cm3)
A = cross-sectional area of permeameter (cylindrical mould) (D =Internal diameter of the
permeameter)
h = hydraulic head difference equal to the vertical distance between the constant funnel head
level and the chamber overflow level.
(2) The viscosity of the water changes with temperature. As temperature increases viscosity
decreases and the permeability increases. The coefficient of permeability is standardized
at 20C, and the permeability at any temperature T is related to K20 by the following
ratio:
20 =
20
Where:
T and 20 are the viscosities at the temperature T of the test and at 20C, respectively. From
Table 1 obtain the viscosities and compute K20.
9
DISCUSSION
1- State the importance of finding the coefficient of permeability in Civil Engineering.
2- Give 4 examples in which this value is used in the civil engineering.
3- Compare the calculated value K to the typical values usually found.
4- Give 3 sources of error and precautions that may be taken to avoid them.
5- State what can be done to improve the experiment as it may relate to its accuracy and
precision.
10
1- Obtain the mass of soil retained on each sieve by subtracting the weight of the empty
sieve from the mass of the sieve + retained soil, and record this mass as the weight
retained on the data sheet. The sum of these retained masses should be approximately
equals the initial mass of the soil sample. A loss of more than two percent is
unsatisfactory.
2- Calculate the percent retained on each sieve by dividing the weight retained on each sieve
by the original sample mass.
3- Calculate the percent passing (or percent finer) by starting with 100 percent and
subtracting the percent retained on each sieve as a cumulative procedure.
4- Make a semi logarithmic plot of grain size vs. percent finer.
5- Compute Cc and Cu for the soil.
Hydrometer Analysis
1- Apply meniscus correction to the actual hydrometer reading.
2- From Table 2, obtain the effective hydrometer depth L in cm (for meniscus corrected
reading).
11
12
13
14
100
200
100
15