CE5113 - Aug 2021 - Ch4 - Lab Tests

Department of
Civil & Environmental Engineering
MSc in Geotechnical Engineering
CE5113
Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring
August – December 2021
CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)
Chapter 4
Laboratory Tests
-- Part 1 – Triaxial (shear strength) tests
-- Part 2 – Consolidation test
+ short summary on Index Properties Tests
Dr. Chew Soon Hoe

Asst Professor, Dept of Civil &
Env. Engineering
National University of Singapore
ceecsh@nus.edu.sg
2
Laboratory Soil Tests
1. Index Properties Tests

2. Strength Tests
3. Consolidation Tests
4. Compaction related tests
5. Chemical tests
© Dr Chew S H
3
1. Index Properties Tests

• Atterberg Limits (liquid limit and plasticity limit),
water content, particle size distribution, Specific
Gravity, Bulb and dry density etc..
• These are very important to give some indicative

values of the strength and other properties
• Many “correlation” between index properties (mainly
LL, PL, PI) to other properties.
• Most can be determined using “Disturbed” samples.
4
Stress-
Strain
diagram:
Plastic Index: PI = LL- PL 5
© Dr Chew S H
6
A. Casagrande's method
Count the
number of
blows
• Soil is placed into the metal cup (Casagrande cup).

• A groove (2 mm width) is made with a standardized tool.
• The cup is repeatedly “drop” with gap of 10 mm onto a hard
rubber base, during which the groove closes up gradually as
a result of the impact.
• The moisture content at which it takes 25 drops of the cup to
cause the groove to close is LL. 7
B. Fall Cone method
8
3 mm rod
© Dr Chew S10
H
11
For Clayey soil – Atterberg Limits test and insitu water

content test will tell a lot about the soil..
- Note that Atterbery limit can be performed only on soil
passing thru 63 mm sieve.
 Determine the soil plasticity!!
For Sandy soil – Density and relative density is most

useful.
How to classify “clayey” vs “sandy” soil  Particular

size distribution – Sieve analysis and Hydrometer analysis.
© Dr Chew S12
H
© Dr Chew S13
H
© Dr Chew S14
H
0.01 0.1 0.5 1 10 mm

15
Uniform Soil Well graded Soil

Density
Compaction
Shear strength
Permeability
16
-- Part 1 – Triaxial (shear

strength) tests
Background to
Shear Strength concept
and
Laboratory testing of
Shear Strength
17
1. Strength Tests
• Strength – for soil – three items are important:
(a) more important is the SHEAR strength instead
of compressive strength or tensile strength. ..
(b) Strength of soil is dependent on soil
confinement
(c) Strength is stress history dependent.
• For Sandy soil – Shear strength can be tested

by DIRECT SHEAR BOX test
• For Clayey soil – shear strength is obtained by

TRIAXIAL TEST.
© Dr Chew S18
H
TRIAXIAL TEST
OUTLINE
1. Concept 5. Interpretation of Test
a. Shear Strength
2. Test Arrangement b. failure criteria
Advantages and Limitations c. total and effective stress
d. pore pressure coefficients
3. Stages of Test e. Strength daigram
a. Saturation f. Typical UU test results
b. Consolidation g. Typical CU Tets results
c. Shearing h. Typical CD tets results
4. Types of tests 6. Effect of sampling disturbance

a. UU test
b. CU test
c. CD test
19
Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion

Soil  Soil parameters
Properties:
-- ’CV
-- d, max, d, min
friction angle
cohesion
f
c
 
f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take

without failure, under normal stress of . 20
Envelopes in terms of  & ’

Identical specimens initially f
subjected to different isotropic
stresses (c) and then loaded c c
axially to failure
c c
uf
Initially… Failure
c, 
in terms of 
At failure,
3 = c; 1 = c+f c’, ’
3’ = 3 – uf ; 1’ = 1 - uf in terms of ’
21
Triaxial Test Apparatus

piston (to apply deviatoric stress)
failure plane
O-ring
impervious
membrane
soil sample at
failure
porous
stone
perspex cell
water
cell pressure
pore pressure or
back pressure
pedestal volume change
22
23
Sample
extraction
Triaxial Test Preparation
24
Typical Triaxial test results displaced on screen

25
Triaxial test
4 The triaxial apparatus is the principal soil shear testing
apparatus. The results are generally considered to be
reliable and relevant to the field, and most soil models are
based on the results of triaxial tests.
Advantages:
4 Good for field samples - uses cylindrical core specimens,
and can easily test undisturbed samples.
4 Easy to set-up the apparatus
4 A large data bank exists for triaxial data. (1st triaxial tests
were performed in the 1930’s)
4 A wide range of parameters can be studied
4 With computer control all stress paths are possible
26
Triaxial test
Disadvantages:
4 Limited applicability - only directly relevant to centre line

under a circular load.
4 Some sample disturbance cannot be avoided
4 Stresses and strains not perfectly uniform because of
mixed boundary conditions.
4 Most importantly, the isotropic consolidation may
overestimate the strength (see next page) – Difficult to
conduct the anisotropic test
4 Underestimate the E, especially at the small strain
27
q1 – q2 = different in strength
q
q1
q2
P’2 P’1 P’
Anisotropic :
1’ = h Isotropic :
3’ = Ko (h) 1’ = 3’ = h

28
Types of Triaxial Tests
Stage 1 – Consolidation Stage Stage 2 – Shearing Stage
deviatoric stress ()
Under all-around
cell pressure c Shearing (loading)
Is the drainage valve open?

Is the drainage valve open?
yes no
yes no
Consolidated Unconsolidated
sample sample Drained Undrained
loading loading
29
Types of Triaxial Tests

Depending on whether drainage is allowed
or not during
 initial isotropic cell pressure application, and
 shearing,
there are three special types of triaxial tests
that have practical significances. They are:
Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) test

Consolidated Undrained (CU) test
Consolidated Drained (CD) test
30
Dr Chew S H
Expected answer 1:
For unconsolidated
undrained test, in
Expected answer 2: terms of total
Granular soils have stresses, u = 0
no cohesion.
c = 0 & c’= 0
Un-expected
answer 1: For
normally
consolidated
clays,
c’ = 0 & c = 0.
31
CD, CU and UU Triaxial Tests

Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) Test
 pore pressure develops during shear
Not measured = 0; i.e., failure
’ unknown envelope is
horizontal
 analyse in terms of   gives cu and u
 very quick test
Use cu and u for analysing undrained

situations (e.g., short term stability,
quick loading)
32
Consolidated Undrained (CU) Test

 pore pressure develops during shear
Measure  ’
 gives c’ and ’
 faster than CD (preferred way to find c’ and ’)
33

Consolidated Drained (CD) Test
 no excess pore pressure throughout the test

 very slow shearing to avoid build-up of pore
pressure
Can be days!
 not desirable
 gives c’ and ’
Use c’ and ’ for analysing fully drained

situations (e.g., long term stability,
very slow loading)
34
Computation of Stresses In Triaxial Test
35
Mohr Circle – Shear Stress Failure Envelope
36
Equation (1):  = c + σ tanΦ

Equation (2):  ’ = c’ + σ’ tanΦ’ 37
Mohr Circles for Clay & Sand

– Total Stress Analysis
Equation (1):  = c + σ tanΦ

38
Mohr Circles for Clay & Sand

– Effective Stress Analysis
Equation (2):  = c’ + σ’ tanΦ’ 39
40
41
42
v
Stress Point h X
 t stress point
stress point
(v-h)/2
h v  s
(v+h)/2
43
44
Stress Path Stress path

During loading… is the locus
of stress
points
 t
Stress path
 s
Stress path is a convenient way to keep track of the

progress in loading with respect to failure envelope.
45
46
Failure Envelopes
 t failur
e
 tan-1 (sin )
c c cos  stress path
 s
During loading (shearing)….

47
48
49
50
51
52
53
Typical Stress-
Strain
Response for
CU Tests
(Clays)
54
Typical Stress-Strain Response from CD Tests (Sands)
56
In summary
57
58
Pore Pressure Parameters
A simple way to estimate the pore

pressure change in undrained
1 loading, in terms of total stress
changes ~ after Skempton (1954)
Y 3
u = ?
Skempton’s pore pressure
parameters A and B
59
Pore Pressure Parameters

B-parameter
B = f (saturation,..)
For saturated soils, B  1.
A-parameter at failure (Af)

Af = f(OCR)
For normally consolidated clays Af  1.
For heavily overconsolidated clays Af is negative.
60
Use of Back pressure
Dr Chew S61
H
Skempton’s Pore Pressure Coefficient, B
Δu = B[Δσ3 + A(Δσ1-Δσ3)]
Δu = B.Δσ3 + AB(Δσ1-Δσ3)]
Δu = Δσc+Δσd
Sample disturbance on Shear Strength

-- Significant research work was done on sample disturbance,
particularly on issues related to soft clays, in the 1950’s and
1960’s.
-- After a relatively inactive period there has been a recent
resurgence of effort on the topic. This has been inspired by the
need to construct more efficiently and cheaply, while at the
same time safely and by the development of marginal sites
worldwide.
-- Research work has taken place at many universities and
institutes for example the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute,
NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, UMASS Amherst, US, Imperial
College London, University of Bristol, UK, University of Surrey,
UK, Port and Airport Institute and University of Hokkaido,
Japan, GeoDelft in the Netherlands, University College Dublin
in Ireland and MIT, UC Berkeley, and UIUC and several other
places.
66

-- For example in soft clays it has been found that poor quality piston
tube sampling can reduce measured undrained shear strength
and stiffness and preconsolidation stress. Some classic results
from NGI are shown on Figure 1.
67
68
Recent effort has focused on techniques to allow

rapid assessment of sample disturbance for example
using shear wave velocity and suction
measurements.
Some examples shown (next page) show how shear
wave velocity measurements on unconfined samples
clearly reveal sample quality.
-- Large the sample disturbance  lower the soil
shear wave velocity!
69

From Tanaka (2000), which shows suction measurements
reveal the high quality of Japanese piston samples.
70
71
Fig. 8. Stress–strain curves for CIU and CK0U tests 72


Conclusion
It is important to recognize that the sampling process causes two
different disturbances, namely, stress release and loss of structure.
Reconsolidation methods are used to negate the effect of stress
release whereas it is not clear whether it can compensate for the
loss of structure.
The following conclusions can be drawn:

1. In general, samples retrieved using the Shelby tube show a higher
degree of disturbance compared with those using the Japanese thin-
walled piston sampler.
The undrained shear strength determined by unconfined compression
tests on samples retrieved using the Japanese sampler are about
30% higher than those using the Shelby tube. However, these
values are consistently lower than those determined by in situ tests.
73
Poor results from Triaxial test -- Why…

Although in principle a triaxial test is straightforward there
are many factors that can lead to poor results.
These include:
1. The rough porous stones -- These provide restraint
against lateral deformation and samples tend to bulge.
2. Ram friction -- Can be avoided by using internal load
cells
3. Leakage from sample - Can occur through membrane
and valves
4. Seating errors - Results in unreliable stiffness
measurements at small strains
5. Saturation-- Pore pressures can be unreliable unless
samples fully saturated. This is usually ensured by using
an elevated back pressure.
74
Part 2 –
Consolidation Tests
75
V CONSOLIDATION TEST
V.1 INTRODUCTION
Consolidation is a time dependent stress-deformation response of

low permeability soils (e.g. clay, peat etc).
Consolidation tests are frequently required either

(a) To assess the amount of volume changes (i.e. settlement) to be
expected of soil mass under load (e.g. beneath a foundation), or
(b) To allow the prediction of the time that consolidation will take
place (e.g. time for newly reclaimed land, embankment
construction, excavation I soft clay etc..)
The effect of predictions based on consolidation test results can be

very serious
-e.g. Time needed for next stage of filling of embankment over soft
clay
use of and design of PVD for acceleration of consolidation in
reclamation project..
time allowed for excavation opening..
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
Introduction
Three pieces of apparatus are in common use for
consolidation testing:
1. Oedometer – Proposed by Terzaghi (1923),

Casagrande (1936)
2. Triaxial apparatus – proposed by Bishop and
Henkel (1962)
3. The hydraulic consolidation cell, or Rowe Cell –
Proposed by Rowe and Barden (1936)
See figure next three pages..
84
85
Parts of Oedometer test Apparatus
86
NO clay sample With clay sample

inside inside
87
88
Sample
extraction
Oedometer Test Preparation
89
Traditional Type
Oedometer
© Dr Chew S90
H
Modern Type Oedometer

Using Hydraulic Pressure
© Dr Chew S91
H
Loading ratio : P(n)/P(n-1) = 1

i.e. P2= 2 x P1
P3= 2 x P2
Oedometer Test Procedure Dr Chew S92
H
Typical Oedometer Test results on the

screen © Dr Chew S93
H
4 Rowe cell…
94
95
96
Casagrande Oedometer Test
A. Some characteristic
1. Most commonly used
2. Apparatus consists of a cell which can be placed in a
loading frame and load vertically.
3. In the cell, the soil samples is laterally restrained by a
steel ring (very rigid), which incorporates a cutting shoe
which was used during sample preparation.
 lateral strain = zero ,
but lateral stress = non zero!
B. The top and bottom of the specimen are placed in contact
with porous discs, so that drainage of the specimen takes
place in the vertical direct only, when vertical stress is
applied.
 Consolidation is purely one dimensional.
C. Common sample size: 76 mm dia x 19 mm thickness
This will allowed the common sampler size of 102 mm dia.
Samples to be pared off for this test. 97

D. Testing procedures – BS1377: part 5:1990 Clause 3.
1. The specimen is subjected to a series of pre-selected vertical

stresses (e.g. 6, 12, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 kN/m2)
2. In each load step, the load is hold constant, and settlement

reading taken, until the settlement stabilized..
2. Time taken for each step depends on Cv of soil .. usually 24

hours..
3. Settlement readings (dial gauges) are taken in a log time basis –

i.e. 0, 15, 30 sec, 1 min, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30 minutes etc..)
98

5. For the first time the samples is loaded, the oedometer cell is
flooded with water, and if samples swells, the load has to be
immediately added till no swelling.
For stiff OC clay sample – this swelling pressure is very important for
the foundation design.. See clause 4 for detail.
For soft clay – This swelling is less serious.
99

6. Results
A. The settlement-time results of each loading steps are then

plotted (either in log time scale or squared time scale.
The Cv, coefficient of consolidation is then calculated from each

of these settlement-time curves.
Taylor or Casagrande’s methods.
B. Cv of each load step can then be plotted in Cv vs Pressure
A. The Void ratio at the end of each load step can also be plotted vs
pressure – this will allowed the calculation of Cc or Mv.
Mv = Δe/(1+e). (1/Δp)
where Δe is the void ratio change due to the pressure change Δp.
100

E. Samples disturbance effects
A. Cv –
The Cv obtained in Lab test are usually very significantly under-

estimated due to the small samples size.
Rowe reported that Ratio of Cv from In-situ test over that from
lab Oedometer tests = 3 to 1000
B. Cc or Mv
The coefficients are seriously affected by the samples
disturbance in soft or sensitive clay, and also by size effects.
Correction for samples disturbance – see next few pages.
101
102
Oedometer Test Results 103
Sample disturbance to Consolidation test
104
Normally Consolidated Clay

(NC Clay)
Pc’=Po’ 105
Over-Consolidated Clay (OC Clay),

P’c > Po’
Po’ Pc ’ 106
V.2 Casagrande Oedometer Test

E. Samples disturbance effects
C. Pc –
1. in very soft clay, the accurate assessment of Pc is very important
if the settlement is reasonably predicted.
2. Test procedure (i.e., rate of strain) has very large effect on Pc.
Rate of strain compatible to the field should be used.
108
Rowe cell
A. Test procedures
1. It is also called hydraulic oedometer test.

2. This apparatus
prevents lateral strain by confining the specimen in a bronze cast
ring, and
provides vertical stress through a pleated bellows-like rubber
membrane, and
Is restrained at the top and bottom by thick metal plates bolted to
the bronze ring.
3. Sample size
Rowe cell is available for specimens of 76mm, 152mm and 254mm
dia.
109
Rowe cell
Rowe cell test
- has most of the advantages of the triaxial consolidation test,
- pore water pressure can be controlled by a constant pressure

source through the top drain, and pore water pressure
measurements can be made at small ceramics flush mounted in the
base plate and connected to pressure transducers.
- volume change measurements may be made by monitoring the

movements of the settlement rod or by measuring the movement of
the water in the back pressure line with a volume gauge.
- Because of the use of rubber jack, high vertical stress levels can be
applied to the specimen without the need for a loading frame.
110
Rowe cell
Rowe cell can be used with at least four types of specimen drainage:
a. drainage may be vertical to a single porous sintered bronze plate

beneath the rubber jack,
b. Double vertical drainage: porous plates may be provided at the top
and bottom of the specimen in which case mid-plane pore pressure
dissipation cannot be measured.
c. Horizontal drainage may be used by augering a sand drain in the
centre of the specimen (inward drainage)
d. Horizontal drainage may be used by by placing a 1.5mm thick
porous plastic material at the periphery of the specimen.
Because of the tendency of soils to be layered, their horizontal

coefficients of permeability and consolidation will often by many
times greater than in the vertical direction.
The ability of the Rowe cell to test with vertical compression and
horizontal drainage (as ) is a major advantage.
111
112
Real Examples…
4m Sand fill
e e
16 m Clay
eo= ?
log (p’) log (p’)
Po’= ?
(a) If NC Clay (b) If OC Clay113

115
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Dr Chew S H
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Singapore Marine Clay data
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The End..
129

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Department of

Civil & Environmental Engineering

MSc in Geotechnical Engineering

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Dr. Chew Soon Hoe

Laboratory Soil Tests

1. Index Properties Tests

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

1. Index Properties Tests

• These are very important to give some indicative

• Most can be determined using “Disturbed” samples.

Plastic Index: PI = LL- PL 5

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

• Soil is placed into the metal cup (Casagrande cup).

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

B. Fall Cone method

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

For Clayey soil – Atterberg Limits test and insitu water

For Sandy soil – Density and relative density is most

How to classify “clayey” vs “sandy” soil  Particular

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

0.01 0.1 0.5 1 10 mm

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Uniform Soil Well graded Soil

-- Part 1 – Triaxial (shear

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

• For Sandy soil – Shear strength can be tested

• For Clayey soil – shear strength is obtained by

4. Types of tests 6. Effect of sampling disturbance

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion

f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take

Envelopes in terms of  & ’

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Triaxial Test Apparatus

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Typical Triaxial test results displaced on screen

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

4 Limited applicability - only directly relevant to centre line

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

3’ = Ko (h) 1’ = 3’ = h

Is the drainage valve open?

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Types of Triaxial Tests

Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) test

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

CD, CU and UU Triaxial Tests

Use cu and u for analysing undrained

CD, CU and UU Triaxial Tests

Consolidated Undrained (CU) Test

 faster than CD (preferred way to find c’ and ’)

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

CD, CU and UU Triaxial Tests

 no excess pore pressure throughout the test

Use c’ and ’ for analysing fully drained

Computation of Stresses In Triaxial Test

CE5113 Geotechnical Investigation and Monitoring Aug-Dec 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)