NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

FGETEC2
SEATWORK NO. 2

SHEAR STRENGTH OF SOIL

Solve and show your solutions/illustrations for the following problems:

Problem 1. For the state of stress as shown.

a. Calculate the maximum principal stress.

b. Calculate the minimum principal stress.
c. Determine the maximum shear.
d. Calculate the normal stress at plane AB.
e. Calculate the shear stress at plane AB.

Problem 2. The table below shows the data in the direct shear test.
Normal stress Shear Stress
A kPa B kPa
C kPa D kPa
a. Determine the angle of internal friction.
b. Determine the cohesion.
c. If the normal stress used is E kPa, determine the requires shear stress to cause failure.

LAST DIGIT
OF
A B C D E
STUDENT
NUMBER
0 20 30 25 35 45
1 25 35 35 45 65
2 30 40 45 55 85
3 35 45 55 65 105
4 40 50 65 75 125
5 45 55 75 85 145
6 50 60 85 95 165
7 55 65 95 105 185
8 60 70 105 115 205
9 65 75 115 125 225
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Problem 3. A saturated clay sample is tested using unconsolidated undrained test with confining pressure equal to 30 kPa and the added axial
stress is 30 kPa. Determine the cohesion of soil. Note: For saturated clay under UU test the angle of internal friction is zero.

LAST DIGIT
OF
A B
STUDENT
NUMBER
0 30 30
1 40 50
2 50 70
3 60 90
4 70 110
5 80 130
6 90 150
7 100 170
8 110 190
9 120 210