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Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering
CIVE 381 Soil Mechanics, Winter 2013
Instructor: Dr Lijun Deng

Final Examination

Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, April 23, 2013

No notes or texts permitted.

All answers must be contained on the examination sheets. Use the back of the page if necessary.

All questions must be answered and note that all questions are not of equal value.

It is very important to provide all the steps leading to the answer. Correct answers without
showing calculations will not be given full marks.

Question Mark

1 /15

2 /25

3 /10

4 /15

5 /20

6 /15

Total /100
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QUESTION 1

Part A: Define clearly and unambiguously the following terms. You may use Symbols,
Equations, Sketches, and/or Sentences as appropriate. If you use symbols, demonstrate that you
know the definition of the symbols.

(1) Optimum water content, w opt

(1) H dr

(1) Dilation

(1) OCR

(1) K0

Part B: Explain the primary difference(s) between the following two terms. You may use
Symbols, Equations, Sketches, and/or Sentences as appropriate.
(2) U z and U avg

(2) (φ', c') and (φ u , c u)

(2) c c and a v

(2) Active failure and passive failure Mohr Circles

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(2) Effective stress and total stress

QUESTION 2
The in-situ soil profile is shown in the figure below. The results of a consolidation test of a sample taken
from the mid of the clayey layer are presented. A cylindrical oil tank is to be built on the ground surface
and applies a uniform pressure of q 0 = 300 kPa. The radius of the tank base is 3 m.

(8) (a) Determine the preconsolidation stress of the clay using Casagrande’s graphic solution. Is the clay
OC or NC? What is the OCR if the soil is OC?

(10) (b) Calculate the primary consolidation settlement at the centre of the tank. Influence value chart for
uniformly loaded circular area is attached at the end of this booklet.

(7) (c) Upon 100% consolidation, the tank load q 0 was reduced from 300 kPa to 50 kPa and kept constant,
what would be the new preconsolidation stress and OCR of the clay? Calculate the final ground uplift
under the centre of the tank due to the rebound of the clayey layer.

Cylindrical oil tank, q0 =

300 kPa, Radius r = 3 m

1m

Sand, γsat = 21 kN/m3, γdry

= 20 kN/m3 4m

Clay, γsat = 21 kN/m3, e0 = 1.73 2m

Cc = 0.42, Ccr = 0.03

Gravel

Soil Profile for Question 2

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1.8

1.7

1.6
e

1.5

1.4

1.3
10 100 1000
log (σ'v / kPa)

Consolidation curve for Question 2 of a sample taken from the mid clayey layer

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QUESTION 3

This question adopts the setup of Question 2.

The consolidation curve in Question 2 shows the test results of a 3 cm thick sample taken from the mid
clayey layer. The soil sample was doubly drained in the tests. For a certain loading stage, it was observed
that the time required for 50% consolidation was 120 min.

(3) (a) Calculate the coefficient of consolidation, C v , of the clay in the unit of cm2/ min.

(4) (b) Estimate the average degree of consolidation, U avg , of the in-situ clayey layer and the
consolidation settlement 1 year after the application of the tank loading. Assume the tank loading was
applied instantaneously.

(3) (c) Estimate excess pore pressures ∆u in the clayey layer at z = 0, 0.5 m, and 1 m below the top sand-
clay interface 1 year after the application of the tank loading.

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QUESTION 4 – Part I

An element of sandy soil inclined at 45 degrees is subject to the stresses shown below. Solve for the
following parts GRAPHICALLY.

(2) (a) Plot Mohr Circle for the state of stress.

(2) (b) Sketch the major and minor principal planes using the Pole method.
(1) (c) On the Mohr Circle, show the point of the stresses acting on the horizontal plane.
(1) (d) Show the friction angle of the sand if the element is currently at failure.

10 20 10
5

10 20

-10

QUESTION 4 – Part II

(4) Sketch the typical behavior of dense and loose sands in a direct shear test.

τ εv

εh

εh

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QUESTION 4 – Part III

(5) Given the soil profile and groundwater condition, sketch the distribution of pore pressure head h p (in
meters) from the ground surface to a depth of 8 m.

hp (m)
3m Sand
3m

Clay 1m

Clay 2m

Gravel
2m
Aquifer
Depth (m)

QUESTION 5

Two consolidated-drained (CD) triaxial compression tests were conducted on a NC clay. The results are
shown below:

Confining pressure, σ' 3 (kPa) Deviator stress at failure, σ' 1f - σ' 3f (kPa)
Test 1 50 112.7
Test 2 100 226.0
(2) (a) Draw the Mohr Circles of both tests at failure.

(2) (b) Determine the friction angle in terms of effective stress.

(3) (c) Calculate the drained shear strength (τ ff ) of Test 2.

(10) (d) The strength parameters of the clay in terms of total stress are φ T = 20º and c = 0, which were
determined by other triaxial tests. If a clay specimen is isotropically consolidated to 150 kPa confining
pressure and then subject to an undrained triaxial test (i.e., a CU test), calculate the following quantities at
failure: (1) σ 1f , (2) c u , (3) σ' 1f and σ' 3f , (4) the induced ∆u, and (5) Skempton’s A parameter.

(3) (e) What is the undrained shear strength c u of a clay specimen that was consolidated isotropically to
150 kPa and then subjected to UU triaxial compression under a higher confining pressure?

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QUESTION 6

A sheet wall is embedded to retain 3 m high sandy soil in a deep excavation project. The wall is propped
at the crest (see Point P) so that the displacement of the wall will be restrained. The wall is assumed to be
rigid. The soil is initially dry with a density of 20 kN/m3 and a friction angle φ’ = 30º. For the questions
below, neglect the wall friction and the weight of the wall.

(7) (a) Calculate the factor of safety against the overturning failure if the wall rotates clockwisely about
the point P.

(8) (b) If the retained sand becomes saturated, calculate the new factor of safety against the overturning
failure in the short term when the pore pressure distribution is hydrostatic in the saturated zone. The dry
and saturated densities are given in the figure. Assume that the sand in the excavated side remains dry and
the friction angle remains unchanged.

P P
Prop Prop

3m 3m
Sheet wall Sheet wall

Dry 3m Dry Dry 3 m Saturated

Sand, γdry = 20 kN/m3, φ' = 30 º Sand, γdry = 20 kN/m3, γsat = 22 kN/m3, φ' = 30 º

Figure for Question 6(a) Figure for Question 6(b)

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FORMULA SHEET

CIVE 381 Page 11