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Finite and infinite slopes

Infinite Slopes
The type of slope extending infinitely, or up to an extent whose boundaries are not well defined.
For this type of slope the soil properties for all identical depths below the surface are same. In
the making of natural slopes, their is no contribution from our side.

Finite Slopes
The slope that is of limited extent. We the engineers deal with this type of slopes. The term
infinite slope is used to designate a constant slope of infinite extent. The long slope of the face
of a mountain is an example of this type, whereas finite slopes are limited in extent. The slopes
of embankments and earth dams are examples of finite slopes. The slope length depends on
the height of the dam or embankment

Mohrs circle
Mohr’s circle is one of the most important concepts in Civil Engineering, which is used in the
domain of stress and strain. Mohr’s circle represents stress and strain at different planes for a
stressed body in a two-dimensional space. The concept of Mohr’s circle is used in Soil
Mechanics and the Strength of Materials to find the stress and strains at different planes.
A combination of Shear stress and Normal stress act at different planes in a stressed body.
Normal stress is represented by shear stress is represented by τ.

Direct Shear Test:

The direct shear test is a test that uses the direct shear apparatus to determine the shearing
strength of the soil and shear strength parameters for a given soil.
Especially in cohesionless soils, the direct shear test is used to predict the parameters such as
the design of slopes, calculation of bearing
capacity of any strata, calculation of consolidation parameters, etc
There are the following advantages of the direct shear test such as;
Easy to prepare the sample.
Convenient and simple test.
The drainage is quick and the pore pressure dissipates very rapidly because the thickness of
the sample is relatively small.
Consolidated- undrained and drained tests take a small period of time.
For conducting drained tests on cohesionless soils, the direct shear test is ideally suited for this.
The apparatus used in this test is cheap.

Triaxial shear tests

Triaxial shear strength test on soil measures the mechanical properties of the soil. In this test,
soil sample is subjected to stress, such that the stress resulted in one direction will be different
in perpendicular direction. The material properties of the soil like shear resistance, cohesion and
the dilatancy stress is determined from this test. The test is most widely used and is suitable for
all types of soils.

Advantages of Triaxial Test

The stress distribution on the failure plane is uniform.
The specimen is free to fail on the weakest plane
There is complete control over the drainage.
Pore pressure changes and the volumetric changes can be measured directly.
The state of stress at all intermediate stages upto failure is known. The Mohr circle can be
drawn at any stage of shear.
This test is suitable for accurate research work and the apparatus adaptable to special
requirements such as extension test and tests for different stress paths

Unconsolidated Undrained Test (UU)

As the name tells, the soil sample is subjected to cell pressure with no provision of drainage.
Here the cell pressure is maintained to a constant value and the applied deviator stress is
increased till the sample fails. This is called as quick test.

2. Consolidated Undrained Test (CU)

Here, during the application of cell pressure on the sample, drainage is permitted. And the
deviator stress is applied keeping the cell pressure constant and no provision of further
drainage.

3. Consolidated Drained Test (CD)

This test is also called as drained or slow test. Here the deviator stress is increased by allowing
the drainage to happen as it was and the cell pressure is also kept constant. Here the rate of
loading is applied slowly so that excess pore pressure is not developed within the sample
The prepared specimen is enveloped in the membrane and positioned in the triaxial cell. To this,
the desired lateral pressure is applied. Till the specimen fails, the lateral pressure is applied.
The vertical deformation and the load readings are recorded.

Pore water pressure measurement

Pore water pressure must be measured under conditions of no flow either out of or into the
specimen, otherwise the correct pressure gets modified. It is possible to measure pore water
pressure at one end of the specimen while drainage is taking place at the other end. The no
flow condition is maintained by the use of the null indicator, essentially a U-tube partly filled with
mercury.

Unconfined compression Test.

Unconfined Compression Test is a special type of Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) test that is
commonly used for clay specimens. It is special case of a triaxial compression test.

In this test the confining pressure (a) is 0. In this, cylindrical soil

specimen (with height to diameter ratio of 2 to 2.5) is loaded axially by a
compressive force until failure takes place. No rubber membrane is
necessary to encase the specimen. The vertical compressive stress is the
major principal stress (a,) and the other two principal stresses are zero.
This test may be conducted on undisturbed or remoulded cohesive soils. It cannot be conducted
on coarse-grained soils such as sands and gravels as these cannot stand without lateral
support. Also the test is essentially a quick or Undrained one because it is assumed that there is
no loss of moisture during the test, which is performed fairly fast.

Vane shear test

The Vane Shear Test is carried out in accordance with IS : 2720 (part XXX) – 1980. This test is
useful for determining the undrained shear strength (S) of clay and can be performed both in the
lab and in the field.
A four-bladed vane on the end of a rod makes up the apparatus. The vane’s height is usually
twice its width. A boring is made to the depth at which the test will be carried out. The vane is
inserted into the soil at the bottom of the hole and slowly rotated at a rate of 6° per minute while
the torque is measured using an instrument.
The torque (T) needed to shear the soil is determined assuming shear strength (S) is constant
over the cylinder of soil sheared by the vane.

INITIAL PRIMARY SECONDRY CONSOLIDATION

Initial Consolidation
When a load is applied to a partially saturated soil, a decrease in volume occurs due to
expulsion and compression of air in the voids.
A small decrease in volume occurs due to compression of solid particles.
The reduction in volume of the soil just after the application of the load is known as initial
consolidation or initial compression. For saturated soils, the initial consolidation is mainly due to
compression of solid particles.
Primary consolidation
Occurred due to the expulsion/extrusion of the water that occupies the void spaces.
Primary consolidation settlement is a result of a volume change in saturated cohesive soils.
Very slow and continues over a long period of time.
Secondary consolidation
Additional form of compression that occurs at constant effective stress at a very slow rate.
Observed in saturated cohesive soils.
Result of the plastic adjustment and rearrangement of soil fabrics.
Occurs after the primary consolidation settlement ended

Assumptions of Terzaghi's Theory:

The soil is homogenous (uniform in composition throughout) and isotropic (show same physical
property in each direction).
The soil is fully saturated (zero air voids due to water content being so high).
The solid particles and water are incompressible.
Compression and flow are one-dimensional.
Strains in the soil are relatively small.
Darcy's Law is valid for all hydraulic gradients.
The coefficient of permeability and the coefficient of volume compressibility remain constant
throughout the process.
There is a unique relationship independent of time, between the void ratio and effective stress

PRECONSOLIDATION PRESSURE
> It is defined as the ratio of undisturbed peak undrained shear strength to totally remolded
undrained shear strength.
> Pre-consolidation pressure is the maximum effective vertical overburden stressthat a
particular soil sample has sustained in the past.
>Pre-consolidation pressure cannot be measured directly, but can be estimated using a number
of different strategies.
If the current vertical effective stress (ov') is equal to or greater than op', the soil is said to be
normally consolidated.
METHODS

Using a consolidation curve:(Casagrande 1936):-

Choose by eye the point of maximum curvature on the consolidation curve.

Draw a horizontal line from this point.
Draw a line tangent to the curve at the point found in part 1.
Bisect the angle made from the horizontal line in part 2 and the tangent line in part 3.
Extend the "straight portion" of the virgin compression curve (high effective stress.
low void ratio: almost vertical on the right of the graph) up to the bisector line in part 4.
The point where the lines in part 4 and part 5 intersect is the pre-consolidation pressure.

Discharge velocity and seepage velocity

Discharge velocity is the volume of water flowi ng in unit time across the unit cross section pe
rpendicular to the direction of flow.
Discharge velocity is often known as darcy's di scharge velocity and is significantly lesser than
the seepage velocity.
Discharge velocity is used in darcy's expressio n of flow of water under head difference.

Seepage flow is the volume of of water flowing in unit time across the unit surface area of ava
ilable voids.
seepage velocity is the real velocity of water through the soil.
Relationship:
seepage velocity = (e+1)/e * discharge velocity
e = void ratio.

Standard Proctor’s Test for Compaction of Soil

To assess the amount of compaction of soil and water content required in the field, compaction
tests are done on the same soil in the laboratory. The test provides a relationship between the
water content and the dry density.
The water content at which the maximum dry density is attained is obtained from the
relationship provided by the tests. Proctor used a standard mould of 4 inches internal diameter
and an effective height of 4.6 inches with a capacity of 1/30 cubic foot.
The mould had a detachable base plate and a removable collar of 2 inches height at its top. The
soil is compacted in the mould in 3 layers, each layer was given 25 blows of 5.5 pounds rammer
filling through a height of 12 inches.

Modified Proctor Test for Compaction of Soil

The modified Proctor test was developed to represent heavier compaction than that in the
standard Proctor test. The test is used to simulate field conditions where heavy rollers are used.
The test was standardized by American association of State Highway Officials and is, therefore
also known as modified AASHO test.
In this, the mould used is same as that in the Std Proctor test. However, the rammer used is
much heavier and has a greater drop than that in the Std Proctor test. Its mass is 4.89 kg and
the free drop is 450mm. The soil is compacted in five equal layers, each layer is given 25 blows.
The compactive effort in modified Proctor test is 4.56 times greater than in the Std Proctor test.
The rest of the procedure is same

What is Darcy’s Law?

Darcy’s law states the principle which governs the movement of fluid in the given substance.
Darcy’s law equation describes the capability of the liquid to flow via any porous media like a
rock. The law is based on the fact according to, the flow between two points is directly
proportional to the pressure differences between the points, the distance, and the connectivity of
flow within rocks between the points. Measuring the inter-connectivity is known as permeability.

Darcy's law is valid

for laminar flow through sediments. In fine-grained sediments, the dimensions of interstices are
small and thus flow is laminar. Coarse-grained sediments also behave similarly but in very
coarse-grained sediments the flow may be turbulent. Hence Darcy's law is not always valid in
such sediments.