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Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Soil Exploration
1. Site exploration
• Investigation of a site for obtaining information about the subsurface
condition that underline a proposed structure.
• Determination of surface and subsurface soil condition and features in
an area of proposed construction that may influence the design and
construction and address the expected post construction problems.
• It consist of determining the profile of the natural soil deposits at the
site, taking the soil samples and determining the engineering
properties of soils.
• It also include in-situ testing of the soils.
Scope of Exploration
• Simple visual examination of the soil at the surface or shallow test pits.
• Power operated.
• Hole is advanced by repeated blow of a heavy chisel into the bottom
of the hole.
• The resulting slurry formed at bottom of borehole is removed by bailer
or sand pump.
• Because of the deep disturbance of the soil this method of boring is
not favored.
• Casing is generally required.
• Maximum depth of boring is 60m.
Cont’
• The main advantage of percussion drilling method is that it can be
used for all types of materials.
Major disadvantages is that
• The material at the bottom of the hole is disturbed by heavy blows of
the chisel.
• It is not possible to get good quality undisturbed samples.
• It becomes difficult to detect minor changes in the properties of the
strata penetrated.
Cont’
d) Rotary drilling
• This method uses rotation of the drill bit, with the simultaneous
application of pressure to advance the hole
• Rotary drilling is the most rapid method of advancing holes in rock unless
it is badly fissured; however, it can also be used for any type of soil.
• Drilling mud (usually a water solution of thixotropic clay (such as
bentonite) with or without other admixtures) may be used in soils where
the sides of the hole tend to cave in.
• In this method undisturbed samples can be obtained at desired depths by
using suitable samplers.
• Maximum depth of drilling is 80 to 150m.
Cont’
The advantage of rotary drilling in soils is
• The progress is much faster than other investigation methods.
• Disturbance of the soil below the borehole is slight.
Limitations
• The method is not suitable if the soil contains a high percentage of
gravel/cobble, as they tend to rotate beneath the bit and are not broken
up.
• The natural water content of the material is liable to be increased due
to contact with the drilling fluid.
Cont’
Cont’
Site exploration range
• The outside clearance should also not be much greater than inside
clearance. It is usually 0 to 2%.
• Outside clearance facilitates the withdrawal of the sample from the
ground.
Example 1.2:- Compare the area ratios
1.4. FIELD [IN-SITU] TESTS
• The main problems associated with the laboratory testing of soils are
disturbance during sampling and the difficulty of testing samples large
enough to be representative of the soil in the field, where the effects of
structure and fabric can be highly significant.
Advantages of in-situ tests:
• They are usually less expensive, so greater number of tests can be
performed, thus characterizing the soil more detail.
• The test results are available immediately.
Disadvantages of in-situ tests:
• Often no sample is obtained, thus making soil classification more difficult.
•The engineer has less control over confining stresses and drainage.
Cont’
Note that larger values of Er decrease the blow count ‘N’ linearly, that is, Er45 gives N
= 20 and Er90 gives N = 10;
Cont’
In the field, the energy ratio can vary from 30% to 90%.
These discrepancies appear to arise from factors such as the following:
• Difference in some features of SPT equipment, drilling rig, hammer
and skill of operators.
• Driving hammer configuration and the way hammer load is applied
• Whether liner is used inside the split barrel sampler.
• Overburden pressure the bigger the o.b.p the more is N value for soil
of the same density.
• Length of the drill rod- shorter the rod the more is N
• Bore hole diameter- the smaller the size of the hole the more is N
value.
Cont’
• Although Liao and Whitman did not place any limits on this correction,
it is probably best to keep (N1)60 ≤ 2(N60) .This limit avoids excessively
high (N1)60 values at shallow depths (Donald P.Coduto, 2001).
SPT correlation in cohesive soils
SPT correlation in cohesionless soils
Cont’
Cont’
Example 1.4.
Given:- N=20; rod length=12m, hole diameter=150mm;p’0=205kPa use
safety hammer with Er=ηH=80 %; dense sand; no liner.
Required:- What is the standard ((N1)60) and ((N1)70) base on the given
data.
Example 1.5.
Using the corrected N values in Example 2.3, determine
A) The relative density (Dr %) using Skemptons correlation
B) The angle of internal friction using Meyerhofs’ correlation
2) Dynamic Cone Penetration Test:
• This is another useful test, which is normally used to determine the relative resistance
offered by the different soil layers.
• The cone is fixed to the bottom of a rod by pushed fit.
• The cone is driven into the ground in the same way as a SPT is performed. The number
of blows required to penetrate 30cms depth is called as Nc value.
• In the case of dynamic cone penetration test no borehole is used.
• Experiments carried out indicate that beyond about 6m depth, frictional resistance on
the rod increases which gives erroneous results for Nc value.
• The maximum depth suggested for this test is about 6 m.
• If the test has to be conducted beyond 6 m depth, one has to use drilling mud (bentonite
slurry) under pressure forced through the pipe and the cone.
Dynamic cone penetration testing equipment
Cont’
• To judge the consistency of soil from Nc values, the general practice is to convert Nc to
N values of SPT.
Nc = N/C
Where:-
N = blow count for SPT
Nc = blow count for dynamic cone
C = Constant, lies between 0.8 and 1.2 when bentonite is used.
• When bentonite is not used
Nc= 1.5N for depths up to 3m
Nc= 1.75N for depths between 3m and 6m
Nc = 2.0N for depths greater than 6m
• Nc Values need to be corrected for overburden pressure in cohesionless soils like SPT.
1.4.2. Vane Shear Test
• This test is useful in determining the in-situ undrained shear strength
(Cu) of very soft and sensitive clays, which lose a large part of their
strength when even slightly disturbed by the sampling operation.
• In most cases a hole is drilled to the desired depth, where the vane
shear test is planned to be performed and the vane is carefully pushed
into the soil. A torque necessary to shear the cylinder of soil defined
by the blades of the vane is applied by rotating the arm of the
apparatus with a constant speed of 0.5 degree/sec. The maximum
torque is then measured from which the shearing strength is
determined.
Cont’
Cont’
Cont’
Cont’
Cont’
Cont’
• Solution:
Su = T/[πD2H/2+D3/6]
= 50/[π *0.052*0.1/2+0.053/6]
= 109.13 kN/m2
1.4.3. Plate Loading Test
Cont’
• The plate load test can also be used to determine the settlement for a
given intensity of loading (qo). The relations between the settlement of
the plate (Sp) and that of the foundation (Sf) for the same load intensity
are given below
Cont’
Example 1.6.
A plate load test using a plate of size 30x30 cm was carried out
at the level of a prototype foundation. The soil at the site was
cohesionless with the water table at great depth. The plate
settled by 10mm at a load intensity of 160 kN/m 2.Determine
A) The settlement of a square footing of size 2x2 m under the
same load intensity
B) Estimate the load intensity if the permissible settlement of
the prototype foundation is limited to 40 mm.
1.5. GEOPHYSICAL METHODS
• The seismic methods are based on the principle that the elastic shock waves
have different velocities in different materials.
• At the interface of two different materials, the waves get partly reflected and
partly refracted.
• Seismic methods of subsurface explorations generally utilize the refracted
waves.
• The shock wave is created by a hammer blow or by a small explosive.
• The observation of the first arrival of the waves is recorded by geophones
located at various points such as A, B, C.
• The basic equations of the refraction survey are derived based on the
assumption that the velocity of the shock wave increases as the depth
increases (V3 > V2 > V1).
Cont’
Cont’
Cont’
Cont’
Limitation of the seismic methods
1) The methods cannot be used if a hard layer with a greater seismic velocity overlies a
softer layer with a smaller seismic velocity.
2) The methods cannot be used for the areas covered by concrete, asphalt, pavements
or any other artificial hard crust, having a high seismic velocity.
3) If the area contains some underground features, such as buried conduits, irregularly
dipping strata and irregular water table, the interpretation of the results becomes very
difficult.
4) If the surface is layer is frozen, the method cannot be successfully used, as it
corresponds to a case of harder overlying a softer layer.
5) The methods require sophisticated and costly equipment.
6) For proper interpretations of the seismic survey results, the services of an expert are
required
1.5.2. Electrical Resistivity Methods
• To conduct the test, four electrodes, which are usually in the form of
metal spikes, are driven into the ground along a straight line at equal
distance.
• The two outer electrodes are known as current electrodes. The two
inner electrodes are called potential electrodes.
• The mean resistivity of the strata is determined by applying a D.C.
current to the outer electrodes and by measuring the voltage drop
between the inner electrodes.
Cont’
• The mean resistivity (ρ) is give by the formula
1) The methods are capable of detecting only the strata having different
electrical resistivity.
2) The results are considerably influenced by surface irregularities,
wetness of the strata and electrolyte concentration of the ground water.
3) As the resistivity of different strata at the interface changes gradually
and not abruptly as assumed the interpretation becomes difficult.
4) The services of an expert in the field are needed.
1.6. LABORATORY TESTS