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CVEN90050
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
Authorised Materials:
This is a closed book examination.
Approved Calculator (School of Engineering).
Drawing instruments (drawing compass, rulers, protractors, erasers, pencils).
Access to internet prohibited.
Instructions to Invigilators:
Final Exam paper to be returned together with the script booklet.
Check for stickers that approved calculators must have.
Instructions to Students:
Candidates should attempt ALL SEVEN (7) questions. Read the questions CAREFULLY.
Answers should be written in the script booklet, except for the last few questions (5, 6,
and 7) which must be answered on the exam paper, which must be returned.
BE NEAT AND CLEAR. It is not the instructors job to guess what you really mean.
Include final answers and procedures to obtain them.
Include UNITS. Final numerical answers without units are worthless (unless dimensionless).
Maximum possible mark is 180 in 180 minutes of examination.
Questions are NOT of equal weight. (Marks allocated to each question within parentheses)
Question 2:
A saturated over-consolidated silty clay is estimated to have the effective strength parameters:
c = 5kPa, and
= 25
A specimen of the silty clay is mounted into a triaxial cell and fully consolidated to 400kPa with
a cell pressure of 500kPa and a back pressure of 100kPa. With the drainage then turned off, the
specimen is slowly loaded axially to failure. At failure, the porewater pressure was measured to
be 160kPa and the diameter of the specimen was calculated to be 103.47mm.
Estimate
1. the effective deviator stress at failure ( 1 3 ),
2. the total deviator stress at failure ( 1 3 ), and
3. the load which would be needed to be applied to the loading piston to cause failure.
(25 Marks)
Existing Ground
Level
Piezometer
Water Table
2m
3m
Well-drained sand
A
5m
5m
Saturated
Clay
C
5m
D
Impermeable rock
Figure 1
Design Sheet 1
. . .. . . . . . . .
Sand
... .
.
.
.
. .. .
Sand
Figure 2
Figure 3
SandBackfill
Sand
ClayBase
Figure 4
(b) List the three methods of analyses we discussed in class to deal with flexible retaining walls
like sheet pile walls
(2 marks)
(c) If a soil is saturated, what will the degree of saturation S of the soil be? Tick the correct
answer.
(2 marks)
S = 20%
S = 37%
S = 100%
None of the above
It cannot be known in advance
= 18 kN/m3
= 30
= (2/3)
F = 1.2
= (1/2)
(a) Find the appropriate lateral active and passive earth pressure coefficients (also mark the
tables you use next page).
(4 marks)
Factored coefficients
Kax = ........................
Kpx = ........................
Unfactored coefficients
Kax = .......................
Kpx = .......................
Figure 5. Horizontal component of the active lateral pressure coefficient (Tables K-C, published in Kerisel
and Absi, 1990).
Figure 6. Horizontal component of the passive lateral pressure coefficient (Tables K-C, published in Kerisel
and Absi, 1990).
(c) Complete the following table (with active and passive forces and moments expressed in
terms of d.
(35 marks)
Part Horizontal force (kN)
No.
1
Moments =
Moment (kNm)
(12 marks)
d = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ metres
(e) Briefly explain how you would determine the anchor force and the designed anchor force.
(10 marks)
Force[kN]
0
0.6806
1.2938
1.8728
2.4200
2.9378
3.4286
3.8948
4.3388
4.763
5.1698
5.5616
5.9408
CBR = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ %
(Total marks for Question 7 = 1)
Remember to return your exam paper together with the script booklet.
END OF EXAMINATION