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THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA

PART III REPEAT EXAMINATION- OCTOBER 2013

305 Geotechnical Engineering

Answer FIVE questions only Time allowed: 3 Hours

Ql
(a) Describe with the aid of a suitable sketch the three types of lateral earth pressure.
(03 Marks)
(b) Figure 01.1 shows the soil profile behind a smooth wall. With the use of the Rankine theory,
determine the total active force acting on the back of the wall.
(07 Marks)
(c) An anchored sheet pile wall is of the form shown in Figure 01.2. The soil is cohesion-less with a
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saturated density of 19.5kN/m , and an angle of shearing resistance of 32°. Anchors are due to
be installed at 3m centers. Determine the force required in each anchor, assuming that 58% of
the theoretical maximum passive pressure will be mobilized. Use the free earth support
method.
(10 Marks)

,"
)t~\1- /,m'l
¢=. -2(/'., G=O

C=O
"(Sill :::.20~\J/vv\'"
Co , " ¢~~\o
(/)-=-23
'6 -=- \q~M~
G-=O

Figure Q1.1 Figure Q1.2

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Q2
(a) With reference to the frictional force needed to cause a block to slide on a horizontal
surface (F=\lN), determine from first principles, the expression for the factor of safety for a
slope made from granular material.
(03 Marks)
(b) Describe the assumptions which are made when analyzing a slope in terms of a total stress
analysis
(03 Marks)
(c) Figure 02.1 gives details of an embankment made of cohesive soil with the strength
parameters of 0u =180
and c, = 23kPa. The behavior is one of plane-strain and a slice of unit
thickness in the third dimension is considered. The unit weight of the soil is 19.5kN/m3• The
area of the sliding section has been established as 26m2and the weight of the sliding section
acts at an eccentricity of 6m from the center of rotation. Using a total stress analysis
determine the factor of safety against sliding. Comment on the factor of safety and present
three realistic methods to increase the factor of safety.
(06 Marks)
(d) Describe the principles behind the Swedish Method of slices and discuss whether it is more
accurate than the method used in question l(c).
(OS Marks)
(e) Discuss the relevance of the pore pressure ratio in the context of Bishop's method of slope
stability analysis. Include in your discussion practical ways of obtaining values of the pore
pressure ratio.
(03 Marks)

Figure Q2.1

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03
a) Some individual pad footings (2m x 2m) of a five-storey building show signs of failure as indicated
below.

Footing Signs of failure

A No apparent bulging of soil. Some vertical deformation is visible
around the periphery of the footing
B Bulging of soil is clearly visible near the footing
C Some bulging of soil is visible with considerable vertical
deformation of the footing
Identify the failure modes of three footings and discuss their load-settlement behavior.
(5 marks)

b) It is proposed to construct a square footing of 2 m x 2m at a depth of 1.5 m below ground level.

The subsurface consists of uniform soil up to a considerable depth. Soil strength parameters are
estimated as c' = 5 kN/m2
and<j>' = 32°. The above footing will be subjected to an inclined load at
the center with a horizontal component parallel to the width of foundation as shown in Figure 03.
Maximum expected water table at the site would be 2.0 m below the ground surface.

i. Determine the factor of safety of the footing against shear failure using Mayerhof equation
(10 marks)
ii. Calculate the factor of safety of the footing against sliding failure, assuming no passive
resistance from the surrounding soil. (5 marks)

450kN

1.5 m
2m
2m

Figure 03

Mayerhof equation for inclined loads is given by,

Where,

rejf = (2H - Dw) ~~ r.; + ;~ (H - D\J

2

3
 Where,
H = O.5xBtan(45° +¢/2)
D; = Depth to water table below the footing
rwel = Wet unit weight of soil up to Ow
r' = Submerged unit weight
ref! = Effective unit weight

04.
(a) A 600mm diameter bored, concrete pile is to be installed into a loose, saturated sand to a depth
of IBm. Determine the ultimate capacity of the pile. You may assume the following parameters;

11l'=29.so,and I1lsat=20kN/m3. Justify all other design parameters.

(07 Marks)
(b) Determine the ultimate capacity of a 3s0mmx3s0mm pre-cast pile to be installed 15m into a
clay strata. Soil tests have shown that the shear strength of the soil, Cu, varies by, Cu=60+Bz from
ground level to a depth of 10m, thereafter Cu=90+sz, where z=depth below ground level. You
may assume a = 0.6 and N, = 9.
(07 Marks)
(c) Describe with the use of a suitable sketch, the settlement effect that may occur with groups of
piles within cohesive soil.
(04 Marks)
(d) State the two common field tests that can be used to estimate pile capacities.
(02 Marks)

05.
(a) Results obtained from a consolidation test on a clay sample for a pressure increment of 150 -
2s0kPa are presented in Table 05. With the use of a settlement vs square root time plot,
determine the coefficient of consolidation, c, of the soil. You may assume that the test specimen
2
is drained at the top and bottom. Present your answer as mm /min.
(10 Marks)
(b) How long would a layer of this clay soil, 17.5m thick and drained on its top surface only, take to
reach BO% consolidation? Present your answer in years.
(05 Marks)
(c) Comment on the reasons why Terzaghi's equation for consolidation is still used, when more
numerically advanced methods are available.
(OS Marks)

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 Table Q5

Thickness of sample (mm) Time (min)

18.950 a
18.891 0.25
18.857 1
18.825 2.25
18.796 4
18.735 9
18.672 16
18.615 25
18.577 36
18.559 49
18.550 64

Q6.
(a) Propose the laboratory shear tests to be conducted in order to obtain the design shear strength
parameters of the following applications:
(3 marks)
i. Shear strength parameters of clay-concrete interface for the estimation of long-term stability
of a concrete gravity retaining wall.
ii. Estimation of ultimate bearing capacity of a vertically loaded shallow foundation on saturated
clay.
iii. Stability of the downstream slope of an earth dam under steady state seepage.

(b) An interface shear test was conducted in the direct shear apparatus to estimate the interface
shear strength parameters
of a clay-steel interface for the design of a sheet pile retaining wall.
z z z
Three tests were conducted at 50 kN/m , 100 kN/m and 200 kN/m normal stresses without
allowing any pore water pressure generation. The results of interface shear tests are given
below. Estimate the interface shear strength parameters.
~- (9
marks)

Sample Normal stress Shear stress at failure

(kN/m2) (kN/m2)

1 50 23
2 100 41
3 200 77

(c) A normally consolidated clay sample was subjected to a series of stress conditions as given below.
First the sample was allowed to consolidate at an all-round cell pressure of 100 kN/mz. Then the
sample was sheared under drained condition to a deviator stress of 100 kN/mz. At this moment,
there was a technical problem in the cell pressure system and as a result the cell pressure starts to

5
 2
reduce slowly. The sample failed at a cell pressure of 60 kN/m • Deviator stress at the failure was
2
recorded as 120 kN/m • Assume that all the samples are saturated, and there was no generation
of pore water pressure during the reduction of cell pressure.
i. Draw the effective stress path (q versus p' plot) for the given sequence of stresses of the soil
sample.
(4 marks)
ii. Determine the effective strength parameters of the soil
(4 marks)

Data for Question 5

mw

U (~/o) T
10 0.008
20 0.031
30 0.071
40 0.126
50 0.197
60 0.287
70 0.403
BO 0.567
90 0.848

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Data for Question 3

Table 1.2(b) Shape) depth and inclination factors for Meyerhoff's expression (Meyerhoff,
1951,1963)

Shape factor:
B
sc = 1 + 0.2K p -
L l
B
Sq = S r = 1+ 0.1K L P

sq=sr=1
~D
Depth factors: de = 1+0.2~Kp Ii

dq =dr =1+0.1~Kp ~

dq=dr=l

Inclination factors: i
c
= i = (1-
q l ~)2
90·
8«<1»

( e \2
t-f J ~ > 0'
l
iT
_--- .... 1

______ if =0 for e>0 ¢ = 0° HI

!

Where 8S the load inclination to the vertical and Kp=tan2(45+~/2)

7
 Bearing-capacity factors for the Meye rhof, Hansen, and Vesic hearing-
capacity equations
Note that iV, and t"" arc the same for all three rne[hod~,; 5ubsc:ripb i(knufy author to: IVy

¢ N. Nq tV ylm A·y\.I/J NYih lV/iVc 2tantb(l sin<1»)~

0 5.14';' LO 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.195 li.OUIJ

5 649 1.6 0.1 0.1 0.4 02<.\2 O.l·H'l
10 8.34 2.5 0.4 0.4 1.2 0.2.96 0.241
15 10.97 3.9 1.2 i.: 2.fi 0.359 0.29<1
20 \4.8.1 6.4 2.9 2.9 5.4 0.431 O.} 15
25 2071 10.7 6.8 6.8 10.9 0.514 0.3l1
26 22.25 11.8 7.9 8.0 12.5 0.533 0.108
28 25.79 14.7 10.9 11.2 16.7 0570 029<)
30 30.13 18A \5.1 15.7 224 0.610 0.289
...
v~ ..,
32 35.47 4-~, __
20.8 22.0 30.2 0.653 0.276
34 42.14 29.4 28.7 J 1.1 41.0 0.698 0.262
,- ..,
36 50.55 j I. I -10.0 444 56.2 0.746 0.247
tj
38 1)\ 31 -13.9 56. ! 6·):,0 "7

I
.•••

I. ," 0.7')7 IL'3 ~

40 75.25 64.1 79.J, 93.6 109.3 0.852 0.2!4
45 13.1.73 134.7 2.00.5 2623 "');
"" I ~ . j
1 --
1.007 0.172
50 266 ..:iCl 318.5 567.4 87l.7 761.3 1.l95 0.\31

J~ ==
 Valuc s of Nc
o
o
("J
0 00 00008
('"")"T ell <or-roOl_
o
N

Values of Nq and Ny

Terz aqhis bearing capacity factors for shallow foundations