A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Objective:
¾ To calculated the unconfined compressive strength for a
cohesion sample.

General discussion:

Unconfined compression test is a special case of the tri-axial compression

test, where the lateral stress will equal to zero as no confinement exists in
that direction, so the main stresses are applied mainly on the vertical
direction of the sample.
The results obtained from the unconfined test are only approximation of
the actual soil shear strength for the following reasons;
1. Sampling disturbance during recovery.
2. Soil in field is affected by lateral restraints provided by the
surrounding soil mass.

But it is widely used due to its simplicity and low cost.

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The
The unconfined Civil Engineering
compression test is applied only to Center
cohesive soil as it
sticks together even without lateral confinement. Cohesion less samples
would simply fall apart.
The used sample must meet several conditions to be appropriate for the
test:
1. The length to diameter ratio must be between 2 and 2.5 as specified
by ASTM.
*

2. The surface of the specimen must be uniformly shaped.

3. The soil shall be homogenous and contains no obstacle such as

gravel particles.

4. It shall contain no desiccation cracks.

From this test we aim to graph the stress-strain diagram of the tested soil,
and use that to obtain the average unconfined peak strength “qu” rather
than using the largest value of stress from the computation sheet.

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A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

The design of structures uses the average peak strength of the soil unless
the corresponding strain for that peak is more than 15%, where ASTM
specifies this value of strain as a maximum, and in this case the design
stress is taken to be the stress corresponding to the 15% strain on the
diagram.
The results necessary to obtain the stress-strain diagram are obtained by
either a strain controlled test, where the values of strain are known and
the corresponding stresses are measured. Or by stress controlled test,
where the applied stress is known and the corresponding strain is
measured.
The strain controlled test is more common and widely used whereas the
stress controlled test is seldom used as it may result erratic strain response
and the ultimate strength falling between two points of loading.

There are two devices that are used to measure the unconfined
compressive strength;

¾ Portable device test

this provides fast and approximate results, where the specimen is

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placed between two jaws; the upper is fixed and the lower is
moving and connected to a spring by which the load is applied by a
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rate enough to break the specimen during two minutes. Suitable
stiffness of the spring shall be used in accordance to the soil
strength.
By a pencil attached to the device, the stress-deformation diagram
is plotted on a paper stuck to the back of the device, the diagram
will appear upside down.
From the peak point, the maximum deformation “ΔL” is used to
find the strain;
*

The unconfined shear strength is measured by using the formula;

*

¾ Compression device test

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A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

the device that was available in the laboratory was strain controlled
device, so all the necessary information was the stresses
corresponding to each strain.
The stresses are measured by means of using a grooving ring
containing a dial clock, when the load is applied to the ring ,which
rests on the specimen by a cylindrical metal to distribute the load
uniformly to the specimen, splaying occurs and that increases the
dial reading.
Every grooving ring has a calibration chart that is used to convert
the dial reading into loads, it is preferred to graph the relation of
the dial reading to load for each ring before using it, and then find
the slope of the chart for which the slope is called Load Ring
Constant “L.R.C.” and this value can be used to find any load that
corresponds to any dial reading the ring by the formula;
*

It is important to know that every grooving ring has a maximum

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load that it handles, don’t exceed that!
A suitable ring that will give an obvious reading for the sample,
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depending on the strength of the soil, must be chosen.
After calculating the load corresponding to each strain value, the
stresses are calculated by dividing the load over the area.
*

The area used in the formula shall be the corrected area which is
obtained by the formula;
*

This area correction is to make some allowance for the way the soil
is actually being loaded in the field. Applying a correction to the

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A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

original sample area is also somewhat conservative since the

ultimate strength computed this way is less than that computed
from the original area.

The test continues till either elastic or non-elastic failure occurs,

the non-elastic failure of the sample is known visually, whereas the
elastic failure is known when the dial reading remains constant
after three records.

Sample identification:
¾ Clayey cohesive sample of 76mm length and 38mm
diameter.

Equipments:
A H M 531
1. Unconfined compressive testing machine.

2. Thering
Grooving Civil Engineering
with dial clock. Center
3. Water content cans.

4. Weighing machine.

5. Portable compression device.

6. Timer.

Procedures:

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A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Portable device test:

1. The sample was placed between the two jaws, and a graphing
paper was fixed on the back of the device. And the pencil was
placed on the zero point.

2. The load was applied within a rate so that the sample broke within
two minutes.

3. “Δ” was obtained by using the mask and the obtained graph.

Compression testing machine:

1. After measuring the samples length and diameter, the sample was
placed into the machine.

2. The stain rate was entered to the machine to be 1mm / min.

3. The load was applied and the dial reading was recorded every
15seconds. A H M 531
4.
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Recording the dial reading was continued till elastic failure was
noticed.

5. A portion of the wet sample was weighed and place in the oven for
24 hours, and the dry weight was recorded.

Calculations:

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A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

A H M 531
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A H M 531 Unconfined compression strength By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Discussion and results:

The obtained unconfined compressive strength 71kPa
corresponded to a strain of 0.026 which is less than 15% of the
total strain.
By comparing the stress obtained by the portable device and the
compression device, we can see that the portable device result is
near to the compression device one and can be used as an
approximation.
A
In our results some errors H
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have occurred from the unstable
rate of applying the load in the portable device.
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