COURSE TITLE: Geotechnics 2 COURSE CODE: GEOT221B ELEMENT NAME: Soil Mechanics 2

Course Author: The Centre for Project Management and Civil Infrastructure Systems Date : December 2008 Course Instructor: Russell Ramrattan Contact Information: Mobile : 740 9495 Email : russellramrattan@hotmail.com Availability times in office: To be determined

Darcys Law

Darcys Law

Permeability

Permeability is a measure of the ease of which water flows through rocks and soil. It is of importance to the civil engineer when dealing with seepage under dams, land drainage or groundwater lowering. Darcys Law is the mathematical relationship discovered (1856) by the French engineer Henri Darcy that governs the flow of groundwater through granular media or the flow of other fluids through permeable material, such as petroleum through sandstone or limestone.

Permeability

The flow of water through soils is assumed to follow Darcys law: Q =kAH t l where: Q = quantity of water flowing; t = time for quantity Q to flow; k = coefficient of permeability for the soil A = area of x-section through which water flows; H = hydraulic head across soil; l = length of flow path through soil.

Permeability

The ratio H/l is known as the hydraulic gradient and is denoted as i. The coefficient of permeability k therefore equals; Q/t Ai and may be defined as the rate of flow per unit area of soil, under unit hydraulic gradient. This coefficient is expressed in mm/s

Permeability

Typical values of permeability: Soil type Values of permeability, k (mm/s) Gravels 1000 10 Sands 10 10-2 Silts 10-2 - 10-5 Clays >10-5

Drainage properties Good Good Poor Impervious

Permeability

This apparatus is known as a constant head permeameter and is shown next. The water may be arranged to flow either up the sample or down. A sand filter is incorporated above and below the sample to help prevent it washing away.

Permeability
The constant-head permeameter

The constant-head permeameter.

Water under a constant head is allowed to percolate through a sample contained in a cylinder of cross-sectional area A. The quantity of water Q, passing the sample in time t, is collected in a measuring cylinder. Manometers tapped on the side of the sample cylinder give the loss of head H, over a length of sample l, and hence the hydraulic gradient i. From Darcys law: coefficient of permeability k = Q/t Ai

Permeability
Example A constant-head permeameter test has been run on a sand sample 250mm in length and 2000 mm2 in area. With a head loss of 500mm the discharge was found to be 260 ml in 130 seconds. Determine the coefficient of permeability of the soil. If the specific gravity of the grains was 2.62 and the dry weight of the sand 916g, find the void ratio of the sample. and is shown above.

Multi-layer permeability
In natural conditions soil is rarely homogeneous. Stratification will occur giving thin layers of varying permeability. On the larger geological scale, the strata may vary widely from a relatively impervious clay to permeable sand within a small depth.
These variations will have a marked effect on the overall permeability with the average value in the direction of stratification being quite different from the value at right angles to it.

Multi-layer permeability
In a series of strata, thickness H1, H2, H3 etc. with permeability k1, k2, k3etc. The rate of flow per unit area along each stratum will vary but the hydraulic gradient will be constant. The average permeability in this direction can be shown to be equal to kH where
kH = k1H1 + k2H2 + k3H3 + . knHn H1 + H2 + H3 +.Hn

Multi-layer permeability
With flow at right angles to the strata, the hydraulic gradient will vary in each stratum, but the rate of flow per unit area must be constant. The average permeability at right angles to the strata can be shown to be equal to kv where:
kH = ___H1 + H2 + H3 + . Hn____ H1/k1 + H2/k2 + H3/k3 +.Hn/kn

Multi-layer permeability
From these two equations it can be proved that kH/kV > 1 i.e. the permeability in the direction of the strata is always greater than the permeability at right angles to the strata. As soil samples for laboratory testing are frequently taken at right angles to the strata, it can be seen that laboratory tests can give a low value of the actual permeability on the site.

AREA OF STUDY 1. PERMEABILITY Revision of Total Head, Piezometric / Pressure Head and Piezometric level, etc. Permeabilit. of soils. One-dimensional seepage. Darcys Law. Measurement of Permeabilit in Field and Laboratory. Seepage through layers of soil of different permeability. 2. EFFECTIVE STRESS Revision of effective stress, total stress. Effective stress profiles when there is seepage. Coefficient of earth pressure at rest K0. Calculation of horizontal effective stress profiles. Geotechnics 2 (Soil Mechanics) September 2008 3. STRESS and STRAIN Definitions of stresses and strains. Sign conventions. Principal stresses in axi-svmmetric and plane strain problems. 4. MOHRS CIRCLES of STRESS and STRESS PATHS Mohrs circle of stress (total and effective). Pole of Mohrs circle. Stress paths t-s. q-p. u1-u3 (total and effective).

5. LABORATORY TESTING OF SOILS Introduction to laborator testing (triaxial. shear box, onedimensional compression). Conditions of drainage in laborator tests. Failure conditions on Mohr diagram. Stress-paths in tests. Application to practical problems. 6. ONE-DIMENSIONAL COMPRESSION Normal consolidation line (and illustration on stress-void ratio plots). Stress history, normal, over-consolidation. Concept of yield stress. Analysis of Consolidation test - determination of yield stress, OCR, m. C, c. Prediction of settlement under one-dimensional loading in simple cases. Spring-piston analogue. Role of pore-water in controlling rate of consolidation.

7. SHEAR STRENGTH OF SATURATED SOILS Failure criteria. Terzaghi/Coulomb effective stress equation for strength. Geometry of Mohrs circle at failure. Failure envelope. Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Shear strength parameters. Determination of shear strength parameters from drained and undrained triaxial test data. Prediction of strength under drained conditions. Dilation and contraction on shear. Peak strength and its relation to dilatancy. Parallels in behaviour between sands and clays. Residual strength of clays. Measurement in ring-shear apparatus. Pore pressure generation during undrained loading/unloading. Pore pressure parameters. Prediction of pore pressure changes under changes of total stress. Undrained shear strength. = 0. Prediction of strength under undrained conditions. Inferred changes of stress during sampling of clay soils. Use of laboratory tests for measurement of shear strength parameters and application to practical problems. Concept of Critical State. Critical state line and its relation to normal consolidation line. Implied behaviour of loose and dense sands and normally and over-consolidated clays in drained and undrained shear.

8. SUCTION and CAPILLARITY Suction and capillarit. Effective stress above the water table. Prediction of strength in unconfined compression. 9. COMPACTION Introduction to earthworks and compaction. Effect of moisture on compaction. Optimum moisture content. BS Standard and Heavy compaction. In-situ density determination. LABORATORY CLASSES 1. Proctor compaction 2. Permeametry and seepage tank 3. Shear box test on sand 4. Unconsolidated undrained triaxial test on clay

ASSESSMENT DELIVERY INDICATIVE READING 1. Craig RF. Soil Mechanics. 6th Ed. E & FN Spon, 1997. 2. Lambe 1W & Whitman RV. Soil Mechanics. Wiley. 3. Scott CR. Introduction to Soil Mechanics and Foundations. Applied Science. Geotechnics 2 (Soil Mechanics) September 2008