BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE PILANI

Second Semester 2023-24

CE F243 (Soil Mechanics) Comprehensive Exam (Open Book – NO LAPTOPS)
Date: May 18, 2024
Duration: 3 hours (8 AM to 11 AM) Max Marks: 80 (+10 bonus)
[Note: Marks will be deducted if the final answers are reported without proper units. All
necessary information has been provided in the question paper. If needed, assume any other
data after providing suitable justification. Please ask the invigilator for graph paper(s), if
needed]

1. DS test was performed on NC soil specimens collected from a depth of 37 ft below ground
surface and the test results are shown in figure 1. The DS test was performed at a very slow rate
of shearing to ensure that no excess PWP can develop in the specimens during shearing.

Figure 1: DS test results (for Question 1).

a) Out of the three soil specimens used for performing the test, one of the soil specimens had
height of 24.96 mm, volume of 79.54 cc, water content of 15%, total unit weight of 135.9
lbf/ft3, and void ratio of 0.45.
• Draw the phase diagram with all relevant mass (in gm) and volume (in cc) terms
reported on the phase diagram. [3]
• Determine the degree of saturation of the specimen and the specific gravity of soil
solids. No marks will be awarded if this problem is solved using ready-to-use
formulae. The problem should be solved using phase diagram only. [2+2]
b) Determine the magnitude of the principal stresses and the inclinations of the principal
planes (with horizontal) at failure of the specimen that was tested at the highest normal
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 stress out of the three specimens for which the data is provided in Figure 1. Draw the Mohr
circle and use pole method only for solving the problem. No marks will be awarded if the
pole method is not used. [1+1+1+1+2]
c) If a specimen of the same soil was subjected to CD triaxial test, determine the cell pressure
and deviatoric stress needed to fail a specimen having 6 ksf normal stress on the potential
failure plane. Assume that back pressure of 200 kPa was required to saturate the specimen
and that back pressure was 200 kPa during the shearing phase. Report the inclination of the
potential failure plane with horizontal. [2+2+1]

2. Permeability test was conducted on a soil specimen collected from the permeable layer
shown in Figure 2. In 3 minutes, 267.2 cc water was collected from the permeameter when a head
of 1.2 m was maintained during the test. The specimen height and diameter were 127 mm and 100
mm, respectively.
a) Assuming the soil to be isotropic, estimate the volume flow rate of water (in m3/s) that
would take place below the sheet pile. Assume length of the sheet pile wall to be 10 m
(perpendicular to the page). [3]
b) Determine the seepage force per volume at the location which might be most susceptible
to sand boiling. [2]
c) Also evaluate the FOS against sand boiling. [2]
d) Report the expected value of ‘h’ as shown in Figure 2. [1]

Figure 2: Flow net for Question 2

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3. Determine the pore water pressure at points marked 3 and 5 in Figure 3. [5]

Figure 3: Flow net for Question 3

4. A CU triaxial test was performed on NC clay. Back pressure of 300 kPa was used for
saturating the specimen. Isotropic consolidation at cell pressure of 340 kPa was done while
maintaining backpressure of 300 kPa.
a) What pore water pressure value will the pore water pressure sensor read when the drainage
valve is turned off just before the start of the shearing phase. [1]
b) If the deviatoric stress and excess pore water pressure at failure were 30 kPa and 14 kPa,
respectively, determine A parameter. How much will the PWP sensor read at failure? [1+1]
c) A vertical face retaining wall of height 5 m retains the same clay for which the triaxial test
was performed. If the lateral earth pressure coefficient at rest is given as Ko = 1- sin ’,
determine the additional horizontal stress induced on the wall at a depth of 2 m below the
surface of the retained soil due to placement of a 500 kN point load on the surface of the
retained soil at a horizontal distance of 1 m from the face of the wall. [7]

5. It was estimated that construction of infrastructure would result in 0.2 m primary

consolidation settlement of a 4 m thick saturated clay layer, which was found to be located
between two sand layers. A pore water pressure transducer was embedded in the middle of
the clay layer before construction. The middle of the clay layer was at a depth of 7 m below
the water table. The pore water pressure was found to be 200 kPa at the end of the rapid
construction (prefabricated structure). After 2 years, the pore water pressure sensor read
168.48 kPa. Determine how much primary consolidation settlement would have occurred
in 2 years after construction. Also estimate how long it would take for 0.19 m of primary
consolidation settlement to occur after construction. Assume the initially developed excess

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 PWP profile is constant over the depth of the clay layer and no fluctuation in water table.
[5+3]

6. SPT was performed at a site as part of soil exploration at a site. At a depth of 3.5 m below
the ground surface, the blow counts were recorded as 10, 15, and 18 for the first, second
and third 6 in. of penetrations, respectively. The hammer efficiency was 70%. The grain
size distribution of the soil collected from the split spoon cylinder is shown in Figure 4.
The water table was found at a depth of 1.5 m below ground surface. The unit weight of
soil above water table is 18 kN/m3, while the saturated unit weight of the soil below water
table is 20.8 kN/m3. Estimate the corrected N-value. 1 kgf/cm2 = 98.06 kPa. [7]

Figure 4: Grain size distribution curve for Question 6.

7. Provide to the point short answers for the following questions:

[bonus 10 (no part marking)]
a) Which type of compaction is ideal for compacting a CH soil in field and in the laboratory?
b) Between kaolinite and montmorillonite – which clay mineral would you consider to be more
reactive and why?
c) If you require Cv quickly, which method would you prefer and why: Casagrande’s method
or Taylor’s method?
d) In a liquid limit test, the 12 mm gap gets closed while performing the test but still the soil
can be reported as non-plastic under what conditions?
e) If you take a grain of sand and pulverize it somehow to particle sizes less than 2 micron, will
the pulverized product be considered as clay minerals? Provide justification.
f) Would you perform the field density test using sand replacement or core cutter method if the
soil is classified as SP? Provide justification.
g) Which test(s) is/are required for estimating relative compaction?

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 h) Why load increment ratio of 2 is typically used while performing consolidation test?
i) Name the tests required for soil classification.
LL oven dried
j) If you have a soil with < 0.75, then what type of pretreatment will be
LL before oven drying
needed before performing hydrometer analysis?

8. Determine the total head, pressure head, and elevation head at point A. Also report the head
loss incurred due to flow of water from the entry end to point A. Consider downstream
water level as datum. [4]

Figure 5: Figure for Question 8

9. Consolidation test result for a specimen collected from the middle of a 10 ft thick clay layer
from a depth of 40 ft below ground surface is presented in Figure 6. The water table is at a
depth of 18 ft and the total unit weight of the soil above water table and average saturated
unit weight of the soil below water table are 115 pcf and 125 pcf, respectively. The
consolidation test specimen height was 19.14 mm and area of consolidation ring was
31.776 cm2. The oven dried mass of the specimen was 93.14 gm. LL = 40 and PI = 15. ρs
= 2.75 g/cc. 1 ksf = 47.88 kPa.
a) Determine the OCR of the soil. [5]
-1
b) Determine the coefficient of compressibility (in ksf ) and constrained modulus (in ksf) for
effective vertical stress range of 1 ksf to 2 ksf. [2+2]
c) Estimate and report the compression and recompression indices, corresponding to the field
compression curves. [4+2]
d) If a 30 ft height fill of 8000 ft x 6000 ft area will be placed on the existing ground surface,
estimate the magnitude of primary consolidation settlement using the field compression
curve. Assume unit weight of fill material is 120 pcf. [5]
The compression curve should be attached with the answer sheet, if you need to determine any
relevant parameter using a graphical approach.

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Name: ID:

Figure 6: Compression curve for Question 9