University of Wasit (UoW) Time: 3hrs

Soil Mechanic College of Engineering Asst. Prof. Dr. Asad Aldefae

Third stage Civil engineering department Date: 72 June 2020
7070-7029 ‫ كورس ثاني‬/ ‫الدور االول‬
Q1) Answer A or B

A- Given the shear strength parameters of a soil, ; Find the pore water
pressure when and .

B- A sand sample is tested in a direct shear device. The vertical normal stress on the sample is 300
kPa. The horizontal shear stress at failure is equal to 210 kPa. Compute the angle of internal
friction for the sand and the magnitude and direction of the principal stresses at failure.

Q2) Answer A or B
A- 4m of normally consolidated clay (on way drainage) has find
consolidation settlement if the overburden pressure is 82 kPa and the stress due to structure is 40 kPa?

B- The final consolidation settlement of a layer of clay 5.0 m thick is calculated to be 280mm. The
coefficient of consolidation for the loading range is 0.955 mm²/min. There is two-way drainage, upward
and downward. Calculate the time required for:
(a) 90% consolidation settlement, (b) A settlement of 100 mm.

Q3) Choose the correct answer (Five only)

1) In a triaxial compression test when drainage is allowed during the first stage (i. e. application of
cell pressure) only and not during the second stage (i.e. application of deviator stress at constant
cell pressure), the test is known as
a) consolidated drained test
b) consolidated undrained test
c) unconsolidated drained test
d) unconsolidated undrained test
2) The shear strength of a soil
a) is directly proportional to the angle of internal friction of the soil
b) is inversely proportional to the angle of internal friction of the soil
c) decreases with increase in normal stress
d) decreases with decrease in normal stress
3) Which one of the following clays behaves like dense sand?
a) overconsolidated ciay with a high overconsolidation ratio
b) overconsolidated clay with a low overconsolidation ratio
c) normally consolidated clay
d) underconsolidated clay
4) Coefficient of consolidation for clays normally
a) decreases with increase in liquid limit
b) increases with increase in liquid limit
c) first increases and then decreases with increase in liquid limit
d) remains constant at all liquid limits
University of Wasit (UoW) Time: 3hrs
Soil Mechanic College of Engineering Asst. Prof. Dr. Asad Aldefae
Third stage Civil engineering department Date: 72 June 2020
7070-7029 ‫ كورس ثاني‬/ ‫الدور االول‬
5) The shear strength parameter of a soil, c and φ is zero and 32 respectively, the normal stress at
τ=20 kPa is :
a. 32 kPa b. 36 kPa c. 34 kPa d. 44 kPa
6) 4m of normally consolidated clay (on way drainage) has cc =0.2,cr =0.05,eo =0.8, the overburden
pressure is 82 kPa and the stress due to structure is 40 kPa, the consolidation settlement is:
a. 76 cm b. 7.6 cm c. 34 cm d. 13.4 cm
Q4)
A- The effective shear strength parameters for fully saturated clay are and
. In a UU triaxial test, a specimen tested of the same clay under all-round pressure 250
and the principles stresses differences at failure was 134 .
1- Determine the major and minor effective stresses?
2- What was the value of the pore water pressure PWP at failure?
B- For the soil section shown below. The clay layer is normally consolidated.
a) Determine the final consolidation settlement.
b) If the settlement after 6 months of loading application is 7.8 cm, what will be the settlement after
2 years?

Q5) Answer A or B
A- Two similar clay soil samples were pre-consolidated in triaxial equipment with a chamber
pressure of 600 . Consolidated-drained triaxial tests were conducted on these two
specimens. The following are the results of the tests:
Specimen 1 Specimen 2
⁄ 80 40
⁄ 310.6 284.37

Fine the values of the cohesion and the angle of internal friction
University of Wasit (UoW) Time: 3hrs
Soil Mechanic College of Engineering Asst. Prof. Dr. Asad Aldefae
Third stage Civil engineering department Date: 72 June 2020
7070-7029 ‫ كورس ثاني‬/ ‫الدور االول‬
B- A soil sample with initial stress conditions, , , ,
. If all-round pressure decreased gradually up to failure, find:
a- The principle stress at failure;
b- and .

Good Luck
Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do
Asst. Prof. Dr. Asad H.Humaish, 2017

Head of Civil Engineering Department

Asst. Prlof. Dr. Thaar S. Al-Gasham