NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CE2112 PROBLEM SHEET – STRESS, STRAIN, MODULUS AND COMPRESSION

BEHAVIOUR OF SOILS.

1. A soil specimen has a Young’s modulus of 5MPa and a Poisson’s ratio of 0.35. Assuming
that it is elastic and isotropic, determine
(a) its modulus and coefficient of volume change under 1-dimensional compression in
an oedometer, and
(b) its modulus under isotropic compression.
2. The above soil specimen is subjected to plane strain biaxial compression. In this mode of
compression, the axial load is applied vertically i.e. in the Y-direction. The specimen is free
to deform in the X-direction but z is constrained to be zero at all times. Using the
generalized Hooke’s Law in your lecture notes, derive an expression for the “plane strain”
modulus that you will measure and evaluate it for the soil in question.
240 kPa

Y
110 kPa

xy= 40 kPa X
Z

3. The figure above shows the effective stresses on a soil skeleton element under plane stress
condition i.e. ’z = yz = zx = 0. Using the equations in your lecture notes, evaluate the six
strain components of this soil element. Assume E=5MPa, =0.35.

4. The figure below shows the soil and groundwater conditions at a site. Calculate the effective
vertical stresses at points A, B, and C. Sketch the pore pressure, total and effective stress
 profiles of the site down to bedrock level. You may assume that the soil above the
groundwater table is also fully saturated. Discuss whether this assumption is realistic.
Horizontal ground surface
A gwt 2m

Soil
B 14m
 = 20 kN/m3

C
Bedrock
Point A is 1 m below ground surface. Point B is 6 m below the gwt.
Point C is just above the bedrock.
The earth pressure coefficient K0 is a commonly used parameter to describe the in-situ state of
stress in the ground. It is defined as the ratio of the effective horizontal stress to effective vertical
stress i.e. K0 = σh’/σv’. Given that K0 for this soil is 0.6, estimate the effective and total horizontal
stress at the three points.
5. Evaluate the effective stress state for the soil element below:

y = 100 kPa
xy = 30 kPa

u = 20 kPa x = 80 kPa
6. The strain energy W that is stored up by an elastic solid when undergoing strains is given by
W = /2
By considering the strains of an infinitesimally small cubical elastic soil element under
isotropic compression, deduce that the energy Wv due to volumetric compression is given by the
expression
1 1 p2
Wv = p v 
2 2 K
where p is the mean normal stress, v the volumetric strain and K the bulk modulus.
By considering the same soil element under general strain condition, derive an expression
for the total energy WT of the soil element. Thus, by subtracting Wv from WT, derive an
expression for the energy component that is associated with the distortion of the soil element
under constant volume, i.e. the distortional energy Wd. Finally, show that Wd is a function of the
shear modulus.

7. A layer of soil is subjected to one-dimensional compression. Assuming that the solid phase of
the soil is incompressible, derive a relationship between the compressive strain and change in
the voids ratio.
The diagram below shows the ground conditions at a site over which an oil tank of
diameter 60m is to be located. You have been asked to assess the settlement of the ground
beneath at this site a long time after the oil tank has been constructed and filled. The one-
dimensional compression curve of the soil beneath the oil tank is as follows:
Effective overburden pressure/kPa Voids Ratio
0 1.200
10 1.120
20 1.051
40 0.947
60 0.886
80 0.843
100 0.809
200 0.705
300 0.644
 400 0.60

Horizontal ground surface

2m

Soft clay with bulk unit

weight of 20kN/m3
14m

Bedrock
The oil tank is expected to impose an effective overburden stress of 80 kPa on the
foundation soil.
(a) Estimate the settlement of the foundation by sub-dividing the soil into, say, 16 layers and
considering the compression arising from the change in voids ratio of each layer.
(b) The coefficient of volume change mv of a soil is actually the reciprocal of its constrained
modulus D i.e. mv = 1/D. Estimate a value of mv for a point at the mid-depth of the soil, taking
into account the stress changes undergone by the soil here. Re-compute the settlement of the
foundation based on this value of mv. Compare the settlement thus obtained with the value
obtained in (a).