CHAPTER FOUR

MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR

4.1: Introduction
Mechanical properties are the important criteria for the geo-engineering interpretation of
the soil samples. Some mechanical properties which are related to geotechnical
investigation such as Standard Penetration Test (SPT), shear strength etc. are described in
this chapter:

4.2: Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is commonly used as an in situ test in order to
determine the consistency/relative density of the investigated site within the shortage
period of time. The SPT value is represent by N and are shown in the table 4.1. The SPT
values with respective interval of depth for each borehole are shown in figure 4.1. The
figure suggests that the SPT value increases with increasing depth in all the boreholes.
Soils can be classified in different grades of consistency and different grades of density
according to the literature.

Table 4.1: SPT values of different boreholes with respect to depth.

Boreholes Number
Depth (ft)
1 2 3 4 5 6
5.0 8 9 4 14 14 8
10.0 14 17 13 16 16 14
15.0 17 20 20 29 29 17
20.0 10 9 10 12 12 10
25.0 11 14 10 13 17 11
30.0 17 16 20 22 16 17
35.0 18 22 22 24 25 18
40.0 23 21 28 27 29 23
45.0 32 29 40 40 30 32
50.0 38 25 44 37 44 38
55.0 40 40 43 40 47 40
60.0 53 41 44 49 57 53

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 BH-1 BH-2 BH-3 BH-4 BH-5 BH-6
SPT values SPT values SPT values SPT values SPT values SPT values
0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60
0

10

15

20

25
Depth (ft)

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

Figure 3.1: Variation of SPT values with respect to depth for BH-01 to BH-06.

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The term consistency of the cohesive soil is generally used on the basis of the SPT values
(N) in the following way table: 4.2

Table 4.2: The usual N- value consistency chart for different type of soils:( Terzaghi
and Peck; 1967).

Study area
SPT Value Term Natural Structure
Unit
N 0–2 Very Soft B2 Not suitable for civil structure,
N 2–4 Soft B2 good for park.
Good for very light structure
N 4–8 Medium B1
using proper methods.
Good for low load bearing
N 8 – 15 Stiff B1
structure.
N 15 – 30 Very Stiff A1 Good for moderate structures.
Good for high load bearing
N 30 + Hard A2
structures.

The term relative density for the Non-cohesive soil is based on the SPT values (N) in the
following way table: 4.3

Table 4.3: N – value classification chart (after BS 5930)

N 0-4 Very Loose
N 4-10 Loose
N 10-30 Medium dense
N 30-50 Dense
N >50 Very dense

The top layer of clay, extending roughly to the depth of 3′-0″/4′-0″ (BH-1, BH-2, BH-4,
BH-5 & BH-6) to 7′-0″ (BH-3) usually has very soft consistency. The consistency of the
underlying layers of the cohesive soil including clay and silty soil, extending to the depth
of 20′-0″ to 23′-0″ gradually increase from stiff to very stiff. The consistency of the
underlying layers of the cohesive soil increases to stiff and hard. The subsequent deep
layers of the non-cohesive soil, generally have been observed in a medium dense to dense
and finally to a very dense state.

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4.3 Shear Strength
The shear strength is very much important for civil foundation as because this parameters
are directly related to engineering hazards. The common two types of shear tests have
been discussed in this project work due to available data. These are direct shear test and
unconfined compressive strength test.

4.3.1. Direct Shear Test

The shear strength parameters of 11 samples of the studied soils have been determined by
using standard direct shear test procedure. The result of the shear strength parameters
(cohesion and angle of internal friction) are shown in table 4.4.

Table 4.4: The result of direct shear test of the studied clay soil

Bore Hole Cohesion (C) Angle of internal

Sample Depth (ft)
No. (kg/cm2) friction (ϕ)
D-6 30 0.15 16
1
D-10 50 00 33
D-5 25 0.10 13
2
D-9 45 00 37
D-7 35 0.05 20
3
D-12 60 00 38
D-7 35 0.05 20
4
D-12 60 00 40
D-5 25 0.10 15
5
D-10 50 00 32
6 UD-2 13.5 0.65 14

The values of cohesion of all the samples are similar and lie between 0.05 kg/cm2 and
0.65 kg/cm2. The angle of internal friction ‘ǿ’ ranges from 13˚ to 40˚. The values of angle
of internal friction ‘ϕ’ varies in different boreholes which are shown in figures 4.2 & 4.3.
This variation may be due to the disturbance during sampling procedures, disturbance
during the preparation of sample, the degree of weathering, water content and clay
fraction (Gidigasu, 1976). In figures 4.2 & 4.3, it is clear that the angle of internal friction
is lower in the upper soil and the value is much higher in the higher depth. This is
justified by the bore log stratigraphy, i.e. upper part is silty and lower part is sandy.

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 Angle of internal friction
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
10

20 BH-3
BH-1
30
Depth (ft)

BH-2
40

50

60

70

Figure 4.2: Variation of angle of internal friction values for the samples of BH-01 to
BH-03.

Angle of internal friction

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
10

20 BH-6
BH-4
30
Depth (ft)

BH-5
40

50

60

70

Figure 4.3: Variation of angle of internal friction values for the samples of BH-04 to
BH-06.

Grim (1962) mentioned that the angle of internal friction ‘ϕ’ for kaolinite is 20˚; for illite
from 10˚ to 15˚ and montmorilonite the angle approaches to 0˚. Madhupur clay is mainly
illitic and small amounts of kaolinite and other minerals are also present (Haque, 1994).

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Haque (1994) determined the angle of internal friction for Madhupur clay lies between
11˚ to 36˚. The obtained value of ‘ϕ’ is much closer to the quoted value of Haque (1994).
The relationship between normal stress and shear stress in direct shear test is shown in
Appendix-C. The shear stress increases linearly with increasing normal stress in all the
samples. In some samples the straight line intersects the shear stress axis giving rise to
the value of cohesion in case of silty or clayey soil. But most of the cases, the line is
passing through the origin which suggest that the soil is non-cohesive sand which have
sufficient angle of internal friction.

4.3.2. Unconfined Compressive Strength

The unconfined compressive strength (qu) values have been determined for 12 samples of
the study area. The values are presented in table 4.5. The obtained unconfined
compressive strength (qu) value lies between 1.22 kg/cm2 to 3.50 kg/cm2. The average
value of the unconfined compressive strength is 2.36 kg/cm2. The relationship between
the moisture content and the unconfined compressive strength is shown in figures 4.4 &
4.5, which suggest that unconfined compressive strength values increase with decreasing
moisture content.

Table 4.5: Results of the unconfined compression test.

Wet Dry Unconfined

BH Sample Depth Strain
Density Density compressive Strength
No. No. (feet) %
(gm/cc) (gm/cc) qu (kq/cm2)
UD-1 8.5 1.96 1.60 1.22 9
1
UD-2 13.5 2.048 1.70 1.72 12
UD-1 8.5 2.01 1.65 1.40 11
2
UD-2 13.5 2.02 1.67 2.20 13
UD-1 8.5 2.00 1.645 1.50 8
3
UD-2 13.5 2.06 1.71 1.80 10
UD-1 8.5 2.08 1.713 2.05 12
4
UD-2 13.5 2.109 1.74 2.80 14
UD-1 8.5 2.20 1.83 1.80 10
5
UD-2 13.5 2.10 1.74 2.30 12
UD-1 8.5 2.10 1.727 2.80 12
6
UD-2 13.5 2.159 1.805 3.50 14

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Grim (1962) mentioned that the cohesive soils are classified on the basis of unconfined
compressive strength (qu) as:
Very soft : qu < 0.25 kg / cm2
Soft : qu = 0.25 to 0.5 kg / cm2
Medium : qu = 0.5 to 1.0 kg / cm2
Stiff : qu = 1.0 to 2.0 kg / cm2
Very Stiff : qu = 2.0 to 4.0 kg / cm2
Extremely Stiff : qu = > 4.0 kg / cm2

The obtained result suggest that the studied clay is ‘stiff to very stiff’ according to Grim’s
(1962) classification based on ‘qu’.

Grim (1962) also mentioned that the montmorillonite yields lower strength than kaolinite
when not mixed with sand but yields higher strength than kaolinite when mixed with
sands. For clay minerals, the strengths would increase with increasing percentages of clay
minerals in the following order: montmorillonite, illite, kaolinite. The Madhupur Clay is
mainly illitic, so its compressive strength should lie between strength for montmorillonite
and kaolinite (Haque and Hossain, 1995). The present study also justified the study of
Haque and Hossain (1995).

The stress–strain relationship build up from the unconfined compressive strength test is
shown in Appendix-D. It is evident from the stress-strain curves for the unconfined
compressive strength that the stress-strain curves are almost linear in nature. The stress
increases linearly at early stage of the strain and consequently increases up to the failure
point which yields the unconfined compressive strength value. After that the stress–strain
graph change its direction to the opposite indicating the declining strength. The stress-
strain curves of the analyzed soil also reveal that in most cases the soil is ductile in
nature, but in some cases it is brittle.

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 Unconfined compressive strength
1 1.5 2 2.5
19

20
Moisture content (%)

21

22

23 BH-3

BH-1
24
BH-2
25

26

Figure 4.4: Relationship between the moisture content and the unconfined
compressive strength for BH-1 to BH-3.

Unconfined compressive strength

1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
19
Moisture content (%)

20

21
BH-6
BH-4
22
BH-5

23

Figure 4.5: Relationship between the moisture content and the unconfined
compressive strength for BH-4 to BH-6.

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