BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE PILANI

Second Semester 2022-23

CE F243 (Soil Mechanics) Mid-term Exam (Open Book)
Date: March 14, 2023
Duration: 90 mins (2:00 PM to 3:30 PM) Max Marks: 50
[Note: Marks will be deducted if the final answers are reported without proper units.]
1. A cylindrical specimen of 38 mm diameter and 76 mm height was prepared using 20% clay
(Gs = 2.71) and 80% sand (Gs = 2.65) (both oven-dried) at dry density of 1.7 gm/cc. For water
content determination, a subsample of the moist soil mixture was taken from the mixing bowl
where the soil mixture was prepared. Mass of moisture can, mass of moisture can with moist soil,
and mass of moisture can with oven-dried soil were 6 gm, 15.2 gm and 14.2 gm, respectively. The
cylindrical soil specimen was then subjected to moisture conditioning by completely submerging
the specimen in water.
Before submerging, this soil specimen was wrapped in a latex impermeable membrane to prevent
entry of water in the radial direction. However, two porous stones were placed on the top and
bottom base of the specimen to facilitate entry of water in axial direction when fully submerged in
water. After 48 hours of complete submergence, the specimen was brought out of water, the
membrane and porous stones were removed, and the mass and volume of the specimen were
recorded. The specimen incurred a volume increase of 10% and mass increase of 12.85%, as
compared to those before submerging in water.
Based on the abovementioned information, determine the following (using phase diagram only,
and not using ready-to-use equations): [15]
a) Void ratio before and after 48 hours of submerging in water.
b) Degree of saturation after 48 hours of submerging in water.
c) If the specimen after soaking is to be further compacted in a cylindrical mold by static
compaction¸ determine reduction in specimen volume (in cc) required to fully saturate the
specimen.
d) Determine the bulk unit weight of the specimen before soaking, after 48 hours of soaking,
and after soaking followed by static compaction.

2. A falling head permeability test was performed on a saturated lean clay specimen of 100
mm diameter and height 127 mm. The head of water dropped from 150 cm to 130 cm in the 10
mm diameter standpipe over 4 hours. If the saturated unit weight of the specimen is 19 kN/m3 and
Gs is 2.71, determine the coefficient of permeability (in cm/s), void ratio of the specimen, and
estimate the superficial velocity and seepage velocity (both in cm/s) at the time instant when the
piezometric head (datum + pressure head) at the top of the soil specimen is 125 cm. Consider the
datum line to be passing through the outlet of the permeameter and that the head loss is incurred
due to flow through soil specimen only. [10]

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3. Draw the total stress, pore water pressure and effective stress distributions for the soil
profile shown in Figure 1. Estimate the seepage force per unit volume and show the direction in
which the seepage force will be acting. Is the sand deposit going to experience quicksand condition
for the details given in Figure 1? If yes, provide justification. If no, provide justification and
determine the pressure head at point A that will result in quicksand condition. [10]

Figure 1
4. State true or false and correct the false statements. No marks will be awarded if the false
statements are not corrected completely or if the context of the question is completely changed. It
is mandatory to re-write the complete sentence after correcting. No need to re-write the true
statements. [15]
a) A cation of higher valence will always replace a cation of lower valence, irrespective of
the relative abundance of the cations present in the soil system.
b) Bulking of sand is attributed to the DDL present around the sand particles.
c) If a clayey soil is compacted on the dry side of optimum, it is expected to exhibit anisotropic
permeability characteristics.
d) Soil particles having a particle size less than 2 microns are termed as clay minerals.
e) Dry sieve analysis is the most appropriate grain size distribution technique for a soil having
PL of 20 and LL of 100.
f) The hydrometer reading can be used to estimate the specific gravity of a soil suspension at
the tip of the hydrometer bulb and the hydrometer reading keeps on increasing with time
since the hydrometer keeps on entering a layer of denser soil suspension that has settled at
the bottom of the measuring cylinder.
g) Bulk unit weight is the most appropriate parameter for studying the compaction
characteristics of a soil, since bulk unit weight quantifies the weight of soil mixture that
can be compacted in a given volume.

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h) Quicksand is a type of sand that is dry and is easily moved quickly from one location to
another by wind.
i) Hydraulic gradient is defined as the difference in the pressure head between two points
through which fluid is flowing divided by the shortest distance joining those two points.
j) Sodium ions tend to flocculate clay minerals due to its small ionic radius and +1 valency.
Hence calcium-based salts are used as dispersing agents for preparing the soil suspension
in a hydrometer analysis.
k) Effective stress on a section passing through a soil deposit is the ratio of the cumulative
inter-particle forces acting on the section to the total contact area between soil particles,
and this effective stress can be easily measured in the field using a pressure cell.
l) The piezometric head along a flow line is always a constant in a flow net.
m) Relative density of a compacted clayey soil can be defined as the ratio of the field bulk
density to the laboratory bulk density, represented in percentage.
n) Optimum moisture content and dry density are intrinsic soil properties of a given soil and
are constant values that are not influenced by any factors.
o) Kneading type of compaction is most suitable for compacting fine-grained soils whereas
vibratory compaction is ideal for compacting coarse-grained soils.