REVIEW OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CONPETS | 2nd Sem.

SY 2019-2020

Topic 1 Part 5 (continuation)

The type of test to be adopted depends upon how best we can simulate the field conditions. Generally
speaking, the various shear tests for soils may be classified as follows:

Unconsolidated-Undrained Tests (UU)

The samples are subjected to an applied pressure under conditions in which drainage is prevented, and
then sheared under conditions of no drainage.

Consolidated-Undrained or Quick Tests (CD)

The samples are allowed to consolidate under an applied pressure and then sheared under conditions of no
drainage.

Consolidated-Drained or Slow Tests (CD)

The samples are consolidated as in the previous test, but the shearing is carried out slowly under
conditions of no excess pressure in the pore space.

The drainage condition of a sample is generally the deciding factor in choosing a particular type of test in
the laboratory. The purpose of carrying out a particular test is to simulate field conditions as far as
possible. Because of the high permeability of sand, consolidation occurs relatively rapidly and is usually
completed during the application of the load. Tests on sand are therefore generally carried out under
drained conditions (drained or slow test).

For soils other than sands the choice of test conditions depends upon the purpose for which the shear
strength is required. The guiding principle is that drainage conditions of the test should conform as closely
as possible to the conditions under which the soils will be stressed in the field.

Undrained or quick tests are generally used for foundations on clay soils, since during the period of
construction only a small amount of consolidation will have taken place and consequently the moisture
content will have undergone little change. For clay slopes or cuts undrained tests are used both for design
and for the investigation of failures.

Consolidated-undrained tests are used where changes in moisture content are expected to take place due
to consolidation before the soil is fully loaded. An important example is the condition known as "sudden
drawdown" such as that occurs in an earth dam behind which the water level is lowered at a faster rate
than at which the material of the dam can consolidate. In the consolidated-undrained tests used in this type
of problem, the consolidation pressures are chosen to represent the initial conditions of the soil, and the
shearing loads correspond to the stresses called into play by the action of sudden drawdown.

As already stated, drained tests are always used in problems relating to sandy soils. In clay soils drained
tests are sometimes used in investigating the stability of an earth dam, an embankment or a retaining wall
after a considerable interval of time has passed.

Very fine sand, silts and silty sands also have poor drainage qualities. Saturated soils of these categories
are likely to fail in the field under conditions similar to those under which consolidated quick tests are
made.

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Consolidated-Drained Triaxial Test (CD)

In the CD test, the saturated specimen first is subjected to an all-around confining pressure, , by
compression of the chamber fluid. As confining pressure is applied, the pore water pressure of the
specimen increases by (if drainage is prevented). Now, if the connection to drainage is opened,
dissipation of the excess pore water pressure, and thus consolidation, will occur. With time, will
become equal to 0. Next, the deviator stress, , on the specimen is increased very slowly (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Consolidated-drained triaxial test: (a) specimen under chamber confining pressure;
b) deviator stress application
The drainage connection is kept open, and the slow rate of deviator stress application allows complete
dissipation of any pore water pressure that developed as a result ( 0).

Because the pore water pressure developed during the test is completely dissipated, we have
Total and effective confining stress
Total and effective axial stress at failure = ( )
In a triaxial test, is the major principal effective stress at failure and is the minor principal effective
stress at failure.
Several tests on similar specimens can be conducted by varying the confining pressure. With the major
and minor principal stresses at failure for each test the Mohr’s circles can be drawn and the failure
envelopes can be obtained. Figure 2 shows the type of effective stress failure envelope obtained for tests
on sand and normally consolidated clay. The coordinates of the point of tangency of the failure envelope
with a Mohr’s circle (that is, point A) give the stresses (normal and shear) on the failure plane of that test
specimen.

Figure 2. Effective stress failure envelope from drained tests on sand and normally consolidated clay

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For normally consolidated clay, referring to Figure 2

( )

( )

Consolidated-Undrained Tests (CU)

The consolidated-undrained test is the most common type of triaxial test. In this test, the saturated soil
specimen is first consolidated by an all-around chamber fluid pressure, , that results in drainage. After
the pore water pressure generated by the application of confining pressure is dissipated, the deviator
stress, , on the specimen is increased to cause shear failure. During this phase of the test, the drainage
line from the specimen is kept closed. Because drainage is not permitted, the pore water pressure, ,
will increase. During the test, simultaneous measurements of and are made. The increase in the
pore water pressure, , can be expressed in a nondimensional form as

( )

where A = Skempton’s pore pressure parameter.

The value of the pore water pressure parameter A at failure will vary with the type of soil.
Following is a general range of the values of A at failure for various types of clayey soil
encountered in nature:

Unlike the consolidated-drained test, the total and effective principal stresses are not the same in the
consolidated-undrained test. Because the pore water pressure at failure is measured in this test, the
principal stresses may be analyzed as follows:
Major principal stress at failure (total): ( )
Minor principal stress at failure (total):
Major principal stress at failure (effective): ( )
Minor principal stress at failure (effective): ( )
In these equations, ( ) pore water pressure at failure. The preceding derivations show that
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )

Figure 3. Total and effective stress failure envelopes for consolidated undrained triaxial tests.
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Tests on several similar specimens with varying confining pressures may be conducted to determine the
shear strength parameters. Figure 3 shows the total and effective stress Mohr’s circles at failure obtained
from consolidated-undrained triaxial tests in sand and normally consolidated clay. Note that A and B are
two total stress Mohr’s circles obtained from two tests. C and D are the effective stress Mohr’s circles
corresponding to total stress circles A and B, respectively. The diameters of circles A and C are the same;
similarly, the diameters of circles B and D are the same.

Unconsolidated-Undrained Tests (UU)

Tests on saturated clay may be carried out either on undisturbed or on remolded soil samples. The
procedure of the test is the same in both cases. A series of samples (at least a minimum of three) having
the same initial conditions are tested under undrained conditions. With the all-round pressure, acting
on a sample under conditions of no drainage, the axial pressure is increased until failure occurs at a
deviator stress ( ). From the deviator stress, the major principal stress , is determined. If the
other samples are tested in the same way but with different values of , it is found that for all types of
saturated clay, the deviator stress at failure (compressive strength) is entirely independent of the
magnitude of as shown in Figure 4. The diameters of all the Mohr circles are equal and the Mohr
envelope is parallel to the -axis indicating that the angle of shearing resistance = 0. The symbol
represents the angle of shearing resistance under undrained conditions. Thus saturated clays behave as
purely cohesive materials with the following properties:

( )

where is the symbol used for cohesion under undrained conditions (undrained shear strength). The
above equation holds true for the particular case of an unconfined compression test in which = 0. Since
this test requires a very simple apparatus, it is often used, especially for field work, as a ready means of
measuring the shearing strength of saturated clay, in this case

( )

Figure 4. Mohr circle for undrained shear test on saturated clay

If during the test, pore-pressures are measured, the effective principal stresses may be written as

where u is the pore water pressure measured during the test. The effective deviator stress at failure
may be written as

( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )

This shows that the deviator stress is not affected by the pore water pressure. As such the effective
stress circle is only shifted from the position of the total stress circle as shown in Figure 4.

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In addition, the pore pressure developed in the soil specimen during the unconsolidated undrained triaxial
test is

The pore pressure is the contribution of the hydrostatic chamber pressure Hence,

where B = Skempton’s pore pressure parameter.

Similarly, the pore parameter is the result of the added axial stress so

where A = Skempton’s pore pressure parameter.

thus,

( )

The pore water pressure parameter B in soft saturated soils is approximately 1.

( )

Unconfined Compression Tests

The unconfined compression test is a special type of unconsolidated-undrained test that is commonly used
for clay specimens. In this test, the confining pressure is 0. An axial load is rapidly applied to the
specimen to cause failure. At failure, the total minor principal stress is zero and the total major principal
stress is (Figure 5). Because the undrained shear strength is independent of the confining pressure as
long as the soil is fully saturated and fully undrained, we have

where qu is the unconfined compression strength. Table 2 gives the approximate consistencies of clays on
the basis of their unconfined compression strength. A photograph of unconfined compression test
equipment is shown in Figures 6(a,b,c) show the failure in two specimens—one by shear and one by
bulging—at the end of unconfined compression tests.

Theoretically, for similar saturated clay specimens, the unconfined compression tests and the
unconsolidated-undrained triaxial tests should yield the same values of cu. In practice, however,
unconfined compression tests on saturated clays yield slightly lower values of cu than those obtained from
unconsolidated-undrained tests.

Figure 5. Unconfined compression test

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Table 2. General Relationship of Consistency and Unconfined Compression Strength of Clays

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 6. (a) Unconfined compression test equipment (b) Failure by shear (c) Failure by bulging

The only difference between the unconfined compression test (UC) and UU test is that a total confining
pressure under which no drainage was permitted was applied in the latter test. Because of the absence of
any confining pressure in the UC test, a premature failure through a weak zone may terminate an
unconfined compression test. For typical soft clays, premature failure is not likely to decrease the
undrained shear strength by more than 5%.

PROBLEM 1
A triaxial shear test was performed on a well-drained sand sample. The normal stress on the failure plane
and the shear stress on the failure plane, at failure were determined to be 6300 psf and 4200 psf,
respectively. Determine a) the angle of internal friction of the sand, b) the angle of the failure plane, c) the
maximum principal stress.

PROBLEM 2
A saturated specimen of cohesionless sand was tested under drained conditions in a triaxial compression
test apparatus and the sample failed at a deviator stress of 482 kN/m 2 and the plane of failure made an
angle of 60° with the horizontal. Find the magnitudes of the principal stresses. What would be the
magnitudes of the deviator stress and the major principal stress at failure for another identical specimen of
sand if it is tested under a cell pressure of 200 kN/m2?

PROBLEM 3
A specimen of saturated sand was consolidated under an all-around pressure of 12 lb/in2. The axial stress
was then increased and drainage was prevented. The specimen failed when the axial deviator stress
reached 9.1 lb/in2. The pore water pressure at failure was 6.8 lb/in2. Determine a) Consolidated-undrained
angle of shearing resistance, b) Drained friction angle and c) What would be the deviator stress at failure,
if a drained test was conducted with the same chamber all-around pressure (that is, 12 lb/in2)?
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PROBLEM 4
A sample of moist sand was subjected to a series of triaxial tests. The soil fails under the following
stresses:
Cell Pressure, Plunger Stress,
2
Specimen 1 14 kN/m 34 kN/m2
Specimen 2 25 kN/m2 56 kN/m2

What is the angle of internal friction of the soil?

PROBLEM 5
When an undrained triaxial compression test was conducted on specimens of clayey silt, the following
results were obtained:

Specimen 1 Specimen 2 Specimen 3

17 kPa 44 kPa 56 kPa
157 kPa 204 kPa 225 kPa
12 kPa 20 kPa 22 kPa

Determine the values of shear parameters considering (a) total stresses and (b) effective stresses.

PROBLEM 6
An unconfmed cylindrical specimen of clay fails under an axial stress of 5040 lb/ft2. The failure plane
was inclined at an angle of 55° to the horizontal. Determine the shear strength parameters of the soil.

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