Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies

Department of Civil Engineering

SOIL MECHANICS
UNIT – I
1. 50g minus 75 micron, oven dried soil was used in a hydrometer analysis. The corrected
hydrometer reading after 2 min in a 1000 cc soil suspension was 25. The effective depth, H e for
RH of 25 is 12.13cm. Taking specific gravity of solids as 2.75 and viscosity of water as 0.01
poise, calculate the % finer and diameter of the soil particle.

2. Two soils were tested for their consistency limits in the laboratory. The following data were
obtained:

Soil A Soil B
No. Of blows, N W% No. Of blows, N W%
8 43 5 65
20 39 15 61
30 37 30 59
45 35 40 58
Plastic limit = 25% Plastic limit = 30%
The natural moisture contents of soils A and B were measured in the field and were found to be
40% and 50% respectively.

(a) Which soil has greater plasticity?

(b) Which soil will be a better foundation material upon remoulding?

(c) Which soil is more compressible?

(d) Which soil shows a higher rate of loss in shear strength upon increase in water content?

(e) Which soil has a higher strength at plastic limit?

3. In a liquid limit test, specimens of a certain sample of clay at water contents of 31.93, 27.62,
25.51 and 23.30% required 5, 16, 23 and 42 blows, respectively to close the standard groove.
The plastic limit of the clay is 13%. Natural water content is 18%. Determine the liquid limit,
plasticity index, liquidity index relative consistency, flow index and toughness index of the soil.

4. In a shrinkage limit test, a container of volume 9.6 cc was filled with soil slurry. The weight of
the saturated soil was 17.46g. The slurry was then gradually dried, first in atmosphere and then
in an oven at a constant temperature of 1100 C. The weight and volume of the dried soil were
11.58 g and 5.22 cc, respectively. Determine the shrinkage limit of the soil and the shrinkage
ratio.

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
5. A sample of sand from a natural deposit has a porosity of 35%. For a volume of 495 cc, the
dry weight in the densest and loosest states are 950 and 700 g, respectively. Compute the relative
density of sand assuming the specific gravity of solids to be 2.65.

6. A soil has a liquid limit of 50% and plasticity index of 20. When the soil at its liquid limit was
dried, the percentage decrease in volume was 40% of its dry volume. When it was dried from its
plastic limit, the percentage decrease in volume was 20% of its dry volume. Determine the
shrinkage limit of the soil and its shrinkage ratio.

7. A sample of sand was found to have a water content of 20% and bulk unit weight of 1.93 g/cc.
Laboratory tests on the sand sample indicated the void ratios in the loosest and the densest
possible states as 0.90 and 0.50 respectively. Calculate the relative density and the degree of
saturation of the sample (Assume Gs = 2.65).

8. The minimum and maximum dry unit weight of a sand were found to be 12 g/cc and 17 g/cc
respectively. Calculate the dry unit weight corresponding to a relative density of 60%.

9. A sample of saturated clay weighs 15.45 g and its moisture content is 38%. If the particle
specific gravity is 2.70, find the void ratio, porosity, dry and bulk unit weights of the soil.

10. A soil sample in its natural state has mass of 2.290 kg and a volume of 1.15 X 10 -3 m3. After
being oven dried, the mass of the sample is 2.035 kg. Gs for soil is 2.68. Calculate the void ratio
of the natural soil.

11. The ratio of saturated unit weight to dry unit weight of a soil is 1.25. If the specific gravity of
solids is 2.65, what is the void ratio of the soil?

12. The water content of a saturated soil and the specific gravity of soil solids were found to be
30% and 2.70, respectively. Assuming the unit weight of water to be 10 kN/m 3, Determine the
saturated unit weight and the void ratio of the soil.

13. In its natural condition a soil sample has a mass of 2.5 kg and a volume of 0.002 m 3. After
being completely dried in an oven; the mass of the sample is 2.3 kg, specific gravity is 2.65. Unit
weight of water is 10 kN/m3. Calculate the degree of saturation of soil.

14. A certain soil has specific gravity of 2.71, porosity of 40% and water content of 20%. What
is the degree of saturation of the soil?

15. A given cohesionless soil has emax = 0.85 and emin = 0.50. In the field, the soil is compacted
to a mass density of 1800 kg/m3 at a water content of 8%. Take the mass density of water as
1000 kg/m3 and Gs as 2.7. Determine the relative density of the soil.

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
16. A fine – grained soil has 40% clay content. The soil behaves as semi – solid when water
content is between 20% and 30%. The soil behaves fluid like when the water content is more
than 50%. What is the ‘Activity’ of the soil?

17. A 588 cm3 volume of moist sand weighs 1010g. Its dry weight is 918g and specific gravity of
solids, G is 2.67. Assuming the density of water as 1g/cc, calculate the void ratio and porosity of
the soil.

18. The porosity and the degree of saturation of a soil sample are 0.7 and 40% respectively. In a
100 m3 volume of the soil, determine the volume of air.

19. Laboratory sieve analysis was carried out on a soil sample using a complete set of standard
IS sieves. Out of 500g of soil used in the test, 200g was retained on IS 600 micron sieve, 250g
was retained on IS 500 micron sieve and the remaining 50g was retained on IS 425 micron sieve.
Calculate the coefficient of uniformity of the soil.

20. As per the Indian Standard soil classification system, a sample of silty clay with liquid limit
of 40% and plasticity index of 28%. Classify this fine grained soil.

UNIT – II
1. The coefficient of permeability of a soil is 10 X 10-3 cm/sec for a certain pore fluid. If the
viscosity of the pore fluid is doubled, then what will be the coefficient of permeability?

2. A soil mass has coefficients of horizontal and vertical permeability as 9 X 10 -7 cm/s and 4 X
10-7 cm/s, respectively. What will be the transformed coefficient of permeability of an equivalent
isotropic soil mass?

3. A river of 5m deep consists of a sand bed with saturated unit weight of 20 kN/m 3, γw = 9.81
kN/m3. Calculate the effective vertical stress at 5m from the top of sand bed.

4. The coefficients of permeability of a soil in horizontal and vertical directions are 3.46 and 1.5
m/day respectively. The base length of a concrete dam resting in this soil is 100 m. When the
flow net is developed for this soil with 1:25 scale factor in the vertical direction, what will be the
reduced base length of the dam?

5. In a constant head permeameter with cross section area of 10 cm 2, when the flow was taking
place under a hydraulic gradient of 0.5, the amount of water collected in 60 seconds is 600 cc.
Calculate the permeability of the soil.

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
6. Assuming that a river bed level does not change and the depth of water in river was 10m, 15m
and 8m during the months of February, July and December respectively of a particular year. The
average bulk density of the soil is 20 kN/m3. The density of water is 10 kN/m3. Calculate the
effective stress at a depth of 10m below the river bed during these months.

7. Two soil specimens with identical geometric dimensions were subjected to falling head
permeability tests is the laboratory under identical conditions. The fall of water head was
measured after an identical time interval. The ratio of initial to final water heads for the test
involving the first specimen was 1.25. If the coefficient of permeability of the second specimen
is 5 times that of the first, what will be the ratio of initial to final water heads in the test involving
the second specimen?

8. The soil mass at 5m depth below the ground surface has water content 20%, specific gravity of
solids 2.7 and unit weight of water is 10 kN/m 3. The ground water table is at the ground level.
Determine the saturated unit weight of the sand, total stress, pore water pressure and effective
stress at 5m depth.

9. A non – homogeneous soil deposit consists of a sand layer sandwiched between a silt layer at
top and clay layer below. Permeability of the sand is 7 times the permeability of the clay layer
and 5 times the of the silt layer. Thickness of the sand is 2 times the thickness of the silt layer
and three – fourth of the thickness of the clay layer. Calculate the ratio of equivalent horizontal
and equivalent vertical permeability of the deposit.

10. A falling head permeability test was performed on a sand sample and the following data were
recorded:

Cross – sectional area of permeameter = 100 cm2; Length of the soil sample = 15 cm; area of the
stand pipe = 1 cm2; time taken for the head to fall from 150 cm to 50 cm = 8 min, temperature of
water is 250 C; dry mass of the soil specimen is 2.2 kg and its Gs = 2.68. Compute the coefficient
of permeability of the soil for a void ratio of 0.70 and standard temperature of 200C. Also
determine the superficial/discharge velocity and seepage velocity.

UNIT – III
1. A masonry dam is founded on pervious sand having porosity equal to 35% and specific
gravity of sand particles is 2.65. For a desired factor of safety of 3.5 against sand boiling, what
will be the maximum permissible upward gradient?

2. The specific gravity and insitu void ratio of a soil deposit are 2.71 and 0.85 respectively. What
is the value of the critical hydraulic gradient?

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
3. A unit volume of a mass of saturated soil is subjected to horizontal seepage. The saturated unit
weight is 22 kN/m3 and the hydraulic gradient is 0.3. What is the resultant body force on the soil
mass?

4. The flow net around a sheet pile wall is shown in the sketch. The properties of the soil are
permeability coefficient = 0.09 m/day (isotropic), specific gravity = 2.70 and void ratio = 0.85.
The sheet pile wall and the bottom of the soil are impermeable.

Calculate the seepage loss of water and factor of safety against the occurrence of piping failure.

5. The flow net constructed for the dam is shown in the figure below. Taking the coefficient of
permeability as 3.8 X 10-6 m/s, calculate the quantity of flow under the dam per meter of dam.

6. The seepage occurring through an earthen dam is represented by a flow net comprising of 10
equipotential drops and 20 flow channels. The coefficient of permeability of the soil is 3 mm/min
and the head loss is 5m. Calculate the rate of seepage (cm 3/s per m length) through the earthen
dam.

7. A sheet pile has an embedment depth of 12 m in a homogeneous soil stratum. The coefficient
of permeability of soil is 10-6 m/s. Difference in the water levels between the two sides of the

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
sheet pile is 4m. The flow net is constructed with 5 number of flow lines and 11 number of
equipotential lines. Determine the quantity of seepage under the sheet pile.

8. A point load of 700 kN is applied on the surface of thick layer of saturated clay. Using
Boussinesq’s elastic analysis, calculate the vertical stress at a depth of 2 m and a radial distance
of 1m from the point of application of the load?

9. The vertical stress at some depth below the corner of a 2m X 3m rectangular footing due to a
certain load intensity is 100 kN/m2. What will be the vertical stress below the centre of a 4m X
6m rectangular footing at the same depth and same load intensity?

10. A uniformly distributed line load of 500 kN/m is acting on the ground surface. Based on
Boussinesq’s theory, calculate the ratio of vertical stress at depth 2m to that at 4m right below
the lone of loading.

11. A footing 2m X 1m exerts a uniform pressure of 150 kPa on the soil. Assuming the load
dispersion of 2 vertical to 1 horizontal, calculate the average vertical stress at 1m below the
footing.

12. The vertical stress at point P1 which is at z/2 depth from the ground surface and r/2
horizontal distance due to the point load Q on the ground surface. According to Boussinesq’s
equation, calculate the vertical stress at point P2 which is at ‘z’ depth from the ground surface
and at ‘r’ horizontal distance due to the same point load Q.

UNIT – IV
1. In a standard proctor test, 2 kg of moist soil was filling the mould of volume 950 cc after
compaction. The moisture content of the soil sample was 35% and specific gravity of soil solids
is 2.65. Determine the theoretical maximum value of the dry unit weight of the soil at that water
content.

UNIT – V
1. The time for a clay layer to achieve 90% consolidation is 15 years. Calculate the time required
to achieve 90% consolidation, if the layer were twice as thick, 3 times more permeable and 4
times more compressible.

2. The time for a clay layer to achieve 85% consolidation is 10 years. If the layer was half as
thick, 10 times more permeable and 4 times more compressible then calculate the time that
would be required to achieve the same degree of consolidation.

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
3. A 6m thick clay layer undergoes 90% consolidation 4 times faster under two – way drainage
as compared to one – way drainage. In an identical clay layer of 15 m thickness, By which rate
the two – way drainage will be consolidated faster as compared to one – way drainage.

4. The average effective overburden pressure on 10 m thick homogeneous saturated clay layer is
150 kPa. Consolidation test on an undisturbed soil sample taken from the clay layer showed that
the void ratio decreased from 0.6 to 0.5 by increasing the stress intensity from 100 kPa to 300
kPa (G = 2.65). Calculate the initial void ratio of the clay layer and the total consolidation
settlement of the clay layer due to the construction of a structure imposing an additional stress
intensity of 200 kPa.

5. A saturated clay stratum draining both at the top and bottom undergoes 50% consolidation in
16 years under an applied load. If an additional drainage layer were present at the middle of the
clay stratum, In how many years 50% consolidation would occur?

6. Determine the consolidation settlement of the clay layer under a square footing shown in the
figure below. Clay has void ratio of 0.6 and saturated unit weight is 20.625 kN/m 3. Assume the
stress distribution as 2V : 1H from the edge of the footing and γ w = 10 kN/m3.

7. A water tank is to be constructed on the soil deposit shown in the figure below. A circular
footing of diameter 3m and depth of embedment 1m has been designed to support the tank. The
total vertical load to be taken by the footing is 1500 kN. Assume the unit weight of water as 10
kN/m3 and the load dispersion pattern as 2V : 1H. Calculate the expected settlement of the tank
due to primary consolidation of the clay layer in mm.

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS

8. A layer of normally consolidated, saturated silty clay of 1m thickness is subjected to one

dimensional consolidation under a pressure increment of 20 kPa. The properties of the soil are:
specific gravity = 2.7, natural moisture content = 45%, compression index = 0.45 and
recompression index = 0.05. The initial average effective stress within the layer is 100 kPa.
Assuming Terzaghi’s theory to be applicable, Calculate the primary consolidation settlement.

9. The following data are given for the laboratory sample:

= 175 , = 1.1

+ ∆ = 300 , = 0.9

If thickness of the clay specimen is 25 mm, what is the value of coefficient of volume
compressibility?

10. A 4m thick layer of normally consolidated clay has an average void ratio of 1.30. Its
compression index is 0.6 and coefficient of consolidation is 1 m 2/year. If the increase in vertical
pressure due to foundation load on the clay layer is equal to the existing effective overburden
pressure, then determine the change in the thickness of the clay layer due to primary
consolidation.

11. A 3 m thick clay layer is subjected to an initial uniform pore pressure of 150 kPa, coefficient
of consolidation was 2.5 mm2/min, in one –way drainage calculate the time required for 50%
consolidation.

12. A circular raft foundation of 20m diameter and 1.6m thich is provided for a tank that applies
a bearing pressure of 110 kPa on sandy soil with Young’s modulus , Es’ = 30 MPa and Poisson’s
ratio, ν = 0.3. The raft is made of concrete (Ec = 30GPa and νc = 0.15).Considering the raft as
rigid(If= 0.8). Calculate the Elastic settlement in mm.

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS

UNIT – VI
1. In a triaxial compression test conducted on dry sand, failure occurred when the deviator stress
was 180 kPa at a confining pressure of 50 kPa. What is the effective angle of shearing resistance
and the inclination of failure plane to major principal plane?

2. An unconfined compression test yielded a strength of 0.1 N/mm 2. If the failure plane is
inclined at 500 to the horizontal, what are the values of the shear strength parameters?

3. What is the shear strength in terms of effective stress on a plane within a saturated soil mass at
a point where the total normal stress is 295 kPa and the pore water pressure is 120 kPa? The
effective stress and shear strength parameters are C’ = 12kPa and ϕ’ = 30 0.

4. In a drained triaxial compression test, a saturated specimen of a cohesionless sand fails under a
deviatoric stress of 3 kgf/cm2 when the cell pressure is 1 kgf/cm2. Calculate the effective angle of
shearing resistance of sand?

5. If the effective shear strength parameters of a soil are C’ = 10 kPa and ϕ’ = 30 0. Determine the
shear strength on a plane within the saturated soil mass at a point where the total normal stress is
300 kPa and pore water pressure is 150 kPa.

6. In a tri – axial test carried out on a cohesionless soil sample with a cell pressure of 20 kPa the
observed value of applied stress at the point of failure was 40 kPa. Calculate the angle of internal
friction of the soil.

7. A sample of saturated cohesionless soil tested in a drained triaxial compression test showed an
angle of internal friction of 300. Calculate the deviatoric stress at failure for the sample at a
confining pressure of 200 kPa.

8. A direct shear test was conducted on a cohesionless soil specimen under a normal stress of 150
kPa. The specimen failed at a shear stress of 100 kPa. Calculate the angle of internal friction of
the soil.

9. The effective stress friction angle of a saturated cohesionless soil is 38 0. What is the ratio of
shear stress to normal effective stress on the failure plane?

10. A drained triaxial compression test on a saturated clay yielded the effective shear strength
parameters as C’ = 15 kPa and ϕ’ = 220. Consolidated Undrained triaxial test on an identical

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 Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies
Department of Civil Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS
sample of this clay at a cell pressure of 200 kPa developed a pore water pressure of 150 kPa at
failure. Calculate the deviator stress at the time of failure.

11. A consolidated undrained triaxial compression test is conducted on a normally consolidated

clay at a confining pressure of 100 kPa. The deviator stress at failure is 80 kPa, and the pore
water pressure measured at the failure is 50 kPa. Calculate the effective angle of internal friction.

[Note: In case of drained test, effective stress parameters should be taken. & In case of
undrained test, Total stress parameters should be taken.]

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