Soil Mechanics Midterm Exam

Spring 2007


Name:
ID #:

Page 2 of 6

1. A sample of saturated clay was placed in a container and weighed. The weight was 6 N. The clay
in its container was placed in an oven for 24 hours at 105C. The weight reduced to a constant
value of 5 N. The weight of the container is 1 N. Determine the:

a. water content
b. void ratio
c. unit weight
d. dry unit weight
e. buoyant unit weight
(15 points)

Page 3 of 6

2. Two specimens of a clayey soil were testes to find the shear strength of the soil. The first
specimen was tested in the field as soon as the sampling was completed. The second specimen
tested in the lab and some water was added to it so that the test could be performed at its
original water content. The results of the two tests look significantly different. Describe briefly
the atomic structure and properties of a clay mineral, which can explain the significant
difference between the results (15 point).

Page 4 of 6

3. The results of a standard compaction test are shown in the table below.

Water Content (%) 6.2 8.1 9.8 11.5 12.3 13.2
Unit Weight (kN/m
3
) 16.9 18.7 19.5 20.5 20.4 20.1

a. Determine the optimum water content.
b. Determine the maximum dry unit weight.
c. Plot the Zero-Air-Voids line.
(15 points)









15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Page 5 of 6

4. The following figure shows the layers of soil in a tube that is 100 mm 100 mm in cross-section.
Water is supplied to maintain a constant head difference of 300 mm across the sample.



The rate of water supply is 500 cm
3
/hr and the coefficients of permeability of the soils in the
direction of flow through them for segments A and B are as follows:

Soil k (cm/sec)
A 10
-2
B 510
-3

a. Determine h
A
.
b. Determine h
B
.
c. Determine k
C
.
(25 points)


Page 6 of 6

5. The state of stress on a small element is
v
= 12 kPa,
h
= 6 kPa, and the shear stress is 4 kPa.

a. Find the magnitude and directions of the major and minor principal stresses.
b. If the material is a loose sand, can you say whether the element is in a state of failure? Why?
(Assume = 33.7).
(30 points)