Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering - Study Notes
Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering - Study Notes
and Foundation
Engineering
SOIL MECHANICS & FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
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Properties of Soil
Physical Properties of Soil
Water Content:: There can be no upper limit to water content, i.e., w≥0
Porosity: 0<n<100
Both terms i.e. void ratio and porosity are correlated but as the volume of soil solids is a more consistent
data as compared to the total volume of soil, void ratio proves to be more consistent quantity and hence
is used more promptly.
Air Content:
0≤ ≤100
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0≤ <100
Unit Weight/Density:
Specific Gravity: There are two types of specific gravity defined for the soil:
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Points to Remember
Soil Type Relative density value
Very loose soil 0-15%
Loose soil 15-30%
Medium soil 30-65%
Dense soil 65-85%
Very dense soil 85-100%
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Water Content
Oven dry Method:
Pycnometer Method:
W4 = Pycnometer + Water
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% fineness = 100
Coefficient of uniformity:
Where If,
Coefficient of Curvature:
Where If,
Testbook Trick
Effective size of soil = D10.
Average size of particle = D50.
Sedimentation Analysis: Particle settling velocity:
Shrinkage Limit:
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Here,
R = Shrinkage Ratio
Volumetric Shrinkage:
Degree of Shrinkage:
Linear Shrinkage:
Plasticity Index:
Shrinkage Index:
Consistency Index:
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Liquidity Index:
Points to Remember
Ip % Consistency
0 Non-Plastic
1-5 Slight Plastic
5-10 Low Plastic
10-20 Medium Plastic
20-40 High Plastic
Toughness Index
Sensitivity
Points to Remember
Sensitivity (St) Soil Type
1 Coarse Grained/ Non- Sensitive
1-4 Normal/ Less Sensitive
4-8 Sensitive/ Flocculent/ Honeycomb Structure
8-16 Extra Sensitive(like fine clay)
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Activity (Ac)
Points to Remember
Ac
Collapsibility
Points to Remember
Cp% 0-1 1-5 5-10 10-20 ≥ 20
No trouble to Moderate Severe Very severe
Soil description Trouble
structure trouble Trouble trouble
Classification of Soil
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Capillarity
Capillary rise in tube of diameter d, with liquid of density , surface tension force σ, and contact angle
between fluid and material surface is given by:
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‘d’ in the above equation can also be defined as average or equivalent size of pores in the soil
Suction Capacity:
Permeability
Head Loss per unit length in soil is called Hydraulic gradient.
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Here,
h = head loss
L = Seepage Length
n = Porosity
Q = Discharge
Darcy’s Law
Clean Gravel
Clean Sand
Silt
Clay
Here,
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Properties of fluid:
Generally, value of ‘k’ is reported at 20C̊ but it differs if the temperature changes:
If in time ‘t’ quantity of water collected is ‘Q’ and area of soil through which water is passing is ‘A’
then,
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If ‘a’ is the cross sectional area of the stand pipe, ‘h1’ is difference in head at time t = 0 and ‘h2’ is
difference in head at time ‘t’ then:
Now if in time interval ‘t’, head difference fall from height h1 to h2 and in the next time interval ‘t’,
head difference fall from height h2 to h3 then,
Here,
Indirect Methods
Kozeny-Carman’s Equation:
Here,
Kk = Shape Coefficient
e = Void Ratio
Here,
Consolidation Equation:
Here,
Cv = Coefficient of consolidation
= Coefficient of compressibility
Louden’s Equation:
Here,
n = Porosity
Here ‘a’ and ‘b’ are constants depending on soil type and temperature.
Well Hydraulics
Specific Yield
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Specific Retention
Here,
= Hydraulic Conductivity
= Thickness of Aquifer
Radius of influence
it ranges from 150 to 300 m.
Here,
= Radius of influence
= Observed Drawdown
= Coefficient of permeability
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Dupuit’s Theory
r1=r and r2=R
Confined Aquifer
Thiem’s Theory
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Dupuit’s Theory
Here, S is drawdown.
When test well doesn’t penetrate fully in confined aquifer from base, flow occurs from the base of the
well also which is spherical and its discharge is approximately times that of a radial one and
hence
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Pumping In Test
Open End Test
Let r be the radius of pipe, h be the head under which water is added above the base of pipe (h = gravity
head + Pressure head)
Seepage In Soil
In state of Seepage,
Hence in upward flow, effective stress in soil decreases and in downward flow effective stress in soil
decreases.
Here,
Here,
Here,
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Here,
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Here,
Phreatic Lines
For α < 30,̊
Anisotropic Soil
The seepage loss rate is computed by taking average permeability (k’) as follows:
Here,
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= Liquid Limit
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Here, e0 = Initial void ratio or void ratio at the beginning of the consolidation.
Here,
= Coefficient of Consolidation
K= Permeability
Here,
Here,
Settlement Analysis
Immediate Settlement:
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Here,
Here,
B = Width of foundation
μ = Poisson’s ratio of soil (varies from 0.2 for elastically behaving soil to 0.5 for soil with plastic behav-
iour
Using Cr
= Using Cc
Permissible Settlement
Type of foundation Permissible Total Settlement
Isolated Foundation on Clay 65mm
Isolated Foundation on Sand 40mm
Raft Foundation on Clay 65 to 100mm
Raft Foundation on Sand 40 to 65mm
Raft Foundation on Clay 40mm
Raft Foundation on Sand 25mm
In case of large framed structure angular distortion must not exceed in general and if all types of
minor damages are to be prevented, the angular distortion should not exceed .
Compaction of Soil
Compaction Curve/Proctors Curve
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Here,
Points to Remember
Here,
= Normal stress on critical plane
= Shear Strength on failure plane
= Angle of maximum obliquity
= Angle of friction for soil
= Maximum Principal Stress in soil
= Minimum Principal Stress in soil
When soil is in submerged state, effective parameters are used. In such case the equation to calculate
shear strength will become as given:
Also,
= Effective cohesion
For Clay:
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Here,
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This test can also be used to determine the sensitivity of the soil:
B is zero for dry soil (S = 0) and B is 1 for saturated soil (S = 1) but the relationship isn’t linear.
Further:
Compression index
Shear Stage:
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Here,
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As per Rankine
In active state, Coefficient of Active Earth Pressure:
Active Thrust:
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Hence resultant of active and passive earth pressure will act parallel to surcharge at an angle with
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Influence Factor = =
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Critical Depth/ Critical Height: It is the maximum height of vertical cut which can be left unsupported:
Hence total active earth pressure when tension cracks aren’t developed:
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Here,
For vertical wall, (α = 90˚) and Horizontal backfill (β = 0˚) and δ = 0˚then,
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Stability of Slopes
Types of Slip in occurring in Soil Slopes
Transitional Slip:
Rotational Slip:
Depth Factor:
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Here,
Here,
= Slope Angle
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Here,
Cohesive Soils:
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This method is used on homogenous or stratified soil or where seepage is taking place:
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Here,
= Stress at a depth ‘z’ and horizontal distance ‘r’ from the point of loading
At ,
At ,
At ,
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‘m’ concentric circles with ‘n’ radial lines divide the chart into ‘m*n’ units. Each block of area has
equal influence on the centre.
Due to loading in any region encircled by the influence chart, stress at the centre can be given by
as follows:
Westergaard’s Theory
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Trapezoidal Method
General Case: Assuming 1V: nH trapezoidal dispersion of load in the soil. Vertical stress in such case
will be given by:
1:2 Method: In this method it is assumed that the load dispersion in taking place in 1H:2V manner as
shown:
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Foundation Engineering
Determination of Bearing Capacity on the basis of Shear Criteria
Gross Pressure:
Net Pressure:
Df = Depth of footing
Shallow Foundation
Analysis of Shallow Foundation using Analytical Methods
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Terzaghi’s Method:
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For Terzaghi:
Circular Footing:
Rectangular Footing with width of footing = B and length of footing = L (B < L):
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When water table is below ground level at depth but above the base of the footing
When water table is at a depth below the base of the footing as shown in
figure (b) then:
Terzaghi considers general shear failure but if soil, fails in local shear failure, modified shear pa-
rameters are required to be used:
Skempton’s Theory (c-soil): For cohesive soils only but can also be applied on deep foundations.
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Determination of allowable bearing pressure on the basis of settlement criteria using results
of Plate Load Test:
Over-burden Pressure :
Over-burden Pressure :
Dilatancy Correction/ Water Table Correction: Applied when water table is present at
test level or above.
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Determination of net allowable pressure using SPT data on basis of settlement criteria:
For :
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IS code Equation: In IS code method, Teng’s Equation is used without depth correction
factor.
IS 1904:1986 Recommendations
Maximum Differential
Type of Footing Angular Distortion
Settlement Settlement
Steel Structure
RCC Structure
Steel Structure
RCC Structure
Deep Foundation
Analysis of load carrying capacity of Piles
Allowable load applicable on piles:
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Here,
Here,
Average horizontal thrust on the pile face over the depth of the pile
Further,
Average vertical stress on pile face over the depth of the pile
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Where,
Similarly,
Here, Lateral dimension of the pile and rest is as shown in the figure:
Surface area of pile in contact with soil below the depth of 15D.
Frictional Resistance:
Static methods are suitable for clay only. For sand, dynamic methods are more suitable.
And,
Weight of hammer
Final Set = Average penetration per blow in cm. Its value is taken as average of last 5
blows for drop hammer and average of last 20 blows for steam hammer.
Area of piston
Constant accounting for energy loss due to friction, elastic compression of piles and
soil and cushion
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Hiley’s Formula: This formula is adopted by IS code and is based on principle of conservation of energy:
Here,
Bored Piles:
Here,
Under-Reamed Piles
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Group Efficiency
Here, Load carrying capacity of pile group in the basis of individual pile failure.
Number of piles
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Bearing capacity factor for overburden pressure at the base of individual pile
Here, Load carrying capacity of pile group on the basis of block failure criteria
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Here,
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Initial effective stress at section x-x or at half the height of seat of settlement
Pile embedded into stiff clay stratum down to a depth of L2 overlain by soft clay layer down to depth L1:
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Pile Group being end bearing with pile base on stiff clay:
Here,
In case of sand, group settlement ratio can be determined using size of pile group:
Value of :
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Inside Clearance:
Outside Clearance:
Area Ratio:
Recovery Ratio:.
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