STUDENT CODE OF ETHIC

(SCE)
DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

I, hereby confess that I have prepared this report on my own effort. I also admit not
to receive or give any help during the preparation of this report and pledge
that everything mentioned in the report is true.

_________________
Student Signature

Name

Matric No. :
Date

FACULTY: CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : UNCONFINED COMPRESSION
TESTS

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

1/5

3/1/2012
3/1/2012

1.0 OBJECTIVE: To determine the shear strength of the cohesive soil.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of this experiment, students are able to:
Perform the unconfined compression test.
Determine the shear strength parameter of the soil samples.

3.0 THEORY
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, 3 is 0. An axial load is rapidly
applied to the specimens to cause failure. At failure, the total minor principal stress, 3 is zero and the
total major principal stress is 1. Because the undrained shear strength is independent of the confining
pressure, so

1 q u

cu
2
2

where, qu is the unconfined compression strength

The axial load may be applied to the specimen either by the controlled strain procedure, in which
the stress is applied to produce a pre-determined rate of strain, or by the controlled stress procedure, in
which the stress is applied in pre-determined increments of load. IS: 2720 (Part 10) -1973 recommend
the use of controlled strain tests.

The unconfined compression strength can be correlate with the consistencies of clays as shown
in Table 1.

Table 1: Approximate relationship of consistency and unconfined compression strength of clays

Consistency
Very soft
Soft
Medium
Stiff
Very stiff
Hard

qu (kN/m2)
0 - 25
25 50
50 100
100 200
200 400
>400

FACULTY: CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : UNCONFINED COMPRESSION
TESTS

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

2/5

3/1/2012
3/1/2012

4.0 TEST EQUIPMENTS

1. Compression device of any suitable type (loading frame of capacity 2 kN), with a constant rate
movement.
2. Sample extractor
3. Split moulds 3.5 cm diameter and 7 cm long.
4. Frictionless end plates of 7.5 cm diameter (Perspex plate with silicon grease coating)
5. Oven
6. Balance Sensitive to weigh 0.1 g.
7. Containers for moisture content determination.
8. Proving ring of 0.01 kg sensitivity for soft soils and 0.05 kg for stiff soils.
9. Dial gauge (sensitivity 0.01 mm)
10. Vernier calipers
11. Soil sample = Wet clayed soil

5.0 PREPARATION OF SPECIMEN

1. The split mould (38 mm in diameter) is oiled lightly from inside.
2. Remoulded soil sample is prepared by compacting the soil at desired water content and dry density in
the split mould.
3. Split mould is opened carefully and sample is taken out.
4. Trim the specimen to the specified dimension (38 mm in diameter and 76 mm in height).
5. Repeat the procedure 1 to 4.
6. Minimum three soil specimens should be prepared for test.

6.0 PROCEDURES
1. Measure the initial length and diameter of the soil specimen.
2. Place the specimen on the base plate of the load frame (sandwiched between the end plates)
3. Place a hardened steel ball on the bearing plate. Adjust the centerline of specimen such that the
proving ring and the steel ball are in the same line.
4. Fix dial gauge to measure vertical compression of the specimen.
5. Adjust gear position on the load frame to give suitable vertical displacement.
6. Set the reading of proving ring and dial gauge to zero.
7. Start applying the load and record the readings of the proving ring dial and strain dial for every 0.2 mm
8. Continue loading till failure occurs or 20% vertical deformation is reached (15 mm compression of a 38
mm diameter specimen).
9. Sketch the failure pattern; measure the angle between the cracks and the horizontal if possible.

FACULTY: CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

TEST TITLE : UNCONFINED COMPRESSION

TESTS

3/5

3/1/2012
3/1/2012

7.0 EXPERIMENTAL DATA

Initial length of specimen, Lo

Diameter of specimen, D
Initial cross section area, Ao
Weight of the specimen, W
Initial volume of specimen, Vo
Bulk density, b
Initial water content, w
Dry density, d

unit
mm
mm
mm2
g
m3
kN/m3
%
kN/m3

Specimen 1

Specimen 2

Specimen 3

8.0 OBSERVATION TABLE

Specimen 1
Strain dial
Proving
reading
ring reading
(div.)
(div.)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
800
850
900
950
1000
1100
1200
1300

Sample
deformation
, L (mm)

Axial strain,
= L/Lo x
100 (%)

Corrected area,
Ac = (Ao/1-)
(m2)

Axial
load, kN

Compressive
stress (kN/m2)

FACULTY: CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : UNCONFINED COMPRESSION
TESTS

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

4/5

3/1/2012
3/1/2012

Specimen 2
Strain dial
reading
(div.)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
800
850
900
950
1000
1100
1200
1300

Proving
ring reading
(div.)

Sample
deformation
, L (mm)

Axial strain,
= L/Lo x
100 (%)

Corrected area,
Ac = (Ao/1-)
(m2)

Axial
load, kN

Compressive
stress (kN/m2)

FACULTY: CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : UNCONFINED COMPRESSION
TESTS

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

5/5

3/1/2012
3/1/2012

Specimen 3
Strain dial
reading
(div.)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
800
850
900
950
1000
1100
1200
1300

Proving
ring reading
(div.)

Sample
deformation
, L (mm)

Axial strain,
= L/Lo x
100 (%)

Corrected area,
Ac = (Ao/1-)
(m2)

Axial
load, kN

9.0 COMPUTATION AND RESULTS

a) Plot the graph of Axial stress versus Axial Strain
b) Plot the graph of shear stress versus normal stress

10.0

CONCLUSION

a) Unconfined compressive strength of the soil, qu = ___________ kN/m2

b) Shear strength of the soil, c u

qu
= ___________ kN/m2
2

Compressive
stress (kN/m2)