NPTEL- GEOTECHNICAL EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Module 3
DYNAMIC SOIL PROPERTIES
(Lectures 10 to 16)
PROBLEMS
1. At a level site, bedrock is overlain by a layer of overconsolidated clay of
variable thickness. A seismic refraction survey is conducted with 13 receivers
placed on a straight line between two shot points located 1,000 ft apart. From
the p-wave arrival times listed below, determine and plot the subsurface
profile in the central 800 ft portion of the survey. Determine the p-wave
velocities of the over consolidated clay and the underlying bedrock.
Receiver

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M

Distance
from SP 1
0
50
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
950
1000

Arrival time from Distance

from SP 2
SP 1(
)
0
15
30
48
58
67
78
91
108
113
115
119
124

1000
950
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
50
0

Arrival
time
from SP 2
(
)
124
119
114
105
96
85
75
73
68
47
30
15
0

2. The figure below shows the vertical response of geophones located at the same
depths in vertical boreholes spaced 5 m apart. The waves recorded at the
geophones resulted from downward (solid lines) and upward (dashed lines)
impact on a mechanical source at the same depth in a third borehole that was
collinear with the other two boreholes. Determine the average SV-wave
velocity of the soil between the geophones.

Dept. of Civil Engg. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

NPTEL- GEOTECHNICAL EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

3. Portions of the time histories of deviator stress and axial strain from a stresscontrolled cyclic triaxial test are shown below. Compute the secant shear
modulus and damping ratio of the test specimen. Assuming that the soil is
saturated and its response is consistent with the Masing criteria, estimate the
maximum shear modulus of the soil.

4. A site is underlain by about 14 m hydraulic fill sand with the following

properties.

Saturated unit weight

Average uncorrected SPT resistance
Average cone tip resistance
The groundwater table is located at a depth of 2m.
(a) Estimate the shear wave velocity of the hydraulic fill at a depth of 5 m by as
many procedures as the available data will support.

Dept. of Civil Engg. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

NPTEL- GEOTECHNICAL EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

(b) Shear wave velocity measurement at this site have indicated hydraulic fill
shear wave velocities ranging from about 120 m/sec-200 m/sec at 5 m depth
with an average value of about 170 m/sec. comment on the level of agreement
between the estimated shear wave velocities from Part (a) and the measured
shear wave velocities.
5. At the site described in problem 5, the hydraulic fill is underlain by a 15 m
thick deposit of medium stiff, normally consolidated silty clay with the
following properties:
Water content = 40%
Liquid limit = 46
Plastic limit = 23
Saturated unit weight
Cone tip resistance
Undrained shear strength
(a) Estimate the shear wave velocity of the silty clay at a depth of 20m by as
many procedures as the available data will support.
(b) Shear wave velocity measurements at this site have indicated silty clay
shear wave velocities ranging from about 120m/sec-180 m/sec at 20 m
depth with an average value of about 155 m/sec. comment on the level of
agreement between the estimated shear wave velocities from part (a) and
the measured shear wave velocities.

Dept. of Civil Engg. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur