Unconfined Compression Test

Introduction:

The unconfined compression test is by far the most popular method of soil shear testing
because it is one of the fastest and cheapest methods of measuring shear strength. The
method is used primarily for saturated, cohesive soils recovered from thin-walled sampling
tubes. The unconfined compression test is inappropriate for dry sands or crumbly clays
because the materials would fall apart without some land of lateral confinement.
In the unconfined compression test, we assume that no pore water is lost from the sample
during set-up or during the shearing process. A saturated sample will thus remain saturated
during the test with no change in the sample volume, water content, or void ratio .
More significantly, the sample is held together by an effective confining stress that results
from negative pore water pressures (generated by menisci forming between particles on the
sample surface). Pore pressures are not measured in an unconfined compression test ;
consequently, the effective stress is unknown. Hence, the undrained shear strength
measured in an unconfined test is expressed in terms of the total stress.

Objective:

To measure the approximate shear strength of a cohesive soil.

Apparatus:

1. Unconfined compression testing machine, electrically driven strain controlled.
2. Dial gage to measure compression of sample.
3. Proving ring or load cell.
4. Balance, Oven, moisture tin and spatula.
5. Specimen preparation device.
6. Verier caliper.
7. Stop watch.

Procedures:

o Obtain a cylindrical soil sample by trimming or extrude cut from a tube.
o Measure the diameter of sample at top, middle and bottom and obtain average.
o Measure length of sample at 3 different locations 120 apart and obtain average.
o Center the sample on the pedestal or platen. Place the platen on top of sample. Start
the compression machine. Move it up until the proving ring touches the top platen.
o Zero the compression dial gage.
o Record initial reading on proving ring dial gage.
o Select a loading rate at 0.5 20 % per minute.
o Initiate loading, record proving ring and compression dial reading at specific time
intervals.
o Continue loading until the proving ring reading s stay constant for a while or starts
to decrease, a crack will develop (bulging) if bulging occurs, continue loading until a
15% strain is achieved.
o When loading is complete, stop the machine, sketch the failure plain and measure
angle with horizontal.
Data sheet
compression
of sample L
mm
compression of
sample L cm
Axial Strain
(cm/cm)
proving
Ring Dial
Reading
Cross
sectional Area
Ac cm
Proving
Ring
Constant
Applied
Axial
Load P
KN
Stress
KN/cm
0.5 0.05 0.0050 30 19.342 0.1257 3.771 0.2
1 0.1 0.0101 55 19.440 0.2305 12.6775 0.7
1.5 0.15 0.0151 79 19.539 0.3352 26.4808 1.4
2 0.2 0.0201 88 19.640 0.3687 32.4456 1.7
2.5 0.25 0.0252 118 19.741 0.4944 58.3392 3.0
3 0.3 0.0302 122 19.844 0.5112 62.3664 3.1
3.5 0.35 0.0352 144 19.947 0.6034 86.8896 4.4
4 0.4 0.0403 163 20.052 0.683 111.329 5.6
4.5 0.45 0.0453 173 20.158 0.725 125.425 6.2
5 0.5 0.0504 190 20.265 0.7962 151.278 7.5



0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400 0.0500 0.0600
Stress (qu)- strain
Stress (qu)- strain
Calculations:

Sample of calculation:
Strain = L /L the 1
st
point = 0.05 cm/9.93 cm = 0.0050
Area (A
o
) =

= 19.244 cm
2

Corrected area (A
c
) =

=


= 19.342

Stress=


=

= 0.2 KN/cm

Max stress (unconfined compression stress q
u
) = 7.5 KN/cm
2
.

C =

= q
u
= 7.5 KN/cm
2

S = C + + tan = 3.75 + 7.5 + 0 = 11.25 KN/cm
2




Discussion & Conclusions:

We stop the readings before the proving dial readings become constant or become less
which is necessary to identify q
u
and to obtain a representing curve.