250+ TOP MCQs on Bearing Capacity – Standard Penetration Test and Answers

geotechnical Engineering Multiple Choice Questions on “Bearing Capacity – Standard Penetration Test”.

1. The two commonly used penetration tests are ____________
a) Standard penetration test
b) Cone penetration test
c) All of the mentioned
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: c
Clarification: According to Indian standard, the two commonly used penetration tests are static cone penetration test and standard penetration test.

2. The values derived from penetration tests can be used for finding ____________
a) Depth of hard stratum and Strength of soil
b) Soil saturation
c) None of the mentioned
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The penetration test are useful for general exploration of erratic soil profiles, for finding depth to bed rock or hard stratum, and to have an approximation indication of the strength and other properties of soils.

3. The observed value of N in static cone penetration test is corrected by _________
a) Overburden and Dilatancy /submergence
b) Effective pressure
c) None of the mentioned
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The N-value for cohesion less soil shall be corrected for overburden and the values N0 obtained after overburden correction is corrected further for dilatancy.

4. Correction for increasing effective overburden pressure have been proposed by ___________
a) Gibbs and Holtz
b) Peck
c) Thornburn
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: d
Clarification: For a constant density index, the N value increase with increasing effective overburden pressure for which correction have been proposed by Gibbs and Holtz, peck, Thornburn, Whitman and others.

5. The split tube used in static cone penetration test, is commonly known as ______________
a) Split spoon sampler
b) Split tube sampler
c) Tube sampler
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The split tube sampler, used in a test for standard penetration is commonly known as split spoon sampler resting on the bottom of the bore hole which is allowed to sink under its own weight.

6. The total blow required for the second and third 15 cm of penetration in standard penetration test is taken as ____________
a) Seating drive
b) Penetration resistance
c) Overburden pressure
d) Dilatancy/submergence
Answer: a
Clarification: In standard penetration test, the first 15 cm of drive may be considered to be a seating drive. The total blows required for the second and third 15 cm of penetration is termed as the penetration resistance N.

7. The expression for C n as given by Lio and Whitman is _____________
a) C n = √(σ’)
b) C n = √(100/σ’)
c) C n = 0.77log10(2000/σ’)
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: b
Clarification: In 1986, Lio and Whitman gave the following expression for
Normalizing factor C n:
C n = √ (100/σ’).

8. The cone test is useful in determining the bearing capacity of ___________
a) Cohesion less soil and Fine sand
b) Clay soil
c) None of the mentioned
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The cone test is considered very useful in determining the bearing capacity of pits in cohesion less soils, particularly in fine sands of varying density.

9. The cone resistance qc, for sandy silt type of soil is __________
a) 3.5
b) 6
c) 2
d) 5
Answer: c
Clarification: For silts, sandy silts, slightly cohesive silt sand mixture type of soil, the cone resistance q c is 2.