Question

In an un-drained test on saturated clays, both σ1’ and σ3’ is independent of ____________

(a) Pore pressure

(b) Shear strength

(c) Cell pressure

(d) Effective pressure

The question was asked by my school teacher while I was bunking the class.

My question is from Shear Strength of Cohesive Soil topic in chapter Shear Strength of Geotechnical Engineering I

Answer 1

Right choice is (c) Cell pressure

The best I can explain: In an un-drained test on saturated clays (B=1), both the major principal effective stress σ1’ and the minor principal effective stress σ3’ are independent of the magnitude of cell pressure applied.