Geotechnical Engineering Flashcards
6 cards from real NCEES practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Geotechnical Engineering flashcards as text
For the NCEES PE Geotechnical exam, the factor of safety against slope failure using the ordinary method of slices is:
Answer: FS = Sum of resisting moments / Sum of driving moments
The ordinary (Fellenius) method computes FS as the ratio of sum of resisting moments to sum of driving moments about the slip circle center.
In NCEES PE Geotechnical engineering, the liquefaction susceptibility of saturated sands is most influenced by:
Answer: Relative density, grain size, and cyclic shear stress ratio
Liquefaction susceptibility depends primarily on relative density (or N-value), uniformly graded fine sand, and the cyclic stress ratio from earthquake loading.
On the NCEES PE Geotechnical exam, the immediate (elastic) settlement of a foundation differs from consolidation settlement in that it:
Answer: Occurs only in granular soils and is time-independent
Immediate (elastic) settlement occurs rapidly upon load application, primarily in granular soils, and is calculated using elasticity theory.
In NCEES PE Geotechnical practice, the purpose of a geosynthetic geogrid in pavement design is to:
Answer: Reinforce and stabilize the base course by providing lateral confinement
Geogrids provide lateral confinement and reinforcement to aggregate base layers, increasing load distribution and reducing rutting.
For the NCEES PE Geotechnical exam, the end-bearing capacity of a driven pile in clay is estimated using:
Answer: Qp = 9Su × Ap, where Su is undrained shear strength
End bearing in clay: Qp = 9Su × Ap, using the bearing capacity factor Nc = 9 for deep foundations in undrained clay.
In NCEES PE Geotechnical engineering, Darcy's Law for seepage through soil states that seepage velocity v equals:
Answer: v = Ki (hydraulic conductivity times hydraulic gradient)
Darcy's seepage velocity v = Ki, where K is hydraulic conductivity and i is the hydraulic gradient.
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