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UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS

JUNE

APM3715

Numerical Methods for Civil Engineers

Welcome to the APM3715 — Assessment 3

Date: 9 June 2025

Duration: 2 hours

Examiner name: Mr J. Sibanda

Internal moderator name: Mr M. Makaleng
External moderator name: Mr N.A. Mnisi

This paper consists of 6 pages, including cover pages.

Total marks: 70

Instructions:
THIS IS AN OPEN BOOK TEST
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Open Rubric
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of academic dishonesty.
Questions 1
The township of Mamelodi has seen widespread infrastructure issues attributed to
problematic soils, as detailed in a geotechnical investigation by GeoStruct Solutions
(Pty) Ltd. Among the four major problems identified, expansive clays, collapsible
sands, dispersive clays, and erodible topsoils were found. The team observed that
multiple failure modes overlapped across construction zones.

To model and quantify the combined risk of failure at various construction sites, the
engineers decided to represent soil behaviour interactions and their mitigation
responses as a system of linear equations, where each variable represents the relative
severity of each soil behaviour (on a scale from 0 to 10) at a particular location. This
allows planners to estimate the impact of multiple interventions.

GeoStruct collected the following simplified relationships from three sample zones (Z1,
Z2, Z3) based on laboratory tests and field inspections:

o Zone 1 (Z1): The total damage observed (wall cracks + road settlement) is
attributed 50% to expansive clays, 30% to collapsible sands, and 20% to
dispersive clays.
e« Zone 2 (Z2): Foundation damage and gully formation were 20% due to
collapsible sands, 40% dispersive clays, and 40% expansive clays.
« Zone 3 (Z3): A failed dam structure's piping failure was 70% due to dispersive
soils and 30% due to expansive soils.

Let:

« x1: severity index of expansive clay behaviour

« Xx2: severity index of collapsible sands
« xa: severity index of dispersive clays

The recorded failure indicators (normalized damage indices) for the three zones are
8.5, 6.0 and 9.0 in Z1, Z2 and Z3, respectively.
Questions:

1.1 Formulate a system of three linear equations using the above information. Each
equation should represent the weighted contribution of different soil behaviours
to the observed damage in Zones 1-3. (3 marks)

1.2 Solve the resulting system using Gaussian elimination with partial pivoting.
Show all steps, row operations, and pivoting decisions clearly. (10 marks)

1.3 Interpret the computed severity indices x1, x2, x3. What do they suggest about
the most critical soil behaviour that needs attention in Mamelodi? Which
mitigation strategy (from those proposed) should be prioritized? (5 marks)

1.4 Suppose a technician made a rounding error while entering data for Zone 2,
recording the observed failure index as 6.5 instead of 6.0.
* Recalculate the system with this new value. (3 marks)
e Compute the relative change in each severity index compared to the
original. (2 marks)
* Discuss the sensitivity of the solution to input errors. What does this imply
for data reliability in engineering assessments? (5 marks)

Q1 Total: (28 marks)

Question 2
A vertically oriented steel pile is to be driven 15 meters deep into a stratified soil profile
in Mamelodi for a low-rise school foundation. The pile has an outer diameter of 425
mm and must support a compressive axial force of 800 kN. Geotechnical
investigations reveal that the soil resistance comprises both end-bearing resistance at
the pile base, and frictional resistance along the shaft.

Due to complex soil behaviour (including expansive clays and collapsible sands),
engineers observed nonlinear settlement of test piles during static load testing. The
empirical load-settlement relationship is approximated by the nonlinear function:

Q=& -5+3Q-R=0

where Q is the applied load in tons, R is the field-measured bearing capacity and f(Q)
is load imbalance due to soil resistance vs applied load. The root of this function gives
the equilibrium load for given resistance.
 21 Explain the physical significance of each term in the function f(Q). What does
it mean for f(Q) = 0? What kind of soil-structure interaction behaviour is
modelled by this equation? (4 marks)

21 Using the Newton-Raphson method, perform three iterations to approximate

the value of Q that balances the system. Start with an initial guess of Qo = 3.5.
Show all steps, including the derivative used and intermediate values.
(6 marks)

21 If the initial guess is changed to Qo = 0.5, discuss (with justification) whether

convergence is expected. What does this tell you about the importance of
choosing a good initial guess in nonlinear geotechnical problems? (4 marks)

Q2 Total: (14 marks)

Question3
A civil engineer is designing a continuous beam that spans three supports (A, B, C)
over two equal spans of 6 meters each. The beam is subjected to uniform distributed
loading of w =10 kN/m over each span. The beam is prismatic (constant El) and is
fixed at both ends (A and C), with a simple support at the middle (B), making it statically
indeterminate.

The moment distribution method (or slope-deflection method) yields a system of

equations of the form:

K-M=F

Where:

K: stiffness matrix (function of support conditions and span lengths)

M: unknown fixed-end moments at nodes A, B, and C

F: equivalent fixed-end moment vector due to external loads

Based on the above beam configuration:

Fixed at Aand C
Pinned at B
Uniform load w =10 kN/m
 Equal spans of L= 6 m
Assume constant flexural rigidity EI

Use the slope-deflection method to:

a) Derive expressions for the moments at A, B, and C in terms of rotations and

displacements. (5 marks)
b) Formulate the stiffness matrix K and the load vector F.
(Hint: Use standard slope-deflection formulas for fixed—fixed and fixed—pinned
members.) (3 marks)

3.2 Once your system is formulated in the form K-M = F, apply LU decomposition
manually to solve for the unknown moments. Show all intermediate matrices L
and U, and all steps in forward/backward substitution. (7 marks)

3.3 Implement the same system in R, using 1u() from the Matrix package (or
equivalent). Compare your manually obtained moments with the computed
ones. You are allowed to use Octave if you wish. (5 marks)

3.4 Discuss the following:

Why LU decomposition is preferred in repeated load cases (e.g., dynamic

loads). (4 marks)
How the stiffness matrix structure might change if one support becomes aroller
or if the loading becomes point-based. (4 marks)

Q3 Total: (28 marks)

TOTAL MARKS [70]

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