Source: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

8 Soil Fabric and Structure

8.1 SOME IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS

8.1.1 Relevance in Engineering

Probably no characteristic of soils is more changeable and has a greater influence
on engineering properties than fabric, which is the spatial arrangement between
soil particles and soil voids. Larger aspects of fabric such as bedding, cross-
bedding, shrinkage cracks, and shear surfaces are defined as soil structure, or
more specifically, macrostructure. However, structure and fabric often are used
interchangeably. Mitchell (1993) defines structure as fabric that includes its
strength and stability.

While the engineering importance of fabric has been recognized for many decades,
the difficulty of measurement and of defining meaningful measures has put fabric
almost in a category of afterthought, and it is only recently that marked changes
in soil behavior have been observed that have brought fabric to a microscopic
center-stage.

For example, the most common rudimentary treatment of soil, compaction,

requires that the existing soil structure must be broken down in order to expel air
and push grains together. Compaction, if properly performed, makes soil stronger
and less compressible under load. However, if the soil is compacted too wet so
that voids are full of water, remolding can cause the soil to dramatically become
weaker. If a soil is compacted too dry it can retain an open structure that will
collapse upon wetting even though a specified minimum density has been
achieved. Both of these problems involve soil fabric.

Fabric is closely related to particle size and mineralogy, and therefore is

conveniently considered in relation to whether a soil is granular, cohesive, or has
attributes of both categories of soil.

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Soil Fabric and Structure 167

8.1.2 Overview of Granular Soil Fabric

The fabric of granular soils can be investigated by impregnating the soil with
plastic and viewing cut faces. Another preparation procedure is to cut and grind
thin sections that may be examined under a polarizing microscope, which enables
identification of the minerals.

Such studies often reveal a preferred horizontal orientations of pores and flat or
elongated grains. More recent studies indicate vertical stacking of grains on top of
one another, which is in contrast to the widely hypothesized close-packing
arrangements that are analogous to crystal structure.

8.1.3 Overview of Cohesive Soil Fabric

Because their small particle size is difficult to observe under a microscope, clay
fabric mainly has been defined by inference from crystal structure and physical
properties. For example, clay crystals are known to be flat, and stirring a
suspension of clay in water makes it more liquid, like stirring a milk shake. If the
liquid is allowed to stand it sets or stiffens. Then, like a milk shake, it will respond
and turn back into a liquid with stirring. The inference is that there must be some
interparticle bonding or optimization of particle contacts that is disrupted by
stirring. In a milk shake, tiny ice crystals can temporarily become disorganized; in
a clay suspension, it is the clay particles that are temporarily disorganized. This
property is called thixotropy, which is from Greek for touch-sensitive.

Clay fabric is directly observed under a scanning electron microscope, but the
requisite vacuum dehydrates the clay and can change its structure. Freeze-drying
in which a sample is first frozen and then evacuated for a long period of time can
help to preserve the structure.

Soil mixtures containing both granular and cohesive components combine both
elements of fabric, but normally one will dominate. The transition occurs at about
25 to 30 percent clay, which is sufficient to separate and prevent contact between
larger soil particles.

8.2 GRANULAR SOIL FABRIC

8.2.1 Single-Grained Structure

A soil that shows no discrete relationship between one grain and another is said to
have a single-grained structure. A random single-grained structure is shown in
Fig. 8.1(a). However, in many instances elongated particles tend to be aligned
parallel and horizontally as illustrated in Fig. 8.1(b). In this case the pores also
are oriented horizontally, reducing shearing strength in a horizontal direction.
Preferred orientation of flat particles occurs during sedimentation because it is
unlikely that particles will stand on end.
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 Soil Fabric and Structure

168 Geotechnical Engineering

Figure 8.1
Single-grain soil
structures that
influence
engineering
properties.

Flat or elongated particles deposited from flowing water often become arranged
like shingles in what geologists refer to as ‘‘imbricate structure.’’ This is illustrated
in Fig. 8.1(c), where the arrow indicates the direction of fluid flow. Horizontal
bedding as in Fig. 8.1(d) is common as a result of changing sedimentation
conditions and can create horizontal zones that are stronger and weaker than the
average.

A cycle of sedimentation often involves a waning stage that results in a gradual

decrease in the content of coarse particles. As a result a particular layer may show
an increase in coarseness with depth (Fig. 8.1(e)), called ‘‘graded bedding.’’
‘‘Cross-beddding’’ (Fig. 8.1(f)) is a product of dynamic and random cycling of
erosion and deposition in braided stream deposits.

8.2.2 Grain Stacking

A preferred vertical orientation of grain-to-grain contacts was discovered by Oda
(1978), who allowed sand grains to settle in water, then gently tapped the sides of
the container. The sands then were impregnated with plastic, sectioned, and the
grain orientations and contacts measured under a microscope. Stacking occurred
regardless of grain shapes that included both flat particles and spheres.

Stacking is illustrated in Fig. 8.1(g) and has been confirmed by other studies, but
remained a bit of a mystery until it was found to be related to sedimentation.
Figure 8.2 shows a stacking structure resulting from dropping two different sizes of
particles at random positions along a line as those landing on top of one another
tend to stack instead of sliding off. The same tendency was confirmed with
photoelastic studies of plastic disks (Mitchell, 1993; Santamarina et al., 2001).
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Soil Fabric and Structure 169

Figure 8.2
Simulated random
sedimentation of
spherical particles
tends to create
a stacking
arrangement and
vertical orientation
of voids, resulting
in low lateral stress
and high horizontal
compressibility.

Although not yet confirmed by measurements, an open arrangement from particle

stacking may help explain low lateral stresses and collapsibility of loess that
suddenly densifies under its own weight when it becomes saturated with water
(Handy, 1994). It also may increase the responsiveness to horizontal compaction
that occurs during compaction grouting, pile driving, and the construction of
Rammed Aggregate Piers.

8.2.3 Granular Soils Containing Clay

Although the single-grained structure applies only to particles that are silt-size
and larger, microscopic examinations show that coarse particles commonly are
coated with clay oriented flat against the grain surfaces. The presence of clay
coatings is revealed under a polarizing microscope that can block out light coming
through the host grains so that the clay coatings appear as bright fringes. In
tropical soils the coatings are iron oxides and hydroxides, which gives these soils
their red color.

Although clay coatings probably decrease the coefficient of sliding friction

between coarser grains, the clay also increases contact pressures because the
affinity of clay for water can create suction. The amount of suction is sensitive to
the water content, which explains why the strength of clayey granular soils is
reduced by wetting.

8.2.4 Clay Bridges

Even a moderate clay content causes clay to become concentrated at the particle
contacts, forming clay connectors or bridges. These are illustrated in Fig. 8.3(a).
This phenomenon was originally described by Grim for molding sands, which are
mixtures of sand and clay used in metal casting. Clay is added to increase cohesive
strength because sand without clay readily crumbles.

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 Soil Fabric and Structure

170 Geotechnical Engineering

Figure 8.3
(a) Clay bridges
add cohesive
strength to
granular soils,
but (b) grain
separation occurs
at about 25 to
30 percent clay.

The molding sand studies showed that with an increasing clay content there
becomes a point where the coarser grains no longer are in contact, and the soil
behaves more like clay than a sand or silt. That percentage varies depending on
the gradation of the coarse material, but usually is about 25–30 percent clay as the
sand changes from granular to cohesive. The separation of sand particles is
illustrated in Fig. 8.3(b).

Loess Studies
Loess is almost entirely silt and clay, with the clay content gradually increasing
with distance from a source. Loess containing less than 16 percent 0.002 mm clay
has over a 90 percent probability of being collapsible, which is a phenomenon that
is limited to low-density granular soils, but if the clay content exceeds 32 percent
the soil is very unlikely to be collapsible but behaves as a moderately expansive
clay (Handy, 1973).

8.3 COHESIVE SOIL FABRIC

8.3.1 Cardhouse Structure

Clay particles in suspension in water tend to combine into flocs as a result
of edge-to-face and edge-to-edge attractions between individual crystals,
creating an open, ‘‘cardhouse’’ structure (Fig. 8.4(a)). Slow sedimentation may
result in stacking similar to that which occurs with granular soils and a loose
‘‘honeycomb’’ structure (Fig. 8.5), and scuba divers describe a transition from
water to soil such that they have difficulty feeling where the water leaves off and
the soil begins.

8.3.2 Clay Particle Orientation under Overburden Pressure

As the cardhouse structure of Fig. 8.4(a) becomes compressed under load, the
clay particles tend to become oriented flat, as in Fig. 8.4(b). The most extreme
examples of pressure-induced orientation are shales.

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Soil Fabric and Structure 171

Figure 8.4
Two-dimensional
representations of
flocculated and
dispersed clay
structures.

Figure 8.5
Simulated random
settlement of clay
flocs creating a
‘‘honeycomb’’
structure.

Even though clay particles are too small to be individually resolved in a light
microscope, a parallel orientation can be inferred from viewing vertically oriented
thin sections in a polarizing microscope. Clay mineral grains become dark when
their optical axes are aligned with the polarizing axes of the microscope, so the
degree of preferred orientation can be obtained by measuring light transmission as
the stage is rotated.
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172 Geotechnical Engineering

8.3.3 Shear-Induced Orientation of Clay Particles

Shearing of clay, either in a landslide or as a result of horizontal pressures in
expansive clays, creates shiny surfaces that indicate that the clay particles have
become oriented parallel with those surfaces. These ‘‘slickensides’’ are perma-
nently weak contact surfaces.

The goal of compaction is to push soil grains together, but if compaction is

continued too long or if the soil is too wet, compaction pressure is transferred to
the soil water that has no resistance to shearing. As a result the soil shears, or slips
internally, reorienting and smearing clay particles along the shear planes. Such a
soil is said to be overcompacted, and is permanently damaged by shear planes and
slickensides. Before it can be reused and recompacted it must be dried and
pulverized to destroy the sheared structure.

8.3.4 Pedologenic Structures

As mentioned in Chapter 5, clay-rich B horizons often develop a blocky structure
from a three-dimensional array of tension cracks developed from seasonal drying
shrinkage. This structure is shown in Fig. 8.6 and with increasing depth is
transitional to a columnar structure between vertically oriented shrinkage cracks.
Under low pressures the blocky structure can cause clay to behave more like
a granular soil than a clay. The blocky structure is preserved by shiny oriented

Figure 8.6
A blocky ‘‘B
horizon’’ structure
that is transitional
to a columnar
structure with
depth. Soil above
the dotted line is
fill. The soil color
is a mottled gray
and brown color
indicating wet
conditions prior to
exposure by
erosion and
sliding.

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 Soil Fabric and Structure

Soil Fabric and Structure 173

‘‘clay skins,’’ technically called ‘‘argillans,’’ that cover surfaces of the individual
blocks or peds.

8.4 SENSITIVITY

8.4.1 Sensitive Clays

Sensitivity is more than skin-deep, as all clays are somewhat sensitive, which
means that they lose a substantial portion of their strength when their floccu-
lated structure is disturbed. This is illustrated in Fig. 8.4(c). However, floccu-
lation still may triumph in the long run if the soil then is left undisturbed.
A loss of strength upon remolding or stirring and regain with aging is called
thixotropy.

Thixotropic behavior explains the ‘‘setup factor’’ that occurs from pile driving in
cohesive soils, such that if driving stops for a few hours penetration cannot easily
be restarted. After a day or so the pile-bearing capacity commonly is increased by
a factor of two, so load tests normally are conducted after sufficient time has
elapsed to allow thixotropic setting.

As previously discussed, thixotropy also is a vital attribute of drilling muds

that are circulated down through a drill pipe and come back up in the
annular space between the pipe and the edges of a borehole. Similar muds are
used to hole slurry trench excavations open for constructing cast-in-place
retaining walls.

Muddy streams and rivers usually supply sufficient agitation to keep clays
dispersed. They then can slowly settle out in quiet water such as in a lake. This is
in contrast to settling in salt water, where the clay is flocculated and quickly
settles. Deltas in freshwater lakes therefore are sandy while those in sea water
contain more clay.

8.4.2 Measuring Sensitivity

Sensitivity is defined as the ratio of strength measured before remolding to that
measured after remolding at the same soil moisture content and density.

Sensitivity normally is determined from laboratory unconfined compression tests.

An undisturbed cylindrical sample is obtained by pushing a thin-walled steel tube;
it is then extruded, and loaded vertically in a compression machine until it fails.
The soil sample then is remolded without allowing any loss of water, pressed into
a cylindrical mold so that it is the same size as the original specimen, and again
tested in unconfined compression. and the ratio of the initial strength to the
remolded strength is the sensitivity. The strength after remolding is called a
residual strength.
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174 Geotechnical Engineering

Table 8.1 Sensitivity Descriptive term

The Rosenqvist 52 Insensitive
terms for sensitivity 2–4 Moderately sensitive
4–8 Sensitive
8–16 Very sensitive
16–32 Slightly quick
32–64 Medium quick
464 Quick

Sensitivity also can be quickly measured in the field with the vane shear test.
In this test, two vertical blades arranged to make an X are pushed into soil and
twisted. The torque to cause failure is measured, and twisting continued to obtain
a residual shear strength and strength ratio.

The sensitivity of clays typically ranges from about 2 to 4, and emphasizes

the importance of avoiding unnecessary disturbance. Terms used to describe
sensitivity are shown in Table 8.1.

8.4.3 Chemically Dispersed Clays

Clays are routinely dispersed in the laboratory as part of the procedure for
particle size analysis, discussed in the preceding chapter. In this case the clay
particles are separated as in Fig. 8.4(d) and the electrical charge is modified so
that the particles repel instead of attracting one another. The details of this action
are described in Chapter 10.

Dispersed clays can remain dispersed in a laboratory flask for months or years
without settling out, but opposing forces of gravity and Brownian motion
eventually cause the suspension to develop a density gradient. There normally
is no discrete X-ray diffraction spacing because the clay particles are randomly
separated and too thin.

Naturally dispersed clay can occur in alkaline playa lakes where the clay mineral is
sodium-saturated smectite. This is the most expansive of naturally occurring
expansive clays. Drying draws particles together and results in shrinkage cracks,
and wetting re-expands the clay.

8.4.4 Quick Clays

A particularly troubling but fortunately unusual clay is called quick clay. Unlike
quicksand, which is a condition brought on by rising seepage water, quick clay is a
clay that is exceptionally sensitive and turns to liquid if disturbed.

Quick clay is clay that has been deposited and flocculated in salt water, usually in
estuaries, and then leached of excess salt so that the flocculated structure becomes
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 Soil Fabric and Structure

Soil Fabric and Structure 175

Figure 8.7
Mudslide in quick
clay annexing the
town of Nicolet,
Quebec. (National
Research Council,
Canada.)

unstable. When such a structure is stressed, as by a tremor or other vibration, the

clay can suddenly turn into a liquid with devastating consequences. Quick clays
occur in terraces along the St. Laurence River in Canada and in Norway, partly as
a result of rebound of the earth’s crust following melting of continental glaciers.

A quick clay can be stable for decades and then, when sharply vibrated, as by an
explosion, ground tremor, or when a truck goes by, can suddenly become a
rapidly flowing liquid mudslide, as shown in Fig. 8.7.

8.4.5 Dispersive Clays

Weakly flocculated soils can become dispersed from the action of flowing water.
This is particularly important in earth dams and levees, where a small leak can
quickly become larger and cause eventual failure by piping.

A ‘‘pinhole test’’ was developed by engineers of the USDA Soil Conservation

Service to detect dispersive clays. The test involves drilling a 1 mm diameter hole
through a compacted soil specimen and running water through the hole under
standardized conditions. The hole enlargement after a particular time is a measure
of the soil dispersivity (Sherard et al., 1976). Extensive testing has shown that clay
minerals in dispersive soils usually are smectites, with over 60 percent of their
exchangeable cations being sodium.

Another test for dispersive clay uses the hydrometer test described in the
preceding chapter both with and without a chemical dispersing agent. The soil
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 Soil Fabric and Structure

176 Geotechnical Engineering

that can be dispersed without the addition of a dispersing agent is assumed to be

dispersive (ASTM Designation D-4221).

8.4.6 Dispersive Silt

The pinhole test also determines erosion-prone silty soils that strictly speaking are
not dispersive. Tests of the loess soil used for the core of the ill-fated Teton Dam
did not pass the pinhole test, but did pass the double-hydrometer test (Sherard,
1987). The dam failed by piping, that is, by enlargement of seepage channels under
and through the dam until the flow reached the category of a deluge shown in
Fig. 8.8. Warnings were given in time to evacuate most of the people from the area
downstream but nevertheless 14 lives were lost. This tragic misadventure cast a
long shadow over the future of big dam building in the U.S., but earth dams
continue to be built in developing countries of the world.

8.5 SOIL MACROSTRUCTURE

8.5.1 Overview
Macro means large, and mega implies larger by a factor of a million or so. For the
present purpose macrostructure may be defined as soil or rock structure that is
large but far enough apart that it may be missed by soil borings. Pockets of clay
such as shown in Fig. 3.3 come under this definition of macrostructure, whereas
the sink in Fig. 3.4 may be considered megastructure. Megastructure such as a
cavern or landslide should not be missed by borings so long as they are correctly
interpreted.

Figure 8.8
Teton Dam,
Idaho, 5 June
1976, the highest
dam in the world
to fail, so far.
(Photo ß Mrs.
Eunice Olson,
used with
permission.)

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Soil Fabric and Structure 177

Macrostructure that is missed by soil borings becomes a matter for speculation,

inference, and expectation. For example, vertical ground cracks that open during
a dry season are macrostructure that will be missed by borings but nevertheless
are readily observable by an experienced field person who knows what to look for.

A failure to recognize megastructure can lead to embarrassment and possible

legal difficulties. The engineer who fails to take notice of shrinkage cracks,
sagging ground, a landslide in the back yard, or distressed structures across
the street, may be forced into a learning experience. Attempts to conceal trouble-
some megastructure such as a landslide at best is gross ignorance, and at worst,
fraud.

Some common descriptive terms for soil macrostructure are listed in Table 8.2.
The engineer will be familiar with these terms and know their significance.

Problems
8.1. Whereas the soil fabrics shown in Figs. 8.1 and 8.3(a) show grains touching,
in an actual cross-section obtained by sawing across a soil specimen only a
few will touch. Explain.
8.2. What is the meaning and significance of thixotropy?
8.3. Give an example of a mechanically dispersed clay and a chemically
dispersed clay.
8.4. What is the X-ray diffraction spacing of a sodium smectite dispersed in
water? Of a flocculated calcium smectite in water?
8.5. What is the difference between a quick clay and a dispersive clay? Which
might be most likely to influence a landslide? The stability of a levee? Of a
retaining wall where pressure is lowered as soil is partly restrained as a
result of its internal shearing resistance?
8.6. Explain the geography of quick clay, taking into account that sea level rose
over 100 m from melting of continental glaciers.
8.7. Explain why the last of a convoy of military vehicles passing over wet soil is
more likely to get stuck than the first vehicles in the convoy.
8.8. What is meant by overcompaction?
8.9. Muddy water is observed flowing from a leak on the downstream face of a
large earth dam. Consider and discuss consequences from the following
options:
(a) Run for high ground.
(b) Try to seal the leak by boring and grouting.
(c) Draw down the reservoir.
(d) Dump soil into the cavity eroded by the leak.
(e) Dump coarse granular material into the cavity.
(f) Inform the authorities and warn of the possible consequences.

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178 Geotechnical Engineering

Table 8.2 Descriptive term Criteria Significance

Descriptive terms for Homogeneous Same color and The ‘‘ideal’’ soil that seldom
macrostructure appearance throughout occurs in nature
Lensed Inclusions of small Typical of glacial and
pockets of different soils, alluvial sediments, affects
such as small lenses of groundwater seepage,
sand in a mass of clay and leakage
Stratified Alternating horizontal Typical of alluvial or
layers 46 mm thick lacustrine sediments
Laminated Same, but Same as above. Varved clays
layers 56 mm thick of glacial lakebeds, reflecting
annual melting cycles
Fissured Breaks into thin layers Characteristic of shales, indicating
or fissile parallel orientation of clay particles
The Landslide Invitational.
Compacted embankments
can degrade into clay and
fail without warning
Columnar Vertical cracks Can indicate presence of smectite
Blocky Cohesive soil that breaks From wet-dry cycling of smectite,
into small, hard angular especially in a B horizon
lumps or peds
Slickensided Inclined, shiny planes Slip planes caused by seasonal
that usually are striated high lateral stress in expansive
clay. Also from overcompaction
Cemented Hardened soil layer from Influences ease of excavation;
secondary carbonates (white), may be used for road metal
iron oxides (red-brown), or
other materials
Punky Ground tremors when Saturated, overcompacted clay
stomped on
Viscous Does not support Soft, saturated silt or clay
yielding a person’s weight;
send student on ahead

Note: Adapted and expanded from ASTM Designation D-2488.

(g) Have a beer to calm the nerves while you wait and see what happens.
(h) Write a letter to the newspaper pointing out that operations and
maintenance of the dam are not your responsibility.
8.10. Assign grades A through F to the macrostructures in Table 8.2 in
accordance with their potential impact on engineering uses.
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Soil Fabric and Structure 179

References
Handy, R. L. (1973). ‘‘Collapsible Loess in Iowa.’’ Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. 37(2),
281–284.
Handy, R. L. (1994). ‘‘A Stress Path Model for Collapsible Loess.’’ In Derbyshire, ed.,
Genesis and Properties of Cohesive Soils. NATO ASI Series, Kluwer, Dordrecht,
The Netherlands, pp. 33–49.
Mitchell, J. K. (1993). Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons,
New York.
Oda, M. (1978). ‘‘Significance of Fabric in Granular Mechanics.’’ Proc. U.S.-Japan
Seminar on Continuum Mechanics and Statistical Approaches in the Mechanics of
Granular Materials, pp. 7–26.
Santamarina, J. C., Klein, K. A., and Fam, M. A. (2001). Soils and Waves. John Wiley &
Sons, New York.
Sherard, J. L., Dunnigan, L. P., Decker, R. S., and Steele, E. F. (1976). ‘‘Pinhole Test for
Identifying Dispersive Soils.’’ ASCE J. Geotech. Eng. Div. 102(GT1), 69–85.
Sherard, J. L. (1987). ‘‘Lessons from the Teton Dam Failure.’’ Enging. Geol. 24, 239–256.
Also in G. A. Leonards, ed., Dam Failures, Elsevier, Amsterdam.

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