PROPERTIES OF SOIL

Karl Terzaghi Arthur Casagrande

 THREE KIND OF SOIL
COHESIONLESS SOIL
•Gravel ( > 2 mm )
•Sand (0.1 mm – 2 mm)
•Silt (0.005 mm – 0.1 mm)

COHESIVE SOIL
•Clay ( < 0.005 mm)

ORGANIC SOIL
 TWO KINDS of Soil...

 Two kinds of soil in this

world…
 COARSE
 FINE

 Basis for division is...

CE 4321: Geotechnical Engineering Design

Engineering Characterization of Soils

Soil Properties that Control its Engineering

Behavior
 Particle Size
 Sieve Analysis
 Hydrometer Analysis

coarse-grained (> 0.075 mm) fine-grained (< 0.075 mm)

Particle/Grain Size
Distribution  Soil Plasticity
Particle Shapes (?)
 Major Soil Groups

Cohesive Granular soils or

soils Cohesionless soils

Clay Silt Sand Gravel Cobble Boulder

0.002 0.075 2.36 63 200

Grain size (mm)

Fine grain Coarse grain

soils soils
5
Characteristics
(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)

6
Particle Size; Standard Sieve Sizes
 Grain Size Distribution
Significance of GSD:
 To know the relative proportions of different
grain sizes.

An important factor influencing the

geotechnical characteristics of a coarse grain
soil.

Not important in fine grain soils.

8
 Copyright ©2001

Grain Size Distribution

Determination of GSD:
In coarse grain soils …... By sieve analysis
In fine grain soils …... By hydrometer analysis

hydrometer

stack of sieves

sieve shaker

soil/water suspension

Sieve Analysis Hydrometer Analysis 9

SIV
ASTM Particle Size Classification
ASTM Standard Sieves
U S Standard Sieves
 Sieve Analysis
(Mechanical Analysis)
 This procedure is
suitable for coarse
grained soils
 See next slide for
ASTM Standard Sieves
 No.10 sieve …. Has 10
apertures per linear
inch
Sieve Analysis (Mechanical Analysis)
Sieve Analysis (Mechanical Analysis)
 100

80
% Passing hydrometer sieve

60
fines sands gravels

40

D10 = 0.013 mm
20
D
30
D30 = 0.47 mm
D60 = 7.4 mm
0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Grain size (mm)

Grain Size Distribution Curve

can find % of gravels, sands, fines

define D10, D30, D60.. as above.
Hydrometer
Analysis
 Also called
Sedimentation
Analysis
 Stoke’s Law

D  w (Gs  GL )
2
v
18
 Hydrometer Analysis

D  w (Gs  GL )
2
v
18
 Hydrometer Analysis

D  w (Gs  GL )
2
v
18
 Hydrometer Analysis

D  w (Gs  GL )
2
v
18
 Hydrometer Analysis

D  w (Gs  GL )
2
v
18
Hydrometer Analysis
Hydrometer Analysis
Grain Size Distribution Curves
 Grading curves
100

80
% F ine r

60

40

20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
 Grading curves
100

80
% F ine r

60

40

20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
 Grading curves
100

80
% F ine r

60

40

20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
 Grading curves
100

80
% F ine r

60

40

20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
C Well graded with some clay
 Grading curves
100

80
% F ine r

60

40

20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
C Well graded with some clay
F Well graded with an excess of fines
 Terminology
 C….. Poorly-graded soil
 D …. Well-graded soil
 E …. Gap-graded soil
 D10, D30, D60 = ??

 Coefficient of Uniformity, Cu= D60/D10

 Coefficient of Curvature,
Cc= (D30)2/(D10)(D60)
 Copyright ©2001

Well or Poorly Graded Soils

Well Graded Soils Poorly Graded Soils

Wide range of grain sizes present Others, including two special cases:
(a) Uniform soils – grains of same size
Gravels: Cc = 1-3 & Cu >4
(b) Gap graded soils – no grains in a
Sands: Cc = 1-3 & Cu >6
specific size range

31
SIV
Particle Distribution Calculations Example
 Copyright ©2001

Relative Density (Dr)

Measure of how densely the grains are packed in a coarse
grain soil in %.

0 100

Loosest Densest
emax  e
Dr 
emax  emin

Also known as density index (ID).

33
SIV
 Copyright ©2001

Granular Soil Consistencies

As per AS1726 - 1993
Relative Density (%) Consistency Term

0-15 Very
loose
15-35 Loose
35- Medium
65 dense
65- Dense
85
85- Very
100 dense
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 Examples of Soil Structure
Granular
Blocky
(Subangular) (Angular)

Platy

Prismatic Columnar

Wedge
Soil Structure

Coarse or Cohesionless Soil

(Sand & Gravel)

Loose Dense

Fine or Cohesive Soil

(Silt & Clay)
Flocculated Flocculated
Honeycomb Dispersed In Fresh Water In Salt Water

36 By Kamal Tawfiq, Ph.D., P.E. Fall 2000

Particle Shapes
 Clay Formation

 Clay particles < 2 m

 Compared to Sands
and Silts, clay size
particles have
undergone a lot more
“chemical weathering”!
Clay vs. Sand/Silt
 Clay particles are generally more platy in
shape (sand more equi-dimensional)
 Clay particles carry surface charge
 Amount of surface charge depends on type of
clay minerals
 Surface charges that exist on clay particles
have major influence on their behavior (for
e.g. plasticity)
Clay Minerals
 Kaolinite family
– Kaolinite (ceramic industry, paper, paint,
pharmaceutical)
 Smectite family
– Montmorillonite (weathered volcanic ash,
Wyoming Bentonite, highly expansive,
used in drilling mud)
 Illite family
Clay Morphology
 Scanning Electron
Microscope (SEM)
 Allows us to study
morphology of clay
minerals
 Used in mineral
identification
 Copyright ©2001

Atterberg Limits
Border line water contents, separating the different states
of a fine grained soil

water content
0 Shrinkage Plastic Liquid
limit limit limit

brittle- semi- plastic liquid

solid solid

42
SIV
 Copyright ©2001

Atterberg Limits
Liquid Limit (wL or LL):
Clay flows like liquid when w > LL

Plastic Limit (wP or PL):

Lowest water content where the clay is still plastic

Shrinkage Limit (wS or SL):

At w<SL, no volume reduction on drying
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SIV
 Silica Sheet Silica Sheet

Gibbsite Sheet Gibbsite Sheet

Gibbsite Sheet Silica Sheet Silica Sheet

Silica Sheet Potassium nH2O and exchangeable cations

Silica Sheet Basal

Silica Sheet
Spacing
Gibbsite Sheet 10A
Gibbsite Sheet
Variable - from
9.6 A tocomplete
Gibbsite Sheet
7.2A separation

Silica Sheet Silica Sheet Silica Sheet

(a) (b) (c)

Diagram of the structure of (a) Kaolonite, (b) Illite; (c) Montmorillonite

By: KAMAL TAWFIQ, Ph.D.; P.E.

 SOIL - WATER RELATIONSHIPS

Ground Surface (G.S.)

Water Table (W.T.)

Water

Air

Voids
Solids

By: KAMAL TAWFIQ, Ph.D.; P.E.

 WATER IN SOILS
1- Chemically Bonded Water (within the structure of the crystals)
2- Adsorbed Water ( Thickness ~ 0.005 x10-6)
3- Oven Drying Water (12hr to 24 hr ; No changes in Vv if dry)
4- Air Drying
5- Free Gravitational Water

3
2 SOLID
5
1
SOLID
1

5
4 By: KAMAL TAWFIQ, Ph.D.; P.E.
 Clay Minerals & Non Clay Minerals
Clay Minerals:
1- Kaolinite (Ceramic)
2- Illite (Clay Mica)
3- Montmorillonite (Widely used in Pharmaceutical and Food Industry)
4- Chlorite
5- Halloysite
6- Vermiculite
7- Attapulgite ** 400 A o
Double-Layer Adsorbed Water
10 Ao
1000 Ao Kaolinite
10 A o

400 Ao

2000 Ao
Adsorbed Water
10
10 AA
o
o Montmorillonite
10 A o
2000 Ao Double-Layer
 Copyright ©2001

Plasticity Index (PI)

Range of water content over which the soil remains plastic

Plasticity Index = Liquid Limit – Plastic Limit

water content
0 Shrinkage Plastic Liquid
limit limit limit

plastic 48
SIV
 Copyright ©2001

Classifying Fines
Purely based on LL and PI
Intermediate plasticity

60 Low plasticity
High plasticity
0)
ine -2
-L L
40
Clays A (L
.7 3
=0
Liquid
Limit

PI
20 Silts

0
0 20 35 50 100

Liquid 49
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Soil Plasticity
 Further classification within fine-
grained soils (i.e. soil that passes
#200 sieve) is done based on soil
plasticity.
 Albert Atterberg, Swedish Soil
Scientist (1846-1916)…..series of
tests for evaluating soil plasticity
 Arthur Casagrande adopted these
tests for geotechnical engineering
purposes
 Atterberg Limits
 Consistency of fine-grained soil varies
in proportion to the water content
liquid
Liquid limit
Plasticity
plastic Index
Plastic limit
semi-solid
Shrinkage limit
solid
Liquid Limit (LL or wL)
 Empirical Definition
 The moisture content at which a 2
mm-wide groove in a soil pat will close
for a distance of 0.5 in when dropped
25 times in a standard brass cup
falling 1 cm each time at a rate of 2
drops/sec in a standard liquid limit
device
Casagrande Apparatus
Casagrande Apparatus
Casagrande Apparatus
Liquid Limit Determination
Plastic Limit (PL, wP)

 The moisture content at which a thread of soil

just begins to crack and crumble when rolled
to a diameter of 1/8 inches
Plastic Limit (PL, wP)
Plasticity Index ( PI, IP )

 PI = LL – PL
or IP=wL-wP
 Note: These are water contents, but the
percentage sign is not typically shown.
 Liquidity Index (LI, IL)

w  PL
Can be written as: LI 
PI

w  wP
Or: IL 
IP
Range of Plasticity Index