SOIL MECHANICS

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 Soil Mechanics
• In true engineering sense, there is no ‘
Geotechnical Engineering ’ prior to the 18th
Century.
• One of the most famous example of
problems related to soil bearing capacity and
foundations in the construction of structures
prior to 18thcentury is the Leaning Tower of
Pisa in Italy. The construction of the Tower
began in 1173 A.D. and last over 200 years.

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 Soil Mechanics

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 Soil Mechanics

Tilting of Garisenda Tower (left) in Bologna, Italy (built in 12thCentury)

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 Soil Mechanics
• From an engineering perspective soils generally
refer to sedimentary materials that have not
been cemented and have not been subjected to
high compressive stresses.
• Soil Mechanics is concerned with the
deformation and strength of bodies of soil.
• It deals with the mechanical properties of the soil
materials and with the application of the
knowledge of these properties to engineering
problems.
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• When a structure is built it will apply a load to
the underlying soil; if the load is too great, the
strength of the soil will be exceeded and
failure may occur.

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 SOILS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION
• Soils usually have a sedimentary origin, however,
they can also occur as the result of rock
weathering without any transport of the
particles.
• The soil particles can have varying sizes, shapes
and mineralogist, although these properties are
usually interrelated.
• For instance the larger sized particles are
generally composed of quartz and feldspars,
minerals that have high strengths and the
particles are fairly round.

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• The smaller sized particles are generally
composed of the clay minerals like kaolin and
illite minerals that have low strengths and form
plate like particles. Clay minerals are produced
mainly from the chemical weathering.
• One of the most important aspects of particulate
materials is that there are gaps or voids between
the particles.
• The amount of voids is also influenced by the
size, shape and mineralogy of the particles.
• simple classification system giving information
about the engineering properties is required on
all sites for most geotechnical engineering
purposes.
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 Classification of particle shape for silts, sands, and gravels.

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Electron microscope images of kaolinite, montmorillonite, and illite clays. Note the
platy or flaky particle shapes

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 SOIL TYPES
Soils may be classified according to grain size, in to:

i) fine grained (predominantly clay and silt size) or

ii) coarse grained (sand and gravel sizes predominant

or in shear strength terms

i) cohesive (eg. clays, clay silt mixtures, organics) – (c-soils or φ = 0 soils)

ii) cohesionless (eg. sands and gravels) (C=0 or frictional soils)

iii) Mixtures eg. Sandy clays etc. (c-φ soils)

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 Particle Size Distribution of Soils

Gravel Sand Silt Clay

C M F C M F C M F C M F
60 20 6 2 0.6 0.2 0.06 0.02 .006 .002 .0006 .0002
where C, M, F stand for coarse, medium and fine respectively, and the particle sizes are in millimeters.

Note.
• Most soils contain mixtures of sand, silt and clay particles, so the range of particle sizes
can be very large.

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 • A clay soil may consist of a
mixture of clay and silt
size particles.

• Clays and silts possess

varying properties of
cohesion and plasticity

• Sands and gravel are

cohesionless and show no
plasticity.

• Most soils consist of a

mixture of the various size
ranges which must be
determined using particle
size analysis

• Clay size particles have

major influence on
engineering properties.
Classification of soils according to grain size.

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 Grain size determination

• Sieving -used for particles > 75 μm

– A micrometre or micron (American spelling:
micrometer; symbol µm) is one millionth of a metre,
or equivalently one thousandth of a millimetre

• Hydrometer test -used for smaller particles (φ<

75 μm)–Analysis based on Stoke’s Law, velocity
proportional to diameter.
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 Grain size determination

A set of soil test sieves Sieves and scale

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 Sieve Test
• The sieve is the essential tool to study particle
size distribution for the grain size greater than
0.075 mm (75 microns).
U.S. Standard Sieve Sizes
sieve# Sieve opening(mm)
4 4.75
10 2.00
20 0.850
40 0.425
60 0.250
100 0.150
200 0.074

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 Sieve test procedure:
1. Determine the total mass of the soil sample (ΣM) under sieve test;
2. Determine the mass of soil retained on each sieve and the pan at
last (i.e., M1, M2, M3, …. Mn, and Mp).
3. the sum of soil mass retained on each sieve plus the mass in the
pan should be equal to the total mass (ΣM= M1+M2+M3+….
+Mn+Mp).
4. Determine the cumulative mass of soil retained above each sieve,
for the ith sieve we have ΣMi= M1+M2+M3+…. +Mi .
5. The mass of soil passing the ith sieve is
ΣM -ΣMi= ΣM –(M1+M2+M3+…. +Mi ).
6. The percent of soil passing the ith sieve (percent finer) is

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 • Example: A sample of dry coarse-grained material
of mass 500 grams was shaken through a nest of
sieves and the following results were obtained:

Sieve No Opening (mm) Mass retained (g)

Mr
4 4.75 0
10 2.00 14.8
20 0.85 98
40 0.425 90.1
100 0.15 181.9
200 0.075 108.8
pan 6.1
Total mass M = 499.7

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Sieve No Opening Mass % Retained Σ(%Retained) % Finer
(mm) retained (g) (Mr/M)x100

4 4.75 0 0 0 100
10 2.00 14.8 3.0 3.0 97.0
20 0.85 98 19.6 22.6 77.4
40 0.425 90.1 18 40.6 59.4
100 0.15 181.9 36.4 77.0 23.0
200 0.075 108.8 21.8 98.8 1.2
pan 6.1 1.2

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 Particle size of fine grained soils
• Screening process cannot be used for fine grained
soils.
• The common laboratory method to determine
the size distribution of fine grained soil is a
hydrometer test.
• The hydrometer test involves mixing a small
amount of grained soil into a suspension and
observing how the suspension settles in time.
• Large particle will settle quickly followed by
smaller particles.
Schematic diagram of hydrometer test
• by the use of Stokes' equation for the velocity of a free
falling sphere the equivalent particle size and percent
of soil in suspension are computed.
• The diameter D of the particle at time t is calculated
from Stoke,s law as

18h
D
(Gs  1) wt
Where μ is the viscosity of water (at 20oC), h is
the depth, γw is the unit weight of water, and
Gs is the specific gravity.
Grading curves
• The results from the particle size determination
tests are plotted as grading curves.
• These show the particle size plotted against the
percentage of the sample by weight that is finer
than that size.
• The results are presented on a semi-logarithmic
plot as shown in Figure below.
• The shape and position of the grading curve are
used to identify some characteristics of the soil.
 F U C P W
100

80

% F i ne r
60

40

20

0
0 .0 0 0 1 0 .0 0 1 0 .0 1 0 .1 1 10 100
P a rtic le s ize (m m )

Some typical grading curves are shown on the figure. The following descriptions are applied to these curves

W Well graded material

U Uniform material
P Poorly graded material
C Well graded with some clay
F Well graded with an excess of fines

Example: well graded sands and gravels can be easily compacted to relatively
high densities which result in higher strengths and stiffnesses. For this reason
soils of this type are preferred for road bases.
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 (a) A well-graded soil has a wide range of
particles sizes, in this case ranging
from fine sand to coarse gravel.

(b) A poorly-graded soil has a narrow range

of particle sizes. This particular soil is a
poorly-graded gravel that is
commercially produced in rock crushing
plants.

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• There are a number of ways to characterize the
particle size distribution of a particular soil
sample.

• D10:
– D10 represents a grain diameter for which 10% of the sample will be finer than it.

– Using another word, 10% of the sample by weight is smaller than diameter D10.

– It is also called the effective size and can be used to estimate the permeability.

– Hazen’s approximation (an empirical relation between hydraulic conductivity with grain
size)

k (cm/sec) = 100D10D10
Where D10is in centimetres. It is empirical because it is not consistent in dimension (cm/sec
vscm2).
• Uniformity coefficient Cu:
Cu= D60/D10
where D60 is the diameter for which 60% of the sample
is finer than D60.
– The ratio of two characteristic sizes are the uniformity
coefficient Cu.
– Apparently, larger Cu means the size distribution is
wider and vice versa.
– Cu= 1 means uniform, all grains are in the same size,
such as the case of dune sands .
– On the other extreme is the glacial till, for which its
Cu can reach 30. (see next figure)
– from Cu= D60/D10 , then D60= CuD10
The particle distribution curves for 3 soil samples
As Cu increase, the uniformity of the soil
decrease
• Cu < 3 very poorly graded soil
• 3 <= Cu < 15 intermediate
• Cu > 15 well graded soil

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• Coefficient of gradation Curvature Cc
– Another shape parameter,
– and defined as
Cc= (D30 D30)/(D10 D60)
A soil is thought to be well graded if the coefficient
of curvature Cc between 1 and 3, with Cu greater
than 4 for gravels and 6 for sands.
 Atterberg Limits
• Particle size is adequate to classify coarse
grained soils.
• To classify fine grained soils, we need
additional information on the surface forces.
• The physical and mechanical behaviour of fine
grained soils is linked to four distinct states:
Solid, semisolid, plastic, and liquid.
Characteristics of Soil:

•Granular H2O does not

Granules Sand Coarse grained •Cohesion-less greatly affect
•Non plastic properties
•Granular H2O can affect
Silts Fine grained •Cohesion less properties
•Non plastic
H2O greatly
•Cohesive
Clays Fine grained affect properties
•plastic

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 Atterberg Limits
• If we take a very soft (high moisture content) clay
specimen and allow it to dry we would obtain a
relation similar to that shown in Figure
•As the soil dries its
strength and stiffness
will increase.

•Three limits are

indicated called
(Atterberg Limits)
 Atterberg Limits
• Liquid Limit (LL) is defined as the moisture content at
which soil begins to behave as a liquid material and
begins to flow.

• Plastic Limit (PL) is defined as the moisture content at

which soil begins to behave as a plastic material.

• Shrinkage Limit (SL) is defined as the moisture content

at which no further volume change occurs with further
reduction in moisture content. (needed in producing
bricks and ceramics ).
• Plasticity index
• Atterberg limits are the limits of water content used to
define soil behaviour. The consistency of soils according
to Atterberg limits gives the following diagram.
• Presence of water in the soil fabric greatly
affects the engineering properties of fin-
grained soils.
• Plasticity increases with increasing water
content
– Shear strength decrease with increasing plasticity
– Permeability decrease with increasing plasticity
– Shrinkage and swell increase with increasing
plasticity

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 Liquid Limit (LL)

• In the lab, the LL is defined as the moisture content (%)

required to close a 2-mm wide groove in a soil pat a
distance of 0.5 in along the bottom of the groove after
25 blows.

• ASTM D 4318

• Soil sample size 150g passing # 40 sieve

• Equipment: Casagrande liquid limit device

• 150g air dry soil passing # 40 sieve

• Add 20% of water -mix thoroughly

• Place a small sample of soil in LL device (deepest part

about 8-10mm)

• Cut a groove (2mm at the base)

• Run the device, count the number of blows, N

• Stop when the groove in the soil close through a
distance of 0.5in

• Take a sample and find the moisture content

• Run the test three times [N~(10-20), N~(20-30) and

N~(35-45)] and

• Plot number of blows vs moisture content and

determine the liquid limit (LL) (moisture content at 25
blows)
 Casagrande liquid limit device

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 Typical Atterberg limits for soils

Soil type LL(%) PL(%) PI(%)

Sand Nonplastic
Silt 30-40 20-25 10-15
Clay 40-150 25-50 15-100
 Plastic Limit (PL)
• The moisture content (%) at which the soil
when rolled into threads of 3.2mm (1/8 in) in
diameter, will crumble.
• Plastic limit is the lower limit of the plastic
stage of soil
• Plasticity Index (PI) is the difference between
the liquid limit and plastic limit of a soil
Plastic Limit
 Plastic Limit (Procedure)
• Take 20g of soil passing #40 sieve into a dish
• Add water and mix thoroughly
• Prepare several ellipsoidal-shaped soil masses by
quizzing the soil with your hand
• Put the soil in rolling device, and roll the soil until the
thread reaches 1/8 in
• Continue rolling until the thread crumbles into several
pieces
• Determine the moisture content of about 6g of the
crumbled soil.
• Two or more determinations are made and the
average water content is reported as the plastic limit.
 Plasticity Index, PI
• Plasticity Index is the difference between the
liquid limit and plastic limit of a soil
PI = LL –PL
After finding LL and PI use plasticity chart to classify the soil

Plasticity chart for laboratory classification of fine grained soils

 Shrinkage limit
• A mss of wet soil, m1 is placed in a porcelain
dish 44.5 mm in diameter and 12.5 mm high
and then oven-dried.
• The volume of oven-dried soil is determined
by using mercury to occupy the vacant space
caused by shrinkage.
• The mass of the mercury is determined and
the volume decrease caused by shrinkage can
be calculated from the known density of
mercury.
The shrinkage limit is calculated from:

 m1  m2 v1  v2  w 
SL     100
 m2 m2 g 
Where: m1 is the mass of the wet soil, m2 is the
mass of the oven-dried soil, v1 is the volume of
wet soil, v2 is the volume of oven-dried soil, and g
is the acceleration due to gravity(9.8 m/s2).

The shrinkage limit is useful for the determination of the swelling and
shrinkage characteristics of soils
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 Liquidity Index, LI
• For foundation design, engineers are most interested in the load
carrying capacity, i.e.,strength, of the soil and its associated
deformation.
• The soil has virtually no strength at the LL, while at water contents
lower than the PL (and certainly below the SL) the soil may have
considerable strength.
• Correspondingly, soil strength increases and soil deformation
decreases as the water content of the soil reduces from the LL to
the SL.
• Since the Atterberg limits are determined for a soil that is
remolded, a connection needs to be made between these limits
and the in-situ moisture content, w, of the soil for the limits to be
useful in practical applications in foundation design.
• One way to quantify this connection is through the Liquidity Index,
LI.

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Liquidity Index, LI can be calculated by:

w  PL
LI 
PI
• The liquidity index is the ratio of the
difference between the soil’s in-situ water
content and plastic limit to the soil’s plasticity
index. The various phases and anticipated
deformation behaviour can now be
conveniently expressed in terms of LI as
shown in the following Table.
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• The Atterberg Limits and relationships derived
from them are simple measures of the water
absorbing ability of soils containing clay
minerals.
• For example, if a clay has a very high LI and LL
it is capable of absorbing large amounts of
water, and for instance would be unsuitable
for the base of a pavement. The LL and PL are
also related to the soil strength.
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 summary
• Fine grained soils can exist in one of four states: solid
semisolid, plastic and liquid.
• Water is the agent that is responsible for changing the
state of soils.
• A soil gets weaker if its water content increases.
• Three limits are defined based on the water content
that causes a change of state.
• The plasticity index defines the range of water content
for which the soil behaves like a plastic material.
• The soil strength is lowest at the liquid state and
highest at solid state.