Soil Mechanics | 2018

SOIL MECHANICS
 Study of characteristics of soil as an important aspect in the construction of engineering structures.
SOIL
 Solid particles with or without organic constituents produced by the disintegration of rock.
ROCK CYCLE AND THE ORIGIN OF SOIL

THREE MAJOR GROUPS OF SOIL

1. Course – grained soils
 Gravels
 Sands
2. Fine – grained soils
 Silts
 Clay
3. Organic Soil – contains an appreciable amount of decayed and/or plant matter.
 Peat – fibrous soil composed of decayed matter
 Fine – more oxidized matter
 Organic Silts and Clay – divided organic matter and are plastics

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES
 Course-grained soils – have good load bearing properties/qualities
 Fine-grained soils – poor load bearing qualities
 Organic soils – poor load-sustaining qualities
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MANUAL TEST TO IDENTIFY FINE-GRAINED SOIL
1. Dry Strength – the wet soil sample is molded to any convenient shape and allowed to dry in the air or
by heating. The dry strength of clay is higher than silt.
2. Plasticity – a sample of moist soil can be molded and rolled into thin thread without breaking or
crumbling, the soil is clay.
3. Water Mobility – a sample is mixed to the consistency or a thick paste, then it is placed and shaker in
the palm of the hand. There is more water mobility in silt.
4. Dispersion – a small quantity of soil is dispersed with water in a glass cylinder or test tube and allowed
to settle. The coarse particles will fall and the fine particles will repair in suspension.
 Sand – will settle in about 10secs
 Silt – will settle in about 30secs
 Clay – will remain in suspension for at least several hours or for several days.

PHASE RELATIONSHIPS
Soil is composed of: solids, liquids and gas.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Water Content ( ∝ ) is the ratio of the weight of water to the weight of solids
 Void Ratio ( e ) is the ratio of the volume of void space to the volume of solids
 Porosity ( n ) is the ratio of volume of void to the total volume of soil.
 Degree of Saturation ( S ) is the ratio o volume of water to the volume of void.
 Bulk Unit Weight ( 𝝏 ) is the weight density, that is, the weight of soil per unit volume.
 Saturated Unit Weight ( 𝝏𝒔𝒂𝒕 ) is the weight of a saturated soil per unit volume.
 Dry Unit Weight ( 𝝏𝒅𝒓𝒚 ) is the weight of dry soil per unit volume.
 Effective Unit Weight ( 𝝏′ ) is the weight of solids in a submerged soil per unit volume.
 Relative Density ( Dr ) is an index that quantifies the degree of packing between the loosest and
densest stale of coarse-grained soils.
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CONSISTENCY LIMITS OF FINE-GRAINED SOIL
Consistency – the degree of the adhesion between soil particles and is defined as the degree of
resistance to deformation qualitatively, it is described by such terms as soft, medium, stiff and hard.

*Correlation between the qualitative descriptions of consistency and unconfined compressive strength

Consistency Unconfined Compressive Strength (Ton/ft2)

Soft ¼ to ½
Medium ½ to 1
Stiff 1 to 2
Hard 4 to more

CONSISTENCY LIMITS
 The boundaries between the liquid state, plastic-state, semi-solid state and solid state of solid.
1. Liquid Limit – is between the liquid and plastic states and is defined as the lowest water content at
which the mass has the capacity to flow as liquid.
2. Plastic Limit – is between the plastic and semi-solid states and is defined as the lowest water content
at which a mass can be readily molded without crumbling.
3. Shrinkage Limit – is the water content at which the volume change of the soil mass ceases.

M1 = mass of wet soil

M2 = mass of oven-dried soil
V1 = volume of wet soil
V2 = volume of oven-dried soil
G = acceleration due to gravity (9.81m/s2)
PLASTIC LIMIT

∆w = the separation of “w” between the liquid state lines of the two cones
M1 = mass of 90g cone
M2 = mass of 240g cone
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TYPICAL ATTERBERG UNITS FOR SOILS

Soil Type WLL (%) WPL (%) IP (%)

Sand Non-plastic
Silt 30 – 40 20 – 25 10 – 15
Clay 40 – 150 25 – 50 15 - 100

INDEX PROPERTIES OF FINE-GRAINED SOILS

PLASTIC INDEX (IP)
The range of water content for which the soil behaves like a plastic material
IP = WLL - WPL
WLL = liquid limit
WPL = plastic limit

LIQUIDITY INDEX (IL)

A measure of soil strength using Atterberg limits
IL = (∝ - WPL)/IP
∝ = natural water content
WPL = plastic limit
IP = plasticity index

DESCRIPTION OF SOIL STRENGTH BASED ON LIQUIDITY INDEX

Values of IL Description of Soil Strength

IL < 0 Semi-solid state - high strength, brittle (sudden
fracture is expected)
0 < IL < 1 Plastic state – intermediate strength, deforms like
plastic material
IL > 1 Liquid state – low strength, soil deforms like a
viscous fluid
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TWO COEFFICIENTS HAVE BEEN DEFINED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE ON DISTINGUISHING SOILS BASED ON THE
DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICLES
1. UNIFORMITY COEFFICIENT (UC)
𝑫𝟔𝟎
𝑼𝑪 =
𝑫𝟏𝟎

D60 = diameter of the soil particles for which 60% of the particles are finer
D10 = diameter of the soil particles for which 10% of the particles are finer. It is called the efficient size
of the soil

2. COEFFICIENT OF CURVATURE (CC)

(𝑫𝟑𝟎 )𝟐
𝑪𝑪 =
𝑫𝟏𝟎 (𝑫𝟔𝟎 )

D30 = diameter of the soil particles for which 30% of the particles are finer

LIMITS OF UC AND CC TO CHARACTERIZE WELL GRADED AND POORLY GRADED SOIL

WELL GRADED Gravel content > Sand content UC >= 4; 1=< CC =<3
Sand content > Gravel content UC >=6; 1=< CC =<3
POORLY GRADED Gravel content > Sand content UC<4; CC<1 or CC>3
Sand content > Gravel content UC<6; CC<1 or CC>3

ONE DIMENSIONAL FLOW OF WATER THROUGH SOIL

Where:
Hp = pressure head
Hz = elevation head

The total head, H (sometimes called PIEZOMETRIC HEAD)

According to Bernoulli’s Principle is:

𝒗𝟐
𝑯 = 𝒉𝒛 + 𝒉𝒑 +
𝟐𝒈
Neglecting velocity head:
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𝝁
𝑯 = 𝒉𝒛 + 𝒉𝒑 = 𝒉𝒛 +
𝝏𝒘
Where:
𝜇 = ℎ𝑝 𝜕𝑤

𝜇 = 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒

Head loss due to flow of water through soil

∆𝑯 = |𝒉𝒑𝒃 − 𝒉𝒑𝒂 |

The head loss between A and B, assuming decrease in head A, positive and the datum is arbitrarily
selected at the top of the cylinder.

DARCY’S LAW
The average plan velocity through soil is proportional to the gradient of the total head, the flow in any
direction is:
𝒅𝑯
𝒗𝑖 = 𝒌𝒊
𝒅𝒙𝒊
Where:
V = average velocity (perpendicular to the cross-sectional area of the soil)
K = coefficient of permeability or hydraulic conductivity
𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
( )
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

dH = change in total over a distance x

Darcy’s Law is valid for all soils if the flow of water is laminar.
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With reference to the figure above, Darcy’s Law becomes:
∆𝑯
𝑽=𝒌 ; 𝑽 = 𝒌𝒊
𝑳
Where:
∆𝑯⁄ = 𝒊 (ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡)
𝑳
L = length of soil
A = cross-sectional area of the soil sample

Seepage Velocity
𝒗
𝑽𝒔 =
𝒏
Flow rate

𝒒𝒗 = 𝑨𝑽
Law of Continuity
Flowrate inflow = flowrate outflow
𝒒𝒗𝒊𝒏 = 𝒒𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒕

METHODS OF COMPUTING COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY

1. Constant-head Test
- Is used to determine the coefficient of permeability of coarse-grained soil.
Formula:
𝑸𝑳
𝑲=
𝑨𝒏𝒕
Where:
Q = amount of water collected
L = length of soil specimen
A = cross-sectional are of soil specimen
H = constant head
T = duration of water collection
K = coefficient of permeability in vertical direction
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Baseline temperature is 20° corrected k20°𝑐:

𝒌𝟐𝟎°𝒄 = 𝑹𝒕 𝒌
𝑹𝒕 = 𝟐. 𝟒𝟐 − 𝟎. 𝟒𝟕𝟓𝒍𝒏𝑻

2. Falling-head Test
- Is used to determine the coefficient of permeability of fine-grained soil
Formula:
𝒂𝑳 𝒉𝟏
𝒌= 𝒍𝒏( )
𝑨𝒕 𝒉𝟐
Where:
a = cross-sectional area of stand pipe
L = length of soil sample
A = cross-sectional area of soil sample
t = time duration of water collection
h1 = initial head when t1 = 0
h2 = final head when t2 = t
𝒌𝟐𝟎°𝒄 = 𝑹𝒕 𝒌
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3. Pumping Test
- Is used in determining coefficient of permeability of coarse-grained soil.
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Formula:
Coefficient of Permeability
𝒓
𝒒𝒗 𝒍𝒏 𝒓𝟐
𝟏
𝒌=
𝝅(𝒉𝟐 𝟐 − 𝒉𝟏 𝟐 )
Transmissibility of Aquifer in Pumping
𝒓
𝒒𝒗 𝒍𝒏 𝒓𝟐
𝟏
𝑻=
𝟐𝝅(𝒛𝟏 − 𝒛𝟐 )