Weight – Volume Relationship

𝑉 =𝑉 +𝑉 =𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉 (3.1)
𝑉 = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉 = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉 = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉 = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠

𝑊 =𝑊 +𝑊 (3.2)
𝑊 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑊 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
Volume Relationship
𝑉𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑒 = (3.3)

𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑛 = (3.4)

𝐷𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑆 = (3.5)

Relation ship between void ratio and porosity can b

derived from Eqs. (3.1), (3.3), (3.4)

𝑒= = = = (3.6)

𝑛= (3.7)
Weight Relationships
𝑀𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤 = (3.8)
𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝛾 = (3.9)

𝛾= = = = (3.10)
𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝛾 ) = (3.11)
𝛾 = (3.12)

Since Unit weight is in (kN/m3) and density is in (kg/m3)

𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜌 = (3.13)
𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜌 = (3.14)
𝑚 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑘𝑔
𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑘𝑔
𝛾 = 𝜌 ∗ 𝑔 = 9.81𝜌 (3.15)
𝛾 = 𝜌 ∗ 𝑔 = 9.81𝜌 (3.16)
𝑔 = 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 9.81𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑐
Relationship among Unit Weight, Void Ratio,
Moisture Content, and Specific Gravity

𝑊 =𝐺𝛾 𝐺 = 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠

𝑤 = 𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑊 = 𝑤𝑊 = 𝑤𝐺 𝛾 𝑘𝑁
𝛾 = 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (9.81 )
𝑚
( )
𝛾= = = = (3.17)
𝛾 = = (3.18)
𝑊 𝑤𝐺 𝛾
𝑉 = = = 𝑤𝐺
𝛾 𝛾
𝑉 𝑤𝐺
𝑆= =
𝑉 𝑒
𝑆𝑒 = 𝑤𝐺 (3.19)
𝛾 = = = = (3.20)
( )
𝜌= (3.21)

𝜌 = (3.22)
( )
𝜌 = (3.23)
𝜌 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 1000 𝑘𝑔/𝑚
Relationships among unit Weight,
Porosity, and Moisture Content
𝑊 = 𝐺 𝛾 1−𝑛 (3.24)

𝑊 = 𝑤𝑊 = 𝑤𝐺 𝛾 1 − 𝑛 (3.25)

𝛾 = = = 𝐺 𝛾 (1 − 𝑛) (3.26)

𝛾= = 𝐺 𝛾 1−𝑛 1+𝑤 (3.27)

𝛾 = = = 1−𝑛 𝐺 +𝑛 𝛾 (3.28)

𝑤= = = (3.29)
Relative Density
Relative density is commonly used to indicate the in situ denseness or looseness of
granular soil.
𝐷 = (3.30)

𝐷 = 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒

𝑒 = 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙
𝑒 = 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑒 = 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

( )
𝐷 = = (3.31)
( ) ( )

𝛾 ( ) = 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑒 )

𝛾 ( ) = 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑒 )
𝛾 = 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑒)
Cubrinovski and Ishihara (2002)

Variation of emax and emin for very large number of soils.

 Clean sand (Fc = 0 to 5%)
𝑒 = 0.072 + 1.53𝑒 (3.32)
 Sand and fines (5 < Fc ≤ 15%)
𝑒 = 0.25 + 1.37𝑒 (3.33)
 Sand with fines and clay (15 < Fc ≤ 30%; Pc = 5 to 20%)
𝑒 = 0.44 + 1.21𝑒 (3.34)
 Silty soils (30 < Fc ≤ 70%; Pc = 5 to 20%)
𝑒 = 0.44 + 1.32𝑒 (3.35)
Fc = fine fraction for which grain size is smaller than 0.075mm
Pc = clay-size fraction (< 0.005mm)
 .
𝑒 −𝑒 = 0.23 + (3.36)
Example 3.2

A moist soil has these values: V = 7.08x10-3 m3, m = 13.95 kg, w = 9.8%, and Gs = 2.66.
Determine the following:
a.) ρ; b.)𝜌 ; c.) e; d.) n; e.) S (%); and f.) Volume occupied by water
Part a.) from Eq. (3.13)
.
𝜌= = = 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟎. 𝟑𝒌𝒈/𝒎𝟑
7.08x10−3
Part b.) from Eq. (3.12)
. 𝟑
𝜌 = = . = 𝟏𝟕𝟗𝟒. 𝟒𝒌𝒈/𝒎

Part c.) from Eq. (3.22)

. ∗
𝑒= −1= − 1 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟖
.
Part d.) from Eq. (3.7)
.
𝑛= = = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟐𝟒
.
Part e.) from Eq. (3.19)
. .
𝑆 % = 100 = .
100 = 𝟓𝟒. 𝟑%
.
Part f.) 𝑚 = = = 12.7𝑘𝑔
.
𝑚 = 𝑚 − 𝑚 = 13.95 − 12.7 = 1.25𝑘𝑔
.
𝑉 = = = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟓𝒎𝟑
Example 3.6

The mass of a moist soil sample collected from the field is 465g, and its oven dry mass is 405.76g.
The specific gravity of the soil solids was determined in the laboratory to be 2.68. If the void ratio
of the soil in the natural state is 0.83, find the following:
a.) The moist unit weight of the soil in the field (kN/m3)
b.) The dry unit weight of the soil in the field (kN/m3)
c.) The weight of water (in kN) to be added per cubic meter of soil in the field for saturation

Solution:
Part a.)
.
from Eq. (3.8) 𝑤= = .
= 14.6%
( ) . ∗ . ∗ .
From Eq. (3.17) 𝛾 = = .
= 𝟏𝟔. 𝟒𝟔𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑

Part b.)
. ∗ .
From Eq. (3.18) 𝛾 = = = 𝟏𝟒. 𝟑𝟕𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑
.
Part c.)
. . ∗ .
From Eq. (3.20) 𝛾 = = = 18.82𝑘𝑁/𝑚3
.
Therefore the weight of water to be added in
𝛾 − 𝛾 = 18.82 − 16.46 = 𝟐. 𝟑𝟔𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑
Example 3.7

For a given sandy soil, emax = 0.75, emin = 0.46, and Gs =2.68. What is the moist unit weight of
compaction (kN/m3) in the field if Dr = 78% and w = 9%?

Solution:

From Eq. (3.30)

𝐷 =
𝑒=𝑒 −𝐷 𝑒 −𝑒 = 0.75 − 0.78 0.75 − 0.76 = 0.524

From Eq. (3.17)

( ) . ∗ . ( . )
𝛾= = .
= 𝟏𝟖. 𝟖𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑
Seat Work:

Problem No. 1:
In the natural state, a moist soil has a volume of 0.0093m3 and weight 177.6N. The
oven dry weight of the soil is 153.6N. If Gs = 2.71, calculate the moisture content, moist
unit weight, dry unit weight, void ratio, porosity, and degree of saturation.

Problem No. 2:
The dry density of a sand with a porosity of 0.387 is 1600kg/m3. Find the void ratio of
the soil and the specific gravity of the soil solids.

Problem No. 3:
For a saturated soil, given w = 40% and Gs = 2.71, determine the saturated and dry
unit weights.