PCE414

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1

By: ENGR. MARIA YSABELLA MOSCOSO

2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

• Soil is an assemblage of particles, and

Note that the weight of air Wa, is thus there are separate volumes of
assigned as zero since it is negligible solid and void.
relative to other weights of the • The voids are occupied with air and
elements. water.
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Vs – volume of soil solids

Vw – volume of water in the voids
Va – volume of air in the voids
Vv – volume of voids = e

Neglecting the weight of air (Wa = 0)

W = Ww+Ws
Total wt. of soil sample let Vs = 1
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP
Voids and Porosity

𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅
n=
𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆
𝑽𝒗 𝑽𝒂+𝑽𝒘
n= =
𝑽 𝑽

𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅
e=
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅

𝑽𝒗
e=
𝑽𝒔

Relationship between Voids and Porosity

𝒆
n=
𝟏+𝒆

𝒏
e=
𝟏−𝒏
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Water Content

The water content moisture

content, is the ratio of the
weight of water to the
weight of the solids in each
mass of soil. This ratio is
usually expressed as
percentage. When voids are
filled with air, water content
is equal to zero (dry soil) and
normally up to several tens
of percentages for fully 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒘
ω= =
saturated soils. 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝑾𝑺
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Degree of Saturation

Degree of Saturation” (SR)

is an engineering geology
term and refers to the ratio
of the volume of water to
the total volume of void
space. The Degree of
Saturation or SR-value
ranges from 0% to 100%
(0% being completely dry,
and 100% being fully 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑽𝒘
saturated).
S= =
𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝑽𝒗
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Specific Gravity
For soil solids:
𝜸𝒔
Gs =
𝜸𝒘

Bulk specific gravity

𝜸𝒎
Gs =
𝜸𝒘
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Unit weight
Unit weight of soil is defined as the ratio of the
total weight of soil to the total volume of soil.
It is also referred to as Specific weight.
Mathematically, Unit weight of soil = Weight of
soil(W) / Volume of soil(V) The soil has void
spaces which may be filled with water or air.

𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑾 𝑾𝒔+𝑾𝒘

δ = 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 = 𝑽
=
𝑽𝒔+𝑽𝒘+𝑽𝒂
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Dry Unit weight

𝟏+𝝎 𝑮𝒔 𝑮𝒔
𝜸 = 𝜸𝒘= 𝜸𝒘
𝟏+𝒆 𝟏+𝒆
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP
Most Unit Weight
Moisture unit weight, abbreviated
as γm , is the total weight of soil
per volume of soil or when the soil
voids are filled with water and no
air.
𝑮𝒔+𝑺𝒆
𝜸𝒎 = 𝜸𝒘
𝟏+𝒆

𝜸𝒎 = 𝜸𝒅(𝟏 + 𝝎)

Saturated Unit Weight

𝑮𝒔+𝒆
𝜸 𝒔𝒂𝒕 = 𝜸𝒘; S=1 or 100%
𝟏+𝒆
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Additional Formula Relative Compaction

Gsω=eS
Relative Density Suitability No. & Sorting
Coefficient

Suitability Rating as
no. backfill
0-10 Excellent
10-20 Good
20-30 Fair
30-50 Poor
>50 Unuitable
2 WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP
1. Void Ratio 5. Unit weight/ moist 7. Void ratio of saturated soil

e=
𝑽𝑽
δ=
𝑾
; SG = 𝜹
δ
S=1
𝑽𝑺 𝑽 𝑾
e = ωG
𝑾𝒔
2. Porosity δ= (1+𝝎)
𝑽 8. Saturated Unit Weight
δ = δd (1+ω)
(𝑮𝒔+𝒆)δ𝒘
n=
𝑽𝑽 δsat =
𝑽 Moist unit weight in terms of 𝟏+𝒆
Degree of saturation and voids
𝟏
n = 𝟏+𝒆 9. Zero air void Unit Weight
(𝑮𝒔+𝑺𝒆)𝜹𝒘
δ= 𝑮𝒔δ𝒘
δzav = 𝟏+ω𝑮𝒔
3. Degree of Saturation 𝟏+𝒆

S=
𝑽𝒘 10. Effective unit weight of
𝑽𝒗 6. Dry Unit Weight soil, submerged unit weight,
buoyant unit weight:
Gω=eS δd =
𝑾𝑺
𝑽
𝑮𝒔 δ δ’= δsat – δw
4. Moisture Content δd = (𝑮𝒔−𝟏)𝜹𝒘
𝟏+𝒆 δ’ = 𝟏+𝒆
𝑾𝒘
ω= 𝑾𝑺
2 EXAMPLE 1
The weight of the moist soil is 54.4N and its volume is 0.00283 𝑚3 . If the moisture content is 12%
and specific gravity of soil solid is 2.72. Determine the following:
a. Moist Unit weight
b. Dry unit weight
c. Void Ratio
d. Porosity
e. Degree of Saturation
f. Volume occupied by water.
2 EXAMPLE 2
Given the following properties:
Specific Gravity of soil solids, Gs = 2.67
Void ratio, e = 0.45
Degree of Saturation, S = 40%

Calculate the following:

a. Unit weight
b. Dry unit weight of soil
c. Unit weight of the soil when fully saturated.
2 EXAMPLE 3
The net weight of soil sample before drying is 200g and its oven-dried weight is 145g. The
volume of the soil before drying is 120 𝑐𝑚3 . Specific gravity of soil 2.69.
a. Compute the moisture content of the soil
b. Compute the void ratio.
c. Compute the degree of saturation
2 EXAMPLE 4
The maximum and minimum dry unit weight of a sand were determined in the laboratory to
be 18.31kN/m3 and 15.25 kN/m3 respectively.
a. What is the relative compaction in the field if the relative compaction in the field if the
relative density is 64%?
b. What is dry unit weight in the field?
c. What is the moist unit weight in the if its moisture content is 28%?