CVE 322 - SOIL MECHANICS

4.0 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS

4.1 Introduction
The behaviour of a soil mass under load depends on many factors such as the properties of the
various constituents present in the mass, the degree of density, the degree of saturation, the
environmental conditions, etc. If soils are grouped on the basis of certain definite principles and
rated according to its performance, the properties of a given soil can be understood to a certain
extent on the of some simple tests.

4.2 Field Identification of Soils

The methods of field identification of soils can be conveniently discussed under the headings of
coarse-grained and fine-grained soil materials.

1. Coarse-Grained Soil Materials

The coarse-grained soil materials are mineral fragments that may be identified primarily on the
basis of grain size. The different constituents of coarse-grained materials are sand and gravel.
The size of sand varies from 0.075 mm to 4.75 mm and that of gravel from 4.75 mm to 80 mm.
The sand can further be classified as coarse, medium and fine. The description of sand and gravel
should include an estimate of the quantity of material in the different size ranges as well as a
statement of the shape and mineralogical composition of the grains. The mineral grains can be
rounded, sub-rounded, angular or sub-angular. The presence of mica or a weak material such as
shale affects the durability or compressibility of the deposit. A small magnifying glass can be
used to identify the small fragments of shale or mica. The property of a coarse-grained material
mass depends also on the uniformity of the sizes of grains. A well-graded sand is more stable for
a foundation base as compared to a uniform or poorly graded material.

2. Fine-Grained Soil Materials

Inorganic Soils: The constituent parts of fine-grained materials are silt and clay fractions. These
materials are microscopic in size. Therefore, physical properties other than grain size must be
used as criteria for field identification. The classification tests used in the field for preliminary
identification are:

(i) Dry strength test

(ii) Shaking test
(iii) Plasticity test
(iv) Dispersion test

Organic Soils: Surface soils and many underlying formations may contain significant amounts of
solid matter derived from organisms. While shell fragments and similar solid matter are found at
some locations, organic material in soil is usually derived from plant or root growth and consists
almost completely disintegrated matter, such as muck or more fibrous material, such as peat. The
soils with organic matter are weaker and more compressible than soils having the same mineral
composition but lacking in organic matter. The presence of an appreciable quantity of organic
material can usually be recognized by the dark-grey to black colour and the odour of decaying
vegetation which it lends to the soil.

Organic Silt
It is fine-grained, more or less plastic soil containing mineral particles of silt size and finely
divided particles of organic matter. Shells and visible fragments of partly decayed vegetative
matter may also be present.

Organic Clay
It is a clay soil which owes some of its significant physical properties to the presence of finely
divided organic matter. Highly organic soil deposits such as peat or muck may be distinguished
by a dark-brown to black colour, by the presence of fibrous particles of vegetative matter in
varying states of decay. The organic odour is a distinguishing characteristic of the soil. The
organic odour can be distinguished by a slight amount of heat.

4.3 Classification of Soils

The soils in nature do not exist separately as gravel, sand silt, clay or organic matter, but are
usually found as mixtures with varying proportions of these components. Grouping of soils on
the basis of certain definite principles would help the engineer to rate the performance of a given
soil either as a subbase material for roads and airfield pavements, foundation of structures, etc.
The classification or grouping of soils is mainly based on one or two index properties of soil. The
methods used for classifying soils are based on one of the following two broad systems:

(a) Textural System which is based only on grain size distribution.

(b) The systems that are based on grain size distribution and limits of soil.

4.3.1 Textural System

(i) IS Grain-Size Classification System: The grain-size distribution of the soil is determined
using series of sieves arranged in descending order. The mass of the soil grains within each size
group is then computed. Finally, the percentage of the soil represented by each size group is
obtained. Thus, a mixed-grained soil might be described as 10 percent gravel, 52 percent sand,
38 percent silt and clay, according to the IS classification.

(ii) Department of Agriculture System

The boundaries between the various soil fractions as per this system are shown in Figure
4.1.With the use of the grain size limits for sand, silt and clay, a triangular classification chart
was developed as shown in Figure 4.1 for classifying mixed soils. The first step in the
classification of the soil is to determine the percentages of sand, silt and clay size materials in a
given sample by mechanical analysis. With the given relative percentages of the sand, silt and
clay, a point is located on the triangular chart as shown in Figure 4.1. The designation given on
the chart for the area in which the point falls is then used as the classification of the sample.
This method of classification does not reveal any properties of the soil other than grain-size
distribution. Because of its simplicity, it is widely used by workers in the fields of agriculture
and highway engineering. One significant advantage of this method is that the textural name as
derived from the chart does not always correctly express the physical characteristics of the soil.
For example, since some clay size particles are much less active than others, a soil described as
clay on the basis of this system may have physical properties more typical of silt.
The triangular chart of the Department of Agriculture uses the word “loam” to describe the
various types of mixed soils, such as clay loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, etc. A loam is a
mixture of sand, silt and clay particles in varying proportions. The term “loam” originated in
agricultural soil work and was taken over by highway engineers who have to deal with surface
soil layers. In order to eliminate this ambiguous term “loam” from engineering use, the
Mississippi River Commission, USA. proposed a new triangular chart, Figure 4.2, which
replaced the word loam with terms like silty clay, sandy silt, etc. This appears logical since the
whole classification is based only on the sand, silt and clay content.
4.3.2 AASHTO Classification System
The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) soil
classification system comprises seven groups of inorganic soils, A1 to A7 with 12 subgroups in
all. The system is based on the following three soil properties:

1. Particle size distribution,

2. Liquid limit, and
3. Plasticity index

Besides, a Group Index is introduced to identify completely soils containing appreciable fine-
grained materials. The characteristics of various groups are defined in Table 4.1.
The Group Index may be determined from Equation (1).

Group Index (GI) = 0.2a + 0.005ac + 0.01bd (4.1)

where.
a = That proportion of percentage of particles passing No. 200 sieve greater than 35 and not
exceeding 75, expressed as a positive whole number (0 to 40); a = N – 35.
b = That proportion of percentage of particles passing No. 200 sieve greater than 15 and not
exceeding 55, expressed as a positive whole number (0 to 40); b = N – 15.
c = That proportion of liquid limit greater than 40 and not exceeding 60, expressed as a positive
whole number (0 to 20); c = LL – 40.
d = That proportion of plasticity index greater than 10 and not exceeding 30, expressed as a
positive whole number (0 to 20), d = PI – 10.

The group index is a means of rating the value of a soil as a subgrade material within its own
group. It is not used to in order to place a soil in a particular group, that is done directly from the
results of the sieve analysis, the liquid limit and the plasticity index. The higher the value of the
group index, the poorer is the quality of the material. The group index is a function of the amount
of material passing the No. 200 sieve, the liquid limit and the plasticity index.
If the pertinent index value for a soil falls below the minimum limit associated with a, b, c and d,
the value of the corresponding term is zero, and the term drops out of the group index equation.
When the values of a, b, c and d, are more than the prescribed maximum values, then the highest
value of 40 or 20 should be assigned. The group index value should be shown in parenthesis after
group symbol as A-6(12), where 12 is the group index.
Classification Procedure
With the required data in mind, proceed from left to right in the chart; correct group will be
found by process of elimination. The first group from the left consistent with the test data is the
correct classification. The A-7 group is subdivided in to A-7-5 or A-7-6 depending on the plastic
limit. For wp < 30, the classification is A-7-6; for wp ≥ 30, it is A-7-5.

Example 4.1
A sample of inorganic soil has the following grain size characteristics:

Size (mm) Percent passing

2.0 95
0.074 (No. 200) 75

The liquid limit is 56%, and the plasticity index is 25%. Classify the soil according to the
AASHTO system.

Solution
Percent of fine grained soil = 75
Computation of Group Index:
a = 75 – 35 = 40
b = 40 (since 75 – 15 = 60 which is greater than the limiting value of 40).
c = 56 – 40 = 16, d = 25 – 10 – 15
Group Index, GI = 0.2 x 40 + 0.005 x 40 x 16 + 0.01 x 40 x 15 = 17

On the basis of percent fine-grained soils, liquid limit and plasticity index values, the soil is
either A-7-5 or A-7-6. Since wp = wL – Ip = 56 – 25 = 31, which is greater than 30, classification
is A-7-5(17).

4.3.3 Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

The USCS is based on the recognition of the type and predominance of the constituents
considering grains-size, gradation, plasticity and compressibility. It divides soil into three major
divisions: Coarse-grained soils, fine-grained soils, and highly organic (peaty) soils. In the field,
identification is accomplished by visual examination for the coarse-grained and a few simple
hand tests for the fine-grained soils. In the laboratory, the grain-size curve and the Atterberg
limits can be used. The peaty soils are readily identified by colour, odour, spongy feel and
fibrous texture.
The American Society for Testing and Materials has since 1969 adopted the USCS as a standard
method for classification for engineering purposes (ASTM D-2487). The various symbols used
in this system are:

1. Coarse-grained Soils
G = Gravel and gravelly soils,
S = Sand and sandy soils.

The gravel and sand are further divided into subgroups as:
W = Well graded, fairly clean material,
C = Well graded with excellent clay binder,
P = Poorly graded, fairly clean material,
F = Coarse materials containing fines not included in preceding groups.

2. Fine-grained Soils
M = Inorganic silt and very fine sandy soils,
C = Inorganic clays,
O = Organic silts and clays,
P = Peat

The fine-grained soils (excluding peat) are further subdivided according to their liquid limits
into:
L = Fine-grained soils with liquid limit below 50, indicating low to medium compressibility of
plasticity characteristics,
H = Fine-grained soils with liquid limit above 50, indicating high compressibility of plasticity
characteristics.

The types of soil is indicated by a suitable combination of symbols such as:

GW = Well graded gravels or gravel-sand mixtures with little or no fines,
GC = Clayey gravels or sand-clay mixture,
SC = Clayey sands or sand-clay mixtures,
ML = Inorganic soil with low to medium compressibility,
CH = Inorganic clays with high plasticity.

Table 4.2 gives the groupings for coarse-grained soils and Table 4.3 for fine-grained soils.
Plasticity Chart as per USCS
A. Casagrande devised a plasticity chart which is useful for identifying and classifying fine-
grained soils. In the chart, the ordinate represents the values of the plasticity index and the
abscissa, the values of the liquid limit. The equation of the inclined line (which is termed A-line)
is

Ip = 0.73(wp – 20)

All soils represented by points below the line may be inorganic soils, organic silts or organic
clays. Inorganic soils may be of low, medium or high plasticity depending on whether liquid
limit is below 30, between 30 and 50 or above 50. Similarly, the inorganic silts are said to be of
low, medium of high compressibility according to the region they fall below the A-line. Organic
silts are represented by points within the region bounded by liquid limit of 30 and 50, and
organic clays by points in the region with liquid limits greater than 50.
The whole region on the chart is divided into four parts by drawing a vertical line through liquid
limit 50 percent. The points lying to the left of the line come under low to medium
compressibility or plasticity and those lying to the right come under high compressibility or
plasticity. The groupings of the fine-grained soils are:

ML = Inorganic soils and very fine sands with slight plasticity, having liquid limit less than 50,

CL = Inorganic soils of low to medium plasticity, gravelly clays, sandy clays, silty clays, lean
clays with liquid limit less than 50,

OL = Organic soils and organic silt-clays of low plasticity with liquid limit less than 50,
Example 4.2
The following data was obtained for a light silty clay, assumed to be saturated in the undisturbed
condition. Determine the liquidity index, sensitivity, and void ratio of the saturated soil. Classify
the soil according to the Unified and AASHTO systems. Assume the specific gravity is 2.7.

Index property Undisturbed Remoulded

Unconfined compressive strength, qu (kN/m2) 244 144
Water content, Wn (%) 22 22
Liquid limit, WL (%) 45
Plastic limit, WP (%) 20
Shrinkage limit, WS (%) 12
% passing No. 200 sieve 90

Solution

W n − W P 22 − 20
= = 0.08
Liquidity Index, IL = W L − W P 45 − 20

qu undisturbed 244
= = 1. 7
Sensitivity, S = qu disturbed 144

V
Void ratio, e = V v but for S = 1, e = wG = 0.22 x 2.7 = 0.549

Unified Classification
Use plasticity chart (Figure 4.1), liquid limit = 45%, Plasticity index = 45 – 20 = 25%
The point falls above the A-line in the CL zone. That is, the soil is inorganic clay of low to
medium plasticity.

AASHTO System
GI = 0.2a + 0.005ac + 0.01bd
a = 90 – 35 = 55, exceeds 40, so adopt 40,
b = 90 – 15 = 75, exceeds 40, so adopt 40,
c = 45 – 40 = 5,
d = 25 – 10 = 15

GI = 0.2 x 40 + 0.005 x 40 x 5 + 0.01 x 40 x 15 = 15

Enter 4.1 with the following data:

% passing No. 200 sieve = 90
Liquid limit = 45%
Plasticity index = 25%
With these, the soil is either A-7-5 or A-7-6. Since plastic limit is less than 30, the soil is
classified as A-7-6. According to AASHTO system, the soil is clay.
 Assignment
The sieve analysis of a given sample of soil gave information that 57% of the particles passed
through IS 75 micron sieve. The liquid and plastic limits of the soil were 62 and 28%,
respectively. Classify the soil in accordance to AASHTO and the USC systems.