Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725

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Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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Civil Engineering

Impact of fine materials on the saturated and unsaturated behavior of

silty sand soil
Abdulrahman Aldaood
Mosul University, College of Engineering, Civil Department, Al-Majmooah Street, Mosul, Iraq

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The current study aims to investigate the influence of the addition of fine materials on the engineering
Received 26 July 2019 properties of silty sand soil. An intensive laboratory study of saturated and unsaturated silty sand soil
Revised 2 November 2019 treated with different percentages of fine materials of clayey soil (passing sieve #40 and ranging of 5,
Accepted 26 November 2019
10, 20, 40 and 80%) was investigated by conducting Oedometer and permeability tests. Unsaturated per-
Available online 24 December 2019
meability and soil–water characteristics curve (SWCC) were also examined. Test results show that soil
plasticity increases as the fine materials increase. The maximum dry unit weight (cdmax) increased up
Keywords:
to 10% of fine materials then decreased, while the optimum moisture content (OMC) increased along with
Silty sand
Fine materials
the increase of fine materials. One dimensional compression test results show that the fine materials
Permeability influence the compression characteristics and the compression index of the soil samples increased with
Compressibility the increase of fine materials. In contrast, the saturated permeability sharply decreased as fine materials
SWCC were increased. For higher percentages of fine content, the reduction in soil permeability becomes less
significant. In addition, the unsaturated permeability decreases with fine materials and suction pressure
increases. The effects of fine materials are more evident at lower suction pressures. Furthermore, the
water holding capacity and air entry value increased with the addition of fine materials.
Ó 2019 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams Uni-
versity. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction mechanical stabilization. In chemical stabilization, chemical agents

Long-term performance and materials availability are some of
the key factors that should be considered when selecting soils for
use in geotechnical engineering applications. Silty sand soils are
of common occurrence in many countries (particularly in Iraq)
and can be classified as problematic soils when used in geoenvi-
ronmental works (like design of liners). This behavior is attributed
to their higher permeability, poorly graded and no cohesion
between their grains. Thus, the using of silty sand soil in the soil
barriers (as part of cover systems or in some cases bottom lining
of waste) should be capable to prevent the entrance of ground
water or leachate migration by keeping the wastes separated from
the adjacent environment. To achieve this goal, the performance of
the silty sand soils should be enhanced by chemical and/or
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
E-mail address: alzubydi.1979@uomosul.edu.iq
such as cement and fly ash can be used with silty sand soils to
improve their engineering properties [1–3]. Also, in mechanical
stabilization the addition of fine materials to the coarse-grained
soils enhances their engineering properties [4,5]. Soil mixtures of
sand, silt and clay are more commonly found in nature than pure
individual types of soils (i.e. pure sands or other pure soils) [6].
In general, the engineering characteristics of soil mixtures depends
on several compositional factors such as: the interaction among
the components of the soils, the type of soil minerals, the particle
size distribution, the shape of soil particles, pore water composi-
tion and adsorbed cations [7–11]. Engineering properties such as
compressibility, hydraulic conductivity, and the soil-water charac-
teristics curve are important soil properties to both saturated and
unsaturated soils. These properties are affected by the addition of
fine materials [12,13]. The effect of fine materials on the void ratio,
soil structure, relative density, and pore size distribution may
reflect positively or negatively on the soil behavior. Gupta and Tri-
vedi [14] reported that the addition of non-plastic fines affected
the maximum and minimum void ratios of sand. The void ratios
decreased with the increase of fine percentages up to 20% and then
increased. Some investigators have studied the influence of fine

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2019.11.005
2090-4479/Ó 2019 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
718 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725
materials on the geotechnical properties of sand soils. Monkul and
Ozden [9] studied the effect of kaolinite clay on the compressional
characteristics of coarse-grained sand soil. They found that the per-
centages of fines along with the stress conditions affect the com-
pressional behavior of sand soil. Bandini and Sathiskumar [12]
illustrated that the hydraulic conductivity and the coefficient of
consolidation of sand soil were larger than those of sand soil mixed
with 25% fine material. Konime [15] investigated the hydraulic
conductivity of the sand–bentonite mixtures. It was concluded that
the hydraulic conductivity of sandy soil decreased as the bentonite
percentage increased. This mixture could be used in the backfill for
the underground disposal of radioactive wastes.
A few studies have been documented in the literature to deter-
mine the effect of fine materials on compressibility, saturated and
un-saturated permeability, and soil–water characteristic curve
(SWCC) of the silty sand soil. Thus, the main objective of this
research study was to investigate the effect of the fine materials
on the aforementioned properties of silty sand soils. Index proper-
ties, compaction characteristics and micro–structural changes
were also evaluated. Furthermore, the unsaturated permeability
was investigated using the Van Genuchten [16] model.
2. Soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC)
Numerous geotechnical and geo-environmental applications
depend on unsaturated soil such as liners, and engineered barriers.
The properties of unsaturated soils are important in the design and
evaluation of the geotechnical structures. The SWCC; the water
holding capacity of the unsaturated soil; is the relation between
the volumetric water content (or degree of saturation) and the soil
suction [17]. The SWCC can be used to estimate some important
engineering properties such as shear strength, permeability, and
volume change (swelling and collapsing) [18–20]. Many empirical
models have been proposed to fit the SWCC through experimental
results [16,17]. Chiu et al. [21] mentioned that, the Van Genuchten
model [16] is simple and accurate to fit the SWCC. Also, Aldaood
et al. [22] and Abhisekh et al. [23] reported that in both empirical
models, Van Genuchten [16] and Fredlund and Xing [17] gave
approximately similar results for fitting of the experimental SWCC
and found the accuracy of these models is practically good; for
more details see Aldaood et al. [22]. Thus, in this study only the
Fredlund and Xing [17] model was used to fit the experimental
results of SWCC as shown below:

 30
2 1m
ln 1 þ WWr 1
h ¼ hs 41 
5@ h  n iA
ln 1 þ 1000000
Wr ln e þ Wa
where
W and Wr = the soil suction and residual soil suction, respec-
tively in (kPa).
a, n and m = positive parameters of fitting curve.
e = 2.71818. . ...
3. Experimental program
3.1. Soils
Two types of soils were used in this research study: silty sand
and clayey soils, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The silty sand soil was col-
lected from the Al-Gabat region in Mosul city–Iraq with coordi-
nates of 36° 220 3800 N; 43° 060 5500 E, at a depth of 1.0–1.5 m
from the ground surface. The in situ water content was 7.8%. The
Atterberg limits were 27% and 22% for liquid limit and plastic limit,
respectively. The specific gravity of the solid (Gs) was 2.67. Based
on the ASTM D-422, the grain size analysis results showed a soil
composition of 59% sand, 37% silt and 4% clay. According to the
Unified Soil Classification System, USCS (ASTM D-2487), the soil
was classified as a non-plastic silty sand (SM).
The fine-grained clayey soil used as an additive fine material
was collected from Al-Sedeeq district in Mosul city–Iraq with coor-
dinates of 36° 230 2300 N; 43° 090 1700 E. The characteristics of these
soil samples are tabulated in Table 1. The soil samples have a med-
ium consistency which allows ease grinding of the soil particles
and use as fine materials. The grain size distribution curve of
clayey soil (Fig. 2) showed that 98% of the soil particles passed
sieve # 200. Thus, only fine materials of clayey soil passing sieve
#40 were used in the preparation of the samples. Finally, a wide
range of fine materials were added to the silty sand soil and varied
between 5% and 80%.
3.2. Samples preparation
An oven dry silty sand soil that passed sieve #4 was mixed with
a predetermined amount of dried fine materials. In this study dif-
ferent percentages of fine materials were chosen as 5, 10, 20, 40
and 80% of the dry weight of the soil. A predetermined water con-
tent related to the OMC of silty sand soil was added to the mix-
tures. Subsequently, the mixture was put into sealed
polyethylene bags and left for 24 h as mellowing time. The mix-
tures were statically compacted in a specific mold of each type of
the required testing at a strain rate of 1 mm/min using modified
compaction effort (ASTM D-1557). It is important to note that all
soil samples were compacted at the OMC and the cdmax of silty
sand soil.
3.3. One-dimensional compression test
A one-dimensional compression (consolidation) test using an
Oedometer device was used to study the influence of fine materials
on the compressibility of silty sand soil. The prepared samples with
5, 10, 20, 40 and 80% fine materials were statically compacted in
consolidation rings that were 63.5 in diameter and 19 mm in
height. The soil samples were compacted at the OMC and the cdmax
of silty sand soil. The consolidation test was performed based on
the ASTM D-2435 standard. During the consolidation test, any
increase in the height of the sample (especially the samples con-
taining a high percent of fine materials) was prevented by adding
loads. The soil samples were loaded incrementally, starting at
6.9 kPa and going up to 800 kPa. The incremental load was applied
ð1Þ to the soil samples after the dial gauge reading was constant for at
least three successive values.
3.4. Permeability test
A permeability test was carried out on the natural soil (i.e. silty
sand soil) and on soil mixed with 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80% of fine mate-
rials. This test was performed in a permeameter device using a
constant head test according to ASTM D-2434. The soil samples
(which were 97 mm in diameter and 38.5 mm in height) were stat-
ically compacted inside a stainless steel mold and used as part of
the permeability apparatus. This procedure was followed to reduce
the disturbance of the soil sample during extrusion from the mold.
3.5. Suction measurements
Three complementary techniques were used in this study to
determine the SWCCs of the all soil samples for suction pressures
which varied between 10 and 1,000,000 kPa. These techniques
were the vapour equilibrium technique, the osmotic membrane
 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725 719

Fig. 1. Natural silty sand and clayey soil samples.

Table 1 for soil samples with high total suction pressure (i.e. more than
Index properties of clayey soil. 37000 kPa).
Property Value
Liquid limit (%) 82 3.6. Micro-structural tests
Plastic limit (%) 35
Plasticity index (%) 47
The primary purpose of the micro–structural tests was to deter-
Specific gravity Gs 2.76
mine the variations in the structure of the soil samples due to fine
Grain size distribution Sand (%) 2
materials. In this research study two types of micro–structural
Silt (%) 50
Clay (%) 48
tests were adopted: scanning electron microscope (SEM) and mer-
cury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests. The SEM test was employed
Unified Soil Classification System CH
using a Table Top Microscope–TM 3000 device and followed the
test procedure reported by Aldaood et al. [25]. Several pieces of soil
sample (approximately 1 cm3 in volume) were initially injected by
100
epoxy fix resin, polished, coated with gold-palladium alloy, and
then scanned. The MIP test was performed on soil samples using
80 a Pore Seizer Porosimeter (9320). In this test, the mercury pressure
was raised continuously from 0.004 MPa to more than 210 MPa
0% F.M
and the apparent pore sizes that were measured ranged from
Finer (%)

60
3.6 nm to 350 lm. The soil samples were first trimmed to approx-
5% F.M
imately cubic shape and lyophilized to minimize the shrinkage,
10% F.M
40 especially for the samples high with percentages of fine materials.
20% F.M
40% F.M
20 4. Results and discussion
80% F.M
100% F.M
4.1. Evolution of index properties
0
1 0.1 0.01 0.001
The consistency properties of soil samples with different per-
Diameter (mm)
centages of fine materials is summarized in Fig. 3. The variation
Fig. 2. Variation of consistency limits of soil samples with fine materials.
of these properties was observed to correlate with the percentages
of the fine materials. As expected, the consistency limits increased
with additional amounts of fine materials. Furthermore, the soil
samples became more plastic upon the addition of fine materials
technique, and tensiometric plates. The first technique measures and transform from SM to MH when 80% fine materials were added
the total suction while the other techniques measure the matric (the 100% fine materials was clayey soil; i.e. CH). Similar observa-
suction [24]. The vapour equilibrium technique was used to obtain tions were documented by Al-Shayea [7]. The increase in consis-
the SWCC up to suction pressure 1500 kPa, while the osmotic tency limits is attributed to the clay content added to the soil
membrane technique was used to determine the SWCC in suction samples, resulting in an increase of the intake of water molecules.
pressures which ranged between 100 and 1500 kPa. The determi-
nation of the SWCC was continued in low suction pressure ranging 4.2. Pore size distribution (PSD) analysis
between 10 and 20 kPa using tensiometric plates. For more details
about these techniques see the reference Aldaood et al. [22]. The Fig. 4 shows the variations in PSD of soil samples with different
time required to reach equilibrium during testing for the determi- percentages of fine materials. It is worth noting that the PSD of the
nation of the SWCCs varied between 28 and 45 days, depending on silty sand soil and soil samples treated with 5% fine materials were
the specified technique. It worth noting that, there was no any des- not possible to determine because they failed under mercury intru-
iccation cracks in soil samples during the equilibrium time, even sion pressure. It is observed that all soil samples exhibited a bi-
720 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725

100 20
0% F.M
L.L P.L P.I L.S 5% F.M

Dry Unit Weight (kN/m3)

10% F.M
Consistency Limits (%)

80 18 20% F.M
40% F.M
80% F.M
100% F.M
60 ZAVC-0% F.M
16
ZAVC-100% F.M

40
14

20

12
0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
0 5 10 20 40 80 100 Water Content (% )

Fine Materials (% ) Fig. 5. Compaction characteristics of soil samples with fine materials.

Fig. 3. Pore size distribution of soil samples with fine materials.

Table 2
Results of Proctor standard compaction test.
0.02 Fine materials Max. dry density (kN/ Optimum moisture content
10% F.M (%) m3) (%)
20% F.M
Incrimental Intrusion (mL/g)

0 17.3 13
40% F.M
5 17.8 16.1
0.015 80% F.M 10 18.2 16.5
20 18 17
40 17.6 18
80 16.4 21.5
0.01 100 15.65 24.5

between the coarser particles of silty sand soil and lead to an

0.005
0 the soil samples were treated with more than 10% of fine materials
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Entrance Diameter (µm)
Fig. 4. Grain size distribution of soil samples with fine materials.
modal structure. The first pore class centered on 8, 5, 4 and 3 lm
and the second pore class centered on 0.1, 0.06, 0.04 and
0.03 lm for 10, 20, 40 and 80% of fine materials, respectively.
Moreover, fine materials lead to a decrease in the macro pores with
pore diameters ˃1 lm and an increase in the micro pores with pore
diameters <0.1 lm. This means that the addition of fine materials
resulted in an intense modification of the pore space of the soil
samples by decreasing the macro pores and increasing the micro-
pores. This behavior is expected due to more fines being added
and resulted the grain size distribution curve (GSD) of soil samples
to become finer as shown in Fig. 2.
4.3. Compaction properties
The compaction properties obtained from the modified com-
paction tests of soil samples with different percentages of fine
materials are presented in Fig. 5 and Table 2. A slight change in
cdmax and OMC was observed for soil samples treated with fine
materials up to 40%. Increasing fine materials from 40% to 80%
caused great variations in compaction characteristics of soil sam-
ples. The cdmax increased in soil samples with fine materials of
up to 10%, then decreased as shown in Fig. 5. This behavior
occurred with the addition of fine materials that filled the voids
increase in the weight of solids in the unit volume [4 and 20]. Fat-
tah et al. [26] reported that the cdmax and the OMC of granular
materials increased along with an increase in fine materials. When
100 a reduction in cdmax occurred. This reduction was attributed to the
addition of the extra fine particles, which have a small unit weight
compared with silty sand soil particles. Conversely, the OMC of soil
samples increased with the addition of fine materials as illustrated
in Fig. 5. This increasing was attributed to the extra fine materials
added (more clay particles) which have a larger surface areas,
resulting in the absorption of more water than the sand particles.
4.4. Evolution of permeability
The measurements of the coefficient of permeability (k) for both
silty sand soil samples and samples mixed with fine materials were
studied. Fig. 6 illustrates the variation of (k) values of all soil sam-
ples. Silty sand soil samples are much more permeable (7.1  10-
5
cm/sec) compared to the soil samples with fine materials (espe-
cially higher percentages of fines). It can be seen that the addition
of fine materials to the silty sand soil marginally reduces the (k)
values. With a further increase of fine materials to 80%, the (k) val-
ues decreased to 0.13  10-5 cm/sec. Besides, (k) values were
directly related to the fine materials content. The (k) values of soil
samples decreased by a factor of 2–54 times of the (k) value of silty
sand soil samples when treated with fine materials. The changes in
(k) values occurred due to the changes in the grain size distribution
(GSD) and PSD of soil samples, as presented in Figs. 2 and 4, respec-
tively. From the PSD curves (Fig. 4), the addition of fine materials
had a greater fraction of fines as compared with the silty sand soil,
resulting in the voids between the relatively coarser particles of
the sand filling up, as shown in Fig. 7. Further, the interconnectivity
between the pores space decreased and the (k) values marginally
 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725 721

4.5. Evolution of compressibility

Fig. 8 and Table 3 show the one-dimensional compression (con-

solidation) characteristics of the silty sand soil samples treated
with different fine materials percentages. As expected, the com-
pression curve of the silty sand soil samples was located below
the compression curves for all soil samples mixed with fine mate-
rials. As a result, the compression indices (Cc) value of the silty
sand were smaller than other samples. This behavior is attributed
to more compression being experienced by the silty sand soil due
to its unstable structure as illustrated in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 illustrates the fabric change mechanism of the soil sam-
ples due to the fine materials. At the low amount of fine materials
(i.e. less than 10%), the coarser grain matrix (sand particles matrix)
can be assumed to have a continuous skeleton (i.e. the sand parti-
cles were in contact) and fines are located in the inter-granular
voids [9]. This behavior causes a reduction in the values of com-
Fig. 6. Coefficient of permeability of soil samples with fine materials.
pression index, as mentioned previously. As the fine material
increase, the number of particle contacts decrease and the sand
reduced. Bandini and Sathiskumar [12] reported similar behavior.
particles will be far away from each other, resulting to the looser
Another reason for the reduction in (k) values was that, during
state arrangement of the sand particles matrix [9]. Therefore, the
the permeability test the clay particles absorb water and swell,
slope of compression curves of soil samples increases as shown
resulting in a decrease of the pores and blockage of the water path
in Fig. 8. By further increasing the fine materials, the coarser parti-
[7].

Fig. 7. Void size reduction due to fine materials addition.

722 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725

0.8
0% F.M
5% F.M
10% F.M
20% F.M
0.7 40% F.M
80% F.M
Void Ratio

0.6

0.5

0.4
10 100 1000
2
Pressure (kN/m )

Fig. 8. One-dimensional compression curves of soil samples with fine materials.

Table 3
Consolidation parameters of soil samples with fine materials.

Fine materials Compression Max. mv 10-4 Initial void ratio

(%) index (Cc) (m2/kN) (e0)
0 0.238 1.26 0.693
5 0.273 1.34 0.702
10 0.276 1.42 0.705
20 0.289 1.48 0.722
40 0.33 1.60 0.731
80 0.345 1.66 0.744

cles become more dispersed and float within the finer particles
(see Fig. 9). However, the compressibility of the soil samples is
expected to be mainly governed by the finer particles matrix and
there is no obvious contact between coarser particles [5].
The coefficient of volume compressibility (mv) was estimated to
understand the compressible nature of the silty sand soil samples
with the addition of fine materials, and these values are presented
in Table 3. It is important to note that only the maximum values of
(mv) are mentioned in Table 3. The table shows that the fine mate-
rials cause a slight increase in the coefficient of volume compress-
ibility, and can be considered as medium compressible according
to Tomlinson [27] classification.
To identify the yield points and measure strains following yield,
the consolidation curves of the soil samples with different fine
materials percentages were presented in terms of axial strain (e)
(Fig. 10). In general, there is an initial stage where no effective
deformation occurred for samples treated with 20, 40 and 80% of
fine materials. This stage ranges from 6.9 kN/m2 to 100 kN/m2
which represents the swelling action. Thereafter, an initial yield
was noticed and continued to reach about 1.21 to 1.31% of axial
strain for the samples subjected to 800 kN/m2. While the axial
strain values of the natural soil samples (i.e. silty sand samples)
and samples treated with 5 and 10% of fine materials were ranged
from 1.16 to 1.19%. Finally, the largely elastic nature of strains was
confirmed by the curves in Fig. 10, which present that about 17.5–
53% of axial strains were recovered during the unloading stage
(rebound stage). The higher value of recovered strain (i.e.: 53%)
occurred due to the swelling action and this value was recorded
for the soil samples with 80% fine materials.
4.6. Evolution of SWCC
The measured SWCC was fitted using Fredlund and Xing [16]
model defined by Eq. (1). Fig. 11 shows the fitted curves (continu-
Fig. 9. Fabric change mechanism of the soil samples with fine materials.
ous lines) of the soil samples with various percentages of fine
materials. By viewing this figure, the most interesting observation
is that the influence of fine materials is significant for the portion of
SWCC with suction pressure less than 1500 kPa, for the soil sam-
ples with fine materials up to 40%. The action of 80% fine materials
was obvious along the range of suction pressure (i.e. from 10 to
1,000,000 kPa). This behavior is attributed to the SWCC being
mainly affected by soil structure at suction pressure ranges
between 0 and 100 kPa, while at higher suction pressure (i.e., more
than 100 kPa), it was affected by the composition of the soil matrix
and the specific surface area of soil particles [28].
Generally, the volumetric water content for a particular suction
pressure elevated with an increase in fine materials. This behavior
is attributed to the high capillary and absorptive forces resulting
from the high surface area of the finer soil particles. Furthermore,
the pore space of soil samples with fine materials (especially
higher percent of fine materials) is smaller and contains much
more pore space may exist in soil samples (see Figs. 4 and 7). How-
ever, increasing the percentage of fine materials resulted in higher
air-entry value (AEV or Wa) and increased the water holding capac-
ity of the soil samples. This was expected, since the incorporation
of fine materials increased the plasticity of the soil samples (as
mentioned previously) and therefore more water was retained at
 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725 723

0 0

0.3 0.3

Strain (%)
Strain (%)
0.6 0.6

0.9 0.9

1.2 1.2
0% F.M 5% F.M
1.5 1.5
10 100 1000 10 100 1000

Pressure (kN/m )
2 Pressure (kN/m2)

0 0

0.3 0.3
Strain (%)

Strain (%)
0.6 0.6

0.9 0.9

1.2 1.2
10% F.M 20% F.M
1.5 1.5
10 100 1000 10 100 1000
2 2
Pressure (kN/m ) Pressure (kN/m )

0 0

0.3 0.3
Strain (%)

Strain (%)

0.6 0.6

0.9 0.9

1.2 1.2
40% F.M 80% F.M
1.5 1.5
10 100 1000 10 100 1000
Pressure (kN/m2) Pressure (kN/m2)

Fig. 10. Stress-strain curves of soil samples with fine materials.

50 was found to be dependent on the percentage of fine materials in

0% F.M the soil, as shown in Table 4. Table 5 shows the saturation and
Volumetric Water Content (%)

5% F.M de-saturation values of SWCC of soil samples with fine materials.

40 10% F.M In general, it can be noticed that both saturation and de-
20% F.M
saturation state values increased when the fine materials percent
40% F.M
30 was increased. As expected, these values increased with the
80% F.M
increasing plasticity of the soil [29,30]. Table 6 presents the Fred-
lund and Xing’s equation parameters (a, n and m) and the statisti-
20
cal indices (SSR and R2). It is observed that the coefficient of
determination (R2) of all models was more than or equal to 0.99.
10 This suggests that a good correlation was obtained between the fit-
ted SWCC and the experimental data. Also, there was a variety in

0
10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Table 4
Suction Pressure (KPa)
Variation of volumetric water content due to change in suction. pressure.

Fig. 11. SWCCs of soil samples with fine materials (continuous lines represent the Fine materials (%) h at 10 kPa (%) h at 1500 kPa (%)
best fitting while the points represent the experimental data).
0 24.9 10.1
5 25.2 10.2
10 25.7 10.7
any given suction pressure. Similar observations were documented 20 26.7 15.2
by [20]. Sequentially, there was a decrease in volumetric water 40 31.2 16.6
content as suction pressure increased from 10 to 1500 kPa. This 80 42.3 30.0
724 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725

Table 5
Saturation and de-saturation states values of soil samples with fine materials.

Fine materials (%) Saturation state Residual state

Air-entry value, Wa (kPa) ha (%) corresponding to Wa Residual Suction, Wr (kPa) hr (%) corresponding to Wr
0 500 24.9 2800 2
5 500 25.2 2800 3
10 530 25.7 2800 4
20 560 26.7 3000 6
40 680 31.2 3200 8
80 710 42.3 3300 21

Table 6
SWCC parameters and statistical indices of soil samples with fine materials.

Fine materials (%) Equation parameters Statistical indices

a n m SSR R2
0 800 3.87 0.836 10.367 0.996
5 781 4.87 0.727 9.26 0.995
10 784 4.2 0.702 9.04 0.997
20 800 4.63 0.512 9.963 0.995
40 632 3.3 0.509 17.037 0.99
80 600 3.53 0.347 14.357 0.997

(n) values of soil samples with the addition of fine materials, while 0.01
(m) values decreased with increasing fine materials, referred to the 0% F.M
Coefficient of Permeability

soil samples have a moderate or steeper slopes as (m) value 5% F.M

10% F.M
decreases. This is due to the action of fine materials on the soil 1E-05
20% F.M
structure. 40% F.M
(cm/sec)

80% F.M
4.7. Evolution of unsaturated permeability 1E-08

A reliable estimation of unsaturated permeability is difficult to

1E-11
obtain due to the variability of this property in the field and its
measurement is time-consuming [16]. Several empirical models
have been developed to estimate unsaturated permeability from
1E-14
the measured SWCC and the saturated permeability [16,17]. The
10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
most popular model to calculate the unsaturated permeability is
the one proposed by Van Genuchten [16], as illustrated in the Suction Pressure (KPa)
equations below:
n Fig. 12. Unsaturated permeability of soil samples with fine materials.
 m o2
1 - ðawÞn1 1 þ ðawÞn
Kr ¼  m=2 ð2Þ
1 þ ðawÞn
rated permeability illustrated in Fig. 6, which in turn decreased
with an increase in fine materials. It is worth noting that the fac-
K unsat tors affecting the SWCC and saturated permeability can be applica-
Kr ¼ ð3Þ
K sat ble for unsaturated permeability. Generally, the coefficient of
saturated permeability was greater than the coefficient of unsatu-
Kr is the relative coefficient of permeability rated. This behavior is attributed to the fact that in unsaturated
w is the matric suction (kPa) porous media the pore space contains at least two types of fluids
a,n,m fitting parameters (m = 1–1/n) (generally air and water). Thus, the cross-sectional area available
Kunsat is the unsaturated permeability for flowing of each fluid is small as compared with the single fluid
Ksat is the saturated permeability system (i.e. water saturated system).

The unsaturated permeability obtained by this model versus 5. Conclusions

suction pressure for different fine materials percentages is pre-
sented in Fig. 12. As expected, the unsaturated permeability of soil
samples decreased as the suction pressure increased and the coef-
ficient of unsaturated permeability is strongly influenced by the
volumetric water content of suction pressure. Furthermore, as
the fine materials increased, the unsaturated permeability of soil
samples decreased. This behavior is attributed to the fine materi-
als, which cause a reduction in the soil porosity and refinement
of the pore structure of soil samples (see Figs. 4 and 7), then creates
an obstacle against water movement in the pores. The test results
presented in Fig. 12 can be supported by the test results of satu-
The effect of the addition of fine materials of clayey soil to the
silty sand soil was investigated in this paper. The engineering prop-
erties of saturated and unsaturated silty sand soil were varied with
the addition of fine materials. The following conclusions have been
drawn from this study:
– The addition of fine materials increased the plasticity index of
the silty sand soil, which means that silty sand soil with fines
added has less workability. Moreover, this addition increased
the peak value of the maximum dry unit weight up to 10%, then
 A. Aldaood / Ain Shams Engineering Journal 11 (2020) 717–725
decreased. At the same time, the optimum moisture content
continued increasing.
– The coefficient of saturated permeability of the silty sand soil
decreased with increasing fine materials. The significant per-
cent of fine materials which causes the most reduction in per-
meability was 20%.
– Consolidation characteristics of the silty sand soil mixtures
were mostly governed by the coarser particles, especially at
low amounts of fine materials. This behavior is governed by
the finer particles. The compression index of soil samples with
higher fine materials was 1.45 times that of silty sand soil.
– The compressibility mechanism and the deformational beha-
viour of the silty sand soil mixtures depends strongly on the
amount of fine materials added. Further, the axial strain of silty
sand soil increased about 11.5% when a higher percent of fine
materials was added.
– The volumetric water content, water holding capacity, and air
entry values (AEV) of the silty sand soil mixtures increases as
the fine materials increase. Further, the accuracy of the fitting
model (Fredlund and Xing 1994) was reasonably good (R2 = 99).
– Unsaturated permeability is a function of saturated permeabil-
ity and measured SWCC. Therefore, all factors affecting these
properties have an impact on unsaturated permeability.
– The measurements of microscopic structure of the soil samples
can give a better understanding of the macroscopic properties
during the addition of fine materials.
In geoenvironmental works, the using of clays in the design of
liners can be negatively affected by desiccation cracking. These
cracks could be as macropores and in many time provide pathways
for water movement into landfills. In this study, the results were
obtained for silty sand soil mixed with fine materials of clay soil
in order to reduce the effect of desiccation cracking and this behav-
ior was proved during SWCC determination. Thus, the results in
this study may not be applicable for different soil types. Moreover,
the test results can be used in the design of the liners and munic-
ipal waste landfills that involve the effect of porosity (void ratios)
and clay content on the behavior of saturated and unsaturated nat-
ural clayey sands and sandy clays. Finally, future studies should
address the swelling effect of fine materials; especially with time;
and the compaction properties of soil on the permeability and
compressibility properties.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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