Mekanika Tanah

(Soil Mechanics)

1. Definition of Soil

The occurrence of soil initially occurs when the earth is a very hot ball of liquid magma,
due to the cooling process of the surface and freezes and also forms igneous rocks. Due to
the physical processes that occur, the rock is destroyed into soil grains. And because of the
chemical processes that occur, the rock becomes weathered so that it becomes soil that
changes from the original nature of the rock. Soil is a material consisting of solid mineral
grains that are not chemically bound to each other from weathered organic materials that
have solid particles accompanied by fluids and gases that comb the empty spaces between
the solid particles. So the science that studies soil mechanics is Soil Mechanics, which
explores the soil mass when subjected to various forces. And the science that studies the
physical properties of soil and the behavior of the soil mass when subjected to forces is Soil
Engineering.

2. Type and size of soil particles

Soil is a material derived from rock weathering which greatly affects the behavior of the
soil mass.

Soil is a mixture of one of the following types:

Table 1.1 Grain Distribution

Grouping soil types based on grain mix:

a. Boulders (berangkal) ; are large pieces of rock, usually larger than 250 mm to 300
mm. For the range between 150 mm and 250 mm, these rock fragments are called
cobbles.
b. Gravel (kerikil) ; rock particles that are 5 mm to 150 mm in size.
c. Sand (pasir) ; rock particles measuring 0.074 mm to 5 mm, ranging from coarse (3-
5 mm) to fine (less than 1 mm).
d. Silt (lanau) ; rock particles measuring from 0.002 mm to 0.074 mm.
e. Clay (lempung) ; mineral particles smaller than 0.002 mm. These particles are the
main source of cohesion in cohesive soils.

3. Grain Size Analysis

The properties of soil are highly dependent on its grain size. Grain size can be used as a
basis for soil naming and classification. Therefore, grain analysis is a very frequent test.
Soil grain size analysis is the determination of the weight percentage of grains on a sieve,
with a certain hole diameter size.

a. Coarse Grained Soil

b. Fine Grained Soil

The grain size distribution of fine-grained soil or the coarse-grained part of the soil can be
determined by sedimentation. This method is based on Stokes' law, which deals with the
speed at which grains settle in a suspension solution.

4. Atterberg Limits

which is a way to describe the boundariesconsistency of fine-grained soils with

consideration of their water content.water content. These are the liquid limit, plastic limit
and shrinkage limit.
 Figure 1.1 Soil consistency limit

4.1 Liquid limit

Liquid limit (LL), defined is the moisture content of the soil at the boundary between the
liquid state and the plastic state, namely the upper limit of the plastic region.

4.2 Plastic Limit

Plastic Limit (PL), defined is the water content at the position between the plastic and semi-
plastic regions and semi-plastic, which is the percentage of water content where the soil
with a cylinder diameter of 3.2 mm will start to crack when rolled.

4.3 Shrinkage Limit

Shrinkage Limit (SL), defined is the moisture content defined at the degree of saturation
100%, below which there will be no change in volume when the soil is continuously
drained when the soil is continuously drained. It should be noted that the smaller the
shrinkage limit the smaller the shrinkage limit, the easier it is for the soil to change volume.

4.4 Plasticity Index

Plasticity Index (PI), defined is between the liquid limit and the plastic limit or the
differencebetween the liquid limit and plastic limit of a soil.
 Figure 1.2 Plasticity index values and soil types

4.5 Liquidity Indeks

Liquidity Indeks (LI), can be defined as the relative native soil moisture content at the
plastic and liquid positions.

5. Soil Compaction

Compaction is a process of compacting soil particles so that there is a reduction of air

volume and water volume using mechanical means. Soil density depends on the amount of
water content, if the soil water content is small, the soil will be hard and vice versa if the
water content is large, the soil will be hard then the soil will be hard and vice versa if the
water content is much then the soil will be hard will become soft or liquid. Compaction
done when the moisture content is higher than the optimum moisture content will affect the
soil properties.
The purpose of soil compaction is to compact the soil to the optimum moisture content and
improve the mechanical characteristics of the soil and improve the characteristics of the soil
mechanism, which will provide benefits:

a. Minimize the influence of water on the soil.

b. Increased soil strength.

c. Minimizes its compression and water permeability.

d. Reducing volume changes due to changes in water content