Soil Mechanics

CED603- Assignment 1 –Semester-2-2022

Name: Rishkesh Kumar

ID: A00165262
Due Date 19/09/22

Question 1

a) i) Permeability, strength, compaction characteristics, drainage, shrink-swell

potential, grain size, plasticity, and reactivity are all essential soil features in
engineering. Depth to the water table, depth to bedrock, and soil slopes are other
essential considerations.
ii) It is essential to examine the soil's strength, durability, and bearing capability.
The specific weight is useful for studying soil deformation in large-scale projects.
iii) A soil is a three-phase system composed of solid particles (called soil grains),
water, and air. The vacuum area between soil grains is partially filled with water
and partly with air. When we take a dry soil mass, the spaces are merely filled
with air. In the event of a totally saturated soil, the spaces are entirely filled with
water.
iv) GEOMATERIALS-
 Geomaterials are geologically derived materials used in building.
 Materials extracted from the Earth's crust for use in building.
 They are mostly made of inorganic materials.
 Geomaterials include soils and rocks.
MINERALS-
  A mineral is a natural, inorganic material made of one or more
elements that have a particular chemical composition, arrangement of
components (structure), and physical characteristics.

v) Clay minerals are classified into three types:

 Kaolinite - also known as dickite and nacrite; formed by the

decomposition of orthoclase feldspar (for example, in granite); kaolin is
the main constituent of China clay.

 llite and glauconite (a green clay sand) are the most prevalent clay
minerals; they are created by the breakdown of certain micas and
feldspars and are found in marine clays and shales.

 Smectites or montmorillonites - also known as bentonite and

vermiculite; generated by the alteration of mafic igneous rocks rich in
Ca and Mg; weak cation linkage leads in strong swelling/shrinking
potential.

Soil has three important engineering properties:

1. COHESION
Internal molecular attraction is what keeps a substance from rupturing or
shearing. Cohesion in fine-grained soils is produced by water films that bind
together the individual particles in the soil bulk. Cohesion is a feature of fine-
grained soil with particle sizes less than 0.002 mm. Soil cohesiveness diminishes
as moisture content rises. Cohesion is higher in well-compacted clays and is
independent of the imposed external stress.

2. ANGLE OF INTERNAL FRICTION

The sliding resistance of grain particles in a soil mass is determined by the angle
of internal friction. It is often assumed that the value of the angle of internal
friction is largely independent of normal pressure but changes with particle
packing, i.e., density. Greater normal stress soils will have lower moisture
contents and higher bulk densities at failure than lower normal stress soils, and
the angle of internal friction may shift as a result. Clay's real angle of internal
friction is rarely zero and can reach 260. The angle of internal friction of granular
soils can range from 280 to 500.

3. CAPILLARITY

It refers to soil's capacity to transfer moisture in all directions independent of

gravity force. Capillary attraction causes water to ascend through soil pores. The
greatest theoretical height of capillary rise is determined by the pressure that
forces water into the soil, which rises as the size of the soil particles decreases.
The height of capillary rise in a soil when wet may be 4 to 5 times that of the
height of capillary rise in the same soil when dry. Coarse gravel has no capillary
rise; coarse sand has up to 30 cm of capillary rise; fine sand and soils have up to
1.2 m of capillary rise; and dry sand has very little capillary rise.