CE F243

Soil Mechanics

BITS Pilani Sayantan Chakraborty, Ph.D., AM ASCE, MIE

sayantan.chakraborty@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in
Pilani|Dubai|Goa|Hyderabad

January 17, 2024 1

 BITS Pilani
Pilani|Dubai|Goa|Hyderabad

Lecture 4
Composition and Particle Sizes of
Soils
Jan 17, 2024 2
Recap: Soil Minerals
➢ Phyllosilicates

1:1 basic unit 2:1 basic unit 3

Holtz, R.D., Kovacs, W.D. and Sheahan, T.C., An introduction to geotechnical engineering. CE F243 - Soil Mechanics
Recap: CEC and SSA of Different
Clay Minerals
➢ Cation exchange capacity (CEC) and SSA
▪ Kaolinite:
• CEC: 3-15 cmol/kg
Size: Decreasing
• SSA:10-20 m2/g
SSA: Increasing
▪ Illite:
• CEC: 10-40 cmol/kg CEC: Increasing
150 cmol/kg (if K was not there) Amount of –ve charge and
• SSA: 65-100 m2/g Reactivity: Increasing

▪ Montmorillonite:
• CEC: 80-150 cmol/kg
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• SSA: up to 840 m2/g
CE F243 - Soil Mechanics
Recap: Clay-Water Interaction

Hydrogen bonding Ion hydration 5

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Recap: Clay-Water Interaction

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Attraction by osmosis Dipole attraction
CE F243 - Soil Mechanics
Potential for Swelling

Low swelling potential because of Very high swelling potential because

hydrogen bonding of weak Van der Waal’s force 7

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Potential for Swelling

Low swelling potential because of K bond Very high swelling potential because
of weak Van der Waal’s force 8

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

SEM Images of Montmorillonite and
Kaolinite

https://www.grainsa.co.za/soil-the-producers-
most-important-asset--part-4-the-clay-minerals

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•10.1180/claymin.2014.049.2.02

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric and Structure
➢ Soil fabric refers to the geometric arrangement of the particles.
➢ Soil structure includes the geometric arrangement (fabric)
along with the interparticle forces.
➢ For coarse-grained soils (gravels, sands) and silts – fabric and
structure are the same.
➢ Since it is extremely difficult to directly measure the
interparticle force fields surrounding clay particles, most
studies of cohesive soil structures involve only fabric.
➢ From the fabric of these soils, certain inferences can be made
about their interparticle forces.
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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric and Structure

➢ Fabric of coarse-grained soils

Loose Dense Honeycomb

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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric and Structure

➢ Fabric of fine-grained soil: Flocculated – net effect

of attractive and repulsive forces is attractive – clay
particles tend to move toward each other

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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric and Structure

➢ Fabric of fine-grained soil: Dispersed – net effect of

attractive and repulsive forces is repulsive – clay
particles tend to move away from each other

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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric and Structure

➢ Fabric of fine-grained soil

▪ Depends on several factors
▪ pH, thickness of DDL, type of ions present, history, etc.

▪ Affects engineering properties of soil

▪ Compressibility, permeability, shear strength, etc.

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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric

➢ Fabric of fine-grained soil

▪ Depends on several factors
▪ pH → acidic → +ve charge on edge → flocculated
▪ pH → basic → -ve charge on edge → dispersed
▪ Thickness of DDL ↑ → dispersed
▪ Type of ions present (Na+ → dispersed; Ca2+ →
flocculated)
▪ History (what happened in the past that can change the
geometric arrangement of clay particles) 15

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric

➢ Fabric of fine-grained soil

▪ Affects engineering properties of soil
▪ Compressibility – low for flocculated (till the time that
applied stress is not strong enough to break the edge-
to-face bonds).
▪ Permeability – greater for flocculated (as large
interconnected voids are present that provide lower
resistance to flow of water).
▪ Shear strength – greater for flocculated (due to particle-
to-particle contact). 16

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Fabric and Structure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q-qfNlEP4A&t=263s

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https://www.ngi.no/eng/Services/Technical-expertise/Quick-clay-landslides/What-is-quick-clay CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Soil Types Based on Particle Size

18

Budhu, M., 2015. Soil mechanics fundamentals. John Wiley & Sons. CE F243 - Soil Mechanics
Soil Types Based on Particle Size

19 mm -75 mm

Note that the symbol M is from the Swedish terms mo (=very fine sand) and mjala (=silt).
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Budhu, M., 2015. Soil mechanics fundamentals. John Wiley & Sons. CE F243 - Soil Mechanics
Particle Size Distribution

➢ Also known as grain size distribution.

➢ Size and distribution of the soil particle, especially for granular soils,
affects engineering behavior.

➢ For fine-grained soils, the presence of water greatly affects their

engineering response - much more than grain size distribution.

➢ The process to determine particle size distribution is called particle-

size analysis, or sometimes the mechanical analysis or the gradation
test.

➢ For coarse-grained soil sieve analysis is performed.

➢ For fine-grained analysis, sedimentation analysis is performed. 20

CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Particle Size Distribution
Dry Sieve Analysis

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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

Particle Size Distribution
Wet Sieve Analysis

▪ Spread out soil passing 4.75 mm in a large tray or bucket and add water.
▪ Add dispersing agent - two grams of sodium hexametaphosphate or one gram
of sodium hydroxide and one gram of sodium carbonate per liter of water.
▪ The mix should be thoroughly stirred and left for soaking. The soil-soaked
specimen should be washed thoroughly over the nest of sieves.
▪ Washing shall be continued until the water passing each sieve is substantially
clean.
▪ The fraction retained on each sieve should be emptied carefully without any loss
of material in separate trays. Oven dry at 105 to 110°C and weigh each fraction 22
separately. CE F243 - Soil Mechanics
Particle Size Distribution

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CE F243 - Soil Mechanics

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Pilani|Dubai|Goa|Hyderabad

THANK YOU
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