Clay minerals

Minerals are classified according to

chemical composition and structures.
Minerals of interest:
– Oxygen
– Silicon
– Aluminum
– Hydrogen
 Clay Morphology
• Scanning Electron
Microscope (SEM)
• Shows that clay
particles consist
of stacks of plate-
like layers
 Basic silicate structural units
• 1-Silica Tetrahedron

4
1* Si  4
2
4*O  8
oxygen
Total charge=-4
silicon

0.26 nm
 Symbolic structure
• Thin layers of silica sheet =several silica
tetrahedrons

Si
 Basic silicate structural units
• 2-Aluminum Octahedron
1* Al 3  3
6 * O  2  12
• Total charge=-9
hydroxyl or
3
1* Al  3 oxygen
6 * (OH )   6
aluminum or
• Total charge=-3 magnesium

0.29 nm
 Symbolic structure
Aluminum sheet

Al
 Main groups of crystalline materials
that make up clays are:
Kaolinite: Consists of one silica sheet and one aluminum
sheet ,and are held together by Hydrogen bonds.
Al
Si
Typically
70-100 Al
0.72 nm
layers Si
Al
joined by strong H-bond
no easy separation Si
Al joined by oxygen
sharing
Si
 Illite: Consists of repeated layers of one alumina sheet
sandwiched by two silica sheets, and are held together by
potassium ions.

Si
Al
Si
joined by K+ ions
Si
fit into the hexagonal 0.96 nm
holes in Si-sheet
Al
Si

Si
Al
Si
 Montmorillonite (smectite): Consists of repeated layers of
one alumina sheet sandwiched by two silica sheets , and are
held together by weak Vander Waals forces , and
exchangeable ions, sometimes with water.

Si
Bentonite: is a
commercial Al
type of
Montmorillonite. Si

Si
Al 0.96 nm
easily separated Si
by water
Si
joined by weak
van der Waal’s bond Al
Si
 Surface forces and adsorbed
water
• Specific surface (SS)  surfacearea ( m 2 / g )
mass

(1 * 6) * 8cm 2
4 * 6cm2
SS   48cm 2 / g
SS   24cm 2 / g 1
1
 Typical values for specific surface
for some soils
Soil type Specific surface (m 2 / g )

Sand 0.01

Kaolinite 10-20

Illite 65-100

Montmorillonite 800-1000
 Surface forces and adsorbed
water
• Because of clay large surfaces,
surface forces significantly influence
the behavior of fine grained soils,
compared to coarse grained soils.
 Adsorbed Water
 A thin layer of water tightly held to particle; like a skin

 1-4 molecules of water (1 nm) thick

 more viscous than free water

- - adsorbed water
- -
- - positively charged edges
+ +
- - + _ _ _ _+ + _ negatively charged faces
- - + _ _ _ __
+ _
- - _ _ _ _ __ _
- - _ _ _ _ _
Surface forces and adsorbed water
• Surface charges are
negative (anions)
• Attract positive charges
(cations) from
surrounding environment,
and positively charged
side of water molecules.
• Thin film of water ,
adsorbed water, is
bonded to mineral
surface.
 Clay Fabric
(function of deposition and history of formation)
face-to-face contact (parallel)
edge-to-face contact (perpendicular)

Flocculated Dispersed
Consistency of clays: Atterberg limits

• For clays and silts (fine grain soils) their

classification is derived from their engineering
properties under varying conditions of moisture.
• Consistency: is a term used to describe the
degree of firmness (soft, medium, firm, hard)
• In early 1900s, a Swedish scientist named
Atterberg developed a method to describe the
consistency of fine grained soils with varying
moisture content.
 Soil Consistency Limits
• Albert Atterberg (1846-
1916) Swedish Soil
Scientist
….. Developed series of tests
for evaluating consistency
limits of soil (1911)
• Arthur Casagrande
(1902-1981)
……Adopted these tests for
geotechnical engineering
purposes
 Arthur Casagrande (1902-1981)

• Joined Karl Terzaghi at MIT

in 1926 as his graduate
student
• Research project funded by
Bureau of Public Roads
• After completion of Ph.D at
MIT Casagrande initiated
Geotechnical Engineering
Program at Harvard
• Soil Plasticity and Soil
Classification (1932)
(hard candy) (cheese) (butter) (soup)

PI (Plasticity Index)

Liquid limit (LL):

moisture content at
which the transition
from plastic state to
Plastic limit (PL):
liquid state takes
moisture content at
place.
Shrinkage limit (SL): the point transition
moisture content at from semisolid state
to plastic state
which the transition from
takes place. Atterberg Limits
solid to semisolid state
takes place.

w (%)
 Liquid limit determination
• Is the water content at which a
grooved sample in a standard
apparatus, which was cut by a
standard tool, closed along the
groove for 12.7 mm when subjected
to 25 drops in a liquid limit apparatus.
 Liquid limit (LL):
• Since it is difficult to adjust the moisture
content in the soil to meet the required
12.7 mm closure of the groove in the soil
at at 25 blows, at least three tests for the
same soil are conducted at varying
moisture contents, with the number of
blows, N, required to achieve closure
varying between 15 and 35.
 Liquid Limit Plot
• Flow Curve: Moisture content vs. Log N, or number of
blows.
• Flow Index= IF = Slope of the flow curve
• LL is the water content corresponding to closure of 12.7
mm distant on the devise at N= 25.

w1  w2
IF 
N1
log( )
N2
 ONE POINT METHOD
N 0.121
LL  w N ( )
25
20 < N < 30

empirical equation US crops of engineering (1949)

N = number of blows in the liquid limit device for 12.7 mm groove closure
w N = corresponding moisture content.
 Plastic limit determination
• Is the moisture content, at which the
soil crumbles, when rolled into
threads of 3.2 mm in diameter.
 Example:
• Following are the results from the liquid and
plastic limits tests for a soil liquid limit test:

N w (%)

15 42

20 40.8
28 39.1

A) Draw the flow curve and obtain the liquid limit.

B) What is the plasticity index of the soil?
 Solution
PI  LL  PL
 39.66  18.7  20.46%
• Flow curve
Solution (ONE POINT METHOD)

N 0.121 20 0.121
LL  w N ( )  40.8( )  39.71%
25 25
28 0.121
OR  39.1( )  39.63%
25
 Shrinkage limit:
• It is the moisture content at which the
volume of the soil mass doesn't change
any further. That is the volume of the soil
sample will not shrink any further with
further drying.
• The test is conducted by measuring the
volume at the various water contents in
the process of drying.
Atterberg limits are of a somewhat empirical
natural, but used to provide useful
information regarding soil strength, behavior,
stability, type and state of consolidation, or
classification of clays.

Soil type LL PL PI
Sand Non plastic Non plastic Non plastic
Silt 30-40 20-25 10-15
clay 40-150 25-50 15-100
 Characteristics of soils with different
plasticity indices (sowers,1979)
PI Classification Dry strength Visual-manual
identification
of dry sample
0-3 Non plastic Very low Falls apart
easily

3-15 Slightly plastic Slight Easily crushed

with fingers

15-30 Medium plastic Medium Difficult to crush

with fingers

>30 Highly plastic High Impossible to

crush with
fingers
 Activity (Skempton, 1953)
PI
A
( % of clay size fraction ( % finer than 2  , by weight) )

Activity is used as an
index for identifying
the swelling potential
Mineral A
of clay soils.
Montmorillonite 1-7
ILLite 0.5-1
Kaolinite 0.5
 Review Problems
List and sketch the main types of clay minerals. Illustrate the basic units
and their symbolic structure.

In Atterberg limits determination test, the following data was obtained for a brown
silty clay. Determine the plasticity index.

Can No: 1 2 3 4 Liquid limit

Weight of wet soil and can 48.61 55.53 50.51 51.71 data
Weight of dry soil and can 41.19 46.05 41.54 42.98
Weight of can 17.33 17.41 17.36 17.45
Number of blows N 34 27 17 22

Can No: 5 6 Plastic limit

data
Weight of wet soil and can 29.26 30.03
Weight of dry soil and can 27.90 28.53
Weight of can 20.63 20.66