SOIL MECHANICS

(INTRODUCTION)

DR. JUBILY MUSAGASA

(CE Department)
Soil Mechanics
❑Terzaghi defined soil mechanics as follows- is the application of
laws of mechanics and hydraulics to engineering problems dealing
with sediments and other unconsolidated accumulations of solid
particles produced by the mechanical and chemical disintegration
of rocks regardless of whether or not they contain an admixture of
organic constituents.
❑Soil Mechanics - discipline of engineering science which deals
with properties and behavior of soil as a structural material.
Foundation Engineering
❑Foundation Engineering deals with the design of various
types of substructures under different soil and environment
conditions.
❑The foundation engineer must have the ability to interpret the
principles of soil mechanics to suit the field conditions.
❑The success or failure of his/her design depends upon how
much in tune he/she is with nature.
Formationof Soils
❑Soil particles are normally a result of weathering
(disintegration and decomposition) of rocks and decay of
vegetation.
❑The weathering of the rocks might be by mechanical
disintegration, and /or by chemical decomposition.
Mechanical Weathering (1/2)

❑Due to the action of such agents as the expansive forces of

freezing of water in fissures, due to sudden changes of
temperature or due to the abrasion of rock by moving water or
glaciers.
❑Temperature changes of sufficient amplitude and frequency
bring about changes in the volume of the rocks in the superficial
layers of the earth’s crust in terms of expansion and contraction.
Mechanical Weathering (2/2)

❑Volume changes sets up tensile and shear stresses in the rock

ultimately leading to the fracture of even large rocks.
❑Erosion by wind and rain is a very important factor and a
continuing event. Cracking forces by growing plants and roots in
voids can force fragments apart.
Chemical Weathering

❑Chemical weathering (decomposition) can transform hard rock

minerals into soft, easily erodible matter.
❑The principal types of decomposition are hydration, oxidation,
carbonation, desilication and leaching.
❑Oxygen and carbondioxide which are always present in the air
readily combine with the elements of rock in the presence of
water .
Biological Weathering
❑Biological weathering describes those mechanical and chemical
changes of the ground that are directly associated with the
activities of animals and plants.
SOIL TYPES (1/2)
❑Three very broad categories
❑Cohesionless soil
❑Cohesive soil
❑Organic soil
❑Cohesionless
❑The soil particles do not tend to stick together
❑Three Common types of cohesionless soils are gravel, sand
and silt.
SOIL TYPES (2/2)
❑Cohesive Soils
❑Cohesive soils are characterized by very small particles
where surface chemical effects predominate.
❑The particles do tend to stick together - the result of water
particle interaction and attractive forces between particles.
❑Cohesive soils are therefore both sticky and plastic. The
common type of cohesive soil is clay
❑Organic Soils
❑Organic soils are typically spongy, crumbly, and
compressible. They are undesirable for use in supporting
structures.
Categories in Terms of Grain Size

❑Categories Strictly in Terms of Grain Size

❑Coarse-grained soils
❑Fine- grained soils
❑Coarse-Grained Soils - Gravel and sand, with soil grains coarse
than 0.075mm (No 200 sieve size) are coarse grained (also
referred to as granular soils)
❑Fine – Grained soils – silt and clay, with soil grains finer than
0.075mm, are fine – grained.
Effect of Grain Size on Engineering Properties
❑Engineering properties of granular soils are affected by their
grain sizes and shapes as well as by their grain – size
distributions and their compactness.
❑Granular soil except for loose sand generally possesses excellent
engineering properties.
❑High permeabilities of granular soils however make them poor, or
even unacceptable, for use alone as earthen dams.
❑Cohesive soils ( mostly clay, but also sity clays and clay – sand
mixtures with clay being predominant) exhibit generally; undesirable
engineering properties compared with those of granular soils. Being
impervious, however, they make better core materials for earthen
clams.
Effect of Grain Size on Engineering Properties

❑Silty soils are on the border between clayey and sandy soils. They
are fine-grained like clays but cohesionless like sands. Silty soils
possess undesirable engineering properties. They exhibit high
capillary and susceptibility to frost action, yet they have low
permeabilities and low relative densities
❑Any soil containing a sufficient amount of organic matter to affect
its engineering properties is called organic soil. Organic soils are
essentially unacceptable for supporting foundations.
Classification of the Soils
Coarse-Grained Fine-Grained
Agency
Gravel Coarse Sand Fine Sand Silt Clay
2.00 – 0.425 0.425 – 0.075
75 – 2.00 mm 0.075 –
mm mm < 0.002
AASHTO (3 in – No. 10 0.002 mm
(No. 10 – No. (No. 40 – No. mm
Sieves)
40 Sieves) 200 Sieves)
Coarse: 4.75 – 2.00 mm 0.425 – 0.075
75 – 19.0 mm (No. 4 – No. 10 mm (No. 40 –
(3 – 3/4 in Sieves) No. 200 Sieves)
Fines < 0.075 mm (Silt
USCS Fine:
and Clay)
19.0 – 4.75 mm Medium Sand: 2.00 – 0.425 mm
(3/4 in – No. 4 (No. 10 – No. 40 Sieves)
Sieve)
GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS (1/2)
❑Two methods
❑Sieve analysis – For particles > 0.075 mm in diameter
❑Hydrometer analysis – For particles sizes < 0.075 mm in diameter
❑Silty soils are on the border between clayey and sandy soils.
They are fine-grained like clays but cohesionless like sands.
Silty soils possess undesirable engineering properties. They
exhibit high capillary and susceptibility to frost action, yet they
have low permeabilities and low relative densities
❑Any soil containing a sufficient amount of organic matter to
affect its engineering properties is called organic soil. Organic
soils are essentially unacceptable for supporting foundations.
SIEVE ANALYSIS (1/2)
❑Consist of shaking the soil
sample through a set of sieves that
have progressively smaller
openings.
❑First the soil is oven-dried and
then all the lumps are broken into
smaller particles before they are
passed through the sieves.
❑After shaking, the mass of soil
retained on each sieve is
determined.
SIEVE ANALYSIS (1/2)
❑When cohesive soils are analysed, it may be
difficult to break lumps into individual
particles. The soil is, therefore, mixed with
water to make a slurry and then washed
through the sieves’
❑The portions retained on each sieve are
collected separately and oven-dried before the
mass retained on each sieve is measured.
❑The results of sieve analysis are generally
expressed as the percentage of the total weight
of soil that passed through different sieves.
EXAMPLE
❑An air-dry soil sample weighing 2000 g is brought to the soils
laboratory for mechanical-grain analysis. The laboratory data are as
follows:
U.S. Sieve Size Size Opening (mm) Weight Retained (g)
¾ in 19.0 0
3/ in 9.5 158
8
No. 4 4.75 308
No. 10 2.00 608
No. 40 0.425 652
No. 100 0.150 224
No. 200 0.075 42
Pan - 8
❑Total sample weight = 2000 g SOLUTION
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒
❑𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 = 𝑥100
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
❑Percentage passing on each sieve = 100 – cummulative retained on sieve
1 2 3 4 5 6
U.S. Sieve Size Opening Weight Cummulative Percentage
% Retained
Size (mm) Retained (g) % Retained Passing
¾ in 19 0 0 0 100
3/ in 9.5 158 7.9 7.9 92.1
8
No. 4 4.75 308 15.4 23.3 76.7
No. 10 2 608 30.4 53.7 46.3
No. 40 0.425 652 32.6 86.3 13.7
No. 100 0.15 224 11.2 97.5 2.5
No. 200 0.075 42 2.1 99.6 0.4
Pan - 8 0.4 100 -
Total Sample Weight = 2000
 Grain Size Analysis Curve
100
90
80
70
Percentage Passing

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
100 10 1 0.1 0.01
Grain Diameter (mm)
HYDROMETER ANALYSIS (1/4)
❑Hydrometer analysis is based on the principle of sedimentation of soil
grains in water.
❑When a soil specimen is dispersed in water, the particles settle at
different velocities, depending on their shape, size and weight. For
simplicity, it is assumed that all the soil particles are spheres and the
velocity of the soil particles can be expressed by Stokes’ Law, according
to which
𝜌𝑠 − 𝜌𝑤 2
𝑣= 𝐷
18𝜂
❑𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑣 = 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝜌𝑠 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝜌𝑤 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝜂 = 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝐷 = 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠
HYDROMETER ANALYSIS (2/4)
18𝜂𝑣 18𝜂 𝐿 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐿
𝐷= = 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑣 = =
𝜌𝑠 − 𝜌𝑤 𝜌𝑠 − 𝜌𝑤 𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡

18𝜂 𝐿
𝐷= 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝜌𝑠 = 𝐺𝑠 𝜌𝑤
𝐺𝑠 − 1 𝜌𝑤 𝑡
❑If the units of 𝜂 are (g.sec)/cm2, 𝜌w is in g/cm3, L is in cm, t is in min, and D is
in mm, then;
𝐷 𝑚𝑚 18𝜂 𝑔.𝑠𝑒𝑐 /𝑐𝑚2 𝐿 𝑐𝑚 30𝜂 𝐿
= Or 𝐷 =
10 𝐺𝑠 −1 𝜌𝑤 𝑔/𝑐𝑚3 𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑥 60 𝐺𝑠 −1 𝜌𝑤 𝑡
❑Assuming 𝜌w to be approximately equal to 1 g/cm3, we have
𝐿 𝑐𝑚 30𝜂
𝐷 𝑚𝑚 = 𝐾 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐾 =
𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑠 − 1
 HYDROMETER ANALYSIS (3/4)
❑Note that the value of K is a function of Gs and 𝜂, which are dependent on the
temperature of the test
❑The hydrometer test involves mixing a small amount of soil into a suspension
and observing how the suspension settles in time. Larger particles will settle
quickly, followed by smaller particles.
❑When the hydrometer is lowered into the suspension, it will sink into the
suspension until the buoyancy force is sufficient to balance the weight of the
hydrometer.
❑The length of the hydrometer projecting above the suspension is a function of
the density, so it is possible to calibrate the hydrometer to read the density of
the suspension at different times.
❑The calibration of the hydrometer is affected by temperature and the specific
gravity of the suspended solids. You must then apply a correction factor to your
hydrometer reading based on the test temperatures.
 HYDROMETER ANALYSIS (4/4)
❑Typically, a hydrometer test is conducted by taking a small quantity of a
dry, fine-grained soil (approximately 50 grams) and thoroughly mixing it
with distilled water to form a paste.
❑The paste is placed in a 1-liter glass cylinder, and distilled
water is added to bring the level to the 1-liter mark. The
glass cylinder is then repeatedly shaken and inverted
before being placed in a constant-temperature bath.
❑A hydrometer is placed in the glass cylinder and a clock is
simultaneously started.
❑By knowing the amount of soil suspension, L, and t, we
can calculate the percentage of soil by weight finer than a
given diameter. Note that L is the depth measured from the
surface of the water to the center of gravity of the
hydrometer bulb at which the density of the suspension is
measured. The value of L will change with time t.
 Grain – Size Distribution Curve
❑Plotting sieve opening Grain Size Analysis Curve
(mm) versus percentage 100
passing on semi-log 90
scale 80
❑Percentage passing 70

Percentage Passing
always plotted as 60
ordinate (vertical axis) 50
on the arithmetic scale 40
30
❑Sieve opening plotted as
20
the abscissa (horizontal
10
axis) on log scale. The
0
usual practice is to plot
100 10 1 0.1 0.01
from the highest sieve Grain Diameter (mm)
size to the lowest.
 Effective Size, Uniformity Coefficient and
Coefficient of Gradation
❑Three basic parameters used to classify soils can be obtained
fom particle size distribution (PSD) curves
❑Effective Size (D10)
❑Coefficient of Uniformity (Cu)
❑Coefficient of Curvature (Cc) – also known as Coefficient of
Gradation
❑Effective Size (D10) –The diameter in the PSD curve at which
10% passes
 Effective Size, Uniformity Coefficient and
Coefficient of Gradation

❑Coefficient of Uniformity (Cu)

𝑫𝟔𝟎
𝑪𝒖 =
𝑫𝟏𝟎
❑Coefficient of Curvature (Cc)
(𝑫𝟑𝟎 )𝟐
𝑪𝒄 =
𝑫𝟔𝟎 𝒙𝑫𝟏𝟎
Where D30 = Soil particle diameter corresponding to 30% passing
D60 = Soil particle diameter corresponding to 60% passing
 Grain Size Analysis Curve
100
90
80
Percentage Passing 70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
D60 D10
100 10 1 0.1 0.01
D30
Grain Diameter (mm)
 Grain-Size Distribution Curves
❑On the basis of the shapes of PSD curves we can classify soils as:
❑Uniforbmly-graded or Poorly-graded
❑Well-graded
❑Gap-graded
 Grain-Size Distribution Curves
❑Curve “a” represents a soil in which the particle sizes are distributed
over a wide range and is termed as Well-graded soil

❑Curve “b” represents

(b)
a typical soil in which (c)
most of the soil grains
are of the same size. (a)

This is called Poorly-

graded soil
❑Curve “c” repsentts a
Gap-graded soil
 CONSISTENCY OF SOILS (2/2)
❑ Atterberg Limits: The water
contents (%) corresponding to the
transition from one state to another

❑ Shrinkage Limit (SL): The moisture content (%)at which the soil
changes from solid state to semi-solid state
❑ Plastic Limit (PL): The moisture content (%) at which the soil transition
from semi-solid state to plastic state
❑ Liquid Limit (LL): The moisture content (%) at which the soil transition
from plastic state to liquid state
❑ Plasticity Index (PI): The difference between the liquid limit and plastic
limit. i.e PI = LL - PL
Laboratory Determination of Liquid Limit
❑Liquid Limit
❑Two methods
❑Casagrande Method
❑Cone Penetrometer Method
Casagrande Method (1/3)
❑Casagrande device contains a brass cup
which can be raised and allowed to fall
on a hard rubber base by a turning
handle.
❑The limits are determined by using a
portion of soil finer than 0.425 mm (No.
40 Sieve)
❑About 100 g of soil is mixed thoroughly
with distilled water into a uniform paste
❑A portion of the paste is placed in the
cup and levelled to a maximum depth of
10 mm.
Casagrande Method (2/3)
❑A groove of dimensions 11 mm width
and 8 mm depth is cut through the
sample along the symmetrical axis of
the cup
❑The handle is turned at a rate of about 2
rev/sec and the number of blows
necessary to close the groove along the
bottom for a distance of 12.5 mm is
counted.
❑The water content of the soil in a cup is
altered and the tests repeated.
❑At least four tests (at different water
contents) are performed.
Casagrande Method (3/3)
❑A plot of water content against logarithm of blows is then plotted
❑The water content corresponding to 25 blows is termed as the Liquid Limit (LL)
Cone Penetrometer Method (1/2)

❑Static test depending on soil

shear strength
❑The determination of LL is
done on materials passing No.
40 (0.425 mm) sieve.
❑It is based on the measurement
of penetration into the soil of a
standardized cone.
Cone Penetrometer Method (2/2)
❑A plot of moisture content (abscissa –
X axis) and cone penetration (Ordinate
– Y axis), both linear scales is made
❑LL of the soil sample is the moisture
corresponding to a cone penetration of
20 mm – nearest whole number
Plastic Limit
❑About 15 g of soil passing No. 40 (0.425 mm) is mixed with water
thoroughly
❑The soil is rolled on a glass plate with hand, until it is about 3 mm in
diameter
❑The procedure of mixing and rolling is repeated till the soil shows signs of
crumbling
❑The water content of the crumbled portion of the soil is determined.This is
the Plastic Limit (PL).