PERKULIAHAN MINGGU 01:

PBGN 605 MEKANIKA TANAH

Weight–Vol. Relationships – Soil Properties Index

Dosen : Eko Suwarno, Drs. M. Pd.

Hp. 081 136 333 1
ekosuwaron@gmail.com
eko.suwarno.ft@um.ac.id
Soil Weight–Volume Relationships
 Void ratio e.
Void ratio e.
 The ratio of the volume of voids Vv to the

volume of soils Vs in a given volume of

material, usually expressed as a decimal.

 For soils, e ranges from about 0.35 in the

most dense state to seldom over 2 in the
loosest state.
 Porosity n.
Porosity n.
 The ratio of the volume of voids to the total

volume Vu expressed as either a decimal or a

percentage.
 Water content w.
Water content w.
 The ratio of the weight of water Ww to the

weight of soil solids W5, expressed as a

percentage but usually used in decimal form.
 Unit density (or mass) p.
Unit density (or mass) p.
 The ratio of mass per unit of volume.

 In the Fps system the values are the same as

unit weight following.
 The SI system gives units of kg/m3 but a
preferred usage unit is g/cm3. Note that 1
g/cm3 = 1 Mg/m3 = 1 tonne/m3.
 Often unit density is called "density."
 Unit weight y.
Unit weight y.
 The weight of a unit volume of soil (or

other material) in force units. The general

expression is

 Commonly used units are kN/m3 or pcf,

kef.
 The symbol may be subscripted to identify
particular state values as ydry = Ws/Vt, etc.
 The unit weight can vary from a minimum
at the dry state to a maximum at the
saturated (voids full of water) state for a
given particle arrangement.
 Degree of saturation S.
Degree of saturation S.
 The ratio of the volume of water to the

total volume of soil voids, expressed

as a percentage but used as a decimal.

 A "saturated" soil as obtained from

beneath the groundwater table may
have a computed S between 95 and
100 percent.
Soil Weight–Volume Relationships
 Specific gravity G.
Specific gravity G.
 The usual definition for soil is the same as found in most

elementary physics textbooks.

 The unit weight of distilled water is standard at 4°C, but the
usual laboratory temperatures in the range of 15 to 25°C do not
introduce serious errors.
 G is usually subscripted to identify the quantity; for soil grains,
obtain Gs as

 The unit weight of water may be taken as 9.807 kN/m3, 62.4

pcf, or more commonly as 1kg/cm3 so that the factor yw drops
out of the calculations—as long as ys is also in units of g/cm3.
Void Ratio - Porosity
Water Content-Unit Weight
Exercise - Solution
Answer - Solution
Answer - Solution
 Example 3.1
 A sample of wet silty clay soil has a mass of

126 kg. The following data were obtained

fromlaboratory tests on the sample: Wet
density, pt = 2.1 g/cm3, G = 2.7, water
content, w - 15%.

 Determine (i) dry density, pd, (ii) porosity, (iii)

void ratio, and (iv) degree of saturation.
 End of Page; Thanks