Soil Mechanics I

CE-225
Origin of soil and grain size
Clay soils

Dr. Zafar Mahmood

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE)
School of Civil & Env. Engineering (SCEE)
1
 Clay soils 2

• Soils that consist of silt, sand, or gravel are primarily

the result of physical and mild chemical processes
and retain much of the chemical structure of their
parent rocks.
• Clay soils experience extensive chemical weathering
and are changed into a new material quite different
from the parent rocks.
• As a result, the engineering properties and behavior
of clays quite different from other soils.
 Chemistry basics 3

• Ion: charged particle

• Cation: positively charged particle

• Anion: negatively charged particle

• Hydroxyl: OH

• Isomorphous substitution: substituting an ion of

similar size and generally of lesser charge
 Clay – general information 4

• Occur as tiny platy crystals

• Result is plate-like layers

• This explains why clay is so

slick/slippery

• Negatively charged

• Attract positively charged ions (cations)

• Absorb or lose water at the surface or into interlayer

spaces (shrink and swell)
 The silica tetrahedron unit (SiO4) 5

Silica, Si4+
forms a tetrahedron
with four O2–
Has a net –ive charge of 4–
 Tetrahedral sheets 6

• Formed by sharing
of O2- between
units
• Corner O2- shared,
creating the sheet
• Net –ive charge at
top of tetrahedral
sheets!

Sharing
 Aluminium octahedral unit (AlO6) 7

• Al3+ with six O2-

• Al3+ shares +0.5 of its
charge with each of the
surrounding oxygen
ions, leaving each
oxygen ion with a
negative 1.5 charge.
 Octahedral sheets 8

• Octahedral sheets
formed by each
oxygen being
bonded to two Al
ions
• Each O ion left with
one –ive charge

Sharing
 Clay mineral structure 9

• Ions – molecules – sheets – layers – crystals

• Sheet upon sheet = layer
• Layer upon layer = crystal

• Layering silica and alumina sheets together results in

different clays

• Ratios are: 1 silica : 1 alumina

2 silica : 1 alumina
 1:1 clay - Kaolinite 10

• 1 silica tetrahedron : 1
alumina octahedron

• Shared oxygen bind sheets

into layers

• Strong bonds make

kaolinite a very stable clay

• Kaolinite does not expand

appreciably when wetted.
Kaolinite 11
Kaolinite sheets on Quartz crystal 12
13
 2:1 Clays - Montmorillonite 14

• 2 silica sheets : 1 alumina sheet.

Water and/or ions between
layers
• The bonding between layers is
very weak, so large quantities of
water can easily enter and
separate them, thus causing
the clay to swell.

• Trouble: distortion in structure, highways etc. built on such

soils.
• Usefulness: expansive behavior and low permeability is useful
for sealing borings or providing groundwater barriers (e.g.
bentonite).
Montmorillonite 15
 2:1 Clays - Illite 16

• 2 silica sheets : 1 alumina

sheet.

• Contains potassium ions

between each layers.

• The chemical bond is

stronger than those in
montmorillonite but weaker
than kaolinite.

• Illite expands slightly when

wetted.
Illite 17
Properties of clay minerals 18

When mixed with a little

water,clays become
“plastic”
i.e. are able to be
moulded

SO, moisture affects clay

soil engineering
properties
 Properties of clay minerals 19

• Can absorb or lose water between the silicate sheets

– negative charge attracts H2O

• When water is absorbed, clays may EXPAND.

– Water in spaces between stacked layers
– Montmorillonite most expandable
– Kaolinite the least
 Clay Minerals – capacity for water 20

• Kaolinite (China clay)

Water absorption, approximately 90%

• Montmorillonite (Bentonite, Smectite)

Water absorption, approximately 300 - 700%

• Illite
Intermediate water absorption
 Specific surface 21

Type of soil Specific Surface

(m2/g)

Kaolin 80

Glauconite 400

Black earth 440 – 990

Bentonite 1300 – 1390

 The influence of charges 22

• “The greater the surface area, the greater the

charge”
– the greater the affinity for water
– some water strongly adsorbed in a very thin layer
– other water “free” in the soil “pores”

• Electrostatic forces give rise to COHESION in

soils with clay minerals
 Particle interactions 23

Coarse-grained/ Fine-grained/
Non-cohesive soils Cohesive soils

Sands, Gravels Silts, Clays

Strength derived from Strength derived from

friction and interlocking physio-chemical interactions
 24

Book: An Introduction to Geotechnical Engg. (HOLTZ & KOVACS)

Page 26