Soil Mechanics

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Lecturer
Muhammad Shakil
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Engineering Properties of Soil

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1- Phase Relationships
Definitions, terminology and Examples
 Phase Relationships
 Soil is generally a three phase material Vw
 Contains solid particles and voids
 Voids can contain liquid and gas phases
 Phase Relationships

(a) Soil element in natural state; (b) Three phases of the

soil element
 Phase Relationships
 Units
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o Length: cm, m

o Mass kg or g (1 tonne = 103 kg)

o Density g / cm3 or kg/m3

o Weight kilonewtons (kN)

o Stress kilopascals (kPa) 1 kPa= 1 kN/m2

o Unit weight = kN/m3

o Density of water, w = 1 g/cm3

o Water content = %

o Degree of saturation = %
 Volume Relationships
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• Voids ratio, e, or porosity, n,

and the degree of saturation, S.
are important parameters to
define phase relationships.
• The volumes are not as
important as the ratios among
the volumes of different phases.
  Weight Relationships
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• The unit weight can also be expressed in terms of weight of soil

solids, moisture content (𝜔), and total volume (V). we have
 Weight Relationships
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 The unit weights of soil in N/m3 can be obtained from densities

in kg/m3 as
 Relationships among unit weight, void ratio, water content and specific
gravity
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 Relationships among unit weight, void ratio, water content and specific
gravity
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If the volume of soil solids is 1, then the volume of voids is numerically equal to 1,
then the weights of soil solids and water can be given as:
 Relationships among unit weight, void ratio, water content and specific
gravity
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 The weights of soil solids and water can be given as:

Note: This is a very useful equation for solving problems involving

three-phase relationships.
 Relationships among unit weight, void ratio, moisture content and
specific gravity
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• If the soil sample is saturated— that is, the void spaces are
completely filled with water , the relationship for saturated
unit weight can be derived in a similar manner:
 Relationships among unit weight, void ratio, moisture content and
specific gravity
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Table: Relationship among void ratio, moisture content,

and dry unit weight for some typical soils in a natural state
 Relationships among unit weight, porosity and moisture content
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 Consider a soil that has a total volume equal to one, as shown in Figure.

Soil element with total volume

equal to 1
  Relationships among unit weight, porosity and moisture content
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 If V is equal to 1, then Vv is equal to n, so Vs = 1 - n. The weight of
soil solids (Ws) and the weight of water (Ww) can then be
expressed as follows:

So, the dry unit weight equals

• The moist unit weight equals

 Relationships among unit weight, porosity and moisture content
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• Figure shows a soil sample that
is saturated and has V =1.
According to this Fig.,

• The moisture content of a saturated soil sample can be

expressed as:
 Specific Gravity
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• This is defined by

 Gs  2.65 for most soils

 Gs is useful because it enables the volume of solid particles to be

calculated from mass or weight
  Specific Gravity
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Specific gravity of various important minerals

Uses:
Porosity and void ratio?
Unit weight and soil particle
determination?
Consolidation studies of clays?
Zero void calculations and others
Average value: 2.50 to 2.70
 Unit weight relations:
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 The bulk unit weight:

 The saturated unit weight (S = 1):

 The dry unit weight (S = 0):

• Example:
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CONCULDED