ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF ROCKS AND SOILS

Definitions of Soil and Rock

Soil: a natural aggregate of mineral grains, with or without organic constituents,

that can be separated by gentle mechanical means such as agitation in
water.

Rock: a natural aggregate of mineral grains connected by strong and

permanent cohesive forces.

The study of the Engineering Properties of Rocks is termed Rock Mechanics ,

soil as Soil Mechanics

1
The Atterberg limits are a
basic measure of the critical
water contents of a fine-grained
soil: its shrinkage limit, plastic
limit, and liquid limit.
Atterberg Limits and Indices
liquid limit (LL),
The plastic limit of a soil is the moisture content, expressed
as a percentage of the weight of the oven-drysoil, at the
boundary between the plastic and semisolid states of
consistency.

Plastic Limit (PL),

Shrinkage limit. The shrinkage limit (SL) is the water
content where further loss of moisture will not result in any
more volume reduction.

Shrinkage Limit (SL)

PERMEABILITY TEST

CONSTANT HEAD
Phase Relationship of soil

or
AASHTO SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
 UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) is a soil

classification system used in engineering and geology to
describe the texture and grain size of a soil.
Fig: Unified soil classification system for coarse grained soils
Fig: Unified soil classification system for fine grained soils
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
• TEXTURAL SOIL CLASSIFICATION
 Strength of Soil
• Laboratory tests
– Unconfined Compression Testing () - IS : 2720 (Part 10) – 1991
– Direct Shear Test () - IS : 2720 (Part 13) - 1986
Shear Strength Measurement

1

3=0

Direct Shear

Uniaxial Compression
Unconfined Compression Test
1
• For clay soils
• Cylindrical specimen
• No confining stresses
(i.e. 3 = 0) 3 = 0
• Axial stress = 1

Uniaxial Compression
Unconfined Compression Testing
Unconfined Compression Test
1

3=0

Uniaxial Compression
 Direct Shear Test
Shear strength of a soil is its maximum resistance to shearing stresses.
The shear strength is expressed as

Where c’ = effective cohesion, = effective stress, = effective angle of

shearing resistance.

The shear tests can be conducted under three different drainage

conditions.
Purpose:

This test is performed to determine the

consolidated-drained shear strength of a sandy
to silty soil.

The shear strength is needed for engineering

situations such as

 determining the stability of slopes or cuts,

 finding the bearing capacity for foundations,
and
calculating the pressure exerted by a soil on a
retaining wall.
Direct Shear Test
 Direct Shear Test

Apparatus Required
1. Direct shear box apparatus
2. Loading frame (motor attached).
3. Dial gauge.
4. Weight stone (g)
Grid plates Preparation of a Soil specimen

Preparation of a sand specimen

Components of the shear box
Pressure plate

Leveling the top Specimen preparation

surface of specimen completed
 Direct shear test
P Steel ball
Test procedure
Pressure plate

SOIL S
Specimen

Proving ring to
measure shear
force

Step 1: Apply a vertical load to the specimen and wait for consolidation
• specimens are tested at varying confining
stresses to determine the shear strength
parameters, the soil cohesion (c) and the
angle of internal friction, commonly known as
friction angle (Φ).
 Direct Shear Test :

Data Displacement rate: _______

Normal stress: 2.27 psi

Horizontal Horizontal Load Dial Horizontal Shear Stress

Dial Reading Displacement Reading Shear Force (psi)
(0.001 in) (in) (lb)

0 0 0 0 0

10 0.01 4 5.142 1.064

Direct Shear Test
Mohr Circle

Mohr Circle for more than one normal

stress