GEOTECHNICAL

ENGINEERING

Engr. Ivan Karl B. Camacho

 Weight –
Volume
Relationship
in Soils
 In general, any mass of soil consists of SOLID
PARTICLES with VOIDS in between.

Weight – SOIL SOLIDS are small grains of different

Volume minerals;
Relationship in
Soils VOIDS are the spaces or gaps in the soil
particles that can be filled either by water, air
or both water and air.
 SOIL SOLIDS

Weight –
Volume
Relationship in
Soils

WATER

AIR
 To develop the weight-
volume relationships,
Weight – we must separate the
Volume three phases (solid,
Relationship in water, and air) as
shown in the figure
Soils (PHASE DIAGRAM).
 The TOTAL VOLUME,
V of the soil mass
Weight – consists of:
Volume Volume of SOIL
Relationship in SOLIDS, Vs
Soils Volume of WATER, Vw
Volume of AIR, Va
 Total Volume, V

Weight – V = V s + Vw + Va
Volume From definition:
Relationship in Volume of Voids, Vv
Soils
Vv = V w + V a
 The TOTAL WEIGHT,
W of the soil mass
Weight – consists of:
Volume Weight of SOIL
Relationship in SOLIDS, Ws
Soils Weight of WATER, Ww
Weight of AIR, Wa
 Weight – Weight of Air is
Volume negligible
Relationship in W = W s + Ww
Soils
 There are three volumetric ratios that are
very useful in geotechnical engineering. Thes
ratios can be determined directly from the
phase diagram.
Weight –
Volume 1. VOID RATIO, e
Relationship in 2. POROSITY, n
Soils 3. DEGREE OF SATURATION, S
 1. VOID RATIO, e

Void Ratio is defined as the ratio of Volume of

Weight – Voids and Volume of Solids
Volume
Relationship in 𝑽 𝒗
𝒆=
Soils 𝑽 𝒔
 2. POROSITY, n

Porosity is defined as the ratio of Volume of

Weight – Voids and Total Volume of Soil Sample
Volume
Relationship in 𝑽 𝒗
𝒏=
Soils 𝑽
 2. POROSITY, n

Porosity can be computed using the Void

Weight – Ratio:
Volume
Relationship in 𝒏=
𝒆
Soils 𝟏 +𝒆
 3. DEGREE OF SATURATION, S

The degree of Saturation tells us what

Weight – percentage of the total volume of voids
Volume contains water.
Relationship in 𝑽𝒘
𝑺= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 %
Soils 𝑽𝒗

S = 0% for dry soil

S = 100% for saturated soil
 In the weight side of phase diagram, there is
a mass ratio that is the most important thing
that we need to know about the soil. That is:

Weight –
Volume 1. MOISTURE CONTENT, w
Relationship in
Soils
 1. MOISTURE CONTENT, w
Moisture Content or water content is the
ratio of the mass of water with respect to
Weight – mass of soil solids.
Volume
Relationship in 𝑾𝒘
𝒘= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 %
Soils 𝑾𝒔
 One of the important properties of soil is Unit
Weight. It is used in many application in
geotechnical engineering and soil mechanics.
Unit Weight is defined as:
Weight –
Volume
Relationship in
Soils 𝑾
𝜸 =
𝑽
W – weight of soil
V – volume of soil
 There are many types of unit weight of soil
used in the field based on the weight of soil.
These are:

Weight –
Volume 1. Dry Unit Weight
Relationship in 2. Moist Unit Weight
3. Saturated Unit Weight
Soils
 1. Dry Unit Weight, γdry
Weight of Dry Soil per unit volume of soil
𝑾 𝒔
𝜸 𝒅𝒓𝒚 =
Weight – 𝑽
Volume 2. Moist Unit Weight, γmoist
Relationship in
Weight of Moist Soil per unit volume of soil
Soils
𝑾 𝑾 𝒔 +𝑾 𝒘
𝜸 𝒎𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒕 = =
𝑽 𝑽
 3. Saturated Unit Weight, γsat
Weight of Saturated Soil per unit volume of
soil 𝑾 𝒔 +𝑾 𝒘
𝑾
Weight – 𝜸 𝒔𝒂𝒕 = =
𝑽 𝑽
Volume
Relationship in
Soils
 Specific Gravity of Soil Solids, Gs
Another important properties of soil that is
used in classification and in soil mechanics is
Weight – the specific gravity of soil solids, Gs.
Volume 𝜸
Relationship in 𝑮𝒔=
𝒔 𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒔
𝜸 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓
Soils
 Example Problem:

A sample of wet soil in a drying dish has a

Weight – mass of 462 g. After drying in an oven at
Volume 110oC overnight, the sample and dish have a
mass of 364g. The mass of the dish alone is 39
Relationship in grams. Total Volume of Soil is 275 cc.
Soils Determine all weight-volume relationship of
the soil.