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(KULIAH KE-3)
British Soil classification system (BS), The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), and The Classification System proposed by AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials).
The British Classification System The British soil classification system is shown in Table 1.3 which is supplemented by plasticity chart shown in Figure 1.2. In this system, the soil is classified by
Introduction
group symbols composed of main term and qualifying term shown in Table 1.4 (BS 5930.81).
Table 1.3 British Soil Classification system (BS 5930.81) Soil groups
GRAVEL and SAND may be qualified sandy GRAVEL and gravelly SAND, etc. where appropriate Slightly silty or clayey GRAVEL more than 50% of coarse material is of sand size more than 50% of coarse material is of gravel SILTS and CLAYS Gravelly or sandy SANDS SANDS (finer than 2 mm) size (coarser than 2 mm) Silty GRAVEL Clayey GRAVEL Very silty GRAVEL Very clayey GRAVEL
less than 35% of the material is finer than 0.063 mmCOARSE SOILS
Slightly silty or clayey SAND Silty SAND Clayey SAND Very silty SAND Very clayey SAND
SW S SP S - M S - F S - C SM SF SC
GCE SW 0-5 S Pu S Pg SWM SPM 5 to 15 SWC SPC SML, etc 15 to 35 SCL SCI SCH SCV
MG FG CG
SCE MLG, etc CLG CIG CHG CVG CEG MLS, etc <35 35 50 50 70 70 90 >90
FINE SOILS
Sandy SILT
MS FS
Sandy CLAY
CS
CLS, etc
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M C
70 60
CE CV CH MV CI CL MH
ML
0 10 20 30 40
Plasticity Index ( PI )
50 40 30 20 10 0
"A" line ME
MI
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Liquid Limit ( L ) L
Symbol G S
Symbol W Pu
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F M C
Gap graded LL<35 35 < LL< 50 50 < LL < 70 70 < LL < 90 LL > 90 IP > 35 Organic
Pg L I H V E U O
PEAT
Pt
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A group symbol may consist of two to four letters for example SW means well graded sands SCL means very clayey sand or clay of low plasticity. The terms fine is used when it is not required to differentiate between Silts (M) and clay ( C). Any cobbles or boulder retained in 63 mm sieve are removed before the classification test but the percentage should be determined. The presence of these particles is indicated in the classification symbol joined by a plus sign, for example GW+Cb means well graded gravel with cobbles.
The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) The unified soil classification method is introduced by Casagrande (1942). This system is modified slightly and adopted by ASTM in 1985 (Table 1.5). The Unified Classification System categorize the soil into two main groups i.e.: Coarse grained soil (gravel and sand) where less than 50% of the total weight of the soil particles pass No 200 sieve. Other considerations in this classification are the percentage of coarse fraction (retained on No 40 sieve), coefficient of uniformity (Cu) and coefficient of curvature (Cc) for soil with less than 12 % passing No. 200 sieve. The symbol for this group is G for gravel or S for sand. The fine grained soil has more than 50 % of the total weight passing No. 200. sieve. The symbol for this group is M (mjla) for inorganic silt, C for inorganic clay, and O stands for silt and clay that contain organic materials. The symbol Pt is used for peat, muck and other highly organic soils. The fine grained soil is further classified based on its plasticity index (PI). Other symbols used in this classification system are W for well graded soil, P for poorly graded soil, L for low plasticity clay, and H for highly plastic clay. Symbols such as GM, SM, GC, SC are used for soil that contain both coarse and fine particles.
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Group Symbol
GW GP GM GC SW SP SM SC CL ML OL CH MH OH Pt
M
Organic
K,L,M,N
K,L,M,O
Inorganic Organic
K,L,M,P
K,L,M,O
Plasticity Index ( PI )
20 10
CL or ML
ML or OL
0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
CL or OL
30
CH or OH
Based on the material passing the 3-in (75-mm) sieve. B If field sample cointained cobbles or boulders, or both, add with cobbles or boulders, or both to group name. C Gravels with 5 to 12 % fines require dual symbols : GW-GM well graded gravel with silt GW-GC well graded gravel with clay GP-GM poorly graded gravel with silt 60 GP-GC poorly graded gravel with clay D Sands with 5 to 12 % fines require dual symbols : 50 SW-SM well graded gravel with silt SW-SC well graded gravel with clay SP-SM poorly graded gravel with silt 40 SP-SC poorly graded gravel with clay
Primarily organic matter, dark color, and organic color (D30 ) 2 E Cc = Cu = D60 / D10 D10 x D60
F
Peat
If soil contains 15% sand, add with sand to group name. G If fines classify as CL-ML, use symbol GC-GM, N PI 4 and plots on or above or SC-SM H A line. If fines are organic, add with organic fines to O PI < 4 and or plots below group name. I If soil contains 15% gravel, add with gravel A line. P PI plots on or above A line. to group name. J If Atterberg limits plot in hatched area, "U"is a Q PI plots below A line. soil line CL-ML, silty clay. K If soil contains 15 to 29 % plus No. 200, add with sand or with gravel, whichever is "A" line predominant. L If soil contains 30 % plus No. 200, predominantly sand, add sandy to group name.
If soil contains 30 % plus No. 200, predominantly gravel, add gravelly to group name.
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The AASHTO Soil Classification System Table 1.6 shows the classification system proposed by AASHTO which is widely used in the field of highway. This system classify the soil into seven main groups A-1 to A-7. Granular soil is classified into groups A-1, A-2 and A-3, where less than 35 % of soil particles passing a No 200 sieve. Clay and silts are categorized as group A-4 to A-7, where 35 % or more particle passing the sieve.
35 max
35 max
35 max
36 min
36 min
36 min
36 min
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40 41 40 41 40 41 40 Liquid limit 41 min max min max min max 10ma max 11 min min 10 10 11 11 10 11 Plasticity index 6 max NP max max min min max x min Usual types of Stone Fine significant fragments, Silty or clayey gravel and sand Silty soils Clayey soils constituent gravel and sand s materials sands General rating as subgrade Excellent to good Fair to poor Notes : Plasticity index for subgroup A-7-5<LL-30 Plasticity index for subgroup A - 7 - 6 > LL - 30
Introduction
AASHTO classification system uses grain size distribution obtained from the sieve analysis and soil plasticity obtained from Atterberg limit tests. The numbers are fit into Table 1.6 from the leftmost column to the right. Gravels are soil fraction that pass the sieve with diameter of 75 mm and retained in sieve No. 10 (2 mm diameter). Sand is the fraction of soil passing No. 10 (2 mm) sieve and retained in the sieve No. 200 (0.075 mm). Silts and clay passes No 200 sieve. Adjective silty is used when fine fraction of soil have a plasticity index of less than 10, while clayey is used when the fine fraction has an index plasticity of more than 10. If boulders (particle size more than 75 mm) is found in the soil, than they are not used in the analysis. Group index (GI) is used to evaluate the quality of the soil as sub-grade material. This can be estimated using the following equation: GI = (F 35)[0.2 + 0.005(LL 40)] + 0.01(F 15)(PI 10) (1.4)
where F is the percentage of particles passing sieve No. 200, LL is the liquid limit, and PI is the plasticity index. Good quality soil for sub grade has a low group index.
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Introduction