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GEOTECHNICS I
Chapter 1:
Soil Classification
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.1 Soil Texture, Grain Shape, Fabric and
Mineralogy
1.2 Grain Size Distribution
1.3 Atterberg's Limits and Indices
1.4 Soil Classification Systems Such as
USCS, BS and AASHTO
Bil.
Bil. Transporting medium & deposit
location
1. Transported by running water, e.g.
rivers and streams
2. Transported by wind
3. Transported by Glaciers
4. Deposited in Lakes
5. Deposited in sea
Name
Alluvial
Aeoline
Glacial
Lacustrine
Marine
Activity of clay
Clay absorbs water to its surface
The water absorbed by a soil provides
some estimate of the amount of clay
present in that soil
Skempton proposed a relationship
between the plasticity index and the
percentage (by weight) of clay sizes finer
than 2m
2mm , which is known as activity of
clay, A
Ip
% finer than 2 mm
Activity, A
Classification
A<0.7
Inactive clay
0.7<A<1.20
Normal clay
A>1.2
Active clay
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Effective Size
The diameter D10 is called the effective size of
the soil
Established by Allen Hazen (1893) in connection
with his work on soil filters
Is the diameter of an artificial sphere that will
approximately produce the same effect of an
irregular shaped particle
The higher the D10 value, the coarser the soil
and the better the drainage characteristics
17
18
In Short
Real soils consist of a mixture of particle sizes
The selection of a soil for a particular use may
depend on the assortment of particles it contains
Two coefficients have been defined to provide
guidance on distinguishing soils based on the
distribution of the particles
That are UC and CC
19
18mz
(Gs - 1)g w t D
20
Increasing density
Hydrometer
Soil
suspension
21
W LL(%)
Sand
WPL(%)
Ip(%)
Non plastic
Silt
30 40
20 25
10 15
Clay
40 150
25 50
15 - 100
22
S. No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Plasticity Index
0
1-5
5-10
1010-20
2020-40
Greater than 40
State of Plastic
NonNon-plastic
Slight
Low
Medium
High
Very high
23
24
Casagrande
Method (ASTM
D4318-93
and BS1377:
Part 2:
1990:4.5)
(Continued)
25
26
27
Plastic Limit
After removing particles larger than the 0.4 mm (No 40
sieve size), a specimen of soil about 10 cm3 in size is
moulded to the consistency of putty.
If too dry, water must be added and if sticky, the
specimen should be spread out in a thin layer and
allowed to lose some moisture by evaporation.
Then the specimen is rolled out by hand on a smooth
surface or between the palms into a thread about 3 mm
in diameter.
The thread is then folded and re-rolled repeatedly.
During this manipulation, the moisture content is
gradually reduced and the specimen stiffens, finally
loses its plasticity and crumbles when the plastic limit is
reached.
28
Example 2:
The results of limit tests on soil A are:
Liquid limit:
Cone
Penetration
15.5
18.0
19.4
22.2
24.9
Water
content (%)
39.3
40.8
42.1
44.6
45.6
Example 2 (continued):
29
Example 2 (continued):
For soil A, the liquid limit is obtained by plotting
cone penetration against water content.
Answer: The percentage water content, to the
nearest integer, corresponding to a penetration of
20mm is the liquid limit and is 42
Example 3:
Based on the results of limit test on soil A from
Example 2, given that:
Plastic limit:
Water
content (%)
23.9
24.3
30
31
Unified Soil
Classification
system
(USCS)
32
33
Unified Soil
Classification
flowchart for
coarsecoarse-grained
soils
34
Unified Soil
Classification
flowchart for
finefine-grained
soils
Yes
The Unified
Classification System
(Reprinted from
Cernica,
Cernica, 1995)
35
Unified
Classification
System
(Based on
ASTMASTM-2487)
36
Organic soils
and silts
U-line, defines the upper limit of the correlation between plasticity index and liquid limit
37
(c)American
Association of State
Highway and
Transportation
Officials (AASHTO)
classification system
38
ii.
Plasticity
The term silty is applied when the fine fractions of the soil have a
plasticity index of 10 or less. The term clayey is applied when the
fine fractions have a plasticity index of 11 or more
39
40
Subgroup AA-1b
Subgroup AA-3
Fine beach sand or fine desert loess sand without silty or clay fines or with a
very small amount of nonplastic silt
Include material similar to that described under subgrades A-2-4 and AA-2-5,
except that a fine portion contains plastic clay having the characteristics
characteristics of the
A-6 or AA-7 group
Subgroup AA-4
The typical materials of this group are the nonplastic or moderately plastic silty
soils
Subgroup AA-5
Subgroup AA-6
Usually a plastic clay having 75% or more passing the 0.075 mm sieve
sieve
Subgroup AA-7-5
Subgroup AA-7-6
41
42
43
44
End of Chapter 1
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