Soil Mechanics [CV-231]

BSc Civil Engineering – 4th Semester

Lecture # 3

by
Dr. Muhammad Irfan
CEO, Birudo Engineers
Visiting Faculty, FAST NUCES Lahore
Email: mirfan1@msn.com
Lecture Handouts: https://bit.ly/30VJDtB
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SOIL AS A THREE PHASE SYSTEM
S: Solid Soil particle
W: Liquid Water
A: Air Air

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 SOIL AS A THREE PHASE SYSTEM

V = Total volume of soil mass

Vs = Volume of soil solids
Vw = Volume of water
Va = Volume of air
Vv = Va+Vw = Volume of voids

W = Total weight of soil

Ws = Weight of soil solids
Wa = Weight of air ≈ 0
Ww = Weight of water

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 VOLUMETRIC RATIOS

1) Void ratio, e

Volume of voids (Vv )

e (0 < e < ∞)
Volume of solids (Vs )

For sands, 0.5 ≤ e ≤ 0.9

For clays, 0.7 ≤ e ≤ 1.5 (or even higher)

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 VOLUMETRIC RATIOS
2) Porosity, n
Volume of voids (Vv )
n
Total volume of soil sample (Vt ) (0 < n < 1)
Typical range, 9-70%
For sands, 25% ≤ n ≤ 50%

3) Air Porosity, na’

Volume of air (Va )
na ' 
Total volume of soil sample (Vt ) (0 < na’ < 1)
4) Percentage Air Voids, na
Volume of air (Va )
na 
Volume of voids (Vv ) (0 < na < 1)
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 VOLUMETRIC RATIOS
5) Degree of Saturation/ Saturation Ratio, S (or Sr)
Volume of voids containing water (Vw )
S 100%
Total volume of voids (Vv ) (0 < Sr < 100%)

6) Volumetric Water Content, θv

Volume of voids containing water (Vw )
v 
Total volume of soil sample (Vt ) (0 < θv < 1)

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 WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS

1) Moisture/Water Content/Gravimetric Water Content, w

Weight of water (Ww )

w 100% (0 < w < ∞)
Weight of soil solids (Ws )

Typical value for Sands >> 10-30%

For clays >> 10% or higher typically

For some organic soils w>100%, even up to 500%.

For quick clays w is typically > 100%.

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 WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
2) Unit Weight, γ
Weight Mg
  (kN m 3 ; lb ft 3 ; g cm3 )
Volume V

3) Dry Unit Weight, γd

Weight of soil solids Ws
d  
Total Volume Vt
4) Bulk Unit Weight, γb
Total Weight W
b  
Total Volume Vt

5) Unit Weight of Soil Solids, γs

Weight of soil soilds Ws
s  
Volume of soil soilds Vs
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 WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
6) Saturated Unit Weight, γsat
Weight of saturated soil
 sat 
Total Volume

7) Submerged Unit Weight, γsub (or γbouyant)

 sub   sat   w

γw = 9.81 kN/m3 → 1 g/cm3

= 1000 kg/m3
= 62.4 lb/ft3 Archimede’s principle:
The buoyant force on a body immersed
in a fluid is equal to the weight of the
fluid displaced by that object.

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 SPECIFIC GRAVITY (Gs)

Unit weight of soil soilds s

Gs  
Unit weight of equal volume of water at 4C  w

Generally for soils 2.6 ≤ Gs ≤ 2.7

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WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIPS
n
e 1 w 
1 n  b  Gs . w  
 1 e   w Gs  1
e  sub 
n 1  e
1 e
Gs . w
b d 
d  1 e  v  n.S r
1 w
w.Gs
n  1
Ws

1 e
Gs . w V S
V .Gs . w
 sat 
Gs  e  w
e 1
Ws 1 e
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REFERENCE MATERIAL
An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering (2nd Edition)
By R. D. Holtz, W. D. Kovacs and T. C. Sheahan
Chapter #2

Geotechnical Engineering – Principles and Practices - (2nd Edition)

By Donald P. Coduto, M. R. Yeung and W. A. Kitch
Chapter #4

Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics

By M. S. Qureshi & Aziz Akbar
Chapter #3
CONCLUDED
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