CE 412

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1: SOIL

MECHANICS

LAB 4: DETERMINATION OF DRY UNIT

WEIGHT, VOID RATIO AND POROSITY

GROUP 6
MEMBERS: ARABE, MARINELLE B.

LAYOSA, ERWIN U.

MAGNO, PAUL ARVIN M.

INTRODUCTION

The density or unit weight of soil must be determined whether it exists naturally in the ground
or compacted in a fill. Density of the soil is essential because density may be used to evaluate the
relative strength of the soil. On the other hand, the unit weight may be used to record results of field
compaction to meet necessary requirements. The most important use of the in-place soil unit weight
test is in credentials of the field compaction. Soils are often tested in the laboratory for maximum
moisture content and maximum dry unit weight because these are important characteristics when
using the soil as fill material. The maximum dry unit weight is used in indicating design shear
strength, resistance to future settlement, and permeability characteristics.
Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together
support life. It is considered to be a three-phased material composed of solid, water and air. Soil void
ratio is the ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of solids where the void ratio is a dimensionless
quantity in material science which is also characterizes the compactness of soil and can be determined
only from undisturbed samples. Void ratio is usually used in parallel with soil porosity or void
fraction which is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids to
the total volume of the soil. Porosity is the quality of being porous or full of tiny holes and being to
absorb fluids.