COURSE OUTLINE OF CE 425 – M3

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

1. REVIEW OF THE BASIC FORMULAS OF SOIL

MECHANICS
2. SHEAR STRENGTH OF SOIL
3. BEARING CAPACITY OF SOIL
A) SHALLOW FOUNDATION
B) DEEP FOUNDATION
4. LATERAL PRESSURES
A) RETAINING WALLS
B) SHEET PILES
C) BRACED CUTS
5. SLOPE STABILITY
REVIEW OF BASIC FORMULAS
IN
SOIL MECHANICS
Assuming that the weight of the air is negligible, we can give the
total weight of the sample as
Void ratio (e) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to
the volume of solids, or

Porosity (n) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the

total volume, or
 The degree of saturation (S) is defined as the ratio of the volume
of water to the volume of voids. It is commonly expressed as a
percentage.

The relationship between void ratio and porosity derived:

Expressing porosity in terms of void ratio:

The common terms used for weight relationships are:

Moisture content (w) is also referred to as water content and is

defined as the ratio of the weight of water to the weight of solids
in a given volume of soil:
 Unit weight () is the weight of soil per unit volume.

The unit weight, , expressed in terms of the weight of soil solids

(Ws), moisture content (w), and the total volume (V)

For soil engineers, unit weight is defined as the moist unit weight.
 Dry unit weight (d) is the weight per unit volume of soil,
excluding water.

The relationship of unit weight, dry unit weight, and moisture

content
Density equations:

and

where:  = density of soil (kg/m3)

d = dry density of soil (kg/m3)
M= total mass of the soil sample (kg)
MS = mass of soil solids in the sample (kg)

The unit of total volume, V, is m3.

In , if S = 1
The term relative density is commonly used to indicate the
in situ denseness or looseness of granular soil. It is defined
as
Table Qualitative Description of Granular Soil Deposits
Relative density in terms of porosity, n

From relations of e and n

Relative density in terms of unit weight dry, d

Relative density in terms of density, d

 PLASTICITY
AND
STRUCTURE OF SOIL
 Parameters known as the Atterberg limits:
 Shrinkage limit – the moisture content, in percent, at which
the transition from solid to semisolid state takes place.
 Plastic limit – the moisture content at the point of transition
from semisolid to plastic state.
 Liquid limit – the moisture content at the point of transition
from plastic to liquid state.

A liquid limit device is used in determining the liquid limit. It

consist of a brass cup and a hard rubber base. The brass cup
can be dropped onto the base by a cam operated by a crank.
Figure Liquid limit test: (c) soil pat before test; (d) soil pat after test
The moisture content corresponding to N = 25, determined
from The flow curve, gives the liquid limit of the soil. The
slope of The line is defined as the flow index
Flow index may be written as:

where: IF = flow index

w1 = moisture content of soil, in percent,
corresponding to N1 blows
w2 = moisture content corresponding to N2
blows

Note: w2 and w1 are exchanged to yield a positive value even though

the slope of the flow line is negative. So, equation of the flow
line can be written in a general form as

where: C = a constant
Liquid limit in terms of an empirical equation as proposed
By the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1949)

Where:
N = number of blows in the liquid limit device for a
12.7 mm (0.5 in.) groove closure
wN = corresponding moisture content
tan  = 0.121 (but note that tan  is not equal to 0.121
for all soils
The plastic limit is defined as the moisture content in percent,
at which the soil crumbles, when rolled into threads of 4.2
mm (1/8 in.) in diameter. The plastic limit is the lower limit of
the plastic stage of soil.
 The plasticity index (PI) is the difference between the liquid
Limit and the plastic limit of a soil, or
Burmister (1949) classified the plasticity index in a qualita-
tive manner as follows:
- Defined as the moisture content, in percent, at which the volume
of the soil mass stops to change
 as moisture is gradually lost from the soil, it shrinks.
 per continuing loss of moisture, a stage of equilibrium is
reached, that is, more loss of moisture will result in no
further volume change
- Shrinkage limit tests (ASTM Test Designation D-427) are
performed in the laboratory with a porcelain dish:
 Diameter = 44 mm (1.75 in)
 Height = 12.7 mm (1/2 inch)
 Inside of dish is coated with petroleum jelly and then filled
completely with wet soil. Excess soil is struck off.
 The mass of the wet soil inside the dish is recorded then
the pat of soil is oven-dried
  Volume of the oven-dried soil pat is determined by the
displacement of mercury (hazardous)
 ASTM use the method of dipping the oven-dried soil in a
melted pot of wax
 Cool wax-coated soil
 Volume is then determined by submerging the coated soil in
water.

- Shrinkage Limit can be determined by the expression:

SL = wi(%) - w(%)
where:
wi = initial moisture content when the soil is placed
in the shrinkage limit dish
w = change in moisture content (that is, between
the initial moisture content and the moisture
content at the shrinkage limit)
At the same time

where:
M1 = mass of the wet soil pat in the dish at the beginning
of the test (g)
M2 = mass of the dry soil pat (g)
Also

where:
Vi = initial volume of the wet soil pat (that is, inside volume
of the dish, cm3)
Vf = volume of the oven-dried soil pat (cm3)
w = density of water (g/cm3)

Combining the three equations

Another parameter that can be determined from the shrinkage limit
test is
Shrinkage ratio – the ratio of the volume change of soil as a
percentage of the dry volume to the corresponding change in
moisture content

Expressed as

where:
V = change in volume
M = corresponding change in the mass of moisture
It can also be shown that

Where:
Gs = specific gravity of soil solids
Liquidity Index – the relative consistency of a cohesive soil in the natural
state and is expressed mathematically as a ratio

where:
w = in situ moisture content of the soil

The in situ moisture content for a sensitive clay may be greater than the
liquid limit, making it

LI > 1

These soils, when remolded, can be transformed into a viscous form to

flow like a liquid
 Soil deposits that are heavily overconsolidated may have a natural
moisture content less than the plastic limit, expressed like

LI < 0
Another index that is commonly used for engineering purposes is the
consistency index (CI) which is defined as

Where:
w = in situ moisture content.

If w is equal to the liquid limit, the consistency index is zero.

Again if w = PI, then CI = 1
Activity, is the slope of the line correlating PI and % finer than 2 m.
Activity is expressed as

where:
A = activity
Activity is used as an index for identifying the swelling
potential of clay soils

Note: percentage of clay-size fraction = % finer than 2 m by weight

Redefinition of Activity

where: C’ is a constant for a given soil

Figure: Simplified relationship between plasticity index and percentage of clay-
size fraction by weight (Seed, Woodward, and Lundgren, with permission from
ASCE)
- pertains to the relationship of the plasticity index to the liquid limit of
a wide variety of natural soils
- Important feature of the chart:
> The empirical A-line that is given by the equation
PI = 0.73(LL – 20)

An A-line separates the inorganic clays from the inorganic silts.

Inorganic clay values lie above the A-line, and values for inorganic
silts lie below the A-line…
Figure: Plasticity chart
* U-line is above the A-line.
* U-line is approximately the upper limit of the relationship of the
plasticity index to the liquid limit for any known soil.
* Equation of the U-line can be given as
CLASSIFICATION
OF SOILS
 Textural Classification
Soil texture (in general sense), refers to its
surface appearance
It is influenced by size of the individual particle
present
In the textural classification system, the soils
are named after their principal components,
such as sandy clay, silty clay, etc.
 • Sand size: 2.0 to 0.05 mm in diameter
• Silt size: 0.05 to 0.002 mm in diameter
• Clay size: smaller than 0.002 mm in
diameter

Example:
The particle-size distribution of soil A shows
30% sand; 40% silt; 30% clay-size particles.
Classify the soil using the USDA.
 Clay

Silt
Sand
 AASHTO Classification System
It is developed in 1929 as the Public Road Administration
classification system.
2. 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.
3. If cobbles and boulders (size larger than 75 mm) are encoun-
tered, they are excluded from the portion of the soil sample
from which classification is made. However, the percentage
of such material is recorded.
 Unified Soil Classification System

- original form was proposed by Casagrande

in 1942 for airfield construction works by
Army Corps of Engineers during WW II
- Revised in 1952 with the cooperation of
the US Bureau of Reclamation

- Widely used by the engineers at present

(ASTM Test Designation D-2487)
The system classifies soils into two broad
categories:

1. Coarse-grained soils that are gravelly and

sandy in nature with less than 50% passing
through No. 200 sieve.
- Group symbols start with prefixes of :
G or S
where:
G - stands for gravel or gravelly soil
S – for sand or sandy soil
2. Fine-grained soils are with 50% or more
passing through the No. 200 sieve.
- Group symbols start with prefixes of :
M or C or O
where:
M - stands for inorganic silt
C – inorganic clay
O – for organic silts and clay
and Pt - used for peat, muck, & other
highly organic soil
a Gravels with 5 to 12% fine require dual symbols: GW-GM,
GW-GC, GP-M, GP-GC.
b Sands with 5 to 12% fines require dual symbols: SW-SM,
SW-SC, SP-SM, SP-SC.

d If 4 ≤ PI ≤ 7 and plots in the hatched area in Figure 5.3, use dual

symbol GC-GM or SC-SM.
e If 4 ≤ PI ≤ 7 and plots in the hatched area in Figure 5.3, use dual
symbol CL-ML.
 For proper classification according to this system
some of all of the following information must be
known:
1. Percent gravel – that is, the fraction passing
the 76.2-mm (3”) sieve and retained on the
No. 4 sieve (4.75-mm opening)
2. Percent of sand – that is, the fraction passing
the No. 4 sieve (4.75-mm opening and
retained on the No. 200 sieve (0.075-mm
opening)
3. Percent of silt and clay – that is, the fraction
finer than the No. 200 sieve (0.075-mm
opening)
4. Uniformity coefficient (Cu) and the coefficient
of gradation (Cc)
5. Liquid limit and plasticity index of the portion
of soil passing the No. 40 sieve
OR

Fine fraction = F200

Coarse fraction = R200
Gravel fraction = R4
Sand fraction = R200 – R4
SOIL COMPACTION
Figure Standard
Proctor test equip
ment: (a) mold
For each test, the moisture content of the compacted soil is determined
in the laboratory where with the known moisture content, the dry unit
weight can be calculated as

where:
w(%) = percentage of moisture content

Values of d determined from the above equation can be plotted against

the corresponding moisture contents to obtain the maximum dry unit
weight and the optimum moisture content for the soil.
For a given moisture content w and degree of saturation S, the dry
unit weight of compaction can be calculated by

where:
Gs = specific gravity of soil solids
d = unit weight of water
e = void ratio
And

or

So,
For a given moisture content, the theoretical maximum dry unit
weight is obtained when no air is in the void spaces – that is, when
the degree of saturation equals 100%. Therefore, the maximum dry
unit weight at a given moisture content with zero air voids can be
obtained by substituting S = 1 to the previous equation

to

where:
zav = zero-air-void unit weight
The compaction energy per unit volume used for the standard Proctor
test can be given as

In SI units
In English units

If the compaction effort per unit volume of soil is changed, the

Moisture-unit weight curve also changes.
 Useful standard procedures for determining the field unit weight
of compaction:
1. Sand cone method
2. Rubber balloon method
3. Nuclear method

Sand cone device components:

a) Glass or plastic jar with (Ottawa sand inside the jar)
b) Metal cone (attached on top of jar)
Dry weight of the soil that can be determined by the method:

where:
W2 = weight of moist soil excavated from the hole
W3 = dry weight of the soil
W1 = combined weight of jar, the cone, and the sand
filling the jar.
w = moisture content
W4 = combined weight of the jar, the cone, and the
remaining sand in the jar
W5 = weight of sand to fill the hole and cone
 Relationships of the weights:

W5 = W1 – W4

Volume of the excavated hole can be determined by:

where:
Wc = weight of sand to fill the cone only
d(sand) = dry unit weight of Ottawa sand used

Values of Wc and d(sand) are determined from the calibra-

tion done in the laboratory.
Figure. Glass jar filled with Ottawa Figure. Field unit weight determined by sand
Sand and with sand cone attached. Cone method.
The dry unit weight of compaction made in the field can be
by:
 The grain-size distribution of the backfill material is an important
factor that controls the rate of densification.
 Brown has defined a quantity called the suitability number for
rating the backfill as

Where:
D10, D20, and D50 = the diameters (in mm) through
which, respectively, 10, 20, and
50 % of the material passes
 The smaller the value of SN, the more desirable the backfill
material.

 The backfill rating system proposed by Brown:

 Dynamic compaction is a technique that involves the process
of primarily dropping a heavy weight repeatedly on the ground
at regular intervals.
 The weight of the hammer ranges from 80 to 360 kN (18 to
80 kip)
 Height of the hammer drop varies between 7.5 and 30.5 m
(25 & 100 ft)
 The stress waves generated by the hammer drops aid in the
densification.
 The three factors where degree of compaction at a given site
is dependent upon:
1. Weight of hammer
2. Height of hammer drop
3. Spacing of locations at which the hammer is dropped.
The significant depth of influence for compaction can be determined
using:
PERMEABILITY
Soils are permeable due to the existence of interconnected voids through
which water can flow from points of high energy to points of low energy.

Importance of the study of permeability of soil:

- Necessary for estimating the quantity of underground seepage under
various hydraulic conditions;
- For investigating problems involving the pumping of water for under-
ground construction; and
- For making stability analyses of earth dams and earth-retaining
structures that are subject to seepage forces.
Kinetic Energy
- the ability of the fluid mass to do work by virtue of its
velocity
1 2
1 W 2
KE = MV = V
2 2 g

KE V2
Kinetic Head or Velocity Head = =
W 2g

where:
M = mass of the fluid
V = velocity of flow
W = weight of the fluid
Bernoulli’s equation applied to porous soil medium, the term containing
the velocity head could be neglected because the seepage velocity is
small. The expression becomes
Where :
i = hydraulic gradient
L = distance between points A and B – that is, the
length of flow over which the loss of head occurred
1856, the year Darcy published an equation for the discharge velocity
of water through saturated soils from the expression

Resulting into:

where:
v = discharge velocity, which is the quantity of water flowing
in unit time through a unit gross cross-sectional area of
soil at right angles to the direction of flow
k = hydraulic conductivity (otherwise known as the coefficient
of permeability)
Combined,
Finally,
The empirical relationship of sand with a small uniformity coefficient
for hydraulic conductivity as proposed by Hazen

The equation is based from Hazen’s observations of loose, clean, filter

sands. Presence of silt and clay may change the hydraulic conductivity
of sand.
Equations and relationships of characteristics and properties were made
for different types of soils. Hydraulic conductivity and void ratio were
also given relations expressed as

A recent empirical relationship for k in conjunction with the above

Relations by Chapius is
 In stratified soil,
hydraulic conductivity
in a given direction may
change from layer to
layer.
 An equivalent equation of hydraulic conductivity can be computed to
simplify calculations.
For horizontal direction of flow in every layer

For stratified soil with vertical direction of flow in every layer

 In the field, the average hydraulic conductivity of a soil deposit in the
direction of flow can be determined by performing pumping tests from
wells.

For an unconfined aquifer

Integrating and solving for the permeability coefficient

Which can also be written as

For a confined aquifer

The average hydraulic conductivity for a confined

aquifer can also be determined by conducting a pumping
test from a well with a perforated casing that penetrates
the full depth of the aquifer and by observing the piezo-
metric level in a number of observation wells at various
radial distances. Pumping is continued at a uniform rate
q until steady state is reached.

(Figure is on the next slide)

Because water can enter the test well only from the aquifer of
thickness H, the steady state of discharge is expressed as
For an unconfined aquifer

Where:
K = hydraulic conductivity
Q = pumping discharge

For a confined aquifer

Where:
K = hydraulic conductivity
Q = pumping discharge
H = depth of confined aquifer
SEEPAGE
 In seepage, isotropic soils are considered. Isotropic soils
exhibit properties with the same values when measured along
the axes in all directions.
A flow net is a graphical representation of the flow of water
from upstream to downstream side. It shows the path of water
as it travels through the soil.
It consists two orthogonal families of curves: the flow lines
and the equipotential lines.

1. A flow line is a line along which a water particle will travel

from upstream to the downstream side in the permeable
soil medium.
2. An equipotential line is a line along which the potential head
at all point is equal. If piezometers are placed at different
points along an equipotential line, the water level will rise to
the same elevation in all of them.
Figure 8.3b Completed flow net..
In any flow net, the strip between any two adjacent flow lines is called a
flow channel.
The rate of seepage through the flow channel is:

h1, h2, h3, …hn – piezometric levels corresponding to

equipotential lines

flow elements (approximate squares)

From Darcy’s law, the flow rate = kiA and can be written as

And it shows, if flow elements are approximate squares, the drop in the
piezometric levels between two adjacent equipotential lines is the same
and is called the potential drop.

and

where: H = head difference between the upstream and downstream

side
Nd = number of potential drops
From the above figure, for any flow channel, H = H1 – H2 and Nd = 6
If Number of flow channels is Nf, then total rate of flow through all the
channels per unit length can be expressed as
For rectangular flow elements:
Condition: the width-to-length ratios for all elements are the same.
Mathematical expression becomes
and
Figure 8.12a A weir.
 Figure 8.12a Uplift force under a hydraulic structure.

The uplift force per unit length measured along the axis of the weir
can be calculated by finding the area of the pressure diagram.
hydraulic gradient
Rate of seepage per
unit length of the
dam
Solving for L using the rate of seepage, q = kiA (unit length of the dam)
through the section bf

equating q to q