Void Ratio For Granular Soils and Cohesive Soils:

 for cohesive soils, values of (e) mainly depend on pressure.

 for granular soils, (e) depends on :
• vibration,
• Range of particle sizes
Relative Density Dr: its use to describe density of natural granular soils.

𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝒆
𝑫𝒓 = . 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛 =Void ratio of soil in densest and loosest condition
e = natural or in situ void ratio
 The expression for relative density can also be written in terms of the dry unit
weights associated with the various voids ratios:

𝜸𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒙 (𝜸𝒅 − 𝜸𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏 )

𝑰𝒅 =
𝜸𝒅 (𝜸𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝜸𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏 )

 Soil Classification
 Learning Objectives;

 Understand what is soil compose of

 An understanding of sieve analysis

 Knowledge of Atterberg limits and their usage

 An ability to classify soils and determine their properties

  Why Soil Classification so Important?

 Because soils exhibiting approximately similar

behavior can be put together to form a particular
group.
 Because soils are used for Foundation support or Building
material.
 Sieve Analysis
 This continues to be used for many measurements because of
its simplicity, cheapness, and ease of interpretation.
 Methods may be simple shaking of the sample in sieves until
the amount retained becomes more or less constant.
 Alternatively, the sample may be washed through with a non-
reacting liquid (usually water) or blown through with an air
current.
• sieve analysis (dry mechanical analysis).
• hydrometer analysis (wet analysis).
• combined analysis.
 Unified Soil Classification System (source:wikipedia)

 The Unified Soil Classification System (or USCS)

is a soil classification system used in engineering and
geology disciplines to describe the texture and grain
size of a soil.
 The classification system can be applied to most
unconsolidated materials, and is represented by a
two-letter symbol.
1st and/or 2nd letters 2st etters

 G ---Gravel  P --- pooly graded

 S --- Sand  W --- well graded
 M --- Silt  H --- high plasticity
 C --- Clay  L --- low plasticity
 O --- Organic
 Coarse grained soils more than Fine and clay liquid limit < 50
50% retained on No. 200 sieve

 GW---well graded gravel, fine to coarse  ML---silt

gravel  CL---clay
 GP---pooly graded gravel  OL---organic silt, organic clay
 GM---silty gravel  MH--- silt of high plasticity,
 GC---clayey gravel elastic silt
 SW---well graded sand, fine to coarse  CH---clay of high plasticity, fat
sand clay
 SP---pooly-graded sand  OH---organic clay, organic silt
 SM---silty sand
 SC---clayey sand Highly organic soils-> Pt---peat
 Soil is classified based on:
• Grain size
• Gradation
• Soil Plasticity
 Information needed:
• Grain size distribution curve:
• cu, cc
• % Passing sieve No. 4 (4.75 mm)
• % Passing sieve No. 200 (0.075 mm)
• Atterberg limits:
• L.L.
• P.L.
• P.I.
 A well graded soil is a soil that contains particles of a wide range of sizes and
has a good representation of all sizes from the No. 4 to No. 200 sieves.
 A well graded gravel is classified as GW while a well graded sand is classified
as SW.
 A poorly graded soil is a soil that does not have a good representation of all
sizes of particles from the No. 4 to No. 200 sieve.
 Poorly graded soils are either uniformly graded or gap-graded.
 A poorly graded gravel is classified as GP while a poorly graded sand is
classified as SP.
 Poorly graded soils are more susceptible to soil liquefaction than well graded
soils.
 A gap-graded soil is a soil that has an excess or deficiency of certain particle sizes
or a soil that has at least one particle size missing.
 An example of a gap-graded soil is one in which sand of the No. 10 and No. 40
sizes are missing, and all the other sizes are present.

Uniformity Coefficient is a
shape parameter, which
describes the grading of
granular soils.

D60 ( D30 ) 2
Cu  , Cc 
D10 D60 .D10

D60,D10=soil diameter at which 60% and 10% of the soil weight is finer.
• smaller Cu means smaller range of particle size.
• Well graded sand(Cu > 6.0, Cc = 1‐3).
• Well graded gravel ( Cu > 4.0, cc = 1‐3).
• Uniformity Coefficient (Cu) and Coefficient of Graduation (Cc) or Curvature:
Example 2: Draw the grain size distribution curve for the data
shown below. What is the unified soil classification? Give the
group symbol and group.

Sieve No. Sieve Opening Weight Cumulative Weight % Finer*

(mm) Retained on Retained
Sieve (g)
4 4.75 0 0 100(->(500-0)/500*100)
10 2.00 25 25 (->0+25) 95(->(500-25)/500*100)
20 0.85 50 75 (->25+50) 85(->(500-75)/500*100)
40 0.43 75 150(->75+75) 70(->(500-150)/500*100)
60 0.25 100 250(->150+100) 50(->(500-250)/500*100)
100 0.15 200 450(->250+200) 10(->(500-450/500*100)
200 0.075 40 490(->450+40) 2(->(500-490)/500*100)
pan 0.00 10 500(->490+10) 0(->(500-500)/500*100)
Total 500

* % Finer = (Total - Cumulative Weight Retained)/Total

Example 3: A 20-foot thick reddish-brown layer of soil is
underlain by dense sand. It has a plastic limit of 30, a plasticity
index of 50 and a water content of 60%. What is the reddish
brown soil classified as? What are the strength characteristics
of this layer?
 GIVEN: PL = 30 PI = 50 wc = 60%
 STEP 1: Calculate Liquid Limit, LL:
 LL = PL + PI , LL = 80
 By the United Classification System, using LL = 80 and PI = 50 on the
Plasticity Chart, the reddish brown soil can be classified as CH, Inorganic
clay. Since the water content falls within the plastic range and relatively
close to liquid limit, the soil is suitable to support low rise structure only.
Example 4: What is the unified soil classification of the soil described below?

Sieve Analysis, % Atterberg Limit GIVEN: LL = 38, PL =29

finer
STEP 1:
No.1 No.4 No.20 Liquid Plastic
Calculate Plasticity Index, PI:
0 0 0 Limit limit PI = LL − PL= 9
98 80 66 38 29 From the Atterberg Chart, using LL = 38 and
PI = 9 => ML or OL

STEP 2: Soil group symbol is ML or OL ; Depending on

80% passing #40 and 55% passing #200 odor and color, if no odor, then the soil is
sieve => fine grained soils inorganic silt (ML), if the soil has an odor and
liquid limit = 38% <50% a dark color, then the soil is organic silt or
organic silty clay (OL)
Example 5:
Example 6: