Geotechnical Engineering–I [CE-221]

BSc Civil Engineering – 4th Semester

Lecture # 11
27-Feb-2017

by
Dr. Muhammad Irfan
Assistant Professor
Civil Engg. Dept. – UET Lahore
Email: mirfan1@msn.com
Lecture Handouts: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/2016session-geotech-i
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SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Two commonly used classification system:

1. Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

 preferred by Geotechnical engineers

2. American Association of State Highway and

Transportation Officials (AASHTO) System
 preferred by Transportation engineers

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UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM (USCS) (ASTM D 2487)
→ Developed by Casagrande in 1942 for US Army
→ System based on particles < 3 in
→ Uses grain size distribution and plasticity of fines

Three major categories:

 coarse-grained soils
 fine-grained soils
 organic soils

P200 < 50% → Coarse grained soil

P200 ≥ 50% → Fine grained soil
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USCS – Naming Convention
Soil symbols:
G: Gravel Liquid limit symbols:
S: Sand H: High LL (LL>50)
M: Silt L: Low LL (LL<50) Well − graded soil
1 < C c < 3 and C u ≥ 4
C: Clay Gradation symbols:
(for gravels)
O: Organic W: Well-graded 1 < C c < 3 and C u ≥ 6
Pt: Peat P: Poorly-graded (for sands)

Group Symbol SM Silty sand

Group Name

SW Well-graded sand
SC Clayey sand
CL Low plasticity Clay
MH High Plastic silt
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 UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM (USCS)
Definition of Grain Size Use
Atterberg limits

Silt and
Gravel Sand
Clay
Boulders Cobbles
Coarse Fine Coarse Medium Fine

300 mm 75 mm No.4 No.200

4.75 mm 0.075
19 mm No.10 No.40 mm
2.0 mm 0.425 mm

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FLOW CHART –
Coarse and Fine Grained
Passing No. 200 sieve

> 50% passes < 50% passes

No. 200 sieve No. 200 sieve

Fine-grained Coarse-grained
soils soils
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Fine Grained Soils

FIG. 1 Flow chart for Classifying Fine-Grained Soil (50% or More Passes No. 200 Sieve)
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Fine Grained Organic Soils

Group Symbol Group Name

FIG. 1b Flow chart for Classifying Organic Fine-Grained Soil (50% or More Passes No. 200 Sieve)

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Coarse Grained Soils

FIG. 2 Flow chart for Classifying Coarse-Grained Soils (50% or More Retained on No. 200 Sieve) 9
 PLASTICITY/A-LINE CHART
Used for fine grained soils to determine whether silt (M) or clay (C)

Below A-line is silt – use symbol M LL > 50  High plasticity

Above A-line is clay – use symbol C LL< 50  Low plasticity

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 PRACTICE PROBLEM #1

Gravel
= 98-62
= 36%

Sand
= 62-8
= 54%

Fines
= 8%

Cu = 46.67
Soil A: D60 = 4.2 mm , D30 = 0.6 mm, D10 = 0.09 mm Cc = 0.95
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PRACTICE PROBLEM #1

SOIL-A
LL = 42
PL = 31
PI = 42-31 = 11

ML

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Gravel = 36%
Sand = 54% 13
Fines = 8%
Cu = 46.7
Cc = 0.95

LL = 42
PL = 31 ML
PI = 42-31 = 11

Soil A is classified as [SP-SM: Poorly-graded sand with silt and gravel]

FIG. 3 Flow chart for Classifying Coarse-Grained Soils (50% or More Retained on No. 200 Sieve)
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 PRACTICE PROBLEM #2

Soil A
Gravel = 100 – 80 = 20%
Sand = 80 – 52 = 28%
Fines = 52% > 50% => Fine-grained soil
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PRACTICE PROBLEM #2

LL = 30
PI = 8

CL

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 CL – Sandy lean clay with gravel

Soil A LL = 30
Gravel = 20% PI = 8
Sand = 28%
Fines = 52% CL
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PRACTICE PROBLEM #3
Classify the following soils Using Unified Classification
System.

Soil SIEVE LL PI
No. 4 No. 200
(Cumulative % passing)
A 92 48 30 10
B 99 76 60 32
C 80 35 24 2

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Coarse Grained Soils

FIG. 3 Flow chart for Classifying Coarse-Grained Soils (50% or More Retained on No. 200 Sieve) 18
 PLASTICITY/A-LINE CHART
Used for fine grained soils to determine whether silt (M) or clay (C)

Below A-line is silt – use symbol M LL > 50  High plasticity

Above A-line is clay – use symbol C LL< 50  Low plasticity

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SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Two commonly used classification system:

1. Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

 preferred by Geotechnical engineers

2. American Association of State Highway and

Transportation Officials (AASHTO) System
 preferred by Transportation engineers

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AASHTO Soil Classification
→ Classification procedure standardized by ASTM D3282 and
AASHTO M145.
→ Soil rating for subgrade construction.

→ Soils classified into 8 groups (+ several subgroups);

A-1 (best) to A-8 (worst).

→ Organic soils (peat and muck) assigned group A-8.

→ Required tests are sieve analysis and Atterberg limits.
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 AASHTO Soil Classification
(ASTM D3282; AASHTO M145)

A1 ~ A3 A4 ~ A7

Granular Materials Silt-clay Materials

≤ 35% pass No. 200 sieve > 35% pass No. 200 sieve

LL and PI separates silty materials from LL and PI separates silty materials from
clayey materials (only for A2 group) clayey materials

Example

A-1 (0)

Group Number Group Index

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 GROUP INDEX (GI)
GI → Empirical formula used to further evaluate soils within a
group (subgroups)

GI = (F200 − 35)[0.2 + 0.005(LL − 40 )] + 0.01(F200 − 15)(PI − 10 )

Partial GI determined from LL Partial GI determined from PI

where
F200 = percentage passing through the No. 200 sieve
LL = Liquid limit, and PI = Plasticity index

 GI is rounded off to nearest whole number

(e.g., GI = 3.4 is rounded off to 3; GI = 3.5 is rounded off to 4)

 GI = 0, if the equation yields negative value.

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GROUP INDEX (GI)
 Smaller the GI, better is the soil.
 GI of soils belonging to groups A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, A-
2-5, and A-3 is always zero.
 GI for soils belonging to groups A-2-6 and A-2-7 is
computed by using the partial formula.

GI = 0.01(F200 − 15)(PI − 10 )

 GI is shown in parentheses after the group symbol,

e.g. A-2-6(3), A-6(12), A-7-5(17)

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AASHTO Particle Size

Sand Silt and

Clay
Boulders Gravel
Coarse Fine

75 mm No.40
0.425 mm
No.10 No.200
2.0 mm 0.075
mm

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AASHTO vs USCS
Particle Size Comparison

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 AASHTO Classification Chart
(Coarse-grained Soils)

Note:
First group from the left to fit test data is the correct AASHTO classification.
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 AASHTO Classification Chart
(Fine-grained Soils)

Note:
First group from the left to fit test data is the correct AASHTO classification.
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AASHTO Plasticity Chart
Range of LL and PI for soils in groups A-2, A-4, A-5, A-6, and A-7.

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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 #3

Principles of Geotechnical Engineering – (7th Edition)

Braja M. Das
Chapter #5

CONCLUDED
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