WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

Relationship between:

unit weight

void ratio

porosity

moisture content

specific gravity

Soil Volume: volume of Soil solid (Vs) + water (Vw) + air (Va)

Weight of soil: weight of Soil solid(Ws) + water (Ww)

Relationship of volumes:
𝑉𝑣
𝑒=
𝑉𝑠
𝑉𝑣
𝑛=
𝑉
𝑉𝑤
𝑆=
𝑉𝑣
𝑉𝑣
𝑉𝑣 𝑉𝑣 𝑉 𝑛
𝑒= = = 𝑉 =
𝑉𝑠 𝑉−𝑉𝑣 1− 𝑣 1−𝑛
𝑉

𝑒
𝑛=
1+𝑒
Relationship of weights
𝑊𝑤
𝜔=
𝑊𝑠

𝑊𝑠 [1 + (𝑊𝑤 )]
𝑊 𝑊𝑠 + 𝑊𝑤 𝑊𝑠 𝑊 (1 + 𝜔)
𝛾= = = = 𝑠
𝑉 𝑉 𝑉 𝑉

𝑊𝑠
𝛾𝑑 =
𝑉
𝛾
𝛾𝑑 =
1+𝜔

𝑊𝑠
𝛾𝑠 =
𝑉𝑠

𝑚
𝜌=
𝑉

𝑚𝑠
𝜌𝑑 =
𝑉

Unit weight-void ratio-moisture content-specific gravity relationships

Problem: A sample of soil has a solid volume of 1 unit (𝑉𝑠 = 1) and has a void ratio of e, draw the soil
phase diagram and show the weight and volume of solid, water, air and the total volume of sample in
terms of e. Determine the unit weight of the sample and dry soil (oven dried). Determine the saturation
degree.

𝑊𝑠 = 𝛾𝑠 = 𝐺𝑠 𝛾 (note: specific gravity is the ratio of unit weight of solid to unit weight of water)
𝑤

𝑊𝑤 = 𝜔 𝑊𝑠 = 𝜔 𝐺𝑠 𝛾
𝑤

𝑉𝑣 = e 𝑉𝑠 = 𝑒

𝑊 𝑊𝑠 + 𝑊𝑤 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 + 𝜔𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 + 𝜔)𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤
𝛾= = = =
𝑉 𝑉 1+𝑒 1+𝑒
 𝑊𝑠 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤
𝛾𝑑 = =
𝑉 1+𝑒
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 = 𝜔 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 𝑉𝜔 = 𝜔 𝐺𝑠
Determining saturation degree:

𝑆𝑒= 𝜔 𝐺𝑠

𝑆 = 𝜔 𝐺𝑠 /𝑒

𝑊= 𝑊𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑠 + 𝑊𝑤 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 + 𝑒 𝛾𝑤 (𝐺𝑠 + 𝑒) 𝛾𝑤
𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = = = =
𝑉 𝑉 1+𝑒 1+𝑒

(1 + 𝜔)𝐺𝑠 𝜌𝑤
𝜌=
1+𝑒

𝐺𝑠 𝜌 𝑤
𝜌𝑑 =
1+𝑒

(𝐺𝑠 +𝑒) 𝜌𝑤
𝜌𝑠𝑎𝑡 = (note: e is the volume of water when the soil is saturated and e𝜌𝜔 Is its weight.
1+𝑒

Soil Type 𝑒 Moisture content, 𝛾𝑑

saturated state (kN/m3)
Loos uniform sand 0.8 30% 14.5
Dense uniform 0.45 16% 18
sand
Stiff clay 0.6 21% 17
Soft clay 0.9-1.4 30-50% 11.5-14.5
Soft organic clay 2.5-3.2 90-120% 6-8
UNIT WEIGHT, PORISITY, MOISTURE CONTENT
Assume porosity is given, it is n
𝑉𝑣
𝑛=
𝑉
𝑉𝑣 = 𝑛 𝑉
𝑉𝑠 = 𝑉 − 𝑛 𝑉 = (1 − 𝑛)𝑉
Make it easier by assuming V=1:
𝑉𝑣 = 𝑛
𝑉𝑠 = 1 − 𝑛
𝑊𝑠 = 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 − 𝑛)
𝑊𝜔 = 𝜔 𝑊𝑠 = 𝜔 𝐺𝑠 𝛾 (1 − 𝑛)
𝑤

Noticing V=1

𝑊𝑠
𝛾𝑑 = = 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 − 𝑛)
𝑉
𝑊 𝑊𝑠 +𝑊𝑤
𝛾 = = = 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 − 𝑛) (1 + 𝜔) we call it the moist unit weight
𝑉 𝑉

𝑊𝑊𝑠 + 𝑊𝑤
𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = = = 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 − 𝑛) + 𝑛 𝛾𝑤 = 𝛾𝑤 [(1 − 𝑛)𝐺𝑠 + 𝑛]
𝑉 𝑉
𝑊𝑤 𝑛 𝛾𝑤 𝑛
𝜔𝑠𝑎𝑡 = = =
𝑊𝑠 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 − 𝑛) (1 − 𝑛)𝐺𝑠
EXAMPLE:
Given a sample of soil:
𝑉 =7.08× 10-3 m3

𝑚 =13.95 kg

𝜔 =9.8%

Gs=2.66

Find: 𝜌 , 𝜌𝑑 , 𝑒, 𝑛, 𝑆 𝑖𝑛 %, 𝑉𝜔

Solution:
𝜌:

𝐺𝑠 𝜌𝑤
𝜌𝑑 =
1+𝑒
EXAMPLE:
Given a sample of soil:
𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 =0.3 m3

𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 =5500 N

𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 =4911 N

specific gravity of soil=2.74

Find: the moisture content, moist unit weight, void ratio, porosity, degree of saturation, and draw and
complete a phase diagram for the soil.

Solution: