Lecture 4

Soil Composition & Phase Relationships

Recap: What makes Geotechnical Engineering special?
1. Soils and rocks are heterogeneous material (different grain size, shape,
mineralogy, density)
2. Spatial variability encountered in the field
3. Limited information from site investigation
4. Soil properties may vary due to environmental factors:
a) State of stress
b) Stress & strain history - hysteresis
c) Composition and Water content
5. Complex behavior
a) Non-linear stress-strain relationships
b) Plastic behavior is common
c) Anisotropic deformation – depends on direction
Learning objectives
• Explain how soil composition affects engineering behavior

• Identify the different phases in soil composition

• Use a phase diagram to perform basic volume-weight calculations

• Use and convert phase relationships (example)

• Practice!
Soil Composition
• Soil can contain all three phases:
• Solid
• Liquid
• Gas

• The liquid and gaseous phases are contained in the voids

(pores) between the soil particles.

• These phases often interact, and these interactions have

important effects on the soil engineering behavior.
Phase Diagram
Air

Water

Solids

Phase diagram represents the cumulative volume of each different phase

Weight-Volume Relationships (Index Properties)
Geotechnical engineers have defined several weight-volume parameters based on
the weights (mass) and volume of the three phases Index Properties

Index Properties
Air
- Water content
- Void ratio, Porosity
- Density, Unit weight Water

- Specific gravity
- Relative density
- Degree of saturation Solids

- Particle size distribution

- Atterberg limits
Mass-Weight-Volume Relationships
Water content (or moisture content) ,
The ratio of the weight (or mass) of water to the weight (or mass) of solids

𝑾𝒘 𝑴𝒘
𝝎= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝒐𝒓 𝝎= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑾𝒔 𝑴𝒔

Usual values of water content for soils in the field: 3%<ω<70%

(0.03<ω<0.7)

(1) (2)
Weight Volume Air Air
Wa=0 Air Va
Vv Water
Ww Water 𝝎𝟏 < 𝝎𝟐
Water Vw
Wt Vt
Solids Solids
Ws Solids Vs
More dry More wet
Water content (or moisture content) ,
Can be easily measured in the laboratory (ASTM D2216)

1- Obtain a small can to hold the soil sample and find the can’s mass Mc
2-Place the soil sample into the can and find the total mass M1
3-Place the can of soil into an oven (~110 °C), leave it for 12-16 hours
4- Determine the mass of the dry sample and can, M2
5- Compute the moisture content of soil:

𝑴𝒘 𝑴𝟏 𝑴𝟐
𝝎= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎% = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑴𝒔 𝑴𝟐 𝑴𝒄

𝑴𝒘 = 𝑴𝟏 − 𝑴𝟐
𝑴𝒔 = 𝑴𝟐 − 𝑴𝒄
 Void ratio & Porosity
Weight Volume Question:
Wa=0 Air Va What is the maximum and minimum
Vv
Ww Water Vw theoretical value for porosity & void ratio?
Wt Vt

Ws Solids Vs
0<n<100% 0<e<

𝑽𝒗 𝒏
Void ratio: 𝒆= Ratio between void volume and solid volume 𝒆=
𝑽𝒔 𝟏−𝒏

𝒆
𝑽𝒗 Ratio between void volume and total volume 𝒏=
Porosity: 𝒏=
𝑽𝒕
𝟏+𝒆
Density & Unit weight
𝒎
Density is mass per unit volume of a material: 𝝆 =
𝑽
Can be easily measured in the laboratory by measuring the Volume and mass of soil

Air Air
Water
Water

Solids Solids Solids

𝒎𝒔 𝒎𝒔 + 𝒎𝒘 𝒎𝒔 + 𝒎 𝒘
𝝆𝒅 = 𝝆𝒘𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝝆𝒃 = 𝝆𝒔𝒂𝒕 =
𝑽 𝑽 𝑽
Dry density Wet or Bulk density Saturated density

Unit weight: 𝜸 = 𝝆𝒈
g=acceleration due to gravity = 9.81 m/s2 or 32.2 ft/s2
Density & Unit Weight
Weight per unit volume of a material

Air Air
Water
Water

Solids Solids Solids

𝑾𝒔 𝑾𝒔 + 𝑾𝒘 𝑾𝒔 + 𝑾𝒘
𝜸𝒅 = 𝜸𝒘𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝜸𝒃 = 𝜸𝒔𝒂𝒕 =
𝑽 𝑽 𝑽
Dry unit weight Wet or Bulk unit weight Saturated unit weight

Unit weight of water : 𝜸𝒘 : 9.81 kN/m3 or 62.4 lb/ft3

*subscripts: w stands for water (not wet)
Unit Weight, γ:
Specific Gravity of Solids: Gs
The specific gravity of any material is the ratio of its density to that of water

𝒔 𝒔 𝒔
𝒔
𝒘 𝒔 𝒘 𝒔 𝒘

Most soils have 2.6 < Gs < 2.8

Depends on mineralogical composition

Quartz Sand: Gs=2.65~2.67

Clay: Gs=2.70~2.75

Mineral ore: Gs=3~5

Organic soil: Gs 1.5~2.5
Specific Gravity of Solids: Gs
Relative density, Dr
Used in coarse grained soils

𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒙
𝒓
𝒎𝒂𝒙 𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒙 𝒎𝒊𝒏
Relative density, Dr
Degree of Saturation, S
The percentage of the voids that are filled with water

Air Air
Water
𝑽𝒘 Water
𝑺= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑽𝒗
Solids Solids Solids

Dry Wet Saturated

Weight Volume
Wa=0 Air Va S=0 0<S<100% S=100%
Vv
Ww Water Vw
Wt Vt

Ws Solids Vs
Summary of phase relationships
𝑉 𝑒
𝑊 𝑛=
𝜔= 𝑒= 1+𝑒
𝑊 𝑉

S. e = ω. G
𝑉 𝑉
𝑆= 𝑛= 𝜔
𝑉 𝑉 𝛾 = 1+ 𝛾
( )
100
𝑊 𝑊
𝛾= 𝛾 =
𝑉 𝑉
𝑊
𝐺 =
𝑉𝛾
Examples
Examples
Examples
Homework assignment 1
Ch.4 # 5, 8, and 11

Due date: Wednesday September 7 at 12:20 pm!