CVE 131

Engr. Raquel O. Masalig

 18𝜇𝑧
𝐷=
(𝐺𝑠 − 1)𝜌𝑤 𝑔𝑡𝐷

𝐷 − diameter D (cm) of the particle at time 𝑡𝐷

𝜇 − 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (0.01𝑔/ 𝑐𝑚. 𝑠 𝑎𝑡20°𝐶
𝐺𝑠 - specific gravity
𝜌𝑤 - density of water
𝑧 - depth
Calculation of Particle Diameter from Hydrometer Test Data
At a certain stage in a hydrometer test, the vertical distance moved by soil particles of a certain size over a
period of 1 minute is 0.8 cm. The temperature measured is 208C. If the specific gravity of the soil particles is
2.7, calculate the diameter of the particles using Stokes’s law. Are these silt or clay particles?
.
Solution:

Calculate the particle diameter using Stokes’s law.

18𝜇𝑧
𝐷= 0.01𝑔
(𝐺𝑠 − 1)𝜌𝑤 𝑔𝑡𝐷 18 × 𝑐𝑚. 𝑠 × 0.08𝑐𝑚
𝐷= 𝑔 𝑐𝑚
(2.7 − 1) × 1 3 981 2 × 60𝑠
𝑐𝑚 𝑠
𝜇 = 0.01𝑔/ 𝑐𝑚. 𝑠 𝑎𝑡20°𝐶
1𝑔
𝜌𝑤 =
𝑐𝑚3
𝑔 = 981𝑐𝑚/𝑠 2 𝐷 = 0.0012𝑐𝑚
𝐺𝑠 = 2.7
𝐷 = 0.012𝑐𝑚
𝑧 = 0.8cm
Are these silt or clay particles?
𝐷 = 0.012𝑐𝑚

Silt particles have sizes between 0.075 mm and 0.005 mm.

Therefore, the soil particles belong to the silt fraction of the soil.
Partially Saturated Fully Saturated Dry Soil
Idealized
 Volumes Weights

𝑊𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 Moisture content, w =
Void Ratio, e = 𝑊𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑
𝑉𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
Unit weight, 𝛾 = 𝑉
𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
Porosity, n = 𝑀𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 Mass Density, 𝜌=
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝑉𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
Degree of Saturation, S =
𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 Specific gravity, 𝐺𝑠 =
 =𝑒

𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 1 + 𝑒
𝑆 ∙ 𝑒 ∙ 𝛾𝑤 = 𝑤𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 =

𝑺𝒆 = 𝒘𝑮𝒔 =1 𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
Void Ratio, e =
𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 = 𝑉𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝒆
Porosity, n =
𝟏+𝒆

𝑊𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 + 𝑊𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 + 𝑆𝑒𝛾𝑤 𝐺𝑠 + 𝑆𝑒

𝛾𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 =𝛾= = = 𝛾
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 1+𝑒 1+𝑒 𝑤

𝑤
𝛾𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 = 1+ 𝛾
100 𝑑
 Fully Saturated Dry Soil
S=1 S=0

𝐺𝑠 + 𝑆𝑒 𝐺𝑠 + 𝑒 𝐺𝑠
𝛾𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 = 𝛾 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 𝛾 𝛾𝑑 = 𝛾
1+𝑒 𝑤 1+𝑒 𝑤 1+𝑒 𝑤

𝑤
𝛾𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡 = 1+ 𝛾 𝛾 ′ = 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤
100 𝑑
𝐺𝑠 − 1
𝛾′ = 𝛾
1+𝑒 𝑤
In its natural state, a moist soil has a volume of 0.33 ft3 and weighs 39.93 lb. The oven dry weight of the soil is 34.54.
if the Gs = 2.67, calculate the following:
a. Moisture content 𝑾𝒔 34.54𝑙𝑏 𝑾𝒘 5.39𝑙𝑏
3
b. Moist unit weight 𝑽𝒔 = = = 0.207𝑓𝑡 𝑽𝒘 = = = 0.086𝑓𝑡 3
𝑮𝒔 𝜸𝒘 2.67(62.4𝑝𝑐𝑓) 𝜸𝒘 62.4𝑝𝑐𝑓
c. Dry unit weight
d. Void ration
e. Porosity
f. Degree of saturation = 0.037𝑓𝑡 3
=0
0.123𝑓𝑡 3 =

= 39.93 − 34.54 = 5.39𝑙𝑏

= 0.086𝑓𝑡 3
0.33𝑓𝑡 3 = = 39.93𝑙𝑏

= 0.207𝑓𝑡 3 = 34.54𝑙𝑏
a. Moisture content,% d. Void ratio
𝑊𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 5.39 𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 0.123
𝑤= = = 0.156 = 15.6% 𝑒= = = 0.59
𝑊𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 34.54𝑙𝑏 𝑉𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 0.207

a. Moist unit weight e. Porosity

𝑒 0.59
𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 39.93𝑙𝑏 𝑛= = = 0.37
𝛾𝑚 = = = 121 𝑙𝑏ൗ 1 + 𝑒 1 + 0.59
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 0.33𝑓𝑡 3 𝑓𝑡 3

a. Dry unit weight f. Degree of saturation,%

𝑊𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 34.54𝑙𝑏
𝛾𝑑 = = = 104 𝑙𝑏ൗ 3 𝑤𝐺𝑠 (0.156)(2.67)
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 0.33𝑓𝑡 3 𝑓𝑡 𝑆= = = 0.706 = 70.6%
𝑒 0.59

𝛾 121𝑝𝑐𝑓
𝛾𝑑 = = = 104 𝑙𝑏ൗ𝑓𝑡 3
1 + 𝑤 1 + 0.156
A container of volume 2.83 3 10-3 m3 weighs 9.8 N. Dry sand was poured to fill the container. The container and
the sand weigh 52.3 N. Calculate (a) the void ratio and (b) the porosity. Describe the condition of the soil (loose or
dense). Assume Gs = 2.7.

Weight of sand and container

Weight of container
Weight of dry sand
Gs =
Relative density (Dr) is an index that quantifies the degree of packing between the loosest (Dr=0%)
and densest (Dr=100%) possible state of coarse-grained soils as determined by experiments.

loosest possible soil configuration dense possible soil configuration

Dr = 0% Dr = 100%
e = emax e = emin
Relative density (Dr) is an index that quantifies the degree of packing between the loosest (D r=0%)
and densest (Dr=0%) possible state of coarse-grained soils as determined by experiments.

𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒 𝛾𝑑 − 𝛾𝑑(𝑚𝑖𝑛) 𝛾𝑑(𝑚𝑎𝑥)

𝐷𝑟 = = ∙
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝛾𝑑(𝑚𝑎𝑥) − 𝛾𝑑(𝑚𝑖𝑛) 𝛾𝑑

❑ Relative density (Dr) is only applicable to coarse-grained soils.

❑ A lot of correlations can be made with Dr including settlement, shear strength, permeability etc.
 Answer the following problems.

1. The wet mass of a sample of saturated soil is 520 grams. The dry mass, after oven-drying, is 400 grams.
Determine the (a) water content, (b) void ratio, (c) saturated unit weight, and (d) effective unit weight.

2. A soil sample has a bulk unit weight of 19.8 kN/m3 at a water content of 10%. Determine the void ratio,
percentage air in the voids (air voids), and the degree of saturation of this sample.

3. A wet sand sample has a volume of 4.64 3 1024 m3 and weighs 8 N. After oven-drying, the weight reduces to 7.5
N. Calculate the water content, void ratio, and degree of saturation.

4. A particle size analysis on a soil sample yields the following data:

Sieve no. 3/8” 4 10 20 60 200 Pan
Sieve size (mm) 9.53 4.75 2.0 0.84 0.25 0.074 —
Mass retained (grams) 0 310 580 380 260 680 210
(a) Plot the particle size distribution curve.
(b) Determine the amount of coarse-grained and fine-grained soils in the sample.