CHAPTER 1

VOID RATIO -ratio between the volumes of voids to the volume of solids of a soil mass
POROSITY -ratio between the volumes of voids to the total volume of a soil mass
WATER CONTENT -ratio of the weight of water to the weight of the solid particles
DEGREE OF SATURATION
-ratio of the volume of water to the volume of voids
CRITICAL HYDRAULIC GRADIENT
-hydraulic gradient that brings a soil mass to static liquefaction
RELATIVE DENSITY -expresses the state of compactness of a natural granular soil
2.32 -specific gravity of gypsum volcanic ash
2.56 -specific gravity of orthoclase
2.61 -specific gravity of kaolinite
2.67 -specific gravity of quartz
2.72 -specific gravity of calcite
2.87 -specific gravity of dolomite
5.17 -specific gravity of magnetite
CONSISTENCY -term used to describe the degree of firmness of a soil
SHRINKAGE LIMIT -gradual increase of water content may transform a dry soil from solid to semisolid...
PLASTIC LIMIT -to plastic state
LIQUID LIMIT -into a liquid state
FALL CONE TEST -offers more accurate method of determining both liquid and plastic limit, cone used
4 -how many tests at different MC is required to achieve
CUP METHOD -to determine LL; the device used in this method consists brass cup and hard rubber
BRASS CUP -it is dropped onto the base by a cam operated by a crank
ALGEBRAIC SCALE -vertical axis
LOGARITHMIC SCALE -horizontal axis
FLOW CURVE -graph is approximated as a straight line called
FLOW INDEX -slope of the flow line
ONE-POINT METHOD -use when only one test is run for a soil; US corps of Engineers in 1949
SHRINKAGE LIMIT -moisture content, at which volume of the soil ceases to change
LIQUIDITY INDEX -defines the relative consistency of a cohesive soil in the natural state
ATTERBERG’S LIMITS -also used to assess the potential swell of a given soil

CHAPTER 2

TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION
-the soils are named after their principal components, such as sandy clay, silty clay
TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION
-the one developed by the USDA
2.0 to 0.05mm dia. -the method above is based the ff limits of particle size; sand size
0.05 to 0.002mm dia -silt size
Smaller than 0.002mm in dia.
-clay size
UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM (USCS) -this system is classified into two broad categories
COARSE- -gravelly and sandy in nature with less than 50% passing through the No. 200 sieve
GRAINED SOIL -G or S
FINE-GRAINED -with 50% or more passing through the No. 200 sieve
SOIL -C, O, Pt
SIEVE ANALYSIS -consist of shaking the soil sample through a set of sieves generally 200mm diameter
SIEVE ANALYSIS -soil is oven-dried and then all lumps must be broken, then soil is shaken thru a stack
PARTICLE SIZE
DISTRIBUTION CURVE -can be used to determine the four parameters of a given soil
EFFECTIVE SIZE -the diameter in the curve corresponding to 10% finer
-good measure to estimate the hydraulic conductivity and drainage thru soil
 D60 -diameter corresponding to 60% finer
UNIFORMITY COEFFICIENT
-what parameter?
D30 -diameter corresponding to 30% finer
COEFFICIENT OF CURVATURE
-what parameter?
D75 -diameter corresponding to 75% finer
D25 -diameter corresponding to 25% finer
SORTING COEFFICIENT
-what parameter?
PARTICLE SIZE
DISTRIBUTION CURVE -shows not only the range of particle sizes present in soil, but also the type of
distribution of various-size particles
POORLY GRADED SOIL -most of the soil grains are the same size
WELL GRADED -particle sizes are distributed over a wide range
SOIL -Cu greater than about 4 for gravels and 6 for sands, and Cc bet. 1 and 3 for G and S.
GAP GRADED SOIL -characterized by two or more humps in the grading curve
D50 -average grain size of soil
AASHTO CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM -soil is classified into 7 major groups
A-1, A-2, A-3 -where granular materials of which 35% or less pass No. 200 sieve
A-4 to A-7 -soils of which more than 35% pass through the No. 200 sieve
GROUP INDEX -to evaluate the quality of a soil, one must also incorporate a number called
-it is written in parenthesis
0 (zero) -if the computed GI is negative, GI is equal to what?
WHOLE NUMBER -GI is rounded off to the nearest…
0 (zero) -GI of soils belong to groups A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, A-2-5, and A-3 is always
A-2-6, A-2-7 -we use partial GI in computing for GI of soils…

CHAPTER 4

EFFECTIVE STRESS -stress resulting from particle-to-particle contact of soil

INTERGRANULAR STRESS
-it is also called as
PORE WATER PRESSURE -stress induced by water-pressures
NEUTRAL STRESS
-also called as
TOTAL STRESS -sum of effective and neutral stress
CAPILLARY RISE -after certain period, water rises and the variation of the degree of saturation with the
height of the soil column caused by….

CHAPTER 5

BOUSSINESQ EQUATIONS
-equations for the stresses due to concentrated load
NEWMARK (1942) -he presented an influence chart based on Boussinesq’s theory that can be used to
determine vertical pressure at any point