Phase Relations

Prof. Mustafa Aytekin

 Objectives
To compute the masses (or weights) and volumes of the three different
phases.

Va air Ma=0
Notation Vv
M = mass or weight Vw water Mw
V = volume Vt Mt
s = soil grains
w = water
a = air soil
Vs Ms
v = voids
t = total

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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Water content (w) is a measure of the water present in the soil.

M
w= X 100%
W Vv
Va air Ma=0

MS Vw water Mw
Vt Mt
Expressed as percentage.

Range = 0 – 100+%. Vs soil Ms

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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Void ratio (e) is a measure of the voids’ volume.

e= VV Vv
Va air Ma=0

VS Vw water Mw
Vt Mt

Vs soil Ms

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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Porosity (n) is also a measure of the void volume, expressed
as a percentage.

n= VV X 100% Vv
Va air Ma=0

VT Vw water Mw
Vt Mt

Theoretical range: 0 – 100% Vs soil Ms

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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Degree of saturation (S) is the percentage of
the void volume filled by water.

S= VW X 100% Vv
Va air Ma=0

VV Vw water Mw
Vt Mt
Range: 0 – 100%
Vs soil Ms
Dry
Saturated
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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Percentage of Air Voids (na)
Percentage of air voids in the soil is obtained by dividing the volume of
air to the total volume. This is expressed in percentage. When the soil
is fully saturated, the percentage of air voids is equal to zero.

Air Content
Air content is the ratio of the volume of air to the volume of voids. Air
content is mostly represented in percentage. The value of air content
is equal to zero when the soil is fully saturated

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 A Simple Example

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 Definitions
Bulk density (m) is the density of the soil in
the current state.

m = M T Va air Ma=0
VT Vv
Vw water Mw
Units: t/m3, g/ml, kg/m3 Vt Mt

Vs soil Ms

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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Saturated density (sat) is the density of the
soil when the voids are filled with water.

Submerged density (’) is the effective density

of the soil when it is submerged.
’ = sat - w

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 Definitions
Dry density (d) is the density of the soil in dry
state.

d = M S Va air Ma=0
VT Vv
Vw water Mw
Units: t/m3, g/ml, kg/m3 Vt Mt

Vs soil Ms

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Phase Diagram
 Definitions
Bulk, saturated, dry and submerged unit weights ()
are defined in a similar manner.
Here, use weight (kN) instead of mass (kg).
 = g

N/m3 kg/m3 m/s2

Specific gravity of the soil grains (Gs) typically

varies between 2.6 and 2.8.

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 Phase Relations
Consider a fraction of the soil where Vs = 1.

The other volumes can

be obtained from the
previous definitions. air
e
Se
The masses can be water Sew
obtained from:
Mass = Density x Volume soil
1 Gsw

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volumes masses
Phase Diagram
 Phase Relations
From the previous definitions,

w= M W = Se
MS GS
air
V
n= =V e e

VT 1+e Se water Sew

1 soil Gsw

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Phase Diagram
 Phase Relations

m = =M T GS + Se W
VT 1+e
air
M
sat = =T GS + e W
e

VT 1+e
Se water Sew

M S G
d = = S W 1 soil Gsw
VT 1+e
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Phase Diagram
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  Try not to memorize the equations. Understand
the definitions, and develop the relations from
the phase diagram with VS = 1;
 Assume GS (2.6-2.8) when not given;
 Do not mix densities and unit weights;
 Soil grains are incompressible. Their mass and
volume remain the same at any void ratio.

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 A Suggestion..

air
e
Se water Sew

Gs  w
1 soil

If you can remember one thing in phase relations, that

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should be .. 22
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Tutorial-1

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Solution-1 Answer
Existing stage:

e = 0.548

S = 47%

Saturated stage

Saturated density = 2.1 Mg/m3

w = 20.29%

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Tutorial-2

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 Answer:
Dry unit weight=15.7kN/m3,
Buoyant U.W.=9.81kN/m3, and
Saturated U.W.=19.62kN/m3

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 The End

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 Definitions

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