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CE209 Geotechnical Engineering‐I

TOPICS: SOIL PHASE DIAGRAM POROSITY AND VOID RATIO
WEEK: 4
LECTURE: 8
LEVEL: 4 TH SEMESTER 2 ND YEAR
PROGRAM: BE CIVIL ENGINEERING

COURSE TEACHER: DR. QAISER IQBAL (qi.civil@suit.edu.pk)

ACCESS AT: portal.suit.edu.pk
Civil Engineering Department, SUIT Peshawar
DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 1

Soil Phase Diagram:

Solids can be minerals or organic matters or both. These
solids can be of different sizes and shapes and because
of it they enclose empty spaces. These empty spaces are
called pores or voids.
These voids in the soil mass are either filled by liquid,
which is generally water, or by gases, which is usually air,
or they are filled by both, partly by water and partly by
air. If voids are not occupied by the water then they are
occupied by the air.
The proportions of solids, water and air in a soil mass
influence its physical properties. Before founding any
structure on the soil we should study the soil in detail
including its physical properties.
DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 2

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Soil Phase Diagram:

A soil mass in general is
composed of three kinds of
matter,
Solids
Liquid
Gases

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 3

Soil Phase Diagram:

We can think of constituents occupying separate spaces.
Volume of solids in the soil mass is marked as Vs,
volume of water is as Vw
and volume of air as Va.
Also the total weight of the soil sample W is equal to the
weight of solids Ws
weight of water Ww
weight of air Wa.
But for all practical purposes weight of air is considered as
zero
DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 4

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Moisture content of soil (w):

Water content of any soil sample is defined as the ratio of
weight of water to the weight of solids present in that
sample. We also multiply it by hundred because it is
usually expressed as percentage.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 5

Soil Void Ratio (e):

Void ratio of a soil sample is defined as the ratio of
the space occupied by the voids Vv i.e. volume of
voids to the space occupied by solids i.e. volume of
solids Vs.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 6

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Soil Void Ratio (e):

If the same soil is compacted and made dense, it will have
relatively small amount of voids and that will make its numerator
small and will result in lower value of void ratio.
So for the same soil:
If it is loose we will have high value of void ratio
While if soil is dense we will have low value of void ratio
Application:
If we know the void ratio of the soil we have better control over
fluid conductivity and particle movement through its pores, as
loose soils show high conductivity while dense soils are not so
permeable.
DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 7

Soil Porosity (n):

Porosity, which is denoted as small letter n, of a soil
sample is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids that
soil sample contains to the total volume of the sample,
and is expressed as percentage.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 8

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Soil Porosity and Void Ratio :

In soil engineering void ratio is more favored for use than porosity. This is due to the fact
that any change in the volume of soil mass is direct consequence of a similar change in the
volume of voids while the volume of solids remains the same.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 9

Degree of Saturation (S):

Degree of saturation can be understood as amount of empty space present in the soil
sample is filled with water. If this space, which is called pores or voids, is completely filled
with water then soil is called fully saturated. If no water is present in this space then soil is
called dry and if this empty space is partly filled then the soil sample is called partially
saturated soil sample.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 10

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Degree of Saturation (S):

Since Degree of Saturation indicates the portion
of volume of voids which is filled with water, so
when soil doesn’t have any water in it then value
of Vw in equation becomes zero and hence
Degree of Saturation comes as zero.

And similarly when all the pores are filled with

water then Volume of voids is equal to volume of
water present in the soil, so in the equation value
of this ratio becomes 1 and Degree of Saturation
comes hundred percent or simply 1 if not shown
as percentage.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 11

Next Class
Relationships between soil volume and weights

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 12