Geotechnical Index & Properties

Soil Volume & Density Relationships

Void ratio (e) e = Vv where, Vv - volume of voids

Vs Vs - volume of soils

Porosity (n) n = Vv
Vt Vt - total volume

Water content (w) w = Ww x 100

Ws

Va Air
Vv
Water
Vt Vw Ww

Wt
Vs Soil Ws

Unit density (ρ) ρ = mass (kg/m3) or g/cm3

unit volume

Unit weight (ϒ) ϒ = weight (kN/m3)

unit volume

Degree of saturation S = Vw x 100

Vv

Specific gravity (G) G = ϒs

ϒw
Let the volume of solids Vs = 1.00
then e = Vv
Vs
e = Vv
 Porosity n = Vv = Vv
Vt Vs + V v
= Vv
1 + Vv
n = e
1+ e

ϒdry = ϒwet
1+w

If Vs = 1.0 cm3
e = w Gs
S

Example 2.1
w = 22.5 %
Gs = 2.6
sample weight (Wt) = 224 g
Vt = 118 cm3

1 ϒwet ϒwet = Wt
Vt
= 224
118
ϒwet = 1.898 g/cm3

2 ϒdry ϒdry = ϒwet

1+w
= 1.898
1 + 0.225
ϒdry = 1.549 g/cm3

3 e e = Vv Gs = Ws
Vs Vs ϒw
Vt = Vs + V v = Vt ϒdry
ϒdry = Ws Vs ϒw
Vt so Vs = Vt ϒdry
Gs ϒw
 = 118 x 1.549
2.6 x 1.0
Vs = 70.3
therefore Vv = Vt - Vs
= 118 - 70.3
Vv = 47.7
So e = Vv
Vs
= 47.7
70.3
e = 0.678

4 Degree of saturation

e = w Gs
S
S = w Gs
e
=0.225 x 2.6 x 100
0.678
S = 86.3 %

5 Dry bulk specific gravity

Gb = ϒdry
ϒw
Gb = 1.549
1
Gb = 1.549

Overconsolidation

Overconsolidation Ratio OCR = P'c

P'o
where P'c = past effective pressure
P'o = present overburden pressure

If OCR = 1.0 soil is normally consolidated

OCR > 1.0 soil is overconsolidated (preconsolidated)
OCR < 1.0 soil is underconsolidated
Atterberg limits
For cohesive soils,
wL = Liquid limit
wP = Plastic limit PI = wL - wP
PI = Plastic Index

For a cohesive soils

Increasing Increasing Decreasing
wL (LL) permeability toughness at Plastic Limit
compressibility

If water content (wN) is close to LL soil is normally consolidated

water content (wN) is close to PL soild is heavily overconsolidated
water content (wN) is intermediate soil is somewhat overconsolidated
water content (wN) is greater than LL soil is a viscous liquid

Approximate field procedures for identiffication of soil

1 Differentiate gravel and sand by visual inspection

2 Place a spoonful of soil into a test tube and shake it to make a suspension
sand settles in 1 1/2 minutes
silt takes it to settle 5 or more minutes
clay takes it to settle more than 10 minutes

3 Differentiate between silt and clay as follows

a. clay lumps are more difficult to crush using the fingers than silt.
b. moisten a spot on the soil lump and rub your finger across it.
if it is smooth it is clay
if it is rough it is silt

4 Differentiate between organic and inorganic soils by visual inspection and/or smell test
for wood or plant decay odor.

Insitu stresses and K0 Conditions

Principal stresses : stresses (lateral and vertical) acting on a plane where no strains or shear stresses exist
Principal plane : the plane aforesaid considered is called Principal plane.

K0 condition : effective stress condition at some level of the soil mass which stabilizes into the steady state
 and those effective stresses become principal stresses. (at rest condition)

K0 = σ'h whee, σ'h - lateral principal effective stress

P'o P'o - vertical principal effective stress

below the GWT effective soil unit weight

ϒ' = ϒsat - ϒw

Jacky's equation
K0 = 1 - sin φ' where, φ' - angle of internal friction

Value for K0 in terms of Poison's ratio

based on the definition that the K0 being an effective stress state at zero strain

K0 = μ where, μ - Poison's ratio

1- μ

Soil Hydraulics
considerable effect on soil strength
Soil water considerable effect on settlement time

Permeability (k) facility for water flow through a soil mass

(Hydraulic conductivity)

water below GWT flowing under a hydraulic gradient

hydraulic gradient slope of the free water surface in the direction of flow

water in soil mass immediately above GWT is called capillary water & not free to move

below the GWT , the free water exerts a floating effect on the soil.
d T
α Fv = π d T cos α

Capilary effect on soil Fv = π d2 hc ϒw

hc Ww , 4

since
 Fv = Fv

hc = 4 d cos α
ϒw d

Effective Stress

Effective Pressure P'o = Downward soil pressure (Po) - Pore water pressure (u)

P'o = Po - u

Excess Pore Pressure (Δu)

When a foundation or embankment or some form of mass suddenly applied on top of soil
excess pore water pressure (Δu) creates underneth the foundation or so.

P'o = Po - u - Δu

Hydraulic Gradient (i)

i = Δh
L

critical hydraulic gradient (ic) - the hydraulic gradient at which effective pressu P'o
becomes zero.
in most practical cases it is satisfactory to use ic = 1 for the critical hydraulic gradient.

ic = Gs - 1 Gs - 2.6 ~2.8
1+e e - 0.35 ~ 0.8

Hydraustatic Uplift
When the GWT is confines beneath an impermeable stratum (ex. an aquifer)
there is uplift pressure exerts on the confinement and therefore this uplift pressure
may tends to lift the soil mass on top.
Therefore proper site investigation is necessary before commencing an excavation, etc.
where confinement exists below the excavation and so on.
This means too much excavation may lift the balance soil mass between confinement and
bottom of the excavation

Permeability
 Darcy's equation v = ki
valid for non turbulant flow
where k - coefficient of permeability
i - hydraulic gradient.

falling - head method (cohesive soil)

Laboratory determination of k
constant - head method (cohesionless soils)

Note : Laboratory values for k are only true if the field soil is fully saturated.

Flow Nets

The flow of water through soil under an energy potential can be mathematically expressed as below.
(Laplace equation)

kx ∂2 h + ky ∂2 h = 0
∂x 2
∂y 2

kx , ky = coefficient of permeability parallel to the x, y axes

h = energy potential

A graphical solution of preceding equation results in families of intersecting orthogonal curves

that are called flow nets.

Seepage quantity (Q) from a flow net can be estimated as follow.

Q = k1 H n f / n d W t
(m3 in time t)

where k1 = transformed coefficient of permeability when kx amd ky are different.

H = differential head of fluid across system, m
nf = no. of flow paths
nd = no. of equipotential drops
W = width of the seepage flow, m
t = time base ( 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week , etc.)
cm3

cm3
ns or shear stresses exist

bilizes into the steady state

pal effective stress
cipal effective stress

rnal friction
expressed as below.

hogonal curves

kx amd ky are different.

Consolidation Principles

When a soil is loaded by any new load condition (a foundation, fill, embankment, etc.) settlements
always occur. They may be insignificant or large enough to require special construction procedures.
These settelments are not elastic (a portion of the elastic settlement is negligible)

In the event of pore drainage is instantaneous, where non time dependent settlement occurs
the following equation can be used in settlement calculation.

ΔH = 0 ʃ L
o Δq dz
Es
where Lo = soil thickness
Δq = compressive stress due to loading
Es = modulus of deformation
Above equation becomes

ΔH = ϵ Lo
ϵ = constant

Above equation is applicable for saturated coarse grained soilsin both soils
nonsaturated fine grained solipore drainage must be
instantaneous.

Elements of Consolidation Theory

The following assumptions are essential for the general development of the consolidation theory.

1. Soil in the consolidating layer is homogenous.

2. S = 100 %
3. Compressibility of either water or soil is negligible
4. Strains are infinitesimal
5. Flow is one dimensional
6. Compression is one - dimensional
7. Darcy's law is valid ( v = k i)
8. soil properties are constants.
9. The void ratio e vs. pressure p response is linear.

Having considered above assumptions we can derive following equations.

Ti = cv t i where
H2 Ti = dimensionless time factor
 ti = elapsed time after loading
cv = coefficient of consolidation
thickness of the soil stratum (z) = 2H

coefficient of consolidation (cv) = k (1+e)

av ϒw

av = coefficient of compressibility
we can derive an expression for pore pressrue u at various depths.

But it is preferable in most cases to estimate the average amount of consolidation (Ui) that has
taken place after some elapsed time i after making number of approximations.

approximation by Fox (1948)

Ui = √(4 T /π)
i 0 ≤ Ti ≤ 0.197

Ui = 1- 8 . e(-π2 . T / 4) Ti > 0.197

π2

Table 1. Time factors(Ti) for Ui % values

Ui % Ti
0 0
10 0.008
20 0.031
30 0.071
40 0.126
50 0.197
60 0.287
70 0.403
80 0.567
90 0.848
100 infinity

One - Dimensional Consolidation Test

1 - D consolidation test is widely used to obtain the settlement and time parameters.
 A 1-D test confines the soil laterally in a metal ring so that settlement and drainage
can only occur in the vertical direction.

compression parameter (for settlement estimate)

from 1-D consolidation test, obtain
consolidation parameter cv (for settlement rate estimate)

The consolidation test proceeds by applying series of load increments (in the ratio of ΔP / P = 1)
to the sample and recording sample deformation by using an electronic device or a dial gauge
at selected time intervals.

The Compression Index (Cc) and Ratio (C'c)

Compression Index Cc obtain from a plot of void ratio (e) vs log p

Compression Ratio C'c obtain from a plot of strain(ϵ ) vs log p

preyield postyield

Pc
eo

corrected

discontinuity

e
or
ϵ
sample

log P

Discontinous portion of the plot exists between pre and postyield branches
this point represents the preconsolidated stress state ( P1c)

P1 o = current overburden pressure

(average effective pressure in the soil layer before the foundation is constructed)

P1 c = preconsolidation pressure

preyield branch of above plot represents recompression of the sample back to the in situ state that
expansion occurred during sample recovery.

postyield branch of above plot represents the portion beyond the in situ state.

1. If the discontinuity in above graph occurs at approximately current overburden pressure

P1o , then the soil is normally consolidated.

2. If the discontinuity in the above graph occurs at a pressure P 1c greater

P1o, than
then the soil is overconsolidated (OCR > 1)

3. If the discontinuity in the above graph occurs at a pressure P 1c less than P1o
soil is probably recently deposited and may still be undergoing consolidation.

Cc = Δe Cc = Δϵ
log (p2 / p1) log (p2 / p1)

These p2 & p1 values should be taken from the straight portion of the curve (postyield branch)

C'c = Cc Cc - compression index

1 + eo C1 c - compression ratio

Settlement eqn for normally consolidated soil

ΔH = Cc H log (p1o + Δp)

1+ eo p1 o

ΔH - settlement in the layer under the foundation load of normally consolidated soil
Cc - compression index from the e versus log p plot
 eo - in situ void ratio in the soil layer
H - thickness of the soil layer under consideration.
(if the soil layer is very thick (say 6+ m) it should be subdivided into several sublayers
of Hi = 2 to 3 m, with each having its own eo and Cc. Compute the several values
of Δhi and then sum them to obtain the total consolidation settlement.
p1 o - effective overburden pressure at midheight of H.
Δp - average increase in pressure from the foundation loads in layer H

Settlement eqn for over - consolidated soil

a)
ΔH = Cr H log (p1o + Δp) for overconsolidated clays with
1+ eo p1 o p1o + Δp < p1 c

ΔH - settlement in the layer under the foundation load of overconsolidated soil

Cr - recompression index from the e versus log p plot (swelling index)
eo - in situ void ratio in the soil layer
H - thickness of the soil layer under consideration.
(if the soil layer is very thick (say 6+ m) it should be subdivided into several sublayers
of Hi = 2 to 3 m, with each having its own eo and Cc. Compute the several values
of Δhi and then sum them to obtain the total consolidation settlement.
p1 o - effective overburden pressure at midheight of H.
Δp - average increase in pressure from the foundation loads in layer H

b) for overconsolidated clays with

p1 o < p1 c < p1o + Δp

ΔH = Cr H log p1 c Cc H log (p1o + Δp)

+
1+ eo p1 o 1+ eo p1 c

Secondary Consolidation

After primary consolidation the soil structurre continues to adjust to the load for some
additional time. This settlement is termed secondary consolidation.

Consider the deformation vs log t plot we discussed for 1D - consolidation test proposed by
Casgrande. We have to consider the slope of plot area after D100 (plot area after primary consolidation)
to calculate the secondary compression index ( Cα )

Cα = Δϵ Δϵ - change in strain during seceondary consolidation from

log( t2 / t1) time t1 to t2.
t1 - time at end of primary consolidation
t2 - t1 + Δt

ΔHs = Hf Cα log (t2 / t1)

ΔHs - secondary settlement from t1 to t2

t1 - time at end of primary consolidation
Cα - secondary compression index
Hf - Thickness of the field consolidating soil layer at the
end of primary consolidation. Commonly uses initial
thickness unless the primary consolidation is very large.
(very large means ~ settlment more than 10% of initial
thickness)
settlements
procedures.

ϵ
tion (Ui) that has

Ti ≤ 0.197
ettlement estimate)

or settlement rate estimate)

ratio of ΔP / P = 1)
e or a dial gauge
on is constructed)

the in situ state that

overburden pressure

(postyield branch)

nsolidated soil
d into several sublayers
the several values

d into several sublayers

the several values

st proposed by
er primary consolidation)
olidation from

layer at the
ly uses initial
on is very large.
n 10% of initial
Shear Strength

Shear strength of a soil is defined in terms of effective stress is

τ = c' + σ' tan φ'

where
σ' = effective normal stress on plane of shearing
c' = cohesion note :
φ' = effective stress angle of friction for sands c' = 0
for normally consolidated clays
Above equation is referred to as Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. c' = 0

Shear strength parameters c & φ are laboratory determined by direct shear test
and triaxial test.
These strength parameters are used as constants but are quite dependent on current state of the soil,
previous stress history of the soil, laboratory test, etc.
Thereofre in order to calculate accurate values for parameters we have to simulate the lab testing method
with the probable insitu state.
Accordingly three conditions discuss here.

1. Unconsolidated-undrained (UU) tests

2. Consolidated - undrained (CU) tests
3. Consolidated - drained (CD) tests (seldom done)

Unconsolidated-undrained (UU) tests

This test is done to simulate the insitu saturated clay

Deviatior stress Δσf is a constant irrespective of the chamber confining pressure σ3

Δσf = σ1 - σ 3 = constant

shear Total stress failure envelop

stress (φ = 0)

s = cu

σ3 σ3 σ1 σ1 Normal stress
 Undrained shear strength s or cu = Δσf
2

Unconfined Compression Test

This test is a special type of unconsolidated undrained triaxial test in which the confining pressure σ3= 0

shear
stress (φ = 0)

s = cu

σ3 = 0 σ1=Δσf = qu Normal stress

Unconfined compression strength q=

u Δσf

Undrained shear strength s or cu = qu

2
e of the soil,

ab testing method
ng pressure σ3= 0