Geotechnical Engineering

3 Weight-Volume Relationships
Lecture Outline:

1. Soil Phase Relationships

2. Basic Definition and Terminology
3. Various Unit Weight Relationships
4. Relative Density

Textbook: Braja M. Das, "Principles of Geotechnical Engineering", 7th E. (Chapter 3).

1
Soil Phase Relationships

• Soil mass is generally a three phase system. It consists of solid particles,

liquid and gas. For all practical purposes, the liquid may be considered to be
water (although in some cases, the water may contain some dissolved salts)
and the gas as air.
• The inter relationships of the different phases are important since they help
to define the condition or the physical make-up of the soil.

Mineral Skeleton Three Phase Diagram

2
Soil Phase Relationships

• Naturally occurred soil consists of solid particles which make up the soil
skeleton and voids which may be full of water if the soil is saturated, may be
full of air if the soil is dry, or may be partially saturated as shown:

Mineral Skeleton Fully Saturated Dry Soil Partially Saturated

3
Weight-Volume Relationships

• To develop the weight–volume relationships, we must separate the three

phases (that is, solid, water, and air) as shown:

Ws = weight of soil solid

Ww = weight of water
Wa = weight of air ≈ 0
Vs = volume of soil solid
Vv = volume of voids
Vw = volume of water
Va = volume of air
V = total volume

W = Ws + Ww V = Vs + Vv = Vs + Vw + Va

4
Weight-Volume Relationships

• There are three volumetric ratios that are very useful in geotechnical
engineering and these can be determined directly from the phase diagram:
1. Void ratio (e), defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of
solids: V
e= v

V s
2. Porosity (n), defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the total volume:
V
n= v

V T

3. Degree of saturation (S), defined as the ratio of the volume of water to the
volume of voids:
V
S = 100%
w

V v

• (S) is always expressed as a percentage. When S = 0%, the soil is completely

dry, and when S = 100%, the soil is fully saturated.

5
Weight-Volume Relationships

• The relationship between void ratio and porosity can be derived:

V  V 
  v   v

V V 
= V  =
V n V V e
e= = v v
n= = v
= v
= s

V V −V 1−  V  1− n V V +V V  1 + e
s
  v v T s
1+   v v

V  V  s

• The common terms used for weight relationships are moisture content and
unit weight.

1. Moisture content (w), also referred to as water content, is defined as the

ratio of the weight of water to the weight of solids in a given volume of soil:

W
w= w

W s

6
Weight-Volume Relationships

2. Unit weight ( ) is the weight of soil per unit volume. There are several
commonly used unit weights:
W W +W
a) Total unit weight (moisture/wet/bulk unit weight):  = = s w

V V
W
b) Dry unit weight (when saturation S = 0):  = d
s

V
W
c) Saturated unit weight (when saturation S = 100%):  = sat
V
W
d) Solid unit weight:  s = s

V
s

• The moisture unit weight and the dry unit weight ca also be expressed as:
 W 
W 1 +  w

W W +W  W  = W (1+ w) 
s

= = 
= and  =
s w s s

V V V V 1+ w
d

7
Weight-Volume Relationships

• Another very useful concept in geotechnical engineering is the density

(equivalent to unit weight) which is expressed as mass per unit volume.
There are several commonly used densities:
M
a) Total density :  =
V
M
b) Dry density (when saturation S = 0):  =
d
s

V M
c) Saturated density (when saturation S = 100%):  =
sat

Ms V
d) Density of solids:  =
s
Vs

• The unit weight can be obtained from densities as:

 = g M = total mass of the soil sample (kg)

Ws = mass of soil solids in the sample (kg)
 = g
d d V = total volume of the soil (m3)
8
Specific Gravity

• The Specific Gravity (G) which is defined as the ratio of unit weight (or
density) of a given material to the unit weight (or density) of water.

a) The specific gravity of a mass of soil (including air, water and solids) is
termed as bulk specific gravity (Gm). It is expressed as:

G =
 = g = 
m
w
g  w w

b) The specific gravity of solids (Gs), excluding air and water, is expressed by:

  g 
G = = s
= s s
s
 g 
w w w

• Note that:
 =  g = 1000 kg 
 9.81
m
 = 9810
kg.m
= 9810
N
= 9.81
kN
 m  s 
w w 3 2
m .s
3 2
m3
m 3

9
Specific Gravity

• We can use Gs to calculate the density or unit weight of the solid particles:
 =G
s s w
and  = G
s s w

• and hence the volume of the solid particles if the mass or weight is known:
W M W = M
V = = s
= s s s
s
  G G 
s s s w s w
• Expected values for Gs:

Type of Soil Gs
Sand 2.65 – 2.67
Silty Sand 2.67 – 2.70
Inorganic Clay 2.70 – 2.80
Soils with Mica or Iron 2.75 – 3.00
Organic Soils < 2.00

10
Relationships among γ, e, w and Gs

• By assuming Vs = 1, we have: W = G W = wW = wG 
w s s w
s s w

e=
V
=V
v V = V + V = 1+ e s v
v
V s

 = W = W +W = G  + wG  = (1+ w)G 
s w s w s w s w

V V 1+ e 1+ e

 = W = G s s w
e=
G
s w
−1
d
V 1+ e  d

W wG 
V = = = wG
w s w
w
  w w
s

V wG
S= = w
Se = wGs s

V e v

• When the soil is saturated (S = 100%):

 =
(G + e) s w
e = wG
1+ e
sat s

11
Relationships among γ, e, w and Gs

• By assuming V = 1, we have: n = V = V v
v
V = 1− n
s
V
W =  V = G  (1− n)
s s s s w

W = wW = wG  (1− n)
w s s w
W
 = = G  (1 − n)
s
d s w
V
 = W + W = G  (1− n)(1+ w)
s w
s w
V

W + W (1− n)G  + n
 =
sat
s
= w
= (1− n)G + n
s w w
s w
V 1

• When the soil is saturated (S = 100%):

W n n
=
e
w= w
= = w

W (1− n) G (1− n)G G

s w s s s

12
Various Weight-Volume Relationships

• Various Forms of Relationships for , d and  sat

13
Typical Values of e, w and  d

• Some typical values of void ratio, moisture content in a saturated condition,

and dry unit weight for soils in a natural state are given

14
Relative Density (Dr)

• The relative density (Dr) is commonly used to indicate the in situ denseness
or looseness of granular soil. It is defined as:

e −e Dr: relative density, (%)

D = max
where, e: in-situ void ratio of the soil
r
e −e
max min emax: void ratio of the soil in the loosest state
emin: void ratio of the soil in the densest state
• The values of Dr may vary
Relative density Description of soil
from a minimum of 0% for
(%) deposit
very loose soil to a maximum
0 -15 Very loose
of 100% for very dense soils.
25 – 50 Loose
Soils engineers qualitatively
50 – 70 Medium
describe the granular soil
70 – 85 Dense
deposits according to their
85 –100 Very dense
relative densities, as shown.

15
 Relative Density (Dr)

• By using the definition of dry unit weight and dry density, we can express
relative density as:
 1   1 
− 
     =   −       −   
  
D =  =   
d (min) d d d (min) d (max) d d (min) d (max)
r
 1   1    −   −  
 −  d (max) d (min)  d   d (max) d (min  d 
  
d (min) d (max) 
where,


d , d : in-situ dry unit weight and density (at void ratio e)
 d (max) , d (max) : dry unit weight and density in the densest condition (at a void ratio of e )
min
 d (min) , d (min) : dry unit weight and density in the loosest condition (at a void ratio of emax)

16
Sample Problem 1:

The sample of soil weighing 30.6 kg had a volume of 0.0183m3. The

sample is allowed to dry in an oven and the weight was reduced to 27.2 kg.
The specific gravity of the solids was found to be 2.65. Determine the
following:
1. Moist unit weight of soil in kN/m3
2. Dry unit weight of soil in kN/m3
3. Moisture content
4. Void ratio
5. Porosity
6. Degree of saturation
Sample Problem 2:

The soil sample in natural state having a volume of 0.0012 m3 weighs 1.73
kg. The degree of saturation being 61.6%. After drying in an oven the final
weight of sample was 1.44 kg. Determine the following:
1. Specific gravity of solid
2. Void ratio
3. Critical hydraulic gradient
Sample Problem 3:

The moist soil having a volume of 0.0154m3 has a unit weight of

16.5KN/m3 and a moisture content of 15%. If the specific gravity of solid
is 2.7. Determine the following:
1. Degree of Saturation
2. Volume of air in the original sample
3. Weight of water to be added to reach full saturation
Sample Problem 4:

The moist unit weight of sample of soil is 17.43 kN/m3. It has a specific
gravity of solid of 2.65 and water content of 16%. The sample has a void
ratio of 0.88 in the loosest condition and 0.36 in the densest condition.
1. Compute the density index
2. If the dry unit weight at optimum water content was 19.12
kN/m3, what is the minimum dry unit