Three Phases in Soils

S : Solid Soil particle

W: Liquid Water (electrolytes)
A: Air Air

Water

Solid
Air
1
The Mineral Skeleton

Solid Particles

Volume

Voids (air or water)

2
Three Phase Diagram

Air

Water

Solid

Mineral Skeleton Idealization:

Three Phase Diagram

3
Fully Saturated Soils

Water

Solid

Mineral Skeleton Fully

Saturated
4
Dry Soils

Air

Solid

Mineral Skeleton Dry Soil

5
Partly Saturated Soils

Air

Water

Solid

Mineral Skeleton Partly Saturated Soils

6
Three Phase System

Va Air Wa~0
Vv
Vw Water Ww
VT WT

Vs Solid Ws

Volume Weight

7
Three Phase System

8
Three Phase System

9
Three Phase System

10
Three Phase System

11
 Voids ratio

• It is not the actual volumes that are important but rather the ratios between
the volumes of the different phases. This is described by the voids ratio, e,
or porosity, n, and the degree of saturation, S.

• The voids ratio is defined as Vv

e 
Vs
• And the porosity as Vv
n 
V
The relation between these quantities can be simply determined as follows
Vs = V - Vv = (1 - n) V

12
 Voids ratio

• It is not the actual volumes that are important but rather the ratios between the
volumes of the different phases. This is described by the voids ratio, e, or porosity,
n, and the degree of saturation, S.

Vv
• The voids ratio is defined as e 
Vs
Vv
• And the porosity as n 
V
The relation between these quantities can be simply determined as follows

Vs = V - Vv = (1 - n) V
Hence

Vv Vv n
e   
Vs ( 1  n )V 1  n

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 Degree of Saturation

• The degree of saturation, S, has an important influence on soil

behaviour
Vw Vw
• It is defined as S  
Va  Vw Vv
• The phase volumes may now be expressed in terms of e, S and
Vs

• Vw = e S Vs Va = Vv - Vw = e Vs (1 - S)

14
 Degree of Saturation

• The degree of saturation, S, has an important influence on soil behaviour

• It is defined as S 
Vw

Vw
Va  Vw Vv

• The phase volumes may now be expressed in terms of e, S and Vs

• Vw = e S Vs Va = Vv - Vw = e Vs (1 - S)

Assuming Vs = 1 m3, the following table can be produced

Phase Volume Mass Weight

Air e (1 - S) 0 0

Water e S e S w e S w

Solid 1 Gs w Gs w

15
 Unit Weights
• The bulk unit weight
W  w Gs Vs   w e S Vs  w ( Gs  e S )
 bulk   
V Vs  eVs 1 e
• The saturated unit weight (S = 1)
 ( Gs  e )
  w

1  e
sat

• The dry unit weight (S = 0)

 Gs
  w

1  e
dry

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 Unit Weights
• The bulk unit weight
W  w Gs Vs   w e S Vs  w ( Gs  e S )
 bulk   
V Vs  eVs 1 e
• The saturated unit weight (S = 1)
 ( Gs  e )
  w

1  e
sat

• The dry unit weight (S = 0)

 Gs
  w

1  e
dry

• The submerged unit weight

 '   sat   w
17
Weight Volume relationships of soils
 To compute the masses (or weights) and volumes of
the three different phases.

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

Vs soil Ms

Phase Diagram
19
 Definitions

Water content (w) is a measure of the water present

in the soil.
Va air Ma=0
MW
w X 100% Vv
MS Vw water Mw
Vt Mt
Expressed as percentage.

Range = 0 – 100+%. Vs soil Ms

Phase Diagram
20
Weight Relationships

• Weight Components:
 Weight of Solids = Ws
 Weight of Water = Ww
 Weight of Air ~ 0

Ww
Water Content, w(%)  100%
Ws

21
 Units

• Length metres
• Mass tonnes (1 tonne = 103 kg)
• Density t/m3
• Weight kilonewtons (kN)
• Stress kilopascals (kPa) 1 kPa= 1 kN/m2
• Unit weight kN/m3
• Accuracy Density of water, w = 1 t/m3
Stress/Strength to 0.1 kPa

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Definitions
Bulk density is the mass of dry soil per unit volume,
including the air space.
Bulk density has a major effect on the movement of air and
water in soils.
Soils with high bulk densities are often compacted.
 Determined by dividing the weight of oven-dry soil in
grams by its volume in cubic centimeters
 The variation in bulk density is due largely to the
difference in total pore space

23 23
 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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 Weight and Unit weight

• Force due to mass (weight) more important than

mass
• W = Mg
• Unit weight

• Force due to mass (weight) more important than mass

• W = Mg
W
• Unit weight   V
Mg
 
V

 = g

25
 Weight and Unit weight

• Force due to mass (weight) more important than mass

• W = Mg
W
• Unit weight  
V
Mg
 
V
 = g

z sv sv = r g z
sv = g z

26
Volumetric Relationships

• Volume Components:
 Volume of Solids = Vs
 Volume of Water = Vw
 Volume of Air = Va
 Volume of Voids = Va + Vw = Vv

Vv
Void Ratio , e 
Vs
Vv
Porosity , n(%)  100%
VT

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 Definitions

Void ratio (e) is a measure of the void volume.

Va air Ma=0
VV
e Vv
VS Vw water Mw
Vt Mt

Vs soil Ms

Phase Diagram
28 28
 Definitions
Porosity (n) is also a measure of the void volume,
expressed as a percentage.

Va air Ma=0
VV
n X 100% Vv
VT Vw water Mw
Vt Mt

Theoretical range: 0 – 100% Vs soil Ms

Phase Diagram
29 29
Volumetric Relationships
• Volume Components:
 Volume of Solids = Vs
 Volume of Water = Vw
 Volume of Air = Va
 Volume of Voids = Va + Vw = Vv

Vw
Degree of Saturation, S (%)  100%
VV

30
 Definitions
Degree of saturation (S) is the percentage of the
void volume filled by water.

Va air Ma=0
VW
S X 100% Vv
VV Vw water Mw
Vt Mt
Range: 0 – 100%
Vs soil Ms
Dr
y Saturate
d
Phase Diagram
31 31
 Specific Gravity
This is defined by
Density of Material 
G  
Density of Water w
Unit Weight of Material 
G  
Unit Weight of Water w

• Gs @ 2.65 for most soils

• Gs is useful because it enables the volume of solid

particles to be calculated from mass or weight

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 Specific Gravity
This is defined by
Density of Material 
G  
Density of Water w
Unit Weight of Material 
G  
Unit Weight of Water w

• Gs @ 2.65 for most soils

• Gs is useful because it enables the volume of solid

particles to be calculated from mass or weight
Ms Ms Ws Ws
Vs    
s Gs  w s Gs  w

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Specific Gravity

Weight of a Subs tan ce

Specific Gravity 
Weight of an Equal Volume of Water

Unit Weight of a Subs tan ce

Specific Gravity 
Unit Weight of Water
• Unit weight of Water, w
 w = 1.0 g/cm3 (strictly accurate at 4° C)
 w = 62.4 pcf
 w = 9.81 kN/m3

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Specific Gravity
• Iron 7.86
• Aluminum 2.55-2.80
• Lead 11.34
• Mercury 13.55
• Granite 2.69
• Marble 2.69
• Quartz 2.60
• Feldspar 2.54-2.62

35
Specific Gravity, Gs

36
Typical Values of Specific Gravity

(Lambe and Whitman, 1979)

(Goodman, 1989) 37
A Simple Example
In this illustration,
e=1 air

n = 50% water

S = 50%
soil

38
 Definitions
Bulk density (m) is the density of the soil in the
current state.
MT
m  Va air Ma=0
VT Vv
Vw water Mw
Units: t/m3, g/ml, kg/m3 Vt Mt

Vs soil Ms

Phase Diagram
39
 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

40
 Definitions
Dry density (d) is the density of the soil in dry state.

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

Vs soil Ms

Phase Diagram
41 41
 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

volumes masses
Phase Diagram 42
 Phase Relations
From the previous definitions,

M W Se
w 
M S GS
air
VV e e
n  Se
VT 1  e water Sew

1 soil Gsw

Phase Diagram
43 43
 Phase Relations
M T GS  Se
m   W
VT 1 e
air
M T GS  e e
 sat   W Se water Sew
VT 1 e

MS GS
d   W 1 soil Gsw
VT 1 e
Phase Diagram
44 44
 Example: Volumetric Ratios
• Determine void ratio, porosity and
degree of saturation of a soil core
sample
Data:
• Weight of soil sample = 1013g
• Vol. of soil sample = 585.0cm3
• Specific Gravity, Gs = 2.65
• Dry weight of soil = 904.0g

45
 Example

134.9cm3 Wa~0
Air
W =1.00
243.9cm3
Water 109.0g
109.0cm3
585.0cm3 1013.0g
s =2.65
341.1cm3
Solid 904.0g

Volumes Weights

46
 Example

134.9cm3 Air
W =1.00
243.9cm3
109.0cm3 Water
585.0cm3

s =2.65
341.1cm3 Solid
Vv 243.9
e   0.72
Vs 341.1
Vv 243.9
n(%)  100%  100  41.7%
Volumes VT 585.0
Vw 109.0
S (%)  100%  100  44.7%
Vv 243.9

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Soil Unit weight (lb/ft3 or kN/m3)

• Bulk (or Total) Unit weight

 = WT / VT
• Dry unit weight
d = Ws / VT
• Buoyant (submerged) unit weight
b = - w

48
Typical Unit weights

49
 Moisture Content
• The moisture content, m, is defined as

Weight of Water Ww
m  
Weight of Solids Ws
In terms of e, S, Gs and w

Ww = w Vw = w e S Vs

Ws = s Vs = w Gs Vs
eS
hence m 
Gs

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Example 1

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Example 2

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Example 2

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solution

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Example 3

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Example 4

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Example 4

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Example 4

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Example 4

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