GEOTECHNICAL

ENGINEERING I
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
RESOURCE PERSON: HIRA SATTAR (hira.sattar@umt.edu.pk)
LECTURE 3
24TH FEBRUARY 2020
SOIL AS A THREE PHASE
SYSTEM
S: Solid Soil particle
W: Liquid Water
A: Air Air
SOIL AS A THREE PHASE
SYSTEM
V = Total volume of soil mass
Vs = Volume of soil solids
Vw = Volume of water
Va = Volume of air
Vv = Va+Vw = Volume of voids
W = Total weight of soil
Ws = Weight of soil solids
Wa = Weight of air ≈ 0
Ww = Weight of water
WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
1)  Moisture/Water Content/Gravimetric Water Content, w

w(0 < w < ∞)

 Typical value for Sands >> 10-30%

 For clays >> 10% or higher typically
 For some organic soils w>100%, even up to 500%.
 For quick clays w is typically > 100%.
WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
2)
   Unit Weight, γ

γ = (kN/m3; lb/ft3; g/cm3)

3) Dry Unit Weight, γd

γd =
WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
   Bulk Unit Weight, γ
4) b

γ =
5) Unit Weight of soil solids, γs

γs =
WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
6)
   Saturated Unit Weight, γsat

γsat
7) Submerged Unit Weight, γsub or γbouyant

γsub γsat γw
γw = 9.81 kN/m3 → 1 g/cm3
Archimede’s principle:
= 1000 kg/m3 The buoyant force on a body immersed
in a fluid is equal to the weight of the
= 62.4 lb/ft3 fluid displaced by that object.
WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
8)
   Specific Gravity (Gs)

Gs =

Generally for soils 2.6 ≤ Gs ≤ 2.7

WEIGHT-VOLUME
RELATIONSHIPS
REFERENCE MATERIAL
 An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering (2nd Edition) By R. D. Holtz, W. D. Kovacs and
T. C. Sheahan Chapter #2

 Geotechnical Engineering – Principles and Practices - (2nd Edition) By Donald P. Coduto, M.

R. Yeung and W. A. Kitch Chapter #4

 Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics By M. S. Qureshi & Aziz Akbar Chapter #3