PRESENTATION ON

GEOLOGY AND SOIL

MECHANICS

SUBMITTED BY-
TITIKSHA NEGI
B.TECH(CE)
4th SEM
PERMEABILITY
 Permeability is defined as the property of a porous
material which permits the water passing through its
interconnecting void.

 SIGNIFICANCE OF PERMEABILITY:-

 (i) Determination of rate of settlement

 (ii) Calculation of seepage and uplift pressure

 (iii) Groundwater flow

FACTORS AFFECTING PERMEABILITY
 1. PARTICLE SIZE :-
 If the void ratio is same than coarse soil are more
permeable than fine soil.

 2. VOID RATIO :-
 If particle size is same than loose soil are more permeable
than dense soil .

 3. PARTICLE SHAPE :-
 The effect of shape is expressed in terms of specific surface
area. Specific Surface is the ratio of surface area to unit
volume.

 4. DEGREE OF SATURATION :-
 If partially saturated degree of saturation is less than1,
hence presence of air voids create lock to flow.
 5. STRUCTURE OF SOIL :-
 In stratified soil permeability is greater than in the
direction of the bedding plane and perpendicular
to the bedding plane.

 6. PROPERTIES OF WATER :-
 Permeability is directly propotional to weight of
water.

 7. IMPURITIES PRESENT IN WATER :-

 Impurities blocked the voids and pemeability is
reduced. It may be organic or inorganic.
 STRESSES IN THE GROUND
 1:-TOTAL STRESS(
 The total vertical stress acting at a point below the ground surface is
due to the weight of everything that lies above, including soil, water,
and surface loading. Total stress thus increases with depth and with unit
weight

 2:-PORE WATER PRESSURE(u)

 The pressure of water in the pores of the soil is called pore water
pressure (u). The magnitude of pore water pressure depends on:
 1.the depth below the water table.
 2.the conditions of seepage flow.
 3:-EFFECTIVE STRESS
The  principle of effective stress  was enunciated by  Karl
Terzaghi  in the year 1936. This principle is valid only for saturated
soils.
At any point in a soil mass, the effective stress (represented by
or s' ) is related to total stress (s) and pore water pressure (u) as
=  - u
Both the total stress and pore water pressure can be measured at
any point.
 DARCY’S LAW
 Darcy's law states that there is a linear relationship between
flow velocity (v) and hydraulic gradient (i) for any given
saturated soil under steady laminar flow conditions.

 If the rate of flow is q (volume/time) through cross-sectional

area (A) of the soil mass, Darcy's Law can be expressed as
v = q/A = k.i
where k = permeability of the soil
i = Dh/L
Dh = difference in total heads 
L = length of the soil mass
 SEEPAGE IN SOIL
1.- One-dimensional Flow
For this, the Laplace Equation is 

The specific solution for flow in the permeameter is

which states that head is dissipated in a linearly uniform
manner over the entire length of the permeameter.

This equation is used in the construction of flownet. In such

cases, following assumptions are there-
 1) The flow is 2-D
 2) Water and soil are incompressible
 3) Soil is isotropic and homogenous
 4) The soil is fully saturated
 5) The flow is steady (i.e. flow condition do not change with
time)
 6) Darcy’s Law is valid.
2.-Two-dimensional Flow
Flow Nets 
Graphical form of solutions to Laplace equation for 2-D seepage can be presented as flow nets.
Two orthogonal sets of curves form a flow net:
•Equipotential lines are the line obtained by velocity potential or the lines connecting points of
equal total head h
•Flow lines are obtained by streamfunction and indicates the direction of seepage down a
hydraulic gradient. These are also known as streamlines.

Two flow lines can never meet and similarly,

two equipotential lines can never meet. The
space between two adjacent flow lines is known
as a flow channel, and the figure formed on the
flownet between any two adjacent flow lines and
two adjacent equipotential lines is referred to as
a field. Seepage through an embankment dam is
shown.
FLOWNET
APPLICATIONS
The graphical properties of a flow net can be used in
obtaining solutions for many seepage problems such
as:

1. Determination of seepage discharge through

Earthern dams

2. Determination of seepage pressure

3.  Estimation of seepage losses from reservoirs

4. Determination of exit gradient

5. Determination of uplift pressures below dams

6. Determination of hydrostatic pressure

7. Checking the possibility of piping beneath dams

 COMPACTION
Soil compaction is the process in which a stress applied to a soil
causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the
soil grain. It is an instantaneous process which is carried out at
partially saturated or dry soil.

1=W1V1
2=W1/V2
2 > 1
Objectives:
1.To increase soil shear strength
and therefore its bearing capacity.
2.To reduce subsequent settlement
under working loads.
3.To reduce
soil permeability making it more
difficult for water to flow through
REQUIREMENT OF SOIL
COMPACTION
Factors affecting compaction
 Water content
 Type of soil
 Compactive effort
 Method of compaction.

Compaction is used in constructing

highways, embankment, dams and other
engineering structure to improve soil’s
strength
Benefits of compacted soil

To increase strength and stability.

To decrease permeability.
To enhance resistance to erosion
Decrease compressibility under load and
minimize settlement.
SOIL COMPACTION IN
THE FIELD
 ENGINEERING BEHAVIOUR OF COMPACTED SOILS
Soil Structure
For a given compactive effort, soils have a flocculated
structure on the dry side , whereas they have a dispersed
structure on the wet side
Swelling
Due to a higher water deficiency and partially developed water films in the dry side,
when given access to water, the soil will soak in much more water and then swell
more
Shrinkage 
During drying, soils compacted in the wet side tend to show more shrinkage than
those compacted in the dry side.
Construction Pore Water Pressure
The compaction of man-made deposits proceeds layer by layer, and pore water
pressures are induced in the previous layers. Soils compacted wet of optimum will
have higher pore water pressures compared to soils compacted dry of optimum,
which have initially negative pore water pressure. 

Permeability 
The randomly oriented soil in the dry side exhibits the same permeability in all
directions, whereas the dispersed soil in the wet side is more permeable along
particle orientation than across particle orientation.

Compressibility
At low applied stresses, the dry compacted soil is less compressible on account of its
truss-like arrangement of particles whereas the wet compacted soil is more
compressible.
 CONSOLIDATION
Consolidation is a process by which soils decrease in volume. According to Karl v
on Terzaghi“ consolidation is any process which involves a decrease in water
content of saturated soil without replacement of water by air."

Primary consolidation
This method assumes consolidation occurs in only one-dimension. Laboratory data is
used to construct a plot of strain or void ratio versus effective stress where the effective
stress axis is on a logarithmic scale .
Secondary consolidation
Secondary consolidation is the consolidation of soil that takes place after
primary consolidation. Even after the reduction of hydrostatic pressure some
consolidation of soil takes place at slow rate. This is known as secondary
consolidation
NORMALLY CONSOLIDATED CLAY-
A soil is normally consolidated when it has never been subjected to stress higher
than the present stress

OVER CONSOLIDATED CLAY-

A soil which has experienced higher stress in the past than the present stress
Thank You