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Advanced Soil Mechanics

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Elements of Earth

8-35 km crust
% by weight in crust

O = 49.2
Si = 25.7 82.4%
Al = 7.5
Fe = 4.7
Ca = 3.4
Na = 2.6
K = 2.4
Mg = 1.9
other = 2.6
12500 km dia
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Soil

• From the point of view of an engineer, soil

includes all earth materials, organic and
inorganic, occurring in the zone overlying
the rock crust.
• The behavior of a structure depends upon
the properties of the soil materials on which
the structure rests.

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FORMATION OF SOILS
• Mechanical Weathering
-expansive forces of freezing water in fissures
-sudden changes of temperature
-abrasive action of moving water or glaciers
- Erosion by wind and rain
- Cracking forces by growing plants and roots in voids
• Chemical Weathering
- hydration, oxidation, carbonation, and leaching.

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GENERAL TYPES OF SOILS

According to their grain size, soil particles are

classified as cobbles, gravel, sand, silt and
clay.

Gravel Sand Silt Clay

76.2 to 4.75 4.75 to 0.075 0.075 to 0.002 < 0.002

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GENERAL TYPES OF SOILS

Parent Rock

Residual soil Transported soil

~ in situ weathering (by ~ weathered and
physical & chemical transported far away
agents) of parent rock
by wind, water and ice.
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Parent Rock

~ formed by one of these three different processes

igneous sedimentary metamorphic

formed by cooling of formed by gradual

formed by alteration of
molten magma (lava) deposition, and in layers
igneous & sedimentary
e.g., limestone, shale rocks by
e.g., granite pressure/temperature

e.g., marble
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Residual Soils

Formed by in situ weathering of parent rock

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Transported Soils

Transported by: Special name:

 wind “Aeolian”
sea (salt water) “Marine”
lake (fresh water) “Lacustrine”
river “Alluvial”
ice “Glacial”
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SOIL PARTICLE SHAPE

• Gravel and sand

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SOIL PARTICLE SHAPE

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SOIL PARTICLE SHAPE

• Silt and clay
The particles may be angular, flake-shaped or sometimes needle-
like.

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Basic Structural Units

Clay minerals are made of two distinct structural units.

hydroxyl or
oxygen oxygen

aluminium or
silicon magnesium

0.26 nm
0.29 nm

Silicon tetrahedron Aluminium Octahedron

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Tetrahedral Sheet

Several tetrahedrons joined together form a tetrahedral sheet.

tetrahedron

hexagonal
hole

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Tetrahedral & Octahedral Sheets

For simplicity, let’s represent silica tetrahedral sheet by:

Si

and alumina octahedral sheet by:

Al

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Different Clay Minerals

Different combinations of tetrahedral and octahedral sheets form different clay minerals:

1:1 Clay Mineral (e.g., kaolinite, halloysite):

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Different Clay Minerals

Different combinations of tetrahedral and octahedral sheets form different clay minerals:

2:1 Clay Mineral (e.g., montmorillonite, illite)

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Kaolinite

Al
Si
Typically 70-
100 layers Al
0.72 nm
Si
Al
joined by strong H-bond
no easy separation Si
Al joined by oxygen
sharing
Si
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Kaolinite

 used in paints, paper and in pottery and

pharmaceutical industries
 (OH)8Al4Si4O10

Halloysite
 kaolinite family; hydrated and tubular structure

 (OH)8Al4Si4O10.4H2O

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Montmorillonite
 also called smectite; expands on contact with water
Si
Al
Si

Si
Al 0.96 nm
easily separated
Si
by water

Si
joined by weak
van der Waal’s bond Al
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Montmorillonite

 A highly reactive (expansive) clay

 (OH)4Al4Si8O20.nH2O swells on contact with water

high affinity to water

Bentonite
 montmorillonite family

 used as drilling mud, in slurry trench walls,

stopping leaks
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Illite
Si
Al
Si
joined by K+ ions
Si
fit into the hexagonal 0.96 nm
holes in Si-sheet
Al
Si

Si
Al
Si
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Others…

Chlorite
 A 2:1:1 (???) mineral.
Si Al Al or Mg

Vermiculite
 montmorillonite family; 2 interlayers of water

Attapulgite
 chain structure (no sheets); needle-like appearance
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A Clay Particle

Plate-like or Flaky Shape

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Clay Fabric
edge-to-face contact
face-to-face contact

Flocculated Dispersed
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Clay Fabric

 Electrochemical environment (i.e., pH, acidity, temperature,

cations present in the water) during the time of
sedimentation influence clay fabric significantly.
 Clay particles tend to align perpendicular to the load applied on them.

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Scanning Electron Microscope

 common technique to see clay particles

 qualitative

plate-like
structure

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Others…

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

 to identify the molecular structure and minerals present

Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA)

 to identify the minerals present

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Casagrande’s PI-LL Chart

60
U-line
50
montmorillonite illite A-line
Plasticity Index

40

30
kaolinite
20
halloysite
10

0
chlorite
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Liquid Limit

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Atterberg Limit of Clay Minerals

Na-montmorillonite
•Thicker double layer
•LL=710
Ca-montmorillonite
•Thinner double layer
•LL=510
The thickness of double
layer increases with
decreasing cation valence.

Lambe and Whitman, 1979

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Specific Surface

 surface area per unit mass (m2/g)

 smaller the grain, higher the specific surface

e.g., soil grain with specific gravity of 2.7

10 mm cube 1 mm cube

spec. surface = 222.2 mm2/g spec. surface = 2222.2 mm2/g

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Isomorphous Substitution

 substitution of Si4+ and Al3+ by other lower valence

(e.g., Mg2+) cations
 results in charge imbalance (net negative)

positively charged edges

+ +
+ _ _ _ _+ + _ negatively charged faces
+ _ _ _ __
+ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _

Clay Particle with Net negative Charge 36

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Cation Exchange Capacity (c.e.c)

known as exchangeable cations

 capacity to attract cations from the water (i.e., measure of

the net negative charge of the clay particle)

 measured in meq/100g (net negative charge per 100 g of clay)

milliequivalents

 The replacement power is greater for higher valence and

larger cations.
Al3+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ >> NH4+ > K+ > H+ > Na+ > Li+
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A Comparison

Mineral Specific surface C.E.C

(m2/g) (meq/100g)
Kaolinite 10-20 3-10
Illite 80-100 20-30
Montmorillonite 800 80-120
Chlorite 80 20-30

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Cation Concentration in Water

 cation concentration drops with distance from clay particle
+ clay particle +

+- - + cations
+ + + - +
- ++ +
+ + + + ++ + + + + +
+ + - -
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +- -+ + + + + +
+ + + + + - - +
+ + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + +- -+ +
+ + + + +
+ + +- -+ + +
+ + + +

+ double layer + free water

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Adsorbed Water

 A thin layer of water tightly held to particle; like a skin

 1-4 molecules of water (1 nm) thick
 more viscous than free water

- - adsorbed water
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
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Clay Particle in Water

adsorbed water

- -
1nm
- -
- - 50 nm
- - free water
- -
- - double layer
- - water
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Summary - Clays

 Clay particles are like plates or needles. They are

negatively charged.

 Clays are plastic; Silts, sands and gravels are non-plastic.

 Clays exhibit high dry strength and slow dilatancy.

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Summary - Montmorillonite

 Montmorillonites have very high specific surface,

cation exchange capacity, and affinity to water.
They form reactive clays.

 Montmorillonites have very high liquid limit (100+),

plasticity index and activity (1-7).

 Bentonite (a form of Montmorillonite) is frequently used

as drilling mud.

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