CE 3121: Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory

Class 3 (b)

Soil Classification

Sources:

Soil Mechanics – Laboratory Manual,B.M. DAS (Chapters 9)

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Class Outlines
 Soil Classification Systems
 USCS
 AASHTO
 USDA

 USCS Classification System

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 Organization of the Lab Tests
Soil Properties

Physical Mechanical
(Soil Characteristics)

Moisture Specific Atterberg Strength

Gradation Permeability Compressibility
Content Gravity Limits (Shear)
Unit Weight

(Soil Classification)

Geotechnical engineering Geotechnical engineering

Structural engineering Structural engineering
Pavement engineering Pavement engineering
Environmental engineering

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3
USCS Classification System
 Originally developed for the United States
Army
 The method is standardized in ASTM D 2487
as “Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)”
 USCS is the most common soil classification
system among geotechnical engineers
 A typical USCS classification would be:
SM - Silty sand with gravel

Group Group
Symbol Civil Engineering - Texas Tech University Name
Naming Convention
 Fine-grained Soil
First Letter Second Letter
M – Silt L – Low plastic
C – Clay H – High plastic
O – Organic
 Coarse-grained Soil
First Letter Second Letter
S – Sand P – Poorly graded
G – Gravel W – Well graded
M – Silty
C - Clayey
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Classification of Soils
 From sieve analysis and the grain-size
distribution curve determine the percent
passing as the following:
 > 3 inch – Cobble or Boulders
 3 inch - # 4 (76.2 – 4.75 mm) : Gravel
 # 4 - # 200 (4.75 - 0.075 mm) : Sand
 < # 200: Fines
 First, Find % passing # 200
 If (5%) or more of soil passes # 200 sieve,
then conduct Atterberg Limits test (LL & PL)
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Cobbles or Boulders Grain Size Distribution Curves

GRAVEL SAND FINES

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Classification of Soils
 If the soil is fine-grained (≥ 50% passes #200)
follow the guidelines for fine-grained soils
 If the soil is coarse-grained (<50% passes
#200) follow the guidelines for coarse-grained
soils
 Find % Gravel & Sand
 Calculate Cu & Cc
 Calculate LL, PL and PI

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Fine-grained Soils

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Coarse-grained Soils

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 Example – Soil A

Gravel
98-62 = 36%

Sand
62-8 = 54%

Fines = 8%

Cu = 46.67
Soil A: D60 = 4.2 mm , D30 = 0.6 mm, D10 = 0.09 mm Cc = 0.95
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 Example – Soil A (Cont.)
Grave = 36%
Sand = 54%
Fines = 8%
Cu = 46.7
Cc = 0.95

LL = 42
PL = 31
PI = 42-31 = 11

GO TO Civil Engineering - Texas Tech University

Plasticity Chart
 Example – Soil A (Cont.)

LL = 42
PL = 31 ML
PI = 42-31 = 11 Civil Engineering - Texas Tech University
Example – Soil A (Cont.)
 Soil A is then classified as
SP-SM – Poorly-grades sand with silt and
gravel

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 In your report
 Use data from Sieve analysis in Lab 2 and
classify the soil
 Assuming the % passing No. 200 Sieve in
55%, and using data from Lab 3 classify the
soil
 Attach the Plasticity Chart

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 Problem
The sieve analysis of ten soils and the LL and PL of the
fraction passing a No. 40 sieve are ;
Soil No. Sieve Analysis (% finer) LL PL
No. 10 No.40 No. 200
1 98 80 50 38 29
2 100 92 80 56 23
3 100 88 65 37 22
4 85 55 45 28 20
5 92 75 62 43 28
6 97 60 30 25 16
7 100 55 8 NP
8 94 80 63 40 21
9 83 48 20 20 15
10 100 92 86 70 38

Classify the soil by AASHTO Classification System & give

the group indexes