SOI

LMECHANI
CS

Thest
udyoft
hemechani
cal
behav
iourofsoi
lwhenpl
acedunderl
oad

Soil-t
hecomplex,
unconsol
idat
edmixtur
eofi
norgani
candor
gani
cmat er
ial
cover
ingmostof
theimmediat
elandsur
faceandofvar
iabl
edept
h.Iti
scomposedoft
hreephasesi
.e.sol
i
d,
l
iquidandgas.

• Thesolidphaseiscomposedofinorganicmater
ial
comprisedofunconsol i
dat
ed
mixtur
eofrockfragmentsofgr
avel,sand,si
l
tandclay,
whichr esultfr
om weat
heri
ngof
rocks;
Andt heorgani
ccomponent(humus)consist
ingofplantroots,wastepr
oductsof
animalmetaboli
sm andremai
nsofpl ant
sandanimalsupont heirdecay.

• Thel
iqui
dphaseofsoi
lconsi
stsofmoi
stur
e.

• Thegasphasecompr i
sesofgasese.
g.ni
tr
ogen,oxygen,car
bondi
oxi
deandev
en
organi
cgasesespeci
all
yinar
easofhi
ghbiol
ogicalact
ivi
ty.

SoilProfi
le–Thev er
ti
calcr
oss-sect
ionoft
hesoill
ayer
swhichshowdif
fer
entphy
sical
character
ist
ics.Thel
ayer
sarereferr
edtoashor
izonsasshownbelow.
Phy
sicalPr
oper
ti
esofSoi
ls

1.Soi
ltextur
ereferstotherel
at i
veproport
ionsi npercentageofthevari
ousgrainsi
zesin
soi
lsi.
e.grai
nsizedistr
ibut
ionofthepr i
mar ymi neral
par t
icl
esandhasast r
ong
i
nfl
uenceont heproperti
esofasoi l
.Parti
clesgreaterthan2mm ar erefer
redtoasgravel
whil
esmal l
erthan2mm i ndiameteraredividedintothreebroadcategori
esbasedon
si
ze,namely,

 Sand-par
ticlesof2to0.
05mm indiameter
 Si
lt–part
iclesof0.
05to0.002mm indi
ameter
;and
 Clay–parti
cles<0.
002mm part
icl
es

2.Soilst
ruct
urerefer
stotheshapeandar
rangementofthesoi
lpar
ti
clese.
g.gr
anul
ar,
pri
smatic,
angulari
.e.t
hemannerinwhi
chparti
clesar
eshapedandpacked.

3.Col
ourref
erstothephysi
calappearanceofthesoi
l
.Iti
sdet
ermi
nedbyt
heamountof
or
gani
cmat er
ial
,moist
ureandmi neralcont
ent.

BASI
CPROPERTI
ESOFSOI
L

Soili
smadeupofvar
ioussizedart
icl
esparkedt
ogetherwithspacesi
nbet
weent
hepar
ti
cles
ref
erredt
oasvoi
dsorpores.Thesecont
ainwaterorairorboth.

Thebasi
cpr
oper
ti
esar
ebasedont
hewei
ght
-vol
umer
elat
ionshi
ps
(
a)Moisturecontent
,m =Ww/Ws(x100)
(
b)BulkDensityρ=Wt
, /
Vt
(
c)Drydensity
,ρd=Ws/ Vt
(
d)Porosit
y,n=Vv /
Vt=1-(ρ/(
1+m)ρs)=e/(1+e)
(
e)VoidRatio,e=Vv /Vs=(
(1+m)ρs/ρ)–1=n/(1-
n)

ρsi
( sthespeci
fi
cgr
avi
tyofsoi
l=2.
6-2.
8)

I
tisdeterminedbyplaci
ngasoilsampleinacontai
nerofknownwei ght
,A.Thecontai
nerwit
h
o
t
hesoilisthenweighed(B)andpl
acedinanovenandheatedat105c, unti
lthesampl
eisdr
y.It
i
sthenwei ghedagai
n(C).Themoist
urecont
entcanthenbecal
culat
edi .
e.

m =Wei
ghtofwat
er/Wei
ghtofsol
i
ds;
(B-
C/C-
A)

SOI
LCLASSI
FICATI
ON

Forengi
neeri
ngpurposessoi
l
sar
ecl
assi
fi
edont
hebasi
soft
ext
ureandt
hedegr
eeofpl
ast
ici
ty
i
ntothefol
lowinggr
oups:

• COARSE-gr
ainedsoi
ls(
non-
cohesi
vesoi
l
s)–i
ncl
udegr
avel
andsand

• FI
NE–gr
ainedsoi
ls(
cohesi
vesoi
l
s)–i
ncl
udesi
l
tandcl
ay

• Or
gani
cSoi
ls–hav
inganappr
eci
abl
eor
gani
ccont
ent

Soi
l’
smechani calbehavi
ourdependsongrai
nsizeandt hi
sf or
msabasesf ort
heengineer
ing
cl
assif
icati
on.Todet er
minethegr ai
nsizedi
str
ibut
ion,asi ev
eanal y
sisisconductedinthe
l
aboratory
.Thedegreeofplast
ici
tyisdet
ermi
nedbyconductingplast
ici
tyt
estsasfol
lows:

Si
eveAnal
ysi
s–usual
l
yforcoar
segr
ainedsoi
l
sandi
sconduct
edasf
oll
ows:

• Passasampl
eofsoi
lthr
oughacol
umnofsi
evesofdi
ff
erentsi
zes

• Det
ermi
net
he%ofsoi
lret
ainedi
neachsi
eveandcal
cul
atet
he%passi
ng

• Pl
ott
he%ofsoi
lpar
ti
clespassi
ngeachsi
evev
ersust
hesi
zeoft
hesi
eve

• Det
ermi
net
heD50,
D60andD10v
aluesf
rom t
hegr
aphf
orcl
assi
fyi
ngt
hesoi
l
 (
a)Col
umnofsi
evesand(
b)si
ngl
esi
eve

Gr
ainSi
zeDi
str
ibut
ionCur
ves

Wel
l-
gradedandPoor
lygr
adedsoi
l

(
a)Asoil
thathasawidevari
etyofpart
icl
esizesisr
efer
redt
oaswel
l
-gr
aded.I
tscur
ve
cov
ersseveral
logcy
clesofthegraph(curvesA,
BandD).

(
b)Soi
l,composedofav er
ynar r
owr angeofpar
ticl
esi
zes,i
.e.al
mostal
lpar
ti
clesar
eoft
he
samesi zei
suni
for
ml ygraded(curveC)whil
easoilwit
hsomesizesmissi
ngis
cl
assifi
edasgapgraded( cur
veE).CandEar epoor
lygraded.
Todeterminewhetheramat eri
alissandorgravelnot
ewher etheD50v
alueli
esonthegrai
n-si
ze
di
str
ibuti
oncurveandextrapolat
est r
aightdowntothegrain-si
ze.I
ftheD50val
uei
slessthan5
mm indiameteri
tisconsi
der edtobesandandi ftheD50valueisgreat
erthan5mm thenthe
materi
alisconsi
deredtobegr avel
.

Forasoi
ltobedescri
bedaswel
l-gr
aded,t
hecoef
fi
cientofuni
formity
,Cu,mustbegr
eaterthan
4forgr
avel
,andgreat
erthan6f
orsand,ot
her
wiseiti
spoorlygraded,wher
eCu=D60/D10.

Pl
ast
ici
ty(
Att
erber
g)Test
s–f
orf
inegr
ainedsoi
l
s

• Basedont her el
ati
onshipbetweenthechangeinv ol
umewi t
hmoistur
econtent.As
watercontentincreasesthevol
umeofsoi l
increasesandthesoi
lchangesfr
om soli
d
statet
osemi -soli
dtoplasti
candfinal
lytotheli
quidstat
e.Theboundari
esbetween
thesestat
esar ereferr
edtoasplasti
cit
yli
mi t
s.

Vol
umeofsoi
lvs.Moi
stur
econt
ent

Li
qui
dLi
mit(
LL)

• Def
inedasthemoistur
econtentatwhichthesoilchangesfrom l
i
qui
dt opl
asti
cst e.I
at t
i
sthemoistur
econtentrequi
redtocloseadist
anceof0. 5inchal
ongthebott
om ofa
gr
ooveaft
er25blowsoft hel
iqui
dlimitdevi
ce(shownbel ow)

Pl
ast
icLi
mit(
PL)
 • Defi
nedast hemoistur
econtentatwhichthesoilchangesfr
om pl
ast
ict
othesemi-
sol
id
st
ate.I
tisthemoisturecont
entatwhichthesoilbeginstocr
umblewhenrol
l
edint
o1/8”
di
ameterthreads

Pl
ast
ici
tyI
ndex(
PI)

• Di
ffer
encebet
weenLiquidLi
mitandPl
ast
icLi
mit
.Iti
sani
mpor
tantmeasur
eoft
he
pl
asti
cbehavi
ori
.e.PI=LL-PL

Theplast
ici
tychart–Usedf
ort
hecl
assi
fi
cat
ionoff
ine-
grai
ned(
cohesi
vesoi
l
s)byconduct
ing
thepl
asti
cit
ytest

Uni
fi
edSoi
lCl
assi
fi
cat
ionSy
stem
Ther
ear
esev
eral
classi
fi
cat
ionsy
stemse.
g.:

USDA–U.S.Depar t
mentofAgr iculture
BPR–U.S.BureauofPubl i
cRoads
ASTM –AmericanSocietyforTest i
ngandMat er
ial
s
AASHTOAmer icanAssociati
onf orSt at
eHighwayandTr anspor
tat
ionOf
fi
cial
s
USC-Uni
fi
edSoi lCl
assif
icati
onSy st em
Thecommonlyusedengi neeri
ngcl assifi
cat
ionofsoil
sistheUSC.

TheUSCsy stem giveseachsoiltypeat wo-l

etterdesi
gnat
ion.Forcoarsegr ai
nedsoil
s,t
hefi
rst
l
etter
,ei
therGf orgravel
orSf orsand, r
eferstothedominantparti
clesizeinthesoil
.The
secondl
etteriseit
herW, forwellgradedorP, f
orpoorlygr
adedorM ( silt
)orC( cl
ay)f
orcoar
se-
grai
nedsoil
swi thmor ethan12%ofsi ltorclay
.

Thefir
stlett
erofthedesi
gnationforfi
ne-gr
ainedsoi
lsi
sM orC(sil
torcl
ay)
.Thesecondlett
er,
ei
therH( hi
gh)orL(low),
refer
st otheplast
ici
tyoft
hesoi
lasdef
inedbytheplast
ici
tyi
ndex.
General
lytheboundarybetweenLandHi swhenLL=50%.
WATERI
NSOI
LS

Whenrainfall
sontheearth’
ssurf
ace,waterinfi
l
trat
esint
ot hesoil
layer
sandfi
ll
stheporeswit
h
wat
erunt i
lthesoilbecomessat ur
ated.Whent herateofpr eci
pit
ati
onexceedsther at
eof
i
nfi
l
trat
ion,surf
acerun-
offoccur
s.Wateri
sr etai
nedinthetopsoill
ayersassoi
lmoist
ure.

Permeabil
i
ty–Theeasewi thwhichfl
uidsfl
owi nporousmediaortheabil
i
tyofapor ous
medium t
ot r
ansmitfl
uids.Iti
sgover
nedbyt heDarcyLaw.Darcyl
awdescribesthefl
owof
waterandstat
esthattheflowofwaterthroughapor ousmedium i
sproport
ionaltot
helossof
el
evati
onbetweentwopoi ntsandthecross-sect
ionalar
eaofthefl
owmedi um andisinv
ersel
y
pr
oporti
onaltothel
engt hofthef
lowpat h

i
.e.Q/
t=kAdh/
l,

whereQist hequanti
tyofwater(m3)
,tistheti
me( s)
,Ai st
hecr
oss-secti
onalar
ea( m2)
,dhi
s
thelossofelev
ati
on( m)andli sthelengt
hoft hefl
ow pat
h(m).dh/liscall
edthehy dr
aul
i
c
gradi
entiandkisthepermeabil
i
tycoeff
ici
ent(
m/s)refer
redt
oashydrauli
cconducti
vi
ty.

Pr
inci
plesoft
heDar
cyLaw

Dar
cyal
lowsanest
imat
eof
:

• Thedischargethr
oughtheporousmedium
• thevel
ocityorfl
owratemov i
ngwithi
naporousmedi
um
• theaverageti
meoft r
avelf
rom onepointt
oanot
herpoi
ntl
ocat
eddownst
ream

Det
ermi
nat
ion

Deter
minationofhy dr
auli
cconductiv
ityisdonebyusi ngapermeamet er.Wat erisall
owedto
per
colatethroughthesoilsamplecont ai
nedinacy l
inderofcrosssect
ionalar eaA.Thequanti
ty
ofwaterQpassi ngthroughthesamplei nti
meti scollect
edinameasur ingcy li
nder.
Manomet erstappedintothesideofthesampl ecyli
ndergivethelossofheadHov eral
engt
hof
samplel.Byappl y
ingtheDarcyequationasdescribedabov e,
thepermeabi l
i
tycanbe
det
ermined.
Di
schar
gev
eloci
tyandSeepagev
eloci
ty:

Di
schar
geveloci
ty(
V=Q/At
)assumesf
lowt
hrought
hewhol
ecr
oss-
sect
ionar
eaper
pendi
cul
ar
t
othedir
ect
ionoffl
ow.

Seepageveloci
ty(
Vs=Q/Av
t)i
stheact
ual
flowt
hrought
hev
oids(
Vs=Q/
Avt
)si
ncewat
eronl
y
fl
owsthroughthevoi
ds

Rangeofv
aluesofhy
draul
icconduct
ivi
ty(
k)f
ordi
ff
erentear
thmat
eri
als

Hy
draul
i
cconducti
vit
yofsoilsdependsonsev
eral
fact
ors:
• –Flui
dv i
scosi
ty
• –Grai
nsizedistr
ibuti
on
• –Voidrati
o
• –Degreeofsoilsatur
ati
on

Kr
epr
esentsameasur
eoft heabi l
it
yf orfl
owt hroughpor
ousmedi
a:
• Gravel
s- 0.1t o1cm/ sec
• Sands- 10-2to10-3cm/ sec
-4 -
5
• Sil
ts- 10 t o10 cm/ sec
• Clays- 10-7t
o10-9cm/ sec
EARTHPRESSURES

Al oadplacedonasoi lcr
eatesaforce.Thisfor
ceistransmitt
edthroughoutthesoilbysoi
l
parti
cl
esandpor ewater.Theloadsubject
sthesoiltopressur
e,whichequal stheamountof
l
oaddi vi
dedbyt hesur
faceareaoftheexter
nalsur
faceoverwhichiti
sapplied.ThisPr
essur
eis
theref
oreforceperuni
tarea.

Withi
nthesoil,t
hepressuretransmit
tedfrom t
heexter
nalfacet
oaninter
nallocat
ioniscal l
ed
str
ess.Stressistheintensi
tyoft heint
ernalfor
cesduetoanexternalforce.Li
kepr essure,
Str
ess,atanypoi ntwi
thinthemat eri
alisdefi
nedasforceperuni
tareai.e.σ=F/ A whereF
equal
sforce,andAequal sar
eawi t
hunitsofN/sqm.

Thusstressisthepressur
ewi t
hinsoi
l
sduet otheoverl
yi
ngwei
ghtplusanyloadont hesur
face.
Thev ert
icalst
ressdependsont hedepth,(
z)andtheunitwei
ght,(γ)oftheoverl
yi
ngmat eri
al
(over
burden).I
ftheunitweight
softhesoili
sthenknownandthewat ert
ablel
eveli
sknown, t
he
eff
ectiv
est r
ess(i.
e.st
ressduetosoilpar
ti
clesonl
y)canbedet
ermined.

Uni
tWei
ghtanddensi
ty

TheUnitWeight
,γr
elat
estot
hedensi
tyρoft
, hesoilandtheuni
tsar
eN/m3i.
e.t
heweight(
W)
repl
acesthemass(
M)( ρ=M /Vandγ=W /V).Therel
ati
onshi
pbet
weenwei
ghtandmassis
asfoll
ows:

W =M *gwher
egi
sgr
avi
tyandequal
to9.
8m/
s2.
γ=Mg/V
So,
γ=(
M /V)g
γ=ρ*g

Theuni
twei
ghtofwat s10kN/m3si
eri ncet
hedensi
tyi
s1000kg/m3
St
resswi
thi
nsoi
ls

• Totalstr
essisequalt
otheover
bur
denpressuretr
ansmit
tedbyboththesoi
landwat
er.
I
tincreaseswit
hincr
easi
ngdepthi
nproport
iontotheuni
tweightoft
heoverl
yi
ngsoi
l
.It
i
sdenot edbythesymbol
,σ.

• Eff
ecti
vestr
essi
sameasureofthepr
essuret
ransmit
tedthr
ought
hesoi
lbysoi
l
part
icl
esonl
yatt
hei
rpoi
ntsofcont
act
.Iti
sdenotedbythesymbol
,σ’
.

• Thepor
ewat erpressur
eist
hepr
essur
etr
ansmi
tt
edbyt
hewat
ercont
ainedi
nthesoi
l
por
es.I
tisdenotedbythesy
mbol
,u.

Tot
alSt
ressi
sthesum oft
heef
fect
ivest
ressandt
hepor
ewat
erpr
essur
ei.
e.σ=σ’
+u.

STRENGTHOFSOI
LS

Thestrengt
hofasoi li
sitsabil
i
tytosupportt
heloadofastruct
ureorr emainst
abl e,especial
ly
onaslope.Itisthemaxi mum shearstr
essthatasoil
canwithstandwi t
houtfai
l
ur e.Engineers
musttheref
or eincorpor
atesoilst
rengt
hintothedesi
gnofembankment s,r
oadcut s,buil
dings,
andotherprojects.Thestrengt
hofasoilismainl
ydeter
minedbyi tsabil
it
ytowithstand
shear
ingstresses.Thetwocomponent sthatdeter
mineshearstrengthare:

1.Fri
cti
onalcomponent–duet ofr
ict
ionbetweenindi
vi
dualpar
ticles.Thehi
ghert
hefri
cti
on,
the
hi
gherthest r
ength.
2.Cohesivecomponent-duetoadhesionbetweenthesoi
lpart
icles.Themorethecohesi
on,
the
morethest r
ength.
Deter
mi nati
onofShearStr
ength
1.DirectSheartest(usuall
yf ornon-cohesiv
esoils)
Thedirectsheartestusesaboxspl i
tintotopandbot t
om halves.Thebottom halfi
sfixedwhil
e
thetophalfcanslide.Aconstantnor mal f
orcePisappliedtothet opoftheboxwhi l
eashear i
ng
f ceTi
or sgraduall
yappliedtoonesi de.Shearforceincreaseswithincr
easeinnor malfor
ce.
Thenor malfor
cedi vi
dedbyt hecrosssect i
onalareaoft heboxisthenormalstressandt he
shearforceTdivi
dedbyt heareaistheshearstress.

Apl
otofseveral
v al
ues(atl
eastthr
eeusingv ar
iouscompressive(nor
mal)loads)ofP
(
compressi
vestress)ver
susT(sheari
ngst r
ess)givesastr
aightli
nethatpasseseit
hert
hrough
t
heori
ginforanon-cohesi
vedrysoi
lorinter
ceptsthey-axi
sforcohesivesoi
ls.

Theangleofincl
inati
onoftheli
newithr
espectt
othehor
izont
alaxi
sist
heangl
eofi
nter
nal
fr
ict
ion.TheY-i
ntercepti
sthecohesi
on.

Coul
ombEquat
ion

Soi
lst
rengthparameter
sCandØr equir
erepeatedtest
susi
ngv ar
iousnormalloads.Cohesion
i
sthevalueoftheshearst
ressattheinter
ceptoftheli
neofbestfi
tandtheshearstressaxis.
Theangleofsheari
ngresi
stanceistheanglepr
oducedbytheli
neofbestfitandthehorizontal
axi
saxis.Theequati
onofthestrai
ghtli
neiscal
ledtheCoul
ombequat i
on

TheCoul
ombequat
ionr
elat
esnor
mal
str
ess,
cohesi
on,
por
epr
essur
e,andf
ri
cti
onangl
etot
he
shearst
rengt
hofr
ockorsoi
l
:ie.τ=c+(
. σ-μ)t
anφ

wher
e:τissheari
ngresi
stanceatf
ail
ure(st
rength)
,ciscohesi
on,σisnor
mal
str
ess,
μis
hy
drost
ati
cstress(por
epressur
e),
φi stheangleofint
ernal
fri
cti
on.

2.Tri-
axial ShearTest–( usual
lyforcohesi
vesoil
sandr ocks)
Acylindricalsoilsampl
einar ubbermembr aneisplacedi nsi
deat esti
ngchamberref
erredt
oas
atri
-axialcell.Thechamberisthenf i
ll
edwithwatertoimposeal ater
alorconf
ini
ngpressur
eon
thesoil.Thesoi list
henloadedv er
ti
call
yuntil
itcr
umbl es( f
ail
s).Boththeconf
ini
ngpressur
e
andv erti
cal pressur
earethenrecorded.Thetesti
sr epeatedtwoort hreet
imes.

Valuesoftheconfiningpressure(
minimum pr i
nci
palst
ress)andthev er
ti
calpressure
(maximum pr i
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pal st
ress)arepl
ottedont hex-
axi
safterwhichcir
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wo
valuesforeachtest.Thecircl
esarereferr
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cles.Thetangent
soft hecircl
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e
thendrawnt oform astrai
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ne.Thet wocomponentsofshearstrengthcanthenbe
determinedusingtheCoul ombequat i
on.