CHAPTER 7 ns REVIEW OF BASIC SOIL MECHANICS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ‘The purpose of this chapter is to review some basic soil mechanics concepts that you will use in foundation analysis and design. Soils are geological materials that have the vagaries of the natural world. One of the primary tasks of a geotechnical engineer is to collect, classify, and investigate the physical properties of soils to use in design and construction. Certain properties, parameters, and relationships have been established to accomplish this task. In this chapter, we will summarize the important physical properties and parameters that will be used later in foundation analysis and design. When you complete this chapter, you should be able to: + Understand the importance of geology for foundations. * Calculate and use basic physical soil parameters. 11 DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS ——————————— Soils are materials that are derived from the weathering of rocks. Water content (w) is the percentage weight of water relative to the weight of solids. Void ratio (e) is the ratio of the volume of void space to the volume of solids. {y Porosity (n) is the ratio of the volume of voids to the total volume of soil. Degree of saturation (S) is the ratio of the volume of water to the volume of void. Bulk unit weight (y) is the weight density (ie., the weight of a soil per unit volume). Saturated unit weight (y,) is the weight of a saturated soil per unit volume. Dry unit weight (yj) is the weight of a dry soil per unit volume. Effective unit weight (y’) is the weight of soil solids in a submerged soil per unit volume. Relative density (D,) is an index that quantifies the degree of packing between the loosest and densest state of coarse-grained soils. Effective particle size (D9) is the average particle diameter of the soil for which 10% of the particles have smaller diameters. Average particle diameter (Dso) is the average particle diameter of the soil. Liquid limit (LL) is the water content at which a soil changes from a plastic state to a liquid state Plastic limit (PL) is the water content at which a soil changes from a semisolid to a plastic state.