Unbound Material: Physical

Properties of Soils

Engr. Jefferson R. Vallente Jr. CE, Assoc. TSSP, M.EASTS

Asst. Instructor , Civil Engineering Department
 Natural Soils
• The most vulnerable element of any pavement

Different soil failure:

 Soil Engineering for Highway Design
• Review Concepts:
– Soil Characteristics
• Origin and Formation of Soils
• Surface Texture
• Classification of Soils for Highway Use
» AASHTO
» USCS
• Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
– Phase Relations
– Atterberg Limit
– Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
 Soil Engineering for Highway Design
• Soil Survey for Highway Construction
– Geophysical Methods of Soil Exploration
• Resistivity method
• Seismic method
• Soil Compaction
– Optimum Moisture Content
– Field Compaction Procedures and Equipment
• Special Soil Test for Pavement Design
– California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test
– Hveem Stabilometer Test
 Soil Characteristics: Origin and
Formation of Soils
• Soil, loose mass of
mineral and
organic materials
that cover the
solid crust of
granitic and
basaltic rocks of
the earth.
• Formed through
weathering
– Mechanical
Weathering
– Chemical
Weathering
(e.g. Mangima, Bukidnon)

(e.g. Most rivers and beaches)

 Surface Texture
• Shape and size of the soil particles and
distribution.
• Fine-textured soils
– Silts and clays
• Coarse-textured soils
– Sands and gravel
• For soils below the lower limit, Max.
diameter of particles* in suspension at a
depth:
18𝜂 𝑦
𝐷= ; Based on Stokes’ Law
𝛾𝑠 −𝛾𝑤 𝑡

where:
D, Max. dia. Of particles in suspension
𝜂, (êta) coefficient of viscosity of depth y
t, time from start of the test

*Done using the hydrometer test

Basic Engineering Properties of Soils

• Phase
Relations:
Porosity
𝑉𝑣
𝑛=
𝑉
• Phase
Relations:
Void Ratio
𝑉𝑣
𝑒=
𝑉𝑠
 Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
𝑛𝑉 𝑛
• 𝑒= = 𝑉𝑠 + 𝑉𝑣 = n 1 + e
𝑉𝑠 𝑉𝑠
And,
𝑒
𝑛=
1+𝑒
Similarly,
𝑛
𝑒=
1−𝑛
• Moisture Content
𝑊𝑤 𝑊𝑤 𝑊1 − 𝑊2
𝑤= 100; 𝑤 % = 100 = 100
𝑊𝑠 𝑊𝑠 𝑊2 − 𝑊𝑐
Where:
𝑊1 ,weight of moist soil+container
𝑊2 , weight of dry soil+container

𝑊𝐶 , weight of container
 Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
• Degree of saturation
𝑉𝑤
𝑆 = 100
𝑉𝑣
• Total Density
𝑊 𝑊𝑠 +𝑊𝑤 𝑊𝑠 +𝑊𝑤
𝛾= = ;𝛾 =
𝑉 𝑉𝑠 +𝑉𝑤 +𝑉𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑉𝑠 +𝑉𝑤
• Dry Density
𝑊𝑠 𝑊𝑠 𝛾
𝛾𝑑𝑟𝑦 = = =
𝑉 𝑉𝑠 + 𝑉𝑤 + 𝑉𝑎 1 + 𝑤
• Submerged Density
𝛾 = 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤
• Other useful Relationships
𝐺𝑠 + 𝑆𝑒
𝛾= 𝛾𝑤
1+𝑒
 340-230 = 110g

(110/1.00) = 110 cc

𝑊𝑠 230
=
𝛾𝑠 2.75
83.64 cc
 210 – 110 – 83.64 = 16.36 cc

𝑉𝑤 + 𝑉𝑎 110 + 16.36
= = 1.51
𝑉𝑠 83.64

𝑉𝑉 110 + 16.36
= = 0.60
𝑉 210
𝑉𝑤 110
= = 0.87 𝑜𝑟 87%
𝑉𝑣 110 + 16.36

𝑊𝑠 230
= = 1.095 𝑔/𝑐𝑐
𝑉 210
 Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
• Atterberg Limits
 Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
• Liquidity Index
𝑤 − 𝑃𝐿
𝐿𝐼 =
𝑃𝐼
• Plasticity Index
𝑃𝐼 = 𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿
• Permeability
𝑢 = 𝑘𝑖
Where:
u, velocity of water in the soil
I, hydraulic gradient
K, coefficient of permeability
• Shear Strength
𝑆 = 𝐶 + 𝜎 tan 𝜙
Where:
S, Shear Strength (𝑁 2 /𝑚)
C, Cohesion (𝑁 2 /𝑚)
𝜙, angle of internal friction
𝜎, normal stress on the shear plane (𝑁 2 /𝑚)
 Liquid
Limit Test
• Used to
characterize
the fine-
grained
fractions of
soils
• Specify the
fine-grained
fraction of
construction
materials
• Uses the
Casagrande
apparatus
A. Liquid Limit
Test Number 1 2 3 4
Number of blows 39 28 19 13
Weight of Wet Soil+Container, g 23.43 21.05 21.40 22.50
Weight of Soil+Container, g 20.21 18.32 18.65 19.43
Weight of container, g 12.74 12.43 13.11 13.54
Weight of Water, g (Wet Soil - Dry Soil) 3.22 2.73 2.75 3.07
Weight of Dry Soil, g (Soil - Container) 7.47 5.89 5.54 5.89
Water Content, % (Water/Dry Soil) 43.11% 46.35% 49.64% 52.12%
60

50
Liquid Limit is set at 25 blows,
40
either done graphically using
Axis Title

30

logarithmic graphs or through 20

direct calculation using 10

calculators 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Axis Title
 Problem: Plastic Limit
B. Plastic Limit and Natural Plastic Limit Natural Water
Water Content Content
Test Number 1 2 1 2
Weight of Wet Soil+Container, g 23.50 23.10 17.33 17.11
Weight of Dry Soil+Container, g 20.42 20.19 14.84 14.36
Weight of container, g 12.45 12.54 9.76 9.34
Weight of water, g (Wet Soil - Dry Soil) 3.08 2.91 2.49 2.75
Weight of Dry Soil, g (Soil - Container) 7.97 7.65 5.08 5.02
Water Content, % (Water/Dry Soil) 38.64% 38.04% 49.02% 54.78%
Average, % 38.34% 51.90%
Shear Strength
• Unbound materials
cannot withstand
tension, thus
meaningless to talk
of tensile failure
• But can withstand
shear though
failure in unbound
material is always For pavements, beams and bridges
shear bending stresses are the culprit of
failure
 Inter-particle slip
• Shear strain will occur in an unbound material if slip occurs
between particles
• Particles must have friction and the resistance to strain
• Also shape of the particle is important
• At slip:
𝐹 = 𝜇𝑁 = tan 𝜃 × 𝑁, for rock particles θ must be around 30⁰-35⁰
Angle of internal friction
• Actual movements of
particles will be a
complex combination
of slip, rotation and
sideways
displacement
• expressed as at shear failure:
𝜏
tan ∅ =
𝜎
Where: Note:
∅, angle of internal friction ∅ is not equal to 𝜃
𝜏, shear stress
𝜎, normal stress across the plane
Mohr Circles (Board Calculation)
Method in determining
shear strength: Tri-axial Test

• Shear strength
test for a mold
soil sample
 Cohesive Soil
𝜏 𝜎 , Cell Pressure,
3 Confining Pressure,
lateral pressure at failure
𝜎1 , Maximum Principal shear stress at Failure stress
∆, Deviator Stress

𝜎1 𝜃, Angle of
Plane Failure
𝐴

𝑅 𝜏𝑓
∅ 2𝜃
∅
𝐶 90 − ∅
𝐸 𝑂 𝜎3 𝐵 𝐶 𝜎
𝑂𝐶
𝜎1 𝜎𝑑
Example
• A sample of soil is subjected to a tri-axial test.
At a confining pressure of 60 kPa, the soil fails
when the plunger exerts a pressure of 80 kPa.
The plane of failure of the soil is 53⁰.
Determine the following:
a. Cohesion of the soil
b. Normal stress at the plane of failure
c. Shearing stress at the plane of failure
 𝜏 𝑅 = 0.5 80 = 40 𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑂𝐶 = 𝜎3 +R = 60 + 40 = 100 kPa
Solution 𝐸𝐶 = 𝑅𝑐𝑠𝑐∅ = 40csc16⁰
𝑏 = 𝐸𝐶 − 𝑂𝐶 = 45.118 𝑘𝑃𝑎
1. Cohesion of the soil:
𝐶𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑐 = 𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑛∅ = 12.397 kPa
2. Normal Stress at plane of failure:
𝜎𝑓 = 𝑂𝐶 − 𝑅 sin ∅ = 88.975 kPa
3. Shearing Stress at the plane of failure:
𝜎1
𝜏𝑓 = 𝑅 cos ∅ = 38.45 𝑘𝑃𝑎

𝜏𝑓
∅ 2𝜃
∅ = 2𝜃 − 90°
𝐶 90 − ∅
𝐸 𝑂 𝐵 𝐶 𝜎
𝜎3 = 60𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑏
𝜎1 𝜎𝑑 = 80 kPa
 Non-Cohesive Soil
𝜏 𝜎 , Cell Pressure, Confining Pressure,
3
lateral pressure at failure
𝜎1 , Maximum Principal shear stress at Failure stress
∆, Deviator Stress

𝜎1 𝜃, Angle of
Plane Failure

𝑅 𝜏𝑓
∅ 2𝜃

∅
90 − ∅
𝑂 𝜎3 𝐵 𝐶 𝜎
𝑂𝐶
𝜎1
Example
• In a tri-axial test of a cohesionless soil, the
normal and shearing stresses at failure are
500kPa and 310kPa, respectively. Determine
the following:
a. Shearing resistance of the soil in degrees
b. Angle of failure plane in degrees
c. Principal stress at failure in kPa.
 In triangle OBA:
𝜏 tan ∅ =
310
500
; ∅ = 31.8°
Angle of failure plane:
∅ 31.8°°
𝜃 = 45° + ; 𝜃 = 45° + = 60.9°
2 2
Principal stress at failure:
𝑅 = 310 sec ∅ ; 𝑅 = 364.748
𝑂𝐶 = 𝑅 csc ∅ ; 𝑂𝐶 = 692.2 𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝜎1 = 500 kPa 𝜎1 = 𝑂𝐶 + 𝑅; 𝜎1 = 1056.95 𝑘𝑃𝑎

𝑅 𝜏𝑓 = 310 𝑘𝑃𝑎
∅ 2𝜃

∅
90 − ∅
𝑂 𝜎3 𝐵 𝐶 𝜎
𝑂𝐶
𝜎1
Cohesion
• Forms of shear strength characteristics –
undrained condition

Clean Sand
𝜏 Well-graded
crushed rock
Partially
saturated soil

Saturated clay

𝜎
The effect of particle and mixture
properties for aggregates
• Parameters:
– Particle shape and angularity
– Particle size
– Particle size distribution
– Particle packing
– Water content
Particle shape and angularity
Particle Size
Particle Size Distribution
Particle Size Distribution
Particle Size Distribution
Particle Packing
Water Content