D.C.

E 3RD Year
M.B.C Institute of Engineering & Technology

THREE PHASE
DIAGRAM OF SOIL
Subham Ruidas
Arijit Sarkar
Sk Sahid
Souvick Kr. Dutta
Partha Mondal
Content :
• Soil as a three phase diagram
• Water Content or Moister Content
• Void Ratio
• Porosity
• Degree of Saturation
• Air Content
• Percentage of Air Void
• Bulk Density
• Dry Unit Weight
• Saturated Unit Weight
• Submerged Unit Weight
What is Three Phase System ?
A soil mass is a Three Phase System consisting of solid particles , water & air.
The voids space between the soils grains is filled water partly with air.

• When the voids are only filled with water or air, then soil becomes a two phase
system.
• When voids are filled with water, it is said to be saturated.
• Three phase system can be represented with a diagram shown in below.
Three Phase Diagram

VT= Total volume of the soil mass

Vs= Volume of solid
VV= Volume of void
Va= Volume of air
Wa= Weight of air
WW= weight of water
WS= weight of solid
Water Content or Moister Content :
It is define as the ratio of weight of water to the weight of
solid present in the soil mass.
It’s denoted by “W”.

W = (WW/WS)
Voids Ratio :
It is define as the ratio of volume of void to volume of solid.
It’s denoted by “e”.

e = (Vv/Vs)
Porosity :
It is define as the ratio of volume of void to the total volume.
It’s denoted by “ƞ”.

ƞ = (Vv/VT)
Degree of Saturation:
It is define as the ratio of volume of water to the volume of void in
the soil mass.
It’s denoted by “Sr”.

Sr = (Vw/Vv)
Air Content:
It is define as the ratio of volume of air to volume of void in any soil
mass.
It’s denoted by “ AC”.

AC = (Va/VV)
Percentage of Air Void :
It is define as the ratio of volume of air void to total volume of soil
mass of a given soil.
It’s denoted by “ Ƞa”.

Ƞa=(Va/VT)
Bulk Density:
It is define as the ratio of total weight to the total volume of a soil.
It’s denoted by “ ɣb”.

ɣb = (W/V)
Dry Unit Weight :
It is define as the ratio of weight of soil in its dry state to total
volume of soil.
It’s denoted by “ ɣd”.

ɣd = (Wd/V)
Saturated Unit Weight :
It is define as the ratio of weight of soil in its dry state to total
volume of soil.
It’s denoted by “ ɣsat”.

ɣsat = (Wsat/V)
Submerged Unit Weight :
It is define as the ratio of weight of soil in its saturated condition to
the total volume of the soil mass.
It’s denoted by “ ɣsub”.

ɣsub =(Wsub/V)