III-1

PARTICULATE MEDIA:



CHARACTERIZATION OF PARTICULATE MEDIA
(Phase relationships, specific gravity)

Phase relationships: indirect measure of particle arrangement (fabric)















Void ratio:
s
V
v
V
e=
Porosity:

v
V
s
V
v
V
V
v
V
n
T
+
= =
e
e
n
e
v
V
v
V
s
V
n +
= + =
+
=
1
1
1
1


Porosity and void ratio for natural sands depend a great degree upon on the shape and size
distribution of the particles.

e ~ 0.5 to for sand and gravel soils
0.7 to for most common clays
3.0 to for colloidal clays
n ~ 30% to for sand and gravel soils

Water or moisture content:
s
W
w
W
= e For sands e ~ 10% to
For clays e ~ 5% to

- Phase relationships (density & volume)
- Packing of regular spheres
- Friction
- Grain size distribution
Solids, 26.5 kN/m
3
Water, 9.81 kN/m
3

Air, 0.01 kN/m
3

V
A
, W
A

V
W
, W
W

V
S
, W
S

V
V

V, W
III-2
Degree of saturation:
v
V
w
V
S= Extreme values seldom approached

Air content:
V
a
V
A=

Unit weight, Mass density:
V
W
=
V
M
=
g

= , g = 9.81 m/s
2

Specific gravity:
w
G

= Soil particles G ~ 2.6 to 2.8

w
~ 9.81 kN/m
3
@ 21C

Relative density (granular soils):
min
e e
e e
ma
max

=
x
r
D

Very loose: 0% to Loose: 15% to
Medium dense: 35% to Dense: 70% to
Very dense: 85% to

Specific gravities:

























Quartz 2.65 Sand 2.65
K-Feldspars 2.65 - 2.57 Silty Sand 2.66 - 2.68
Na-Ca-Feldspars 2.62 - 2.76 Silt 2.67 - 2.68
Calcite 2.72 Silty Clay 2.70 - 2.72
Dolomite 2.85 Clay 2.70 - 2.80
Muscovite 2.7 - 3.1
Biotite 2.8 - 3.2 Gs > 2.80 - likely metals present
Chlorite 2.6 - 2.9 Gs < 2.70 - likely organics present
Pyrophyllite 2.84
Serpentine 2.2 - 2.7 Average Gs for sand = 2.65
Kaolinite 2.61
a
Average Gs for well mixed soil = 2.70
2.64+/-0.02
Halloysite (2 H
2
O) 2.55
Illite 2.84
a
2.60 - 2.86
Montmorillonite 2.74
a
2.75 - 2.78
Attapulgite 2.3
a
Calculated from crystal structure.
Specific Gravities of Minerals Specific Gravities of Soils
Figure 1.4 Craigs Soil Mechanics (2012)
III-3
Some typical values of void ratio, moisture content and dry unit weight for soils are given next
(Das, 2010).



III-4
Example III-1:

A soil has e = 8%, G
T
= 1.9, G
S
= 2.65. Find (a) void ratio e, (b) degree of saturation S,
and (c) How much water has to be added to 1m
3
to increase e to 13%?



SOLIDS
WATER
AIR
V
A
, W
A
V
W
, W
W
V
S
, W
S

V
V

V
T
,W
T

III-5
a) Void ratio e












b) Degree of saturation S














c) How much water per m
3
to increase e to 13%?
















III-6

PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION CURVES


Unified Soil Classification System

A soil classification system provides:

- a systematic method of categorizing soils according to their probable engineering behaviour;
- a common base to communicate soil information between engineers; and
- a common system to accumulate experience on the engineering behaviour of soils.

Role of the classification system in geotechnical engineering:




















(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)

Different classification systems have evolved over the years, but the one most comonly used in
geotechnical engineering is the Unified Classification System (USCS). Simplistic model of the
Unified Soil Classification System:









Classification and Index properties
(w, e, , S, GSD, LL, PI etc.)
Classification System
Language
Engineering Properties
(permeability, compressibility,
shrink-swell, shear strength etc.)
Engineering Purpose
(highways, airfields,
foundation, dams etc.)
Sands Gravels
Coarse Grained
Clays Silts
Fine Grained
Soils
III-7
The system was originally developed in 1948 by Professor A. Casagrande for airfield
construction during World War II. It has been subsequently modified (only slightly).

The basis of the USCS is that: coarse grained soils can be classified according to their grain size
distributions; and the engineering behaviour of fine grained soils is primarily related to their
plasticity. Therefore, sieve analysis and Atterburg limits are needed to classify a soil.

A soil is classified using a two letter symbol:

The first letter describes the major component of the soil according to four major divisions:
coarse grained soils (gravel (G) and sand (S)); fine grained soils (silt (M) and clay (C)); organic
soils (O); and peat (Pt).

The second letter describes the soil relating to: whether a coarse grained soil is well (W) or
poorly (P) graded; whether a coarse grained soil contains appreciable silt (M) or Clay (C); and
whether a fine grained soil has high plasticity (H) or low plasticity (L).


Characterization of particulate materials based on particle sizes:


Coarse-grained soils (Gravel, Sand) form 0.075 mm to 75.0 mm (3 orders of magnitude)

Fine-grained soils (Silt, Clay) from <0.002 mm to 0.075 mm

More detailed classification: C: Coarse, M: Medium Fine: F

(mm) (mm)

Gravel (G) C 75 - 20
M 20 - 10
F 10 - 4.75

Sand (S) C 4.75 - 0.6
M 0.6 - 0.2
F 0.2 - 0.075

Silt (M) C 0.075 - .02
M 0.02 - 0.006
F 0.006 - 0.002

Clay (C) < 0.002


A logarithmic scale is used to accommodate all 6 orders of magnitude of grain size range.

III-8
Other classification systems were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The next table shows the particle-size
classifications (Das, 2010).






Particulate size analysis:

Since soil particles are rarely perfect spheres, particle diameter (or size) refers to an equivalent
particle diameter as found from the sieve analysis. In Canada, we often use the U.S. Standard
Sieves.

















Sieve
Mesh
W1
W2
W3
W-N
W-pan
III-9
The sieve sizes are:


Sieve No. Sieve Opening (mm)
3" 75
1.5" 38
0.75" 19
0.375" 9.5
#4 4.75
#10 2.00
#20 0.85
#40 0.425
#60 0.25
#100 0.15
#140 0.106
#200 0.075


Nested sieves are used for soils with grain sizes larger than 75 m. For finer soils (silts and clays)
the hydrometer test (sedimentation analysis) is used.

After performing a sieve analysis, the percent of passing material (percent finer for each sieve) is
plotted against the sieve opening size (in log scale). This plot is referred to as the particle-size
distribution curve.



Figure 1.13 Craigs Soil Mechanics (2012)
III-10
Example of sieve analysis. Total weight = 500 g

Sieve # Size (mm) W-retained
(g)
W-r
(g)
W-passing
(g)
% Passing
3/8 9.5 0 500
10 2 70 430
20 0.85 90 340
40 0.425 160 180
100 0.15 85 95
200 0.075 50 45
Pan >0.075 45 N/A N/A

0.01 0.1 1 10
0
20
40
60
80
100
Particle size (mm)
%

P
a
s
s
i
n
g
Y
i
X
i


Quantitative Characteristics:

Coefficient of uniformity (C
U
):
10
60
D
D
C
u
=

Coefficient of curvature (C
C
):
60 10
2
30
D D
D
C
c
=
Well graded sand: 1< C
C
< 3, C
U

Well graded gravel: 1< C
C
< 3, C
U


The higher C
U
the larger the range of particles sizes in the soil

W
P
= W
T
- W
R


86= (430/500)*100

Sieve 200
corresponds cosely
to the limit of
coarse-grained soils
(200 wires/inch)

III-11
Examples of Particle size distributions ( C
U
= ? C
C
= ? )



































1) Well graded soil: good representation of particle sizes over a wide range; gradation
curve is generally smooth.

2) Poorly graded soil: either excess or a deficiency of certain sizes, or most of the particles
about the same size. (i.e. uniform soil)

3) Gap graded soil: a proportion of grain sizes within a specific range is low (it is also
poorly graded).


% Passing
%

P
a
s
s
i
n
g

Log (Particle size)
%

P
a
s
s
i
n
g

Log (Particle size)
Log (Particle size)
1)

2)
3)