Principles of Geotechnical Engineering

Eighth Edition

Chapter 4
Plasticity and
Structure of Soil

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Student Objectives and Outline

 4.2 – Learn about the liquid limit and its definition

 4.3 – Learn about the plastic limit for a soil
 4.4 – Learn about the shrinkage limit for a soil
 4.5 – Understand the liquidity index and consistency index
 4.6 – Know about activity of clay minerals
 4.7 – Understand the plasticity chart
 4.8 – Learn about soil structure

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Atterberg Limits

 The behavior of a solid

may be solid, semisolid,
plastic, or liquid
 The transition from solid to
semisolid is the shrinkage
limit, semisolid to plastic is
the plastic limit, and plastic
to liquid is the liquid limit

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.2 Liquid Limit (LL)

 The liquid limit is measured

using a device depicted in
Figure 4.3
 A soil sample is placed in the
brass cup
 A groove is then cut in soil
sample using a tool
 The brass cup is then dropped
until the groove closes

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Liquid Limit (LL) (cont.)

 The liquid limit is defined

as moisture content which
requires 25 blows to close
a groove of 12.5 mm,
when the brass cup is
dropped by a cam from a
height of 10 mm

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Flow Curve and Flow Index

 The relationship between moisture content and log(𝑁),

where 𝑁 is the number of blows needed to close the gap,
is assumed to be linear, and this curve is the flow curve
𝑤 = −𝐼𝐹 log 𝑁 + 𝑐
 𝐼𝑓 is the flow index
 This curve may be used to estimate the liquid limit when
it is difficult to meet the required closure at 25 blows

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

One-Point Method

 The one-point method estimates the liquid limit based on

a single trial, and is generally valid for 20 ≤ 𝑁 ≤ 30:
𝑁 tan 𝛽
𝐿𝐿 = 𝑤𝑁
25
 𝑁 is the number of blows required to close the groove, 𝑤𝑁
is the corresponding moisture content, and tan 𝛽 = 0.121

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Fall Cone Method

 The fall cone method

defines the liquid limit as
the moisture content at
which a standard cone
(apex angle of 30∘ , weight
of 0.78 N) penetrates 20
mm in 5 seconds when
dropped from point contact
with the soil surface

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Fall Cone Method (cont.)

 The flow index for the fall cone test may be defined as:
𝑤2 % − 𝑤1 %
𝐼𝐹𝐶 =
log 𝑑2 − log 𝑑1
 The curve relating penetration distance to moisture
content may be then be used to determine the moisture
content at which the cone penetrates 20 mm, which is the
liquid limit

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.3 Plastic Limit (PL)

 At the moisture content of the plastic limit, soil crumbles

when rolled into 3.2 mm diameter threads
 The fall cone method may also be used as in the liquid
limit, but using a cone with a mass of 2.35 N instead
 The plasticity index (PI) is the difference between the
liquid and plastic limits:
𝑃𝐼 = 𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Example of Liquid and Plastic Limits

using the Fall Cone Test

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Correlation of Plasticity Index and Flow Index

 Sridharan et al. determined

a correlation between the
flow index from the liquid
limit tests and the plasticity
index:
𝑃𝐼 % = 4.12𝐼𝐹 (%)

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.4 Shrinkage Limit (SL)

 Soil shrinks gradually as it

loses moisture
 The point at which the soil
no longer shrinks is defined
as the shrinkage limit

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Shrinkage Limit (SL) (cont.)

 The shrinkage limit may be

determined by drying a sample
of wet soil
 The shrinkage limit is:
𝑀1 − 𝑀2 𝑉𝑖 − 𝑉𝑓
𝑆𝐿 = 100 − 𝜌𝑤
𝑀2 𝑀2
 𝑀1 and 𝑉𝑖 are the wet soil mass
and volume
 𝑀2 and 𝑉𝑓 are the dry soil mass
and volume

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Typical Shrinkage Limits for Clay

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.5 Liquidity Index and Consistency Index

 The liquidity index is a measure of the relative consistency

of a natural soil, and is defined by:
𝑤 − 𝑃𝐿
𝐿𝐼 =
𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿
 It is possible for a soil to have a liquidity index greater
than 1 (if the moisture content is greater than the liquid
limit), or less than 0 (if the moisture content is less than
the plasticity limit)

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Consistency Index

 The consistency index is zero at the liquid limit, and one

at the plasticity limit:
𝐿𝐿 − 𝑤
𝐶𝐼 =
𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.6 Activity

 Activity is a measure of the swelling potential of clay soils,

and is defined by:
𝑃𝐼
𝐴=
%𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑦 − 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
 Different types of clay have different activities

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Activity (cont.)

 This relationship may not

always pass through the
origin
 𝐴 may then be redefined as:
𝑃𝐼
𝐴=
%𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝐶′
 𝐶′ is a constant for a given soil

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Activity (cont.)

 Polidori provided an
empirical relationship for
activity:
0.96 𝐿𝐿 − 0.26 𝐶𝐹 − 10
𝐴=
𝐶𝐹
 Where 𝐶𝐹 is the clay
fraction, and is equal to or
greater than 30%

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.7 Plasticity Chart

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.7 Plasticity Chart

 The plasticity chart plots the liquidity limit against the

plasticity index of various soils
 This is useful for studying the correlation of these
parameters and for soil identification

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

The A-line

 The A-line is an empirical equation given by:

𝑃𝐼 = 0.73(𝐿𝐿 − 20)
 This line separates inorganic clays from inorganic silts
 Inorganic clays are above the A-line, and inorganic clays
are below the A-line
 Organic silts are in the same region as inorganic silts of
medium compressibility

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

The U-line

 The U-line is an empirical equation given by:

𝑃𝐼 = 0.9(𝐿𝐿 − 8)
 This line is approximately the upper limit of the
relationship between the plasticity index and liquidity limit
of any known soil

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Estimating the Shrinkage Limit from the

Plasticity Index and Liquidity Limit

 Point A is the known

plasticity index and
liquidity limit
 Point B is the intersection
of the A-line and U-line
 Point C, the intersection of
the line AB with the x axis,
is approximately the
shrinkage limit

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

4.8 Soil Structures

 Soil structure is the geometric arrangement of soil

particles with respect to each other
 The size, shape, and mineral composition of the soil
particles, and the soil water, affect soil structure
 Soils may be categorized as either cohesive or
cohesionless

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Structures in Cohesionless Soil

 Structures in cohesionless
soils are either single-
grained or honeycombed
 In single-grained
structures, each particle
contacts the surrounding
ones and is stable
 Void ratios vary with the
denseness of packing

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Honeycombed Structure

 Honeycombed structures
have large void ratios
 Particles form small arches
 The structure may break
down under heavy loads,
leading to settlement

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Structures in Cohesive Soil

 At large interparticle distances, clay particles

electrostatically repel each other, however, they attract
each other at small interparticle distances
 The particles move randomly in Brownian motion
 In a dispersed structure, formed from the settlement of
individual particles, the particles are oriented mostly
parallel to each other

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Structures in Cohesive Soil (cont.)

 If the clay particles come

close enough together,
they tend to aggregate
 This process is known as
flocculation
 Clay deposits from the sea
are highly flocculent
because the salt reduces
the interparticle repulsion

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Aggregation of Clay Particles

 Individual particles tend to aggregate in submicroscopic

units called domains, which then aggregate into groups
called clusters, which may be seen with a light microscope
 The clusters group together to form peds
 Groups of peds are macrostructural features

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Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Eighth Edition Das/Sobhan

Summary

 The liquid, plastic, and shrinkage limits are moisture

contents at which the soil consistency changes
 The plasticity index is the difference between the liquid
limit and the plastic limit
 The liquidity index is the defined by:
𝑤 − 𝑃𝐿
𝐿𝐼 =
𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿
 The activity is the ratio of plasticity index to the percent of
clay-size fraction by weight

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