GUINILING, JOJIE D.

BSCE-2CNS

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING (MWF 10-12)

PROPERTIES OF SOIL

1. COHESION

–internal molecular attraction which resists the rupture or shear of a material.

–derived in the fine grained soils from the water films which bind together the individual
particles in the soil mass.

–property of the fine grained soil with particle size below 0.002 mm. cohesion of a soil
decreases as the moisture content increases.

2. ANGLE OF INTERNAL FRICTION

–resistance in sliding of grain particles of a soil mass depends upon the angle of internal
friction.

–usually considered that the value of the angle of internal friction is almost independent of the
normal pressure but varies with the degree of packing of the particle.

–soils subjected to the higher normal stresses will have lower moisture contents and higher
bulk densities at failure than those subjected to lower normal stresses and the angle of internal
friction may thus change.

3. CAPILLARITY

–ability of soil to transmit moisture in all directions regardless of any gravitational force.

–maximum theoretical height of capillary rise depends upon the pressure which tends to force
the water into the soil, and this force increases as the size of the soil particles decreases.

–capillary rise in a soil when wet may equal as much as 4 to 5 times the height of capillary
rise in the same soil when dry.

–Coarse gravel has no capillary rise; coarse sand has up to 30 cm; fine sand and soils have
capillary rise up to 1.2 m but dry sand have very little capillarity. Clays may have capillary
rise up to 0.9 to 1.2 m but pure clays have very low value.

4. PERMEABILITY

–rate at which water flows through it under action of hydraulic gradient.

 –passage of moisture through the inter-spaces or pores of the soil is called ‘percolation’. Soils
having porous enough for percolation to occur are termed ‘pervious’ or ‘permeable’, while
those which do not permit the passage of water are termed ‘impervious’ or ‘impermeable’.

–Knowledge of permeability is required not only for seepage, drainage and ground water
problems but also for the rate of settlement of structures on saturated soils.

5. ELASTICITY

–A soil is said to be elastic when it suffers a reduction in volume (or is changed shape & bulk)
while the load is applied, but recovers its initial volume immediately when the load is
removed.

6. COMPRESSIBILITY

 Gravels, sands & silts are incompressible, i.e. if a moist mass of those materials is subjected
to compression; they suffer no significant volume change. Clays are compressible, i.e. if a
moist mass of clay is subjected to compression, moisture & air may be expelled, resulting in a
reduction in volume which is not immediately recovered when the compression load is
withdrawn. The decrease in volume per unit increase of pressure is defined as the
compressibility of soil, and a measure of the rate at which consolidation proceeds is given by
the ‘co-efficient of consolidation’ of the soil. Compressibility of sand & silt varies with
density & compressibility of clay varies directly with water content & inversely with cohesive
strength.

 Specific gravity is the ratio of the mass of soil solids to the mass of an equal volume of water.
It is an important index property of soils that is closely linked with mineralogy or chemical
composition [12] and also reflects the history of weathering [13]. It is relatively important as
far as the qualitative behavior of the soil is concerned [14] and useful in soil mineral
classification, for example iron minerals have a larger value of specific gravity than silicas
[15]. It gives an idea about suitability of the soil as a construction material; higher value of
specific gravity gives more strength for roads and foundations. It is also used in calculation of
void ratio, porosity, degree of saturation and other soil parameters [16]. Typical values of
specific gravity are given in Table 1.

 Density Index
 The degree of compaction of fine grained soils is measured in relation to maximum dry
density for a certain compactive effort, like 90% of light compaction density or proctor
density. But in case of coarse grained soils, a different sort of index is used for compaction.
Depending upon the shape, size, and gradation of soil grains, coarse grained soils can remain
in two extreme states of compaction, namely in the loosest and densest states. Any
intermediate state of compaction can be compared to these two extreme states using an index
called relative density or density index.Density index is expressed in percent and is defined as
the ratio of the difference between the void ratio of a cohesionless soil in the loosest state and
any given void ratio to the difference between its void ratios in the loosest and the densest
states [20]. It is a measure of the degree of compactness, and the stability of a stratum [14].

 Compaction
 Soil compaction is one of the ground improvement techniques. It is a process in which by
expending compactive energy on soil, the soil grains are more closely rearranged.
Compaction increases the shear strength of soil and reduces its compressibility and
permeability [19, 21].
 Murthy [10] explained that when an earth dam is properly compacted, the shear strength of
the material is increased and dam becomes more stable. Since the soil becomes dense, its
permeability gets decreased. The decrease in the permeability of the dam decreases the
seepage loss of the water stored. The settlement of the dam also decreases due to the increase
in the density of the materials.
 According to Prakash and Jain [16], compaction of soils increases the density, shear strength,
bearing capacity but reduces their void ratio, porosity, permeability and settlements. The
results are useful in the stability of field problems like earthen dams, embankments, roads and
airfields. The moisture content at which the soils are compacted in the field is controlled by
the value of optimum moisture content determined by the laboratory proctor compaction test.
The compaction energy applied in the field is also controlled by the maximum dry density
determined in the laboratory.

 Shear Strength
 The shear resistance of soil is the result of friction and the interlocking of particles and
possibly cementation or bonding at the particle contacts. The shear strength parameters of
soils are defined as cohesion and the friction angle. The shear strength of soil depends on the
effective stress, drainage conditions, density of the particles, rate of strain, and direction of
the strain. Thus, the shearing strength is affected by the consistency of the materials,
mineralogy, grain size distribution, shape of the particles, initial void ratio and features such
as layers, joints, fissures and cementation [32]. The shear strength parameters of a granular
soil are directly correlated to the maximum particle size, the coefficient of uniformity, the
density, the applied normal stress, and the gravel and fines content of the sample. It can be
said that the shear strength parameters are a result of the frictional forces of the particles, as
they slide and interlock during shearing [33]. Soil containing particles with high angularity
tend to resist displacement and hence possess higher shearing strength compared to those with
less angular particles [34].
 Different researchers [14, 16, 19] explained that the capability of a soil to support a loading
from a structure, or to support its overburden, or to sustain a slope in equilibrium is governed
by its shear strength. The shear strength of a soil is of prime importance for foundation
design, earth and rock fill dam design, highway and airfield design, stability of slopes and
cuts, and lateral earth pressure problems. It is highly complex because of various factors
involved in it such as the heterogeneous nature of the soil, the water table location, the
drainage facility, the type and nature of construction, the stress history, time, chemical action,
or environmental conditions.

 Types of Soil tests for building construction works depend on properties of soil. Design of the
foundation is based on soil test report of construction site.

 Soil tests for construction of buildings or any structure is the first step in construction
planning to understand the suitability of soil for proposed construction work.
 Soil which is responsible for allowing the stresses coming from the structure should be well
tested to give excellent performance. If soil shouldn’t tested correctly then the whole building
or structure is damaged or collapsed or leaned like leaning tower of Pisa. So, soil inspection
or testing is the first step to proceed any construction.

 Moisture Content Test on Soil

 Moisture content or water content in soil is an important parameter for building construction.
It is determined by several methods and they are

 Oven drying method

 Calcium carbide method

 Torsion balance method

 Pycnometer method

 Sand bath method

 Radiation method

 Alcohol method

 Of all the above oven drying method is most common and accurate method. In this method
the soil sample is taken and weighed and put it in oven and dried at 110 o + 5oC. After 24
hours soil is taken out and weighed. The difference between the two weights is noted as
weight of water or moisture content in the soil.

 Specific gravity of soil is the ratio of the unit weight of soil solids to that of the water. It is
determined by many methods and they are.

 Density bottle method

 Pycnometer method
 Gas jar method
 Shrinkage limit method
 Measuring flask method
 Density bottle method and Pycnometer method are simple and common methods. In
Pycnometer method, Pycnometer is weighed in 4 different cases that is empty weight (M1),
empty + dry soil (M2), empty + water + dry soil (M3) and Pycnometer filled with water (M4)
at room temperature. From these 4 masses specific gravity is determined by below formula.

 Dry Density Test on Soil

 The weight of soil particles in a given volume of sample is termed as dry density of soil. Dry
density of soil depends upon void ratio and specific gravity of soil. Based on values of dry
density soil is classified into dense, medium dense and loose categories.

 Dry density of soil is calculated by core cutter method, sand replacement method and water-
displacement method.

 Core Cutter Method for Soil Dry Density Testing

 In this methods a cylindrical core cutter of standard dimensions is used to cut the soil in the
ground and lift the cutter up with soil sample. The taken out sample is weighed and noted.
Finally water content for that sample is determined and dry density is calculated from the
below relation

 Sand Replacement Method for Soil Dry Density Testing

 In this method also, a hole is created in the ground by excavating soil whose dry density is to
be find. The hole is filled with uniform sand of known dry density. So by dividing the mass of
sand poured into the hole with dry density of sand gives the volume of hole. So we can
calculate the soil dry density from above formula.
 Plastic Limit Test on Soil
 Take the soil sample and add some water to make it plastic enough to shape into small ball.
Leave it for some time and after that put that ball in the glass plate and rolled it into threads of
3mm diameter.

 If the threads do not break when we roll it to below 3mm diameter, then water content is more
than the plastic limit. In that case reduce water content and repeat the same procedure until
crumbling occurs at 3mm diameter. Finally find out the water content of resultant soil which
value is nothing but plastic limit.
 Shrinkage Limit Test on Soil
 In case of shrinkage limit, the water content in the soil is just sufficient to fill the voids of soil.
That is degree of saturation is of 100%. So, there is no change in volume of soil if we reduce
the shrinkage limit. It is determined by the below formula for the given soil sample.
 Proctor’s Compaction Test on Soil

 Proctor’s test is conducted to determine compaction characteristics of soil. Compaction of soil

is nothing but reducing air voids in the soil by densification. The degree of Compaction is
measured in terms of dry density of soil.
 Moisture content is defined as the ratio of the weight of water to the dry weight of solid
particle in a given soil mass. It is expressed in terms of percentage.

 Importance
 The engineering behaviour of soil is largely influenced by the presence of water and its
quantity present in the voids of the soil.

 This test is one of very important soil tests for construction.

 Therefore, it is necessary to determine the quantity of water present in the soil deposit at a
given location.

 Apparatus required
 Can
 Weighing Balance (with 0.01 accuracy)
 Thermostatically controlled oven
 Procedure to calculate moisture content in soil by Oven Drying Method
 Types of soil test for construction- Importance, Procedure, and calculation
 Step 1: First of all, the soil sample is collected from the site.

 Step 2: Then, the mass of empty can is recorded (say M1).

 Step 3: Then, the mass of moist soil and can is recorded (say M2).

 Step 4: Now, the can containing moist soil is kept in the oven for 24 hours. Then the mass of
dry soil with can is recorded (say M3).
 Step 5: Moisture content is calculated using the formula given below:

 Where Mw is the mass of water= M2-M3

 Ms is the mass of dry soil solid= M3-M1

 Step 6: The process is repeated for three specimens and the average of these three specimens
is considered as the actual moisture content of the soil.

 Specific gravity test

 Definition
 The ratio of the weight of soil in the air to the weight of an equal volume of water at 4ºC is
known as the specific gravity of the soil.

 Importance
 Engineering properties of soil play an important role in the design and construction of any
structure. Therefore, it is very important to determine the engineering properties of the soil.

 The specific gravity of the soil is one of the engineering properties of the soil. It is useful for
finding the degree of saturation of soil and unit weight of moist soil. The unit weights are
needed in the pressure, settlement, and stability problems in soil engineering.

 The determination of the specific gravity of soil in the lab can be done using three methods:
 Pycnometer method: This method is done for coarse-grained soil.
 Flask method: Similar to the pycnometer method, this method is done for coarse-grained soil.
 Density bottle method: This method is suitable for all types of soil. This method is considered
as a standard method for the determination of specific gravity of soil.
 Apparatus required
 Density bottle (50 ml capacity with stopper)
 Constant Temperature Water bath (at temperature 27ºC)
 Desiccator (containing anhydrous silica gel)
 Thermostatically controlled oven (that can maintain a temperature of 105 to 110ºC)
 Weighing balance (with accuracy 0.01 gm)
 Plastic Wash Bottle (containing distilled water)
 Procedure to calculate the specific gravity of soil by using Density Bottle Method as per IS
code 2720 Part 3.
 Step 1: First of all, take a clean density bottle with a stopper and it is dried at 105 to 110ºC.
Then cool it in the desiccator.
 Step 2: Now, the density bottle is weighed and the weight is recorded (say W1).

 Step 3: Then prepared soil sample of about 10 to 20 gm is taken. Now it is dried at 105 to
110ºC and then cooled in the desiccator.

 Step 4: Then the soil sample is transferred carefully into the density bottle and weighed. The
weight of the density bottle containing soil sample is recorded as W2.

 Step 5: Some distilled water is added to the density bottle until the sand is fully soaked. Then
it is left for 2-10 hours depending upon the type of soil.

 Step 6: More water is added after the waiting time until the bottle is half-filled and the
solution is mixed properly. The entrapped air in the bottle should be removed completely.

 Step 7: Then the bottle is filled fully and the stopper is put and mixed thoroughly.

 Step 8: The bottle is then placed in the constant water bath for about 1 hour so that the
temperature of the soil and water in the bottle reaches 27ºC.

 Step 9: The bottle is taken out and cleaned and dried with the help of wipes. Then the
capillary of the stopper is filled with drops of distilled water in case it is not full.

 Step 10: The density bottle full of soil and distilled water is then weighed and the weight is
recorded as W3.

 Step 11: The density bottle is emptied and cleaned thoroughly and then filled with distilled
water and stopper is put. The bottle is wiped from outside until completely dry.

 Step 12: The weight of the density bottle with distilled water only is weighed and recorded as
W4.
 Step 13: Necessary calculation is done to find the specific gravity of soil.

 Step 14: The procedure is repeated for two more times and the average of three specimens is
taken as the specific gravity of soil at 27ºC.
 Dry density test
 Definition
 The weight of a solid per unit volume of soil mass is known as the dry density of the soil.
 Mathematically, Dry density= Weight of the oven-dried soil/Volume of the soil