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4ENT2027

Civil Engineering and Practical Geology

Unit 2: Soil as Three Phase Model

Dr Mostapha Boulbibane

Outline
 Soil Model
 Three Phase Diagram

 Mass and Volume Relationships

 Volume relationships
o Void ratio (𝑒), Porosity (n), Degree of Saturation (𝑆 )

 Mass relationships
o Moisture Content (𝑤)
o Specific gravity (𝐺 )
o Density (𝜌 ) and unit weight (γ)

 Relationship between (𝑆 ), (𝑒), (𝑤) and (𝐺 )

 Relationship between (𝜌) and degree of saturation (𝑆 )

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Soil Model

Solid particles

Volume
The voids of a soil, the spaces in between
mineral particles, contain the water and air.
Voids (air or water)

The diagrammatic representation of different phases

Three Phase Diagram separated in soil mass is called phase diagram.

Idealisation

Two-phase (saturated soil) Two-phase (dry soil)

Objectives

To compute the masses (or weights) and

volumes of the three different phases.

Ma  0
Notation
M = mass or weight
Mw
V = volume
s = soil grains
w = water
Ms
a = air
v = voids
Mass Volume

phase diagram

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Mass and Volume relationships Ma  0

A- Volume relationships
Mw

Ms
Total Volume
Mass Volume

Total Volume(𝑉) = Volume of Solids (𝑉 )+ Volume of voids (𝑉 )

Total Volume(𝑉) = Volume of Solids (𝑉 )+ Volume of water (𝑉 ) + Volume of air (𝑉 )

𝑉
1.Voids ratio (𝑒) : Is the ratio of volume of voids to the volume of solids; 𝑒 =
𝑉 (No UNIT)

For the same soil, if the soil is loose, If the soil is dense, this means that the
this means that the volume of voids volume of voids is small and consequently
is high and consequently the void ratio the void ratio is smaller.
is high

Mass and Volume relationships Ma  0

A- Volume relationships
Mw

Ms

Mass Volume

2. Porosity (𝑛) : Is the ratio of volume of voids to the total volume of soil;
𝑉
𝑛= Express in percentage (%)
𝑉

3. Air void content (𝐴 ) : Is the ratio of volume of air to the total volume of soil;
𝑉 Express in percentage (%)
𝐴 =
𝑉

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Mass and Volume relationships

A- Volume relationships
4. Relationship between voids ratio and porosity

𝑉 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑉 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠

e= = 𝑛= =
𝑉 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑉 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
𝑉 𝑉
e= 𝑛=
𝑉−𝑉 𝑉 +𝑉

Diving both numerator and denominator Diving both numerator and denominator
by 𝑉, leads to: by 𝑉 , leads to:

𝑉 /𝑉 𝑛 𝑉 /𝑉 𝑒
e= = 𝑛= =
𝑉/𝑉 − 𝑉 /𝑉 1 − 𝑛 𝑉 /𝑉 + 𝑉 /𝑉 1 + 𝑒

Hence; Hence;
𝑛 𝑒
e= 𝑛=
1−𝑛 1+𝑒

Mass and Volume relationships

A- Volume relationships
5. Degree of saturation:

If the voids (pores) are

completely filled with
water then the soil is
called fully saturated soil

If the soil sample is

completely dried then
the soil is called dry soil
(Pores are completely
filled with air)

If portion of the voids

(pores) are filled with
water then the soil is
called partially saturated.

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Mass and Volume relationships

A- Volume relationships

5. Degree of saturation (𝑆 ): Is the ratio of volume of water to the volume of voids;

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑉 𝑉
𝑆 = = =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑉 𝑉 +𝑉

 usually 𝑆 expressed as a %
 has a range of: 0 to 100%

Dry Saturated

(No water) (No air)

𝑉
𝑆 = and knowing previously that: 𝑉 =𝑒×𝑉
𝑉

∴ 𝑉 = 𝑆 ×𝑒×𝑉

Mass and Volume relationships

B- Mass relationships
𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒓: 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝜌 = 1000 𝑘𝑔/𝑚

6. Moisture content or water content (𝑤) : Is the ratio of mass of water to the mass of solids;

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑀
𝑤= = Express in percentage (%)
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑀

𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝐺 : 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠

7. Specific gravity (𝐺 ) : Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of unit weight (or density)
of a given material to the unit weight (or density) of water

𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 (𝛾) 𝜌𝑔 𝜌

𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐺 = = = (No UNIT)
𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝛾 ) 𝜌 𝑔 𝜌

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Mass relationships

8. Bulk density (ρ ) and bulk unit weight (𝛾 ):

is the ratio of the total mass of soil to the total volume of the soil sample

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑀 𝑀 +𝑀 (Unit: kg/m3)

𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 ρ = = =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉 𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑀 +𝑀 𝑔
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝛾 = = × (Unit: kN/m3)
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉 + 𝑉 + 𝑉 1000

Here, use weight (kN) instead of mass (kg)

𝛾 =𝜌 ×𝑔

N/m3 kg/m3 m/s2

Where (𝑔) is the gravitational acceleration 𝑔 = 9.81 𝑚/𝑠

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Mass relationships

9. Dry density (𝜌 ) and dry unit weight (𝛾 ):

is the ratio of mass of the soil solids to the total volume of the soil

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑀 𝑀
𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜌 = = = (Unit: kg/m3)
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉 𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉

in a dry soil, 𝜌 = 𝜌 since 𝑀 = 0

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑀 𝑔
𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝛾 ) = = × (Unit: kN/m3)
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉 + 𝑉 + 𝑉 1000

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Mass relationships

10. Saturated density (ρ ) and saturated unit weight (𝛾 ):

Density of soil when the voids are completely filled with water

𝑀 +𝑀 𝑀 +𝑉 ×𝜌
ρ = = (Unit: kg/m3)
𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉 𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉

(Since 𝑀 = 𝑉 × 𝜌 )

𝑀 +𝑉 ×𝜌 𝑔
𝛾 = × (Unit: kN/m3)
𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉 1000

𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝜌 = 1000 𝑘𝑔/𝑚

11. Submerged density (𝜌 ):

is the effective density of the soil when it is submerged

𝜌 =𝜌 −𝜌

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12. Relationship between (𝑆 ), (e), (𝑤) and (𝐺 )

Consider a soil sample with the volume of solid matter equal to 1 cubic metre (m3), i.e. VS= 1 m3.
Thus if e = 0.72, it is actually 0.72 m3
𝑉 𝑉 𝜌 𝑀 /𝑉 𝑀 /1
𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = e = = =𝑉 𝐺 = = =
𝑉 1 𝜌 𝜌 𝜌
Void
Vv 𝑒𝑚
𝑀 (i.e. mass of solid, 𝑀 = 𝐺 × 𝜌 )
Density of water, 𝜌 =
𝑉
𝑉 = 𝑆 ×𝑒×𝑉 Solid
Vs 1𝑚
𝑉 = 𝑆 ×𝑒 Since 𝑉 = 1

𝑀
∴ 𝜌 =
𝑆 ×𝑒 Volume Scale
∴ 𝑀 = 𝑆 ×𝑒×𝜌
𝑀 𝑆 ×𝑒×𝜌 𝑆 ×𝑒
Now water content, 𝑤= = =
𝑀 𝐺 ×𝜌 𝐺
OK for any soil
∴ 𝑤×𝐺 =𝑆 ×𝑒 e.g. if soil is saturated, then 𝑆 =1 and void ratio, 𝑒 = 𝑤 × 𝐺

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13. Relationship between soil density (𝜌) and degree of saturation (𝑆 )

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑀 +𝑀 +𝑀
Soil density, 𝜌= =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉

From above, 𝑉 = 1, 𝑀 = 𝐺 ×𝜌 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀 = 𝑆 ×𝑒×𝜌

𝑉 = 𝑉 +𝑉 = 𝑒

𝐺 ×𝜌 +𝜌 ×𝑆 ×𝑒
∴ 𝜌=
1+𝑒
(𝐺 +𝑆 × 𝑒) × 𝜌
i. 𝑒. 𝜌 = NOTE: Soil density for any degree of saturation
1+𝑒
(𝐺 +𝑒) × 𝜌
If the soil is saturated, then 𝑆 = 1 𝜌 =
1+𝑒
(𝐺 ) × 𝜌
If the soil is dry, then 𝑆 = 0 𝜌 =
1+𝑒

(𝐺 +𝑆 × 𝑒) × 𝛾 (𝐺 +𝑒) × 𝛾 (𝐺 ) × 𝛾
Similarly for unit weight 𝛾 = 𝛾 = 𝛾 =
1+𝑒 1+𝑒 1+𝑒

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Class example 1

A sample of saturated clay had a mass of 1526g in its natural state and 1053g after
drying. Take 𝐺 = 2.70 and determine the values of:
a) Water content
b) Void ratio (e)
c) Porosity, (𝑛)
Ans. [44.9%; 1.21; 54.8%]

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Class example 2

A sample of soil had a mass of 129.1g and a volume of 56.4cm3 in its natural
state. Its dry mass was 121.5g. If 𝐺 = 2.70, determine:

a) Soil density
b) Dry unit weight
c) Degree of saturation
Ans. [2289; 21.13; 67%]

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Class example 3

A site investigation revealed a layer of sand overlying bedrock. A sample

of the sand taken in a cylindrical mould (102mm I.D. x 186mm high) from
above the water table had a mass of 2502g. After oven drying, the mass
of the sample was 2005g. The specific gravity of the soil particles was
found to be 2.69.

Determine the following:

a) Soil density (𝜌) and unit weight (𝛾)
b) Water content (𝑤) in %
c) Dry density (𝜌 ) and dry unit weight (𝛾 )
d) Void ratio (𝑒)
e) Degree of saturation (𝑆 )
f) Saturation density (𝜌 ) and the saturated unit weight (𝑆 )
g) Water content when the soil is fully saturated

Ans. [1646; 16.15; 24.8%; 1319; 12.94; 1.04; 64.2%; 1828; 17.93; 38.7%]

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Class example 4: (very similar to example 2)

A sample of soil had a mass of 129.1g and a volume of 56.4cm3 in its

natural state. Its dry mass was 121.5g. If 𝐺 = 2.70, determine:

Determine the following:

a) Void ratio (𝑒)
b) Bulk density (𝜌 )
c) Dry unit weight (𝛾 )

Ans. [0.25; 2289; 21.13]

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 Try not to memorise the equations. Understand the definitions,

and develop the relations from the phase diagram with VS = 1;

 Assume GS (2.6 – 2.8) when not given;

 Do not mix densities and unit weights;

 Soil grains are incompressible. Their mass and volume remain

the same at any void ratio.

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Testing Times…

State whether the following are true or false?

(a) Dry density is greater than submerged density

(b) In unsaturated soils, water content is always less than 100%.

(c) Larger the void ratio, larger the porosity.

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Basic Formulae

𝑉 𝜌 =𝜌 (1 + 𝑤)
1 e= 8
𝑉
𝑉 𝛾 =𝛾 (1 + 𝑤)
2 𝑛= 9
𝑉
(𝐺 +𝑆 × 𝑒) × 𝜌
3 𝑤×𝐺 =𝑆 ×𝑒 10 𝜌=
1+𝑒
(𝐺 ) × 𝜌 (𝐺 +𝑆 × 𝑒) × 𝛾
4 𝜌 = 11 𝛾=
1+𝑒 1+𝑒
(𝐺 ) × 𝛾 (𝐺 +𝑒) × 𝜌
5 𝛾 = 12 𝜌 = When 𝑆 = 1
1+𝑒 1+𝑒
𝜌 (𝐺 +𝑒) × 𝛾
6 𝜌 = 13 𝛾 = When 𝑆 = 1
1+𝑤 1+𝑒
𝛾
7 𝛾 = 14 𝛾 =𝛾 (1 + 𝑤 )
1+𝑤

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Term Expression

Definitions

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Table 1. Specific gravity of soil constituents

Soil constituent Specific Gravity Soil constituent Specific Gravity

Kaolinite 2.64 Aragonite 2.94
K. Feldspars 2.54 – 2.57 Augile 3.2 – 3.4

Limonite 3.8 Orthoclase 2.56

Magnetite 5.17 Muscovite 2.7 – 3.1

Montmorillonite 2.75 – 2.78 Pyrophyllite 2.84

Quartz 2.65 Illite 2.6 – 2.86

Gypsum 2.32 Tale 2.7

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