7-Saturday Course On

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN

(STRUCTURED TRAINING PROGRAMME)

B1.2.1: UNDERSTAND SOIL MECHANICS

Week 1 : 11 JANUARY 2025 (SATURDAY)

 ELEMENT DEFINING ACTIVITIES
B1.2 Geotechnical B1.2.1 Understand soil mechanics (effective stress, shear
Engineering strength, consolidation, earth pressure etc.)
B1.2.2 Plan and supervision of subsurface investigation (field
and laboratory tests) and interpretation of test results.
B1.2.3 Carry out slope stability analysis and design.
B1.2.4 Carry out foundation design (pile capacity design and
shallow foundation)
B1.2.5 Carry out settlement analysis
B1.2.6 Carry out soil structure interaction
Carry out retaining wall design (earth pressure
B1.2.7
calculation)
Ground treatment selection
B1.2.8
 WHAT IS SOIL MECHANICS
Karl Terzaghi (1948):
"Soil Mechanics is the application of the laws of mechanics and
hydraulics to engineering problems dealing with sediments and other
unconsolidated accumulations of solid particles produced by the
mechanical and chemical disintegration of rock, regardless of whether
or not they contains an admixture of organic constituents’.
• Soil mechanics is a branch of engineering mechanics which deals
with the action of forces on soil and with the flow of water in soil.
• Soil mechanics is the theoretical basis for geotechnical
engineering.
• Geotechnical Engineering is “applied soil mechanics”, i.e.
applications of the principles of Soil Mechanics/Rock Mechanics to
design of foundations, retaining structures and earth structures.
WHAT IS SOIL
Soil is a mixture of organic matter,
minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms
that together support life.

SOIL is the material in

the relative thin surface
zone within which roots
occur, and all the rest
of the crust is grouped
under the term rock
irrespective of its
hardness.
SOIL FORMATION & SOIL TYPE
 SOIL FORMATION
Soils are any uncemented or weakly cemented
accumulation of mineral particles formed by the
physical/mechanical and chemical weathering of
rocks.
The void space between the
particles /solid containing
water and/or air.
Soil skeleton consist of:-
1. Particles / Solid
2. Water or dissolved salt
3. Air / Gas / Water vapour
(highly compressible) Soil Skeleton
 SOIL FORMATION
Reduction in volume of soil skeleton as a whole can
happen due to rearrangement of soil particles into new
position, mainly by rolling and sliding
• In fully saturated soil, reduction in volume is possible if only
some water can escape from the voids
• In a dry or partially saturated soil, reduction in volume is
always possible due to compression of air in the void
Shear stress can only resisted only by soil skeleton, by means of
forces developed at the interparticle contacts and
Normal stress may be resisted only by soil skeleton, through an
increase in interparticle force
 SOIL FORMATION –
PHYSICAL/MECHANICAL WEATHERING

❖ Physical weathering involves reduction of size

without any change in the original composition of
the parent rock.
❖ The main agents responsible for this process are
exfoliation, unloading & erosion by the action of
wind, water or glaciers,
❖ or disintegration caused by alternate freezing and
thawing in cracks in the rock.
 SOIL FORMATION
❖ Chemical weathering causes both reductions in
size and chemical alteration of the original parent
rock.
❖ The chemical process results in changes in the
mineral form of the parent rock due to the action
of water (especially if it contains traces of acid or
alkali), oxygen and carbon dioxide.
❖ The main agents responsible are hydration,
carbonation, and oxidation.
❖ Chemical weathering results in the formation of
groups of crystalline particles of colloidal size
(<0.002 mm) known as clay minerals.
 SOIL TYPE
➢ If the products of weathering remain at their original
location are called Residual Soil
➢ Residual soil retained many of the element that
comprises the parent rock
➢ The rate of rock decomposition is greater than the
rate of erosion or transportation of weathering
material and results in the accumulation of residual
soil.
➢ Lateritic soils are residual soils that are cemented
with iron oxides and are found in tropical regions.
➢ Expansive soils are clays that undergo large
volume changes from cycles of wetting and drying.
 SOIL TYPE
➢ If the weathering products are transported by gravity, wind,
water and glaciers and deposited in a different location they
constitute a transported soil.
➢ The composition of these soil depend on the environment under
which they were transported and often different from the parent
➢ Alluvial soil or fluvial soil are fine soil that were transported by
river and stream, have settled on river and stream beds, the
profile consist of layers of different type of soil
➢ Marine soil are sand, silts, and clays deposited in salt or brackish
water, marine environment contain organic and inorganic
remnants of dead marine life
➢ Colluvial soils (colluvium) are soils found at the base of
mountains that have been eroded by the combination of water
and gravity.
GENERAL GEOLOGICAL MAP OF
KUALA-LUMPUR
SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
 SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
Soil description and classification includes details of both
material and mass characteristics, that is in terms of nature,
state and structure.
❖ Nature of the soil grains: their particle size grading, shape and texture or, their
plasticity, together with special features such as organic or carbonate
content.
❖ State of the soil grains: their packing, water content, degree of saturation,
strength or relative density, and stiffness. The state of a soil usually changes
during civil engineering works;
❖ Structure: all the features of a soil such as bedding, discontinuities or
cementing. Structure is often destroyed by large distortions, and so can be
observed only in the field on natural or artificial exposures
❖ EXAMPLES:
1. Firm closely fissured yellowish brown CLAY (LONDON CLAY FORMATION).
2. Loose homogeneous reddish-yellow poorly-graded medium SAND (SP),
Flood plain alluvium
 SOIL CLASSIFICATION

Particle Size Distribution

The grain-size distribution of coarse-grained soils; gravels and sands,
is obtained by screening a known weight of the soil through a stack
of sieves of progressively finer mesh size.
For fine-grained soils, the grain-size distribution can be obtained by
means of hydrometer analysis. The hydrometer test involves mixing a
small amount of soil into a suspension and observing how the
suspension settles in time
SOIL CLASSIFICATION

The results are plotted on a graph of percent of particles finer than a

given sieve size (not the percent retained)as the ordinate versus the
logarithm of the particle sizes, as shown in Figure 2.12.

The dashed line in Figure 2.12 shows a typical particle size distribution
for finer grained soils.
 SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Plasticity of fine-grained soils

Consistency varies with the water content of the soil. The consistency of
a soil can range from (dry) solid to semi-solid to plastic to liquid (wet).
The water contents at which the consistency changes from one state to
the next are called consistency limits (or Atterberg limits).
The upper and lower limits of the range of water content over which the
soil exhibits plastic behaviour are defined as the liquid limit (wL) and the
plastic limit (wP), respectively. Above the liquid limit, the soil flows like a
liquid (slurry); below the plastic limit, the soil is brittle and crumbly
The range of water content over which a soil has a plastic consistency is
termed the Plasticity Index (IP or PI).
IP = liquid limit - plastic limit = wL - wP
SOIL CLASSIFICATION
SOIL CLASSIFICATION
SOIL CLASSIFICATION
 SOIL CLASSIFICATION

The cone is permitted to fall freely for a period of 5 seconds. The water content
corresponding the cone penetration of 20mm is defined as Liquid limit.
The Plastic limit is found by projecting the best fit-straight line backward to intersect
the water content axis at the penetration of 1mm. The water content at this depth of
penetration(1mm) is C.
The Plastic limit, PL = C (2)m
 SOIL CLASSIFICATION

Casagrande Method to
determine Liquid Limit

Soil at plastic limit

The Plastic limit is determined by rolling a

small clay sample into threads and finding
the water content at which tread
approximately 3mm in diameter and just
start to crumble. 2 or more determination
to get the average.
SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION

BS 5930:2015, recommends the terminology and

a system for describing and classifying soils for
engineering purposes
The principal soil name should be based on
particle size distribution of the coarse fraction
and/or the plasticity of the fine fraction as
determined by the Atterberg Limits.
The basic soil types and their sub-divisions should
be described on the basis of the range of their
particle sizes and plasticity as shown in Table 7.
SOIL
CLASSIFICATION
SOIL
CLASSIFICATION
SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
(BS 5930:2015)
SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
(BS 5930:2015)
SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
(BS 5930:2015)

Fine soil should be described as either a "SILT" or a "CLAY"

depending on the plastic properties.
 SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
(BS 5930:2015)

Fine soil should be

described as either
a "SILT" or a "CLAY"
Plasticity Limit (%)

CLAYS
depending on the
plastic properties.

The distinction between

PI = 0.73 (LL -20) clay and silt is often
taken to be the A line
on the plasticity chart,
SILTS & ORGANIC SOILS with clays plotting
Non-plastic above and silts below
(see Figure 8) and might
Liquid Limit (%) not agree with field tests
SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION

USCS - Unified Soil Classification System

ASHTO - American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ASTM - American Society for Testing and Material
TOTAL & EFFECTIVE STRESS
 EFFECTIVE STRESS
FULLY SATURATED SOIL
The normal stress acting on a point within Acting in a
a fully saturated soil mass is shared by the normal direction
across the plane
soil particles and the water.
• Total stress () is the stress carried by
the soil particles and the liquids and
gases in the voids.
• Effective stress (’) is the stress
carried by the soil particles only.
• Pore water pressure (u) is the
Represent the stress transmitted through the SOIL
pressure of the water filling the void SKELETON ONLY
space between the soil particles. Pore water pressure, u, acting within the void space
• Both the total stress and pore water
pressure can be measured at any
point.
 TOTAL STRESS ANALYSIS
FULLY SATURATED SOIL
Acting in a
normal direction
Total Stress Analysis (Short term across the plane
condition) that uses the un-
drained shear strength of the
plastic soil.
The total stress analysis is typically
only used for cohesive material.
The total stress analysis is often Represent the stress transmitted through the SOIL
used for the evaluation of SKELETON ONLY
Pore water pressure, u, acting within the void space
foundations and embankments
to be supported by cohesive soil.
 EFFECTIVE STRESS ANALYSIS
FULLY SATURATED SOIL
Acting in a
normal direction
Effective stress analysis (Long across the plane
term condition that uses the
drained shear strength
parameters (c' & ') of the
plastic soil).
The condition of zero effective
stress associated with upward
seepage is also called Represent the stress transmitted through the SOIL
SKELETON ONLY
liquefaction, quicksand, or a Pore water pressure, u, acting within the void space
boiling condition (during
excavation )
EFFECTIVE VERTICLE STRESS DUE TO
SELF-WEIGHT OF SOIL

TOTAL VERTICAL STRESS, σv = ɣ sat z

where:
ɣ = unit weight of soil (kN/m3 )
z = depth / thickness from ground surface(m)
PORE water pressure, u = ɣw .z
ɣw = unit weight of water (kN/m3 )

EFFECTIVE VERTICAL STRESS,

σ v’ = σv - u
= ( ɣ sat - ɣw ) z
=ɣ‘z
where:
ɣ ‘ = Submerged unit weight of soil (kN/m3 )
 IMPORTANT OF EFFECTIVE STRESS

❖ The principle of effective

stress is fundamentally
important in soil
mechanics;

❖ the soil behaviour is

governed the effective
stress;

❖ Changes in water level

below ground (water
table changes) result in
❖ Changes in water level above ground
changes in effective
(e.g. in lakes, rivers, etc.) do not cause
stresses below the water
changes in effective stresses in the ground
below table.
CONSOLIDATION
Immediately after the construction of a foundation on a fine soil,
the pore pressure (u) increases, but immediately begins to drop as
drainage occurs.

The rate of change of effective stress under a loaded foundation,

once it is constructed, will be the same as the rate of change of
pore pressure, and this is controlled by the permeability of the soil.

Settlement occurs as the volume (and therefore thickness) of the

soil layers change.

Settlement occurs rapidly in coarse soils with high permeability and

slowly in fine soils with low permeability's.
EXAMPLE 1
A soil profile is shown in Figure 9.3. Calculate the total stress, pore
water pressure, and effective stress at points A, B, and C.
EXAMPLE 2
SHEAR STRENGTH
 SHEAR STRENGTH
The Shear strength of a soil mass is the internal resistance per
unit area that the soil mass can offer to resist failure and
sliding along any plane inside it.
Engineers must understand the nature of shearing resistance
in order to analyse soil stability problem such as bearing
capacity, slope stability and lateral pressure on earth-
retaining structure.
✓ The critical shear strength of soil is proportional to the effective
normal stress;
✓ thus, a change in effective stress brings about a change in
strength.
✓ If the pore pressure in a soil slope increases, effective stresses will
be reduced; the critical strength of the soil will be reduced -
sometimes leading to failure;
MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA
MOHR-COULOMB FAILURE CRITERIA