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SOIL MECHANICS

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FIELD IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL Importance of Field Identification:Field identification of soil is of great importance for civil engineering. Sometimes the lack of time and facilities makes laboratory soil testing impossible in military construction. Even when laboratory tests are to follow, field identification tests must be made during the soil exploration. Soil types need to be identified so that duplicate samples for laboratory testing are held to a minimum. Each test may be performed with a minimum of time and equipment. However, the classification derived from these tests should be considered an approximation. The number of tests used depends on the type of soil and the experience of the individual using them. Experience is the greatest asset in field identification; learning the technique from an experienced technician is the best method of acquiring the skill. If assistance is not available, you can gain experience by getting the feel of the soil during laboratory testing.

Visual

1. Colour of soil:-

Examination:-

Visual examination should establish the colour, grain size, grain shapes (of the coarse-grained portion), some idea of the gradation, and some properties of the undisturbed soil. It helps in Unified classification of soil. Colour is often helpful in distinguishing between soil types, and with experience, one may find it useful in identifying the particular soil type. Colour may also indicate the presence of certain chemicals. Colour often varies with moisture content of a soil. For this reason, the moisture content at the time of colour identification should be included. Some of the more familiar colour properties are listed below. Generally, colours become darker as the moisture content increases and lighter as the soil dries. Some fine-grained soils (OL, OH) with dark drab shades of brown or grey, including almost black, contain organic colloidal matter. In contrast, clean, bright looking shades of grey, olive green, brown, red, yellow, and white are associated with inorganic soils. Grey-blue or grey and yellow-mottled colours frequently result from poor drainage. Red, yellow, and yellowish brown result from the presence of iron oxides. White to pink may indicate considerable silica, calcium carbonate, or aluminium compounds.

2. Compressive strength:-

Knowing the consistency index (consistency) of the soil we can have the value of compressive strength by field determination. However, this value is an approximate value and can be used as a guideline. It can be tabulated as follows:-

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Consistency Hard Medium hard Stiff Deformable Soft Very soft

Field Identification Can be indented with difficulty by thumb nail. Can be readily indented with thumb nail. The thumb can be pressed in with light pressure. Thumb can be pressed in with light pressure. Thumb can be pressed easily. The fist can be pressed easily.

Unconfined Compressive strength (kN/m2) >400 200 to 400 100 to 200 50 to 100 25 to 50 < 25

Instrumentation:- The
1.

2.

3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

instruments and tools used while soil testing are: Pioneer tools:- Use a pick and shovel or a set of entrenching tools for collecting samples. A hand auger is useful if samples are desired from depths of more than a few feet below the surface. Stirrer:- The spoon issued as part of the mess equipment serves in mixing materials with water to the desired consistency. It also can aid in collecting samples. Knife:- Use a combat knife or pocket knife for collecting samples and trimming them to the desired size. Mixing bowl:- Use a small bowl with a rubber-faced pestle to pulverize the fine-grained portion of the soil. Both may be improvised. You could use a canteen cup and wood pestle. Paper:- Several sheets of heavy paper are needed for rolling samples. Pan and heating element:- Use a pan and heating element to dry samples. Scales: - Use balances or scales to weigh samples of soil. Soil testing kit:- Consists of pH papers, pH meters, test tubes, chemical capsules and various other accessories.

Coarse Grained

grained soils are easily identified by visual inspection on the basis of particle size. Rounded to angular, bulky, hard rock fragments of average diameter more than 20 cm are described as boulders. Stones of sizes between 20 cm and 6 cm are termed as cobbles. Soil fraction between the sizes of 60 mm and 2 mm is known as the gravel fraction. Soil with particle size visible to the naked eye but less than 2 mm is classified as sand. 2 SANDIP CHANDRA----(8017738040 / 8013249800)

Soil:- Coarse

Sand is further divided into coarse, medium and fine fractions for which sieve analysis is usually required. Mixtures of gravel and sand are given in dual designations in the following table: Main content Descriptive term Gravel and san Gravel Gravel with some sand or sandy gravel Gravel with little sand Gravel with a trace of sand Subsidiary constituent About 50% 25-40% 10-25% Up to 1%

If sand is the main constituent, gravel and sand will interchange in the above descriptive terms, for example, sand with some gravel or gravelly sand will represent sand having 25% to 40% of gravel. Very fine uniform sand is difficult to be distinguished visually from silt. However, when dry, it does not hold together (no cohesion) and feel gritty in contrast to the very slight cohesion and smooth feel of the dried silt. The description of coarse grained soils should give grading, grain-shape, colour, in-situ strength and structural features, and presence of fines if any. is expression by the terms well-graded, poorly graded or uniformly graded.

Grading:- The grading or particle size distribution as judged by visual inspection Grain
angular and rounded. Angular particles have sharp edges and relatively plane sides with unpolished surfaces. Sub-angular particles are similar to angular but have rounded edges. Rounded particles have smoothly curve sides and no edges.

size:- The terms used to describe the grain shape are angular, sub-

Colour:- The colour of the soil is expressed as brown, white, yellow, red- brown
etc.

Strength

and

grained soil is expressed as compact or loose. If a pick is required for excavation, it is compact and if it can be done with a spade, it is loose. The arrangement and state of aggregation of soil particles in a soil mass is known as soil structure. The structure of coarse grained which may be recognized in the field is described as homogeneous. If it is composed of arranged in strata or layers, e.g. Stratified alluvium, it is said to have stratified structure.

Structure:- The in-situ strength of a deposit of coarse-

Pressure

individually visible to the naked eye), but not sufficient to cause cohesion. This should be noted. Presence of any organic matter, if any, should also be indicated.

of

Fines:- If the soil contains some fines (particle size not

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Fine

Fine grained are identified by performing the following simple tests on the minus 425 micron IS sieve size particles. In the field, use of the sieve is not intended. The coarser particles that interfere with the tests may be simply removed by hand.

Grained

Soil:-

1. Dilatancy or Shaking test:- When a wet pat of soil is shaken vigorously

2. Dry Strength Test:- If a small piece of dry fine grained soil is broken

in the palm of one hand which may also be struck several times with the other hand, the surface may become glossy and show free water. If the pat of the soil is then squeezed between fingers, the free water disappears and the surface becomes dull i.e. Dilates. With silt and sands, a rapid or good reaction of appearance of water during shaking and of its disappearance during squeezing will be exhibited, but this phenomenon will not be noticeable with clays. Take a small sample of your soil (approximately 1 cubic inch) and mix it with about 1 tablespoon of water. Form the sample into a cube or ball and place it in the palm of your hand face up. With you other hand, hit the side of your hand that is holding the soil sample. This will impart a vibration to the soil sample. If the vibrations causes the water to come to the surface of the soil (soil surface starts to shine), the soil has a permeability indicative of a silty soil and likely has a low plasticity. If the water appears quickly and the cube of soil starts to slump down, the soil is likely a silt. If water appears slowly and the cube generally retains its shape, it is likely a low plastic clay . The water does not appear and the ball holds its shape very well, you likely have a highly plastic clay or crushed with fingers, the breaking strength is an indication of the relative amounts of silt or clay. If the soil can be powdered easily with the fingers, it is said to have slight dry strength and indicates silt or sandy silt. If considerable strength is required, but the soil can still be broken into small pieces without great difficulty, it is said to have medium dry strength, and is indicative of silty clays and clays of low plasticity. When the pat of dry soil cannot be broken with fingers, it has high dry strength and represents a highly plastic clay. The presence of high strength, water soluble cementing materials, such as calcium carbonate or iron oxides, may also cause high dry strength. Soil with high strength is treated with a little dilute hydrochloric acid. A strong reaction indicates that the strength may be due to calcium carbonate as cementing agent, rather than colloidal. If you can find a dry sample of soil, try to break it. Soil with very high dry strength is typically highly plastic. A soil that is very easy to crumble is likely a low plastic silt. A soil that takes some effort but is still easy to break is likely a low to moderately plastic clay. limit is called the toughness. The water content of a wet soil sample is gradually reduced by working and moulding until it reaches the plastic limit when soil threads should crumble at about 3 mm diameter. The time required to 4 SANDIP CHANDRA----(8017738040 / 8013249800)

3. Toughness test:- The consistency or the resistance to moulding at the plastic

4. Other identification tests:- If a dry or slightly moist lump of soil when

dry the pat is an indication of its plasticity. After the treads crumble, the pieces are lumped together and a slight kneading action continued until the lump also crumbles. If the lump can still be moulded slightly drier than the plastic limit and the threads can still be rolled with considerable pressure, the soil is of high toughness which represents clays of high plasticity or fat clays. Medium toughness represents soils of medium plasticity whose threads are medium tough and a lump formed of the threads slightly below the plastic limit crumbles. Weak threads that break easily cannot be lumped together, when drier than the plastic limit indicate slight toughness representing soils of low plasticity. The number of times the procedures can be repeated is an indication of the plasticity index of the soil. Non- plastic soils cannot be rolled into 3 mm diameter threads at any water content. cut or rubbed with considerable pressure with a knife blade produces a shiny surface, high plasticity is indicated. A dull surface indicates silt or clay of low plasticity. Wet clay sticks to the fingers, gives a greasy feel and does not wash off readily, whereas, silt will wash away easily or brush off, if dry. In a soil suspension of water of about 10 cm depth, sand will settle within half a minute, most of the silt in about 5 to 60 minutes, whereas, clay-size particles will remain in suspension for at least several hours or may even remain for several days. with mineral soil materials is not easily recognized, particularly if the amount of organic matter is small. However, if the soil has a dark-brown, dark-grey, or black colour, presence of organic matter may be suspected. Organic soils usually have a distinctive organic odour, especially when fresh and wet. Sometimes the organic odour can be made more noticeable by heating the wet sample. Highly organic clays have a very weak and strong feel at the plastic limit. Fibrous organic soils, such as peat or muck, are usually dark brown to black in colour, have organic matter in various stages of decomposition and possess a characteristic odour.

5. Organic silt or clay:- Finely divided organic matter present in combination

Other

Tests

Conducted:-

Some more tests are conducted on the site using various handy tools and apparatus. These tests are conducted only when we require detailed study of soil properties. They are:-

Compaction test: - It determines the stability of soil after densification Percolation test:-Vertical and lateral movement of water through the soil by Erosion test: - Useful in the area of flowing waters. Radiation test: - This actually is not feasible to do on site. It is used for
calculating water content in the soil using radio isotopes. 5 SANDIP CHANDRA----(8017738040 / 8013249800)

gravity is percolation. It is necessary on sites related with water like dams, purification houses, etc.

Advantages

Of

Field

Identification:-

1. It is very economical. 2. It can be carried out in short duration of time. 3. No pre-setting is required

Disadvantages

Of

Field

Identification:-

1. It is just an approximation. 2. You cannot completely rely on it. 3. Experienced people are required.

Conclusion:-

It is a must do procedure. It helps in Unified soil classification which makes it more easy to understand the physical properties and thus derive its chemical properties. It aids us to determine approximate compressive strength of soil and thus helps us in constructive measures.

UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) is a soil classification system used in engineering and geology to describe the texture and grain size of a soil. The classification system can be applied to most unconsolidated materials, and is represented by a two-letter symbol. Each letter is described below (with the exception of Pt): First And/Or Second Letters Letter Definition Letter G S M C O Gravel Sand Silt Clay Organic P W H L Second Letter Definition Poorly Graded (Uniform Particle Sizes) Well-Graded (Diversified Particle Sizes) High Plasticity Low Plasticity

If the soil has 512% by weight of fines passing a #200 sieve (5% < P#200 < 12%), both grain size distribution and plasticity have a significant effect on the engineering properties of the soil, and dual notation may be used for the group symbol. For example, GW-GM corresponds to "wellgraded gravel with silt." If the soil has more than 15% by weight retained on a #4 sieve (R#4 > 15%), there is a significant amount of gravel, and the suffix "with gravel" may be added to the group name, but the group symbol does not change. For example, SP-SM could refer to "poorly graded SAND with silt" or "poorly graded SAND with silt and gravel."

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Symbol chart:Major Divisions Group Symbol Clean Gravel <5% Smaller Than #200 Sieve GW Group Name Well Graded Gravel, Fine To Coarse Gravel Poorly Graded Gravel Silty Gravel Clayey Gravel Well Graded Sand, Fine To Coarse Sand Poorly Graded Sand Silty Sand Clayey Sand Silt Clay Of Low Plasticity, Lean Clay Organic Silt, Organic Clay Silt Of High Plasticity, Elastic Silt Clay Of High Plasticity, Fat Clay Organic Clay, Organic Silt Peat

Gravel > 50% Of Coarse Fraction Retained On No. 4 (4.75 Mm) Sieve Coarse Grained Soils More Than 50% Retained On Or Above No.200 (0.075 Mm) Sieve Sand 50% Of Coarse Fraction Passes No.4 Sieve

GP GM GC

Gravel With >12% Fines

SW Clean Sand SP Sand With >12% Fines SM SC ML Silt And Clay Liquid Limit < 50 Inorganic CL

Fine Grained Soils 50% Or More Passing The No.200 Sieve Silt And Clay Liquid Limit 50

Organic

OL

MH Inorganic CH Organic Highly Organic Soils OH Pt

AASTHO SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

The AASHTO Soil Classification System was developed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and is used as a guide for the classification of soils and soil-aggregate mixtures for highway construction purposes. The classification system was first developed by Hogentogler and Terzaghi in 1929, but has been revised several times since. 7 SANDIP CHANDRA----(8017738040 / 8013249800)

AASHTO Soil Classification System (from AASHTO M 145 or ASTM D3282)

General Classification

Granular Materials (35% or less passing the 0.075 mm sieve)

Silt-Clay Materials (>35% passing the 0.075 mm sieve)

A-1 Group Classification A-1-a A-1-b A-3

A-2 A-4 A-5 A-6

A-7

A-24

A-25

A-26

A-27

A-7-5 A-7-6

Sieve Analysis, % passing

2.00 mm (No. 10)

50 max

0.425 (No. 40)

30 max

50 max

51 min

0.075 (No. 200)

15 max

25 max

10 max

35 max

35 max

35 max

35 max

36 min

36 min

36 min

36 min

Characteristics of fraction passing 0.425 mm (No. 40)

Liquid Limit

40 max

41 min

40 max

41 min

40 max

41 min

40 max

41 min

Plasticity Index

6 max

N.P.

10 max

10 max

11 min

11 min

10 max

10 max

11 min

11 min1

Usual types of significant constituent materials

stone fragments, gravel and sand

fine sand

silty or clayey gravel and sand

silty soils

clayey soils

General rating as a subgrade

excellent to good

fair to poor

Plasticity index of A-7-5 subgroup is equal to or less than the LL - 30. Plasticity index of A7-6 subgroup is greater than LL - 30 8 SANDIP CHANDRA----(8017738040 / 8013249800)

IS CODE SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM TERMINOLOGY:1.

Clay An aggregate of microscopic and sub-microscopic particles derived from the

chemical decomposition and disintegration of rock constituents. It is plastic within a moderate to wide range of water content.

2.

Silt A fine-grained soil with little or no plasticity. If shaken in the palm of the
hand, a part of saturated inorganic silt expels enough water to make its surface appear glossy. If the pat is pressed or squeezed between the fingers, its surface again becomes dull.

3.

Sand and Gravel Cohesionless aggregates of angular, subangular, sub-rounded,

rounded, flaky or flat fragments of more or less unaltered rocks or minerals.

According to this system, gravel is a fraction of the soil material between 75 mm and the 4.75-mm IS Sieve size and sand is the material between the 4.75-mm IS Sieve size and the 75-micron IS Sieve size.

CLASSIFICATION:below: 1.

Soils shall be broadly divided into three divisions as given

Coarse-Grained Soils In these soils, more than half the total material by
weight is larger than 75-micron IS Sieve size. The coarse-grained soils shall be divided into two subdivisions, namely: a) Gravels In these soils, more than half the coarse fraction (+ 75 micron) is larger than 4.75-mm IS Sieve size. This subdivision includes gravels and gravelly soils. b) Sands In these soils, more than half the coarse fraction (+ 75 micron) is smaller than 4.75-mm IS Sieve size. This subdivision includes sands and sandy soils.

2.

Fine-Grained Soils In these soils, more than half of the material by weight is

smaller than 75-micron IS Sieve size. The fine-grained soils shall be further divided into three subdivisions on the basis of the following arbitrarily selected values of liquid limit: a) Silts and clays of low compressibility having a liquid limit less than 35 (represented by symbol L ) b) Silts and clays of medium compressibility having a liquid limit greater than 35 and less than 50 (represented by symbol I) c) Silts and clays of high compressibility having a liquid limit greater than 50 (represented by symbol H ) [NOTE In this system the fine-grained soils are not divided according to particle size but according to plasticity and compressibility. The term compressibility here shall imply volume change, shrinkage during dry periods and swelling during wet periods, as well as, consolidation under load. Soil particles finer than 2-micron may; however, be designated as clay-size particles and the particles between 75-micron and 2-micron as silt-size particles.] 3. Highly Organic Soils and Other Miscellaneous Soil Materials These soils contain large percentages of fibrous organic matter, such as peat, and particles of decomposed 9 SANDIP CHANDRA----(8017738040 / 8013249800)

vegetation. In addition, certain soils containing shells, concretions, cinders, and other non-soil materials in sufficient quantities are also grouped in this division.

Groups:

The coarse-grained soils shall be further divided into eight basic soil groups. The fine-grained soils shall be further divided into nine basic soil groups (see Table 2 of IS 1498-1970). Highly organic soils and other miscellaneous soil materials shall be placed in one group. The groups shall be designated by symbols. [NOTE These groups are broad, based on basic properties of soil; therefore, supplemental detailed word descriptions are required to point out peculiarity of a particular soil and differentiate it from others in the same group.] The basic soil components are given in Table 1 of IS 1498-1970. The various subdivisions, groups and group symbols are given in Table 2 of IS 1498-1970. The laboratory classification criteria for classifying the fine-grained soils are given in the PLASTICITY CHART shown in Fig. The A line has the following linear equation between the liquid limit and the plasticity index: Ip = 0.73 ( WL 20 ) where Ip = plasticity index, and WL = liquid limit.

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