CHAPTER TWO

Phase Relationship, Index Properties, and Classification of

Soils
2.1. Introduction
⁓ The term "soil" or "earth" is uncemented or partially cemented
⁓ Most soils are a heterogeneous accumulation of mineral grains.
⁓ The soil particles have varying sizes, shapes and mineralogies
⁓ Standard method is used for identifying and classifying soils into groups that have
distinct engineering characteristics.
⁓ Index tests or physical property tests provide indirect information about engg„
properties of soils; most widely used are gradation analyses and Atterberg limits
tests.
⁓ Moisture content and density relationships are commonly used as index properties.
⁓ The most commonly listed soil engineering properties are strength, volume change,
and permeability.
2.2 Phase relationship and physical properties of soils
 The actual soil bulk can be
consisting different material in three
states as solid, fluid state, gas state
material.
 Solid phase includes Rock
fragments, Mineral grains, Organic
matter; Liquid phase contains Water
and dissolved salt, and Gas phase
contains air.
 The relative proportions of these
three phases play an important role
in the Engineering behavior of the
soils.
 Based on the type of material that
fill the voids of soil mass; the soil
mass can be exist as 3-phase system
or 2-phase system.
 Cont.….
 The 3-phase system is occur during the soil mass is partially saturated while the
2-phase system is occur during the soil mass is completely dry or fully saturated
 Very often, in Geotechnical problems (E.g. Earth works) and laboratory tests, it is
necessary to compute the masses (or weights) & volumes of these three phases .
 Cont.…

 It is useful to consider each phase individually as distribution by Volume, Mass,

and,[Link]?
Because, the relative proportions of these three phases play an important role in
the engineering behavior of the soils.
 Cont.…

• In this topic, we will see how to compute masses (or weights) and volumes of the
soil grains, water and air in the soils.

Phase relationship:
1. Mass-Volume Relationship
2. Weight-volume Relationships
 Mass-Volume Relationship
1. Water content (w)
• Water content (w) is a measure of the amount of water present in the soil.
• It is the ratio, often expressed as a percentage, of the weight of water to the weight
of solids

𝒆𝑺
Or from saturation and specific gravity 𝑾 =
𝑮𝒔

• The natural water content for most soils would be well below 100%, but organic
soils and some marine clay can have water contents greater than 100%.
• For example: the soils of volcanic origin (for example bentonite) it can range up
to 500% or more.
 Cont.….

Determination of moisture (water) content

• By oven drying method.
Computation
 Calculate the moisture content of the soil as:

Wcws  Wcs
m x100
Wcs  Wc
Where m= moisture content
Wcws = weight of container and moist soil
Wcs = weight of container and oven dried soil
Wc = weight of container
 2. Void ratio (e)
• Void ratio (e) is the ratio of the volume of void space to the volume of solids in a
given mass.
• Void ratio is usually expressed as a decimal quantity.

3. Porosity (n)
• Porosity (n) is the ratio of the volume of voids to the total volume of the soil mass.
• Porosity is usually expressed as a percentage.

NB. The void content of a soil is expressed

through two simple terms, void ratio (e) and
porosity(n).
Porosity and void ratio are related by the
expression:
 Cont.….

• In order to develop the relationships, the block diagram Fig. 3.2 is made.
• Since the sectional area perpendicular to the plane of the paper is assumed as unity,
the heights of the blocks will represent the volumes.
• The volume of solids may be represented as Vs = 1 .
• When the soil is fully saturated, the voids are completely filled with water.

• As porosity and void ratio decrease,

engineering properties of a given
soil become more dependable with
decreases in permeability and
compressibility and an increase in
strength.
 4. Degree of Saturation (S)
• The pores of a soil may contain water and air. To describe the ratio of these two;
the degree of saturation S is introduced.

• Degree of saturation (S) is the ratio, often expressed as a percentage, of the

volume of water to the volume of voids.

V Vw Vw
S w or S  
Va Vw Vv eVs

or

S = 1(100%) => Fully saturated soil,

S = 0, Completely dry soil.
 5. Density
• Another very useful concept in geotechnical
engineering is density (or, unit weight) which is
expressed as mass per unit volume.
• It is dependent on the specific gravity of solids,
voids ratio and degree of saturation.
• There are several commonly used densities.
• These may be defined as:

 the total (or bulk), or moist density, ;

 the dry density, ;
 the saturated density, ;
 the density of the particles, solid density, ;
and
 density of water
.
 6. Specific gravity (Gs)
• The specific gravity of a substance is defined as the ratio of its mass to the mass
of an equal volume of water at reference temperature, 4 °C.
• The specific gravity of a mass of soil (including air, water and solids) is termed as
bulk specific gravity Gm.
• It tells us how many times the soil grain is heavier than water.

• The specific gravity of solids, Gs, (excluding air and water) is expressed by

• The specific gravity of soils ranges from approximately 2.6 to 2.8.

• For most problems, Gs can be assumed, with little error, to be equal to 2.7.
Cont...
 Relationships Between Density  and Other Parameters
• The density of soil can be
expressed in terms of other
parameters for cases of soil:

(1) Partially saturated (S <

100%);
(2) Fully saturated (S = 100%);
(3) Fully dry (S = 0); and
(4) Submerged.
 Weight-volume Relationships
• As shown on the few slides before; the weight-volume relationships can be
established from the earlier equations by substituting  for  and W for M. The
various equations are tabulated below.
Cont.….
 Cont.….
[Link] weight
• Unit weight (γ) of a soil is simply the weight per unit volume.

• However, because of the different phases present in the soil, several forms of unit weights
are used in geotechnical engineering.

• The most common one is the bulk unit weight (γbulk), which is also known as total, wet or
moist unit weight.

• It is the total weight divided by the total volume, and is written as:

W
  and Weight (W) (force due to mass) = M g
V
Mg Where g, acceleration due to gravity = 9.81 m/s2 (for all
 
V practical purposes)
 = g unit weight of water, w = 9.8 kN/m3
 Cont.…
Bulk unit weight - is simply defined as the total weight (solids plus water, if any) of
a soil mass per unit of its total volume.

Dry unit weight - is the weight of soil solids per unit of total volume (prior to
drying) of a soil mass.
 S=0

 w Gs
 dry 
1e
 Cont.…
• Saturated unit weight - is the bulk unit weight of a soil when fully saturated
(S = 1)
 w ( G s  e)
 sat 
1 e
• Submerged unit weight (’ )
(I) The submerged weight of soil solids per unit of total volume V of a soil mass i.e.
the weight of soil solids in air minus the weight of water displaced by solids per
unit of total volume of soil mass /or
(ii) The saturated unit weight sat minus the unit weight of water w:

 '   sat   w
• The submerged unit weight is also called the buoyant unit weight or
effective unit weight of a saturated soil
 Example-1
A sample of wet silty clay soil has a mass of 126 kg. The following data were
obtained from laboratory tests on the sample: Wet density, t = 2.1 g/cm3, G =
2.7, water content, w - 15%.

Determine:
(i) Dry density, d
(ii) Porosity
(iii) Void ratio
(iv)Degree of saturation.
Cont.…..
Cont.…
Example-2
Example-3

• A cylindrical specimen of moist clay has a diameter of 38 mm, height of 76 mm

and mass of 174.2 grams. After drying in the oven at 105oC for about 24 hours,
the mass is reduced to 148.4 grams. Find the dry density, bulk density and water
content of the clay. Assuming the specific gravity of the soil grains as 2.71, find
the degree of saturation.
Cont…
Example-4
• Field density testing (e.g., sand replacement method) has shown bulk density of a
compacted road base to be 2.06 t/m3 with water content of 11.6%. Specific
gravity of the soil grains is 2.69. Calculate the dry density, porosity, void ratio
and degree of saturation.
Solution
Excersice
1. The mass of a chunk of moist soil is 20kg, and its volume is 0.011m3. after drying in
an oven, the mass reduces to 16.5kg. determine the water content, dry density, void
ratio, porosity and degree of saturation. take G = 2.70???
2. A density bottle test on a sample of dry soil gave the following results.

Calculate the specific gravity of the soil particles.

3. A sample of soft saturated clay has a natural water content of 43 per cent. The
specific gravity of the solid matter is 2.7. What are the void ratio, the porosity, and
the saturated unit weight of the soil?
4. The volume of a clay sample having a natural water content of 40% is 25.6cm3 and its
wet mass is 43.5g. Calculate the degree of saturation of the sample, if Gs = 2.75
 2.3. Soil Classification
2.3.1 Introduction to soil classification
• Arrangement of soils into different groups such that soils/or engineering materials in a
particular group have similar behaviour.
• Soil classification provide a common language between engineers dealing with soils.
• For a soil classification system to be useful to the geotechnical engineers, it should
include the following basic requirements;
– It should have a limited number of groups
– It should be based on the engg‟ properties
– It should be simple and use terms w/c is easily understood
– To determine soil suitability, all engg‟ properties should be determined by
conducting a large number of tests.
– Besides, approximate assessment of engg‟ properties can be obtained from the index
properties of soils.
– A soil is classified according to index properties such as particle size and plasticity
characteristics
2.3.2 Definition of terms
 Soil Texture
• Refers to the relative sizes and shapes of the particles ( it‟s the appearance or
“feel” of soil), and the range or distribution (arrangement) of those particles.
 Grain size of soils
• Refer to the size of individual particles in the given soils. It can be divided into
two groups: coarse grain soils and fine grain soils.
 Shape of soil particles:
• The shape of soil particles may be rounded, sub-rounded, angular and sub-angular.
• It has an effect on the Engineering properties of coarse grain soils, but engineering
properties of fine grain soils depends on other parameters rather than the its
shapes.
• When the grains are angular, there is more interlocking between the grains, and
therefore the strength and stiffness of the soil will be greater.
• For example, in roadworks, angular aggregates would provide better interlocking and
resistance to get dislodged with traffic.
 Cont….

 Angular soil particle  higher

friction
 Round soil particle  lower friction
Cont…
2.3.3. Particle Size Classification/ Textural description of soils
• The size of individual particles has an important influence on the behaviour of
soils.
• The principal terms used by civil engineers to describe soils are gravel, sand, silt,
and clay.
• The precise boundaries between different soil types are somewhat arbitrary, but
the following scale is now in use worldwide.

Soil Grain size range

descripition (mm)
Gravel 75 – 4.75
Sand 4.75 – 0.075
Silt 0.075 – 0.002
Clay <0.002
(ASTM Classification)
 Cont.….

• Furthermore, gravel & sand can be roughly classified as coarse texture soils,
while silt & clay can be classified as fine texture soils
• For Engineering purposes, soils can also be divided into cohesive & non-
cohesive soils.
• 1. Non-cohesive means the soil has no shear strength if no confinement.

• 2. Cohesive soil contains clay minerals and posses plasticity.

 Clay is cohesive and plastic. E.g. mud sticking on shoes in a rainy day
when one walk in a field.
 Sand is non-cohesive and non-plastic
2.3.4. Mechanical analysis of soils/ Grain size analysis
• Mechanical analysis is one of the oldest and most common forms of
determination of grain size distribution.
• Mechanical analysis is the determination of the size range of particles present in a
soil, expressed as a percentage of the total dry weight.
• It provides the basic information for revealing the uniformity or gradation of the
materials within established size ranges and for textural classifications.
• The results of a mechanical analysis are not equally valuable in different branches
of engineering.
• The size of the soil grains is of importance in such cases as construction of earth
dams or railroad and highway embankments, where earth is used as a material that
should satisfy definite specifications.
• In foundations of structures, data from mechanical analyses are generally
illustrative; other properties such as compressibility and shearing resistance are of
more importance.
 Cont.…

Engineering applications grain size analysis

• It will help us “feel” the soil texture (what the soil is) and it will also be used for
the soil classification.
• It can be used to define the grading specification of a drainage filter (clogging).
• It can be a criterion for selecting fill materials of embankments and earth dams,
road sub-base materials, and concrete aggregates.
• It can be used to estimate the results of grouting and chemical
injection, and dynamic compaction.
• There are two methods generally used to find the particle–size distribution of soil:
1) Sieve analysis – for coarse-grained soils (particle sizes larger than 0.075 mm in
diameter), material retaining on the No. 200 sieve, and
(2) Hydrometer analysis – for fine-grained soils (particle sizes smaller than 0.075
mm in diameter), material passing the No. 200 sieve.
Broad Classification of
soils:
1. Coarse-grained soils:
 Sands,
 Gravels
Vs
2. Fine grained soils:
silts
clays
 A. Sieve analysis
• Provides a direct measurement of the particle size distribution of the larger grain
sizes.
• The soil is passed through a series of sieves with the mesh size reducing
progressively, and the proportions by weight of the soil retained on each sieve is
measured.
• Sieve analysis is carried out by using a set of standard sieves.

• The square holes thus formed between the wires provide the limit which
determines the size of the particles retained on a particular sieve.

• The sieve sizes are given in terms of the number of openings per inch.

• The number of openings per inch varies according to different standards.

• Table 3.2 gives a set of ASTM Standard Sieves.

• Sieving can be performed
either wet or dry.
• Because of the tendency
for fine particles to clump
together, wet sieving is
often required with fine-
grained soils.
 Cont.…
.

Gravel
Sand

Sand

Silt+clay

Hydrometer analysis
 Cont.….

• If the soil contains gravel, the coarsest sieve that can be used to separate out
gravel from sand is the No. 4 Sieve (4.75 mm opening).

• To separate out the silt-clay fractions from the sand fractions, No. 200 sieve may
be used.

• The intermediate sieves between the coarsest and the finest may be selected on
the basis of the principle explained earlier.

• The nest of sieves consists of No 4 (4.75 mm), 8 (2.36 mm), 16 (1.18 mm) 30
(600m), 50 (300 m), 100 (150 m), and 200 (75 m).
 Cont.…
Procedure of Sieve Analysis:
• Prepare soil sample. The soil should be dried in oven or air and should be
subdivided using rifle box.

• Clean the sieves to be used in the analysis and obtain the weight of each.

• Arrange the order of the sieves to have the largest at the top of the stack and
screw down the lid.

• Vibrate the sample for 10 minutes before removing the stack and reweighing
each sieve with the part of the sample retaining on it.

• Put the sample back in the container and clean the sieves with the brush .
 B. Hydrometer method
• The hydrometer method was originally proposed in 1926 by Prof. Bouyoucos of
Michigan Agricultural College, and later modified by Casagrande (1931).
• Hydrometer analysis is the procedure generally adopted for determining the particle
size distribution in a soil for the fraction that is finer than No.200 sieve size
(0.075mm).
• The lower limit of the particle size determined by this procedure is about 0.001mm.
• Hydrometer analysis is based on the principle of sedimentation of soil grains in
water.
• The soil is mixed with water and a dispersing agent, stirred vigorously, and allowed
to settle to the bottom of a measuring cylinder.
• As the soil particles settle out of suspension the specific gravity of the mixture
reduces.
• The particles settle at different velocities, depending on their shape, size, weight
and viscosity of the water. It is assumed that the soil particles are sphere and the
velocity of soil particles can be expressed by Stokes’ law.
 Cont.….
• In the laboratory, the hydrometer test is conducted in a sedimentation cylinder
usually with 50 g of oven-dried sample. Sometimes 100-g samples can also be
used.
• The sedimentation cylinder is 457mm (18 in.) high and 63.5mm (2.5 in .) in
diameter.
• Sodiumhexametaphosphate is generally used as the dispersing agent.

• In the laboratory, the hydrometer test is

conducted in a sedimentation cylinder
usually with 50 g of oven-dried sample.
Sometimes 100-g samples can also be
used.
• The sedimentation cylinder is 457mm
(18 in.) high and 63.5mm (2.5 in .) in
diameter.
• Sodiumhexametaphosphate is generally
used as the dispersing agent.
 Cont.…
• Hydrometer is used to record variation of specific gravity with T.
• By making use of Stoke‟s Law, which relates the velocity of a free falling
sphere to its diameter, the test data is reduced to provide particle diameters and
the % by weight of the sample finer than a particular particle size.

Stoke’s Law
 2.3.5. Grain size distribution curves
• The results from the particle size determination tests are plotted as grading
curves.
• Gradation is a measure of the distribution of a particular soil sample.
• - Larger gradation means a wider particle size distribution.
• The shape and position of the grading curve are used to identify some
characteristics of the soil:
• A typical set of grain size distribution curves is given in Fig. 3.7 with the grain
size D as the abscissa on the semi-logarithmic plot and the percent finer P as the
ordinate on the arithmetic scale.
• On the curve C the section AB represents the portion obtained by sieve analysis
and the section B'C' by hydrometer analysis.
 Cont.…

 The shapes of the Gradation curves indicate the nature of the soil tested. On the
basis of the shapes we can classify soils as:

1. Uniformly graded or poorly graded= well sorted (e.g. Beach sand), if there is
excess or a deficiency of certain particle sizes within the limits of the
minimum and maximum sizes, or if most of the particles are of about the same
size (uniformly graded)

2. Well graded = poorly sorted (e.g. Glacial till), when there is a good
representation of all the particle sizes from the largest to the smallest.

3. Gap graded, when there is a missing of particles.

See on Figure 3.7

 Cont.….
• Uniformly graded soils =
nearly vertical lines =
curve C2 = soils particles
possess almost the same
diameter.

• Well graded soil = curve

C1 = possesses a wide
range of particle sizes
ranging from gravel to
clay size particles.

• Gap graded soil = curve

C3 = some of the sizes of
particles missing. On this
curve the soil particles
falling within the range
of XY are missing.
 Cont.….
100

80

% Finer
60

40

20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
C Well graded with some clay
F Well graded with an excess of fines
 Cont.…
• Three basic soil parameters can be determined from these grain–size distribution
curves:
 Effective size(D10)
 Uniformity coefficient(Cu)
 Coefficient of gradation curvature (Cc)
• The Coefficients of uniformity, CU and Curvature, CZ reflect the general
slope/shape of the grading curve.
A) Effective grain size(D10):
• It corresponds to 10 per cent finer particles (D10).
• D10 represents a grain diameter for which 10% of the sample will be finer
than it.
• Using another word, 10% of the sample by weight is smaller than diameter
D10.
• It is also called the effective size and can be used to estimate the
permeability.
Cont.…
 Cont.…
B) Uniformity coefficient(Cu):
• It is given by the relation:

• Where D60 is the diameter of

the particle at 60 per cent
finer on the grain size
distribution curve.
 Cont.…
 Remark:
– Cu < 5 = very uniform all grains are in the same size, such as the case of
dune sands.
– Cu = 5 to 15 = medium uniform
– Cu > 15 = well graded soil, means the size distribution is wider. The larger
the values of Cu, the more the range of particles indicating well-grading of
soils.
– If all particles are of the same size, Cu is unity
C) Coefficient of gradation curvature(Cc):
• expressed as:

• Where D30 is the diameter corresponding to 30% finer in the particle-size

distribution.
• A soil is thought to be well graded if the coefficient of curvature Cc
between 1 and 3, with Cu greater than 4 for gravels and 6 for sands.
Example1: Sieve Analysis
Cont.…
Answer: Sieve analysis

Cu = 1.8

Cc = 0.71
Exercise
From the results of a
sieve analysis, shown
below, determine:
i. % Gravel
ii. % Sand
iii. % slit + clay
iv. effective size
v. uniformity gradation
vi. coefficient of
gradation curvature
 Cont.…
• Using the gradation curve we can determine the percentage of clay soil, silt soil,
sandy soil and gravely soil. Based on this percentage it is possible to determine
the overall soil type (name).
• In general the grain size distribution analysis mainly in course gain soil has
several application in different geotechnical works.
• Some of its practical application or importance's are
 To select a suitable embankment fill material such as earth fill dam.
 To determine the suitable material for road sub-base.
 To determine the suitable drainage (filter) material for different engineering
structures.
 To design the grouting and chemical injection in to the soil. To determine
the suitable aggregate material for concrete works.
 To evaluate the activity of the soil by determining the percentage of clay
content and etc.
2.3.6. Atterberg (Consistency) Limits
• The hydrometer test is usually terminated when the percentage of clay sized particles has
been determined.
 However, there are significant differences between the behavior of the different
clay minerals.
• Therefore further classification tests are performed to provide additional information on
the soil behavior.
• One such set of tests, the Atterberg (Consistency) Limit Tests, involve measuring the
moisture contents of the soil at which changes in the soil properties occur.
• Atterberg, a Swedish scientist, considered the consistency of soils in 1911, and proposed a
series of tests for defining the properties of cohesive soils.
• These tests indicate the range of the plastic state (plasticity is defined as the property of
cohesive soils which possess the ability to undergo changes of shape without rupture) and
other states.
 Cont.…

• Consistency is a term used to indicate the degree of firmness of cohesive soils.

• The term consistency also refers to the relative ease with which a soil can be
deformed.
• The consistency of natural cohesive soil deposits is expressed qualitatively by
such terms as very soft, soft, stiff, very stiff and hard.
• The physical properties of clays greatly differ at different water contents.
• A soil which is very soft at a higher percentage of water content becomes very
hard with a decrease in water content.
• In practice it is only the fine grained soils (particularly clayey soils) which are so
described and for which the consistency is related to a large extent to water
content.
 Cont….
• Depending upon the water
content the following four
stages, or states of
consistency:
I. The liquid state,
II. The plastic state,
III. The semi-solid state,
IV. The soild state

• The water content at which the soil

passes from one state to the next are Figure: Atterberg Limits and soil volume relationships
known as Consistency Limits
 Cont.…
• In a very wet condition, a fine-grained soil mass acts like a viscous liquid and is
said to be in the liquid state.

• As the soil dries, it begins to acquire the property of a plastic.

• In the plastic state the soil mass no longer flows like a liquid, but it continues to
be deformable, or plastic, with out cracking.

• With further reduction in water content the soil mass ceases to be plastic and
becomes brittle; then it is said to be in the semi-solid state.
• Upto the semi-solid state, any reduction in the volume of soil mass is very nearly
equal to the volume of water lost.

• When the loss in water is not accompanied by a corrosponding reduction in

volume of soil mass, ....solid state
 • Liquid limit (wL) is defined as the minimum water content at which a pat of soil
cut by a groove of standard dimension, will flow together for a distance of 13 mm
under the impact of 25 blows in a standard liquid limit apparatus.
y = 0.2861x + 20.629
33.0
32.0
31.0

Moisture content
30.0
29.0
28.0
27.0
26.0
25.0
24.0
15 20 25 30 35
Number of blows

ASTM D-4318 wL- is the water content at which the soil first shows a small but definit
shearing resistance as the water content is reduced.
 Cont.…

 Plastic limit (wp) is defined as the minimum water content at which the soil can
be rolled into a thread approximately 3 mm in diameter with out breaking.

ASTM D-4318

 Shrinkage limit (ws) is defined as the maximum water content at which a

reduction in water content will not cause a decrease in volume of the soil mass.
• Liquidity index (IL) – relates the natural water content of the soil to the plastic
limit and plasticity index .

Where;
If w > wL the IL > 1; remoulding turns soil to
W=water content slurry.
If w <wP then IL < 0; cannot remould soil as it‟s
WL = Liquid limit
outside plastic range.
Wp = Plastic limit Most clays have IL between 0 and 1.
PI = Plastic Index
 Cont.…
• Fine grained soils often contain clays and silts. Here, clays are plastic and silts are
non-plastic.
• Therefore, the plasticity index of a fine grained soil will depend on the relative
proportions of the clays and silts within the soil.
• Skempton (1953) coined the word "activity" to separate the plasticity of the clay
fraction.
• Activity (A) is defined as:

• Activity is a good indicator of the potential swell-shrink problems associated with

specific clay.
• Higher the activity, is the higher swell-shrink potential.
 Clays with A<0.75 = “inactive”;
 Clays where 0.75<A<1.25 = normal and
 Clays where A>1.25 = active.
Cont.…
Uses of Atterberg’s limits:
• The Atterberg limits are of empirical nature.
• However, they had been correlated very well with the geotechnical characteristics
of fine grained soils and are very valuable in soil classification.
 2.3.7. Engineering Classification of Soils
Outline
1. Purpose
2. Classification Systems
3. The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)
4. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials System
(AASHTO).
 [Link]. Purpose
• Classifying soils into groups with similar behavior, in terms of simple indices.
• Provide geotechnical engineers a general guidance about engineering properties
of the soils through the accumulated experience.

Communicate
between
engineers

Classification Estimate Achieve

Simple indices
system engineering engineering
GSD, LL, PI (Language) properties purposes
Use the
accumulated
experience
[Link]. Classification Systems
Three commonly used systems used by
soil engineers:
Textural soil classification
Unified Soil Classification System (USCS).
Both systems take in
American Association of State Highway and consideration particle
size and atterberg limits
Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
System
[Link].1. Textural Soil Classification

• This is based on a triangular

chart shown in figure below.

• Textural Classification System

only considers grain size.

• Clay mineralogy and how it

affects water holding and
plasticity characteristics are
not evaluated with this
classification system.
 Cont.…

• A soil with known % of sand, silt, and clay sizes is represented by a given point
on a triangular chart of this cycle.

• For use in the chart, the mechanical analysis is done after excluding the gravel
fraction.

• Example - the textural name of a soil composed of, say 20% sand, 35% silt sizes
and 45% clay sizes is obtained by drawing lines from the respective-points
parallel to the preceeding axes taken in an anticlockwise order.

 The soil is termed - ???

 Cont.….

Clayey soil
[Link].2. Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

Origin of USCS:

• This system was first developed by Professor A. Casagrande (1948) for the
purpose of airfield construction during World War II.

• Afterwards, it was modified by Professor Casagrande, the U.S. Bureau of

Reclamation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enable the system to be
applicable to dams, foundations, and other construction (Holtz and Kovacs, 1981).
[Link].2.1 Definition of Grain Size
[Link].2.2. General Guidance
[Link].2.3. Symbols
 [Link].2.4. Plasticity Chart
L H • The A-line generally
separates the more claylike
materials from silty
materials, and the organic
PI
from the in organic.
• The U-line indicates the
upper bound for general
soils.

Note: If the measured limits

of soils are on the left of
U-line, they should be
LL rechecked.

(Holtz and Kovacs,

1981)
 [Link].2.5. Procedures for Classification
• In this system, the soils are classified into 15 groups as shown below in Table 3.17.
• Generally soils divide into three major divisions: coarse-grained soils, fine grained
soils, and highly organic (peaty) soils.
1. Coarse grain soils: if more than 50% retained on sieve #200 (0.075mm), it is
designated as coarse grained soil. There are 8 groups of coarse grain soils.

2. Fine grained soils: if less than 50% retained on sieve #200 (0.075mm), it is
designated as fine grained soil. There are 6 groups of fine grain soils.

3. Highly organic soil: highly organic soils are identified by visual inspection. These
soils are termed as peat (Pt).
• Coarse grain soils- the coarse grained soils are designed as gravel (G) if 50% or
more of coarse fraction (plus 0.075mm) is retained on sieve No. 4 (4.75mm);
otherwise it is termed as sand.
 Cont…

• If the coarse grain soils contains less than 5% fines and are well graded (W), they
are given the symbols GW and SW, and if poor graded (P), symbols GP and SP. If
the coarse grained soils contain more than 12% fines, these are designed as GM,
GC, SM or SC, as per criteria given.
• Fine grained soils are further divided into two types:
(1) soils of low compressibility (L) if the liquid limit is 50% or less. These are
given the symbols ML, CL and OL.
(2) Soils of high compressibility (H) if the liquid limit is more than 50%.
These are given the symbols MH, CH and OH.
• The exact type of soil is determined from plasticity chart.
• The A –line has the equation LL= 0.73(PL-20).
 It separates the clays from the silts.
 When the plasticity index and the liquid limit plot in the hatched portion of
the plasticity chart, the soil given double symbol CL-ML.
Cont.…
[Link].2.7. Organic Soils
• Highly organic soils- Peat (Group symbol PT)
 A sample composed primarily of vegetable tissue in various stages of
decomposition and has a fibrous to amorphous texture, a dark-brown to
black color, and an organic odor should be designated as a highly organic
soil and shall be classified as peat, PT.
• Organic clay or silt( group symbol OL or OH):
 “The soil‟s liquid limit (LL) after oven drying is less than 75 % of its liquid
limit before oven drying.” If the above statement is true, then the first
symbol is O.
 The second symbol is obtained by locating the values of PI and LL (not
oven dried) in the plasticity chart.
[Link].2.8. Borderline Cases (Dual Symbols)
For the following three conditions, a dual symbol should be used.
– Coarse-grained soils with 5% - 12% fines.
 About 7 % fines can change the hydraulic conductivity of the coarse-
grained media by orders of magnitude.
 The first symbol indicates whether the coarse fraction is well or poorly graded.
The second symbol describe the contained fines.
 For example: SP-SM, poorly graded sand with silt.
– Fine-grained soils with limits within the shaded zone. (PI between 4 and 7 and LL
between about 12 and 25).
 It is hard to distinguish between the silty and more claylike materials.
 CL-ML: Silty clay, SC-SM: Silty, clayed sand.
– Soil contain similar fines and coarse-grained fractions.
 possible dual symbols GM-ML
[Link].2.8. Borderline Cases (Summary)
 [Link].3. American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials system (AASHTO)
[Link].3.1. Origin of AASHTO: (For road construction)
• This system was originally developed by Hogentogler and Terzaghi in 1929 as the
Public Roads Classification System.

• Afterwards, there are several revisions.

• The present AASHTO (1978) system is primarily based on the version in 1945
(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981).

• It proposed by the committee (U.S. Bureau of Public Roads) on classification of

materials for sub-grades and granular type roads of highway research board in
1945 (ASTM designation D-3282; AASHTO method MI45).
[Link].3.2. Definition of Grain Size
 [Link].3.3. General Guidance
– 8 major groups: A1~ A7 (with several subgroups) and organic soils (A8)
– The required tests are sieve analysis and Atterberg limits.
– The group index, an empirical formula, is used to further evaluate soils within a
group (subgroups).

A1 ~ A3 A4 ~ A7

Coarse grain (Granular Silt-clay Materials

Materials)
 36% pass No. 200 sieve
 35% pass No. 200 sieve
Using LL and PI separates silty
Using LL and PI separates silty materials from clayey materials
materials from clayey materials (only
for A2 group)
 Cont.…

General Procedure for AASHTO Classification

 Determine the percentage of soil passing the #200 sieve

 Determine the subgroups

 For coarse-grained soils (gravel and sand),

 determine the percent passing the #10, 40, and 200 sieves,

 determine the liquid limit and plasticity index

 then, determine soil group or subgroup from Table 3.16

 For fine-grained soils (silt & clay),

 determine the liquid limit and plasticity index

 Determine soil group or subgroup from Table 3.16

Table 3.16: AASHTO Soil Classification
Table 3.16: AASHTO Soil Classification (Con‟t)

Note: The first group from the left to fit the test data is the correct AASHTO
classification.
[Link].3.4. Group Index
 Cont.…

Note that: • The small the value of group index, the better is the soil in
that category.
• A group index of zero indicates a good sub grade, whereas
a group index of 20 greater shows a very poor sub-grade.

• The group index must be mentioned even when it is zero to

indicate that the soil has been classified as per AASTHO
system.
Cont.…
Exercise