• Phase relationships (density & volume)

• Packing of regular spheres

• Friction
• Grain size distribution
III – Particulate Media
3.1 CHARACTERIZATION OF PARTICLES AND PARTICULATE MEDIA

Particle Shape [Santamarina & Cho, 2004]1

“Particle size and shape reflect material composition, grain formation, transportation, and
depositional environments.”

why is
disturbed soil
extracted from
Small grains - μm size: (a) kaolinite, (b) precipitated calcium carbonate, (c) diatom (University College London). the
Large grains - mm size: (d) Ottawa sand, (e) crushed sand, (f) preloaded lead shot (simulates locked sands). environment
going to
behave
Void Ratio and Fabric [Santamarina, et. al, 2001]2 differently from
soil still in the
volume of the environment?
void space/
volume of solid there maybe
be careful bc in geotech space some
eng we say this definition, processes
taken like
and there is no reason friction after so
why the void ratio has to many years.
be below 1 for example. As soon as you
remove that, all
those preset
contacts can
get lost, and
thus, stength
gets reduced
The two figures have the same area of particles and area of voids within the frame. However, the fabric and the pore
size distribution are very different in each case (sketch from Leonards et al., 1986) (t it is very unlikely to see a
contact in a cross-section of a 3-D packing; however, the illustrated concept applies as well)

1
Santamarina, J.C. and Cho, G.C. (2004), Soil Behavior: The Role of Particle Shape, Proc. Skempton Conf., March,
London.
2 Santamarina, J.C., Klein, K. and Fam, M. (2001) Soils and Waves: Particulate Materials Behavior, Characterization
and Process Monitoring. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
III-1
III-2
 Characterization of engineering materials:
Soil Descriptions
Elastic
Rigid
Plastic
Stress Brittle
Isotropic
Anisotropic
Homogeneous
Strain Viscous (creep)

what is the behavior we are

going to expect from soils?
Strain
Stress
under constant stress

Time Strain

y
Vertical Strain
σ σ v
 vertical=
Δv
y
Δy Δx

x
σ

y Horizontal Shear Strain

u
τ Δu
=
y

Δy we're going to use gamma next in

this chapter to define unit weight.

from now on in this chapter we're

Δx x going only talk about gamma in this
chapter for unit weight
if we have shear, which means we have stress parallel to the face
of our element here. This shear is going to induce an angular
deformation

III-3
 Phase relationships help us have a really
complicated system made of void and water and the
purpose of that system is to help us understand very
easily how calcs should be done

3.2 MULTI-PHASE SYSTEMS: (solid, water and air phases)

Phase relationships: relate the two or three phase compositions in a soil. A two phase soil
contains either only pore air and solid soil particles (completely dry) or only pore water and solid
soil particles (completely saturated). A three phase soil contains solid particles, pore air and
water.

Completely dry soil Completely saturated soil

Two-Phase Soil: Completely Dry Soil (left) and Completely Saturated Soil (right)
(modified from [Link]
gate01/95/[Link]?cb=1429025746)

For quantifying soil properties, a series of definitions has been developed to describe the three-
phase system based on the phase diagram:
let's see now the unit weights we have
in our system

Three phases of the soil element

Air, 0.01 kN/m3 VA , WA

VV
Water, 9.81 kN/m3 VW , WW
Vt, Wt

Solids, 26.5 kN/m3 VS , WS

Three-Phase Soil (Partially Saturated Soil)

([Link]

III-4
Total volume Vt, the mass of the water Mw, and the mass of solids Ms are measured
experimentally and several properties of the soil are calculated using the equations given below

III-5
 /

do not confused
gamma d, with
gamma s

DON'T FORGET THIS

III-6
a parameter we have to be careful bc this is defined
differently in different fields, but this is the definition for
our case

III-7
 where do these definitions come from?

very useful

we could compute
total weight of the
soil if we know the
water content and
what are specific cases which would be void ratio
very important?

III-8
 3.3 PHASE RELATIONSHIPS AND SPECIFIC GRAVITY

Volumetric relationships for the three phases in a soil element:

V
Void ratio: e= v - ratio of volume of voids to the volume of solids
Vs

V V
Porosity: n = v = v
Porosity is the ratio of the volume of voids to the total volume
Vt Vs + Vv

1 Vs + Vv 1 e
Porosity in terms of void ratio: = = 1+  n =
n Vv e 1+ e

V
Degree of saturation: S= w ratio of the volume of water to the volume of voids-
Vv
commonly expressed as a percentage

V
Air content: A= a ratio of volume of air to the total volume
air content is important when Vt
we get to compaction.
different for us than other
disciplines.
Mass - Weight Relationships:
even if you go to pavements, if degree of saturation is 0 (or dry)
air content is defined then air content is equal to porosity
differently W
Water or moisture content:  = w ratio of weight of water to the weight of solids in a given
Ws
volume of soil

Unit weight, Mass density (total, dry, saturated):

W
Unit weight (kN/m3): = Weight of soil per unit volume
V
𝑊𝑠
Dry unit weight: 𝛾𝑑 = Weight of soil excluding water per unit volume
𝑉

M
Mass density (kg/m3): = Ratio of total mass of soil sample to the total volume
V


= g = 9.81 m/s2 γw  9.81 kN/m3
g

III-9
 Specific gravity: G =
 Ratio of unit weight of a given material to the unit weight of water
w

Specific Gravities of Minerals Specific Gravities of Soils

Quartz 2.65 Sand 2.65
K-Feldspars 2.65 - 2.57 Silty Sand 2.66 - 2.68
Na-Ca-Feldspars 2.62 - 2.76 Silt 2.67 - 2.68
Calcite 2.72 Silty Clay 2.70 - 2.72
Dolomite 2.85 Clay 2.70 - 2.80
Muscovite 2.7 - 3.1
Biotite 2.8 - 3.2 Gs > 2.80 - likely metals present
Chlorite 2.6 - 2.9 Gs < 2.70 - likely organics present
Pyrophyllite 2.84
Serpentine 2.2 - 2.7 Average Gs for sand = 2.65
a
Kaolinite 2.61 Average Gs for well mixed soil = 2.70
2.64+/-0.02
Halloysite (2 H2O) 2.55
a
Illite 2.84
2.60 - 2.86
a
Montmorillonite 2.74
2.75 - 2.78
Attapulgite 2.3
a
Calculated from crystal structure.

Unit-Weight relationships are shown in the next table (Das, 2010)

table is very useful because depending on the

problem and variables that you have you could
practically use any of these equations. For 90%
of the time we will be using the 2 above that
were discussed

III-10
 Some typical values of void ratio, moisture content and dry unit weight for soils are given next
(Das, 2010).

relative
density is Relative density (granular soils, volumetric ratio):
going to tell
us the sand
A measure of the soil density relative to the density at maximum compaction.

Dr = emax −e
ema x −e min

Some typical values of void ratio, moisture content and dry unit weight for soils are given next
(Knappett and Craig, 2012).

III-11
Example III-1:

A soil has  = 8%, GTotal = 1.9, GSolids = 2.65. Find (a) void ratio e, (b) degree of saturation S,
and (c) how much water has to be added to 1m3 to increase  to 13%?

AIR VA , WA

VV
WATER VW, WW
VT,WT

SOLIDS VS , WS

a) Void ratio e
look at what variables you have
and ask yourself which
equation should I use?

go back to the table

III-12
b) Degree of saturation S

III-13
 c) How much water per m3 to increase  to 13%?

this type of problem very useful in compaction because in

compaction we are going to see that the max compaction in the soil
will require a specific amount of water to lubricate the particles and
get the max compression

in the field you can't ask for kN so we calc the weight

III-14
Example III-2:

Which material is more economical for the project shown below?

Material 1:  = 16 kN/m3 =10%. Material 2:  = 15 kN/m3 =14%.

L = 1000 m

3m
Fill
 = 20 kN/m3
=14%
L= 1000 m
10 m

Cost of material $3.0/m3 Transportation $4.0/m3 Additional water (as required) $0.5/m3

we have to select which of these two materials is

what is the procedure in these types of questions? cheapest for construction in the field
Solution: 1- Compute VT required,
2- Compute VS required,
3- Compute total volume of material 1 and 2
4- Compute total cost

Fill Volume

Vω

Vs

III-15
 Soil #1

Vω1
more than what we have to do in the field
bc this material has a high void ratio

Vs

Soil #2

Vω2

Vs

material 2 is $9000 more expensive, so material is less costly

because even though we have to add more water, it is more dense
so we have to less excavation--> so select mat 1

In summary, when we have to problems in which we are required to provide a certain

amount of soil at a certain level of compaction and we have many different options.

we have to

1. compute how much is the total volume

2. compute how much is the volume of the solid req'd bc water and void space could
change by compaction

3. then we take this volume of solid and reconstruct how much of material 1 we need
and how much of material 2 we need.
III-16
4. then do calc of cost
 the idea is if we could find unit cells that represent certain
arrangements of soils and particles, interestingly enough, we
compute the properties of the cell, and the properties for this
represented volume will also be the same properties as we have
for the full arrangement of particles.

this type of study is extremely useful for metals, in soil we don't

PACKING OF UNIFORM SPHERES have such a nice order/arrangement of particles, however thinking
about the unit cells will hep us to understand important behaviour
of the soils
Regular Packings: the particles are suited in a repeating or periodic array. This array can be
subdivided into small entities called unit cells. Most unit cells are parallelepipeds or prisms,
having three sets of parallel faces. Thus, the unit cell is the basic structural unit or building block
of the packing.
low coordination number
Characterization of Packings: means particles not many
particles touching each other
number of particles touching a given particle so this is a loose kind of
Coordination number Cn = number of contact points per particle. Cn  12/(1+e) packing. Conversely, a high
coordination number indicates
this here is not an exact eqn, he particles are very densely
just gives it to us so we see it is packed. Contacts all over the
Void ratio e = VV/VS indeed related to the void ratio place, tight arrangement, and
why is specific surface therefore the soil is going to
Surface Area (m 2 ) 2 Surface Area (m 2 )
important?
Specific surface = (m /kg) or 3
(m −1 ) have higher strength. No/less
tendency to generate
if you have a high specific Mass Solids (kg) Volume Solids (m ) settlement.
surface it means that the
atmosphere will be active Contact Histogram
to react with chemicals like
water or any other
contaminates because the Normal and tangential force histograms
we could have a distribution of contacts not tells us if were to look
specific surface means that
only for the vertical force, but also for the statistically on the
there is a lot of surface for
tangential force. He's just mentioning this for amount of contact a
molecules to interact with.
particle is going to see,
SC – Simple Cubic Packing. our general knowledge, but we aren't going to
how is this histogram
be talking about the distribution of contacts.
going to look in a polar
coordinate.

So we are going to see if

you have a soil that is
loaded from the top then
we are going to if you look at the situation
compute the of contacts, they are
void ratio. how going to be distributed in
many spheres? a kind of a pillow shape.
In this case 1 Preferentially developing
now we can computer void ratio
the vertical direction
4R because that's where the
max load is going to be
Source [Link] applied.

Volume of sphere = (4/3)πR3

R Surface Area = 4πR2
Volume of voids = Cube volume – Sphere volume

e= VV/VS =
we are going to see that in natural
sand, e max (which is the very loose
4R e= 6/ − 1 = 0.91 state of the sand) will be very close
0.91. and that's a loose sand.

III-17
 Example III-3:

Compute the specific surface for sand (D50=0.06 mm) and for a silt (D50=0.001 mm) assuming a
SC packing and a unit weight =13.6 kN/m3.

just by changing the diameter, the specific surface of the silt is 40x larger than the
sand.
sc had smaller Cn and
for clays you could even have 50 m2/g. we could even have 800m2 of surface in a
bigger void ratio. (less gram of clay. water would be completely soaked in by so much surface of the clay.
particles touching, that's how the plastic properties are also going to start playing a role.
greater void ratio)
FCC – Face Centered Cubic Packing. (Common in metals: aluminum, copper, gold, lead, silver)

a
(Source [Link]

VS = 4 × Vsphere
VT = a3
VV = VT – VS
4R

3 2
e = VV/VS = − 1 = 0.35 if you look to this
 packing it's very
even though we have denser
a packing, the specific surface of the dense. how much is
packing is the same as the SC
the coordination
𝑅 SO = number in this
𝑎=4 packing
√2
you will see in
natural sand when III-18
you have only 1
type of grain, not
 Array Void ratio Cn
SC 0.91 6
BCC 0.47 8
FCC 0.35 12
HCP 0.35 12

(Source [Link]

Example III-4:

What will the percentage volume change be if a simple cubic packing (V1) is compacted into a
face centred cubic packing (V2)?

V/V0 = (V1-V2)/V1

III-19
3.4 DEFORMATION OF LOADED SPHERES: HERTZ AND MINDLIN

a) Normal load (Hertz theory 1881. Hertz, Heinrich Rudolf, 1857–94, German physicist)

2R - L L = (a2)/R

Contact area

Side View Plan View

a: radius of contact Normal stress at the contact area

1/ 3
  3(1 −  )  
2
3P r
a =    P R 

N = 1−  
  8 G m   2a 2
a

 Poisson’s ratio v: vertical strain (L/L)

Gm: shear modulus of the material of which the particles are made of.

Plot of stresses at the contact

N

a a r

Contact
area

III-20
Elastic properties of the simple cubic packing

 Poisson’s ratio v: vertical strain (L/L)

Gm: shear modulus of the material of which the particles are made of.

2/3
 3(1 −  )   P  P
V =  O  O =  =
 Area  ( 2 R )
2
 2 G m 

O

v

Therefore:

b) Tangential load (Mindlin theory 1949)

As soon as shear loading starts an annulus of slippage take place at the contact.

σN
Sand
grain

r
τ

Sand Deformation
grain

σ
Therefore:

Simulations with particle assemblies in regular packings, with Hertz and Mindlin contacts, help
to understand real soil behaviour.
III-21
3.5 STRENGTH: AMONTONS’ LAWS OF FRICTION

Amontons’ Laws: The friction is independent of the size of the area ag, and it is in direct
proportion to the normal stress. Coulomb (1773) first applied this law to the mechanics of
particulate media.

Friction can be explained by the asperity theory (Green 1955): plastic deformation at asperities
produce interlocking, or by the adhesion theory (Bowden and Tabor 1994): the contact of
asperities produces yielding and consequent junction growth.
N

T Sand
grain

Ak

T Sand
grain

At

III-22
3.6 PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL

Different soils with similar properties are classified into groups according to their engineering
behavior. This system of group of soils is called a soil classification system.

Soil classification systems provide:

• a systematic method of categorizing soils according to their probable engineering behavior;
• a common base to communicate soil information between engineers; and
• a common system to accumulate experience on the engineering behavior of soils.

Role of a classification system in geotechnical engineering:

Classification and Index properties

(w, e, , S, GSD, LL, PI etc.)

Classification System
“Language”

Engineering Properties
(permeability, compressibility,
shrink-swell, shear strength etc.)

Engineering Purpose
(highways, airfields,
foundation, dams etc.)
(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)

Different classification systems have evolved over the years, but the one most comonly used in
geotechnical engineering is the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). A Simplistic model
of the Unified Soil Classification System is shown:

Soils

Coarse Grained Fine Grained

Sands Gravels Clays Silts

III-23
 The basis of the USCS is that: coarse grained soils can be classified according to their grain size
distributions; and the engineering behaviour of fine grained soils is primarily related to their
plasticity. Therefore, sieve analysis and Atterberg limits are needed to classify a soil.

A soil is classified using a two letter symbol:

The first letter describes the major component of the soil according to four major divisions:
coarse grained soils (gravel (G) and sand (S)); fine grained soils (silt (M) and clay (C)); organic
soils (O); and peat (Pt).

The second letter describes the soil relating to: whether a coarse grained soil is well (W) or
poorly (P) graded; whether a coarse grained soil contains appreciable silt (M) or Clay (C); and
whether a fine grained soil has high plasticity (H) or low plasticity (L).

Characterization of particulate materials based on particle sizes:

Coarse-grained soils (Gravel, Sand) form 0.075 mm to 75.0 mm (3 orders of magnitude)

Gravel and Sand

Do NOT hold water
Non-plastic

III-24
 Fine-grained soils (Silt, Clay) from <0.002 mm to 0.075 mm

Clay and some Silts

Hold water
Plastic

More detailed classification: C: Coarse, M: Medium Fine: F

(mm) (mm)

Gravel (G) C 75 - 20
M 20 - 10
F 10 - 4.75
__________________________________________
Sand (S) C 4.75 - 0.6
M 0.6 - 0.2
F 0.2 - 0.075
__________________________________________
Silt (M) C 0.075 - .02
M 0.02 - 0.006
F 0.006 - 0.002
__________________________________________
Clay (C) < 0.002

III-25
A logarithmic scale is used to accommodate all 6 orders of magnitude of grain size range.

Other classification systems were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The next table shows the particle-size classifications (Das,
2010).

Particulate size analysis:

Since soil particles are rarely perfect spheres, particle diameter (or size) refers to an equivalent
particle diameter as found from the sieve analysis. In Canada, we often use the U.S. Standard
Sieves.

Sieve No. Sieve Opening (mm)

3" 75
1.5" 38
0.75" 19
0.375" 9.5
#4 4.75
#10 2.00
#20 0.85
#40 0.425
#60 0.25
#100 0.15
#140 0.106
#200 0.075

Sieves Mesh
,
Source: [Link]

III-26
For soils having particles finer than 0.075 mm, the hydrometer test (sedimentation analysis) is
used. After performing a sieve analysis, the percent of passing material (percent finer for each
sieve) is plotted against the sieve opening size (in log scale). This plot is referred to as the
particle-size distribution curve. For coarse soils, the grain-size distribution reveals information
about the physical properties of the material.

Particle size distribution curve (Craig’s Soil Mechanics 2012)

III-27
Example of sieve analysis.

Total weight (WT) = 500 g

Sieve # Size (mm) W-retained W-r’ W-passing % Passing

(g) (g) (g) WP = WT - ΣWR
3/8” 9.5 0 500
10 2 70 430
20 0.85 90 340
40 0.425 160 180
100 0.15 85 95
200 0.075 50 45
Pan >0.075 45 N/A N/A

100

80

60
% Passing

Y
i

40

20

0
0.01 0.1 1 10
X
i
Particle size (mm)
Quantitative Characteristics:

D60
Coefficient of uniformity (CU): Cu =
D10

2
D30
Coefficient of curvature (CC): Cc =
D10 D60
Well graded sand: 1< CC < 3, CU
Well graded gravel: 1< CC < 3, CU

The higher CU, the larger the range of particles sizes in the soil

III-28
Examples of Particle size distributions ( CU = ? CC= ? )

The type of gradation (well, poorly, or gap graded) can be determined by the use of criteria based
on the range of sizes (Cu) and the shape of the grain-size curve (Cc).

Different types of particle size distribution curve (Braja, 2010)

Source [Link]

1) Well graded soil: good representation of particle sizes over a wide range; gradation
curve is generally smooth.

2) Poorly graded soil: either excess or a deficiency of certain sizes, or most of the particles
about the same size. (i.e. uniform soil)

3) Gap graded soil: a proportion of grain sizes within a specific range is low (it is also
poorly graded).

III-29
Application of Particle Size Distribution

Estimation of coefficient of permeability, k, in sands and gravels

Empirical correlations between particle size distribution and permeability have been developed.
For example the equation proposed by Hazen for uniform, loose, clean sands and gravels. (See
Permeability Lab)

k ≈ c (D10)2 cm/s See Chapter V

where 1.0 < c < 1.5, for D10 in mm

Frost Heave Susceptibility

Frost heaving occurs when water is drawn from below towards the freezing front, forming lenses
of ice. Whether or not water may be drawn to the freezing front is largely governed by the pore
size, which is a function of the grain size distribution of the soil. The pore sizes may be
sufficiently small to allow capillary action to pull pore water up to the freezing front, and
sufficiently large to have a high enough permeability to allow the water to migrate fast enough.

Silts combine sufficiently high suction and permeability to maximize ice lens production, hence
road base material, for example, is usually specified to have not more than 3% silt size particles
to alleviate frost heave beneath roads. A soil is frost susceptible if > 3% pass 0.02 mm.

Selection of Fill Material

• Used to specify material for concrete aggregate (sand & gravel), road base material, etc.
• Used to examine and develop borrow pits.

Geotechnical Processes

• Used to evaluate soil drainage.

• Used to examine the likely effectiveness of grouting or soil freezing techniques for soil
stabilization.

Design of Protective Filters

Piping ratio:
D15( FILTER ) See Chapter IV
 4 to 5 Example
D85( SOIL)
Prevents the protected soil from moving through the filter.
D15( FILTER )
 4 to 5
D15( SOIL)
It may be necessary to place a number of filter materials in series to avoid piping.

III-30