Soil Mechanics

The term 'soil mechanics' was coined by Dr. Karl

Terzaghi in 1925 when his book Erdbaumechanic on
the subject was published in german. According to
terzaghi, '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 contain an admixture of organic constituents'.
Soil mechanics is therefore a branch of mechanics
which deals with the action of forces on soil and with
the flow of water in soil.
Soil engineering in an applied science dealing with
the application of principles of soil mechanics to
practical problems. It has a much wider scope than
soil mechanics, as it deals with all engineering
problems related with soils. It includes site
investigations, design and construction of foundation,
earth retaining structures and eart structures.
Geotechnical engineering is a broader term which
includes soil engineering, rock mechanics and
geology. This term is used synonymously with soil
engineering in the text.
SCOPE OF SOIL ENGINEERING
Soil engineering has vast application in the
construction of various civil engineering works. some
of the important applications are as under:

In 1.Foundations
2. Retaining structures
3.Stability of slopes
4. Underground structures
5. Pavement Design
6. Earth Dam
The important terms used in soils are given below.
Break down of parent rock.
Weathering, decomposition, erosion.
Transportation to the site of final
decomposition:
gravity, flowing water, wind etc.
Environment of final deposition
flood plain, river terrace, glacial moraine etc.
Subsequent conditions of loading and
drainage.
Alluvial soils
These are soils carried and deposited by rivers.
Lacustrine soils
These are soils deposited by flowing water or surface
runoff.
Aeolin Soils
These are soils carried and deposited by wind.
Loess
It is wind blown deposit of silt.
Marl
It is a marine stiff calcareous clay of greenish colour

Muck
It is a mixture of fine Soil particles and highly
decomposed organic matter.
Peat
It is an organic soil having fibrous aggregates.
Tuf
It is a fine grained soil composed of very small
particles ejected from volcanoes.
Loam
It is a mixture of sand , silt and clay.
Laterites
Laterites are residual soils formed in tropical regions.
Cobbles
Cobbles are large sized particles in the range of 80
mm to 300 mm.
Gravels
It is a type of coarse grained soil. The particle size
ranged from 4.75 mm to 80 mm.
Sand
It is a coarse grained soil particle size varies from
0.075 mm (75 micron) to 4.75 mm.
Silt
It is a fine grained soil with particle size between
0.002 mm to 0.075 mm
Clay
It is a fine grained soil, with particle size less than
0.002 mm it is a cohesive soil.

PROPERTIES OF SOIL

Phase Diagram of soil

The engineering Properties of soil are affected by
four main factors, the predominant size of the
mineral particles, the grain size distribution, and
the relative quantities of mineral, water and air
present in the soil matrix.
Soil is in general a three phase system composed
of solids, liquid and gaseous matter.
The diagrammatic representation of the different
phases in a soil mass is called the phase diagram

Soil is devided into two parts

1.Three Phase
2. Two Phase

Three phase

Partially saturated
0<S<1
Solids
Water
Air
V=Total Volume of Soil mass

Vv=Volume of Voids
Vs=Volume of Solids
Vw=Volume of water
Ws=Weight of solids
Ww=Weight of water
Wa=Weight of air

Two phase
i. Oven dried
S=0
Solid
Air
ii.Fully Saturated
S =1
Solid
Water

Volume Relation of
Soils
As the amounts of both air and water are
variable, the volume of solids is taken as
reference quantity.
Some of the important properties of soil that are
used by geotechnical engineering to analysis site
condition and design earthworks, retaining
structures and foundations are given below
Void Ratio (e)
It is the ratio of volume of void (V v ) (Containing
air, water, or other fluids) to the volume of solids

(V s ) and is expressed as decimal. Void ratio is

mathematically related to the porosity.

(V v )
e =

(V s )
where,
Vv = Volume of voids
Vs = Volume of soil solids
Porosity []
It is the ratio of voids (V V ) in a soil to the total
volume of soil (V) and is expressed as
percentage.

(V v )

= x 100

(V)
where,
Vs = Volume of solids
V = Volume of soil
V = Va+Vw+Vs
Degree of Saturation (S)
It is the ratio of volume of water (V w ) to the
volume of voids (V V )

(V )

S = x 100

(Vv)
Vw can very from 0 (for dry soil to V V ) for fully
saturated soil.
Hence, for dry soil S = 0%
w

 For fully saturated soil S = 100%

Air Content ( a )
It is the ratio of volume of air ( Va) to the the
total volume (V).

(V )

ac = x 100

(V)
Some Basic Relations
Voids ratio (e) and porosity (n) can be interrelated to each other as

1+e

e =

1-
The relation between air content (a c ) and
percentage air voids (n a ) is, n a = n.a c
Weight Relation of Soil
The total unit weight contains cumulative weight
of the solid particles, water and air in the
material per unit volume. Note that all air phase
is often assumed to be weightlessness.
Density is measure of the quantity of mass in a
unit volume of material

M
c

= KN/m3

Unit weight is the measure of the weight of the

unit volume of material

= KN/m 3

Unit weight is a measure of the weight of the

unit volume of material

w

= kN/m 3

Water Content (W)

It is ratio of mass of water to the mass of soil,

sometimes called as moisture content.

MW
W =

MS

Where, M W =mass of water

M S =mass of soil


For dry soil w = 0% and its value can exceeds
100%

The mass of solid particles is usually expressed

in terms of their particle unit weight (ys)
or specific gravity (Gs) of soil grain solids.

ws
Specific weight of soils,
s
= = G s . w

Vs
Where w is unit
weight of water.

Dry Unit Weight [ d ]

It is a measure of the amount of solid particles
per unit volume.V

ws
d =

V
Bulk Unit Weight [ t ]
It is a measure of the amount of solid particles
plus water per unit volume

(w s + w w )
t =

(V S +V V )

Saturated Unit Weight [ Sat ]

It is equal to the bulk density when the total

voids is filled up with water.

Submerged Unit Weight [ sub ]

It is the effective mass per unit volume when the
soil is submerged below standing water or below
ground water table.
sub = Sat - w
Where, sub =specific weight of submergid soil
Where, Sat =specific weight of satuarated soil

Inter relation of soil

Some physical state properties are calculated
following then practical measurements of other.
For example dry unit weight ( d ) can be
determined from bulk unit weight and water
content.

ww
w .VW
Vw
s v
(S.e)

w= = = =
=

ws
(GS .w .VS )
(GS .VS ) (GS .VS )
GS
Or G.w = S.e

Bulk unit of weight = ((G+Se) w )

((1+e) )

saturated unit of weight Sat = ((G+Se) w )

(1+e) ;S=1

Dry unit weight d = (G W ) ((1+e) );S=0

Or d = (1+w)
Submerged unit weight, Sub = Sat - w
Sub = ((G-1) w ) (1+e)