T H IR D E DIT ION

SOIL MECHANICS
AND FOUNDATIONS

MUNI BUDHU
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics
University of Arizona

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

 AP P E NDIX A
A COLLECTION OF FREQUENTLY
USED SOIL PARAMETERS AND
CORRELATIONS

TABLE A.1 Typical Values of Unit Weight TABLE A.2 Description of Coarse-
for Soils Grained Soils Based on Relative
Density and Porosity
Soil type 𝛄sat (kN/m3) 𝛄d (kN/m3)
Porosity,
Gravel 20–22 15–17 Dr (%) n (%) Description
Sand 18–20 13–16
Silt 18–20 14–18 0–20 100–80 Very loose
Clay 16–22 14–21 20–40 80–60 Loose
40–70 60–30 Medium dense or firm
70–85 30–15 Dense
85–100 ,15 Very dense

TABLE A.3 Soil Types, Description, and Average Grain Size According to ASTM-CS

Soil type Description Average grain size

Gravel Rounded and/or angular bulky hard rock Coarse: 75 mm to 19 mm

Fine: 19 mm to 4.75 mm
Sand Rounded and/or angular bulky hard rock Coarse: 4.75 mm to 2.0 mm
Medium: 2.0 mm to 0.425 mm
Fine: 0.425 mm to 0.075 mm
Silt Particles smaller than 0.075 mm exhibit little or no strength 0.075 mm to 0.002 mm
when dried
Clay Particles smaller than 0.002 mm exhibit significant strength <0.002 mm
when dried; water reduces strength

TABLE A.4 Description of Soil Strength Based on Liquidity Index

Values of LI Description of soil strength

LI , 0 Semisolid state—high strength, brittle (sudden)

fracture expected
0 , LI , 1 Plastic state—intermediate strength, soil deforms
like a plastic material
LI . 1 Liquid state—low strength, soil deforms like a
viscous fluid

723
724 APPENDIX A A COLLECTION OF FREQUENTLY USED SOIL PARAMETERS AND CORRELATIONS

TABLE A.5 Typical Atterberg Limits for Soils

Soil type LL (%) PL (%) PI (%)

Sand Nonplastic
Silt 30–40 20–25 10–15
Clay 40–150 25–50 15–100
Minerals
Kaolinite 50–60 30–40 10–25
Illite 95–120 50–60 50–70
Montmorillonite 290–710 50–100 200–660

TABLE A.6 Hydraulic Conductivity for Common Soil Types

Soil type kz (cm/s) Description Drainage

Clean gravel (GW, GP) .1.0 High Very good

Clean sands, clean sand and gravel
mixtures (SW, SP) 1.0 to 1023 Medium Good
Fine sands, silts, mixtures comprising
sands, silts, and clays (SM-SC) 1023 to 1025 Low Poor
Weathered and fissured clays
Silt, silty clay (MH, ML) 1025 to 1027 Very low Poor
Homogeneous clays (CL, CH) ,1027 Practically impervious Very poor

TABLE A.7 Typical Values of TABLE A.8 Typical Values of E and G

Poisson’s Ratio
Soil type Description E * (MPa) G* (MPa)
Soil type Description n9
Clay Soft 1–15 0.5–5
Clay Soft 0.35–0.4 Medium 15–30 5–15
Medium 0.3–0.35 Stiff 30–100 15–40
Stiff 0.2–0.3 Sand Loose 10–20 5–10
Sand Loose 0.15–0.25 Medium 20–40 10–15
Medium 0.25–0.3 Dense 40–80 15–35
Dense 0.25–0.35
*These are average secant elastic moduli for drained condition
(see Chapter 10).

TABLE A.9 Ranges of Friction Angles (degrees) for Soils

Soil type f9cs f9p f9r

Gravel 30–35 30–50

Mixture of gravel and sand with fine-grained soils 28–33 30–40
Sand 27–37a 32–50
Silt or silty sand 24–32 27–35
Clays 15–30 20–30 5–15
a
Higher values (328 to 378) in the range are for sands with significant amounts of feldspar (Bolton,
1986). Lower values (278 to 328) in the range are for quartz sands. The peak delation angle, ap,
ranges from 0 to 158.
 APPENDIX A A COLLECTION OF FREQUENTLY USED SOIL PARAMETERS AND CORRELATIONS 725

TABLE A.10 Af Values

Type of Clay Af

3
Highly sensitive 4 to 1.0
1
Normally consolidated 2 to 1
1
Compacted sandy clay 4 to 34
Lightly overconsolidated clays 0 to 12
Compacted clay–gravel 214 to 14
Heavily overconsolidated clays 212 to 0

Source: After Skempton (1954).

TABLE A.11 Correlation of N, N60, g, Dr , and f9 for Coarse-Grained Soils

N N60 Compactness g (kN/m3) Dr (%) f9 (degrees)

0–4 0–3 Very loose 11–13 0–20 26–28

4–10 3–9 Loose 14–16 20–40 29–34
10–30 9–25 Medium 17–19 40–70 35–40*
30–50 25–45 Dense 20–21 70–85 38–45*
.50 .45 Very dense .21 .85 .45*

*These values correspond to f9p.

TABLE A.12 Correlation of N60 and su

for Saturated Fine-Grained Soils

N6o Description su (kPa)

0–2 Very soft ,10

3–5 Soft 10–25
6–9 Medium 25–50
10–15 Stiff 50–100
15–30 Very stiff 100–200
.30 Extremely stiff .200

TABLE A.13 Empirical Soil Strength Relationships

Soil type Equation Reference

su
Normally consolidated clays a b 5 0.11 1 0.0037 Pl Skempton (1957)
srz nc
su
a b 5 0.22 Mesri (1975)
srzo
1 su /srz 2 oc
5 1 OCR 2 0.8
1 su /srz 2 nc
Overconsolidated clays See Note 1. Ladd et al. (1977)

5 1 0.23 6 0.04 2 OCR0.8

su
See Note 1. Jamiolkowski et al. (1985)
srz
Clean quartz sand f9p 5 f9cs 1 3Dr (10 2 ln p’f ) 2 3, where p’f is Bolton (1986)
the mean effective stress at failure (in kPa)
and Dr is relative density. This equation
should only be used if 12 . (f9p 2 f9cs) . 0.

Note 1: These are applicable to direct simple shear tests. The estimated undrained shear strength from triaxial compression
tests would be about 1.4 times greater.
726 APPENDIX A A COLLECTION OF FREQUENTLY USED SOIL PARAMETERS AND CORRELATIONS

TABLE A.14a Summary of Correlations Among Some Soil Parameters and CSM

Parameter Relationship Soil type Reference

Compressibility l < 0.59 Pl Remolded clays Schofield

Cc 5 1.35 Pl and Wroth
Pl 5 plasticity index (1968)

2 2 2 LI 2 log a15.9 b
srzo

log 1 OCR 2 5
patm
Overconsolidation Remolded clays Wood
L
ratio (1983)
k
where L 5 1 2 < 0.8
l

6 2 2Mc
Lateral earth K nc
o 5 Normally N/A
6 1 Mc
pressure consolidated clays
coefficient nc 5 normally consolidated, Mc 5 frictional
constant in compression

Undrained shear 1 su 2 w 5 1 su 2 PL exp 124.6 LI 2 Remolded clays N/A

strength or
1 su 2 w < 200 exp 1 24.6 LI 2
w 5 water content, LI 5 liquidity index

su sin frcs 3 Ko 1 Af 1 1 2 Ko 2 4
a b5
One-dimensionally Wood
srz 1 1 1 2Af 2 1 2 sin frcs consolidated (1990)
remolded clays
Af 5 Skempton’s porewater pressure coefficient,
f9cs 5 critical state friction angle, Ko 5 earth
pressure coefficient at rest, s9z 5 vertical
effective stress

su
5 0.129 1 0.00435 Pl Normally Wroth &
p or consolidated Houlsby
Pl 5 plasticity index (%) clays/remolded clays (1985)

su
a b 5 0.25 Normally Wood
srz
consolidated (1990)
clays/remolded clays

frcs 5 sin21 c0.35 2 0.1 ln a bd

Pl
Friction angle Remolded clays Wood
100
(1990)

3pr 1 1 1 eo 2 1 1 2 2nr 2
Stiffness Er 5 Remolded clays N/A
k
1.5pr 1 1 1 eo 2 1 1 2 2nr 2
k 1 1 1 nr 2
G5
1 1 1 eo 2
Kr 5 pr
k

3prc 1 1 1 ec 2 1 1 2 2nr 2
Er 5 Overconsolidated Randolph
k
clays et al. (1979)
1 1 ec
Krmax 5 prc
k
G 5 0.5Krmax

N/A 5 not applicable. These equations have all been derived from the CSM in this textbook.
 TABLE A.14b Summary of Relationships Among Soil Strength Parameters from CSM

Relationship CSM expression Approximate expression for practical use Usage

prt 1
Tension cutoff tc 5 5 Axisymmetric compression: tc 5 0.0002f9cs1.92; Rt 5 • To determine the
prc n 2t
mean effective b a1 1 5033f9cs21.92 overconsolidation
stress and M2 Plane strain: tc 5 0.0011f9cs1.526; Rt 5 909f9cs21.526 ratio beyond
overconsolidation Axisymmetric compression: nt 5 3, which a soil will
f9cs in degrees
ratio 6 sin frcs rupture from
M 5 Mc 5
3 2 sin frcs tension

Plane strain: nt 5 "3, M 5 Mc 5 "3 sin frcs

1
Rt 5
tc
1 sin frcs 2 3 2 2 Ro < 1.45 OCR0.66; OCR # 10; 25° , frcs , 30° • To convert OCR to Ro
c 1 3 2 2 sin frcs 2 2
Overconsolidation
d
from stress 4 1 2 sin frcs 2 3 2 Ro < 1.6 OCR0.62; OCR . 10; 25° , frcs , 30° below tension cutoff
Ro < OCR
1 1 2 1 1 2 sin frcs 2 OCR
invariants, Ro, 1
2
and OCR
ty pry apcs 5 21.45 3 1024 OCR1.32 1 0.31 OCR0.66 1 0.5144; OCR # 10 • To estimate
a 2 1b 1 3 2 M 2
Ratio of
normalized yield pro pro apcs 5 21.6 3 1024 OCR1.14 1 0.34 OCR0.62 1 0.5144; OCR . 10 critical state shear
(peak) shear apcs 5 5 stress from yield
tf M
strength and shear stress and
pro
normalized vice versa
critical state p ry 1 M 2Ro 1 18 2 1 " 1 M 2Ro 1 18 2 2 2 36 1 M 2 1 9 2 • To estimate the
2 1 M2 1 9 2
5
shear strength por range of shear
under triaxial stress for which
drained the soil will
condition behave elastically
Relationship 1 su 2 f 1 su 2 f • To estimate the
< c1 1 2 1 1 2 sin frcs 2 OCR0.5 d
M Ro L sin frcs
among undrained 5 a b normalized
pro 2 2 s zo
r 3 2 sin frcs
shear strength, undrained shear
critical state 3 1 0.725 2 OCR L 0.66L
; OCR # 10 strength from the
friction angle, and 1 su 2 f critical state
< c1 1 2 1 1 2 sin frcs 2 OCR0.5 d
sin frcs
overconsolidation s zo
r 3 2 sin frcs friction angle and
ratio the overconsolidation
3 1 0.8 2 L OCR0.62L; OCR . 10 ratio and vice versa
• To estimate the
range of shear
stress for which
the soil will
behave elastically

(continued)
727
728

TABLE A.14b (continued)

Relationship CSM expression Approximate expression for practical use Usage

Relationship 1 su 2 f aR < 1 1.45 OCR0.66 2 L; OCR , 10 • To estimate the

between the
normalized aR 5
undrained shear
strength at the
critical state for
normally
consolidated and
overconsolidated
fine-grained soils
Relationship
1 aKo2ic 2 nc < 1 3 2 2 sin frcs 2
between the
normalized
undrained shear 3 a1 2
strength of one-
dimensionally
consolidated or
Ko-consolidated
and isotropically
consolidated
fine-grained soils
c d
aR < 1 1.6 OCR0.62 2 L; OCR . 10 normalized undrained
5 1 Ro 2 L
pro oc
1 su 2 f
shear strength for
c d any overconsolidation
pro nc ratio from normalized
undrained shear
strength at critical
state
1 sin frcs 2 3 2 2 •
1 3 2 2 sin frcs 2 a1 2
L
b
1 To convert the
4 1 2 sin frcs 2 3 2 1 3 2 2 sin frcs 2
1
3 undrained shear
3
1 sin frcs 2 3 2 2
L
strength of an
b isotropically
4 1 2 sin frcs 2 3 2 1 3 2 2 sin frcs 2 consolidated soil
to that of a Ko-
consolidated soil

Relationship 1 su 2 y "1.45 OCR0.66 2 1 • To delineate fine-

"Ro 2 1 1 0.725 OCR0.66 2 L
between the aycs < ; OCR # 10 grained soils that
pro
1 su 2 f
normalized aycs 5 5
"1.6 OCR0.62 2 1
Ro L would likely exhibit
undrained shear a b peak undrained shear
1 0.8 OCR0.62 2 L
aycs < ; OCR . 10
strength at initial pro 2
strengths
yield and at • To estimate the
critical state for undrained shear
oveconsolidated strength at initial yield
fine-grained soils from knowing the
under triaxial undrained shear
condition strength at the critical
state and vice versa
• To estimate the
range of shear
stress at which a
soil would behave
elastically
 1 su 2 f "3 Ro* L 1 su 2 f "3 sin frcs OCR 0.8 • To estimate the
c d [1 1 1 1 2 sin frcs 2 OCR2 ] sin frcs a b c d a b
Undrained shear 1

strength under 5 < undrained shear strength

srzo DSS 4 2 srzo DSS 2 2
direct simple 1 su 2 f or critical state friction
shear (plane c d < 0.5 sin frcs; for normally consolidated soil angle in direct simple
srzo DSS
strain) shear test
conditions
Relationship 1 su 2 cs 1 3 2 sin frcs 2 • To estimate the undrained
c d
1 3 2 sin frcs 2
between direct aDSS–ic 5 shear strength for direct
srzo DSS 2"3
1 su 2 cs
simple shear aDSS–ic 5 5 simple shear from triaxial
c d
test and triaxial 2"3 test result on an
test srzo ic isotropically consolidated soil
1 su 2 f 3 1 1 2 sin frcs 2 • To estimate whether
1 0.725 OCR0.66 2 L; OCR # 10
Relationship for
1 no 2 M 2 Ro L 1 3 2 sin frcs 2
the application aSL < short-term or long-term
por
of drained and aSL 5 5 a b ; no 5 slope of ESP condition is critical; aSL . 1,
3 1 1 2 sin frcs 2
tf no 2
undrained long-term condition is
1 0.8 OCR0.62 2 L; OCR . 10
1 3 2 sin frcs 2
conditions in the por aSL < critical or else short-term
analysis of Axisymmetric loading condition is critical
geosystems

• To estimate the porewater

[ 1 0.725 OCR0.66 2 2L 2 1 ] 1 ; OCR # 10
Relationship 1 Ro 2L 3 2 sin frcs 1
ca b 2 1d 1
1
Af 5 Af 5
among excess M 2 3 6 sin frcs 3 pressure coefficient at
porewater failure in triaxial test
pressure, OCR,
[ 1 0.8 OCR0.62 2 2L 2 1 ] 1 ; OCR . 10
3 2 sin frcs 1
and critical state Af 5
6 sin frcs 3
friction angle

TABLE A.15 Ranges of Free Swell for Some TABLE A.16 Activity of Clay-Rich Soils
Clay Minerals
Description Activity, A
Clay minerals Free swell (%)
Inactive ,0.75
Calcium montmorillonite (Ca-smectite) 45–145 Normal 0.75–1.25
Sodium montmorillonite (Na-smectite) 1400–1600 Active 1.25–2
Illite 15–120 Very (highly) active (e.g., bentonite) .6
Kaolinite 5–60 Minerals
Kaolinite 0.3–0.5
Illite 0.5–1.3
Na-montmorillonite 4–7
Ca-montmorillonite 0.5–2.0
729
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Budhu, M.
Soil mechanics and foundations / Muni Budhu.—3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-470-55684-9 (hardback)
1. Soil mechanics. 2. Foundations. I. Title.
TA710.B765 2010
624.1'5136—dc22
2010023265
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1