CE 240 Soil Mechanics & Foundations Lecture 2.

Weight-Volume Relationships (Das, Ch. 3)

Outline of this Lecture

1.Density, Unit weight, and Specific gravity (Gs) 2.Phases in soil (a porous medium) 3.Three phase diagram 4.Weight-volume relationships

For a general discussion we have

Weight W

W = Mg
density Unit weight

M = V
W = V

So that

W Mg = = = g V V

Unit weight: = g Unit weight is the product of density and gravity acceleration. It is the gravitational force caused by the mass of material within a unit volume (density) in the unit of Newtons per cubic meter in SI system.

Specific Gravity (Gs)

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of unit weight (or density) of a given material to the unit weight (or density) of water since

g = = Gs = w w g w

Specific Gravity
Expected Value for Gs
Type of Soil Sand Silty sand Inorganic clay Soils with mica or iron Organic soils Gs 2.65 - 2.67 2.67 2.70 2.70 2.80 2.75 3.00 < 2.00

Three Phases of Soils

Naturally occurred soils always consist of solid particles, water, and air, so that soil has three phases: solid, liquid and gas.

Soil model
Solid Particles Volume Voids (air or water)

Three Phase Diagram

Air Water

Solid

Mineral Skeleton

Idealization: Three Phase Diagram

Fully Saturated Soils (Two phase)

Water

Solid

Mineral Skeleton

Fully Saturated

Dry Soils (Two phase) [Oven Dried]

Air

Solid

Mineral Skeleton

Dry Soil

Three Phase Diagram

Wa~0

Air
Vv WT

Va Vw VT

Ww

Water

Ws

Solid

Vs

Weight

Volume

Phase relationship: the phase diagram

Wa~0

Air
Vv WT

Va Vw VT

Ww

Water

Ws

Solid

Vs

Wt: total weight Ws: weight of solid Ww: weight of water Wa: weight of air = 0

Vt: total volume Vs: volume of solid Vw: volume of water Vv: volume of the void

Wa~0

Air
Vv WT

Va Vw VT

Ww

Water

Ws

Solid

Vs

Vt = Vs + Vv = Vs + Vw + Va; It is convenient to assume the volume of the solid phase is unity (1) without lose generality. Mt = Ms + Mw; and Wt = Ws + Ww, since W=Mg

Void ratio: e = Vv/Vs; Porosity n = Vv/Vt

Vv Vv Vv / Vt n e= = = = Vs Vt Vv 1 Vv / Vt 1 n Vv Vv Vv / Vs e = = n= = Vt Vs + Vv 1 + Vv / Vs 1 + e
Apparently, for the same material we always have e > n. For example, when the porosity is 0.5 (50%), the void ratio is 1.0 already.

Wa~0

Air
Vv WT

Va Vw VT

Ww

Water

Ws

Solid

Vs

Degree of saturation: S =Vw/Vv x 100% Saturation is measured by the ratio of volume. Moisture content (Water content): w = Ww/Ws, Ww weight of water, Ws weight of solid Water content is measured by the ratio of weight. So that w can be greater than 100%.

Wa~0

Air
Vv WT

Va Vw VT

Ww

Water

Ws

Solid

Vs

Degree of saturation: S =Vw/Vv x 100% Saturation is measured by the ratio of volume. Moisture content: w = Ww/Ws, Ww=Vww Ww weight of water, Ws weight of solid Water content is measured by the ratio of weight.

Definition of 3 types of unit weight

Total unit weight (moisture unit weight, wet unit weight) :

Wt Ws + Ww = = Vt Vt
Dry unit weight d :

Ws d = , Vt > Vs d < s Vt
Saturated unit weight (when saturation S=1) sat :

sat

Wt = Vt

Moisture unit weight :

Solid unit weight s dry unit weight d

Wt Ws + Ww = = Vt Vt Ws s = Vs

Ws d = , Vt > Vs d < s Vt
Since

Ws Wt Ww Wt Ww WwWs d = = = = = w d Vt Vt Vt Vt WsVt so that

d + w d =

and

d =

1+ w

From the original form of the dry unit weight

d =

1+ w

By taking the Taylor expansion and truncated at the first order term:

d =

1+ w

= (1 w + w2 w3 + w4 w5 + ...) (1 w)

Because the moisture content w is a number always smaller than one, i.e., w<1. Thus, the dry unit weight d can be approximated as:

d = (1 w)

Relationships among S, e, w, and Gs

Vw S = , then Vw = SVv = Se, Vv given Vs = 1

A simple way to get Das, Equation 3.18

Ww wVw weS eS w= = = = , Vs = 1, Vv = 1 Ws sVs Gs w Gs thus Se = wGs

When the soil is 100% saturated (S=1) we have, Equation 3.20

e = wGs

Relationships among , n, w, and Gs

Ws = sVs = Gs w (1 n), Ww = wWs = wGs w (1 n) given Vs = 1 n

So that the dry unit weight d is

Ws Gs w (1 n) d = = = Gs w (1 n) 1 n + n Vt
And the moist unit weight is

Wt Ws + Ww Gs w (1 n) + wGs w (1 n) = = = Vt Vt 1 = (1 + w)Gs w (1 n) = Gs w (1 n)(1 + w)

Relationships among , n, w, and Gs (cont.)

When S=1 (fully saturated soil)

sat

Ws + Ww Gs w (1 n) + n w = = = [Gs (1 n) + n] w Vt 1

the moisture content w when S=1 can be expressed as

Ww n w n e w= = = = Ws Gs w (1 n) Gs (1 n) Gs recall Se = wGs , thus e = wGs S =1

Weight-Volume Relationships (Table 3.1)

The 3rd column is a special case of the 1st column when S = 1.

Example:
Determine moisture content, void ratio, porosity and degree of saturation of a soil core sample. Also determine the dry unit weight, d Data:
Weight of soil sample = 1013g Vol. of soil sample = 585.0cm3 Specific Gravity, Gs = 2.65 Dry weight of soil = 904.0g

Example
134.9cm3 243.9cm3 109.0cm3 585.0cm3 s =2.65 341.1cm3

Air
W =1.00

Wa~0

Water

109.0g 1013.0g

Solid

904.0g

Volumes

Weights

Results
From the three phase diagram we can find:
Moisture content, w Void ratio, e Porosity, n Degree of saturation, S Dry unit weight, d
w= Ww 109 ( g ) = 100 = 12.1% Ws 904 ( g )

Vv 243.9cm3 e= = = 0.715 3 Vs 341.1cm Vv 243.9 (cm3 ) n= = 100 = 41.7% VT 585.0 (cm 3 )

S = Vw 109 = 100 = 44 . 7 % 243 . 9 Vv
W s 904 g = = 1 .55 VT 585 cm 3

d =

Measurement of the submerged density (or unit weight)

Now consider the submerged case, i.e., the twophase system has been put into the water:

M w buoyancy = e w e w = 0 and M s buoyancy = Gs w 1 w = (Gs 1) w

Thus, the submerged density is

submerg

M t M w + M s 0 + (Gs 1) w (Gs 1) w = = = = = Vt Vt 1+ e 1+ e

In a two-phase system, i.e., if S=100%, and we let Vs=1, we then have:

Vt = 1 + e , since Vw = Vv = e

Consider the not-submerged case, i.e., the twophase system has been just put in the air:

M w = wVw = e w
Thus, the saturated density is

and

M s = sVs = Gs wVs = Gs w

sat

M w + M s e w + Gs w w (e + Gs ) = = = Vt 1+ e 1+ e M s Gs w = d = Vt 1+ e

and the dry density is

Recall that the saturated density is

sat

M w + M s w ( e + Gs ) = = 1+ e Vt

If we do the following

( e + Gs ) w (e + Gs ) w (1 + e) w sat w = w = 1+ e 1+ e (e + Gs 1 e) w (Gs 1) w = = = 1+ e 1+ e i.e., = sat w

If you have got the submerged density and sure you know water density w

sat

M w + M s w ( e + Gs ) = = 1+ e Vt

You can calculate the saturated density sat.If you know w then you can calculate the void ratio e. if you think you can know e from the dry density d

Gs w d = 1+ e
You can also calculate the submerged density when the sample is not 100% saturated.

(Gs 1) w + e( S 1) = 1+ e

Reading Assignment: Das, Ch. 3 Homework: 3.4, 3.5