m


m



By
M. FIRDAUS, MT
www.dauspoli.co.cc
http://dauspoli.host56.com
 Definition
‡ Selection of soils into a group or sub - groups
that show the same behavior
‡ Classification of soil will help designer in
providing guidance with existing empirical way
from the results of past experience
 Specifications commonly used :
‡ ASTM = American Society for Testing and
Materials
‡ USC = Unified Soil Clasification
‡ AASHTO = American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials
‡ FAA = Federal Aviation Administration
‡ USDA = US Department of Agricultural
‡ MIT = Massachusetts institute of Technology
‡ International Nomenclatur Specification
 Unified Soil Classification System
‡ Soil classified as a coarse grained soil (gravel
and sand) if more than 50% left in the sieve
no.200, and fine soil (silt / clay), if more than
50% sieve no.200
‡ Soil classified in a number of groups and
subgroups according to table or flow chart.
‡ The symbol that used are :
v ã = gravel
v S = sand
v C = clay
v M = silt
v O = organic silt or clay
v Pt = peat
v W = well-graded
v P = poorly-graded
v H = high-plasticity
v L = low-plasticity
 AASHTO Classification System
‡ ãenerally used for the foundation of highway
project : subgrade, base, sub-base.
‡ Classify soil into 7 groups (ie from A-1 through A-
7) are there based on the diameter of the
granules and Atterberg limits
‡ ãroup A-1 through A-3 is a granular soil, while
group A-4 through A-7 are a group of silt-clay soil
sieve no.200
‡ This group is evaluated by using the equation that
is called Index ãroups (ãroup Index, ãI), ie :
  

hs
 


 

h 



h(

h

‡ With F is the percent grain sieve no.200

‡ The value F is only used their number (without
percent), as well as for the LL and PI
‡ Equality of ãI, namely: (F-35) (0,2 +0,005 (LL-
40)), is the partial group index which is
determined from the liquid limit. Second
equation segment : 0.01 (F-15) (PI-10) is the
partial group index which is determined from
the plasticity index
 Some rules determining the Index
ãroup :
1. If the value of ãI, then the suitability of the soil will be
reduced if use in a project (eg soil with ãI = 15 or less
suitable than the soil ãI = 1)
2. If the count, ãI is negative, then the ãI is taken zero
3. ãI values taken round (eg, ãI = 4.5 rounded to 5)
4. There is no upper limit value of ãI
5. ãI including group A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, 2-5 A-and A-3
value is always zero
6. At the time of calculating the ãI which include A-2-6
and A-2-7, used partially for PI group, or ãI = 0,01 (F-
15) (PI-10)
 Example problem
Soil samples were tested in the laboratory with
the following results :
Liquid Limit = 41%
Plastic Limit = 14%
Test results filter :

   
  
4 100
10 92,9
40 79,4
200 59,1
 How to classificate of soil?
A. Unified system:
Sieve of no.200 = 59,1%---- fine grain soil (table) & (flowchart)
LL = 41% < 50%, PI = LL ʹ PL = 27% > 7%, the soil is ͞CL͟ (table) &
(flowchart)

B. AASHTO system:
Sieve of No.200 = 59,1% > 35%---clay. With LL= 41%--- A-5 or A-7.
Because PI = 27% and PL = 14%----soil include A-7-6. (table)

ã   
hs





h

 
h

h

ã    hs



  h h  
So, soil including the classification A-7-6(12) (table)