SOIL INDEX
PROPERTIES
CE 401: SOIL MECHANICS
MODULE 4 Part 3
PREPARED BY: ENGR. MARC DANIEL LAURINA
01 Soil Consistency
02 Liquid Limit
03 Plastic Limit
04 Shrinkage Limit
05 Indices in Soil
Consistency
2
F. SOIL CONSISTENCY
Index Properties
• Some of the important physical properties, which may relate to the state of the soil or the
type of the soil include
1. Soil color,
2. Soil structure,
3. Specific gravity
4. Particle shape,
5. Particle size distribution, Main Index Properties for Coarse-Grained Soil
6. Relative Density
7. Consistency limits Main Index Properties for Cohesive Soil
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Soil Consistency
• Soil consistency is the strength with which soil materials are held
together or the resistance of soils to deformation and rupture.
• Consistency may also be looked upon as the degree of firmness of a soil
and is often directly related to strength. This is applicable specifically to
clay soils.
• The consistency of clay soils is expressed qualitatively by such terms as
very soft, soft, stiff, very stiff and hard.
• It is depends upon the water content
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Plasticity
• Plasticity is defined as the ability of the material or soil to undergo deformation/distortion/change
of shape without rupture or crack.
• The quality of clay that allows it to be easily manipulated and still maintain its shape.
• This cohesive nature is caused by the adsorbed water surrounding the clay particles.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Stages of Consistency
• From the figure, at a very low moisture content, soil
behaves more like a solid.
• When the moisture content is very high, the soil and
water may flow like a liquid.
• Also, soil strength decreases as water content increases.
• Therefore, the soil behavior of the soil, based on is
divided into four states based on moisture content:
1. Solid Stage
2. Semi-solid stage
3. Plastic Stage
4. Liquid Stage
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Stages of Consistency
The soil strength is lowest at
the liquid state and highest at
the solid state.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Atterberg Limits/ Consistency Limits
• Consistency of a soil can be expressed in terms of “Atterberg limits of soils”
• Atterberg (Taylor, 1964) proposed a series of tests for determining the effect of water in physical
properties of clay which are known as Atterberg Limits (also referred to as Consistency Limits).
• Atterberg Limits: are water contents at certain limiting or critical stages in soil behavior.
• These limits are:
1. Liquid Limit (LL)
2. Plastic Limit (PL)
3. Shrinkage Limit (SL)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Atterberg Limits/ Consistency Limits
• As the water content is reduced, the
volume of the soil decreases and the
soils become plastic.
• If the water content is further
reduced, the soil becomes semi-solid
when the volume does not change.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Atterberg Limits/ Consistency Limits
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Importance of Atterberg Limits
• If we know the water content of our sample is relative to the Atterberg limits,
then we already know a great deal about the engineering response of our
sample.
• The Atterberg limits may be used for the following:
1. To obtain general information about a soil and its strength,
compressibility, and permeability properties
2. Empirical correlations for some engineering properties
3. Soil classification
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
13
LIQUID LIMIT
Liquid Limit
• Liquid limit (LL) is defined as the arbitrary limit of water
content at which the soil is just about to pass from the
plastic state into the liquid state.
• At this limit, the soil possesses a small value of shear
strength, losing its ability to flow as a liquid.
• In other words, the liquid limit is the minimum moisture
content at which the soil tends to flow as a liquid.
• Liquid limit is found out using:
1. Casagrande’s tool (Cup Method) (ASTM D-4318)
2. Cone Penetration (Fall Cone Method)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Liquid Limit Determination: Cup Method
• Liquid Limit defined in Casagrande’s tool: It is defined as the water content at which the groove cut
into soil pat in standard liquid limit device after 25 blows to close the distance of 12.7 mm (1/2 inch)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Liquid Limit Determination: Cup Method
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Liquid Limit Determination: Cup Method
Supplementary Video:
Liquid Limit - Casagrande Method
[Link]
kCbnIWmJPiyzToiiMW&index=30
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Flow Curve
• The liquid limit is difficult to achieve in just single test. It is difficult to adjust the moisture content in soil to
meet the required ½ inch closure of the groove at 25 blows. Hence, at least 4 tests for the same soil are made
at varying w%, and then w% values are plotted against the logarithm of the number of blows, N.
𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆
𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 (𝑭𝑰) = 𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆 =
𝒓𝒖𝒏
𝑤1 − 𝑤2 𝑤1 − 𝑤2
𝐹𝐼 = =
log 𝑁1 − log 𝑁2 log 𝑁1
𝑁2
“w” vs. “No. of blows”
(Arithmetic scale) (Logarithmic scale)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Liquid Limit Determination: Fall-Cone Method
• The cone is released for 5 seconds so that it may penetrate the soil.
• The liquid limit is defined as the water content of the soil which allows the cone to penetrate
exactly 20 mm during that period of time.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
DIRECT APPLICATIONS OF LL TO FIELD SITUATIONS
• When a Soil Moisture Content Exceeds the Liquid Limit:
Mud Slide. Exceeding the soil liquid limit in the field
can generate harmful and potentially devastating
results, as the soil may appear to be stable and then
when disturbed can suddenly break away, becoming
transformed into a rapid flowing mudslide that takes
everything in its way. The most devastating mudslides
in terms of loss of life therefore occur in mountainous
terrain where the mud moves faster than people can
get out of the way and escape almost certain death
Liquefaction. When a saturated sand or silt suddenly
densifies during an earthquake so that all of its weight
goes to pore water pressure. This is liquefaction,
which can cause a sudden and complete loss of shear
strength so that landslides develop and buildings may
topple.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
22
PLASTIC LIMIT
Plastic Limit
• It is boundary between Plastic stage and Semi-solid
stage.
• Plastic limit is found out using:
1. Rolling Thread Method (ASTM D-4318)
The plastic limit is defined as the moisture
content in percent, at which the soil crumbles,
when rolled into threads of 3.18 mm (1/8 in.)
in diameter.
2. Cone Penetration (Fall Cone Method)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Plastic Limit
Supplementary Video:
Plasticity and Plastic State & Plastic Limit of Soil and its Determination
[Link]
WmJPiyzToiiMW&index=32
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
SHRINKAGE LIMIT
Shrinkage Limit (SL)
• Soil shrinks as moisture is gradually lost from it.
• Shrinkage Limit is the moisture content after which further loss of moisture does not cause a
decrease in the volume of the soil.
• It is the lowest water content at which soil can be still completely saturated.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Shrinkage Limit (SL)
Shrinkage Ratio (SR)
Specific Gravity of Solids, Gs
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Shrinkage Limit (SL)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
30
INDICES IN SOIL
CONSISTENCY
Indices in Soil Consistency
• Various indices have been developed using Atterberg limits.
1. Plasticity Index (PI)
2. Liquidity Index (LI)
3. Consistency Index (CI)
4. Shrinkage Index (SI)
5. Toughness Index (TI)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Plasticity Index (PI)
• The plasticity index defines the range of water content for which the soil behaves like a plastic
material.
• It is useful in engineering classification of fine-grained soils, and many engineering properties
(strength, compressibility, compactibility) have been found to correlate with the PI.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Plasticity Index (PI)
• The PI thus is a measure of the plasticity of a soil.
• As such, the PI determines the amount and type of clay present in a soil. In
general,
Soils with a high PI tend to be clay,
Those with a lower PI tend to be silt, and
Those with a PI near zero tend to have little or no silt or clay (fines) present.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Plasticity Index (PI)
• Application:
1. An indicator of the suitability of the clay binder in a soil mixture
used for pavement subgrades, base courses, or unpaved road
surfaces.
a. If the PI is too high, the exposed soil tends to soften and become
slippery in wet weather, and the road may rut under traffic
b. if the plasticity index is too low, the unpaved road will tend to
‘‘washboard’’ in response to resonate bouncing of wheels of
vehicular traffic
2. Low Plastic soil is used for embankment because it is easy to
compact
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Liquidity Index (LI)
• It is the relative consistency of a cohesive soil in the natural state
• It serves as a measure of soil strength.
• This index helps us to know if our sample was likely to behave as a plastic, a brittle, or a liquid.
• As w , LI , Soil’s Liquidity , Soil’s Firmness
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Liquidity Index (LI)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
38
Consistency Index (CI)
• Consistency Index or Relative Consistency indicates the consistency or
firmness (hardness) of the soil
• As w , CI , Firmness
(Hardness)
• Note: LI is related to CI
LI + CI = 1
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Shrinkage Index (SI)
• It is the range of water content within which a soil is in a semisolid state of
consistency
• It indicates the shrinkage potential
𝑆𝐼 = 𝑃𝐿 − 𝑆𝐿
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Toughness Index (TI)
• It indicates the loss of shear strength with increase in moisture content
• It is measure of shearing strength of soil at the plastic limit
• Significance: Larger the value, better the strength of soil at its plastic limit.
𝑃𝐼
𝑇𝐼 =
𝐹𝐼
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Activity Number (Ac)
• Activity number (Ac) describes the importance of the clay fractions (the amount of particles
less than 2 micromm) on the plasticity index.
• It is a measure of the water holding capacity of clayey soil.
• It study the behavior of swelling (expansion) and shrinkage characteristics of soil.
• Where:
Clay Fraction (CF) = percent of soil finer than 0.02 mm (clay size)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Activity Number (Ac)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Activity Number (Ac)
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
45
Example 1: CE Board Exam
Given the laboratory results of the Atterberg limit test in figure shown.
Determine the LL, PL, PI, LI, CI, FI and TI. From a hydrometer analysis to determine particle size, it is found
that 45% of the sample consists of particle smaller than 0.002 mm. Indicate the activity classification of the
clay.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Example 1: CE Board Exam
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Example 2
A shrinkage limit test on a clay soil gave the following data.
Weight of shrinkage dish and saturated soil cake = 38.78 g
Weight of shrinkage dish and oven dry soil cake = 30.46 g
Weight of shrinkage dish = 10.65 g
Volume of shrinkage dish = 16.29 cc
Total volume of oven dried soil cake = 10.00 cc
Determine the shrinkage limit, shrinkage ratio and specific gravity of soil solids.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
Seatwork
A saturated 100 cm^3 clay sample has a natural content of 29%. It is found that
the shrinkage limit occurs when the water content is 18%. If the Gs of the soil is
2.70.
• Compute the shrinkage ratio
• Compute the volume of sample when the water content is 15%
• Compute the mass of dry soil sample.
SOIL MECHANICS LECTURES by Engr. Marc Daniel Laurina
REFERENCES
Besavilla. Basic Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering 5th Edition
Budhu, M. (2011). Soil Mechanics and Foundations 3rd Edition
Coduto, D. (1999). Geotechnical Engineering: Principles and Practices
Das, Braja. and Sobhan, K. (2012). Principles of Geotechnical Engineering 8th Edition
Handy, R. and Spanger, M. G. (2007). Geotechnical Engineering: Soil and Foundations
Principles and Practice 5th Edition
Gillesania, DIT. Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering
Kaliakin, V. N. (2017) Soil Mechanics: Calculations, Principles and Methods
Murthy, V. N. S. Geotechnical Engineering: Principles and Practices of Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Engineering
Sivakugan, N. and Das, B. (2010). Geotechnical Engineering: A Practical Problem Solving n
Approach
Venkatramaiah, C. (2006). Geotechnical Engineering 3rd Edition
Institute for Engineers, IES Soil Mechanics Reviewer
Youtube: Elementary Engineering
Google Images
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