Geotechnical Engineering

BSc Civil Engineering

Lecture # 9
23-Feb-2015

by
Dr. Muhammad Irfan
Assistant Professor
Civil Engg. Dept. UET Lahore
Email: mirfan1@msn.com
Lecture Handouts: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/geotec-1
1

SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Two commonly classification system used are:
1.

Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

2.

preferred by Geotechnical engineers

American Association of State Highway and

Transportation Officials (AASHTO) System

preferred by Transportation engineers

UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION

SYSTEM (USCS)
(ASTM D 2487)
Developed by Casagrande in 1942 for US Army
System based on particles < 3 in
Uses grain size distribution and plasticity of fines
Three major categories:

coarse-grained soils

fine-grained soils

organic soils

P200 < 50% Coarse grained soil

P200 50% Fine grained soil
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USCS Naming Convention

Soil symbols:
G: Gravel
S: Sand
M: Silt
C: Clay
O: Organic
Pt: Peat
Group Symbol

Liquid limit symbols:

H: High LL (LL>50)
L: Low LL (LL<50)
Gradation symbols:
W: Well-graded
P: Poorly-graded
Silty sand

SM
SW

Well-graded sand

SC

Clayey sand

CL

Low plasticity Clay

MH

High Plastic silt

Well graded soil

1 < C c < 3 and C u 4
(for gravels)
1 < C c < 3 and C u 6
(for sands)

Group Name

UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION

SYSTEM (USCS)
Definition of Grain Size

Use
Atterberg limits

Silt and
Gravel
Boulders

Sand

Clay

Cobbles
Coarse
300 mm

Fine

75 mm
19 mm

Coarse

Medium

Fine

No.4

No.200

4.75 mm

0.075
mm

No.10

No.40

2.0 mm

0.425 mm
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Designation of Organic Soils

A liquid limit test is performed on:

One sample that is only air-dried.

On another that is oven-dried prior to testing.

The liquid limit values are compared by computing the ratio of the 2 values.

LL(oven dried)/LL(air dried) < 0.75 Organic

LL(oven dried)/LL(air dried) > 0.75 Inorganic
ADDITIONAL EVALUATION PROCEDURES
Ignition Test (ASTM D2974)

Soil sample heated in muffle furnace set at either 440 oC or 750 oC and
weight loss measured.

Peat Classification (ASTM D4427)

Fine Grained Soils

FIG. 1 Flow chart for Classifying Fine-Grained Soil (50% or More Passes No. 200 Sieve)

Fine Grained Organic Soils

Group Symbol

Group Name

FIG. 2 Flow chart for Classifying Organic Fine-Grained Soil (50% or More Passes No. 200 Sieve)
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Coarse Grained Soils

FIG. 3 Flow chart for Classifying Coarse-Grained Soils (50% or More Retained on No. 200 Sieve)

PLASTICITY/A-LINE CHART
Used for fine grained soils to determine whether silt (M) or clay (C)

Below A-line is silt use symbol M

Above A-line is clay use symbol C

LL > 50 High plasticity

LL< 50 Low plasticity
10

PRACTICE PROBLEM #1
Classify the following soils Using Unified Classification
System.

11

PRACTICE PROBLEM #1

12
12

SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Two commonly classification system used are:
1.

Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

2.

preferred by Geotechnical engineers

American Association of State Highway and

Transportation Officials (AASHTO) System

preferred by Transportation engineers

13

AASHTO Soil Classification

Classification procedure standardized by ASTM D3282 and AASHTO
M145.
Soil rating for subgrade construction.
Soils classified into 8 groups (+ several subgroups);
A-1 (best) to A-8 (worst).
Organic soils (peat and muck) assigned group A-8.
Required tests are sieve analysis and Atterberg limits.
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AASHTO Soil Classification

(ASTM D3282; AASHTO M145)

A1 ~ A3

A4 ~ A7

Granular Materials
35% pass No. 200 sieve

Silt-clay Materials
> 35% pass No. 200 sieve

Using LL and PI separates silty materials

from clayey materials (only for A2 group)

Using LL and PI separates silty materials

from clayey materials

Example

A-1 (0)
Group Number

Group Index
15

GROUP INDEX (GI)

GI Empirical formula used to further evaluate soils within a
group (subgroups)
GI = (F200 35)[0.2 + 0.005(LL 40 )] + 0.01(F200 15)(PI 10 )
Partial GI determined from LL

Partial GI determined from PI

where
F200 = percentage passing through the No. 200 sieve
LL = Liquid limit, and PI = Plasticity index

GI is rounded off to nearest whole number

(e.g., GI = 3.4 is rounded off to 3; GI = 3.5 is rounded off to 4)

GI = 0, if the equation yields negative value.

16

GROUP INDEX (GI)

Smaller the GI, better is the soil.
GI of soils belonging to groups A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, A-2-5,
and A-3 is always zero.
GI for soils belonging to groups A-2-6 and A-2-7 is
computed by using the partial formula.
GI = 0.01(F200 15)(PI 10 )

GI is shown in parentheses after the group symbol,

e.g. A-2-6(3), A-6(12), A-7-5(17)
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AASHTO Particle Size

Silt and
Clay

Sand
Gravel

Boulders

Coarse

Fine
No.40

75 mm

0.425 mm
No.10

No.200

2.0 mm

0.075
mm

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AASHTO Classification Chart

(Coarse-grained Soils)

Note:
First group from the left to fit test data is the correct AASHTO classification.

19

AASHTO Classification Chart

(Fine-grained Soils)

Note:
First group from the left to fit test data is the correct AASHTO classification.
20

AASHTO Plasticity Chart

Range of LL and PI for soils in groups A-2, A-4, A-5, A-6, and A-7.

21

Practice Problem #1
P10 = 80%

P40 = 52%

LL = 35 PL = 20 PI = 15

P200 = 20%

Given data
Obtained from
gradation curve &
Atterberg Limit tests

22

Practice Problem #1
P10 = 80%

P40 = 52%

P200 = 20%

LL = 35 PL = 20 PI = 15

Given data
Obtained from
gradation curve &
Atterberg Limit tests

Since, P200 <35%, coarse grained soil

Since, P10 > 50, not A-1-a
Since, P40 > 50, not A-1-b
Since, P200 > 10, not A-3
So must be A-2 soil , use plasticity chart

A-2-6 soil
GI = 0.01(F200 15)(PI 10 )

GI = 0.01(20 15)(15 10 ) = 0.25 = 0

Therefore, soil is

Use this formula for

A-2-6 and A-2-7

A-2-6 (0)
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