Geotechnical Engineering

Soil Classification Systems

1
 Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) 2

• ASTM D 2487 is based on USCS.

• USCS was developed by Casagrande in 1942 for US Army.
• USCS is the most common soil classification system
among geotechnical engineers.
• USCS considers grain size distribution and plasticity of
fines (passing No. 40 sieve).
• In this system, soil falls within one of three major
categories:
– coarse-grained soils
– fine-grained soils
– highly organic soils
• Coarse grained soil if P200 < 50%.
• Fine grained soil if P200 ≥ 50%.
 Naming convention 3

• A typical USCS classification would be:

Group Symbol SM Silty sand with gravel
Group Name
• Fine-grained Soil
First Letter Second Letter Example
M – Silt L – Low plastic ML, MH
C – Clay H – High plastic CL, CH
O – Organic OL, OH
• Coarse-grained Soil
First Letter Second Letter Example
S – Sand P – Poorly graded SP, SW, SM, SC
G – Gravel W – Well graded GP, GW, GM, GC
M – Silty
C – Clayey
 Terminology 4

• Clay: Soil passing No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve that exhibits
plasticity. It has PI ≥ 4 and plot of PI and LL falls on or above
“A” line.
• Silt: Soil passing a No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve that is non-plastic
or very slightly plastic and that exhibits little or no strength
when air dry. It has PI < 4 or the plot of PI versus LL falls below
the “A” line.
• Sand: Particles of rock that will pass No. 4 (4.75 mm) sieve
and retained on No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve.
• Gravel: Particles of rock that will pass 3 in. (76.2 mm) sieve
and retained on No. 4 (4.75 mm) sieve.
 Terminology (contd.) 5

• Organic clay: A clay with sufficient organic content to

influence the soil properties. For organic clay, its liquid limit
value after oven drying is less than 75 % of its liquid limit
value before oven drying.
• Organic silt: A silt with sufficient organic content to influence
the soil properties. Its liquid limit value after oven drying is
less than 75 % of its liquid limit value before oven drying.
• Peat: A soil composed of vegetable tissue in various stages of
decomposition usually with an organic odor, a dark-brown to
black color, a spongy consistency, and a texture ranging from
fibrous to amorphous.
 Terminology (contd.) 6

• W – Well Graded: Good representation of all particle sizes

from largest to smallest.
• P – Poorly Graded: Uniform, most particles about the same
size; or skip (or gap) gradation, absence of one or more
intermediate sizes.
• Coefficient of uniformity (Cu) and Coefficient of curvature
(Cc) are defined as below:
2
D60 D30
Cu  , Cc 
D10 D60  D10 
where D60, D30, D10 are diameter of 60%, 30% and 10%
passing on gradation curve, respectively.
 Particle size definition 7

• System based only on particles smaller than 3-inches.

• Boulders are > 12-inch
• Cobbles are 3-inch to 12-inch
• Gravels are between No. 4 sieve and 3-inch
• Sands are between No. 200 sieve and No. 4 sieve
• Fines are smaller than No. 200 sieve
No. 200 No. 4 3-in.
fines sand gravel cobbles

.075 mm 4.75 mm 75 mm
USCS - Particle size definition 8
 Organic designation 9

• 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.

• If the ratio of the oven-dried soil’s LL to the air-dry soil’s LL

values is < 0.75, the soil is organic by definition.
• If the air-dry LL is 50 or more, it is a HIGH liquid limit.
• If the air-dry LL is less than 50, the soil has a LOW liquid limit
value.
 D10, D30, and D60 10

Determining D10, D30, and D60

60
Percent passing

30

10
D10 D30 D60

Grain Diameter
 Cu and Cc 11

D60
Cu  Coefficient of Uniformity
D10 High Values Indicate Well-
Graded Soil

Coefficient of Curvature
D302
Cc 
D60  D10  Values Between 1-3
Indicate Well-Graded Soil

Also called coefficient of gradation, Cz

 Clean sands and gravels 12

• Clean Well Graded Sands and Gravels have less than

5 % fines and a wide range of particle sizes that are
equally distributed.
Percent passing

Well graded

Grain Diameter
 Poorly graded sands and gravels 13

Either Mostly
One-Size Particle Or gap graded
Percent passing

Poorly graded
Gap graded

Grain Diameter Grain Diameter

 Clean, well/poorly graded definitions 14

• Sands
– less than 5 % fines
– Cu > 6 If this criteria is satisfied
– Cc = 1 to 3 then WELL GRADED
otherwise POORLY GRADED
• Gravels
– less than 5 % fines
– Cu > 4 If this criteria is satisfied
– Cc = 1 to 3 then WELL GRADED
otherwise POORLY GRADED
15
Flow chart – coarse and fine grained 16

Measure passing No.

200 sieve

50% or more Less than 50%

passes passes
No. 200 sieve No. 200 sieve

Fine-grained Coarse-grained
soils soils
 Flow chart – organic soils 17

Determine
whether organic
or not

Ratio of oven- Ratio of oven-

dry to air-dry dry to air-dry
LL value is LL value is
< 0.75 > 0.75

Organic soils Inorganic soils

Air-dry LL is Air-dry LL is Classify by

< 50 ≥ 50 plotting LL and
PI on Plasticity
OL OH chart
 Flow chart – coarse grained 18

Less than 50% pass

No. 200 sieve

Less than 5% pass From 5% to 12% More than 12%

No. 200 sieve pass No. 200 sieve pass No. 200 sieve

Clean coarse Dual coarse Dirty coarse

grained grained grained
 Flow chart –fine grained 19

50% or more pass

No. 200 sieve

LL < 50 LL ≥ 50

PI > 7 and 4 ≤ PI ≤7 PI < 7 and PI plots PI plots

plots on and plots plots on or below
or above on or above below above A-line
A-line A-line A-line A-line

CL CL-ML ML CH MH
 Are 50% of particles > 0.075 mm?
20
Yes No

Soil is coarse-grained Soil is fine-grained

Is gravel fraction > sand fraction? Coarse-grained soil

Yes No classification
Soil is gravel, First letter is G Soil is sand, First letter is S

Is clay + silt fraction

Is clay fraction >
> 12% ? < 5% ? Between 5% and 12%? Yes
silt fraction?
Yes Yes
Yes No
Is clay fraction > silt fraction?
Yes No If first letter is G If first letter is G
Plastic clay fines Non-plastic silty fines Cu 4 and 1Cc 3, Cu 4 and 1Cc 3,
Second letter C Second letter M then GW-GC, then GW-GM,
else GP-GC else GP-GM
If first letter is G, Cu 4 and 1Cc 3, If first letter is G If first letter is G
then GW otherwise GP Cu 4 and 1Cc 3, Cu 4 and 1Cc 3,
If first letter is S, Cu 6 and 1Cc 3, then GW-GC, then GW-GM,
then SW otherwise SP else GP-GC else GP-GM
 Are 50% of particles < 0.075 mm? 21

Yes No
Soil is fine-grained Soil is coarse-grained

LL (oven-dried)
Is
LL (not dried)
< 0.75 Fine-grained soil
Yes No
classification
Soil is organic, Is clay fraction > silt fraction?
First letter is O
Yes No

Soil is clay, first Soil is silt, first

letter is C letter is M

Is LL > 50%

Yes No

Plasticity is high, Plasticity is low,

second letter is H second letter is L
 Procedure for classification of soils 22

• From sieve analysis and the grain-size distribution curve

determine the percent passing as the following:
– > 3 inch: Cobble or Boulders
– 3” to No. 4 (76.2 ~ 4.75 mm): Gravel
– No. 4 to No. 200 (4.75 ~ 0.075 mm): Sand
– < No. 200 (0.075 mm): Fines
• First, find % passing No. 200. If (5%) or more of soil passes No.
200 sieve, then conduct Atterberg Limits test (LL & PL).
• If the soil is fine-grained (≥ 50% passes No. 200 sieve), follow
the guidelines for fine-grained soils.
• If the soil is coarse-grained (<50% passes No. 200 sieve),
follow the guidelines for coarse-grained soils.
• Obtain the following data:
– Find % Gravel & Sand
– Calculate Cu & Cc
– Calculate LL, PL and PI
 23
Fine
Grained
Soils

FIG. 1 Flow chart for Classifying Fine-Grained Soil (50% or More Passes No. 200 Sieve)
 Fine grained organic soils 24

Group Symbol Group Name

FIG. 2 Flow chart for Classifying Organic Fine-Grained Soil (50% or More Passes No. 200 Sieve)
Coarse Grained Soils 25

FIG. 3 Flow chart for Classifying Coarse-Grained Soils (50% or More Retained on No. 200 Sieve)
Plasticity chart 26
 27

High plasticity/compressibility

Medium plasticity/
compressibility

Low plasticity/
compressibility
 28

Cohesionless soil

Organic clays

Silt
29
 Example 30

Gravel
= 98-62
= 36%

Sand
= 62-8
= 54%

Fines
= 8%

Cu = 46.67
Soil A: D60 = 4.2 mm , D30 = 0.6 mm, D10 = 0.09 mm Cc = 0.95
Example 31

LL = 42
PL = 31
PI = 42-31 = 11

ML
Gravel = 36%
32
Sand = 54%
Fines = 8%
Cu = 46.7
Cc = 0.95

LL = 42
PL = 31 ML
PI = 42-31 = 11

Soil A is classified as [SW-SM: well-graded sand with silt and gravel]

FIG. 3 Flow chart for Classifying Coarse-Grained Soils (50% or More Retained on No. 200 Sieve)
 USCS – Example, Soil A 33

Soil A
Gravel = 100 – 80 = 20%
Sand = 80 – 52 = 28%
Fines = 52% > 50% => Fine-grained soil
USCS – Example, Soil A 34

LL = 30
PI = 8

CL
 35

CL – Sandy lean clay with gravel

Soil A
Gravel = 20%
Sand = 28%
Fines = 52%
 AASHTO Classification - Introduction 36

• AASHTO system of soil classification was developed in 1929.

• This classification is standardized by ASTM designation D 3282
and AASHTO method M145.
• It provides general rating of the soil as subgrade for road
construction.
• It considers grain size distribution and plasticity of fines.
• AASHTO system uses both grain-size distribution and
Atterberg limits to assign a group classification and group
index.
• The group classification ranges from A-1 (best) to A-8 (worst).
• Highly organic soils (muck and peat) are placed under group
A-8.
 Introduction (contd.) 37

• Group index values near 0 indicate good soils, while values of

20 or more indicate very poor soils.
• Soils classified under group A-1, A-2 and A-3 are granular
materials of which ≤ 35% pass through the No. 200 sieve.
• Soils of which > 35% of pass through the No. 200 sieve are
classified under groups A-4, A-5, A-6 and A-7. these are
mostly silt and clay type materials.
AASHTO & USCS 38
 AASHTO Classification 39

• Grain size
– Gravel: fraction passing 3 in. (75 mm) sieve and retained on the
No. 10 (2 mm) sieve.
– Sand: fraction passing the No. 10 (2 mm) sieve and retained on
the No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve.
– Silt and Clay: fraction passing the No. 200 sieve.

• Plasticity: The term silty is applied when the fine

fractions of the soil have a plasticity index of 10 or less.
The term clayey is applied when the fine fractions have a
plasticity index of 11 or more.
• If cobbles or boulders (>75mm) are encountered, they
are excluded from the portion of soil sample from which
classification is made. However, the percentage is
recorded.
 Granular materials 40

Granular materials (≤ 35% of total sample passing No. 200)

Note: To classify a soil, apply test data from left to right in the above
table. By process of elimination, the first group from left into which the
test data fit is the correct classification.
 Silt-clay materials 41

Silt-clay materials (> 35% of total sample passing No. 200)

Note: To classify a soil, apply test data from left to right in the above
table. By process of elimination, the first group from left into which the
test data fit is the correct classification.
 Plasticity Chart 42

Range of liquid limit and plasticity index for soils in groups A-2, A-4, A-5, A-6, and A-7
 Group Index 43

• Group index (GI) is calculated using the following empirical

formula:
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 taken as zero, if the equation yields negative value.

• Calculated value of GI is rounded off to nearest whole number
(for example, GI = 3.4 is rounded off to 3; GI = 3.5 is rounded
off to 4).
 Group Index 44

• There is no upper limit for the group index.

• The group index of soils belonging to groups A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-
4, A-2-5, and A-3 is always zero.
• When calculating the GI for soils that belong to groups A-2-6
and A-2-7, use the partial GI for PI, or the following formula:
GI  0.01F200  15PI  10

• In general, the quality of performance of soil as a subgrade

material is inversely proportional to the GI.
• Group index is shown in parentheses after the group symbol
as A-2-6(3), A-6(12), A-7-5(17), etc.
 AASHTO - Examples 45

Given data
• P10 = 80% P40 = 52% P200 = 20% obtained from
• LL = 35 PL = 20 PI = 15 gradation curve

• 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 Use this formula for
A-2-6 and A-2-7
GI  0.0120 1515 10  0.25  0
• Therefore, soil is A-2-6 (0)
 46

A-2-6 soil