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Chapter 4 - Plasticity of Soil

Soil can exist in different mechanical states depending on its moisture content, including solid, semi-solid, plastic, and liquid. Clays in particular can take on these different states. The Atterberg limits of liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and shrinkage limit (SL) indicate the moisture contents where the mechanical behavior changes. The plasticity index, which is the difference between the LL and PL, depends on clay content and type and characterizes the soil's plasticity. A plasticity chart can classify soils based on these properties. Soil structure also varies, with cohesionless soils having loose grains, dense grains, or a honeycomb structure, and cohesive soils having dispersed, flocc

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253 views15 pages

Chapter 4 - Plasticity of Soil

Soil can exist in different mechanical states depending on its moisture content, including solid, semi-solid, plastic, and liquid. Clays in particular can take on these different states. The Atterberg limits of liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and shrinkage limit (SL) indicate the moisture contents where the mechanical behavior changes. The plasticity index, which is the difference between the LL and PL, depends on clay content and type and characterizes the soil's plasticity. A plasticity chart can classify soils based on these properties. Soil structure also varies, with cohesionless soils having loose grains, dense grains, or a honeycomb structure, and cohesive soils having dispersed, flocc

Uploaded by

Hussein Essa
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 4 Plasticity of Soil

What is so unique about soil as an engineering material is that it may


have vastly different mechanical properties due to varying moisture
content.

With the presence of moisture, soil containing clayey materials (cohesive


materials) behaves differently and assumes four states:
Solid (no volume change due to change of water; strong)
Semi-solid (strong)
plastic (moldable - putty-like)
liquid / slurry (fluid flows like a viscous fluid)
Atterberg Limits
Atterberg Limits
Atterberg limits (SL, PL, LL) indicate the moisture content which denotes a change
in mechanical behaviors. For consistency purposes, a standardized testing
procedures (ASTM) are followed to determine whether a soil is liquid, plastic,
semi-solid or solid
PL: Water content to produce threads of 1/8 (3.2 mm) in diameter without
crumbling
LL: Casagrande device. The water content at which the groove closes a distance
of 0.5 (12.7 mm) at 25 blows.
To calculate the LL, use either the flow index method or the one point method because it is
unpractical to conduct the experiment and determine the water content so that the groove
closes a distance of exactly 0.5 at 25 blows
SL: The shrinkage limit (SL) is the water content where further loss of moisture
will not result in any more volume reduction
Lab procedure: Porcelain dish in which the mass and volume of the soil are recorded at
saturated state, and the mass and volume of the soil are recorded in a dry state. A formula is
given (in a subsequent slide)
The shrinkage limit is much less commonly used than the liquid limit and the plastic limit.
Determining the LL
One point method
The one point method yields fairly good results when N varies between 20
to 30 blows

The flow curve method


Volume Change in Soil (Shrinkage / Swelling)
Shrinkage Limit
Plasticity Index
The higher the plasticity index, the higher the plasticity of the soil
The plasticity index depends on
The weight percentage of clay present in the soil
The type of clay present in the soil (activity of the clay)
Rough characterization of soil due to plasticity index
High PI tend to be clay (large amount of clay with high activity)
Low PI tend to be silt
PI of 0 tend to have little or no silt or clay.
Plasticity Index Meaning
Plasticity Chart
Soil Structure
Cohesionless Soil (soil with large percentage of sand and silt)
Loose single grains (large void ratios)
Dense single grains (low void ratios)
Honeycomb structure
Fine sand and silt particles for small arches
Large void ratios
Structure susceptible to large settlement if the honeycomb collapses due to heavy loads
Cohesive soils (soils with large percentage of clay particles)
Dispersed structure (clay particles are oriented more or less parallel to one another)
Flocculent structure: Clay particles flocculate. It is lightweight with high void ratios
Domains: Aggregation of flocculants
Clusters: Aggregation of domains (can be observed in a light microscope)
Peds: Aggregation of clusters (can be observed without a microscope)
Structure in Cohesionless Soils
Structure of Cohesive Soils

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