18.J.K.mitchell&K.soga - Fundamentals of Soil Behaviour

Fundamentals of
Soil Behavior
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Third Edition
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James K. Mitchell
dM Kenichi Soga
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JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.
Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Mitchell, James Kenneth, 1930
Fundamentals of soil behavior / James K. Mitchell, Kenichi
Co
Soga.3rd ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-471-46302-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-471-46302-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Soil mechanics. I. Soga, Kenichi. II. Title.
TA710.M577 2005
624.15136dc22
2004025690
Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS
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Preface xi
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Soil Behavior in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1
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1.2 Scope and Organization 3
1.3 Getting Started 3
CHAPTER 2 SOIL FORMATION 5
dM 2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 The Earths Crust 5
2.3 Geologic Cycle and Geological Time 6
2.4 Rock and Mineral Stability 7
2.5 Weathering 8
2.6 Origin of Clay Minerals and Clay Genesis 15
2.7 Soil Proles and Their Development 16
2.8 Sediment Erosion, Transport, and Deposition 18
2.9 Postdepositional Changes in Sediments 25
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2.10 Concluding Comments 32

Questions and Problems 33
CHAPTER 3 SOIL MINERALOGY 35

3.1 Importance of Soil Mineralogy in Geotechnical
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Engineering 35
3.2 Atomic Structure 38
3.3 Interatomic Bonding 38
3.4 Secondary Bonds 39
3.5 Crystals and Their Properties 40
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3.6 Crystal Notation 42

3.7 Factors Controlling Crystal Structures 44
3.8 Silicate Crystals 45
3.9 Surfaces 45
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3.10 Gravel, Sand, and Silt Particles 48

3.11 Soil Minerals and Materials Formed by Biogenic and
Geochemical Processes 49
3.12 Summary of Nonclay Mineral Characteristics 49
3.13 Structural Units of the Layer Silicates 49
3.14 Synthesis Pattern and Classication of the Clay Minerals 52
3.15 Intersheet and Interlayer Bonding in the Clay Minerals 55
3.16 The 11 Minerals 56
3.17 Smectite Minerals 59
3.18 Micalike Clay Minerals 62
3.19 Other Clay Minerals 64

vi CONTENTS
3.20 Summary of Clay Mineral Characteristics 65

3.21 Determination of Soil Composition 65
3.22 X-ray Diffraction Analysis 70
3.23 Other Methods for Compositional Analysis 74
3.24 Quantitative Estimation of Soil Components 79
CHAPTER 4 SOIL COMPOSITION AND ENGINEERING PROPERTIES 83

4.1 Introduction 83
4.2 Approaches to the Study of Composition and Property
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Interrelationships 85
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4.3 Engineering Properties of Granular Soils 85
4.4 Dominating Inuence of the Clay Phase 94
4.5 Atterberg Limits 95
4.6 Activity 97
4.7 Inuences of Exchangeable Cations and pH 97
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4.8 Engineering Properties of Clay Minerals 98
4.9 Effects of Organic Matter 104
CHAPTER
dM 5 SOIL FABRIC AND ITS MEASUREMENT 109
5.1 Introduction 109
5.2 Denitions of Fabrics and Fabric Elements 110
5.3 Single-Grain Fabrics 112
5.4 Contact Force Characterization Using Photoelasticity 119
5.5 Multigrain Fabrics 121
5.6 Voids and Their Distribution 122
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5.7 Sample Acquisition and Preparation for Fabric Analysis 123

5.8 Methods for Fabric Study 127
5.9 Pore Size Distribution Analysis 135
5.10 Indirect Methods for Fabric Characterization 137
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CHAPTER 6 SOILWATERCHEMICAL INTERACTIONS 143

6.2 Nature of Ice and Water 144
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6.3 Inuence of Dissolved Ions on Water 145

6.4 Mechanisms of SoilWater Interaction 146
6.5 Structure and Properties of Adsorbed Water 146
6.6 ClayWaterElectrolyte System 153
6.7 Ion Distributions in ClayWater Systems 153
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6.8 Elements of Double-Layer Theory 154

6.9 Inuences of System Variables on the Double Layer 157
6.10 Limitations of the GouyChapman Diffuse
Double Layer Model 159
6.11 Energy and Force of Repulsion 163
6.12 Long-Range Attraction 164
6.13 Net Energy of Interaction 164
6.14 Cation ExchangeGeneral Considerations 165
6.15 Theories for Ion Exchange 167
6.16 SoilInorganic Chemical Interactions 167
6.17 ClayOrganic Chemical Interactions 168

CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER 7 EFFECTIVE, INTERGRANULAR, AND TOTAL STRESS 173

7.2 Principle of Effective Stress 173
7.3 Force Distributions in a Particulate System 174
7.4 Interparticle Forces 174
7.5 Intergranular Pressure 178
7.6 Water Pressures and Potentials 180
7.7 Water Pressure Equilibrium in Soil 181
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7.8 Measurement of Pore Pressures in Soils 183
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7.9 Effective and Intergranular Pressure 184
7.10 Assessment of Terzaghis Equation 185
7.11 WaterAir Interactions in Soils 188
7.12 Effective Stress in Unsaturated Soils 190
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CHAPTER 8 SOIL DEPOSITSTHEIR FORMATION, STRUCTURE,

GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES, AND STABILITY 195
dM 8.1
8.2
Introduction
Structure Development
195
195
8.3 Residual Soils 200
8.4 Surcial Residual Soils and Taxonomy 205
8.5 Terrestrial Deposits 206
8.6 Mixed Continental and Marine Deposits 209
8.7 Marine Deposits 209
8.8 Chemical and Biological Deposits 212
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8.9 Fabric, Structure, and Property Relationships: General

Considerations 213
8.10 Soil Fabric and Property Anisotropy 217
8.11 Sand Fabric and Liquefaction 223
8.12 Sensitivity and Its Causes 226
8.13 Property Interrelationships in Sensitive Clays 235
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8.14 Dispersive Clays 239

8.15 Slaking 243
8.16 Collapsing Soils and Swelling Soils 243
8.17 Hard Soils and Soft Rocks 245
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CHAPTER 9 CONDUCTION PHENOMENA 251

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9.2 Flow Laws and Interrelationships 251
9.3 Hydraulic Conductivity 252
9.4 Flows Through Unsaturated Soils 262
9.5 Thermal Conductivity 265
9.6 Electrical Conductivity 267
9.7 Diffusion 272
9.8 Typical Ranges of Flow Parameters 274
9.9 Simultaneous Flows of Water, Current, and Salts
Through Soil-Coupled Flows 274
9.10 Quantication of Coupled Flows 277

viii CONTENTS
9.11 Simultaneous Flows of Water, Current, and Chemicals 279

9.12 Electrokinetic Phenomena 282
9.13 Transport Coefcients and the Importance of Coupled
Flows 284
9.14 CompatibilityEffects of Chemical Flows on Properties 288
9.15 Electroosmosis 291
9.16 Electroosmosis Efciency 294
9.17 Consolidation by Electroosmosis 298
9.18 Electrochemical Effects 303
9.19 Electrokinetic Remediation 305
9.20 Self-Potentials 305
9.21 Thermally Driven Moisture Flows 307
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9.22 Ground Freezing 310
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CHAPTER 10 VOLUME CHANGE BEHAVIOR 325
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10.2 General Volume Change Behavior of Soils 325
10.3 Preconsolidation Pressure 327
10.4 Factors Controlling Resistance to Volume Change 330
10.5 Physical Interactions in Volume Change 331
10.6 Fabric, Structure, and Volume Change 335
dM 10.7 Osmotic Pressure and Water Adsorption Inuences on
Compression and Swelling 339
10.8 Inuences of Mineralogical Detail in Soil Expansion 345
10.9 Consolidation 348
10.10 Secondary Compression 353
10.11 In Situ Horizontal Stress (K0) 355
10.12 TemperatureVolume Relationships 359
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CHAPTER 11 STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR 369

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11.2 General Characteristics of Strength and Deformation 370

11.3 Fabric, Structure, and Strength 379
11.4 Friction Between Solid Surfaces 383
11.5 Frictional Behavior of Minerals 389
11.6 Physical Interactions Among Particles 393
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11.7 Critical State: A Useful Reference Condition 400

11.8 Strength Parameters for Sands 404
11.9 Strength Parameters for Clays 411
11.10 Behavior After Peak and Strain Localization 415
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11.11 Residual State and Residual Strength 417

11.12 Intermediate Stress Effects and Anisotropy 422
11.13 Resistance to Cyclic Loading and Liquefaction 425
11.14 Strength of Mixed Soils 432
11.15 Cohesion 436
11.16 Fracturing of Soils 438
11.17 Deformation Characteristics 444
11.18 Linear Elastic Stiffness 447
11.19 Transition from Elastic to Plastic States 452
11.20 Plastic Deformation 456
11.21 Temperature Effects 460

CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER 12 TIME EFFECTS ON STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION 465

12.2 General Characteristics 466
12.3 Time-Dependent DeformationStructure Interaction 470
12.4 Soil Deformation as a Rate Process 478
12.5 Bonding, Effective Stresses, and Strength 481
12.6 Shearing Resistance as a Rate Process 488
12.7 Creep and Stress Relaxation 489
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12.8 Rate Effects on StressStrain Relationships 497
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12.9 Modeling of StressStrainTime Behavior 503
12.10 Creep Rupture 508
12.11 Sand Aging Effects and Their Signicance 511
12.12 Mechanical Processes of Aging 516
12.13 Chemical Processes of Aging 517
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List of Symbols 523

dM References 531
Index 559
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PREFACE
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According to the National Research Council (1989, 2005), sound geoengineering is key in
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meeting seven critical societal needs. They are waste management and environmental protec-
tion, infrastructure development and rehabilitation, construction efciency and innovation, se-
curity, resource discovery and recovery, mitigation of natural hazards, and the exploration and
development of new frontiers. Solution of problems and satisfactory completion of projects in
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each of these areas cannot be accomplished without a solid understanding of the composition,
structure, and behavior of soils because virtually all of humankinds structures and facilities
are built on, in, or with the Earth. Thus, the purpose of this book remains the same as for the
prior two editions; namely, the development of an understanding of the factors determining
and controlling the engineering properties and behavior of soils under different conditions,
with an emphasis on why they are what they are. We believe that this understanding and its
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prudent application can be a valuable asset in meeting these societal needs.
In the 12 years since publication of the second edition, environmental problems requiring
geotechnical inputs have remained very important; dealing with natural hazards and disasters
such as earthquakes, oods, and landslides has demanded increased attention; risk assessment
and mitigation applied to existing structures and earthworks has become a major challenge;
and the roles of soil stabilization, ground improvement, and soil as a construction material
have expanded enormously. These developments, as well as the introduction of new compu-
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tational, geophysical, and sensing methods, new emphasis on micromechanical analysis and
behavior, and, perhaps regrettably, the reduced emphasis on laboratory measurement of soil
properties have required looking at soil behavior in new ways. More and more it is becoming
appreciated that geochemical and microbiological phenomena and processes play an essential
role in many types of geotechnical problems. Some of these considerations have been incor-
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porated into this new edition.

Although the format of the book has remained much the same as in the rst two editions,
the contents have been reviewed and revised in detail, with deletion of some material no
longer considered to be essential and introduction of substantial new material to incorporate
important recent developments. We have reorganized the material among chapters to improve
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the ow of topics and logic of presentation. Time effects on soil strength and deformation
behavior have been separated into a new Chapter 12. Additional soil property correlations
have been incorporated. The addition of sets of questions and problems at the end of each
chapter provide a feature not present in the rst two editions. Many of these questions and
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problems are open ended and without single, clearly dened answers, but they are designed
to stimulate broad thinking and the realization that judgment and incorporation of concepts
and methods from a range of disciplines is often needed to provide satisfactory solutions to
many geoengineering problems.
We are indebted to innumerable students and professional colleagues whose inquiring minds
and perceptive insights have helped us clarify issues and nd new and better explanations for
observed processes and behavior. J. Carlos Santamarina and David Smith provided helpful
suggestions on the overall content and organization. Charles J. Shackelford reviewed and
provided valuable suggestions for the sections of Chapter 9 on chemical osmosis and advective
and diffusive chemical ows. Other important contributions to this third edition in the form
xi

xii PREFACE
of valuable comments, photos, resources, and proof checking were made by Hendrikus Al-
lersma, Khalid Alshibli, John Atkinson, Bob Behringer, Malcolm Bolton, Lis Bowman, Jim
Buckman, Pierre Delage, Antonio Gens, Henry Ji, Assaf Klar, Hideo Komine, Jean-Marie
Konrad, Ning Liu, Yukio Nakata, Albert Ng, Masanobu Oda, Kenneth Sutherland, Colin
Thornton, Yoichi Watabe, Siam Yimsiri, and Guoping Zhang.
KS thanks his wife, Mikiko, for her encouragement and special support.
We dedicate this book to the memory of Virginia (Bunny) Mitchell, whose continuing
love, support, encouragement, and patience over more than 50 years, made this and the prior
two editions possible.
JAMES K. MITCHELL
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University Distinguished Professor, Emeritus
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Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
KENICHI SOGA
Reader in Geomechanics
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England
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March 2005
References
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National Research Council. 1989. GeotechnologyIts Impact on Economic Growth, the En-
vironment, and National Security. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
National Research Council. 2005. Geological and Geotechnical Engineering in the New Mil-
lennium, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction
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1.1 SOIL BEHAVIOR IN CIVIL AND mechanics, and structural analysis and design, wherein
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING problems are usually quite clear-cut and well dened,
they are suddenly confronted with situations where this
Civil and environmental engineering includes the con- is no longer the case. A rst course in soil mechanics
ception, analysis, design, construction, operation, and may not, at least for the rst half to two-thirds of the
maintenance of a diversity of structures, facilities, and
dM course, be mechanics at all. The reason for this is sim-
systems. All are built on, in, or with soil or rock. The ple: Analyses and designs are useless if the boundary
properties and behavior of these materials have major conditions and material properties are improperly de-
inuences on the success, economy, and safety of the ned.
work. Geoengineers play a vital role in these projects Acquisition of the data needed for analysis and de-
and are also concerned with virtually all aspects of sign on, in, and with soils and rocks can be far more
environmental control, including water resources, wa- difcult and uncertain than when dealing with other
ter pollution control, waste disposal and containment, engineering materials and aboveground construction.
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and the mitigation of such natural disasters as oods, There are at least three important reasons for this.
earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes. Soils and their
interactions with the environment are major consider- 1. No Clearly Dened Boundaries. An embank-
ations. Furthermore, detailed understanding of the be- ment resting on a soil foundation is shown in Fig.
havior of earth materials is essential for mining, for 1.1a, and a cantilever beam xed at one end is
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energy resources development and recovery, and for shown in Fig. 1.1b. The free body of the canti-
scientic studies in virtually all the geosciences. lever beam, Fig. 1.1c, is readily analyzed for re-
To deal properly with the earth materials associated actions, shears, moments, and deections using
with any problem and project requires knowledge, standard methods of structural analysis. However,
understanding, and appreciation of the importance what are the boundary conditions, and what is the
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of geology, materials science, materials testing, and free body for the embankment foundation?
mechanics. Geotechnical engineering is concerned 2. Variable and Unknown Material Properties.
with all of these. Environmental concernsespecially The properties of most construction materials
those related to groundwater, the safe disposal and con- (e.g., steel, plastics, concrete, aluminum, and
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tainment of wastes, and the cleanup of contaminated wood) are ordinarily known within rather narrow
siteshas spawned yet another area of specialization; limits and usually can be specied to meet certain
namely, environmental geotechnics, wherein chemistry needs. Although this may be the case in construc-
and biological science are important. Geochemical and tion using earth and rock lls, at least part of
microbiological phenomena impact the composition, every geotechnical problem involves interactions
properties, and stability of soils and rocks to degrees with in situ soil and rock. No matter how exten-
only recently beginning to be appreciated. sive (and expensive) any boring and sampling
Students in civil engineering are often quite sur- program, only a very small percentage of the sub-
prised, and sometimes quite confused, by their rst surface material is available for observation and
course in engineering with soils. After studying statics, testing. In most cases, more than one stratum is

2 1 INTRODUCTION
is not the case; in fact, it is for these very reasons that

geotechnical engineering offers such a great challenge
for imaginative and creative work.
Modern theories of soil mechanics, the capabilities
of modern computers and numerical analysis methods,
and our improved knowledge of soil physics and chem-
istry make possible the solution of a great diversity of
static and dynamic problems of stress deformation and
stability, the transient and steady-state ow of uids
through the ground, and the long-term performance of
earth systems. Nonetheless, our ability to analyze and
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compute often exceeds considerably our ability to un-
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derstand, measure, and characterize a problem or
process. Thus, understanding and the ability to con-
ceptualize soil and rock behavior become all the more
important.
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The objectives of this book are to provide a basis
for the understanding of the engineering properties and
behavior of soils and the factors controlling changes
with time and to indicate why this knowledge is im-
portant and how it is used in the solution of geotech-
dM nical and geoenvironmental problems.
Figure 1.1 The problem of boundary conditions in geo- It is easier to state what this book is not, rather than
technical problems: (a) embankment on soil foundation, (b)
what it is. It is not a book on soil or rock mechanics;
cantilever beam, and (c) free body diagram for analysis of
propped cantilever beam.
it is not a book on soil exploration or testing; it is not
a book that teaches analysis or design; and it is not a
book on geotechnical engineering practice. Excellent
books and references dealing with each of these im-
present, and conditions are nonhomogeneous and portant areas are available. It is a book on the com-
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anisotropic. position, structure, and behavior of soils as engineering

3. Stress and Time-Dependent Material Proper- materials. It is intended for students, researchers, and
ties. Soils, and also some rocks, have mechan- practicing engineers who seek a more in-depth knowl-
ical properties that depend on both the stress edge of the nature and behavior of soils than is pro-
history and the present stress state. This is be- vided by classical and conventional treatments of soil
cause the volume change, stressstrain, and
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mechanics and geotechnical engineering.

strength properties depend on stress transmission Here are some examples of the types of questions
between particles and particle groups. These that are addressed in this book:
stresses are, for the most part, generated by body
forces and boundary stresses and not by internal
What are soils composed of? Why?
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forces of cohesion, as is the case for many other

materials. In addition, the properties of most soils
How does geological history inuence soil prop-
erties?
change with time after placement, exposure, and
loading. Because of these stress and time de- How are engineering properties and behavior re-
lated to composition?
pendencies, any given geotechnical problem may
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involve not just one or two but an almost innite What is clay?
number of different materials. Why are clays plastic?
What are friction and cohesion?
Add to the above three factors the facts that soil and What is effective stress? Why is it important?
rock properties may be susceptible to inuences from Why do soils creep and exhibit stress relaxation?
changes in temperature, pressure, water availability, Why do some soils swell while others do not?
and chemical and biological environment, and one Why does stability failure sometimes occur at
might conclude that successful application of mechan- stresses less than the measured strength?
ics to earth materials is an almost hopeless proposition. Why and how are soil properties changed by dis-
It has been amply demonstrated, of course, that such turbance?

GETTING STARTED 3
How do changes in environmental conditions nature of clay particles, the types and concentrations
change properties? of chemicals in a soil can inuence signicantly its
What are some practical consequences of the pro- behavior in a variety of ways. Soil water and the clay
longed exposure of clay containment barriers to waterelectrolyte system are then analyzed in Chapter
waste chemicals? 6. An analysis of interparticle forces and total and ef-
What controls the rate of ow of water, heat, fective stresses, with a discussion of why they are im-
chemicals, and electricity through soils? portant, is given in Chapter 7.
How are the different types of ows through soil The remaining chapters draw on the preceding de-
interrelated? velopments for explanations of phenomena and soil
Why is the residual strength of a soil often much properties of interest in geotechnical and geoenviron-
less than its peak strength? mental engineering. The formation of soil deposits,
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How do soil properties change with time after dep- their resulting structures and relationships to geotech-
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osition or densication and why? nical properties and stability are covered in Chapter 8.
How do temperature changes inuence the me- The next three chapters deal with those soil properties
chanical properties of soils? that are of primary importance to the solution of most
What is soil liquefaction, and why is it important? geoengineering problems: the ows of uids, chemi-
What causes frost heave, and how can it be pre- cals, electricity, and heat and their consequences in
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vented? Chapter 9; volume change behavior in Chapter 10; and
What clay types are best suited for sealing waste deformation and strength and deformation behavior in
repositories? Chapter 11. Finally, Chapter 12 on time effects on
What biological processes can occur in soils and strength and deformation recognizes that soils are not
why are they important in engineering problems?
dM inert, static materials, but rather how a given soil re-
sponds under different rates of loading or at some time
Developing answers to questions such as these re- in the future may be quite different than how it re-
quires application of concepts from chemistry, geol- sponds today.
ogy, biology, materials science, and physics. Principles
from these disciplines are introduced as necessary to
develop background for the phenomena under study. It 1.3 GETTING STARTED
is assumed that the reader has a basic knowledge of
Find an article about a problem, a project, or issue that
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applied mechanics and soil mechanics, as well as a

general familiarity with the commonly used engineer- involves some aspect of geotechnical soil behavior as
ing properties of soils and their determination. an important component. The article can be from the
popular press, from a technical journal or magazine,
such as the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenviron-
mental Engineering of the American Society of Civil
1.2 SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION
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Engineers, Geotechnique, The Canadian Geotechnical

Journal, Soils and Foundations, ENR, or elsewhere.
The topics covered in this book begin with consider-
ation of soil formation in Chapter 2 and soil mineral- 1. Read the article and prepare a one-page infor-
ogy and compositional analysis of soil in Chapter 3. mative abstract. (An informative abstract sum-
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Relationships between soil composition and engineer- marizes the important ideas and conclusions. A
ing properties are developed in Chapter 4. Soil com- descriptive abstract, on the other hand, simply
position by itself is insufcient for quantication of states the article contents.)
soil properties for specic situations, because the soil 2. Summarize the important geotechnical issues that
fabric, that is, the arrangements of particles, particle are found in the article and write down what you
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groups, and pores, may play an equally important role. believe you should know about to understand
This topic is covered in Chapter 5. them well enough to solve the problem, resolve
Water may make up more than half the volume of the issue, advise a client, and the like. In other
a soil mass, it is attracted to soil particles, and the words, what is in the article that you believe the
interactions between water and the soil surfaces inu- subject matter in this book should prepare you to
ence the behavior. In addition, owing to the colloidal deal with? Do not exceed two pages.

CHAPTER 2
Soil Formation
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2.1 INTRODUCTION (acid) rocks predominate beneath the continents, and
basaltic (basic) rocks predominate beneath the oceans.
The variety of geomaterials encountered in engineering Because of these lithologic differences, the continental
problems is almost limitless, ranging from hard, dense, crust average density of 2.7 is slightly less than the
large pieces of rock, through gravel, sand, silt, and clay oceanic crust average density of 2.8. The elemental
to organic deposits of soft, compressible peat. All these
dM compositions of the whole Earth and the crust are in-
materials may exist over a wide range of densities and dicated in Fig. 2.1. There are more than 100 elements,
water contents. A number of different soil types may but 90 percent of Earth consists of iron, oxygen, sili-
be present at any site, and the composition may vary con, and magnesium. Less iron is found in the crust
over intervals as small as a few millimeters. than in the core because its higher density causes it to
It is not surprising, therefore, that much of the sink. Silicon, aluminum, calcium, potassium, and so-
geoengineers effort is directed at the identication of dium are more abundant in the crust than in the core
soils and the evaluation of the appropriate properties because they are lighter elements. Oxygen is the only
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for use in a particular analysis or design. Perhaps what anion that has an abundance of more than 1 percent
is surprising is that the application of the principles of by weight; however, it is very abundant by volume.
mechanics to a material as diverse as soil meets with Silicon, aluminum, magnesium, and oxygen are the
as much success as it does. most commonly observed elements in soils.
To understand and appreciate the characteristics of Within depths up to 2 km, the rocks are 75 percent
any soil deposit require an understanding of what the secondary (sedimentary and metamorphic) and 25 per-
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material is and how it reached its present state. This cent igneous. From depths of 2 to 15 km, the rocks are
requires consideration of rock and soil weathering, the about 95 percent igneous and 5 percent secondary.
erosion and transportation of soil materials, deposi- Soils may extend from the ground surface to depths of
tional processes, and postdepositional changes in sed- several hundred meters. In many cases the distinction
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iments. Some important aspects of these processes and between soil and rock is difcult, as the boundary be-
their effects are presented in this chapter and in Chap- tween soft rock and hard soil is not precisely dened.
ter 8. Each has been the subject of numerous books Earth materials that fall in this range are sometimes
and articles, and the amount of available information difcult to deal with in engineering and construction,
is enormous. Thus, it is possible only to summarize the
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as it is not always clear whether they should be treated

subject and to encourage consultation of the references as soils or rocks.
for more detail. A temperature gradient of about 1C per 30 m exists
between the bottom of Earths crust at 1200C and the
surface.1 The rate of cooling as molten rock magma
2.2 THE EARTHS CRUST
The continental crust covers 29 percent of Earths sur- 1
In some localized areas, usually within regions of recent crustal
face. Seismic measurements indicate that the continen- movement (e.g., fault lines, volcanic zones) the gradient may exceed
20C per 100 m. Such regions are of interest both because of their
tal crust is about 30 to 40 km thick, which is 6 to 8 potential as geologic hazards and because of their possible value as
times thicker than the crust beneath the ocean. Granitic sources of geothermal energy.

6 2 SOIL FORMATION
Other <1% Other <1%

Sodium 2.1% Sulfur 1.9%
100% Potassium 2.3% Nickel 2.4%
Calcium 2.4% Calcium 1.1%
90% Magnesium 4%
Magnesium 13%
Iron 6%
80% Aluminum 8%
70%
Iron 35%
60% Silicon 28%
50%
Aluminum 1.1%
l
40%
Silicon 15%
ria
30%
Oxygen 46%
20%
Oxygen 30%
10%
ate
Figure 2.2 Geologic cycle.
0%
Earth's Crust Whole Earth
Figure 2.1 Elemental composition of the whole Earth and from some other area. Sediment formation pertains to
the crust (percent by weight) (data from Press and Siever, processes by which accumulated sediments are densi-
1994). dM ed, altered in composition, and converted into rock.
Crustal movement involves both gradual rising of
unloaded areas and slow subsidence of depositional ba-
moves from the interior of Earth toward the surface sins (epirogenic movements) and abrupt movements
has a signicant inuence on the characteristics of the (tectonic movements) such as those associated with
resulting rock. The more rapid the cooling, the smaller faulting and earthquakes. Crustal movements may also
are the crystals that form because of the reduced time result in the formation of new rock masses through
hte
for atoms to attain minimum energy congurations. igneous or plutonic activity. The interrelationships of
Cooling may be so rapid in a volcanic eruption that no these processes are shown in Fig. 2.3.
crystalline structure develops before solidication, and More than one process acts simultaneously in na-
an amorphous material such as obsidian (volcanic ture. For example, both weathering and erosion take
glass) is formed. place at the surface during periods of uplift, or oro-
genic activity (mountain building), and deposition, sed-
rig
iment formation, and regional subsidence are generally

contemporaneous. This accounts in part for the wide
2.3 GEOLOGIC CYCLE AND GEOLOGICAL
variety of topographic and soil conditions in any area.
TIME
The surface of Earth is acted on by four basic proc-
py
esses that proceed in a never-ending cycle, as indi-

cated in Fig. 2.2. Denudation includes all of those pro-
cesses that act to wear down land masses. These in-
clude landslides, debris ows, avalanche transport,
Co
wind abrasion, and overland ows such as rivers and

streams. Weathering includes all of the destructive me-
chanical and chemical processes that break down
existing rock masses in situ. Erosion initiates the
transportation of weathering products by various
agents from one region to anothergenerally from
high areas to low. Weathering and erosion convert
rocks into sediment and form soil. Deposition involves
the accumulation of sediments transported previously Figure 2.3 Simplied version of the rock cycle.

ROCK AND MINERAL STABILITY 7
The stratigraphic timescale column shown in Fig. 2.4 ROCK AND MINERAL STABILITY
2.4 gives the sequence of rocks formed during geolog-
ical time. Rocks are grouped by age into eons, eras, Rocks are heterogeneous assemblages of smaller com-
periods, and epochs. Each time period of the column ponents. The smallest and chemically purest of these
is represented by its appropriate system of rocks ob- components are elements, which combine to form in-
served on Earths surface along with radioactive age organic compounds of xed composition known as
dating. Among various periods, the Quaternary period minerals. Hence, rocks are composed of minerals or
(from 1.6 million years ago to the present) deserves aggregates of minerals. Rocks are sometimes glassy
special attention since the top few tens of meters of (volcanic glass, obsidian, e.g.), but usually consist of
Earths surface, which geotechnical engineers often minerals that crystallized together or in sequence
work in, were developed during this period. The Qua- (metamorphic and igneous rocks), or of aggregates
l
ternary period is subdivided into the Holocene (the of detrital components (most sedimentary rocks).
ria
10,000 years after the last glacial period) and the Pleis- Sometimes, rocks are composed entirely of one type
tocene. The deposits during this period are controlled of mineral (say int or rock salt), but generally they
mainly by the change in climate, as it was too short a contain many different minerals, and often the rock is
time for any major tectonic changes to occur in the a collection or aggregation of small particles that are
positions of land masses and seas. There were as many themselves pieces of rocks. Books on petrography may
ate
as 20 glacial and interglacial periods during the Qua- list more than 1000 species of rock types. Fortunately,
ternary. At one time, ice sheets covered more than however, many of them fall into groups with similar
three times their present extent. Worldwide sea level engineering attributes, so that only about 40 rock
oscillations due to glacial and interglacial cycles affect names will sufce for most geotechnical engineering
soil formation (weathering, erosion, and sedimenta- purposes.
Minerals have a denite chemical composition and
solidation and leaching.
dM
tion) as well as postdepositional changes such as con-
an ordered arrangement of components (a crystal lat-
tice); a few minerals are disordered and without den-
able crystal structure (amorphous). Crystal size and
structure have an important inuence on the resistance
of different rocks to weathering. Factors controlling the
Eon Era Period Epoch stability of different crystal structures are considered
hte
in Chapter 3. The greatest electrochemical stability of

Holocene
Quaternary 0.01 a crystal is reached at its crystallization temperature.
Pleistocene
1.6 As temperature falls below the crystallization temper-
Pliocene
Neogene 5 ature, the structural stability decreases. For example,
Cenozoic Miocene
Tertiary
23 olivine crystallizes from igneous rock magma at high

Oligocene
35 temperature, and it is one of the most unstable igneous-
rig
Paleogene Eocene
57 rock-forming minerals. On the other hand, quartz does
Paleocene
65 not assume its nal crystal structure until the temper-
Cretaceous
146 ature drops below 573C. Because of its high stability,
Phanerozoic Mesozoic Jurassic
208 quartz is the most abundant nonclay mineral in soils,
Triassic although it comprises only about 12 percent of igneous
py
245
Permian rocks.
290
Pennsylvanian
323
As magma cools, minerals may form and remain, or
Mississippian
363
they may react progressively to form other minerals at
Paleozoic Devonian lower temperatures. Bowens reaction series, shown in
Co
409
Silurian Fig. 2.5, indicates the crystallization sequence of
439
Ordovician the silicate minerals as temperature decreases from
510
Cambrian 1200C. This reaction series closely parallels various
570
Proterozoic
weathering stability series as shown later in Table 2.2.
2500 Precambrian For example, in an intermediate granitic rock, horn-
Archean blende and plagioclase feldspar would be expected to
chemically weather before orthoclase feldspar, which
Figure 2.4 Stratigraphic timescale column. Numbers repre- would chemically weather before muscovite mica, and
sent millions of years before the present. so on.

8 2 SOIL FORMATION
Physical Processes of Weathering

Physical weathering processes cause in situ breakdown
without chemical change. Five processes are impor-
tant:
1. Unloading Cracks and joints may form to

depths of hundreds of meters below the ground
surface when the effective conning pressure is
reduced. Reduction in conning pressure may re-
sult from uplift, erosion, or changes in uid pres-
Figure 2.5 Bowens reaction series of mineral stability. Each sure. Exfoliation is the spalling or peeling off of
l
mineral is more stable than the one above it on the list.
surface layers of rocks. Exfoliation may occur
ria
during rock excavation and tunneling. The term
popping rock is used to describe the sudden spall-
ing of rock slabs as a result of stress release.
Mineralogy textbooks commonly list determinative
2. Thermal Expansion and Contraction The ef-
properties for about 200 minerals. The list of the most
ate
fects of thermal expansion and contraction range
common rock- or soil-forming minerals is rather short,
from creation of planes of weakness from strains
however. Common minerals found in soils are listed in
already present in a rock to complete fracture.
Table 2.1. The top six silicates originate from rocks by
Repeated frost and insolation (daytime heating)
physical weathering processes, whereas the other min-
may be important in some desert areas. Fires can
erals are formed by chemical weathering processes.
dM cause very rapid temperature increase and rock
Further description of important minerals found in
weathering.
soils is given in Chapter 3.
3. Crystal Growth, Including Frost Action The
crystallization pressures of salts and the pressure
associated with the freezing of water in saturated
2.5 WEATHERING rocks may cause signicant disintegration. Many
talus deposits have been formed by frost action.
Weathering of rocks and soils is a destructive process However, the role of freezethaw in physical
hte
whereby debris of various sizes, compositions, and weathering has been debated (Birkeland, 1984).
shapes is formed.2 The new compositions are usually The rapid rates and high amplitude of tempera-
more stable than the old and involve a decrease in the ture change required to produce necessary pres-
internal energy of the materials. As erosion moves the sure have not been conrmed in the eld. Instead,
ground surface downward, pressures and temperatures some researchers favor the process in which thin
rig
in the rocks are decreased, so they then possess an lms of adsorbed water is the agent that promotes
internal energy above that for equilibrium in the new weathering. These lms can be adsorbed so
environment. This, in conjunction with exposure to the tightly that they cannot freeze. However, the wa-
atmosphere, water, and various chemical and biological ter is attracted to a freezing front and pressures
agents, results in processes of alteration. exerted during the migration of these lms can
py
A variety of physical, chemical, and biological proc- break the rock apart.
esses act to break down rock masses. Physical proc- 4. Colloid Plucking The shrinkage of colloidal
esses reduce particle size, increase surface area, and materials on drying can exert a tensile stress on
increase bulk volume. Chemical and biological proc- surfaces with which they are in contact.3
Co
esses can cause complete changes in both physical and 5. Organic Activity The growth of plant roots in
chemical properties. existing fractures in rocks is an important weath-
ering process. In addition, the activities of
worms, rodents, and humans may cause consid-
2
erable mixing in the zone of weathering.
A general denition of weathering (Reiche, 1945; Keller, 1957) is:
the response of materials within the lithosphere to conditions at or
near its contact with the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and perhaps
more importantly, the biosphere. The biosphere is the entire space
3
occupied by living organisms; the hydrosphere is the aqueous enve- To appreciate this phenomenon, smear a lm of highly plastic clay
lope of Earth; and the lithosphere is the solid part of Earth. paste on the back of your hand and let it dry.

WEATHERING 9
Table 2.1 Common Soil Minerals
Name Chemical Formula Characteristics

Quartz SiO2 Abundant in sand and silt
Feldspar (Na,K)AlO2[SiO2]3 Abundant in soil that is not leached extensively
CaAl2O4[SiO2]2
Mica K2Al2O5[Si2O5]3Al4(OH)4 Source of K in most temperate-zone soils
K2Al2O5[Si2O5]3(Mg,Fe)6(OH)4
Amphibole (Ca,Na,K)2,3(Mg,Fe,Al)5(OH)2[(Si,Al)4O11]2 Easily weathered to clay minerals and oxides
Pyroxene (Ca,Mg,Fe,Ti,Al)(Si.Al)O3 Easily weathered
l
Olivine (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 Easily weathered
ria
Epidote Ca2(Al,Fe)3(OH)Si3O12 Highly resistant to chemical weathering; used
Tourmaline NaMg3Al6B3Si6O27(OH,F)4 as index mineral in pedologic studies
Zircon ZrSiO4
Rutile TiO2
Kaolinite Si4Al4O10(OH)8
ate
Smectite, Mx(Si,Al)8(Al,Fe,Mg)4O20(OH)4, Abundant in clays as products of weathering;
vermiculite, where M interlayer cation source of exchangeable cations in soils
chlorite
Allophane Si3Al4O12 nH2O Abundant in soils derived from volcanic ash
deposits
Imogolite Si2Al4O10 5H2O
Gibbsite
dM
Al(OH)3 Abundant in leached soils
Goethite FeO(OH) Most abundant Fe oxide
Hematite Fe2O3 Abundant in warm region
Ferrihydrate Fe10O15 9H2O Abundant in organic horizons
Birnessite (Na,Ca)Mn7O14 2.8H2O Most abundant Mn oxide
Calcite CaCO3 Most abundant carbonate
CaSO4 2H2O
hte
Gypsum Abundant in arid regions

Adapted from Sposito (1989).
Physical weathering processes are generally the the ion enables it to enter the lattice of minerals
rig
forerunners of chemical weathering. Their main con- and replace existing cations. For feldspar,
tributions are to loosen rock masses, reduce particle Orthoclase feldspar:
sizes, and increase the available surface area for chem-
ical attack. K silicate HOH
py
H silicate KOH (alkaline)

Chemical Processes of Weathering
Chemical weathering transforms one mineral to an- Anorthite:
other or completely dissolves the mineral. Practically
all chemical weathering processes depend on the pres- Ca silicate 2HOH
Co
ence of water. Hydration, that is, the surface adsorption

of water, is the forerunner of all the more complex H silicate Ca(OH)2 (basic)
chemical reactions, many of which proceed simulta-
neously. Some important chemical processes are listed As water is absorbed into feldspar, kaolinite is
below. often produced. In a similar way, other clay min-
erals and zeolites (microporous aluminosilicates)
1. Hydrolysis, probably the most important chemi- may form by weathering of silicate minerals as
cal process, is the reaction between the mineral the associated ions such as silica, sodium, potas-
and H and (OH) of water. The small size of sium, calcium, and magnesium are lost into so-

10 2 SOIL FORMATION
lution. Oxalic acid (C2O4H2), the chelating agent, re-

Hydrolysis will not continue in the presence of leases C2O42, which forms a soluble complex
static water. Continued driving of the reaction to with Al3 to enhance dissolution of muscovite.
the right requires removal of soluble materials by Ring-structured organic compounds derived from
leaching, complexing, adsorption, and precipita- humus can act as chelating agents by holding
tion, as well as the continued introduction of H metal ions within the rings by covalent bonding.
ions. 3. Cation exchange is important in chemical weath-
Carbonic acid (H2CO3) speeds chemical ering in at least three ways:
weathering. This weak acid is formed by the so- a. It may cause replacement of hydrogen on
lution in rainwater of a small amount of carbon hydrogen bearing colloids. This reduces the
dioxide gas from the atmosphere. Additional car- ability of the colloids to bring H to unweath-
l
bonic acid and other acids are produced by the ered surfaces.
ria
roots of plants, by insects that live in the soil, b. The ions held by Al2O3 and SiO2 colloids in-
and by the bacteria that degrade plant and animal uence the types of clay minerals that form.
remains. c. Physical properties of the system such as the
The pH of the system is important because it permeability may depend on the adsorbed ion
inuences the amount of available H, the solu- concentrations and types.
ate
bility of SiO2 and Al2O3, and the type of clay 4. Oxidation is the loss of electrons by cations, and
mineral that may form. The solubility of silica reduction is the gain of electrons. Both are im-
and alumina as a function of pH is shown in Fig. portant in chemical weathering. Most important
2.6. oxidation products depend on dissolved oxygen
2. Chelation involves the complexing and removal
dM in the water. The oxidation of pyrite is typical of
of metal ions. It helps to drive hydrolysis reac- many oxidation reactions during weathering
tions. For example, (Keller, 1957):
Muscovite:
2FeS2 2H2O 7O2 2FeSO4 2H2SO4
K2[Si6Al2]Al4O20(OH)4 6C2O4H2 8H2O
FeSO4 2H2O Fe(OH)2 H2SO4
2K 6C2O4Al 6Si(OH)40 8OH
(hydrolysis)
hte
Oxidation of Fe(OH)2 gives
4Fe(OH)2 O2 2H2O 4Fe(OH)3

rig
2Fe(OH)3 Fe2O3 nH2O (limonite)
The H2SO4 formed in these reactions rejuvenates

the process. It may also drive the hydrolysis of
silicates and weather limestone to produce gyp-
py
sum and carbonic acid. During the construction

of the Carsington Dam in England in the early
1980s, soil in the reservoir area that contained
pyrite was uncovered during construction follow-
Co
ing the excavation and exposure of air and water

of the Namurian shale used in the embankment.
The sulfuric acid that was released as a result of
the pyrite oxidation reacted with limestone to
form gypsum and CO2. Accumulation of CO2 in
construction shafts led to the asphyxiation of
workers who were unaware of its presence. It is
Figure 2.6 Solubility of alumina and amorphous silica in believed that the oxidation process was mediated
water (Keller, 1964b). by bacteria (Cripps et al., 1993), as discussed fur-

WEATHERING 11
ther in the next section.
Many iron minerals weather to iron oxide
(Fe2O3, hematite). The red soils of warm, humid
regions are colored by iron oxides. Oxides can
act as cementing agents between soil particles.
Reduction reactions, which are of importance
relative to the inuences of bacterial action and
plants on weathering, store energy that may be
used in later stages of weathering.
5. Carbonation is the combination of carbonate or
bicarbonate ions with earth materials. Atmos-
l
pheric CO2 is the source of the ions. Limestone
ria
made of calcite and dolomite is one of the rocks
that weather most quickly especially in humid
regions. The carbonation of dolomitic limestone
proceeds as follows:
ate
CaMg(CO3)2 2CO2 2H2O
Ca(HCO3)2 Mg(HCO3)2
The dissolved components can be carried off in

dM
water solution. They may also be precipitated at
locations away from the original formation.
Microbiological Effects
Several types of microorganisms are found in soils;
there are cellular microorganisms (bacteria, archea, al-
hte
gae, fungi, protozoa, and slime molds) and noncellular

microorganisms (viruses). They may be nearly round,
rodlike, or spiral and range in size from less than 1 to
100 m, which is equivalent to coarse clay size to ne
sand size. Figure 2.7a shows bacteria adhering to
quartz sand grains, and Fig. 2.7b shows clay minerals
rig
coating around the cell envelope, forming what are

called bacterial microaggregates.4 A few billion to 3
trillion microorganisms exist in a kilogram of soil near
the ground surface and bacteria are dominant. Micro-
organisms can reproduce very rapidly. The replication
py
rate is controlled by factors such as temperature, pH,

ionic concentrations, nutrients, and water availability.
Under ideal conditions, the generation time for bac-
terial ssion can be as short as 10 min; however, an
Co
hour scale is typical. These high-speed generation

rates, mutation, and natural selection lead to very fast
adaptation and extraordinary biodiversity.
Autotrophic photosynthetic bacteria, that is, photo-
Figure 2.7 Microogranisms attached to soil particle sur-
autotrophs, played a crucial role in the geological de-
faces: (a) bacteria attached to sand particle (from Robertson
et al. 1993 in Chenu and Stotzky, 2002), (b) bacterial mi-
croaggregate [from Robert and Chenu (1992) in Chenu and
4
Further details of how microorganisms adhere to soil surfaces are Stotzky (2002)], and (c) biolm on soil surface (from Chenu
given in Chenu and Stotzky (2002). and Stotzky (2002).

12 2 SOIL FORMATION
velopment of Earth (Hattori, 1973; McCarty, 2004). (e.g., acids) directly on the rock surface (Ehrlich,
Photosynthetic bacteria, cyanobacteria, or blue-green 1998). Biolms bind cations in the pore uid and fa-
bacteria evolved about 3.5 billion years ago (Proter- cilitate nucleation and crystal growth even at low ionic
ozoic eraPrecambrian), and they are the oldest concentrations in the pore uid (Konhauser and Urru-
known fossils. Cyanobacteria use energy from the sun tia, 1999). After nucleation is initiated, further mineral
to reduce the carbon in CO2 to cellular carbon and to growth or precipitation can occur abiotically, including
obtain the needed electrons for oxidizing the oxygen the precipitation of amorphous ironaluminum sili-
in water to molecular oxygen. During the Archaean cates and poorly crystallized claylike minerals, such as
period (2.5 billion years ago), cyanobacteria converted allophone, imogolite, and smectite (Urrutia and Bev-
the atmosphere from reducing to oxidizing and eridge, 1995; Ehrlich, 1999; Barton et al., 2001).
changed the mineral nature of Earth. In the case of the Carsington Dam construction,
l
Eukaryotic algae evolved later, followed by the mul- Cripps et al. (1993) hypothesized that autotrophic bac-
ria
ticellular eukaryotes including plants. Photosynthesis teria greatly accelerated the oxidation rate of the pyrite,
is the primary producer of the organic particulate mat- so that it occurred within months during construction.
ter in shale, sand, silt, and clay, as well as in coal, The resulting sulfuric acid reacted with the drainage
petroleum, and methane deposits. Furthermore, cyano- blanket constructed of carboniferous limestone, which
then resulted in precipitation of gypsum and iron hy-
ate
bacteria and algae increase the water pH when they
consume CO2 dissolved in water, resulting in carbonate droxide, clogging of drains and generation of carbon
formation and precipitation of magnesium and calcium dioxide.
carbonates, leading to Earths major carbonate forma-
tions. Weathering Products
Aerobic bacteria live in the presence of dissolved
dM The products of weathering, several of which will gen-
oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria survive only in the absence erally coexist at one time, include:
of oxygen. Facultative bacteria can live with or without
oxygen. Some bacteria may resort to fermentation to 1. Unaltered minerals that are either highly resistant
sustain their metabolism under anaerobic conditions or freshly exposed
(Purves et al., 1997). For example, in the case of an- 2. Newly formed, more stable minerals having the
aerobic conditions, fermenting bacteria oxidize carbo- same structure as the original mineral
hydrates to produce simple organic acids and H2 that 3. Newly formed minerals having a form similar to
hte
are used to reduction of ferric (Fe3) iron, sulfate re- the original, but a changed internal structure
duction, and the generation of methane (Chapelle, 4. Products of disrupted minerals, either at or trans-
2001). Microbial energy metabolism involves electron ported from the site. Such minerals might include
transfers, and the electron sources and acceptors can a. Colloidal gels of Al2O3 and SiO2
be both organic and inorganic compounds (Horn and b. Clay minerals
c. Zeolites
rig
Meike, 1995). Most soil bacteria derive their carbon

and energy directly from organic matter and its oxi- d. Cations and anions in solution
dation. Some other bacteria derive their energy from e. Mineral precipitates
oxidation of inorganic substances such as ammonium, 5. Unused guest reactants
sulfur, and iron and most of their carbon from carbon The relationship between minerals and different
py
dioxide. Therefore, biological activity mediates geo- weathering stages is given in Table 2.2. The similarity
chemical reactions, causing them to proceed at rates between the order of representative minerals for the
that are sometimes orders of magnitude more rapid different weathering stages and Bowens reaction se-
than would be predicted solely on the basis of the ther- ries given earlier (Fig. 2.5) may be noted.
Co
mochemical reactions involved. Contrasts in compositions between terrestrial and lu-

Bacteria tend to adhere to mineral surfaces and form nar soils can be accounted for largely in terms of dif-
microcolonies known as biolms as shown in Fig. 2.7c. ferences in chemical weathering. Soils on Earth are
Some biolms are made of single-type bacteria, while composed mainly of quartz and clay minerals because
others involve symbiotic communities where two or the minerals of lower stability, such as feldspar, oli-
more bacteria types coexist and complement each vine, hornblende, and glasses, are rapidly removed by
other. For example, biolms involved in rock weath- chemical weathering. On the Moon, however, the ab-
ering may involve an upper aerobic layer, followed by sence of water and free oxygen prevent chemical
an intermediate facultative layer that rests on top of the weathering. Hence, lunar soils are made up mainly of
aerobic layer that produces the weathering agents fragmented parent rock and rapidly crystallized

WEATHERING 13
Table 2.2 Representative Minerals and Soils Effects of Climate, Topography, Parent Material,
Associated with Weathering Stages Time, and Biotic Factors
The rate at which weathering can proceed is controlled
Weath- by parent material and climate. Topography, apart from
ering Representative its inuence on climate, determines primarily the rate
Stage Minerals Typical Soil Groups of erosion, and this controls the depth of soil accu-
Early Weathering Stages mulation and the time available for weathering prior to
removal of material from the site. In areas of steep
1 Gypsum (also halite, Soils dominated by topography, rapid mechanical weathering followed by
sodium nitrate) these minerals in the rapid down-slope movement of the debris results in
2 Calcite (also dolomite ne silt and clay frac- formation of talus slopes (piles of relatively unweath-
l
apatite) tions are the youthful ered coarse rock fragments).
ria
3 Olivine-hornblende soils all over the Climate determines the amount of water present, the
(also pyroxenes) world, but mainly temperature, and the character of the vegetative cover,
4 Biotite (also glauco- soils of the desert and these, in turn, affect the biologic complex. Some
nite, nontronite) regions where limited general inuences of climate are:
ate
5 Albite (also anorthite water keeps chemical
microcline, ortho- weathering to a mini- 1. For a given amount of rainfall, chemical weath-
clase) mum. ering proceeds more rapidly in warm than in cool
climates. At normal temperatures, reaction rates
Intermediate Weathering Stages approximately double for each 10C rise in tem-
perature.
6 Quartz Soils dominated by
7
dM
Muscovite (also illite) these minerals in the
2. At a given temperature, weathering proceeds
more rapidly in a wet climate than in a dry cli-
8 21 layer silicates (in- ne silt and clay frac- mate provided there is good drainage.
cluding vermiculite, tions are mainly those 3. The depth to the water table inuences weather-
expanded hydrous of temperate regions ing by determining the depth to which air is
mica) developed under grass available as a gas or in solution and by its effect
Montmorillonite or trees. Includes the on the type of biotic activity.
hte
major soils of the 4. Type of rainfall is important: short, intense rains

wheat and corn belts erode and run off, whereas light-intensity, long-
of the world. duration rains soak in and aid in leaching.
Advanced weathering stages Table 2.3 summarizes geomorphologic processes in
10 Kaolinite Many intensely weath- different morphoclimatic zones. The nature and rate of
rig
11 Gibbsite ered soils of the warm these geomorphologic processes control landform as-
12 Hematite (also geothite, and humid equatorial semblages.
limonite) regions have clay During the early stages of weathering and soil for-
13 Anatase (also rutile, fractions dominated mation, the parent material is much more important
than it is after intense weathering for long periods of
py
zircon) by these minerals.

They are frequently time. Climate ultimately becomes a more dominant
characterized by their factor in residual soil formation than parent material.
infertility. Of the igneous rock-forming minerals, only quartz
and, to a much lesser extent, feldspar, have sufcient
Co
From Jackson and Sherman (1953). chemical durability to persist over long periods of
weathering. Quartz is most abundant in coarse-grained
granular rocks such as granite, granodiorite, and
gneiss, where it typically occurs in grains in the mil-
glasses. Mineral fragments in lunar soils include pla- limeter size range. Consequently, granitic rocks are the
gioclase feldspar, pyroxene, ilmenite, olivine, and po- main source of sand.
tassium feldspar. Quartz is extremely rare because it is In addition to the microbiological activities dis-
not abundant in the source rocks. Carrier et al. (1991) cussed previously, biological factors of importance in-
present an excellent compilation of information about clude the inuences of vegetation on erosion rate and
the composition and properties of lunar soil. the cycling of elements between plants and soils. Mi-

14 2 SOIL FORMATION
Table 2.3 Morphoclimatic Zones and the Associated Geomorphologic Processes
Mean Mean
Annual Annual
Morphoclimatic Temperature Precipitation
Zone (C) (mm) Relative Importance of Geomorphologic Processes
Glacial 0 01000 Mechanical weathering rates (especially frost action)
high; chemical weathering rates low, mass
movement rates low except locally; uvial action
conned to seasonal melt; glacial action at a
l
maximum; wind action signicant
ria
Periglacial 1 to 2 1001000 Mechanical weathering very active with frost action at
a maximum; chemical weathering rates low to
moderate; mass movement very active; uvial
processes seasonally active; wind action rates
locally high. Effects of the repeated formation and
ate
decay of permafrost.
Wet midlatitude 020 4001800 Chemical weathering rates moderate, increasing to
high at lower latitudes; mechanical weathering
activity moderate with frost action important at
higher latitudes; mass movement activity moderate
to high; moderate rates of uvial processes; wind
dM action conned to coasts.
Dry continental 010 100400 Chemical weathering rates low to moderate;
mechanical weathering, especially frost action,
seasonally active; mass movement moderate and
episodic; uvial processes active in wet season;
wind action locally moderate.
hte
Hot dry (arid 1030 0300 Mechanical weathering rates high (especially salt
tropical) weathering), chemical weathering minimum, mass
movement minimal; rates of uvial activity
generally very low but sporadically high; wind
action at maximum.
Hot semidry 1030 300600 Chemical weathering rates moderate to low;
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(semiarid mechanical weathering locally active especially on

tropical) drier and cooler margins; mass movement locally
active but sporadic; uvial action rates high but
episodic; wind action moderate to high.
Hot wetdry 2030 6001500 Chemical weathering active during wet season; rates
py
(humidarid of mechanical weathering low to moderate; mass

tropical) movement fairly active; uvial action high during
wet season with overland and channel ow; wind
action generally minimum but locally moderate in
Co
dry season.
Hot wet 2030 1500 High potential rates of chemical weathering;
(humid mechanical weathering limited; active, highly
tropical) episodic mass movement; moderate to low rates of
stream corrosion but locally high rates of dissolved
and suspended load transport.
Azonal Highly Highly Rates of all processes vary signicantly with altitude;
Mountain variable variable mechanical and glacial action becomes signicant at
zone high elevations.
From Fookes et al. (2000).

ORIGIN OF CLAY MINERALS AND CLAY GENESIS 15
crobial decomposition of the heavy layers of organic 1. Alkaline earths (Ca2, Mg2) occulate silica.
matter in top soils formed through photosynthesis re- 2. Alkalis (K, Na, Li) disperse silica.
sults in oxygen depletion and carbon oxidation back to 3. Low pH occulates colloids.
CO2, which is leached by rainwater that penetrates into 4. High electrolyte content occulates colloids.
the subsurface. The high CO2 concentration, lowered 5. Aluminous suspensions are more easily occu-
pH, and anaerobic nature of these penetrating waters lated than siliceous suspensions.
cause reduction and solutioning of iron and manganese 6. Dispersed phases are more easily removed by
minerals, the reduction of sulfates, and dissolution of groundwater than occulated phases.
carbonate rocks. If the moving waters become co-
mingled with oxygenated water in the ground, or as Factors important in determining the formation of
groundwater emerges into rivers and streams, iron, specic clay minerals are discussed below. The struc-
l
manganese, and sulde oxidation results, and carbon- ture and detailed characterization of these minerals are
ria
ate precipitation can occur (McCarty, 2004). covered in Chapter 3.
The time needed to weather different materials var-
ies greatly. The more unconsolidated and permeable Kaolinite Minerals
the parent material, and the warmer and more humid Kaolinite formation is favored when alumina is abun-
the climate, the shorter the time needed to achieve dant and silica is scarce because of the 11 sil-
ate
some given amount of soil formation. The rates of icaalumina structure, as opposed to the 21 silica to
weathering and soil development decrease with in- alumina structure of the three-layer minerals. Condi-
creasing time. tions leading to kaolinite formation usually include low
The time for soil formation from hard rock parent electrolyte content, low pH, and the removal of ions
materials may be very great; however, young soils can
dM that tend to occulate silica (Mg, Ca, Fe) by leaching.
develop in less than 100 years from loessial, glacial, Most kaolinite is formed from feldspars and micas by
and volcanic parent material (Millar et al., 1965). Py- acid leaching of acidic (SiO2-rich) granitic rocks. Ka-
rite bearing rocks are known to break apart and un- olinite forms in areas where precipitation is relatively
dergo chemical and mineral transformations in only a high, and there is good drainage to ensure leaching of
few years. cations and iron.
Halloysite forms as a result of the leaching of feld-
spar by H2SO4, which is often produced by the oxi-
hte
2.6 ORIGIN OF CLAY MINERALS AND CLAY dation of pyrite, as shown earlier. The combination of
GENESIS conditions that results in halloysite formation is often
found in high-rain volcanic areas such as Hawaii and
There are three general mechanisms of clay formation the Cascade Mountains of the Pacic Northwest in the
by weathering (Eberl, 1984): (1) inheritance, (2) neo- United States.
formation, and (3) transformation. Inheritance means
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that a clay mineral originated from reactions that oc- Smectite Minerals
curred in another area during a previous stage in the
rock cycle and that the clay is stable enough to remain Smectites, because of their 21 silicaalumina struc-
in its present environment. Origin by neoformation ture, form where silica is abundant, as is the case
means that the clay has precipitated from solution or where both silica and alumina are occulated. Condi-
py
formed from reactions of amorphous materials. Trans- tions favoring this are high pH, high electrolyte con-
formation genesis requires that the clay has kept some tent, and the presence of more Mg2 and Ca2 than
of its inherited structure while undergoing chemical Na and K. Rocks that are high in alkaline earths,
reactions. These reactions are typically characterized such as the basic and intermediate igneous rocks, vol-
Co
by ion exchange with the surrounding environment canic ash, and their derivatives containing ferromag-
and/or layer transformation in which the structure of nesian minerals and calcic plagioclase, are usual parent
octahedral, tetrahedral, or xed interlayer cations is materials. Climatic conditions where evaporation ex-
modied. ceeds precipitation and where there is poor leaching
The behavior of nonclay colloids such as silica and and drainage, such as in arid and semiarid areas, favor
alumina during crystallization is important in deter- the formation of smectite.
mining the specic clay minerals that form. Certain
general principles apply.5 Illite (Hydrous Mica) and Vermiculite
Hydrous mica minerals form under conditions similar
to those leading to the formation of smectites. In ad-
5
The considerations in Chapter 6 provide a basis for these statements. dition, the presence of potassium is essential; so ig-

16 2 SOIL FORMATION
neous or metamorphic rocks and their derivatives are guish. Their thickness may range from a few milli-
the usual parent rocks. Weathering of feldspar in cool meters to several meters. The horizons may differ in
climates often leads to the development of illite. Al- any or all of the following ways:
teration of muscovite to illite and biotite to vermiculite
during weathering is also a signicant source of these 1. Degree of breakdown of parent material
minerals. Interstratications of vermiculite with mica 2. Content and character of organic material
and chlorite are common. The high stability of illite is 3. Kind and amount of secondary minerals
responsible for its abundance and persistence in soils 4. pH
and sediments. 5. Particle size distribution
Chlorite Minerals
All the horizons considered together, including the
l
underlying parent material, form the soil prole.6 The
Chlorites can form by alteration of smectite through
ria
part of the prole above the parent material is termed
introduction of sufcient Mg2 to cause formation of the solum. Eluviation is the movement of soil material
a brucitelike layer that replaces the interlayer water. from one place to another within the soil, either in
Biotite from igneous and metamorphic rocks may alter solution or in suspension as a result of excess precip-
to trioctahedral chlorites and mixed-layer chlorite itation over evaporation. Eluvial horizons have lost ma-
ate
vermiculite. Chlorites also occur in low- to medium- terial; illuvial horizons have gained material.
grade metamorphic rocks and in soils derived from Master horizons are designated by the capital letters
such rocks. O, A, B, C, and R (Table 2.4). Subordinate symbols
are used as sufxes after the master horizon designa-
Discussion tions to indicate dominant features of different kinds
of horizons, as indicated in the table. The O horizons
dM
The above considerations are greatly simplied, and
there are numerous ramications, alterations, and var- are generally present at the soil surface under native
iations in the processes. One clay type may transform vegetation, but they may also be buried by sedimen-
to another by cation exchange and weathering under tation of alluvium, loess, or ash fall. The A horizon is
new conditions. Entire structures may change, for ex- the zone of eluviation where humied organic matter
ample, from 21 to 11, so that montmorillonite forms accumulates with the mineral fraction. The amount of
when magnesium-rich rocks weather under humid, organic matters (bers to humic/fulvic acids) varies
hte
moderately drained conditions, but then alters to kao- from 0.1 percent in desert soils to 5 percent or more
linite as leaching continues. Kaolinite does not form in in organic soils and affects many engineering proper-
the presence of signicant concentrations of calcium. ties including compressibility, shrinkage, strength and
The relative proportions of potassium and magne- chemical sorption. The B horizon is the zone of illu-
sium determine how much montmorillonite and illite viation where clay, iron compounds, some resistant
form. Some montmorillonites alter to illite in a marine minerals, cations, and humus accumulate. The R ho-
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environment due to the high K concentration. Mixed- rizon is the consolidated rock, and the C horizon con-
layer clays often form by partial leaching of K or sists of the altered material from which A and B
Mg(OH)2 from between illite and chlorite layers and horizons are formed.
by incomplete adsorption of K or Mg(OH)2 in mont- Soil proles developed by weathering can be cate-
gorized into three groups on the basis of their miner-
py
morillonite or vermiculite.
Further details of the clay minerals are given in alogy and chemical composition as shown in Fig. 2.8
Chapter 3. More detailed discussions of clay mineral (Press and Siever, 1994). Pedalfers, which are formed
formation are given by Keller (1957, 1964a & b), Wea- in moist climate, are soils rich in aluminum and iron
ver and Pollard (1973), Eberl (1984), and Velde oxides and silicates such as quartz and clay minerals.
Co
(1995), among others. All soluble minerals such as calcium carbonate is

leached away. They have a thick A horizon and can be
found in much of the areas of moderate to high rainfall
2.7 SOIL PROFILES AND THEIR in the eastern United States, Canada, and Europe. Ped-
DEVELOPMENT ocals, which are formed in dry climate, are soils rich
In situ weathering processes lead to a sequence of ho-

rizons within a soil, provided erosion does not rapidly 6
Residual soil proles should not be confused with soil proles re-
remove soil from the site. The horizons may grade sulting from successive deposition of strata of different soil types in
abruptly from one to the next or be difcult to distin- alluvial, lake, or marine environments.

SOIL PROFILES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT 17
Table 2.4 Designations of Master Horizons and Subordinate Symbols for
Horizons of Soil Proles
Master Horizons
O1 Organic undecomposed horizon
O2 Organic decomposed horizon
A1 Organic accumulation in mineral soil horizon
A2 Leached bleached horizon (eluviated)
A3 Transition horizon to B
AB Transition horizon between A and Bmore like A in upper part
A and B A2 with less than 50% of horizon occupied by spots of B
l
ria
AC Transition horizon, not dominated by either A or C
B and A B with less than 50% of horizon occupied by spots of A2
B Horizon with accumulation of clay, iron, cations, humus; residual
concentration of clay; coatings; or alterations of original
material forming clay and structure
ate
B1 Transition horizon more like B than A
B2 Maximum expression of B horizon
B3 Transitional horizon to C or R
C Altered material from which A and B horizons are presumed to be
formed
R Consolidated bedrock
dM Subordinate Symbols
b Buried horizon
ca Calcium in horizon
cs Gypsum in horizon
cn Concretions in horizon
hte
f Frozen horizon
g Gleyed horizon
h Humus in horizon
ir Iron accumulation in horizon
m Cemented horizon
p Plowed horizon
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sa Salt accumulation in horizon

si Silica cemented horizon
t Clay accumulation in horizon
x Fragipan horizon
py
II, III, IV Lithologic discontinuities

A2, B2 Second sequence in bisequal soil
Adapted from Soil Survey Staff (1975).
Co
in calcium from the calcium carbonates and other sol- rizon because most of the organic matter is recycled
uble minerals originated from sedimentary bedrock. from the surface to the vegetation.
Soil water is drawn up near the surface by evaporation, Lithologic discontinuities may be common in land-
leaving calcium carbonate pellets and nodules. They scapes where erosion is severe, and these discontinui-
can be found in the southwest United States. Laterite, ties are often marked by stone layers from previous
which is formed in a wet, tropical climate, is rich in erosion cycles. In some places, soils have developed
aluminum and iron oxides, iron-rich clays, and alu- several sequences of A and B horizons, which are su-
minum hydroxides. Silica and calcium carbonates are perimposed over each other. Superimposed soil se-
leached away from the soil. It has a very thin A ho- quences are likely the result of climate changes acting

18 2 SOIL FORMATION
Humus and Thin or absent

Humus and A leached soil humus
leached soil
(quartz and
A Thick masses of
clay minerals
l
present) Calcium insoluble iron and
ria
carbonate aluminum oxides;
Some iron and B pellets and occasional quartz
aluminium oxides nodules
B precipitated; all precipitated Iron-rich clays and
soluble materials,
such as aluminum
ate
carbonates, hydroxides
leached away
Sandstone, Thin leached zone

Granite
C bedrock C shale, and
limestone
bedrock
Mafic igneous
dM bedrock
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 2.8 Major soil types: (a) Pedalfer soil prole developed on granite, (b) Pedocal soil
prole developed on sedimentary bedrock, and (c) Laterite soil prole developed on mac
igneous rock (from Press and Siever, 1994).
hte
on uniform geologic materials, or are the remnants of chanical action. The transporting agents, for example,
former soil proles (paleosoils) that have been buried water, wind, and ice, are by themselves capable only
under younger soils (Olson, 1981). of limited wearing action on rocks, but the process is
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reinforced when these agents contain particles of the

transported material.
2.8 SEDIMENT EROSION, TRANSPORT, AND Transportation of sediment requires rst that it be
DEPOSITION picked up by the eroding agent. Greater average ow
velocities in the transporting medium may be required
py
Streams, ocean currents, waves, wind, groundwater, to erode than to transport particles. Particles are eroded
glaciers, and gravity continually erode and transport when the drag and lift of the uid exceed the gravi-
soils and rock debris away from the zone of weather- tational, cohesive, and frictional forces acting to hold
ing. Each of these transporting agents may cause them in place. The stream velocity required to erode
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marked physical changes in the sediment it carries. Al- does not decrease indenitely with decreasing particle
though detailed treatment of erosion, transportation, size because small particles remain within the bound-
and depositional processes is outside the scope of this ary layer adjacent to the stream bed where the actual
book, a brief outline of their principles and their effects stream velocity is much less than the average velocity.
on the transported soil is helpful in understanding the Relationships between particle size and average stream
properties of the transported material. velocity required to erode and transport particles by
wind and water are shown in Fig. 2.9.
Erosion Ice has the greatest competency for sediment move-
Erosion includes all processes of denudation that in- ment of all the transportation agents. There is no limit
volve the wearing away of the land surface by me- to the size of particles that may be carried. Ice pushes

SEDIMENT EROSION, TRANSPORT, AND DEPOSITION 19
Transportation
The different agents of sediment transport are com-
pared in Table 2.5. The relative effect listed in the last
column of this table denotes the importance of the
agent on a geological scale with respect to the overall
amount of sediment moved, with one representing the
greatest amount.
Movement of sediment in suspension by wind and
water depends on the settling velocity of the particles
and the laws of uid motion. Under laminar ow con-
ditions, the settling velocity of small particles is pro-
l
portional to the square of the particle diameter. For
ria
larger particles and turbulent uid ow, the settling ve-
locity is proportional to the square root of the particle
diameter. Particles stay in suspension once they have
been set in motion as long as the turbulence of the
ate
stream is greater than the settling velocity.
The largest particles that can be transported by water
are carried by traction, which consists of rolling and
Figure 2.9 Comparison of erosion and transport curves for dragging along the boundary between the transporting
air and running water. The air is a slightly more effective agent and the ground surface. Particles intermediate in
erosional agent than streams for very small particles but is
dM size between the suspended load and the traction load
ineffective for those larger than sand (from Garrels, 1951).
may be carried by saltation, in which they move by a
series of leaps and bounds. Soluble materials are car-
ried in solution and may precipitate as a result of
material along in front and erodes the bottom and sides changed conditions. The combined effects mean that
of the valleys through which it ows. In an active gla- the concentration of sediment is not constant through
cier (Fig. 2.10), there is continuous erosion and trans- the depth of the transporting agent but is much greater
near the stream bed than near the top. Fine particles
hte
port of material from the region of ice accumulation

to the region of melting. A dead glacier has been cut may be fairly evenly distributed from top to bottom;
off from a feeding ice eld. however, coarser particles are distributed mainly within
short distances from the bottom, as shown in Fig. 2.11,
which applies to a river following a straight course.
The major effects of transportation processes on the
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physical properties of sediments are sorting and ab-

rasion. Sorting may be both longitudinal, which pro-
duces a progressive decrease in particle size with
distance from the source as the slope attens, and lo-
cal, which produces layers or lenses with different
py
grain size distributions. Reliable prediction of the sort-

ing at any point along a sediment transport system is
complicated by the fact that ow rates vary from point
to point and usually with the seasons. Consequently,
Co
very complex sequences of materials may be found in

and adjacent to stream beds.
Particle size and shape may be mechanically modi-
ed by abrasive processes such as grinding, impact,
and crushing during transportation. The abrading ef-
fects of wind are typically hundreds of times greater
than those of water (Kuenen, 1959). In general, abra-
sion changes the shape and size of gravel size particles
Figure 2.10 Characteristics of glaciers (from Selmer-Olsen, but only modies the shapes of sand and smaller size
1964). particles. Water-working of sands causes rounding and

20 2 SOIL FORMATION
Table 2.5 Comparison of Sediment Transport Agents
Maximum
Size
Approximate Eroded by
Type of Average Average Max Load Type of Relative
Agent Flow Velocity Velocity Areas Affected per m3 Transport Effect
Streams Turbulent A few km/h Sand All land A few tens of Bed load, 1
kilograms suspended
load,
l
solution
ria
Waves Turbulent A few km/h Sand Coastlines A few tens of Same as 2
kilograms streams
Wind Turbulent 15 km/h Sand Arid, semiarid, A kilogram Bed load, 3
beaches, suspended
plowed elds load
ate
Glaciers Laminar A few m/yr Large High latitudes Hundreds of Bed load, 2
boulders and altitudes kilograms suspended
load,
surface
load
Groundwater Laminar A few m/yr Colloids Soluble material A kilogram Solution 3
dM and colloids
Gravity cm/yr to a Boulders Steep slopes, 2000 kg Bed load 3
few m/s sensitive
clays,
saturated
cohesionless
hte
soils,
unconsolidated
rock
Adapted from Garrels (1951).
rig
polishing of grains, and wind-driven impact can cause ated with a beach environment, produce a relatively
frosting of grains. The shape and surface character of smooth, pitted surface texture. Aeolian sands exhibit a
particles inuences a soils stressdeformation and rougher surface texture, particularly over small dis-
strength properties owing to their effects on packing, tances. Some, but not all, river sands may have a very
py
volume change during shear, and interparticle friction. smooth particle surface that reects the inuence of
Basic minerals, such as the pyroxenes, amphiboles, chemical action. Sand that has undergone change after
and some feldspars, are rapidly broken down chemi- deposition and burial is termed diagenetic sand. Its
cally during transport. Quartz, which is quite stable surface texture may reect a long and stable period of
Co
because of its resistant internal structure, may be mod- interaction with the groundwater. In some cases, very
ied by mechanical action, but only at a slow rate. rough surface textures can develop. Ottawa sand, a ma-
Quartz sand grains may survive a number of successive terial that has been used for numerous geotechnical
sedimentation cycles with no more than a percent or research investigations, is such a material.
two of weight loss due to abrasion. Some effects of transportation on sediment proper-
The surface textures of quartz sand particles reect ties are summarized in Table 2.6. The gradational
their origin, as shown by the examples in Fig. 2.12 for characteristics of sedimentary materials reect their
different sands, each shown to three or four magni- transportation mode as indicated in Fig. 2.13. Sedi-
cations. The mechanical and chemical actions, associ- ments of different origins lie within specic zones of

l
ria
ate
Figure 2.11 Schematic diagram of sediment concentration with depth in a transporting
stream.
dM
the gure, which are dened by the logarithm of the The thickness of deposits formed during any one
ratio of 75 percent particle size to 25 percent particle cycle may vary from less than a millimeter to hundreds
size and the median (50 percent) grain size. of meters. The period may range from months to
thousands of years, and only one or many types of
sediments may be involved.
hte
Deposition One of the best known sediments formed by cyclical

Deposition of sediments from air and water is con- deposition is varved clay. Varved clays formed in gla-
trolled by the same laws as their transportation. If the cial lakes during the ice retreat stage. Each layer con-
stream velocity and turbulence fall below the values sists of a lighter-colored, summer-deposited clayey silt
needed to keep particles in suspension or moving with grading into a darker winter-deposited silty clay.
rig
the bed load, then the particles will settle. When ice Spring and summer thaws contributed clay and silt-
melts, the sediments may be deposited in place or car- laden meltwater to the lake. The coarsest particles set-
ried away by meltwater. Materials in solution can tled rst to form the summer layer. Because of the
precipitate when exposed to conditions of changed much slower settling velocity of the clay particles,
temperature or chemical composition, or as a result of most did not settle out until the quiet winter period. A
py
evaporation of water. Sediments may be divided into photograph of a vertical section through a varved clay
is shown in Fig. 2.14. The alternating coarser-grained,
those formed primarily by chemical and biological
light-colored layers and ner-grained, darker layers are
means and those composed primarily of mineral and
clearly visible. The shear resistance along horizontal
rock fragments. The latter are sometimes referred to as varves is much less than that across the varves. Also,
Co
detrital or clastic deposits. the hydraulic conductivity is much greater in the hor-
The deposition of sediments into most areas is cy- izontal direction than in the vertical direction. Exten-
clical. Some causes of cyclic deposition are: sive deposits of varved clays are found in the northeast
and north central United States and eastern Canada.
1. Periodic earth movements Detailed description of the geology and engineering
2. Climatic cycles of various lengths, most notably properties of Connecticut Valley varved clay is given
the annual rhythm by DeGroot and Lutenegger (2003).
3. Cyclic shifting of tributaries on a delta Complex soil deposition processes occur along
4. Periodic volcanism coastlines, estuaries, and shallow shelves in relation to

22 2 SOIL FORMATION
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 2.12 Surface textures of four sands of differing origins: (a) river sand, (b) beach
sand, (c) aeolian sand and (d) diagenetic sand (courtesy of Norris, 1975).
rig
the location of the shoreline. Soil deposits include fore- Chemical and biochemical sediments may consist of
shore sand and gravels, which are sorted by wave ac- one or two kinds of materials. For example, calcium
tions, organic deposits, and clays preserved in lagoons, carbonate sediments are made of calcite, which origi-
py
offshore ne sands, and muds. River channels may be nates from the shells of organisms in the deep sea (Fig.
overdeepened, and soft sediments then accumulate to 2.16a). Some clays contain signicant amounts of mi-
form buried valleys. Most coastlines and estuaries of crofossils due to the depositional environment as
the world were subject to sea level changes in the Qua- shown in Fig. 2.16b; such clays include Mexico City
Co
ternary period. In particular, the post glacial rise of sea clay (Diaz-Rodriguez et al., 1998), Ariake clay (Oht-
level, which ended about 6000 years ago, has had a subo et al., 1995), and Osaka Bay clay (Tanaka and
worldwide inuence on the present-day coastal forms. Locat, 1999). The microfossils include diatoms (sili-
Figure 2.15 shows alternating layers of marine (Ma) ceous skeleton of eukarya cells in either freshwater or
and uvial (Diluvial-D) sediments in the geotechnical marine environments), radiolaria (found in marine en-
prole down to 400 m depth below sea level at Osaka vironments and consisting mostly of silica), and for-
Bay, Japan (Tanaka and Locat, 1999). The observed manifera (calcium carbonate shell secreted by marine
variation corresponds well to the local relative sea level eukarya). The presence of microfossils can have a pro-
during its geological history up to 1 million years ago. found effect on the behavior of the soil mass, confer-

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 2.12 (Continued )

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ring unusual geotechnical properties that deviate from ternary period from glacial out wash and deglaciated
general property expectations, including high porosity, till areas. The deposits are spread widely and blanket
high liquid limit, unusual compressibility, and uniquely preexisting landforms. The deposits are up to 30 m
high friction angle. For examples, see Tanaka and Lo- thick in the Missouri and Rhine River Valleys, more
py
cat (1999) and Locat and Tanaka (2001). than 180 m thick in Tajikistan, and up to 330 m thick
While streams and rivers produce deposits according in northern China.
to grain size, a glacier transports the nest dust and
large boulders side by side at the same rate of move-
Co
ment. If the material remains unsorted after deposition, Depositional Environment

it is called till. A mixture of all grain sizes from boul- The environment of deposition determines the complex
ders to clays is known as boulder clay, which is a of physical, chemical, and biological conditions under
difcult material to work with because large boulders which sediments accumulate and consolidate. The
may damage excavation equipment. three general geographical depositional environments
Loess, which is a nonstratied aeolian deposit, is are continental, mixed continental and marine, and ma-
probably the single most abundant Quaternary deposit rine. Continental deposits are located above the tidal
on land. It consists of silt with some small fraction of reach and include terrestrial, paludal (swamp), and
clay, sand, and carbonate. It originated during the Qua- lacustrine (lake) sediments. Mixed continental and

24 2 SOIL FORMATION
Table 2.6 Effects of Transportation on Sediments
Water Air Ice Gravity

Size Reduction through solution, little Considerable Considerable Considerable
abrasion in suspended load, some reduction grinding and impact
abrasion and impact in traction impact
load
Shape and Rounding of sand and gravel High degree of Angular, soled Angular, non-
roundness rounding particles spherical
Surface texture Sand: smooth, polished, shiny Impact produces Striated surfaces Striated surfaces
l
Silt: little effect frosted
ria
surfaces
Sorting Considerable sorting Very considerable Very little sorting No sorting
sorting
(progressive)
ate
Adapted from Lambe and Whitman (1969).
dM
hte
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py
Co
Figure 2.13 Inuence of geologic history on sorting of particle sizes (adapted from Selmer-
Olsen, 1964).

POSTDEPOSITIONAL CHANGES IN SEDIMENTS 25
l
ria
ate
Figure 2.14 Vertical section through varved clay from the
New Jersey meadowlands (courtesy of S. Saxena).
dM
hte
Figure 2.16 Biochemical sediments: (a) Dogs Bay calcium

carbonate sand (courtesy of E. T. Bowman) and (b) diatoms
rig
observed in Osaka Bay clay (courtesy of Y. Watabe).
environments (Locat et al., 2003). Characteristic soil

py
types and properties associated with these depositional

environments are described in Chapter 8.
Figure 2.15 Soil prole of Osaka Bay showing alternating
Co
marine (Ma) and uvial (Diluvial-D) layers (modied from

Tanaka and Locat, 1999). 2.9 POSTDEPOSITIONAL CHANGES IN
SEDIMENTS
Between the time a sediment is rst laid down and the
marine deposits include littoral (between the tides), time it is encountered in connection with some human
deltaic, and estuarine sediments. Marine deposits are activity, it may have been altered as a result of the
located below the tidal reach and consist of continental action of any one or more of several postdepositional
shelf (neritic), continental slope and rise (bathyal), and processes. These processes can be physical, chemical,
deep ocean (abyssal) sediments. Table 2.7 summarizes and/or biological. They occur because the young sed-
main soil deposits that are formed in various types of iment is not necessarily stable in its new environment

26 2 SOIL FORMATION
Table 2.7 Depositional Environment of Various Soil Deposits
Deposits Environment Type Texture

Transported Air Aeolian sand Sand
Water
Shallow river Fluvial (glacio-) Sand and gravel
Alluvial (glacio-) Silt and sand
Shallow lake Littoral Sand and gravel
Muskeg Peatorganic
Deep lake Lacustrine (glacio-) Silt and clay
l
Flow deposits Clay to gravel
ria
Marls Silt (fossils)
Shallow ocean Estuarine Silt and clay
Littoral Silt and sand
Shelf Silt and clay
Deep ocean Pelagic Silt and clay
ate
Oozescalcareous Silt and clay
Oozessiliceous Silt and clay
Flow Clay to gravel
Glacier Subglacial till Clay to boulders
Supraglacial till Sand to boulders
Residual Land Tropical soils Clay to sand
dM Saprolite Clay to boulders
Decomposed granite Clay to boulders
Colluvial soils Clay to boulders
Chemical and biochemical Lake Evaporites (sakkas)
Sea Evaporites
Limestone
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Gas hydrates
Adapted from Locat et al. (2003).
where the material is exposed to new conditions of solidation pressure greater than present overburden ef-
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temperature, pressure, and chemistry. An understand- fective pressure) at shallow depths. Other important
ing of postdepositional changes is essential for under- mechanisms include partial consolidation under in-
standing of properties, interpreting soil prole data, creased overburden and the effects of weathering.
and in reconstructing geologic history. A brief outline
py
of the processes is presented here; their effects on en- Weathering

gineering properties are described in more detail in
Chapter 8. Weathering and soil-forming processes are initiated in
new sedimentary deposits after exposure to the atmo-
sphere, just as they are on freshly exposed rock. In
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Desiccation some instances, weathering can result in improvement

The drying of ne-grained sediments is usually accom- in properties or protection of underlying material. For
panied by shrinkage and cracking. Precompression of example, the weathering of uplifted marine clays can
the upper portions of clay layers by drying is fre- lead to the replacement of sodium by potassium as the
quently observed. The effects of desiccation on the dominant exchange cation (Moum and Rosenqvist,
strength and water content variations with depth in 1957). This increases both the undisturbed and re-
London clay from the Thames estuary are shown in molded strength. Water content and strength data for a
Fig. 2.17. Care must be exercised in interpreting pro- Norwegian marine clay prole are shown in Fig. 2.18.
les of this type because drying is only one of several It may be seen that the upper 5 m of clay, which have
possible causes of apparent overconsolidation (precon- been weathered, have water content and strength var-

l
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dM
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Figure 2.17 Properties of Thames estuary clay. The overconsolidation in the upper 10 ft
was caused by surface drying (Skempton and Henkel, 1953).
27

28 2 SOIL FORMATION
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Figure 2.18 Clay characteristics at Manglerud in Oslo, Norway (Bjerrum, 1954).

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iation characteristics similar to those of the Thames Consolidation and Densication

estuary clay (see Fig. 2.17). In the case of the Nor- Consolidation (termed compaction in geology) of ne-
wegian clay, however, the plasticity values have also grained sediments occurs from increased overburden,
changed in the upper 5 m, providing evidence of drying, or changes in the groundwater level so that the
changed composition. Weathering of the surface of effective stress on the material is increased. Deposits
some loess deposits has resulted in the formation of a of granular material may be affected to some extent in
relatively impervious loam that protects the underlying the same way. More signicant densication of cohe-
metastable loess structure from the deleterious effects sionless soil occurs, however, as a result of dynamic
of water. loading such as induced by earthquakes or the activi-

ties of humans. The usual effects of consolidation are The long-term stability of different clay minerals under
to increase strength, decrease compressibility, increase conditions of elevated temperature and pressure and in
swell potential, and decrease permeability. different chemical environments is important relative
Even under constant effective stress conditions, to the use of clays as containment barriers for nuclear
structural readjustments and small compressions may and toxic wastes. Diagenesis studies of locked sands
continue for long periods owing to the viscous nature show crystal overgrowths caused by pressure solution
of soil structures. This secondary compression pro- and compaction (Barton, 1993; Richards and Burton,
vides an additional source of increased strength with 1999).
time. Cementation has important effects on the properties
and stability of many soil materials. Cementation is not
Unloading always easily identied, nor are its effects always read-
l
Erosion of overlying sediments due to glacial process ily determined quantitatively. It is known to contribute
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leads to mechanical overconsolidation. A typical ex- to clay sensitivity, and it may be responsible for an
ample of this is London clay, a marine clay deposited apparent preconsolidation pressure. Removal of iron
during the Eocene period. The erosion took place in compounds from a very sensitive clay from Labrador,
late Tertiary and Pleistocene times and the amount of Canada, by leaching led to a 30-ton/m2 decrease in
apparent preconsolidation pressure (Kenney et al.,
ate
erosion is estimated to be about 150 m in Essex
(Skempton, 1961) to 300 m in the Wraybury district 1967). Coop and Airey (2003) show for carbonate soils
(Bishop et al., 1965). After the unloading, small re- that cementation develops soon after deposition and
loading occurred by new deposition of gravels in the enables the soil to maintain a loose structure.
late Quaternary period. Within the London clay, ve Failure to recognize cementation has resulted in con-
major transgressiveregressive cycles are recognized
dM struction disputes. For example, a soil on a major proj-
during its deposition. The postdepositional processes ect was marked on the contract drawings as glacial
are site specic; that is, the degree of weathering and till. It proved to be so hard that it had to be blasted.
desiccation and the amount of erosion vary depending The contractor claimed the soil was cemented because
on location. This variation in depositional and post- during digging failure took place through pebbles as
depositional processes results in complex mechanical well as the clay matrix. The owner concluded that this
behavior (Hight et al., 2003). happened because the pebbles were weathered. Proper
evaluation of the material before the award of the con-
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Authigenesis, Diagenesis, Cementation, and tract could have avoided the problem.
Recrystallization Clay particles adhere to the surfaces of larger silt
and sand particles, a process called clay bounding.
Authigenesis is the formation of new minerals in place Eventually the larger grains become embedded into a
after deposition. Authigenesis can make grains more clay matrix and their inuence on the geotechnical be-
angular, lower the void ratio, and decrease the per- havior becomes limited. The clay bounding provides
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meability. Small crystals and rock fragments may grow arching of interparticle forces, maintaining a large void
into aggregates of coarser particles. ratio even at high effective stresses.
Diagenesis refers to such phenomena as changes in
particle surface texture, the conversion of minerals
from one type to another, and the formation of inter- Time Effects
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particle bonds as a result of increased temperature, Even freshly deposited or densied sands can develop
pressure, and time. Many diagenetic changes are con- signicant increases in strength and stiffness over rel-
trolled by the pH and redox potential of the deposi- atively short time periods, that is, by a factor of 2 or
tional environment. With increasing depth of burial in more within a few months (Mitchell and Solymar,
Co
a sedimentary basin, clayey sediments may undergo 1984). Time effects and the aging of both cohesive
substantial transformation. Expansive clay minerals and cohesionless soils are analyzed and reviewed
can transform to a nonexpansive form, for example, by Schmertmann (1991). Uncertainty remains as to
montmorillonite to mixed layer to illite, as a result of whether the mechanisms for the observed increases in
the progressive removal of water layers under pressure apparent preconsolidation pressure, strength, and stiff-
(Burst, 1969). Burial depths of 1000 to 5000 m may ness are chemical, physical, or both. Research is con-
be required, and the transformation process appears tinuing on this important aspect of soil behavior so that
thermally activated as a result of the increased tem- it will be possible to predict both the amount and the
perature at these depths. Chlorite can form in mud and rate of property changes for use in the analysis of geo-
shale during deep burial (Weaver and Pollard, 1973). technical problems. The aging process is of particular

30 2 SOIL FORMATION
interest in connection with hydraulic lls and ground shock. Cracks up to 2 ft wide, of unknown depth, and
improvement projects, more details are given in Chap- spaced several meters apart have caused damage to
ter 12. buildings and highways.
Leaching, Ion Exchange, and Differential Solution Biological Effects

Postdepositional changes in pore uid chemistry can Biological activity affects soil particles by modifying
result from the percolation of different uids through their arrangement, aggregating them, weathering min-
a deposit. This may change the forces between col- eral surfaces, mediating oxidationreduction reactions,
loidal particles. For example, the uplift of marine clay contributing to precipitation and dissolution of miner-
above sea level followed by freshwater leaching can als, and degrading organic particles. The survival and
lead to both ion exchange and the removal of dissolved
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activity of microorganisms are controlled partly by
salts. This process is important in the formation of
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pore geometry and local physicochemical conditions.
highly sensitive, quick clays, as discussed in more de- Therefore, apart from its impact on life itself, biolog-
tail in Chapter 8. ical activity has inuenced the evolution of the earth
Materials can be removed from sediments by differ- surface, impacted mineral, sediment, and rock forma-
ential solution and subsequent leaching. Calcareous tion, accelerated the rate of rock weathering and al-
ate
and gypsiferous sediments are particularly susceptible tered its products, inuenced the composition of
to solution, resulting in the formation of channels, sink groundwater, and participated in the formation of gas
holes, and cavities. and petroleum hydrocarbons.
Bioturbance refers to the action of organisms living
Jointing and Fissuring of Clay Soils on or in sediments. By organic cementation, they mod-
dM
Some normally consolidated clays, almost all ood-
plain clays, and many preconsolidated clays are weak-
ify grain size, density, or cohesion (Richardson et al.,
1985; Locat et al., 2003). The aggregation activity of
ened by joints and ssures. Joints in oodplain clays various worms densies deposits by changing the grain
result from deposition followed by cyclic expansion size of the sediment. Tubes that form can provide local
and contraction from wetting and drying. Joints and drainage and decrease the bulk density. The active zone
ssures in preconsolidated clays result from unloading of bioturbance is usually to depths less than 30 cm.
or from shrinkage cracks during drying. Closely Sticky organic mucus or polymer bridging binds to-
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spaced joints in these types of clays may contribute to gether claysilt particles, producing clusters.
slides some years after excavation of cuts. The unload- Chemical transformation processes are mediated by
ing enables joints to open, water to enter, and the clay organisms. Some notable processes are summarized as
to soften. follows (Mitchell and Santamarina, 2005):
Fissures have been found in normally consolidated
clays at high water contents that could not have been 1. Sulfur Cycle Elemental sulfur (S0) and suldes
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caused by drying or unloading (Skempton and Northey, (S2) are the stable forms of sulfur under anaer-
1952), and increased brittleness has been observed in obic conditions, whereas sulfates (SO42) are the
soft clay chunks that have been stored for some time. stable forms of sulfur under aerobic conditions.
These effects may be caused by syneresis, which is the Suldes form under anaerobic conditions from
mutual attraction of clay particles to form closely knit sulfates already present in seawater and sedi-
py
aggregates with ssures between them. Similar behav- ments or introduced by diffusion and ground-
ior is many times observed in gelatin after aging. water ow. The sulfate ion is not reduced to
Weathering and the release of potassium may also re- sulde at Earth surface temperature and pressure
sult in ssuring. unless biologically mediated. Sulfate-reducing
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Vegetation, especially large trees, can cause shrink- bacteria are anaerobic and grow best at neutral
age and ssuring of clays (Barber, 1958; Holtz, 1983). pH but are known to exist over a broad range of
The root systems suck up water, causing large capillary pH and salt content. When exposed to aerobic
shrinkage pressures. When rain falls on crusted surface conditions, reduced sulfur compounds, hydrogen
layers of dried-up saline lakes, it is rapidly absorbed suldes (H2S), and elemental sulfur are used as
by capillarity. The air may become so compressed that an energy source by sulde-oxidizing bacteria
it causes tension cracking or blowouts in a form similar and converted to sulfates.
in appearance to root holes. These sediments may also 2. Iron Cycle Iron in the subsurface exists pre-
undergo severe cracking, apparently as a result of dominantly in the reduced or ferrous (Fe2) state

or the oxidized ferric (Fe3) state. Several micro- century to close to 6 billion today. Human activities
organisms such as the genus Thiobacillus medi- are now at such a scale as to rival forces of nature in
ate the iron oxidation reaction. Chapelle (2001) their inuence on soil changes. The activities include
notes that bacteria are able to derive only relative rapid changes in land use and the associated landforms,
little energy from oxidizing Fe2; therefore, they soil erosion related to forest removal, and soil contam-
must process large amounts of Fe2 and produce ination by urbanization, mining, and agricultural activ-
large amounts of Fe3 to obtain sufcient energy ities. Ten to 15 percent of Earths land surface is
to sustain their growth. occupied by industrial areas and agriculture, and an-
other 6 to 8 percent is pasture land (Vitousek et al.,
One important consequence of the rapid oxidation
1997).
of iron sulde in the presence of oxygen is the for-
Mine wastes are the largest waste volumes produced
mation of acid rock drainage. Although Fe(OH)3 has
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by humankind. On October 21, 1966, 144 people, 116
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low solubility, the formation of H2SO4 provides a
of them children, were killed when a tip of coal waste
source of important reactions in the solid and pore wa-
slid onto the village of Aberfan in South Wales, United
ter phases. The total dissolved solids increases owing
to the dissolution of carbonates in the soil. Gypsum Kingdom. The collapse was caused by tipping of coal
can form, with an associated volume increase, at the waste over a natural underground spring, and the coal
ate
expense of carbonate minerals. The precipitated ferric slag slowly turned into a liquid slurry. The tragedy was
hydroxide is thermodynamically unstable and rapidly caused by two days of continual heavy rain loosening
transforms to yellow goethite, FeOOH. Geothite, the coal slag. As a result of the disaster at Aberfan,
while stable under wet conditions, will slowly dehy- the Mines and Quarries Tips Act of 1969 was intro-
drate to red hematite, Fe2O3, under dry conditions. duced. This act was passed in order to prevent disused
Microorganisms have a limited effect on the for-
dM tips from becoming a danger to members of the public.
mation of coarse grains. However, bioactivity can af- Over 8000 million tons of ore have been mined in
fect diagenetic evolution, promote the precipitation of the South African deep-level underground gold mining
cementing agents, cause internal weathering, and alter industry (Blight et al., 2000). Considerations for dis-
nes migration, lter performance, and drainage in posing these wastes into tailings ponds and dams in-
silts and sands. clude the physicochemical nature of the extracted
Severely water-limited environments distress micro- minerals as well as the topography and climate of the
organisms and hinder biological activity. Nonetheless, disposal sites. Tailings dams have failed, resulting in
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there is great bacterial activity in the unsaturated or- destructive mudows (Blight, 1997). One reported case
ganic surface layer of a soil where plant roots are was the failure of the Merriespruit ring-dyke gold tail-
found. Fierer et al. (2002) observed that bacterial ac- ings dam in South Africa in 1994, which killed 17
tivity decreases by 1 or 2 orders of magnitude by 2 m people in a village nearby. Overtopping of the tailings
of depth. Horn and Meike (1995) conclude that micro- dyke occurred after a signicant rainfall event, and ap-
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bial activity requires 60 to 80 percent saturation. proximately 500,000 m3 of tailings owed through this
Hence, there is less reduction in bacterial count with breach. The liqueed tailings owed for a distance of
depth in saturated sediments. Hindered biological ac- about 2 km. A large volume of tailings was in a me-
tivities in unsaturated soils may reect lack of nutrients tastable state in situ, and overtopping and erosion of
in isolated water at menisci, slow nutrient ow in per- the impoundment wall exposed this material, resulting
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colating water paths, and increased ionic concentration in static liquefaction of the tailings and a consequent
in the pore uid as water evaporates and dissolved salts ow failure (Fourie et al., 2001).
approach ion saturation conditions. The urban underground in major cities is congested
The physical scales over which the physicochemical, by utility lines, tunnels, and building foundations.
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bioorganic, and burial diagenetic processes act range Much may be more than 100 years old; for example,
from atomic dimensions to kilometers, and the time- more than 50 percent of the water supply pipes in Lon-
scales range from microseconds to years. Table 2.8 don were built using cast-iron during Victorian time.
summarizes the processes, fabric characteristics, and Aging infrastructure changes the in situ stress condi-
scales associated with different mechanisms. tion, as well as groundwater chemistry, and this can
lead to changes in the stressstraintime behavior of
Human Effects the subsoil. Underground openings are sources or sinks
The global human population has grown from approx- of different environments; tunnels can act as a ground-
imately 600 million at the beginning of the eighteenth water drain as well as source for air into the ground.

32 2 SOIL FORMATION
Table 2.8 Summary of Processes and of the Fabric Signature and Temporal Scales Associated with Various
Mechanisms
Fabric
Signaturesa Physical
Processes Mechanisms (predominant) Scales Time Remarks
Physicochemical Electromechanical EF Atomic and s to ms Two particles may rotate
molecular to FF
4 m
Thermomechanical FF Molecular to ms to min Initial contacts EF then
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(some EF) 0.2 mm rotations to FF:
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common in selective
environments
Interface dynamics FF and EF m to 0.5 s Some large compound
mm particles may be
possible at high
ate
concentrations
Bioorganic Biomechanical EF 0.5 mm to s to min Some FF possible
2.0 mm during bioturbation
Biophysical EE and FF m to mm s to min Some very large clay
organic complexes
possible
dM
Biochemical Nonunique m to mm h to yr New chemicals formed,
(unknown) some altered
Burial Mass gravity FF localized cm to km yr Can operate over large
diagenesis swirl physical scales
Diagenesis- Nonunique Molecular yr New minerals formed,
cementation (unknown) some altered, changes
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in morphology
a
EF, edge-to-face; EE, edge-to-edge; FF, face-to-face.
Adapted from Mitchell and Santamarina (2005) and Bennett et al. (1991).
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Detailed studies of the geotechnical impacts of such to infer clay mineral types, to detect the presence of
problems have, so far, been limited (e.g., Gourvenec organic and high clay content layers, to locate borrow
et al., 2005), and further studies of the impacts of aging materials for construction, and to estimate the depth to
on existing infrastructure are needed. unaltered parent material. Pedological data can be used
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to surmise compositions and soil physical properties.

Transported soils are sorted, abraded, and have par-
2.10 CONCLUDING COMMENTS ticle surface textures that reect the transporting me-
dium. Conditions of sedimentation and the depositional
Knowledge of geologic and soil-forming processes environment inuence the grain size, size distribution,
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aids in anticipating and understanding the probable and grain arrangement. Thus, knowledge of the trans-
composition, structure, properties, and behavior of a portation and deposition history provides insight into
soil. Along with site investigation data, characteri- geotechnical engineering properties.
zation of the landforms, that is, understanding of the In short, the soil and its properties with which we
former and current geomorphological processes asso- deal today are a direct and predictable consequence of
ciated with the past and present climatic conditions, the parent material of many years ago and of all the
often helps to dene ground conditions for designing things that have happened to it since. The better our
geotechnical structures and anticipating the long-term knowledge of what that parent material was and what
performance. For example, the knowledge can be used the intervening events have been, the better our ability

QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 33
to deal with the soil as an engineering material. Several 7. Compare and contrast soil-forming processes on
examples are given in this chapter and more are given Earth and on the Moon in terms of the composition
in Chapter 8. and engineering properties of the soils. Explain
similarities and differences. What is the relative im-
portance of physical, chemical, and biological soil-
forming processes on the Moon and on Earth?
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS Why?
1. At what depth below the ground surface does quartz 8. Considering rock and mineral stability, the types
start to crystallize? and characteristics of weathering processes, and the
impacts of weathering on properties, what types of
2. What are some likely consequences of the different
earth materials would you consider most suitable
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physical and chemical weathering processes on the
for use as chemical, radioactive, and mixed (chem-
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mechanical and ow properties of the rocks and
ical and radioactive) waste containment barriers?
soils on which they act?
Why?
3. Describe the chemical reactions of pyrite oxidation
9. Prepare diagrams showing your estimates as a func-
and explain how bacteria can mediate the chemical
tion of elevation of the following soil characteristics
ate
processes.
that you would expect to encounter between the
4. Discuss what types of clay minerals are likely to be bottom and the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tan-
produced under each morphoclimatic zone listed in zania. Give a brief explanation for each.
Table 2.3. a. Soil plasticity
5. Using Stokess law, derive the sedimentation speeds
dM b. Soil gradation and mean particle size
of spherical particles with different sizes in fresh- c. Angularityroundness of sand and gravel parti-
water under hydrostatic condition. Would they cles
change in saltwater? Compare the results to the data d. Iron content
given in Fig. 2.9 and discuss the comparison. e. Cementation between particles
6. List and discuss human activities that may poten- f. Organic matter content
tially change the properties of soils. g. Water content
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CHAPTER 3
Soil Mineralogy
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3.1 IMPORTANCE OF SOIL MINERALOGY IN naked eye. Clay can refer both to a size and to a class
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING of minerals. As a size term, it refers to all constituents
of a soil smaller than a particular size, usually 0.002
Soil is composed of solid particles, liquid, and gas and mm (2 m) in engineering classications. As a mineral
ranges from very soft, organic deposits through less term, it refers to specic clay minerals that are distin-
compressible clays and sands to soft rock. The solid
dM guished by (1) small particle size, (2) a net negative
particles vary in size from large boulders to minute electrical charge, (3) plasticity when mixed with water,
particles that are visible only with the aid of the elec- and (4) high weathering resistance. Clay minerals are
tron microscope. Particle shapes range from nearly primarily hydrous aluminum silicates. Not all clay par-
spherical, bulky grains to thin, at plates and long, ticles are smaller than 2 m, and not all nonclay par-
slender needles. Some organic material and noncrys- ticles are coarser than 2 m; however, the amount of
talline inorganic components are found in most natural clay mineral in a soil is often closely approximated by
ne-grained soils. A soil may contain virtually any el- the amount of material ner than 2 m. Thus, it is
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ement contained in Earths crust; however, by far the useful to use the terms clay size and clay mineral con-
most abundant are oxygen, silicon, hydrogen, and alu- tent to avoid confusion. A further important difference
minum. These elements, along with calcium, sodium, between clay and nonclay minerals is that the nonclays
potassium, magnesium, and carbon, comprise over 99 are composed primarily of bulky particles; whereas,
percent of the solid mass of soils worldwide. Atoms the particles of most of the clay minerals are platy, and
in a few cases they are needle shaped or tubular.
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of these elements are organized into various crystalline

forms to yield the common minerals found in soil. The great range in soil particle sizes in relation to
Crystalline minerals comprise the greatest proportion other particulate materials, electromagnetic wave
of most soils encountered in engineering practice, and lengths, and other size-dependent factors can be seen
the amount of nonclay material usually exceeds the in Fig. 3.2. The liquid phase of most soil systems is
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amount of clay. Nonetheless, clay and organic matter composed of water containing various types and
in a soil usually inuence properties in a manner far amounts of dissolved electrolytes. Organic compounds,
greater than their abundance. both soluble and immiscible, are found in soils at sites
Mineralogy is the primary factor controlling the size,
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shape, and properties of soil particles. These same fac-

tors determine the possible ranges of physical and
chemical properties of any given soil; therefore, a
priori knowledge of what minerals are in a soil pro-
vides intuitive insight as to its behavior. Commonly
dened particle size ranges are shown in Fig. 3.1. The
divisions between gravel, sand, silt, and clay sizes are
arbitrary but convenient. Particles smaller than about
200 mesh sieve size (0.074 mm), which is the bound-
ary between sand and silt sizes, cannot be seen by the Figure 3.1 Particle size ranges in soils.
35

36
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Figure 3.2 Characteristics of particles and particle dispersoids (adapted from Stanford Re-
search Institute Journal, Third Quarter, 1961).
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37

38 3 SOIL MINERALOGY
that have been affected by chemical spills, leaking tronic energy can jump to a higher level by the ab-
wastes, and contaminated groundwater. The gas phase, sorption of radiant energy or drop to a lower level by
in partially saturated soils, is usually air, although or- the emission of radiant energy. No more than two elec-
ganic gases may be present in zones of high biological trons in an atom can have the same energy level, and
activity or in chemically contaminated soils. the spins of these two electrons must be in opposite
The mechanical properties of soils depend directly directions. Different bonding characteristics for differ-
on interactions of these phases with each other and ent elements exist because of the combined effects of
with applied potentials (e.g., stress, hydraulic head, electronic energy quantization and the limitation on the
electrical potential, and temperature). Because of these number of electrons at each energy level.
interactions, we cannot understand soil behavior in An atom may be represented in simplied form by
terms of the solid particles alone. Nonetheless, the a small nucleus surrounded by diffuse concentric
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structure of these particles tells us a great deal about clouds of electrons (Fig. 3.3). The maximum num-
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their surface characteristics and their potential inter- ber of electrons that may be located in each diffuse
actions with adjacent phases. shell is determined by quantum theory. The number
Interatomic and intermolecular bonding forces hold and arrangement of electrons in the outermost shell are
matter together. Unbalanced forces exist at phase of prime importance for the development of different
boundaries. The nature and magnitude of these forces types of interatomic bonding and crystal structure.
ate
inuence the formation of soil minerals, the structure, Interatomic bonds form when electrons in adjacent
size, and shape of soil particles, and the physicochem- atoms interact in such a way that their energy levels
ical phenomena that determine engineering properties are lowered. If the energy reduction is large, then a
and behavior. In this chapter some aspects of atomic strong, primary bond develops. The way in which the
and intermolecular forces, crystal structure, structure
dM bonding electrons are localized in space determines
stability, and characteristics of surfaces that are perti- whether or not the bonds are directional. The strength
nent to the understanding of soil behavior are sum- and directionality of interatomic bonds, together with
marized simply and briey. This is followed by a the relative sizes of the bonded atoms, determine the
somewhat more detailed treatment of soil minerals and type of crystal structure assumed by a given compo-
their characteristics. sition.
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3.2 ATOMIC STRUCTURE 3.3 INTERATOMIC BONDING
Current concepts of atomic structure and interparticle Primary Bonds

bonding forces are based on quantum mechanics. An Only the outer shell or valence electrons participate in
electron can have only certain values of energy. Elec- the formation of primary interatomic bonds. There are
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Figure 3.3 Simplied representation of an atom.

SECONDARY BONDS 39
three limiting types: covalent, ionic, and metallic. They terms of the dipole moment . If two electrical charges
differ because of how the bonding electrons are local- of magnitude e, where e is the electronic charge,
ized in space. The energy of these bonds per mole of are separated by a distance d, then
bonded atoms is from 60 103 to more than 400
103 joules (J; 15 to 100 kcal). As there are 6.023 d e (3.1)
1023 molecules per mole, it might be argued that such
bonds are weak; however, relative to the weight of an Covalently bonded atoms may also produce dipolar
atom they are very large. molecules.
Covalent Bonds In the covalent bond, one or more Metallic Bonds Metals contain loosely held val-
bonding electrons are shared by two atomic nuclei to ence electrons that hold the positive metal ions to-
complete the outer shell for each atom. Covalent bonds gether but are free to travel through the solid material.
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are common in gases. If outer shell electrons are rep- Metallic bonds are nondirectional and can exist only
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resented by dots, then examples for (1) hydrogen gas, among a large group of atoms. It is the large group of
(2) methane, and (3) chlorine gas are: electrons and their freedom to move that make metals
such good conductors of electricity and heat. The me-
1. H H H:H tallic bond is of little importance in most soils.
ate

H
2. C 4H H:C:H
Bonding in Soil Minerals

H
A combination of ionic and covalent bonding is typical
Cl:
3. :Cl :Cl:Cl:
in most nonmetallic solids. Purely ionic or covalent
bonding is a limiting condition that is the exception
rather than the rule in most cases. Silicate minerals are
dM
In the solid state, covalent bonds form primarily be-
tween nonmetallic atoms such as oxygen, chlorine, the most abundant constituents of most soils. The in-
teratomic bond in silica (SiO2) is about half covalent
nitrogen, and uorine. Since only certain electrons
participate in the bonding, covalent bonds are direc- and half ionic.
tional. As a result, atoms bonded covalently pack in
such a way that there are xed bond angles.
Ionic Bonds Ionic bonds form between positively 3.4 SECONDARY BONDS
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and negatively charged free ions that acquire their

charge through gain or loss of electrons. Cations (pos- Secondary bonds that are weak relative to ionic and
itively charged atoms that are attracted by the cathode covalent bonds also form between units of matter. They
in an electric eld) form by atoms giving up one or may be strong enough to determine the nal arrange-
more loosely held electrons that lie outside a comments of atoms in solids, and they may be sources of
pleted electron shell and have a high energy level. Met- attraction between very small particles and between
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als, alkalies (e.g., sodium, potassium), and alkaline liquids and solid particles.
earths (e.g., calcium, magnesium) form cations. Anions
(negatively charged atoms that are attracted to the an- The Hydrogen Bond
ode) are those atoms requiring only a few electrons to If a hydrogen ion forms the positive end of a dipole,
complete their outer shell. Because the outer shells of then its attraction to the negative end of an adjacent
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ions are complete, structures cannot form by electron molecule is termed a hydrogen bond. Hydrogen bonds
sharing as in the case of the covalent bond. Since ions form only between strongly electronegative atoms such
are electrically charged, however, strong electrical at- as oxygen and uorine because these atoms produce
tractions (and repulsions) can develop between them. the strongest dipoles. When the electron is detached
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The ionic bond is nondirectional. Each cation at- from a hydrogen atom, such as when it combines with
tracts all neighboring anions. In sodium chloride, oxygen to form water, only a proton remains. As the
which is one of the best examples of ionic bonding, a electrons shared between the oxygen and hydrogen at-
sodium cation attracts as many chlorine anions as will oms spend most of their time between the atoms, the
t around it. Geometric considerations and electrical oxygens act as the negative ends of dipoles, and the
neutrality determine the actual arrangement of ioni- hydrogen protons act as the positive ends. The positive
cally bonded atoms. and negative ends of adjacent water molecules tie them
As ionic bonding causes a separation between the together forming water and ice.
centers of positive and negative charge in a molecule, The strength of the hydrogen bond is much greater
the molecule will orient in an electrical eld forming than that of other secondary bonds because of the small
a dipole. The strength of this dipole is expressed in size of the hydrogen ion. Hydrogen bonds are impor-

tant in determining some of the characteristics of the Examples of some common crystals are shown in
clay minerals and in the interaction between soil par- Fig. 3.4.
ticle surfaces and water.
Characteristics of Crystals
van der Waals Bonds Certain crystal characteristics are used to distinguish
different classes or groups of minerals. Variations in
Permanent dipole bonds such as the hydrogen bond are these characteristics result in different properties.
directional. Fluctuating dipole bonds, commonly
termed van der Waals bonds, also exist because at any 1. Structure The atoms in a crystal are arranged
one time there may be more electrons on one side of in a denite orderly manner to form a three-
the atomic nucleus than on the other. This creates weak dimensional network termed a lattice. Positions
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instantaneous dipoles whose oppositely charged ends within the lattice where atoms or atomic groups
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attract each other.
Although individual van der Waals bonds are weak,
typically an order of magnitude weaker than a hydro-
gen bond, they are nondirectional and additive between
ate
atoms. Consequently, they decrease less rapidly with
distance than primary valence and hydrogen bonds
when there are large groups of atoms. They are strong
enough to determine the nal arrangements of groups
of atoms in some solids (e.g., many polymers), and
they may be responsible for small cohesions in ne-
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grained soils. Van der Waals forces are described fur-
ther in Chapter 7.
3.5 CRYSTALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

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Particles composed of mineral crystals form the

greatest proportion of the solid phase of a soil. A crys-
tal is a homogeneous body bounded by smooth plane
surfaces that are the external expression of an orderly
internal atomic arrangement. A solid without internal
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atomic order is termed amorphous.
Crystal Formation
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Crystals may form in three ways:
1. From Solution Ions combine as they separate

from solution and gradually build up a solid of
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denite structure and shape. Halite (sodium chlo-

ride) and other evaporites are examples.
2. By Fusion Crystals form directly from a liquid
as a result of cooling. Examples are igneous rock
minerals solidied from molten rock magma and
ice from water. Figure 3.4 Examples of some common crystals. (hkl) are
3. From Vapor Although not of particular impor- cleavage plane indices. From Danas Manual of Mineralogy,
tance in the formation of soil minerals, crystals by C. S. Hurlbut, 16th Edition. Copyright 1957 by John
can form directly from cooling vapors. Examples Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission from John Wiley
include snowakes and owers of sulfur. & Sons.

CRYSTALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 41
are located are termed lattice points. Only 14 dif- cell. The unit cell is the basic repeating unit of
ferent arrangements of lattice points in space are the space lattice.
possible. These are the Bravais space lattices, 2. Cleavage and Outward Form The angles be-
and they are illustrated in Fig. 3.5. tween corresponding faces on crystals of the
The smallest subdivision of a crystal that still same substance are constant. Crystals break
possesses the characteristic composition and spa- along smooth cleavage planes. Cleavage planes
tial arrangement of atoms in the crystal is the unit lie between planes in which the atoms are most
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Figure 3.5 Unit cells of the 14 Bravais space lattices. The capital letters refer to the type
of cell: P, primitive cell; C, cell with a lattice point in the center of two parallel faces; F,
cell with a lattice point in the center of each face; I, cell with a lattice point in the center
of the interior; R, rhombohedral primitive cell. All points indicated are lattice points. There
is no general agreement on the unit cell to use for the hexagonal Bravais lattice; some prefer
the P cell shown with solid lines, and others prefer the C cell shown in dashed lines (modied
from Moffatt et al., 1965).

densely packed. This is because the center-to-

center distance between atoms on opposite sides
of the plane is greater than along other planes
through the crystal. As a result, the strength along
cleavage planes is less than in other directions.
3. Optical Properties The specic atomic arrange-
ments within crystals allow light diffraction and
polarization. These properties are useful for iden-
tication and classication. Identication of rock
minerals by optical means is common. Optical
studies in soil are less useful because of the small
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sizes of most soil particles.
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4. X-ray and Electron Diffraction The orderly
atomic arrangements in crystals cause them to
behave with respect to X-ray and electron beams
in much the same way as does a diffraction grat-
ing with respect to visible light. Different crystals
ate
yield different diffraction patterns. This makes X-
ray diffraction a powerful tool for the study and
identication of very small particles, such as clay
that cannot be seen using optical means.
5. Symmetry There are 32 distinct crystal classes
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based on symmetry considerations involving the
arrangement and orientation of crystal faces.
These 32 classes may be grouped into 6 crystal
systems with the classes within each system bear-
ing close relationships to each other.
Figure 3.6 The six crystal systems.
The six crystal systems are illustrated in Fig. 3.6.
Crystallographic axes parallel to the intersection edges
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of prominent crystal faces are established for each of

the six crystal systems. In most crystals, these axes will Monoclinic System There are three unequal axes,
also be symmetry axes or axes normal to symmetry two inclined to each other at an oblique angle,
planes. In ve of the six systems, the crystals are re- with the third perpendicular to the other two. Ex-
ferred to three crystallographic axes. In the sixth (the amples are orthoclase feldspar, gypsum, musco-
vite, biotite, gibbsite, and chlorite.
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hexagonal system), four axes are used. The axes are

denoted by a, b, c (a1, a2, a3, and c in the hexagonal Triclinic System Three unequal axes intersect at
system) and the angles between the axes by , , oblique angles. Examples are plagioclase feldspar,
and . kaolinite, albite, microcline, and turquoise.
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Isometric or Cubic System There are three mutu-

ally perpendicular axes of equal length. Mineral 3.6 CRYSTAL NOTATION
examples are galena, halite, magnetite, and pyrite.
Hexagonal System Three equal horizontal axes ly- Miller indices are used to describe plane orientations
ing in the same plane intersect at 60 with a fourth and directions in a crystal. This information, along
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axis perpendicular to the other three and of dif- with the distances that separate parallel planes is im-
ferent length. Examples are quartz, brucite, cal- portant for the identication and classication of dif-
cite, and beryl. ferent minerals. All lengths are expressed in terms of
Tetragonal System There are three mutually per- unit cell lengths. Any plane through a crystal may be
pendicular axes, with two horizontal of equal described by intercepts, in terms of unit cell lengths,
length, but different than that of the vertical axis. on the three or four crystallographic axes for the sys-
Zircon is an example. tem in which the crystal falls. The reciprocals of these
Orthorhombic System There are three mutually intercepts are used to index the plane. Reciprocals are
perpendicular axes, each of different length. Ex- used to avoid fractions and to account for planes par-
amples include sulfur, anhydrite, barite, diaspore, allel to an axis (an intercept of innity equals an index
and topaz. value of 0).

CRYSTAL NOTATION 43
An example illustrates the determination and mean- lengths. Take plane mnp in Fig. 3.7a as an example.
ing of Miller indices. Consider the mineral muscovite, The intercepts of this plane are a 1, b 1, and
a member of the monoclinic system. It has unit cell c 1. The Miller indices of this plane are found by
dimensions of a 0.52 nanometers (nm), b 0.90 taking the reciprocals of these intercepts and clearing
nm, c 2.0 nm, and 95 30. Both the compo- of fractions. Thus,
sition and crystal structure of muscovite are similar to
Reciprocals are 1/1, 1/1, 1/1
those of some of the important clay minerals.
Miller indices are (111)
The muscovite unit cell dimensions and intercepts
are shown in Fig. 3.7a. The intercepts for any plane of The indices are always enclosed within parentheses
interest are rst determined in terms of unit cell and indicated in the order abc without commas. Paren-
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Figure 3.7 Miller indices: (a) Unit cell of muscovite, (b) (002) plane for muscovite, (c)
(014) plane for muscovite, and (d) (623) plane for muscovite.

theses are always used to indicate crystallographic Table 3.1 Atomic Packing, Structure, and Structural
planes, whereas brackets are used to indicate direc- Stability
tions. For example, [111] designates line oq in Fig.
3.7a. Additional examples of Miller indices for planes Radius
through the muscovite crystal are shown in Figs. 3.7b, Ratioa Nb Geometry Example Stability
3.7c, and 3.7d. A plane that cuts a negative axis is
designated by placing a bar over the index that pertains 00.155 2 Line
to the negative intercept (Fig. 3.7d). The general index 0.155 3 Triangle (CO3)2 Very high
(hkl) is used to refer to any plane that cuts all three 0.225
axes. Similarly (h00) designates a plane cutting only 0.225 4 Tetrahedron (SiO4)4 Moderately
the a axis, (h0l) designates a plane parallel to the b 0.414 high
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axis, and so on. For crystals in the hexagonal system, 0.414 6 Octahedron [Al(OH)6]3 High
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the Miller index contains four numbers. The (001) 0.732
planes of soil minerals are of particular interest be- 0.732 8 Body-cen- Iron Low
cause they are indicative of specic clay mineral types. 1.0 tered cube
1.0 12 Sheet KO bond Very low
in mica
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3.7 FACTORS CONTROLLING CRYSTAL a
Range of cation to anion diameter ratios over which
STRUCTURES stable coordination is expected.
b
Coordination number.
Organized crystal structures do not develop by chance.
The most stable arrangement of atoms in a crystal is
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that which minimizes the energy per unit volume. This
is achieved by preserving electrical neutrality, satisfy- Table 3.2 Relative Stabilities of Some Soil Mineral
ing bond directionality, minimizing strong ion repul- Structural Units
sions, and packing atoms closely together.
If the interatomic bonding is nondirectional, then the Approximate
relative atomic sizes have a controlling inuence on Relative Bond
packing. The closest possible packing will maximize Strength
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the number of bonds per unit volume and minimize the Structural Unit (Valence/N)
bonding energy. If interatomic bonds are directional,
as is the case for covalent bonds, then both bond angles Silicon tetrahedron, (SiO4)4 4/4 1
and atomic size are important. Aluminum tetrahedron, [Al(OH)4]1 3/4
Anions are usually larger than cations because of Aluminum octahedron, [Al(OH)6]3 3/6 1/2
electron transfer from cations to anions. The number Magnesium octahedron, [Mg(OH)6]4 2/6 1/3
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of nearest neighbor anions that a cation possesses in a KO1223 1/12

structure is termed the coordination number (N) or li-
gancy. Possible values of coordination number in solid
structures are 1 (trivial), 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12. The
relationships between atomic sizes, expressed as the The basic coordination polyhedra are seldom elec-
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ratio of cationic to anionic radii, coordination number, trically neutral. In crystals formed by ionic bonded pol-
and the geometry formed by the anions are indicated yhedra, the packing maintains electrical neutrality and
in Table 3.1. minimizes strong repulsions between ions with like
Most solids do not have bonds that are completely charge. In such cases, the valence of the central cation
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nondirectional, and the second nearest neighbors may equals the total charge of the coordinated anions, and
inuence packing as well as the nearest neighbors. the unit is really a molecule. Units of this type are held
Even so, the predicted and observed coordination num- together by weaker, secondary bonds. An example is
bers are in quite good agreement for many materials. brucite, a mineral that has the composition Mg(OH)2.
The valence of the cation divided by the number of The Mg2 ions are in octahedral coordination with six
coordinated anions is an approximate indication of the (OH) ions forming a sheet structure in such a way
relative bond strength, which, in turn, is related to the that each (OH) is shared by 3Mg2. In a sheet con-
structural stability of the unit. Some of the structural taining N Mg2 ions, therefore, there must be 6N/3
units common in soil minerals and their relative bond 2N (OH) ions. Thus, electrical neutrality results, and
strengths are listed in Table 3.2. the sheet is in reality a large molecule. Successive oc-

SURFACES 45
tahedral sheets are loosely bonded by van der Waals contain (SiO3)2. The pyroxene minerals are in this
forces. Because of this, brucite has perfect basal cleav- class. Enstatite, MgSiO3, is a simple member of this
age parallel to the sheets. group. Some of the positions normally occupied by
Cations concentrate their charge in a smaller volume Si4 in single-chain structures may be lled by Al3.
than do anions, so the repulsion between cations is Substitution of ions of one kind by ions of another
greater than between anions. Cationic repulsions are type, having either the same or different valence, but
minimized when the anions are located at the centers the same crystal structure, is termed isomorphous sub-
of coordination polyhedra. If the cations have a low stitution. The term substitution implies a replacement
valence, then the anion polyhedra pack as closely as whereby a cation in the structure is replaced at some
possible to minimize energy per unit volume. If, on the time by a cation of another type. In reality, however,
other hand, the cations are small and highly charged, the replaced cations were never there, and the mineral
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then the units arrange in a variety of ways in response was formed with its present proportions of the different
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to the repulsions. The silicon cation is in this category. cations in the structure.
Double chains of indenite length may form with
(Si4O11)6 as part of the structure. The amphiboles fall
3.8 SILICATE CRYSTALS into this group (Fig. 3.8). Hornblendes have the same
basic structure, but some of the Si4 positions are lled
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Small cations form structures with coordination num- by Al3. The cations Na and K can be incorporated
bers of 3 and 4 (Table 3.1). These cations are often into the structure to satisfy electrical neutrality; Al3,
highly charged and generate strong repulsions between Fe3, Fe2, and Mn2 can replace part of the Mg2 in
adjacent triangles or tetrahedra. As a result, such struc- sixfold coordination, and the (OH) group can be re-
tures share only corners and possibly edges, but never
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faces, since to do so would bring the cations too close In sheet silicates three of the four oxygens of each
together. The radius of silicon is only 0.039 nm, tetrahedron are shared to give structures containing
whereas that of oxygen is 0.132 nm. Thus silicon and (Si2O5)2. The micas, chlorites, and many of the clay
oxygen combine in tetrahedral coordination, with the minerals contain silica in a sheet structure. Framework
silicon occupying the space at the center of the tetra- silicates result when all four of the oxygens are shared
hedron formed by the four oxygens. The tetrahedral with other tetrahedra. The most common example is
arrangement satises both the directionality of the quartz. In quartz, the silica tetrahedra are grouped to
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bonds (the SiO bond is about half covalent and half form spirals. The feldspars also have three-dimensional
ionic) and the geometry imposed by the radius ratio. framework structures. Some of the silicon positions are
Silicon is very abundant in Earths crust, amounting to lled by aluminum, and the excess negative charge
about 25 percent by weight, but only 0.8 percent by thus created is balanced by cations of high coordina-
volume. Almost half of igneous rock by weight and tion such as potassium, calcium, sodium, and barium.
91.8 percent by volume is oxygen. Differences in the amounts of this isomorphous sub-
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Silica tetrahedra join only at their corners, and stitution are responsible for the different members of
sometimes not at all. Thus many crystal structures are the feldspar family.
possible, and there is a large number of silicate min-
erals. Silicate minerals are classied according to how
the silica tetrahedra (SiO4)4 associate with each other,
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3.9 SURFACES
as shown in Fig. 3.8. The tetrahedral combinations in-
crease in complexity from the beginning to the end of All liquids and solids terminate at a surface, or phase
the gure. The structural stability increases in the same boundary, on the other side of which is matter of a
direction. different composition or state. In solids, atoms are
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Island (independent) silicates are those in which the bonded into a three-dimensional structure, and the ter-
tetrahedra are not joined to each other. Instead, the four mination of this structure at a surface, or phase bound-
excess oxygen electrons are bonded to other positive ary, produces unsatised force elds. In a ne-grained
ions in the crystal structure. In the olivine group, the particulate material such as clay soil the surface area
minerals have the composition R22 SiO44. Garnets may be very large relative to the mass of the material,
contain cations of different valences and coordination and, as is emphasized throughout this book, the inu-
numbers R32 R23(SiO4)3. The negative charge of the ences of the surface forces on properties and behavior
SiO4 group in zircon is all balanced by the single Zr4. may be very large.
Ring and chain silicates are formed when corners of Unsatised forces at solid surfaces may be balanced
tetrahedra are shared. The formulas for these structures in any of the following ways:

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Figure 3.8 Silica tetrahedral arrangements in different silicate mineral structures. Reprinted
Gillott (1968) with permission from Elsevier Science Publishers BV.

SURFACES 47
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1. Attraction and adsorption of molecules from the Each unsatised bond force is signicant relative to
adjacent phase the weight of atoms and molecules. The actual mag-
2. Cohesion with the surface of another mass of the nitude of 1011 N or less, however, is innitesimal
same substance compared to the weight of a piece of gravel or a grain
3. Solid-state adjustments of the structure beneath of sand. On the other hand, consider the effect of re-
the surface. ducing particle size. A cube 10 mm on an edge has a

surface area of 6.0 104 m2. If it is cut in half in 1. Very abundant in the source material
the three directions, eight cubes result, each 5 mm on 2. Highly resistant to weathering, abrasion, and im-
an edge. The surface area now is 12.0 104 m2. If pact
the cubes are further divided to 1 m on an edge, the 3. Weathering products
surface becomes 6.0 m2 for the same 1000 mm3 of
material. Thus, as a solid is subdivided into smaller The nonclays are predominantly rock fragments or
and smaller units, the proportion of surface area to mineral grains of the common rock-forming minerals.
weight becomes larger and larger. For a given particle In igneous rocks, which are the original source mate-
shape, the ratio of surface area to volume is inversely rial for many soils, the most prevalent minerals are the
proportional to some effective particle diameter. feldspars (about 60 percent) and the pyroxenes and
For many materials when particle size is reduced to amphiboles (about 17 percent). Quartz accounts for
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1 or 2 m or less the surface forces begin to exert a about 12 percent of these rocks, micas for 4 percent,
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distinct inuence on the behavior. Study of the behav- and other minerals for about 8 percent.
ior of particles of this size and less requires consider- However, in most soils, quartz is by far the most
ations of colloidal and surface chemistry. Most clay abundant mineral, with small amounts of feldspar and
particles behave as colloids, both because of their mica also present. Pyroxenes and amphiboles are sel-
small size and because they have unbalanced surface dom found in signicant amounts. Carbonate minerals,
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electrical forces as a result of isomorphous substitu- mainly calcite and dolomite, are also found in some
tions within their structure. soils and can occur as bulky particles, shells, precipi-
Montmorillonite, which is one of the members of tates, or in solution. Carbonates dominate the compo-
the smectite clay mineral group (see Section 3.17), sition of some deep-sea sediments. Sulfates, in various
may break down into particles that are only 1 unit cell forms, are found primarily in soils of semiarid and arid
regions, with gypsum (CaSO4 2H2O) being the most
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thick (1.0 nm) when in a dispersed state and have a
specic surface area of 800 m2 /g. If all particles con- common. Iron and aluminum oxides are abundant in
tained in about 10 g of this clay could be spread out residual soils of tropical regions.
side by side, they would cover a football eld. Quartz is composed of silica tetrahedra grouped to
form spirals, with all tetrahedral oxygens bonded to
silicon. The tetrahedral structure has a high stability.
In addition, the spiral grouping of tetrahedra produces
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3.10 GRAVEL, SAND, AND SILT PARTICLES a structure without cleavage planes, quartz is already
an oxide, there are no weakly bonded ions in the struc-
The physical characteristics of cohesionless soils, that ture, and the mineral has high hardness. Collectively,
is, gravel, sand, and nonplastic silts, are determined these factors account for the high persistence of quartz
primarily by particle size, shape, surface texture, and in soils.
size distribution. The mineral composition determines Feldspars are silicate minerals with a three-
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hardness, cleavage, and resistance to physical and dimensional framework structure in which part of the
chemical breakdown. Some carbonate and sulfate min- silicon is replaced by aluminum. The excess negative
erals, such as calcite and gypsum, are sufciently sol- charge resulting from this replacement is balanced by
uble that their decomposition may be signicant within cations such as potassium, calcium, sodium, strontium,
the time frame of many projects. In many cases, how- and barium. As these cations are relatively large, their
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ever, the nonclay particles may be treated as relatively coordination number is also large. This results in an
inert, with interactions that are predominantly physical open structure with low bond strengths between units.
in nature. Evidence of this is provided by the soils on Consequently, there are cleavage planes, the hardness
the Moon. Lunar soils have a silty, ne sand gradation; is only moderate, and feldspars are relatively easily
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however, their compositions are totally different than broken down. This accounts for their lack of abun-
those of terrestrial soils of the same gradation. The dance in soils compared to their abundance in igneous
engineering properties of the two materials are sur- rocks.
prisingly similar, however. Mica has a sheet structure composed of tetrahedral
The gravel, sand, and most of the silt fraction in a and octahedral units. Sheets are stacked one on the
soil are composed of bulky, nonclay particles. As most other and held together primarily by potassium ions in
soils are the products of the breakdown of preexisting 12-fold coordination that provide an electrostatic bond
rocks and soils, they are weathering products. Thus, of moderate strength. In comparison with the intralayer
the predominant mineral constituents of any soil are bonds, however, this bond is weak, which accounts for
those that are one or more of the following: the perfect basal cleavage of mica. As a result of the

STRUCTURAL UNITS OF THE LAYER SILICATES 49
thin-plate morphology of mica akes, sand and silts posits. In some areas alternating layers of evaporite and
containing only a few percent mica may exhibit high clay or other ne-grained sediments are formed during
compressibility when loaded and large swelling when cyclic wet and dry periods.
unloaded, as may be seen in Fig. 3.9. The amphiboles, Many limestones, as well as coral, have been formed
pyroxenes, and olivine have crystal structures that are by precipitation or from the remains of various organ-
rapidly broken down by weathering; hence they are isms. Because of the much greater solubility of lime-
absent from most soils. stone than most other rock types, it may be the source
Some examples of silt and sand particles from dif- of special problems caused by solution channels and
ferent soils are shown in Fig. 3.10. Angularity and cavities under foundations.
roundness can be used to describe particle shapes, as Chemical sediments and rocks in freshwater lakes,
shown in Fig. 3.11. Elongated and platy particles can ponds, swamps, and bays are occasionally encountered
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develop preferred orientations, which can be respon- in civil engineering projects. Biochemical processes
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sible for anisotropic properties within a soil mass. The form marl, which ranges from relatively pure calcium
surface texture of the grains inuences the stress carbonate to mixtures with mud and organic matter.
deformation and strength properties. Iron oxide is formed in some lakes. Diatomite or dia-
tomaceous earth is essentially pure silica formed from
the skeletal remains of small (up to a few tenths of a
ate
millimeter) freshwater and saltwater organisms. Owing
3.11 SOIL MINERALS AND MATERIALS to their solubility limestone, calcite, gypsum, and other
FORMED BY BIOGENIC AND GEOCHEMICAL salts may cause special geotechnical problems.
PROCESSES Oxidation and reduction of pyrite-bearing earth ma-
terials, that is, soils and rocks containing FeS2, can be
Evaporite deposits formed by precipitation of salts
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from salt lakes and seas as a result of the evaporation including ground heave, high swell pressures, forma-
of water are sometimes found in layers that are several tion of acid drainage, damage to concrete, and corro-
meters thick. The major constituents of seawater and sion of steel (Bryant et al., 2003). The chemical and
their relative proportions are listed in Table 3.3. Also biological processes and consequences of pyritic re-
listed are some of the more important evaporite de- actions are covered in Sections 8.3, 8.11, and 8.16.
More than 12 percent of Canada is covered by a
peaty material, termed muskeg, composed almost en-
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tirely of decaying vegetation. Peat and muskeg may

have water contents of 1000 percent or more; they are
very compressible, and they have low strength. The
special properties of these materials and methods for
analysis of geotechnical problems associated with
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them are given by MacFarlane (1969), Dhowian and

Edil (1980), and Edil and Mochtar (1984).
3.12 SUMMARY OF NONCLAY MINERAL

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CHARACTERISTICS
Important compositional, structural, and morphological
characteristics of the important nonclay minerals found
in soils are summarized in Table 3.4. Of these miner-
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als, quartz is by far the most common, both in terms

of the number of soils in which it is found and its
abundance in a typical soil. Feldspar and mica are fre-
quently present in small percentages.
3.13 STRUCTURAL UNITS OF THE LAYER

SILICATES
Figure 3.9 Swelling index as a function of mica content for Clay minerals in soils belong to the mineral family
coarse-grained mixtures (data from Terzaghi, 1931). termed phyllosilicates, which also contains other layer

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Figure 3.10 Photomicrographs of sand and silt particles from several soils: (a) Ottawa stan-
dard sand, (b) Monterey sand, (c) Sacramento River sand, (d) Eliot sand, and (e) lunar soil
mineral grains (photo courtesy Johnson Space Center). Squares in background area are 11
mm. () Recrystallized breccia particles from lunar soil (photo courtesy of NASA Johnson
Space Center). Squares in background grid are 11 mm.
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silicates such as serpentine, pyrophyllite, talc, mica, units and the manner in which two successive two- or
and chlorite. Clay minerals occur in small particle three-sheet layers are held together.
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sizes, and their unit cells ordinarily have a residual Differences among minerals within clay mineral
negative charge that is balanced by the adsorption of groups result primarily from differences in the type and
cations from solution. amount of isomorphous substitution within the crystal
The structures of the common layer silicates are structure. Possible substitutions are nearly endless in
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made up of combinations of two simple structural number, and the crystal structure arrangement may
units, the silicon tetrahedron (Fig. 3.12) and the alu- range from very poor to nearly perfect. Fortunately for
minum or magnesium octahedron (Fig. 3.13). Different engineering purposes, knowledge of the structural and
clay mineral groups are characterized by the stacking compositional characteristics of each group, without
arrangements of sheets1 (sometimes chains) of these detailed study of the subtleties of each specic mineral,
is adequate.
1
In conformity with the nomenclature of the Clay Minerals Society Silica Sheet
(Bailey et al., 1971), the following terms are used: a plane of atoms,
a sheet of basic structural units, and a layer of unit cells composed In most clay mineral structures, the silica tetrahedra
of two, three, or four sheets. are interconnected in a sheet structure. Three of the

STRUCTURAL UNITS OF THE LAYER SILICATES 51
l
ria
ate
dM Figure 3.11 Sand and silt size particle shapes as seen in
silhouette.
Silica Chains
hte
In some of the less common clay minerals, silica tet-

rahedra are arranged in bands made of double chains
of composition (Si4O11)6. Electrical neutrality is
achieved and the bands are bound together by alumi-
Figure 3.10 (Continued ) num and/or magnesium ions. A diagrammatic sketch
of this structure is shown in Fig. 3.8. Minerals in this
rig
group resemble the amphiboles in structure.
four oxygens in each tetrahedron are shared to form a

hexagonal net, as shown in Figs. 3.12b and 3.14. The Octahedral Sheet
bases of the tetrahedra are all in the same plane, and This sheet structure is composed of magnesium or alu-
py
the tips all point in the same direction. The structure minum in octahedral coordination with oxygens or hy-
has the composition (Si4O10)4 and can repeat inde- droxyls. In some cases, other cations are present in
nitely. Electrical neutrality can be obtained by replace- place of Al3 and Mg2, such as Fe2, Fe3, Mn2,
ment of four oxygens by hydroxyls or by union with Ti4, Ni2, Cr3, and Li. Figure 3.13b is a schematic
Co
a sheet of different composition that is positively diagram of such a sheet structure. The oxygen-to-
charged. The oxygen-to-oxygen distance is 2.55 ang- oxygen distance is 2.60 A , and the space available for
stroms (A ),2 the space available for the silicon ion is the octahedrally coordinated cation is 0.61 A . The

0.55 A, and the thickness of the sheet in clay mineral thickness of the sheet is 5.05 A in clays (Grim, 1968).
structures is 4.63 A (Grim, 1968). If the cation is trivalent, then normally only two-
thirds of the possible cationic spaces are lled, and the
structure is termed dioctahedral. In the case of alu-
2
minum, the composition is Al2(OH)6. This composition
In conformity with the SI system of units, lengths should be given
in nanometers. For convenience, however, the angstrom unit is re- and structure form the mineral gibbsite. When com-
0.1 nm.
tained for atomic dimensions, where 1 A bined with silica sheets, as is the case in clay mineral

Table 3.3 Major Constituents of Seawater and Evaporite Deposits
Percent by Weight
Ion Grams per Liter of Total Solids Important Evaporite Deposits
Sodium, Na 10.56 30.61 Anhydrite CaSO4
Magnesium, Mg2 1.27 3.69 Barite BaSO4
Calcium, Ca2 0.40 1.16 Celesite SrSO4
Potassium, K 0.38 1.10 Kieserite MgSO4 H2O
Strontium, Sr2 0.013 0.04 Gypsum CaSO4 2H2O
Chloride, Cl 18.98 55.04 Polyhalite Ca2K2Mg(SO4) 2H2O
Ma2Mg(SO4)2 4H2O
l
Sulfate, SO42 2.65 7.68 Bloedite
ria
Bicarbonate, HCO3 0.14 0.41 Hexahydrite MgSO4 6H2O
Bromide, Br 0.065 0.19 Epsomite MgSO4 7H2O
Fluoride, F 0.001 Kainite K4Mg4(Cl/SO4) 1 1H2O
Boric Acid, H3BO3 0.026 0.08 Halite NaCl
34.485 100.00 Sylvite KCl
ate
Flourite CaF2
Bischote MgCl2 6H2O
Carnallite KMgCl3 6H2O
Adapted from data by Degens (1965).
dM
structures, an aluminum octahedral sheet is referred to units does not necessarily form the naturally occurring
as a gibbsite sheet. minerals. The building block approach is useful,
If the octahedrally coordinated cation is divalent, however, for the development of conceptual models.
then normally all possible cation sites are occupied and
the structure is trioctahedral. In the case of magne-
hte
sium, the composition is Mg3(OH)6, giving the mineral 3.14 SYNTHESIS PATTERN AND
brucite. In clay mineral structures, a sheet of magne- CLASSIFICATION OF THE CLAY MINERALS
sium octahedra is termed a brucite sheet.
Schematic representations of the sheets are useful The manner in which atoms are assembled into tetra-
for simplied diagrams of the structures of the differ- hedral and octahedral units, followed by the formation
ent clay minerals:
rig
Silica sheet or
Octahedral sheet (Various cations in octahedral coordination)

py
Gibbsite sheet (Octahedral sheet cations are mainly aluminum)

Brucite sheet (Octahedral sheet cations are mainly magnesium)
Co
Water layers are found in some structures and may

be represented by for each molecular layer. of sheets and their stacking to form layers that combine
Atoms of a specic type, for example, potassium, are to produce the different clay mineral groups is illus-
represented thus: K. trated in Fig. 3.15. The basic structures shown in the
The diagrams are indicative of the clay mineral layer bottom row of Fig. 3.15 comprise the great prepon-
structure. They do not indicate the correct width-to- derance of the clay mineral types that are found in
length ratios for the actual particles. The structures soils.
shown are idealized; in actual minerals, irregular sub- Grouping the clay minerals according to crystal
stitutions and interlayering or mixed-layer structures structure and stacking sequence of the layers is con-
are common. Furthermore, direct assembly of the basic venient since members of the same group have gen-

SYNTHESIS PATTERN AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE CLAY MINERALS 53
Table 3.4 Properties and Characteristics of Nonclay Minerals in Soils
Occurrence
in Soils of
Crystal Particle Specic Engineering
Mineral Formula System Cleavage Shape Gravity Hardness Interest
Quartz SiO2 Hexagonal None Bulky 2.65 7 Very

abundant
Orthoclase KalSi3O8 Monoclinic 2 planes Elongate 2.57 6 Common
feldspar
l
Plagioclase NaAlSi3O8 Triclinic 2 planes Bulky 2.622.76 6 Common
ria
feldspar CaAl2Si3O8 (variable) elongate
Muscovite Kal3Si3O10(OH)2 Monoclinic Perfect basal Thin plates 2.763.1 2212 Common
mica
Biotite mica K(Mg,FE)3AlSi3O10(OH)2 Monoclinic Perfect basal Thin plates 2.83.2 2123 Common
Hornblende Na,Ca,Mg,Fe,Al silicate Monoclinic Perfect Prismatic 3.2 56 Uncommon
ate
prismatic
Augite Ca(Mg,Fe,Al)(Al,Si)2O6 Monoclinic Good prismatic Prismatic 3.23.4 56 Uncommon
(pyroxene)
Olivine (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 Orthorhombic Conchoidal Bulky 3.273.37 6127 Uncommon
fracture
Calcite CaCO3 Hexagonal Perfect Bulky 2.72 2123 May be
dM abundant
locally
Dolomite CaMg(CO3)2 Hexagonal Perfect Bulky 2.85 3124 May be
rhombohedral abundant
locally
Gypsum CaSO4 2H2O Monoclinic 4 planes Elongate 2.32 2 May be
hte
abundant
locally
Pyrite FeS2 Isometric Cubical Bulky cubic 5.02 6612
Data from Hurlbut (1957).
rig
py
Co
Figure 3.12 Silicon tetrahedron and silica tetrahedra arranged in a hexagonal network.

Figure 3.13 Octahedral unit and sheet structure of octahedral units.
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Figure 3.14 Silica sheet in plan view.

Co
erally similar engineering properties. The minerals structure. Such material is referred to as allophane or
have unit cells consisting of two, three, or four sheets. noncrystalline clay.
The two-sheet minerals are made up of a silica sheet The bottom row of Fig. 3.15 shows that the 21
and an octahedral sheet. The unit layer of the three- minerals differ from each other mainly in the type and
sheet minerals is composed of either a dioctahedral or amount of glue that holds the successive layers to-
trioctahedral sheet sandwiched between two silica gether. For example, smectite has loosely held cations
sheets. Unit layers may be stacked closely together or between the layers, illite contains rmly xed potas-
water layers may intervene. The four-sheet structure of sium ions, and vermiculite has somewhat organized
chlorite is composed of a 21 layer plus an interlayer layers of water and cations. The chlorite group repre-
hydroxide sheet. In some soils, inorganic, claylike ma- sents an end member that has 21 layers bonded by an
terial is found that has no clearly identiable crystal organized hydroxide sheet. The charge per formula

INTERSHEET AND INTERLAYER BONDING IN THE CLAY MINERALS 55
l
ria
ate
Figure 3.15 Synthesis pattern for the clay minerals.
dM
unit is variable both within and among groups, and clay mineral layers. Bonding between these sheets is
reects the fact that the range of compositions is great of the primary valence type and is very strong. How-
owing to varying amounts of isomorphous substitution. ever, the bonds holding the unit layers together may
Accordingly, the boundaries between groups are some- be of several types, and they may be sufciently weak
what arbitrary. that the physical and chemical behavior of the clay is
inuenced by the response of these bonds to changes
hte
Isomorphous Substitution in environmental conditions.

The concept of isomorphous substitution was intro- Isomorphous substitution in all of the clay minerals,
duced in Section 3.13 in connection with some of the with the possible exception of those in the kaolinite
silicate crystals. It is very important in the structure group, gives clay particles a net negative charge. To
and properties of the clay minerals. In an ideal gibbsite preserve electrical neutrality, cations are attracted and
sheet, only two-thirds of the octahedral positions are held between the layers and on the surfaces and edges
rig
lled, and all of the cations are aluminum. In an ideal of the particles. Many of these cations are exchange-
brucite sheet, all the octahedral spaces are lled by able cations because they may be replaced by cations
magnesium. In an ideal silica sheet, silicons occupy all of another type. The quantity of exchangeable cations
tetrahedral spaces. In clay minerals, however, some of is termed the cation exchange capacity (cec) and is
py
the tetrahedral and octahedral spaces are occupied by usually expressed as milliequivalents (meq)3 per 100 g
cations other than those in the ideal structure. Common of dry clay.
examples are aluminum in place of silicon, magnesium Five types of interlayer bonding are possible in the
instead of aluminum, and ferrous iron (Fe2) for mag- layer silicates (Marshall, 1964).
nesium. This presence in an octahedral or tetrahedral
Co
position of a cation other than that normally found, 1. Neutral parallel layers are held by van der Waals
without change in crystal structure, is isomorphous forces. Bonding is weak; however, stable crystals
substitution. The actual tetrahedral and octahedral cat- of appreciable thickness such as the nonclay min-
ion distributions may develop during initial formation
or subsequent alteration of the mineral.
3.15 INTERSHEET AND INTERLAYER 3

Equivalent weight combining weight of an element (atomic
weight / valence). Number of equivalents (weight of element /
BONDING IN THE CLAY MINERALS atomic weight) valence. The number of ions in an equivalent
Avogardros number / valence. Avogadros number 6.02 1023. An
A single plane of atoms that are common to both the equivalent contains 6.02 1023 electron charges or 96,500 coulombs,
tetrahedral and octahedral sheets forms a part of the which is 1 faraday.

erals of pyrophyllite and talc may form. These layers, which are greater in these minerals be-
minerals cleave parallel to the layers. cause of a smaller interlayer distance.
2. In some minerals (e.g., kaolinite, brucite, gibb-
site), there are opposing layers of oxygens and Whatever the reason, the smectite minerals are the
hydroxyls or hydroxyls and hydroxyls. Hydrogen dominant source of swelling in the expansive soils that
bonding then develops between the layers as well are so prevalent throughout the world.
as van der Waals bonding. Hydrogen bonds re-
main stable in the presence of water.
3. Neutral silicate layers that are separated by
highly polar water molecules may be held to- 3.16 THE 11 MINERALS
gether by hydrogen bonds.
l
4. Cations needed for electrical neutrality may be in The kaoliniteserpentine minerals are composed of al-
ria
positions that control interlayer bonding. In mi- ternating silica and octahedral sheets as shown sche-
cas, some of the silicon is replaced by aluminum matically in Fig. 3.16. The tips of the silica tetrahedra
in the silica sheets. The resulting charge de- and one of the planes of atoms in the octahedral sheet
ciency is partly balanced by potassium ions be- are common. The tips of the tetrahedra all point in the
same direction, toward the center of the unit layer. In
ate
tween the unit cell layers. The potassium ion just
ts into the holes formed by the bases of the the plane of atoms common to both sheets, two-thirds
silica tetrahedra (Fig. 3.12). As a result, it gen- of the atoms are oxygens and are shared by both sili-
erates a strong bond between the layers. In the con and the octahedral cations. The remaining atoms
chlorites, the charge deciencies from substitu- in this plane are (OH) located so that each is directly
tions in the octahedral sheet of the 21 sandwich
dM below the hole in the hexagonal net formed by the
are balanced by excess charge on the single-sheet bases of the silica tetrahedra. If the octahedral layer is
layer interleaved between the three-sheet layers. brucite, then a mineral of the serpentine subgroup re-
This provides a strongly bonded structure that sults, whereas dioctahedral gibbsite layers give clay
while exhibiting cleavage will not separate in the minerals in the kaolinite subgroup. Trioctahedral 11
presence of water or other polar liquids. minerals are relatively rare, usually occur mixed with
5. When the surface charge density is moderate, as kaolinite or illite, and are hard to identify. A diagram-
in smectite and vermiculite, the silicate layers matic sketch of the kaolinite structure is shown in Fig.
hte
readily adsorb polar molecules, and also the ad- 3.17. The structural formula is (OH)8Si4Al4O10, and the
sorbed cations may hydrate, resulting in layer charge distribution is indicated in Fig. 3.18.
separation and expansion. The strength of the in- Mineral particles of the kaolinite subgroup consist
of the basic units stacked in the c direction. The bond-
terlayer bond is low and is a strong function of
ing between successive layers is by both van der Waals
charge distribution, ion hydration energy, surface
forces and hydrogen bonds. The bonding is sufciently
ion conguration, and structure of the polar mol-
rig
strong that there is no interlayer swelling in the pres-

ecule.
ence of water.
Because of slight differences in the oxygen-to-
Smectite and vermiculite particles adsorb water be- oxygen distances in the tetrahedral and octahedral lay-
tween the unit layers and swell, whereas particles of ers, there is some distortion of the ideal tetrahedral
py
the nonclay minerals, pyrophyllite and talc, which have network. As a result, kaolinite, which is the most abun-
comparable structures, do not. There are two possible dant member of the subgroup and a common soil min-
reasons (van Olphen, 1977): eral, is triclinic instead of monoclinic. The unit cell
dimensions are a 5.16 A , b 8.94 A , c 7.37 A
,
Co
1. The interlayer cations in smectite hydrate, and 91.8, 104.5, and 90.
the hydration energy overcomes the attractive Variations in stacking of layers above each other,
forces between the unit layers. There are no in- and possibly in the position of aluminum ions within
terlayer cations in pyrophyllite; hence, no swell- the available sites in the octahedral sheet, produce dif-
ing. ferent members of the kaolinite subgroup. The dickite
2. Water does not hydrate the cations but is ad- unit cell is made up of two unit layers, and the nacrite
sorbed on oxygen surfaces by hydrogen bonds. unit cell contains six. Both appear to be formed by
There is no swelling in pyrophyllite and talc be- hydrothermal processes. Dickite is fairly common as
cause the surface hydration energy is too small secondary clay in the pores of sandstone and in coal
to overcome the van der Waals forces between beds. Neither dickite nor nacrite is common in soils.

THE 11 MINERALS 57
l
ria
Figure 3.16 Schematic diagrams of the structures of kaolinite and serpentine: (a) kaolinite
ate
and (b) serpentine.
dM Halloysite
Halloysite is a particularly interesting mineral of the
kaolinite subgroup. Two distinct endpoint forms of this
mineral exist, as shown in Fig. 3.19; one, a hydrated
form consisting of unit kaolinite layers separated from
each other by a single layer of water molecules and
having the composition (OH)8Si4Al4O10 4H2O, and
hte
the other, a nonhydrated form having the same unit

layer structure and chemical composition as kaolinite.
The basal spacing in the c direction d(001) for the non-
hydrated form is about 7.2 A , as for kaolinite. Because
Figure 3.17 Diagrammatic sketch of the kaolinite structure.
of the interleaved water layer, d(001) for hydrated hal-
. The difference between these
loysite is about 10.1 A
rig
py
Co
Figure 3.18 Charge distribution on kaolinite.

) and (b)
Figure 3.19 Schematic diagrams of the structure of halloysite: (a) halloysite (10 A
).
l
halloysite (7 A
ria
values, 2.9 A , is the approximate thickness of a single determinations at high pH. This suggests that broken
layer of water molecules. bonds are at least a partial source of exchange capacity.
ate
The recommended terms for the two forms of hal- That a positive cation exchange capacity is measured
loysite are halloysite (7 A ) and halloysite (10 A ). under low pH conditions when edges are positively
Transformation from halloysite (10 A ) to halloysite (7 charged indicates that some isomorphous substitution
A ) by dehydration can occur at relatively low temper- must exist also.
atures and is irreversible. Halloysite is often found in As interlayer separation does not occur in kaolinite,
soils formed from volcanic parent materials in wet en-
dM balancing cations must adsorb on the exterior surfaces
vironments. It can be responsible for special properties and edges of the particles.
and problems in earthwork construction, as discussed
later in this book.
Morphology and Surface Area
Isomorphous Substitution and Exchange Capacity Well-crystallized particles of kaolinite (Fig. 3.20), na-
crite, and dickite occur as well-formed six-sided plates.
Whether or not measurable isomorphous substitution
The lateral dimensions of these plates range from
exists within the structure of the kaolinite minerals is
hte
about 0.1 to 4 m, and their thicknesses are from about

uncertain. Nevertheless, values of cation exchange ca-
0.05 to 2 m. Poorly crystallized kaolinite generally
pacity in the range of 3 to 15 meq/100 g for kaolinite
occurs as less distinct hexagonal plates, and the parti-
and from 5 to 40 meq/100 g for halloysite have been
cle size is usually smaller than for the well-crystallized
measured. Thus, kaolinite particles possess a net neg-
varieties.
ative charge. Possible sources are:
rig
1. Substitution of Al3 for Si4 in the silica sheet or

a divalent ion for Al3 in the octahedral sheet.
Replacement of only 1 Si in every 400 would be
adequate to account for the exchange capacity.
py
2. The hydrogen of exposed hydroxyls may be re-

placed by exchangeable cations. According to
Grim (1968), however, this mechanism is not
likely because the hydrogen would probably not
be replaceable under the conditions of most
Co
exchange reactions.
3. Broken bonds around particle edges may give un-
satised charges that are balanced by adsorbed
cations.
Kaolinite particles are charged positively on their
edges when in a low pH (acid) environment, but neg-
atively charged in a high pH (basic) environment. Low Figure 3.20 Electron photomicrograph of well-crystallized
exchange capacities are measured under low pH con- kaolinite from St. Austell, Cornwall, England. Picture width
ditions and high exchange capacities are obtained for is 17 m (Tovey, 1971).

SMECTITE MINERALS 59
Halloysite (10 A ) occurs as cylindrical tubes of and below the hexagonal holes formed by the bases of
overlapping sheets of the kaolinite type (Fig. 3.21). the silica tetrahedra are hydroxyls.
The c axis at any point nearly coincides with the tube The layers formed in this way are continuous in the
radius. The formation of tubes has been attributed to a a and b directions and stacked one above the other in
mist in the b direction of the silica and gibbsite sheets the c direction. Bonding between successive layers is
(Bates et al., 1950). The b dimension in kaolinite is by van der Waals forces and by cations that balance
8.93 A ; in gibbsite it is only 8.62 A . This means that charge deciencies in the structure. These bonds are
the (OH) spacing in gibbsite sheets is stretched in order weak and easily separated by cleavage or adsorption
to obtain a t with the silica sheet. Evidently, in hal- of water or other polar liquids. The basal spacing in
loysite (10 A ), the reduced interlayer bond, caused by the c direction, d(001), is variable, ranging from about
the intervening layer of water molecules, enables the 9.6 A to complete separation.
l
(OH) layer to revert to 8.62 A , resulting in a curvature The theoretical composition in the absence of
ria
with the hydroxyls on the inside and the bases of the isomorphous substitutions is (OH)4Si8Al4O20
silica tetrahedra on the outside. The outside diameters n(interlayer)H2O. The structural conguration and cor-
of the tubular particles range from about 0.05 to 0.20 responding charge distribution are shown in Fig. 3.24.
m, with a median value of 0.07 m. The wall thick- The structure shown is electrically neutral, and the
ness is about 0.02 m. The tubes range in length from atomic conguration is essentially the same as that in
ate
a fraction of a micrometer to several micrometers. Dry- the nonclay mineral pyrophyllite.
ing of halloysite (10 A ) may result in splitting or un-
rolling of the tubes. The specic surface area of Isomorphous Substitution in the Smectite Minerals
kaolinite is about 10 to 20 m2 /g of dry clay; that of
halloysite (10 A ) is 35 to 70 m2 /g.
dM Smectite minerals differ from pyrophyllite in that there
is extensive isomorphous substitution for silicon and
aluminum by other cations. Aluminum in the octahe-
dral sheet may be replaced by magnesium, iron, zinc,
3.17 SMECTITE MINERALS nickel, lithium, or other cations. Aluminum may re-
place up to 15 percent of the silicon ions in the tetra-
Structure hedral sheet. Possibly some of the silicon positions can
The minerals of the smectite group have a prototype be occupied by phosphorous (Grim, 1968).
hte
structure similar to that of pyrophyllite, consisting of Substitutions for aluminum in the octahedral sheet
an octahedral sheet sandwiched between two silica may be one-for-one or three-for-two (aluminum oc-
sheets, as shown schematically in Fig. 3.22 and dia- cupies only two-thirds of the available octahedral sites)
grammatically in three dimensions in Fig. 3.23. All the in any combination from a few to complete replace-
tips of the tetrahedra point toward the center of the ment. The resulting structure, however, is either almost
unit cell. The oxygens forming the tips of the tetra- exactly dioctahedral (montmorillonite subgroup) or
rig
hedra are common to the octahedral sheet as well. The trioctahedral (saponite subgroup). The charge de-
anions in the octahedral sheet that fall directly above ciency resulting from these substitutions ranges from
0.5 to 1.2 per unit cell. Usually, it is close to 0.66 per
unit cell. A charge deciency of this amount would
result from replacement of every sixth aluminum by a
py
magnesium ion. Montmorillonite, the most common

mineral of the group, has this composition. Charge de-
ciencies that result from isomorphous substitution are
balanced by exchangeable cations located between the
Co
unit cell layers and on the surfaces of particles.

Some minerals of the smectite group and their com-
positions are listed in Table 3.5. An arrow indicates the
source of the charge deciency, which has been as-
sumed to be 0.66 per unit cell in each case. Sodium is
indicated as the balancing cation. The formulas should
be considered indicative of the general character of the
mineral, but not as absolute, because a variety of com-
Figure 3.21 Electron photomicrograph of halloysite from positions can exist within the same basic crystal struc-
Bedford, Indiana. Picture width is 2 m (Tovey, 1971). ture. Because of the large amount of unbalanced

l
ria
Figure 3.22 Schematic diagrams of the structures of the smectite minerals: (a) montmoril-
ate
lonite and (b) saponite.
dM
hte
rig
Figure 3.24 Charge distribution in pyrophyllite (type struc-

ture for montmorillonite).
py
Figure 3.23 Diagrammatic sketch of the montmorillonite in Fig. 3.25. Particles range in thickness from 1-nm
Co
structure. unit layers upward to about 1/100 of the width. The

long axis of the particle is usually less than 1 or 2 m.
When there is a large amount of substitution of iron
substitution in the smectite minerals, they have high and/or magnesium for aluminum, the particles may be
cation exchange capacities, generally in the range of lath or needle shaped because the larger Mg2 and Fe3
80 to 150 meq/100 g. ions cause a directional strain in the structure.
The specic surface area of smectite can be very
Morphology and Surface Area large. The primary surface area, that is, the surface area
Montmorillonite may occur as equidimensional akes exclusive of interlayer zones, ranges from 50 to 120
that are so thin as to appear more like lms, as shown m2 /g. The secondary specic surface that is exposed

SMECTITE MINERALS 61
Table 3.5 Some Minerals of the Smectite Group
Tetrahedral Sheet Octahedral Sheet

Mineral Substitutions Substitutions Formula/Unit Cella
Dioctahedral, Smectites or
Montmorillonites
Montmorillonite None 1Mg2 for every sixth Al3 (OH)4Si8(Al3.34Mg0.66) O20

Na0.66
Beidellite Al for Si None (OH)4(Si6.34Al1.66) Al4.34O20

l
ria
Na0.66
Nontronite Al for Si Fe3 for Al (OH)4(Si7.34Al0.66) Fe43O20

Na0.66
Trioctahedral, Smectites,
ate
or Saponites
Hectorite None Li for Mg (OH)4Si8(Mg5.34Li0.66) O20

Na0.66
Saponite Al for Si Fe3 for Mg (OH)4(Si7.34Al0.66) Mg6O20

dM Na0.66
Sauconite Al for Si Zn for Mg (OH)4(Si8yAly)(Zn6xMgx) O20

Na0.66
a
Two formula units are needed to give one unit cell.
After Ross and Hendricks (1945); Marshall (1964); and Warshaw and Roy (1961).
hte
by expanding the lattice so that polar molecules can

penetrate between layers can be up to 840 m2 /g.
rig
Bentonite
A very highly plastic, swelling clay material known as
bentonite is very widely used for a variety of purposes,
ranging from drilling mud and slurry walls to clari-
py
cation of beer and wine. The bentonite familiar to most

geoengineers is a highly colloidal, expansive alteration
product of volcanic ash. It has a liquid limit of 500
percent or more. It is widely used as a backll during
Co
the construction of slurry trench walls, as a soil ad-

mixture for construction of seepage barriers, as a grout
material, as a sealant for piezometer installations, and
for other special applications.
When present as a major constituent in soft shale or
as a seam in rock formations, bentonite may be a cause
of continuing slope stability problems. Slide problems
Figure 3.25 Electron photomicrograph of montmorillonite at Portuguese Bend along the Pacic Ocean in southern
(bentonite) from Clay Spur, Wyoming. Picture width is 7.5 California, in the Bearpaw shale in Saskatchewan, and
m (Tovey, 1971). in the Pierre shale in South Dakota are in large mea-

sure due to the high content of bentonite. Stability in Fig. 3.28. The unit cell is electrically neutral and
problems in underground construction may be caused has the formula (OH)4K2(Si6Al2)Al4O20. Muscovite is
by the presence of montmorillonite in joints and faults the dioctahedral end member of the micas and contains
(Brekke and Selmer-Olsen, 1965). only Al3 in the octahedral layer. Phlogopite (brown
mica) is the trioctahedral end member, with the octa-
hedral positions lled entirely by magnesium. It has
3.18 MICALIKE CLAY MINERALS the formula (OH)4K2(Si6Al2)Mg6O20. Biotite (black
mica) is trioctahedral, with the octahedral positions
Illite is the most commonly found clay mineral in soils lled mostly by magnesium and iron. It has the general
encountered in engineering practice. Its structure is formula (OH)4K2(Si6Al2)(MgFe)6O20. The relative pro-
quite similar to that of muscovite mica, and it is some- portions of magnesium and iron may vary widely.
l
times referred to as hydrous mica. Vermiculite is also Illite differs from mica in the following ways (Grim,
ria
often found as a clay phase constituent of soils. Its 1968):
structure is related to that of biotite mica.
1. Fewer of the Si4 positions are lled by Al3 in
Structure illite.
ate
The basic structural unit for the muscovite (white mica) 2. There is some randomness in the stacking of lay-
is shown schematically in Fig. 3.26a. It is the three- ers in illite.
layer silicagibbsitesilica sandwich that forms pyro- 3. There is less potassium in illite. Well-organized
phyllite, with the tips of all the tetrahedra pointing illite contains 9 to 10 percent K2O (Weaver and
toward the center and common with octahedral sheet Pollard, 1973).
ions. Muscovite differs from pyrophyllite, however, in
dM 4. Illite particles are much smaller than mica parti-
that about one-fourth of the silicon positions are lled cles.
by aluminum, and the resulting charge deciency is
balanced by potassium between the layers. The layers Some illite may contain magnesium and iron in the
are continuous in the a and b directions and stacked in octahedral sheet as well as aluminum (Marshall, 1964).
the c direction. The radius of the potassium ion, 1.33 Iron-rich illite, usually occurring as earthy green pel-
A , is such that it ts snugly in the 1.32 A
radius hole lets, is termed glauconite.
formed by the bases of the silica tetrahedra. It is in 12- The vermiculite structure consists of regular inter-
hte
fold coordination with the 6 oxygens in each layer. stratication of biotite mica layers and double molec-
A diagrammatic three-dimensional sketch of the ular layers of water, as shown schematically in Fig.
muscovite structure is shown in Fig. 3.27. The struc- 3.26b. The actual thickness of the water layer depends
tural conguration and charge distribution are shown on the cations that balance the charge deciencies in
rig
py
Co
Figure 3.26 Schematic diagram of the structures of muscovite, illite, and vermiculite: (a)
muscovite and illite and (b) vermiculite.

MICALIKE CLAY MINERALS 63
l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 3.27 Diagrammatic sketch of the structure of muscovite.
the biotitelike layers. With magnesium or calcium

present, which is the usual case in nature, there are
hte
two water layers, giving a basal spacing of 14 A. A

general formula for vermiculite is
(OH)4(MgCa)x(Si8
xAlx)(MgFe)6O20 yH2O
x 1 to 1.4 y8
rig
Isomorphous Substitution and Exchange Capacity

There is extensive isomorphous substitution in illite
and vermiculite. The charge deciency in illite is 1.3
py
to 1.5 per unit cell. It is located primarily in the silica

sheets and is balanced partly by the nonexchangeable
potassium between layers. Thus, the cation exchange
capacity of illite is less than that of smectite, amount-
Co
ing to 10 to 40 meq/100 g. Values greater than 10 to

15 meq/100 g may be indicative of some expanding
layers (Weaver and Pollard, 1973). In the absence of
xed potassium the exchange capacity would be about
150 meq/100 g. Interlayer bonding by potassium is so
strong that the basal spacing of illite remains xed at
10 A in the presence of polar liquids.
The charge deciency in vermiculite is 1 to 1.4 per
unit cell. Since the interlayer cations are exchangeable,
Figure 3.28 Charge distribution in muscovite. the exchange capacity of vermiculite is high, amount-

ing to 100 to 150 meq/100 g. The basal spacing, d(001),

is inuenced by both the type of cation and the hy-
dration state. With potassium or ammonium in the
exchange positions, the basal spacing is only 10.5 to
11 A . Lithium gives 12.2 A
. Interlayer water can be
driven off by heating to temperatures above 100C.
This dehydration is accompanied by a reduction in
basal spacing to about 10 A . The mineral quickly re-
hydrates and expands again to 14 A when exposed to
moist air at room temperature.
l
Morphology and Surface Area
ria
Illite usually occurs as very small, aky particles
mixed with other clay and nonclay materials. High-
purity deposits of illite are uncommon. The aky par-
ticles may have a hexagonal outline if well crystallized. Figure 3.30 Schematic diagram of the structure of chlorite.
ate
The long axis dimension ranges from 0.1 m or less
to several micrometers, and the plate thickness may be
as small as 3 nm. An electron photomicrograph of illite
is shown in Fig. 3.29. Vermiculite may occur in nature
as large crystalline masses having a sheet structure of vermiculite, except that an organized octahedral
somewhat similar in appearance to mica. In soils, ver-
dM sheet replaces the double water layer between mica
miculite occurs as small particles mixed with other layers. The layers are continuous in the a and b direc-
clay minerals. tions and stacked in the c direction. The basal spacing
is xed at 14 A .
The specic surface area of illite is about 65 to 100
m2 /g. The primary surface of vermiculites is 40 to 80 Isomorphous Substitution The central sheet of the
m2 /g, and the secondary (interlayer) surface may be as mica layer is trioctahedral, with magnesium as the pre-
high as 870 m2 /g. dominant cation. There is often partial replacement of
Mg2 by Al3, Fe2 and Fe3. There is substitution of
hte
Al3 for Mg2 in the brucitelike layer. The various

3.19 OTHER CLAY MINERALS members of the chlorite group differ in the kind and
amounts of substitution and in the stacking of succes-
Chlorite Minerals sive layers. The cation exchange capacity of chlorites
Structure The chlorite structure consists of alter- is in the range of 10 to 40 meq/100 g.
Morphology Chlorite minerals occur as micro-
rig
nating micalike and brucitelike layers as shown sche-

matically in Fig. 3.30. The structure is similar to that scopic grains of platy morphology and poorly dened
crystal edges in altered igneous and metamorphic rocks
and their derived soils. In soils, chlorites always appear
to occur in mixtures with other clay minerals.
py
Chain Structure Clay Minerals

A few clay minerals are formed from bands (double
Co
chains) of silica tetrahedra. These include attapulgite

and imogolite. They have lathlike or ne threadlike
morphologies, with particle diameters of 5 to 10 nm
and lengths up to 4 to 5 m. An electron photomicro-
graph of bundles of attapulgite particles is shown in
Fig. 3.31.
Although these minerals are not frequently encoun-
tered, attapulgite is commercially mined and is used as
Figure 3.29 Electron photomicrograph of illite from Morris, a drilling mud in saline and other special environments
Illinois. Picture width is 7.5 m (Tovey, 1971). because of its high stability in suspensions.

DETERMINATION OF SOIL COMPOSITION 65
Oxides All soils probably contain some amount of
colloidal oxides and hydrous oxides (Marshall, 1964).
The oxides and hydroxides of aluminum, silicon, and
iron are most frequently found. These materials may
occur as gels or precipitates and coat mineral particles,
or they may cement particles together. They may also
occur as distinct crystalline units; for example, gibb-
site, boehmite, hematite, and magnetite. Limonite and
bauxite, which are noncrystalline mixtures of iron and
aluminum hydroxides, are also sometimes found.
Oxides are particularly common in soils formed
l
from volcanic ash and in tropical residual soils. Some
ria
soils rich in allophane and oxides may exhibit signif-
icant irreversible decreases in plasticity and increases
Figure 3.31 Electron photomicrograph of attapulgite from in strength when dried. Many are susceptible to break-
Attapulgis, Georgia. Picture width is 4.7 m (Tovey, 1971).
down and strength loss when subjected to trafc or
manipulation during earthwork construction (Mitchell
ate
and Sitar, 1982; Mitchell and Coutinho, 1991).
Mixed-Layer Clays
More than one type of clay mineral is usually found 3.20 SUMMARY OF CLAY MINERAL
in most soils. Because of the great similarity in crystal
dM CHARACTERISTICS
structure among the different minerals, interstratica-
tion of two or more layer types often occurs within a The important structural, compositional, and morpho-
single particle. Interstratication may be regular, with logical characteristics of the important clay minerals
a denite repetition of the different layers in sequence, are summarized in Table 3.6. Data on the structural
or it may be random. According to Weaver and Pollard characteristics of the tetrahedral and octahedral sheet
(1973), randomly interstratied clay minerals are sec- structures are included.
ond only to illite in abundance.
hte
The most abundant mixed-layer material is com-

posed of expanded water-bearing layers and contracted 3.21 DETERMINATION OF SOIL
non-water-bearing layers. Montmorilloniteillite is COMPOSITION
most common, and chloritevermiculite and chlorite
montmorillonite are often found. Rectorite is an inter- Introduction
rig
stratied clay with high charge, micalike layers with Identication of the ne-grained minerals in a soil is
xed interlayer cations alternating in a regular manner usually done by X-ray diffraction. Simple chemical
with low-charge montmorillonite-like layers containing tests can be used to indicate the presence of organic
exchangeable cations capable of hydration. matter and other constituents. The microscope may be
used to identify the constituents of the nonclay frac-
py
tion. Accurate determination of the proportions of dif-

Noncrystalline Clay Materials
ferent mineral, organic, and amorphous solid material
Allophane Clay materials that are so poorly crys- in a soil, while probably possible with the expenditure
talline that a denite structure cannot be determined of great time and at great cost, is unlikely to be worth-
Co
are termed allophane. Such material is amorphous to while owing to our inability to make exact quantitative
X-rays because there is insufcient long-range order of links from composition to properties. Accordingly,
the octahedral and tetrahedral units to produce sharp from knowledge of grain size distribution, the relative
diffraction effects, although in some cases there may intensities of different X-ray diffraction peaks, and a
be diffraction bands. Allophane has no denite com- few other simple tests a semiquantitative analysis may
position or shape and may exhibit a wide range of be made that is usually adequate for most purposes.
physical properties. Some noncrystalline clay material A general approach is given in this section for the
is probably contained in all ne-grained soils. It is determination of soil composition, some of the tech-
common in volcanic soils because of the abundance of niques are described briey, and criteria for identi-
glass particles. cation of important soil constituents are stated.

Table 3.6 Summary of Clay Mineral Characteristics

Structural
1. Silica Tetrahedron: Si atom at center. Tetrahedron units form hexagonal network Si4O8(OH)4
2. Gibbsite Sheet: Aluminum in octahedral coordination. Two-thirds of possible positions lled. Al2(OH)OO 2.60 A .
3. Brucite Sheet: Magnesium in octahedral coordination. All possible positions lled. Mg2(OH)OO 2.60 A .
Structure
Subgroup and Octahedral Layer Tetrahedral Layer
a
Type Schematic Structure Mineral Complete Formula / Unit Cell Cations Cations Isomorphous Substitution Interlayer Bond
Allophane Allophanes Amorphous
Kaolinite Kaolinite (OH)8Si4Al4O11 Al4 Si4 Little OOH

Hydrogen Strong
l
Dickite (OH)8Si4Al4O10 Al4 Si4 Little OOH
Hydrogen Strong
ria
Nacrite (OH)8Si4Al4O10 Al4 Si4 Little
OOH
11 Halloysite (OH)8Si4Al4O10 Al4 Si4 Little Hydrogen Strong
(dehydrated) OOH
Halloysite (OH)8Si4Al4O10 4H2O Al4 Si4 Little Hydrogen Strong
(hydrated) OOH
Hydrogen Strong
ate
Montmorillonite Montmorillonite (OH)4Si8(Al3.34Mg.66O20nH2O Al3.34Mg.66 Si8 Mg for Al, Net charge OO
(OH)4Si8Al4O20 NH2O * always 0.66- / unit Very weak
(Theoretical Na.66 cell expanding lattice
Unsubsitituted)
Beidellite
dM (OH)4(Si7.34Al66)(Al4)O20nH2O Al4 Si7.34Al.66 Al for Si, Net charge OO
always 0.66- / for Very weak
Na.66 unit cell expanding lattice
Nontronite (OH)4(Si7.34Al.66)Fe43O20nH2O Fe4 Si7.34Al.66 Fe for Al, Al for Si, Net OO
charge always 0.66- Very weak
Na.66 / for unit cell expanding lattice
21 Saponite Hectorite (OH)4Si8(Mg5.34Li.66)P20nH2O Mg5.34Li.66 Si8 Mg, Li for Al, Net OO

charge always 0.66- Very weak
Na.66 / unit cell expanding lattice
Saponite (OH)4(Si7.34Al.66)Mg6O20nH2O Mg, Fe3 Si7.34Al.66 Mg for Al, Al for Si, OO
hte
Net charge always Very weak

Na.66 0.66- / for unit cell expanding lattice
Sauconite (Si6.94Al1.06)Al.66Fe.34Mg.36Zn4.80O20(OH)4 Al.44Fe.34Mg.36Zn4.80 Si6.94Al1.06 OO
nH2O Zn for Al Very weak
Na.66 expanding lattice
Hydrous Mica (Illite) Illites (K, H2O)2(Si)8(Al,Mg,Fe)4,6O20(OH)4 (Al,Mg,Fe)4-6 (Al,Si)8 Some Si always replaced K ions; strong
by Al, Balanced by K
between layers.
rig
Vermiculite Vermiculite (OH)4(Mg,Ca)x(Si8xAlx)(Mg.Fe)6O20.yH2O (Mg,Fe)6 (Si,Al)8 Al for Si not charge of 1 Weak

x 1 to 1.4, y 8 to 1.4 / unit cell
py
Co
211 Chlorite Chlorite (OH)4(SiAl)8(Mg.Fe)6O20 (21 layer) (Mg,Fe)6(21 layer) (Si,Al)8 Al for Si in 21 layer
(Several varieties (MgAl)6(OH)12 interlayer (Mg,Al)6 interlayer Al for Mg in interlayer
known)
Chain Sepiolite Si4O11(Mg.H2)3H2O2(H2O) Fe or Al for Mg

Structure
Attapulgite (OH2)4
(OH)2Mg5Si8O20.4H2O Some for Al for Si Weak chains
linked by 0
a
Arrows indicate source of charge deciency. Equivalent Na listed as balancing cation. Two formula units (Table 3.4) are required per unit cell.
b
Electron microscope data.

Table 3.6 (Continued )
Units
All bases in same plane. OO 2.55 A Space for Si 0.55 A Thickness8 4.93 A . CC height 2.1 A
.
OHOH 2.94 A . Space for ion 0.61 A
. Thickness of unit 5.05 A
. Dioctahedral.
OHOH 2.94 A . Space for ion 0.61 A
. Thickness of unit 5.05 A
. Trioctahedral.
Structure Occurrence in Soils

Cation Exchange Specic Specic Surface of Engineering
b
Crystal Structure Basal Spacing Shape Size Cap.(meq / 100 g) Gravity m2 / g Interest
Irregular, some- 0.051

what rounded Common
Triclinic
a 5.14, b 8.93, c 7.37
91.6, 104.8, 89.9

7.2 A 6-sided akes 0.14
0.052 single
315 2.602.68 1020 Very common
to 3000 4000
l
(stacks)
0.07300 2.5 130
ria
Monoclinic 14.4 A Unit cell 6-sided akes Rare
a 5.15, b 8.95, c 14.42 contains 2 1000
9648 unit layers
Almost Orthorhombic
43 A Unit cell Rounded akes 1 0.025 Rare
a 5.15, b 8.96, c 43 contains 6 0.15
9020 unit layers
a 5.14 in O Plane
7.2 A Random Tubes 0.07 O.D. 510 2.552.56 Occasional
a 5.06 in OH Plane stacking of 0.04 I.D.
ate
b 8.93 in O Plane unit cells 1 long.
b 8.62 in OH Plane
10.1 A Water layer Tubes 540 2.02.2 3570 Occasional
layers curve between unit
cells
9.6A Complete Dioctahedral Flakes (equi- up to

10 A 80150 2.352.7 50120 Primary Very common
separation dimensional) 10 700840 Secondary
9.6A Complete Dioctahedral Rare

separation
dM 9.6A Complete
separation
Dioctahedral Laths Breadth 1 / 5
length to
110150 2.22.7 Rare
several
unit cell
9.6A Complete Trioctahedral To 1 unit 17.5 Rare

separation cell breadth
0.02 0.1
Trioctahedral Similar to Similar to mont. 7090 2.242.30 Rare
hte
mont.
Trioctahedral Brand laths Thick
50 A Rare

10 A Both Flakes 0.0030.1 1040 2.63.0 65100 Very common
dioctrahedral up to 10
and
trioctahedral
rig
a 5.34, b 9.20
10.514 A Alternating Similar to illite 100150 4080 Primary Fairly common
c 28.91, 9315 Mica and 870 Secondary
py
double H2O
layers
Co
Monoclinic (Mainly)
14 A Similar to illite 1 1040 2.62.96 Common
a 5.3, b 9.3
c 28.52, 978
Monoclinic Chain Flakes or bers 2030 2.08 Rare

a 2 11.6, b 2 7.86
c 5.33
a0 Sin 12.9 b0 18 Double silica Laths Max, 45 2030 Occasional
c0 5.2 chains 50100 A
Width 2t
From Grim, R. E. (1968) Clay Mineralogy, 2d edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. Brown, G. (editor) (1961) The X-ray Identication and Crystal Structure of Clay Materials, Mineralogical
Society (Clay Minerals Group), London.

Methods for Compositional Analysis properties of the mineral in the soil are the same as
Methods and techniques that may be employed for de- those of a reference mineral. However, different sam-
termination of soil composition and study of soil grains ples of any given clay mineral may exhibit signicant
include: differences in composition, surface area, particle size
and shape, and cation exchange capacity. Thus, selec-
1. Particle size analysis and separation tion of standard minerals for reference is arbitrary.
2. Various pretreatments prior to mineralogical Quantitative clay mineral determinations cannot be
analysis made to an accuracy of more than about plus or minus
3. Chemical analyses for free oxides, hydroxides, a few percent without exhaustive chemical and min-
amorphous constituents, and organic matter eralogical tests.
4. Petrographic microscope study of silt and sand
l
grains General Scheme for Compositional Analysis
ria
5. Electron microscope study A general scheme for determination of the components
6. X-ray diffraction for identication of crystalline of a soil is given in Fig. 3.32. Techniques of the most
minerals value for qualitative and semiquantitative analysis are
7. Thermal analysis indicated by a double asterisk, and those of particular
ate
8. Determination of specic surface area use for explaining unusual properties are indicated by
9. Chemical analysis for layer charge, cation a single asterisk. The scheme shown is by no means
exchange capacity, exchangeable cations, pH, the only one that could be used; a feedback approach
and soluble salts is desirable wherein the results of each test are used to
10. Staining tests for identication of clays plan subsequent tests. Brief discussions of the various
dM techniques listed in Fig. 3.32 are given below. X-ray
Procedures for determination of soil composition are diffraction analysis is treated in more detail in the next
described in detail in publications of the American So- section because of its particular usefulness for the
ciety of Agronomy. Part 1Physical and Mineralog- identication of ne-grained soil minerals.
ical Methods provides a set of procedures for Grain Size Analysis Determination of particle size
mineralogical analyses for use by soil scientists and and size distribution is usually done using sieve anal-
engineers. Part 2Microbiological and Biochemical ysis for the coarse fraction [sizes greater than 74 m
Properties, published in 1994, is useful for determi- (i.e., 200 mesh sieve)] and by sedimentation methods
hte
nations needed for bioremediation and other geoen- for the ne fraction. Details of these methods are pre-
vironmental purposes. Part 3Chemical Methods, sented in standard soil mechanics texts and in the stan-
published in 1996 contains methods for characterizing dards of the American Society for Testing and
soil chemical properties as well as several methods for Materials (ASTM). Determination of sizes by sedi-
characterizing soil chemical processes. Part 4 mentation is based on the application of Stokess law
Physical Methods, published in 2002, is an updated
rig
for the settling velocity of spherical particles:

version of the physical methods covered in Part 1. For
each method, principles are presented as well as the s w 2
details of the method. In addition, the interpretation of v D (3.2)
results is discussed, and extensive bibliographies are 18
py
given.
where s unit weight of particle, w unit weight
of liquid, viscosity of liquid, and D diameter
Accuracy of Compositional Analysis of sphere. Sizes determined by Stokes law are not ac-
Techniques for chemical analysis are generally of a tual particle diameters but, rather, equivalent spherical
Co
high order of accuracy. However, this accuracy does diameters. Gravity sedimentation is limited to particle
not extend to the overall compositional analysis of a sizes in the range of about 0.2 mm to 0.2 m, the
soil in terms of components of interest in understand- upper bound reecting the size limit where ow around
ing and quantifying behavior. This is because knowl- the particles is no longer laminar, and the lower bound
edge of the chemical composition of a soil is of limited representing a size where Brownian motion keeps par-
value by itself. Chemical analysis of the solid phase of ticles in suspension indenitely.
a soil does not indicate the organization of the ele- The times for particles of 2, 5, and 20 m equivalent
ments into crystalline and noncrystalline components. spherical diameter to fall through water a distance of
For quantitative mineralogical analysis of the clay 10 cm are about 8 h, 1.25 h, and 5 min, respectively,
fraction, it is usually necessary to assume that the at 20C. At 30C the required times are about 6.5 h, 1

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 3.32 Flow sheet for compositional analysis of soils (adapted from Lambe and Martin,
1954).
h, and 4 min. A centrifuge can be used for accelerating from laboratory preparation of the sample to that of
py
the settlement of small particles and is the most prac- the particles and aggregates in the natural soil is un-
tical means for extracting particles smaller than about known.
a micrometer in size. Optical and electron microscopes are sometimes
Sedimentation methods call for treatment of a soil used to study particle sizes and size distributions and
Co
water suspension with a dispersing agent and thorough to provide information on particle shape, aggregation,
mixing prior to the start of the test. This causes break- angularity, weathering, and surface texture.
down of aggregates of soil particles, and the degree of Pore Fluid Electrolyte The total concentration of
breakdown may vary greatly with the method of prep- soluble salts may be determined from the electrical
aration. For example, the ASTM standard method of conductivity of extracted pore uid. Chemical or pho-
test permits the use of either an air dispersion cup or tometric techniques may be used to determine the el-
a blender-type mixer. The amount of material less than emental constituents of the extract (Rhoades, 1982).
2 m equivalent spherical diameter may vary by as Removal of excess soluble salts by washing the sample
much as a factor of 2 by the two techniques. The re- with water or alcohol may be necessary before pro-
lationship between the size distribution that results ceeding with subsequent analysis. If they are not re-

moved, the soil may be difcult to disperse, it may be Exchange Complex Determination of the cation
difcult to remove organic matter, reliable cation exchange capacity (expressed in milliequivalents per
exchange capacity determinations will be impossible, hundred grams of dry soil) is made after rst freeing
and mineralogical analyses will be complicated (Kunze the soil of excess soluble salts. The adsorbed cations
and Dixon, 1986). are then replaced by a known cation species, and the
pH Determination of the acidity or alkalinity of a amount of the known cation needed to saturate the
soil in terms of the pH is a relatively simple measure- exchange sites is determined analytically (Rhoades,
ment that can be made using a pH meter or special 1982). The composition of the original cation complex
indicators (American Society for Testing and Materi- can be determined by chemical analysis of the original
als, 1970; McLean, 1982). The value obtained depends extract (Thomas, 1982).
on the ratio of soil to water, so it is usual to standardize Potash The hydrous mica minerals (illites) are the
l
the measurement using a 11 ratio of soil to water by only minerals commonly found in the clay size fraction
ria
weight. For highly plastic soils a lower soil-to-water of soils that contain potassium in their crystal structure.
ratio may be required to produce a suspension suitable Thus, knowledge of the K2O content is useful for quan-
for pH measurement. The pH decreases with increas- titative determination of their abundance. A method for
ing concentration of neutral salts in solution and with potassium determination is given by Knudsen et al.
(1986). Well-organized 10-A illite layers contain 9 to
ate
increasing amounts of dissolved CO2.
Carbonates Carbonates, in the form of calcite 10 percent K2O (Weaver and Pollard, 1973).
(CaCO3), dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2], marl, and shells are Specic Surface Area Ethylene glycol and glycerol
frequently found in soils, and they can be readily de- adsorb on clay surfaces. As different clay minerals
tected by effervescence when the soil is treated with have different values of specic surface, the amount of
dilute HCl. Many methods for determining inorganic
dM glycol or glycerol retained under controlled conditions
carbonates, calcite, and dolomite in soils are available can be used to aid in the quantitative determinations
(Nelson, 1982). These include dissolution in acid, dif- of clay minerals and for estimation of specic surface
ferential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, and chem- area (Martin, 1955; Diamond and Kinter, 1956; and
ical analyses. American Society for Testing and Materials, 1970).
Gypsum Gypsum (CaSO4 2H2O) can be deter- Use of ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGME) as
mined by a simple heating test. Visible grains will turn the polar molecule for determining surface area offers
white when heated on a metal plate as a result of de- the advantages of the attainment of adsorption equilib-
hte
hydration to form dead-burnt gypsum (Shearman, rium more rapidly and with greater precision (Carter
1979). Quantitative determinations can be made using et al., 1982). A monomolecular layer of EGME is as-
procedures described by Nelson (1982). sumed to form in vacuum on a predried clay sample.
Organic Matter Organic matter can be readily de- The weight of EGME adsorbed after equilibrium is
tected by treatment of the soil with a 15 percent hy- reached is converted to specic surface using a factor
of 0.000286 g EGME per square meter of surface.
rig
drogen peroxide solution. H2O2 reacts with organic

matter to give vigorous effervescence. As organic mat-
ter has an aggregating effect, and because its presence
3.22 X-RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS
may interfere with other mineralogical analyses, it is
desirable to remove most of it by digestion with H2O2 X-Rays and Their Generation
py
(Kunze and Dixon, 1986). Quantitative analysis meth-

X-ray diffraction is the most widely used method for
ods for soil organic matter are given by the American
identication of ne-grained soil minerals and the
Society for Testing and Materials (1970), Nelson and
study of their crystal structure. X-rays are one of sev-
Sommers (1982), and Schnitzer (1982).
eral types of waves in the electromagnetic spectrum
Co
Oxides and Hydroxides Free oxides and hydrox-

(Fig. 3.2). X-rays have wavelengths in the range of
ides that may be present in soils include crystalline and 0.01 to 100 A . When high-speed electrons impinge on
noncrystalline (amorphous) compounds of silicon, alu- a target material, one of two phenomena may occur:
minum, and iron. These materials may occur as dis-
crete particles, as coatings on particles, and as 1. The high-speed electron strikes and displaces an
cementing agents between particles. They may make electron from an inner shell of one of the atoms
soil dispersion difcult, and they may interfere with of the target material. An electron from one of
other analysis procedures. Methods for oxide and hy- the outer shells then falls into the vacancy to
droxide detection, quantitative analysis, and removal lower the energy state of the atom. An X-ray
are given by Jackson et al. (1986). photon of wavelength and intensity characteristic

X-RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS 71
of the target atom and of the particular electronic
positions is emitted. Because electronic transfers
may take place in several shells and each has a
characteristic frequency, the result is a relation-
ship between radiation intensity and wavelength
as shown in Fig. 3.33.
2. The high-speed electron does not strike an elec-
tron in the target material but slows down in the
intense electric elds near atomic nuclei. The de-
crease in energy is converted to heat and to X-
ray photons. X-rays produced in this way are
l
independent of the nature of the bombarded at-
ria
oms and appear as a band of continuously vary- Figure 3.35 Composite relationship for X-ray intensity as a
function of wavelength.
ing wavelength as shown in Fig. 3.34.
The resulting output of X-rays from these two ef-
fects acting together is shown in Fig. 3.35. X-rays are
ate
generated using a tube in which electrons stream from length. The wavelengths of monochromatic radiation
a lament to a target material across a voltage drop of (usually K, Fig. 3.33) produced from commonly used
20 to 50 kV. Curved crystal monochrometers can be for molybdenum to
target materials range from 0.71 A
used to give X-rays of a single wavelength. Alterna- 2.29 A for chromium. Copper radiation, which is most
tively, certain materials are able to absorb X-rays of frequently used for mineral identication, has a wave-
different wavelengths, so it is possible to lter the out-
dM
put of an X-ray tube to give rays of only one wave-
length of 1.54 A.
Diffraction of X-rays
Because wavelengths of about 1 A are of the same
order as the spacing of atomic planes in crystalline
materials, X-rays are useful for analysis of crystal
hte
structures. When X-rays strike a crystal, they penetrate

to a depth of several million layers before being ab-
sorbed. At each atomic plane a minute portion of the
beam is absorbed by individual atoms that then oscil-
late as dipoles and radiate waves in all directions. Ra-
diated waves in certain directions will be in phase and
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can be interpreted in simplistic fashion as a wave re-

sulting from a reection of the incident beam. In-phase
radiations emerge as a coherent beam that can be de-
Figure 3.33 X-ray generation by electron displacement. Let- tected on lm or by a radiation counting device. The
py
ters designate shells in which electron transfer takes place. orientation of parallel atomic planes, relative to the di-
rection of the incident beam, at which radiations are in
phase depends on the wave length of the X-rays and
the spacing between atomic planes.
Figure 3.36 shows a parallel beam of X-rays of
Co
wavelength striking a crystal at an angle to parallel

atomic planes spaced at distance d. If the reected
wave from C is to reinforce the wave reected from
A, then the path length difference between the two
waves must be an integral number of wave lengths n.
From Fig. 3.36, this difference is distance BC CD.
Thus,
Figure 3.34 X-ray generation by deceleration of electrons
in an electric eld. BC CD n

l
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Figure 3.36 Geometrical conditions for X-ray diffraction according to Braggs law.
ate
From symmetry, BC CD, and by trigonometry, the X-ray beam. Thus, each mineral will produce a
CD d sin . Thus the necessary condition is given characteristic set of reections at values of corre-
by sponding to the interatomic spacings between the
prominent planes. The intensities of the different re-
n 2d sin (3.3) ections vary according to the density of atomic pack-
dM ing and other factors.
This is Braggs law. It forms the basis for identication When the oriented aggregate method is used, platy
of crystals using X-ray diffraction. Since no two min- clay particles are precipitated onto a glass slide, usu-
erals have the same spacings of interatomic planes in ally by drying from a deocculated suspension or sep-
three dimensions, the angles at which diffractions oc- arated from a suspension on a porous ceramic plate.
cur (and the atomic spacings calculated from them) can With most particles oriented parallel to the slide, the
be used for identication. X-ray diffraction is partic- (001) reections are intensied, whereas reections
ularly well suited for identication of clay minerals from (hk0) planes are minimized.
hte
because the (001) spacing is characteristic for each In the Bragg equation, n may be any whole number.
clay mineral group. The basal planes generally give the The reection corresponding to n 1 is termed the
most intense reections of any planes in the crystals rst-order reection. If the rst-order reection for a
because of the close packing of atoms in these planes. mineral gives d(001) 10 A , then for n 2 there can
The common nonclay minerals occurring in soils are be a reection at 5 A , for n 3 there can be a reec-
, and so on. It is common to refer to
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also detectable by X-ray diffraction. tion at 3.33 A

these as higher-order reections due to the (002) plane,
Detection of Diffracted X-rays the (003) plane, and so on, even though atomic planes
Because the small size of most soil particles prevents do not exist at these spacings. They are, in reality, val-
the study of single crystals, use is made of the powder ues of d/n /(2 sin ) for integer values of n 1.
py
method and of oriented aggregates of particles. In the

powder method, a small sample containing particles at Analysis of X-ray Patterns
all possible orientations is placed in a collimated beam A complete X-ray diffraction pattern consists of a se-
of parallel X-rays, and diffracted beams of various in- ries of reections of different intensities at different
Co
tensities are scanned by a Geiger, proportional, or scin- values of 2. Each reection must be assigned to some
tillation tube and recorded automatically to produce a component of the sample. The rst step in the analysis
chart showing the intensity of diffracted beam as a is to determine all values of d/n for the particular type
function of angle 2. As an example, the diffraction of radiation (which determines ) using Eq. (3.3). The
pattern for quartz is shown in Fig. 3.37. The powder test pattern may be compared directly with patterns for
method works because the very large number of par- known materials. The American Society for Testing
ticles in a sample ensures that some will always be and Materials maintains a le of patterns for many
properly oriented to produce a reection. materials indexed on the basis of the strongest lines in
All prominent atomic planes in a crystal will pro- the pattern. X-ray diffraction data for the clay minerals
duce a reection if properly positioned with respect to and other common soil minerals are given in Grim

X-RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS 73
l
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ate
dM
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rig
py
Co
Figure 3.37 X-ray diffractometer chart for quartz. Peaks occur at specic 2 angles, which
can be converted to d spacings by Braggs law. Numbers in parentheses are the Miller indices
for the crystal planes responsible for the indicated peak.

(1968), Carroll (1970), Brindley and Brown (1980), to 11.6 A when heated at 70C. All interlayer water
Whittig and Allardice (1986), and Moore and Reyn- can be expelled at 500C, but rehydration is rapid on
olds (1997). The most intense reections for minerals cooling. Permanent dehydration and collapse to 9.02
commonly found in powder samples of soils are listed A can be achieved by heating to 700C.
in Table 3.7. Basal spacings for different clay minerals Chlorite Minerals The basal spacing of chlorite
associated with different pretreatments are listed in Ta- minerals is xed at 14 A because of the strong ordering
ble 3.8 and shown pictorially in Fig. 3.38. of the interlayer complex. Chlorites often have a clear
sequence of four or ve basal reections. The third-
is often strong. Iron-rich chlo-
order reection at 4.7 A
Criteria for Clay Minerals rites have a weak rst-order reection but strong
The different clay minerals are characterized by rst- second-order reections and, thus, may be confused
. Positive iden- with kaolinite. The facts that chlorite is destroyed
l
order basal reections at 7, 10, or 14 A
when treated with 1 N HCl at 60C while kaolinite is
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tication of specic mineral groups ordinarily requires
specic pretreatments. Separation of size fractions re- unaffected, and that kaolinite is destroyed but chlorite
quires thorough dispersion of the sample. As cement- may not be affected on heating to 600C, are useful
ing compounds may both inhibit dispersion and for distinguishing the two clay mineral types.
adversely affect the quality of the diffraction patterns,
ate
Criteria for Nonclay Minerals
their removal may be necessary. To ensure uniform ex-
pansion due to hydration for all crystals of a particular Strong X-ray diffraction reections for some of the
mineral, the clay should be made homoionic. Magne- nonclay minerals are listed in Table 3.7. These include
sium and potassium are most frequently used for sat- feldspar, quartz, and carbonates. More detailed listings
of X-ray powder data for specic iron oxide minerals,
uration of the exchange sites. Detailed procedures for
dM silica minerals, feldspars, carbonates, and calcium sul-
pretreatments useful in X-ray diffraction analysis of
fate minerals are given in Brindley and Brown (1980)
clay soils are given by Whittig and Allardice (1986) as well as in standard reference les.
and Moore and Reynolds (1997).
Kaolinite Minerals The kaolinite basal spacing of Quantitative Analysis by X-ray Diffraction
about 7.2 A is insensitive to drying or moderate heat-
Quantitative determination of the amounts of different
ing. Heating to 500C destroys kaolinite minerals, but minerals in a soil on the basis of simple comparison
not the other clay minerals. Hydrated halloysite has a of diffraction peak heights or areas are uncertain
, which collapses irreversibly to
hte
basal spacing of 10 A because of differences in mass absorption coefcients

7A on drying at 110C. Organic chemical treatments of different minerals, particle orientations, sample
are sometimes used to distinguish dehydrated halloy- weights, surface texture of the sample, mineral crys-
site from kaolinite (MacEwan and Wilson, 1980). The tallinity, hydration, and other factors. Estimates based
electron microscope can also be used to distinguish on X-ray data alone are usually at best semiquantita-
dehydrated halloysite with its tubular morphology from tive; however, in some cases techniques that account
rig
kaolinite. for differences in mass absorption characteristics and

Hydrous Mica (Illite) Minerals Illite is character- utilize comparisons with known mixtures or internal
ized by d(001) of about 10 A , which remains xed both standards may give good results. Soils containing only
in the presence of polar liquids and after drying. two or three well-crystallized mineral components are
Smectite (Montmorillonite) Minerals The expan- more easily analyzed than those with multimineral
py
sive character of this group of minerals provides the compositions and mixed layering. For more detailed
basis for their positive identication. When air dried, treatment of X-ray diffraction theory, identication cri-
these minerals may have basal spacings of 12 to 15 A . teria, and techniques, particularly as related to the
After treatment with ethylene glycol or glycerol, the study of clays, see Klug and Alexander (1974), Carroll
Co
smectites expand to a d(001) value of 17 to 18 A . When (1970), Brindley and Brown (1980), Whittig and Al-
oven dried, d(001) drops to about 10 A as a result of the lardice (1986), and especially Moore and Reynolds
removal of interlayer water. (1997).
Vermiculite Although an expansive mineral, the
greater interlayer ordering in vermiculite results in less 3.23 OTHER METHODS FOR COMPOSITIONAL
variability in basal spacing than occurs in the smectite ANALYSIS
minerals. When Mg saturated, the hydration states of
vermiculite yield a discrete set of basal spacings, re- Thermal Analysis
sulting from a changing but ordered arrangement of Principle Differential thermal analysis (DTA) con-
Mg cations and water in the interlayer complex. When sists of simultaneously heating a test sample and a
fully saturated, the d spacing is 14.8 A , which reduces thermally inert substance at constant rate (usually

OTHER METHODS FOR COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS 75
Table 3.7 X-ray Diffraction Data for Clay Minerals and Common Nonclay Minerals
)
d (A Mineral a )
d (A Mineral a
14 Mont. (VS) Chl. Verm. (VS)b 2.933.00 Felds.
12 Sepiolite, heated corrensite 2.892.90 Carb.
10 Illite, Mica (S), Halloysite 2.86 Felds.
9.23 Heated Verm. 2.84 Carb. Chl.
7 Kaol. (S). Chl. 2.842.87 Chl.
6.90 Chl. 2.73 Carb.
6.44 Attapulgite 2.61 Attapulgite
l
6.39 Felds. 2.60 Verm., Sepiol.
ria
4.905.00 Illite, Mica, Halloysite 2.56 Illite (VS), Kaol.
4.704.79 Chlor. (S) 2.532.56 Chlor., Felds., Mont.
4.60 Verm. (S) 2.49 Kaol. (VS)
4.454.50 Illite (VS), Sepiolite 2.46 Quartz, heated Verm.
4.46 Kaol. 2.432.46 Chlorite
ate
4.36 Kaol. 2.39 Verm., Illite
4.26 Quartz (S) 2.38 Kaol.
4.18 Kaol. 2.34 Kaol. (VS)
4.024.04 Felds. (S) 2.29 Kaol. (VS)
3.853.90 Felds. 2.28 Quartz, Sepiol.
3.82 Sepiol. 2.23 Illite, Chl.
3.78
dM
Felds. 2.13 Quartz, Mica
3.67 Felds. 2.052.06 Kaol. (WK)
3.58 Carbonate, Chl. 1.992.00 Mica, Illite (S), Kaol. Chl.
3.57 Kaol. (VS), Chl. 1.90 Kaol.
3.543.56 Verm. 1.83 Carb.
3.50 Felds., Chlor. 1.82 Quartz
hte
3.40 Carb. 1.79 Kaol.

3.34 Quartz (VS) 1.68 Quartz
3.323.35 Illite (VS) 1.66 Kaolin
3.30 Carb. 1.62 Kaolin
3.23 Attapulgite 1.54B Verm. (S), Quartz
3.21 Felds. 1.55 Quartz
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3.20 Mica 1.58 Chl.

3.19 Felds. (VS) 1.53 Verm., Illite
3.05 Mont. 1.50 Ill. (S), Kaol.
3.04 Carb. (VS) 1.481.50 Kaol. (VS), Mont.
3.02 Felds. 1.45B Kaol.
py
3.00 Heated Verm. 1.38 Quartz, Chl.

2.98 Mica (S) 1.31, 1.34, 1.36 Kaol. (B)
a
(B) broad; (S) strong; (VS) very strong; (WK) weak; Mont. montmorillonite; Ch1. chlorite; Verm.
vermiculite; Kaol. kaolinite; Carb. carbonate; Felds. feldspar; Sepiol. sepiolite.
Co
b
Italics indicates (001) spacing.
about 10C/min) to over 1000C and continuously ygen, are also used to some extent. Thermal analysis
measuring differences in temperature between the sam- techniques are described in detail by Tan et al. (1986).
ple and the inert material. Differences in temperature The results of differential thermal analysis are pre-
between the sample and the inert substance reect resented as a plot of the difference in temperature
actions in the sample brought about by the heating. between sample and inert material ( T) versus tem-
Thermogravimetric analyses, based on changes in perature (T) as indicated in Fig. 3.39. Endothermic re-
weight caused by loss of water or CO2 or gain in ox- actions are those wherein the sample takes up heat,

Table 3.8 X-ray Identication of the Principal Clay Minerals ( 2 m) in an Oriented Mount of a Clay
Fraction Separated from Sedimentary Material
Glycolation Effect
Mineral Basal d Spacings (001) (1 h, 60C) Heating Effect (1 h)
Kaolinite (001); 3.75 A
7.15 A (002) No change Becomes amorphous 550
600C
Kaolinite, disordered 7.15 A (001) broad; 3.75 A
No change Becomes amorphous at lower
broad temperatures than kaolinite
l
Halloysite, 4H2O 10 A (001) broad No change Dehydrates to 2H2O at 110C
ria
(hydrated)
Halloysite, 2H2O (001) broad
7.2 A No change Dehydrates at 125150C;
(dehydrated) becomes amorphous 560
590C
Mica (002); 5 A
10 A (004) No change (001) becomes more intense on
ate
generally referred to as heating but structure is
(001) and (002) maintained to 700C
Illite (002), broad, other
10 A No change (001) noticeably more intense
basal spacings present on heating as water layers
dM but small are removed; at higher
temperatures like mica
Montmorillonite group (001) and integral
15 A (001) expands to 17 At 300C (001) becomes 9 A
series of basal spacings A with rational
sequence of
higher orders
Vermiculite (001) and integral
14 A No change Dehydrates in steps
series of basal spacings
hte
Chlorite, Mg-form (001) and integral

14 A No change (001) increases in intensity;
series of basal spacings 800C shows weight loss
but no structural change
Chlorite, Fe-form 14 A (001) less intense No change (001) scarcely increases;
than in Mg-form; structure collapses below
integral series of basal 800C
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spacings
Mixed-layer minerals Regular, one (001) and No change unless Various, see descriptions of
integral series of basal an expandable individual minerals
spacings component is
py
present
Random, (001) is addition Expands if Depends on minerals present in
of individual minerals montmorillonite is interlayered mineral
and depends on amount a constituent
of those present
Co
Attapulgite High intensity d reections No change Dehydrates stepwise (see

(palygorskite) at 10.5, 4.5, 3.23, and description)
2.62 A
Sepiolite High intensity reections at No change Dehydrates stepwise (see
12.6, 4.31, and 2.61 A description)
Amorphous clay, No d reections No change Dehydrates and loses weight
allophane
Compiled by Carroll (1970).

OTHER METHODS FOR COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS 77
l
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ate
dM
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Figure 3.38 Pictorial representation of response of phyllosilicates to differentiating treat-

ments. Approximate spacings in nm (1 nm 10 A ) (from Whittig and Allardice, 1986).
py
Reproduced with permission from The American Society of Agronomy, Inc., Madison, WI.
and in exothermic reactions, heat is liberated. Analysis quired is about 1 g. Although the temperatures at
Co
of test results consists of comparing the sample curve which thermal reactions take place are a function only
with those for known materials so that each deection of the sample, the size and shape of the reaction peaks
can be accounted for. depend also on the thermal characteristics of the ap-
Apparatus Apparatus for DTA consists of a sample paratus and the heating rate.
holder, usually ceramic, nickel, or platinum; a furnace; Reactions Producing Thermal Peaks The impor-
a temperature controller to provide a constant rate of tant thermal reactions that generate peaks on the ther-
heating; thermocouples for measurement of tempera- mogram are:
ture and the difference in temperature between the
sample and inert reference material; and a recorder for 1. Dehydration Water in a soil may be present in
the thermocouple output. The amount of sample re- three forms in addition to free pore water: (1)

Beside quartz, the only common nonclay minerals

in soils that give thermal reactions with large peaks are
carbonates and free oxides such as gibbsite, brucite,
and goethite. The carbonates give very large endother-
mic peaks between about 800 and 1000C, and the ox-
ides have an endothermic peak between about 250 and
450C. Thermograms for many clay and nonclay min-
erals are presented by Lambe (1952).
Quantitative Analysis Theoretically, the area of the
reaction peak is a measure of the amount of mineral
present in the sample. For sharp, large amplitude peaks
l
such as the quartz inversion at 573C and the kaolinite
ria
endotherm at 650C, the amplitude can be used for
quantitative analysis. In either case, calibration of the
Figure 3.39 Thermogram of a sandy clay soil.
apparatus is necessary, and the overall accuracy is of
the order of plus or minus 5 percent.
ate
adsorbed water or water of hydration, which is Optical Microscope
driven off at 100 to 300C, (2) interlayer water
such as in halloysite and expanded smectite, and Both binocular and petrographic microscopes can be
(3) crystal lattice water in the form of (OH) ions, used to study the identity, size, shape, texture, and con-
the removal of which is termed dehydroxylation. dition of single grains and aggregates in the silt and
dM
Dehydroxylation destroys mineral structures. The sand size range; for study in the thin section of the
temperature at which the major amount of crystal fabric, that is, the spatial distribution and interrelation-
lattice water is lost is the most indicative property ships of the constituents; and for study of the orien-
for identication of minerals. Dehydration reac- tations of groups of clay particles. Because the in-focus
tions are endothermic and occur in the range of depth of eld decreases sharply as magnication in-
500 to 1000C. creases, study of soil thin sections is impractical at
2. Crystallization New crystals form from amor- magnications greater than a few hundred. Thus, in-
dividual clay particles cannot usually be distinguished
hte
phous materials or from old crystals destroyed at

a lower temperature. Crystallization reactions using an optical microscope.
usually are accompanied by an energy loss and, Useful information about the shape, texture, size,
thus, are exothermic, occurring between 800 and and size distribution of silt and sand grains may be
1000C. obtained directly without formal previous training in
3. Phase Changes Some crystal structures change petrographic techniques. Some background is needed
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from one form to another at a specic tempera- to identify the various minerals; however, relatively
ture, and the energy of transformation shows up simple diagnostic criteria that can be used for identi-
as a peak on the thermogram. For example, cation of over 80 percent of the coarse grains in most
quartz changes from the to form reversibly soils are given by Cady et al. (1986). These criteria
at 573C. The peak for the quartz phase change are based on such factors as color, refractive index,
py
is sharp, and its amplitude is nearly in direct pro- birefringence, cleavage, and particle morphology. The
portion to the amount of quartz present. The nature of surface textures, the presence of coatings,
quartz peak is frequently masked within the peak layers of decomposition, and so on are useful both for
for some other reacting material, but may be interpretation of the history of a soil and as a guide to
Co
readily identied by determining the thermogram the soundness and durability of the particles.
during cooling of the sample or by letting it cool
rst and then rerunning it. The other minerals are Electron Microscope
destroyed during the initial run while the quartz With modern electron microscopes it is possible to re-
reaction is reversible. , thus making study
solve distances to less than 100 A
4. Oxidation Exothermic oxidation reactions in- of small clay particles feasible. Electron diffraction
clude the combustion of organic matter and the study of single particles may also be useful. Electron
oxidation of Fe2 to Fe3. Organic matter oxi- diffraction is similar to X-ray diffraction except an
dizes in the 250 to 450C temperature range. electron beam instead of an X-ray beam is used.

QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION OF SOIL COMPONENTS 79
Magnetic lenses that refract an electron beam form DTA endotherm amplitude. If X-ray has indicated
the basis of the transmission electron microscope montmorillonite, chlorite, and/or vermiculite, then
(TEM) optical system. An electron beam is focused on quantitative estimates are made based on the glycol
the specimen, which is usually a replica of the surface adsorption and exchange capacity data. The total
structure of the material under study. Some of the elec- exchange capacity and glycol retention are ascribed to
trons are scattered from the specimen, and different the clay minerals, and the measured values must be
parts of the specimen appear light or dark in proportion accounted for in terms of proportionate contributions
to the amount of scattering. After passing through a by the different clay minerals present.
series of lenses, the image is displayed on a uorescent As a simple example, assume that quartz, illite, and
screen for viewing. Probably the most critical aspect smectite are identied in the 2 m fraction of a soil.
of successful transmission electron microscopy is spec- Additional data indicate 4.0 percent K2O, ethylene gly-
l
imen preparation. col retention of 100 mg/g, and a cation exchange ca-
ria
In the scanning electron microscope (SEM), second- pacity of 35 meq/100 g. Then, assuming 9 percent as
ary electrons emitted from a sample surface form what an average value of for pure illite (Table 3.9), the con-
appear to be three-dimensional images. The SEM has tent of illite is estimated at 4.0/9.0, or 44 percent. Be-
a 20 to 150,000 magnication range and a depth cause only the illite and smectite will contribute to the
of eld some 300 times greater than that of the light glycol adsorption, the amount of smectite may be es-
ate
microscope. These characteristics, coupled with the timated:
fact that clay particles themselves and fracture surfaces
through soil masses may be viewed directly, have led 0.44 60 S 300 100
to extensive use of the SEM for study of clays. Ex-
amples of electron photomicrographs of clays and soils 100 26.4
dM S 25%
are given earlier in this chapter and in Chapter 5. Prin- 300
ciples of electron microscopy techniques and addi-
tional examples are presented in McCrone and Delly The remaining 31 percent can be ascribed to quartz
(1973) and Sudo et al. (1981). and other nonclay components. For this clay mineral
composition, the theoretical cation exchange capacity
should be, based on the reference values in Table 3.9:
3.24 QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION OF SOIL
hte
COMPONENTS 0.44 25 0.25 85 11 21 33 meq/100 g

Qualitative X-ray diffraction and a few simple tests
This compares favorably with the measured quantity
will generally indicate the minerals present in a soil.
of 35 meq/100 g. Thus, the composition of the clay
More data are needed, however, for more precise quan-
size fraction is
titative estimates. As a rule, the number of different
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analyses needed is equal to the number of mineral spe- Illite 44%

cies present. The results of glycol adsorption, cation Smectite 25%
exchange capacity, X-ray diffraction, differential ther- Quartz and other nonclays 31%
mal analysis, and chemical tests all give data that may
be used for quantitative estimations. Some pertinent The main difculty in this method for quantitative min-
py
identication criteria and reference values for the clay eralogical analysis is the uncertainty in the reference
minerals are given in Table 3.9. values for the different clay minerals.
After the quantities of organic matter, carbonates, A semiquantitative analysis is sufcient for most ap-
free oxides, and nonclay minerals have been deter- plications. This may be done as follows. The silt and
Co
mined, the percentages of clay minerals are estimated sand fraction can be examined by microscope and the
using the appropriate glycol adsorption, cation ex- approximate proportion of nonclay minerals deter-
change capacity, K2O, and DTA data. The nonclays mined. The amount of clay size material 2 m can
can be identied, and their abundance determined, us- be estimated by grain size distribution analysis. As a
ing the microscope, grain size distribution analysis, X- rst approximation, it may be assumed that the amount
ray diffraction, and DTA. The amount of illite is of clay mineral equals at least the amount of clay size.
estimated from the K2O content since this is the only This assumption is justied for the following reasons.
clay mineral containing potassium. The amount of ka- Nonclay minerals, principally quartz, are found in the
olinite is most reliably determined from the 600C clay size fraction. On the other hand, for most soils,

Table 3.9 Summary of Clay Mineral Identication CriteriaReference Data for Clay Mineral Identication
(2-m fraction)
X-ray Glycol CEC K2O

Clay d(001) (mg/g) (meq/100 g) (%) DTAa
Kaolinite 7 16 3 0 End. 500660 Sharpb
Exo. 900975 Sharp
Dehydrated halloysite 7 35 12 0 Same as kaolinite but 600 peak
slope ratio 2.5
Hydrated halloysite 10 60 12 0 Same as kaolinite but 600 peak
slope ratio 2.5
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Illite 10 60 25 810 End. 500650 Broad
End. 800900 Broad

Exo. 950
Vermiculite 1014 200 150 0
ate
Smectite 1018 300 85 End. 600750
End. 900
Exo. 950
Chlorite 14c 30 40 0 End. 610 10 or 720 20
a
For clays prepared at same relative humidity the size of the 100300C endotherm (adsorbed water removal) increases
dM
in the order kaoliniteillitesmectite.
b
For samples started at 50% RH the amplitude of 600 peak/amplitude of adsorbed water peak 1.
c
Heat treatment will accentuate 14 A line and weaken 7 A line.
the amount of clay mineral exceeds the amount of clay Interatomic bonding, crystal structure, and surface
hte
size. This most probably results from cementation of characteristics determine the size, shape, and stability
small clay particles into aggregates larger than 2 m of soil particles and the interactions of soil particles
in diameter. Approximate proportions of the different with liquids and gases. The structural stability of the
clay minerals in the clay fraction can be estimated different minerals controls their resistance to weath-
from the relative intensities of the X-ray diffraction ering and hence accounts in part for the relative abun-
reections for each mineral. The presence of organic
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dance of different minerals in different soils.

matter and carbonates can be easily detected using the Because interatomic bonds in soil particles are
tests listed in Section 3.21. strong, primary valence bonds, whereas usual interpar-
ticle bonds are of the secondary valence or hydrogen
bond type, individual particles are strong compared to
py
groups of particles. Thus, most soil masses behave as

3.25 CONCLUDING COMMENTS assemblages of particles in which deformation proc-
The sizes, shapes, and surface characteristics of the esses are dominated by displacements between parti-
particles in a soil are determined in large measure by cles and not by deformations of particles themselves,
Co
their mineralogy. Mineralogy also determines interac- although grain crushing becomes important in coarse-
tions with uid phases. Together, these factors deter- grained soils such as sands and gravels when they are
mine plasticity, swelling, compression, strength, and under very high stresses.
uid conductivity behavior. Thus, mineralogy is fun- The type of bonding between the unit layers of the
damental to the understanding of geotechnical prop- clay minerals, coupled with the adsorption properties
erties, even though mineralogical determinations are of the particle surfaces, controls soil swelling. Ad-
not made for many geotechnical investigations. In- sorption and desorption processes are important in
stead, other characteristics that reect both composi- interactions between chemicals and soils. These inter-
tion and engineering properties, such as Atterberg actions in turn determine the ow and attenuation of
limits and grain size distribution, are determined. various substances through soil. Changes in surface

forces owing to changes in chemical environment may d. (111) and (111)
alter the structural state of a soil. e. (112) and (001)
Mineralogy is related to soil properties in much the
same way as the composition and structure of cement 5. A clay has a surface density of charge of one
2. Its cation exchange capacity is
charge per 150 A
and aggregates are to concrete, or as the composition
and crystal structure of steel relate to its strength and 10 meq/100 g. Determine the specic surface
deformability. With these engineering materialssoil, area.
concrete, and steelmechanical properties can be 6. Why are soils containing smectite often expansive,
measured directly; however, they cannot be explained whereas soils containing illite and/or kaolinite are
without consideration of the composition and structure not?
of their components.
l
Since about 1980, environmental problems, espe- 7. As the geotechnical engineer on a project, you nd
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cially those related to the safe disposal and contain- an inorganic soil containing 15 percent by weight
ment of municipal, hazardous, and nuclear waste and of particles ner than 100 m, as measured by
to the clean up of contaminated sites and the protection hydrometer analysis. What soil components do
of groundwater, have assumed a major role in geo- you expect? Why?
technical engineering practice. This has required a How could you conrm this expectation? Be spe-
ate
greatly increased focus on the compositional charac- cic in terms of tests and diagnostic criteria.
teristics of soils and their relation to the long-term 8. What is the smallest interplanar spacing that can
physical and chemical properties that control soil be- be measured by X-ray diffraction using copper K
havior under changed and extreme environmental con-
radiation?
ditions. dM 9. You suspect that a ne-grained soil sample con-
tains kaolinite, illite, and smectite minerals. De-
scribe in logical sequence the tests you would do
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS to verify that these clay minerals are present. In-
1. A montmorillonite has a cation exchange capacity dicate the reasons why you choose these tests and
of 130 meq/100 g and a total external and internal the criteria for distinguishing among the minerals.
surface area of 800 m2 /g. 10. An inorganic clay has a liquid limit of 350 percent.
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a. How many calcium ions will there be on a par- a. What is the most probable predominant clay
ticle that is 0.4 m 0.2 m one unit cell mineral in this soil?
in thickness? b. Explain the high liquid limit in terms of the
b. What percentage of the dry weight of the clay crystal structure of this mineral.
is composed of calcium? c. Would you recommend founding light struc-
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2. An orthorhombic crystal has axial ratios of 0.6, tures on shallow footings above this soil? Why?
horizontally
0.3, and 1.0. The (500) plane is 2.0 A 11. A soil sample has a cation exchange capacity of
from the origin. This crystal is irradiated with
). At what 30 meq/100 g and a specic surface area of 50
CuK X-rays (wave length of 1.54 A
m2 /g. You wish to determine the type of clay min-
py
value of does the second-order (010) reection

eral in this soil. Based on your general knowledge
occur?
of the area from which it came, including the ge-
3. Sketch the following planes relative to crystallo- ology, you suspect the possibility of hydrated hal-
graphic axes: (001), (243), (hk0), (hkl), (111), loysite, illite, and smectite. State specically how
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(060), (010). you would determine which mineral is present.

4. Consider an orthorhombic crystal of dimensions 12. An X-ray diffraction pattern for a soil sample from
a 6A , b 12 A , c 8 A . With the aid of a site where light structures (houses, a shopping
sketches determine the angle of intersection be- center) are to be located shows peaks at 2 5,
tween the planes of each pair indicated below. If 10, 12.2, 20.8, 24.7, and 26.7. Copper K ra-
the planes do not intersect, then so indicate. diation was used.
a. (002) and (020) a. What minerals are present in the sample?
b. (001) and (002) b. If the measure cation capacity is 40 meq/100
c. (111) and (222) g, what is the approximate minimum amount of

clay mineral in the sample by weight percent- 14. The gradation curve for a sandy clay soil is shown
age? in Fig. 3.40.
c. What concerns would you have about this soil a. What are the percentages by weight of sand,
as a foundation material? silt, and clay size material?
d. How could you minimize any problems iden- b. Consider a 100-g sample of the soil and assume
tied in part (c)? that all sand particles are of a size equal to the
average particle size in the sand size range, the
13. In general the average clay particle size as repre- silt particles are of a size equal to the average
sented by some effective diameter D, for smectite particle size in the silt size range, and all clay
particles (S) is less than that of hydrous mica (il- particles are of a size equal to the average par-
lite) (HM) particles, which, in turn, is less than ticle size in the clay size range. Base your de-
l
that of kaolinite (K) particles. In addition, the av- termination of average particle size in each
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erage particle thicknesses are in the order range on equal weights of particles coarser and
ner than the average for each size range.
tS tHM tK Estimate the number of sand, silt, and clay
particle in the sample. For purposes of this
estimate, the sand and silt particles can be
ate
and values of the thickness-to-diameter ratio (t/D)
assumed to be spherical. Assume the clay
are in the order
particles to be at disks having a diameter-to-
thickness ratio of 10. Assume the average size
(t/D)S (t/D)HM (t/D)K of clay particles on the gradation curve to rep-
resent the disk diameter.
What are some implications of these relationships c. Estimate the specic surface area of this soil in
dM
with respect to the relative values of plasticity, hy- square meters per gram. Determine the per-
draulic conductivity, compressionswell behavior, centages of this total that are contributed by the
and strength characteristics of three soils: one con- sand, silt, and clay fractions.
taining a large amount of smectite, one containing d. Are the estimates of the numbers of particles
a large amount of hydrous mica (illite), and one and specic surface area made in this way too
containing a large amount of kaolinite? high, too low, or correct? Why?
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py
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Figure 3.40 Gradation curve for a sandy clay soil.

CHAPTER 4
Soil Composition and
l
Engineering Properties
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ate
4.1 INTRODUCTION ceeds 50 percent.1 The engineering properties of co-
hesionless soil are often determined by applied
The engineering properties of a soil depend on the conning pressure and looseness or denseness as in-
composite effects of several interacting factors. These dicated by the relation of the current void ratio to the
factors may be divided into two groups: compositional
dM lowest and highest possible values of void ratio for the
factors and environmental factors. Compositional fac- soil. The engineering properties of cohesive soil are
tors determine the potential range of values for any often characterized by stiffness and strength and by
property. They include: relating the current water content and past consolida-
tion history to the compositional characterization pro-
1. Types of minerals vided by the plasticity index. Some engineering
2. Amount of each mineral characteristics of coarse-grained and ne-grained soils
3. Types of adsorbed cations
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are listed and compared in Fig. 4.1. Detailed discussion

4. Shapes and size distribution of particles of the combined effects of compositional and environ-
5. Pore water composition mental factors on the three most important property
6. Type and amount of other constituents, such as classes for engineering problems, that is, conductivity,
organic matter, silica, alumina, and iron oxide volume change, and deformation and strength, is given
in Chapters 9, 10, and 11.
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The inuences of compositional factors on engineering Quantitative determination of soil behavior com-
properties can be studied using disturbed samples. pletely in terms of compositional and environmental
Environmental factors determine the actual value of factors is impractical for several reasons:
any property. They include:
1. Most natural soil compositions are complex, and
py
1. Water content determination of soil composition is difcult.

2. Density 2. Physical and chemical interactions occur between
3. Conning pressure different phases and constituents.
4. Temperature 3. The determination and expression of soil fabric
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5. Fabric in quantitatively useful ways is difcult.

6. Availability of water 4. Past geologic history and present in situ environ-
ment are difcult to simulate in the laboratory.
Undisturbed samples, or in situ measurements, are re- 5. Physicochemical and mechanical theories for re-
quired for the study of the effects of environmental lating composition and environment to properties
factors on properties. quantitatively are inadequate.
Soils are classied as coarse grained, granular, and
cohesionless if the amount of gravel and sand exceeds 1
The terms cohesionless and cohesive must be used with care, as
50 percent by weight or ne grained and cohesive if even a few percent of clay mineral in a coarse-grained soil can impart
the amount of nes (silt and clay-size material) ex- plastic characteristics.
83

84 4 SOIL COMPOSITION AND ENGINEERING PROPERTIES
Granular Soils Fines
Gravel Sand Silt Clay
75 mm 5 mm 0.07 mm 0.002 mm
3 in. 0.2 in. 0.003 in. 0.00008 in.
Apples to English peas Finer than Much finer than

English peas to baking flour baking flour baking flour
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Particles visible without magnification Particles not visible without magnification
Grain size measurable with sieves Grain size not measurable with sieves
Grain size measured by sedimentation rate
Grains do not form a coherent mass Grains stick together when mixed with water due
ate
even when wet cohesionless to pore water suction and physicochemical pore
fluid-mineral interaction cohesive
Nonplastic there is no range of water Plastic deforms without cracking over a range
content where the soil can be deformed of water content between the liquid limit and the
without cracking or crumbling. plastic limit
dM Liquid (pancake batter)
Plastic (modeling clay)
Liquid Limit (LL)
Plastic Limit (PL)
Semisolid (chocolate bar)
Shrinkage Limit
Solid (chalk)
Permeability is moderate to high (10 -6 to 10-1 m/s). Permeability is low to very low (<10-7 m/s).
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Water flows easily through the voids. Water flows slowly through the voids.
Drainage takes weeks to tens of years.
Drainage occurs rapidly except under dynamic Both drained and undrained strengths are important.
loading; e.g., earthquakes. Undrained strength is low when preconsolidation
Only drained strength is important for conditions pressure is low.
other than earthquake loading or rapid landslides.
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Most important indicators of mechanical behavior Most important mechanical

are relative density, Dr , and applied confining behavior is preconsolidation
pressure Behavior of silts pressure pp and applied
varies from sand- confining pressure
Dr = 0 to 20% Very loose like to clay-like as
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pp = 0 to 50 kPa Very soft

Dr = 20 to 40% Loose grain size decreases
Dr = 40 to 60% Med. dense pp = 50 to 100 kPa Soft
Dr = 60 to 80% Dense pp = 100 to 200 kPa Firm
Dr = 80 to 100% Very dense pp = 200 to 400 kPa Stiff
pp = 400 to 800 kPa Very stiff
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pp = 0.8 to 1.6 MPa Hard

Very loose _ Compressible
Liquefiable during earthquakes Very soft Very highly compressible
~30 Undrained shear strength <12.5 kPa
Very dense _ Very low compressibility
Stable during earthquakes Very dense _ Low compressibility
~45 Undrained shear strength >100 kPa
Figure 4.1 Compositional and environmental factors contributing to engineering properties

(adapted from course notes by J. M. Duncan, 1994).

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF GRANULAR SOILS 85
Nonetheless, compositional data are valuable for de- Physicochemical interaction between clay minerals
velopment of an understanding of properties and for is shown in Fig. 4.2. Mixtures of bentonite (sodium
establishment of qualitative to semiquantitative guide- montmorillonite) and kaolinite and of bentonite and a
lines for how real soils behave. Accordingly, some commercial illite containing about 40 percent illite clay
relationships between compositional factors and engi- mineral, with the rest mostly silt-sized nonclay, were
neering properties are summarized in this chapter. prepared, and the liquid limits were determined. The
dashed line in Fig. 4.2 shows the liquid limit values to
be expected if each mineral contributed in proportion
4.2 APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF to the amount present. The data points and solid lines
COMPOSITION AND PROPERTY show the actual measured values. Although the ben-
INTERRELATIONSHIPS tonitekaolinite mixtures gave values close to theoret-
l
ical, the liquid limit values for the bentoniteillite
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Study of soil composition in relation to soil properties mixtures were much less than predicted. This resulted
may be approached in two ways. In the rst, natural from excess salt in the illite that, when mixed with the
soils are used, the composition and engineering prop- bentonite, prevented full interlayer expansion of the
erties are determined, and correlations are made. This montmorillonite particles in the presence of water.
method has the advantage that measured properties are
ate
those of naturally occurring soils. Disadvantages, how-
ever, are that compositional analyses are difcult and
time consuming, and that in soils containing several 4.3 ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF
minerals or other constituents such as organic matter, GRANULAR SOILS
silica, alumina, and iron oxide the inuence of any one
dM The mechanical behavior of granular materials is gov-
constituent may be difcult to isolate. erned primarily by their structure and the applied ef-
In the second approach, the engineering properties fective stresses. Structure depends on the arrangement
of synthetic soils are determined. Soils of known com- of particles, density, and anisotropy. Particle sizes,
position are prepared by blending different commer- shapes, and distributions, along with the arrangement
cially available clay minerals of relatively high purity of grains and grain contacts comprise the soil fabric.
with each other and with silts and sands. Although this The packing characteristics of granular materials are
approach is much easier, it has the disadvantages that discussed further in Chapter 5.
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the properties of the pure minerals may not be the

same as those of the minerals in the natural soil, and
important interactions among constituents may be Particle Size and Distribution
missed. Whether the inuences of constituents such as Figure 4.3 illustrates the tremendous range in particle
organic matter, oxides and cementation, and other sizes that may be found in a soil, where different sizes
chemical effects can be studied successfully using this are shown to the same scale. The largest size shown
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approach is uncertain. represents ne sand. It may be recalled that particles

Regardless of the approach used, there are at least ner than about 0.06 mm cannot be seen by the naked
two difculties. One is that often the variability in both eye. The orders of magnitude difference in particle
composition and properties in any one soil deposit may sizes found in any one soil is often better appreciated
be great, making the selection of representative sam- from a representation such as that in Fig. 4.3 than by
py
ples difcult. Variations in composition and texture oc- the usual size distribution (or grading) curve where
cur in sediments within distances as small as a few particle diameters are shown to a logarithmic scale.
centimeters. Residual soils, in particular, are likely to The origin of a cohesionless soil can be reected by
be very nonhomogeneous. its grading. Alluvial terrace deposits and aeolian de-
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A second difculty is that the different constituents posits tend to be poorly graded or sorted. Glacial de-
of a soil may not inuence properties in direct or even posits such as Boulder clays and tills are often well
predictable proportion to the quantity present because graded, containing a wide variety of particle sizes.
of physical and physicochemical interactions. As an Small particles in a well-graded soil t into the voids
example of physical interactions, blending of equal between larger particles. Well-graded cohesionless
proportions of uniform sand and clay, each having a soils are relatively easy to compact to a high density
compacted unit weight of 17 kN/m3, would not nec- by vibration. The loss of ne fraction by internal ero-
essarily yield a mixture also having a unit weight of sion can lead to large changes in engineering proper-
17 kN/m3 after compaction. The resulting unit weight ties. Uniformly graded soils are usually used for
might be as high as 20 kN/m3 because the clay can controlled drainage applications because they are not
ll void spaces between sand particles. susceptible to loss of nes by internal erosion and their

l
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ate
dM
Figure 4.2 Interactions between clay minerals as indicated by liquid limit (data from Seed
et al., 1964).
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hydraulic conductivity can be maintained within den- minimum void ratios change by mixing sand and silt
able and narrow limits. in different proportions. At low silt contents, silt par-
The slope of the grain size distribution curve is char- ticles t into the voids between larger sand particles,
acterized by the coefcient of uniformity Cu: so the void ratio of sandsilt mixtures decreases with
increase in silt content. However, at a certain silt con-
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d60 tent, the silt fully occupies the voids, and the increase
Cu (4.1) in silt content results in sand particles oating inside
d10
the silt matrix. Then, the void ratios increase with fur-
ther increase in silt content.
where d60 and d10 correspond to the sieve sizes that 60
py
The relative density, DR, a measure of the current

and 10 percent of the particles by weight pass through.
void ratio in relation to the maximum and minimum
A soil with Cu 5 to 10 is considered well-graded.
void ratios, and applied effective stresses controls the
The possible range of packing of soil particles is
mechanical behavior of cohesionless soils. Relative
often related to the maximum and minimum void ratios
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density is dened by
(or minimum and maximum densities) reecting the
loosest and densest states, respectively. Uniformly
graded soils tend to have a narrower range of possible emax e
DR 100% (4.2)
densities compared to well-graded soils. Soils contain- emax emin
ing angular particles tend to be less dense than soils
with rounded particles, as discussed later in this sec- in which emax, emin, and e are the maximum, minimum,
tion. However, angular and weak materials may crush and actual void ratios.
signicantly more during compression, compaction, or The relative density correlates well with other prop-
deformation. Figure 4.4 shows how the maximum and erties of granular soils. As different standard test meth-

2.0
1.8 Maximum void ratio
1.6 Minimum void ratio
1.4
Void ratio
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
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0.2
0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Silt content (%)
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Figure 4.4 Maximum and minimum void ratios of Monterey
sandsilt mixtures (from Polito and Martin, 2001).
Morphology (large scale) Roundness Texture

(intermediate scale)
dM
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Roundness Texture Surface Texture

(intermediate scale) (small scale)
Figure 4.5 Scale-dependent particle shape characterization.

Figure 4.3 Different grain sizes in soil. The solid line gives the particle outline. Morphology de-
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scribes overall shape of the particle as given by the heavy

dotted line. Texture reects the smaller scale local features
of the particles as identied by light dotted circles. The ex-
ods can give different limiting void ratios, the use of amples are surface smoothness, roundness of edges and cor-
the relative density is sometimes criticized, especially ners, and asperities.
py
when considered in relation to the random in situ var-

iations of the density of most sand and gravel deposits.
Nonetheless, if properly interpreted, relative density
can provide a very useful measure of cohesionless soil elliptical, elongated, and so forth. At smaller scales,
the texture, which reects the local roughness features
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properties.
such as surface smoothness, roundness of edges and
corners, and asperities, is important.
Particle Shape
With the exception of mica, most nonclay minerals
Particle shape is an inherent soil characteristic that in soils occur as bulky particles.2 Most particles are
plays a major role in mechanical behavior of soils.
Characterization of particle shape is scale dependent,
as shown in Fig. 4.5. At larger scales, that is, that of 2
Quartz particles become atter with decreasing size and may have
the particle itself, the particle morphology might be a platy morphology when subdivided to a neness approaching clay
described as spherical, rounded, blocky, bulky, platy, size (Krinsley and Smalley, 1973).

not equidimensional, however, and are at least slightly tion of aspect ratio and roundness. A convenient way
elongate or tabular. A frequency histogram of particle to characterize particle shapes in more detail is by a
length-to-width ratio (L/W) for Monterey No. 0 sand Fourier mathematical technique. For instance, the (R,
is shown in Fig. 4.6. This well-sorted beach sand is ) Fourier method is in the following form:
composed mainly of quartz with some feldspar. The
(a cos n b sin n)
mean of all the particle measurements is an L/W ratio N
of 1.39. This distribution is typical of that for many R() a0 n n (4.3)
n1
sands and silty sands.
Particle morphology in soil mechanics has histori-
cally been described using standard charts against where R() is the radius at angle , N is the total num-
which individual grains may be compared. A typical ber of harmonics, n is the harmonic number, and a and
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chart and some examples are shown in Fig. 4.7 (Krum- b are coefcients giving the magnitude and phase for
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bein, 1941; Krumbein and Sloss, 1963; Powers, 1953). each harmonic. The lower harmonic numbers give the
Sphericity is dened as the ratio of the diameter of a overall shape; for instance, the sphericity is expressed
sphere of equal volume to the particle to the diameter by the rst and second harmonics. The coefcient val-
of the circumscribing sphere. Roundness is dened as ues for higher-order descriptors generally decay with
the ratio of the average radius of curvature of the cor- increasing descriptor or harmonic number, which ex-
ate
ners and edges of the particle to the radius of the max- presses smaller features (i.e., texture) (Meloy, 1977).
imum sphere that can be inscribed (Wadell, 1932). Other mathematical methods to curve-t particle
Sphericity and roundness are measures of two very dif- shapes are listed in Table 4.1. Further discussion on
ferent morphological properties. Sphericity is most de- particle shape characterization is given by Barrett
pendent on elongation, whereas roundness is largely
dM (1980), Hawkins (1993), Santamarina et al. (2001), and
dependent on the sharpness of angular protrusions Bowman et al. (2001).
from the particle. Different denitions of sphericity In an assembly of uniform size spherical particles,
and roundness are available, as shown in Table 4.1. the loosest stable arrangement is the simple cubic
Due to the variety of denitions available, the quanti- packing giving a void ratio of 0.91. The densest pack-
cation of particle shape requires accurate specica- ing is the tetrahedral arrangement giving a void ratio
tion of their denition. of 0.34. Particle shape affects minimum and maximum
In recent years, techniques for computer analysis of void ratios as shown in Fig. 4.8 (Youd, 1973). The
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shape data by digital imaging have improved greatly, values increase as particles become more angular or
and standard software applications include determina- the roundness (dened as roundness 1 in Table 4.1)
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py
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Figure 4.6 Grain shape distribution of Monterey No. 0 sand. Results are based on study of
277 particles, d50 0.43 mm, Cu 1.4 (Mahmood, 1973).

0.9
0.7
Sphericity
0.5
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0.3
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0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9
Roundness
(a)
dM
High Sphericity
Low Sphericity
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Very Angular Subangular Subrounded Rounded Well

Angular Rounded
(b)
Figure 4.7 Particle shape characterization: (a) Chart for visual estimation of roundness and
sphericity (from Krumbein and Sloss, 1963). (b) Examples of particle shape characterization
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(from Powers, 1953).
decreases. When R 1, the particle is a sphere. As the following linear t to the relationship is proposed
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particles become more angular, R decreases to zero. (Santamarina and Cho, 2004);
Void ratios are also a function of particle size distri-
bution; the values decrease as the range of particle repose 42 17R (4.4)
sizes increases (increase in the coefcient of unifor-
mity Cu).
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where R is the coefcient of roundness dened as

The friction angle increases with increase in particle roundness 1 in Table 4.1. Similar data relating friction
angularity, possibly as a result of an increase in coor- angle from drained triaxial tests and particle shape is
dination number. For example, values of the angle of presented by Sukumaran and Ashmawy (2001).
repose3 are plotted against roundness in Fig. 4.9 and
Particle Stiffness
Soil mass deformation at very small strains originates
3
Angle of repose can be determined by pouring soil in a graduated from the elastic deformations at points of contact be-
cylinder lled with water. Tilt the cylinder more than 60 and bring tween particles. Contact mechanics shows that the elas-
it back slowly to the vertical position. The angle of the residual sand
slope is the angle of repose. Further details of the method can be tic properties of particles control the deformations at
found in Santamarina and Cho (2004). particle contacts (Johnson, 1985), and these deforma-

Table 4.1 Methods for Particle Shape Characterization
Method Denition
MorphologySphere
Sphericity 1 Diameter of a sphere of equal volume
Diameter of circumscribing sphere
Sphericity 2 Particle volume
l
Volume of circumscribing sphere
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Sphericity 3
Projection sphericity Area of particle outline
Area of a circle with diameter equal to the longest length of outline
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Inscribed circle sphericity Diameter of the largest inscribed circle
Diameter of the smallest inscribed circle
dM MorphologyEllipse
Eccentricity p /Rap, where the ellipse is characterized by Rp p cos 2 in polar coordinates
Elongation Smallest diameter

Diameter perpendicular to the smallest diameter
Slenderness Maximum dimension

Minimum dimension
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TextureRoundness
Roundness 1 Average of radius of curvature of surface features, (ri)/N

Radius of the maximum sphere that can be inscribed, rmax
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Roundness 2 Radius of curvature of the most convex part

0.5 (longest diameter through the most convex part)
Roundness 3 Radius of curveture of the most convex part

py
Mean radius
MorphologyTexture
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Fourier method Eq. (4.3), rst and second harmonics, characterize sphericity, whereas higher harmonics
(around 10th) characterizes roundness. Surface texture is characterized by much
higher harmonics.
Fourier descriptor More exible than the Fourier method by using the complex plane (Bowman et al.,
method 2001). Lower harmonics give shape characteristics such as elongation, triangularity,
squareness, and asymmetry. Higher harmonics (larger than 8th) give textural features.
Fractal analysis Use as a measure of texture (Vallejo, 1995; Santamarina, et al. 2001).
From Hawkins (1993), Santamarina et al. (2001), and Bowman et al. (2001).

tions in turn inuence the stiffness of particle assem-
blages. Elastic properties of different minerals and
1.4 rocks are listed in Table 4.2. The modulus of a single
grain, which determines the particle contact stiffness,
is at least an order of magnitude greater than that of
Maximum Void ratio, emax
1.2
the particle assembly. Further details on the relation
An
between particle stiffness and particle assemblage stiff-
gu ness are given in Chapter 11.
1.0 lar
R=
0.2
0
Particle Strength
0.8 0.20
Sub
l
an The crushability of soil particles has large effects on
Sub gular
ria
rou
nde 0.25 the mechanical behavior of granular materials. At high
Rou d
0.6 nde 0.30 stresses, the compressibility of sand becomes large as
d
0.35 a result of particle crushing, and the shape of an elog
0.49 p compression curve becomes similar to that of nor-
Minimum Void Ratio, emin
0.8
0.70 mally consolidated clay (Miura et al., 1984; Coop,
ate
Ang
ular
R=0
1990; Yasufuku et al., 1991). Under constant states of
.20
0.6 stress, the amount of particle breakage increases with
Ang
ular
R=0 time, contributing to creep of the soil (Lade et al.,
.17
0.20
1996). The amount of crushing in a soil mass depends
0.4 Suba both on the stiffness and strength of the individual
ngula
r 0.25 0.35 grains and how applied stresses are transmitted through
0.2
Subrounded
Rounded
dM 0.30 0.49
0.70 the assemblage of soil particles.
1 2 3 4 6 10 15 Particle strength or hardness is characterized by
Coefficient of Uniformity, Cu crushing at contacts or particle tensile splitting. There
is a statistical variation in grain strength for particles
Figure 4.8 Maximum and minimum void ratios of sands as of a specied material and of a given size (Moroto and
a function of roundness and the coefcient of uniformity Ishii, 1990; McDowell, 2001). Random variation in
(from Youd, 1973).
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grain strengths leads to distributions of particle sizes

when large stress is applied to a soil assembly. Table
4.3 lists the characteristic tensile strengths of some soil
particles. The values are smaller than the yield strength
of the material itself. The strength also depends on the
particle shape. For example, Hagerty et al. (1993) show
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that angular glass beads were more susceptible to

breakage than round glass beads.
py
50
Table 4.2 Elastic Properties of Geomaterials at
Angle of repose repose
Room Temperature
40
Youngs Shear Modulus Poissons
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30 Material Modulus (GPa) (GPa) Ratio

Quartz 76 29 0.31
20 Limestone 297 1.638 0.010.32
repose = 42 17R Basalt 25183 327 0.090.35
Granite 1086 770 0.000.30
10
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Hematite 67200 2778
Roundness R Magnetite 31 19
Shale 0.468 530 0.010.34
Figure 4.9 Angle of repose as a function of roundness (from
Santamarina and Cho, 2004). After Santamarina et al. (2001).

Table 4.3 Strength of Soil Particles
37% Tensilea Mean Strengthb

Sand Name Size (mm) Strength (MPa) (MPa) Reference
Quartz
Leighton Buzzard silica sand 1.18 29.8 Lee (1992)
2.0 24.7
3.36 20.5
Toyoura sand 0.2 147.4 136.6 Nakata et al. (2001)
Aio quartz sand 0.85 51.2 52.1 Nakata et al. (1999)
1.0 47.7 46.6
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1.18 37.9 35.6
ria
1.4 46.7 42.4
1.7 39.6 38.5
Silica sand 0.5 147.4 132.5 McDowell (2001)
1 66.7 59.0
ate
2 41.7 37.3
Silica sand 0.28 110.9 147.3 Nakata et al. (2001)
0.66 72.9 73.1
1.55 31.0 29.7
dM Feldspar
Aio feldspar sand 0.85 20.9 24.6 Nakata et al. (1999)
1.0 24.3 22.8
1.18 18.1 18.2
1.4 23.1 21.4
1.7 18.9 18.3
Calcareous Sand
hte
Oolitic limestone particle 5 2.4 Lee (1992)

8 2.1
12 1.8
20 1.5
30 1.3
40 1.2
rig
50 1.1
Carboniferous limestone 5 14.9
particle 8 12.2 Lee (1992)
12 10.3
20 8.3
py
30 7.0
40 6.2
50 5.7
Quiou sand 1 109.3 96.19 McDowell and Amon (2000)
Co
2 41.4 36.20
4 4.2 3.87
8 0.73 0.63
16 0.61 0.54
Others
Masado decomposed granite
soil 1.55 24.2 22.1 Nakata et al. (2001)
Glass beads 0.93 365.8 339.6 Nakata et al. (2001)
Angular glass 0.93 62.1 60.0 Nakata et al. (2001)
a
Stress below which 37% of the particles do not fracture.
b
Force/d 2 at which particle of size d is crushed.

The breakage potential of a single soil particle in- 100
creases with its size as illustrated in Table 4.3. This is Maximum stress
because larger particles tend to contain more and larger 20.7 MPa
internal aws and hence have lower tensile strength. 80 41.4 MPa
Percent Finer by Weight

Fig. 4.10 shows that oolitic limestone, carboniferous 62.1 MPa
limestone, and quartz sand exhibit near linear declines 103 MPa
60
in strength with increasing particle size on a loglog 345 MPa
plot (Lee, 1992). 517 MPa
The amount of particle crushing in an assemblage 40 689 MPa
of particles depends not only on particle strength, but
also on the distribution of contact forces and arrange-
Uncrushed
l
ment of different size particles. It can be argued that 20
ria
larger size particles are more likely to break because
the normal contact forces in a soil element increase
with particle size and the probability of a defect in a 0
0.01 0.1 1.0
given particle increases with its size as shown in Fig
Grain size (mm)
4.10 (Hardin, 1985). However, if a larger particle has
ate
contacts with neighboring particles (i.e., larger coor- Figure 4.11 Evolution of particle size distribution curve
dination number), the load on it is distributed, and the upon crushing (from Hagerty et al., 1993).
probability of facture is less than for a condition with
fewer contacts. Experimental evidences suggest that
nes increase as particles break by increase in applied
dM
pressure. For example, the evolution of particle size tact with many smaller particles. The very smallest
distribution curves for Ottawa sand in one-dimensional particles have a lower coordination number because
compression is shown in Fig. 4.11 (Hagerty et al., there are fewer smaller particles available for contact.
1993). Hence, the coordination number dominates over Hence, the largest particles in the aggregate become
size-dependent particle strength. Larger particles have protected by the surrounding newly formed smaller
higher coordination numbers because they are in con- particles, and smaller particles are more likely to break
hte
50 Leighton Buzzard Sand Rounded River Gravel

Angular River Gravel
Carboniferous Limestone
rig
10
Particle Strength (MPa)
5.0
py
Co
1.0 Oolitic Limestone
0.5
0.2
1 5 10 50 100
Average Particle Size (mm)
Figure 4.10 Relationship between tensile strength and particle size (from Lee, 1992).

or move. Further details on particle breakage effects

on compression behavior of sands are given in Chap-
eG VGS 1
C

Ws
e
100 GSG w G
(4.5)
ter 10.
The volume of water plus volume of clay is given by
w WS C WS
VW VC (4.6)
4.4 DOMINATING INFLUENCE OF THE CLAY 100 w 100 GSC w
PHASE
If clay and water completely ll the voids in the gran-
In general, the more clay in a soil, the higher the plas- ular phase, then
ticity, the greater the potential shrinkage and swell, the

l
lower the hydraulic conductivity, the higher the com- w Ws C W C Ws
ria
1 e (4.7)
pressibility, the higher the cohesion, and the lower the 100 w 100 GSC w 100 GSG w G
internal angle of friction. Whereas surface forces and
their range of inuence are small relative to the weight which simplies to
and size of silt sand particles, the behavior of small
ate
and aky clay mineral particles is strongly inuenced w C C eG
by surface forces, as discussed in Chapter 6. Water is 1 (4.8)
100 100GSC 100 GSG
strongly attracted to clay particle surfaces, also dis-
cussed in Chapter 6, and results in plasticity, whereas The void ratio of a granular material composed of
nonclay particles have much smaller specic surface bulky particles is of the order of 0.9 in its loosest pos-
and less afnity for water and do not develop signi-
dM sible state. The specic gravity of the nonclay fraction
cant plasticity, even when in nely ground form. in most soils is about 2.67, and that of the clay fraction
If it is assumed as a rst approximation that all of is about 2.75. Inserting these values in Eq. (4.8) gives
the water in a soil is associated with the clay phase,
the amount of clay required to ll the voids of the C 48.4 1.42w (4.9)
granular phase and prevent direct contact between
granular particles can be estimated for any water con- This relationship indicates that for water contents typ-
tent. The weight and volume relationships for the dif-
hte
ically encountered in practice, say 15 to 40 percent,

ferent phases of a saturated soil are shown in Fig. 4.12. only a maximum of about one-third of the soil solids
In this gure W represents weight, V is volume, C is need be clay in order to dominate the behavior by pre-
the percent clay by weight, GSC is the specic gravity venting direct interparticle contact of the granular par-
of clay particles, w is the water content in percent, w ticles. In fact, since there is a tendency for clay
is the unit weight of water, and GSG is the specic particles to coat granular particles, the clay can signif-
rig
gravity of the granular particles. The volume of voids icantly inuence properties. For example, just 1 or 2
in the granular phase is eG VGS, where eG is the void percent of highly plastic clay present in gravel used as
ratio of the granular phase and VGS is the volume of a ll or aggregate may be sufcient to clog handling
granular solids, given by and batching equipment.
py
Co
Figure 4.12 Weightvolume relationships for a saturated clay-granular soil mixture.

ATTERBERG LIMITS 95
4.5 ATTERBERG LIMITS Although both the liquid and plastic limits are easily
determined, and their qualitative correlations with soil
Atterberg limits are extensively used for identication, composition and physical properties are quite well es-
description, and classication of cohesive soils and as tablished, fundamental interpretations of the limits and
a basis for preliminary assessment of their mechanical quantitative relationships between their values and
properties. The potential usefulness of the Atterberg compositional factors are more complex.
limits in soil mechanics was rst indicated by Terzaghi
(1925a) when he noted that the results of the simpli-
ed soil tests (Atterberg limits) depend precisely on Liquid Limit
the same physical factors which determine the resis- The liquid limit test is a form of dynamic shear test.
tance and the permeability of soils (shape of particles, Casagrande (1932b) deduced that the liquid limit cor-
l
effective size, uniformity) only in a far more complex responds approximately to the water content at which
ria
manner. a soil has an undrained shear strength of about 2.5 kPa.
Casagrande (1932b) developed a standard device for Subsequent studies have indicated that the liquid limit
determination of the liquid limit and noted that the for all ne-grained soils corresponds to shearing resis-
nonclay minerals quartz and feldspar did not develop tance of about 1.7 to 2.0 kPa and a pore water suction
plastic mixtures with water, even when ground to sizes of about 6 kPa (Russell and Mickle, 1970; Wroth and
ate
smaller than 2 m. Further studies led to the formation Wood, 1978; Whyte, 1982).
of a soil classication system based on the Atterberg Liquid limit values are determined using both the
limits for identication of cohesive soils (Casagrande, Casagrande liquid limit device and the fall cone device.
1948). This system was adopted, with minor modi- Different standards adopt different devices and, there-
cations, as a part of the Unied Classication System. fore, correlations based on liquid limit should be used
A plot of plasticity index as a function of liquid limit with some caution. The variation of undrained shear
dM
that is divided into different zones, as shown in Fig. strength with water content can be obtained from a
4.13, is termed the plasticity chart. This chart forms series of fall cone tests and solutions are available us-
an essential part of the Unied Soil Classication Sys- ing the theory of plasticity for various geometries used
tem. in fall cones (Houlsby, 1982; Koumoto and Houlsby,
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 4.13 Plasticity chart.

2001). Furthermore, with the aid of critical state soil greater the total amount of water required to reduce
mechanics (see Chapter 11), some other engineering the strength to that at the liquid limit. The specic
properties, such as compressibility, can be deduced surface areas of the different clay minerals (Table 3.6)
(Wood, 1990). are consistent with the liquid limit values of different
Values of hydraulic conductivity at the liquid limit clay minerals in Table 4.5. Additional support for this
for several clays are given in Table 4.4, from Nagaraj concept is given by the following relationship found
et al. (1991). The striking aspect of these data is that, for 19 British clays:
although the water contents and void ratios at the liq-
uid limit for the different clays vary over a very wide LL 19 0.56As (20%) (4.10)
range, the hydraulic conductivity is very nearly the
same for all of them. This means that the effective pore where LL is the liquid limit and As is the specic sur-
l
sizes controlling uid ow must be about the same for face in square meters per gram (Farrar and Coleman,
ria
all the clays at their liquid limit. Such a microfabric is 1967).
consistent with the cluster model for hydraulic con- The effects of electrolyte concentration, cation va-
ductivity discussed in Chapter 9. In this model, the lence and size, and dielectric constant of the pore uid
individual clay particles associate into aggregates or on the liquid limit of kaolinite and montmorillonite are
ocs, as shown schematically in Fig. 9.11. The size of
ate
illustrated and discussed by Sridharan (2002). The ef-
voids between the clusters or aggregates controls the fects are generally consistent with the above interpre-
ow rate according to either model. tation and can be explained also through double-layer
The approximately equal strengths, pore water suc- (see Chapter 6) inuences on swelling, occulation
tions, and hydraulic conductivities for all clays at their and deocculation of clay particles, and shear strength.
liquid limit can be explained by the concepts that (1)
dM
the aggregates or clusters are the basic units that in-
teract to develop the strength, that is, the aggregates Plastic Limit
act somewhat like single particles, (2) the average ad- The plastic limit has been interpreted as the water con-
sorbed water layer thickness is about the same on all tent below which the physical properties of the water
particle surfaces, and (3) the average size of interclus- no longer correspond to those of free water (Terzaghi,
ter pores is the same for all clays. Concept 2 provides 1925a) and as the lowest water content at which the
the key to why different clays have different values of cohesion between particles or groups of particles is
hte
liquid limit. All clays have essentially the same surface sufciently low to allow movement, but sufciently
structures, that is, a layer of oxygen atoms in tetrahe- high to allow particles to maintain the molded posi-
dral coordination with silicon, or a layer of hydroxyls tions (Yong and Warkentin, 1966). Whatever the struc-
in octahedral coordination with aluminum or magne- tural status of the water and the nature of the
sium. The forces of interaction between these surfaces interparticle forces, the plastic limit is the lower
and adsorbed water should be about the same for the boundary of the range of water contents within which
rig
different clay minerals. Thus, the amount of water ad- the soil exhibits plastic behavior; that is, above the
sorbed per unit area of surface that corresponds to a plastic limit the soil can be deformed without volume
pore water suction of 6 kPa should be about the same. change or cracking and will retain its deformed shape;
This means that the greater the specic surface, the below the plastic limit it cannot. Plastic limit values
py
Table 4.4 Hydraulic Conductivity at Liquid Limit for Several Clays

Co
Void Ratio at Hydraulic

Liquid Limit, Liquid Limit, Conductivity
Soil Type wL (%) eL (107 cm/s)
Bentonite 330 9.240 1.28
Bentonite sand 215 5.910 2.65
Natural marine soil 106 2.798 2.56
Air-dried marine soil 84 2.234 2.42
Oven-dried marine soil 60 1.644 2.63
Brown soil 62 1.674 2.83
From Nagaraj et al. (1991).

INFLUENCES OF EXCHANGEABLE CATIONS AND pH 97
Table 4.5 Atterberg Limit Values for the Clay Minerals
Liquid Plastic Shrinkage

Limit Limit Limit
Minerala (%) (%) (%)
Montmorillonite (1) 100900 50100 8.515
Nontronite (1)(2) 3772 1927
Illite (3) 60120 3560 1517
Kaolinite (3) 30110 2540 2529
Hydrated halloysite (1) 5070 4760
l
Dehydrated halloysite (3) 3555 3045
ria
Attapulgite (4) 160230 100120
Chlorite (5) 4447 3640
Allophane (undried) 200250 130140
a
(1) Various ionic forms. Highest values are for monovalent; lowest
ate
are for di- and trivalent. (2) All samples 10% clay, 90% sand and silt.
(3) Various ionic forms. Highest values are for di- and trivalent; lowest
are for monovalent. (4) Various ionic forms. (5) Some chlorites are
nonplastic.
Data Sources: Cornell University (1950), Samuels (1950), Lambe
and Martin (1955), Warkentin (1961), and Grim (1962).
dM
for different clay minerals are listed in Table 4.5. The plasticity index
Activity (4.12)
undrained shear strength at the plastic limit is reported % 2 m
to be in the ranges of 100 to 300 kPa with an average
value of 170 kPa (Sharma and Bora, 2003). For many clays, a plot of plasticity index versus clay
hte
content yields a straight line passing through the origin

Liquidity Index as shown for four clays in Fig. 4.14. The slope of the
The liquidity index (LI) is dened by line for each clay gives the activity. Approximate val-
ues for the activities of different clay minerals are
water content plastic limit listed in Table 4.6.
LI (4.11) The greater the activity, the more important the in-
rig
plasticity index uence of the clay fraction on properties and the more
susceptible their values to changes in such factors as
wherein the plasticity index is given by PI LL type of exchangeable cations and pore uid composi-
PL. The liquidity index is useful for expressing and tion. For example, the activity of Belle Fourche mont-
py
comparing the consistencies of different clays. It nor- morillonite varies from 1.24 with magnesium as the
malizes the water content relative to the range of water exchangeable cation to 7.09 for sodium saturation of
content over which a soil is plastic. It correlates well the exchange sites. On the other hand, the activity of
with compressibility, strength, and sensitivity proper- Anna kaolinite only varies from 0.30 to 0.41 for six
ties of ne-grained soils as illustrated in later chapters different cation forms (White, 1955).
Co
of this book.
4.7 INFLUENCES OF EXCHANGEABLE

4.6 ACTIVITY CATIONS AND pH
Both the type and amount of clay inuence a soils Cation type exerts a controlling inuence on the
properties, and the Atterberg limits reect both of these amount of swelling of expansive clay minerals in the
factors. To separate them, the ratio of the plasticity presence of water. For example, sodium and lithium
index to the clay size fraction (percentage by weight montmorillonite may undergo almost unrestricted
of particles ner than 2 m), termed the activity, is interlayer swelling provided water is available,
very useful (Skempton, 1953): the conning pressure is small, and the electrolyte

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 4.14 Relationship between plasticity index and clay fraction (from Skempton, 1953).
hte
Table 4.6 Activities of Various Clay Minerals sions ordinarily occulate in the presence of divalent
and trivalent cations.
Mineral Activity pH inuences interparticle repulsions because of its
effects on clay particle surface charge. Positive edge
Smectites 17 charges can exist in low pH environments. These ef-
Illite 0.51 fects are of greatest importance in kaolinite, lesser
rig
Kaolinite 0.5 importance in illite, and relatively unimportant in

Halloysite (2H2O) 0.5 smectite. In kaolinite, the pH may be the single most
Halloysite (4H2O) 0.5 important factor controlling the fabric of sediments
Attapulgite 0.51.2 formed from suspension.
Allophane 0.51.2 The inuences of cations and pH are examined fur-
py
ther in Chapter 6.
concentration is low. On the other hand, divalent and 4.8 ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF CLAY
Co
trivalent forms of montmorillonite do not expand be- MINERALS

yond a basal spacing of about 17 A and form multi-
particle clusters or aggregates, regardless of other Different groups of clay minerals exhibit a wide range
environmental factors. of engineering properties. Within any one group, the
In soils composed mainly of nonexpansive clay min- range of property values may also be great. It is a
erals, adsorbed cation type is of the greatest impor- function of particle size, degree of crystallinity, type
tance in inuencing the behavior of the material in of adsorbed cations, pH, the presence of organic mat-
suspension and the nature of the fabric in sediments ter, and the type and amount of free electrolyte in the
that form. Monovalent cations, particularly sodium and pore water. In general, the importance of these factors
lithium, promote deocculation, whereas clay suspen- increases in the order kaolin hydrous mica (illite)

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF CLAY MINERALS 99
smectite. The chlorites exhibit characteristics in the ka- 4. The type of adsorbed cation has a much greater
olinhydrous mica range. Vermiculites and attapulgite inuence on the high plasticity minerals (e.g.,
have properties that usually fall in the hydrous mica montmorillonite) than on the low plasticity min-
smectite range. erals (e.g., kaolinite).
Because of the inuences of the above composi- 5. Increasing cation valence decreases the liquid
tional factors, only typical ranges of property values limit values of the expansive clays but tends to
are given in this section. Factors that determine the increase the liquid limit of the nonexpansive min-
actual values in any case are analyzed in more detail erals.
in subsequent chapters. 6. Hydrated halloysite has an unusually high plastic
limit and low plasticity index.
Atterberg Limits 7. The greater the plasticity the greater is the shrink-
l
age on drying (the lower the shrinkage limit).
ria
Plasticity values for different clay minerals are listed
in Table 4.5 in terms of ranges in the liquid, plastic,
and shrinkage limit values. Most of the values were Particle Size and Shape
determined using samples composed of particles ner Different clay minerals occur in different size ranges
than 2 m. Several general conclusions can be made (Table 3.6) because mineralogical composition is a ma-
ate
concerning the Atterberg limits of the clay minerals. jor factor in determining particle size. There is some
concentration of different clay minerals in different
1. The liquid and plastic limit values for any one bands within the clay size range (less than 2 m), as
clay mineral species may vary over a wide range. indicated in Table 4.7. The shapes of the most common
2. For any clay mineral, the range in liquid limit clay minerals are platy, except for halloysite, which
values is greater than the range in plastic limit occurs as tubes (Fig. 3.21). Particles of kaolinite are
values.
dM relatively large, thick, and stiff (Fig. 3.13). Smectites
3. The variation in values of liquid limit among dif- are composed of small, very thin, and lmy particles
ferent clay mineral groups is much greater than (Fig. 3.25). Illites are intermediate between kaolinite
the variation in plastic limits. and smectite (Fig. 3.29) and are often terraced and thin
hte
Table 4.7 Mineral Composition of Different Particle Size

Ranges in Soils
Particle
Size Predominating Common Rare
rig
(m) Constituents Constituents Constituents

0.1 Montmoril- Mica inter- Illite (traces)
lonite mediates
Beidellite
py
0.10.2 Mica inter- Kaolinite Illite

mediates Montmo- Quartz
rillonite (traces)
0.22.0 Kaolinite Illite Quartz
Co
Mica inter- Montmo-

mediates rillonite
Micas Feldspar
Halloysite
2.011.0 Micas Quartz Halloysite
Illites Kaolinite (traces)
Feldspars Montmo-
rillonite
(traces)
From Soveri (1950).

at the edges. Attapulgite, owing to its double silica

chain structure, occurs in lathlike particle shapes (Fig.
3.31).
Hydraulic Conductivity (Permeability)

Mineralogical composition, particle size and size dis-
tribution, void ratio, fabric, and pore uid character-
istics all inuence the hydraulic conductivity. This
property is considered in detail in Chapter 9. Over the
normal range of water contents (plastic limit to liquid
limit), the hydraulic conductivity of all the clay min-
l
erals is less than about 1 107 m/s and may range
ria
to values less than 1 1012 m/s for some of the
monovalent ionic forms of smectite minerals at low Figure 4.15 Ranges in effective stress failure envelopes for
porosity. The usual measured range for natural clay pure clay minerals and quartz (from Olson, 1974). Reprinted
soils is about 1 108 to 1 1010 m/s. For clay with permission of ASCE.
ate
minerals compared at the same water content, the hy-
draulic conductivities are in the order smectite (mont-
morillonite) attapulgite illite kaolinite.
Shear Strength
There are many ways to measure and express the shear
dM
strength of a soil, as described in most geotechnical
engineering textbooks. In most cases, a Mohr failure
envelope, where shear strength (usually peak, critical
state, or residual) is plotted as a function of the direct
effective stress on the failure plane, or a modied Mohr
diagram, in which maximum shear stress is plotted ver-
hte
sus the average of the major and minor principal ef-

fective stresses at failure, is used. A straight line is t
to the resulting curve over the normal stress range of
interest and the shear strength is given by an equation
of the form Figure 4.16 Strength envelopes for a range of soil types
(from Bishop, 1966).
rig
c n tan (4.13)
where n is the effective normal stress on the shear

plane, c is the intercept for n equals zero, often called grained the soil and the greater the amount of clay, the
the cohesion, and is the slope, usually called the smaller the inclination of the failure envelope.
py
friction angle. From a number of studies [e.g., Hvorslev (1937,

Effective stress strength envelopes are useful for re- 1960), Gibson (1953), Trollope (1960), and Schmert-
lating strength to composition. Zones that encompass mann and Osterberg (1960), and Schmertmann
the effective stress failure envelopes, based on peak (1976)], it has been believed that the total strength of
Co
strength, for pure clay minerals and quartz are shown a clay is composed of two distinct parts: a cohesion
in Fig. 4.15. The increase in shear strength with in- that depends only on void ratio (water content), and a
crease in effective stress, that is, the friction angle, is frictional contribution, dependent only on normal ef-
greatest for the nonclay mineral quartz, followed in fective stress. Evaluation of these two parts was done
descending order by kaolinite, illite, and montmoril- by measurement of the strength of two samples both
lonite. The ranges in the position of a failure envelope at the same void ratio or water content, but at different
for a given mineral result from differences in such fac- levels of effective stress. This condition is obtained by
tors as fabric, adsorbed cation, pH, and overconsoli- using one normally consolidated and one overconsol-
dation ratio. A similar pattern of failure envelopes for idated sample. The strength parameters determined in
some natural soils is shown in Fig. 4.16. The ner this way, often termed the Hvorslev parameters or true

cohesion and true friction, show increasing cohesion Even the largest of the friction angle values for clay
and decreasing friction with increasing plasticity and minerals is signicantly less than the residual value for
activity of the clay. cohesionless soils, wherein values of drained friction
However, two samples of the same clay at the same angle are generally in the range of 30 to 50. The
void ratio but different effective stresses are known to residual strengths of some quartzclay mixtures are
have different structures, as discussed in Chapter 8. shown in Fig. 4.17. If each mineral were an equally
Thus, they are not equivalent, and the strength tests important contributor to strength, then the curve for a
measure the effects of both effective stress and struc- given mixture should be symmetrical about the 50 per-
ture differences. Furthermore, tests over large ranges cent point, as is the case for kaolinite and hydrous mica
of effective stress show that actual failure envelopes with no salt in the pore water. In the other mixtures,
are curved in the manner of Fig. 4.16 and that the however, the clay phase begins to dominate at clay
l
cohesion intercept is either zero or very small, except contents less than 50 percent. This is because with ex-
ria
for cemented soils. Thus, a signicant true cohesion, pansive clay minerals (montmorillonite) or occulated
if dened as strength in the absence of normal stress fabrics (30 g salt/liter) the ratio of volume of wet clay
on the failure plane, does not exist in the absence of to volume of quartz is greater than the ratio of dry
chemical bonding. These considerations are discussed volumes. It is further illustration of the dominating in-
in more detail in Chapter 11. uence of the clay phase discussed earlier.
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 4.17 Residual friction angles for clayquartz mixtures and natural soils (from Ken-
ney, 1967).

Compressibility (Cornell University, 1950) were in the ranges of 0.06

The compressibility of saturated specimens of clay 108 to 0.3 108 m2 /s for montmorillonite, 0.3
minerals increases in the order kaolinite illite 108 to 2.4 108 m2 /s for illite, and 12 108 to
smectite. The compression index Cc, which is dened 90 108 m2 /s for kaolinite. Coefcients of consoli-
as the change in void ratio per 10-fold increase in con- dation for kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, halloysite,
solidation pressure, is in the range of 0.19 to 0.28 for and two-mineral mixtures of these clays ranged from
kaolinite, 0.50 to 1.10 for illite, and 1.0 to 2.6 for 1 108 m2 /s for pure montmorillonite to 378 108
montmorillonite, for different ionic forms (Cornell m2 /s for pure halloysite in another study (Kondner and
University, 1950). The more compressible the clay, the Vendrell, 1964). Individual minerals did not inuence
more pronounced the inuences of cation type and the coefcient of consolidation in direct proportion to
electrolyte concentration on compressibility. the amounts present.
l
Compression index values for a number of different Approximate ranges of the coefcient of consoli-
ria
natural clays are shown in Fig. 4.18 as a function of dation for natural clays are given in Fig. 4.19. The
plasticity index (Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990). The val- above values for pure clays and clay mineral mixtures
ues for pure clays plot generally within the dened are within the same general ranges. One conclusion
ranges in Fig. 4.18. The compression index for un- that can be drawn from the comparability of compres-
sion index and coefcient of consolidation values for
ate
loading and reloading is about 20 percent of the value
for virgin compression. natural clays with those for pure clays is that the clay
As both compressibility and hydraulic conductivity phase dominates the compression and consolidation
are strong functions of soil composition, the coefcient behavior, with the nonclay material playing a passive
of consolidation cv is also related to composition be- role as relatively inert ller.
cause cv is directly proportional to hydraulic conduc-
dM
tivity and inversely proportional to the coefcient of Swelling and Shrinkage
compressibility.4 Values of cv determined in one study The actual amount of volume change of a soil in re-
sponse to a change in applied stress depends on the
4
The coefcient of compressibility av is the negative of the rate of environmental factors listed in Section 4.1 as well as
change of void ratio with effective stress. on the cation type, electrolyte type and concentration,
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 4.18 Compression and unloadreload indices as a function of plasticity index (from
Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990). Reprinted with permission from EPR1.

p.s.i.)
re - 1
p.s.i.)
ressu
re - 1
ge P
ressu
char
ge P
(Sur
.)
.s.i
l
char
1p
ria
e-
(Sur
sur
res
Figure 4.19 Coefcient of consolidation as a function of
eP
liquid limit (from NAVFAC, 1982).
rg
ha
c .
i.)
ur p.s
(S 4
ate
6.9
e-
sur
and pore uid dielectric constant. However, the poten- Pres
e
harg
tial total amount of swell or shrinkage is determined (Surc
by the type and amount of clay. From a consideration
of the clay mineral structures and interlayer bonding
dM
(Chapter 3), it would be expected that smectite and
vermiculite should undergo greater volume changes on
wetting and drying than do kaolinite and hydrous mica. Figure 4.20 Four correlations between swelling potential
Experience indicates clearly that this is indeed the and plasticity index (from Chen, 1975).
case. In general, the swelling and shrinking properties
of the clay minerals follow the same pattern as their
plasticity properties, that is, the more plastic the min-
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eral, the more potential swell and shrinkage. Illustra- sure during swelling is clearly shown. The tests by
tions of the inuences of adsorbed cation type and pore Seed et al. (1962b) were done using articial mixtures
uid composition are given in Chapter 10 and by Srid- of sand and clay minerals compacted at optimum water
haran (2002). content using Standard AASHTO compactive effort al-
Because of the many problems encountered in the lowed to swell under a surcharge pressure of 1 psi (7
performance of structures founded on high volume kPa). The measurements by Holtz and Gibbs (1956)
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change soils, numerous attempts have been made to were made using both undisturbed and remolded sam-
develop reliable methods for their identication. The ples allowed to swell from an air-dry state to saturation
most successful of these are based on the determina- under a surcharge of 1 psi (7 kPa).
tion of some factor that is related directly to the clay The results of the tests on articial sandclay min-
mineral composition, such as shrinkage limit, plasticity eral mixtures obtained by Seed et al. (1962b) correlate
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index, activity, and percentage ner than 1 m. well with compositional factors that reect both the
Simple, unique correlations between swell or swell type and amount of clay, that is, the activity A, dened
pressure and these parameters that reect only the type as PI/ C, and the percent clay size C (% 2 m),
and amount of clay are not possible because of the according to
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strong dependence of the behavior on initial state

(moisture content, density, and structure) and the other S 3.6 105 A2.44C 3.44 (4.14)
environmental factors. This is illustrated by Fig. 4.20,
which shows four different correlations between swell-
ing potential and plasticity index (Chen, 1975). The where S is the percent swell for samples compacted
two curves showing the Chen correlations were ob- and tested as indicated above. A chart based on this
tained for different natural soils compacted to dry unit relationship is shown in Fig. 4.21. For compacted nat-
weights between 100 and 110 pounds per cubic foot ural soils the swelling potential could be related to the
(15.7 and 17.3 kN/m3) at water contents between 15 plasticity index with an accuracy of 35% according
and 20 percent. The large inuence of surcharge pres- to

In general, the greater the organic content and the

wetter and more plastic the clay, the more pronounced
is the time-dependent behavior. Both the type and
amount of clay are important, as indicated, for exam-
ple, by the variation of creep rate with clay content for
three different clay mineralsand mixtures, as shown
in Fig. 4.22. In these tests, environmental factors were
held constant by preparing all specimens to the same
initial conditions (isotropic consolidation of saturated
samples to 200 kPa) and application of a creep stress
equal to 90 percent of the strength determined by a
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normal strength test. The variation in creep rate for
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these specimens as a function of plasticity index is
shown in Fig. 4.23. The correlation is reasonably
unique because the plasticity index reects both the
type and amount of clay.
ate
4.9 EFFECTS OF ORGANIC MATTER
Organic matter in soil may be responsible for high
Figure 4.21 Classication chart for swelling potential (mod- plasticity, high shrinkage, high compressibility, low
ied from Seed et al., 1962b).
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S 2.16 103 (PI)2.44 (4.15)
Somewhat different relationships have been found to

better classify the swell potential of some soils, and no
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single relationship is suitable for all conditions. Thus,

while the above relationships and plots such as Figs.
4.20 and 4.21 illustrate the inuences of compositional
factors and provide preliminary guidance about the po-
tential magnitude of swelling, reliable quantication of
swell and swell pressure in any case should be based
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on the results of tests on representative undisturbed

samples tested under appropriate conditions of con-
nement and water chemistry.
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Time-Dependent Behavior
Different soil types undergo varying amounts of time-
dependent deformations and stress variations with
time, as exhibited by secondary compression, creep,
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and stress relaxation. The potential for these phenom-

ena depends on compositional factors, whereas the ac-
tual amount in any case depends on environmental
factors. For example, it is known that retaining walls
with wet clay backlls must be designed for at-rest
earth pressures because of stress relaxation along a po-
tential failure plane that results in increased pressure
on the wall. On the other hand, if dry clay is used, and
if it is maintained dry, then designs based on active
pressures are possible because time-dependent in- Figure 4.22 Effect of amount and type of clay on steady-
creases in pressure will be negligible. state creep rate (see Chapter 12).

CONCLUDING COMMENTS 105
posed organic matter may behave as a reversible swell-
ing system. At some critical stage during drying,
however, this reversibility ceases, and this is often
manifested by a large decrease in the Atterberg limits.
This is recognized by the Unied Soil Classication
System, which denes an organic clay as a soil that
would classify as a clay (the Atterberg limits plot
above the A line shown in Fig. 4.13) except that the
liquid limit value after oven drying is less than 75 per-
cent of the liquid limit value before drying (ASTM,
1989).
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Increasing the organic carbon content by only 1 or
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2 percent may increase the limits by as much as an
increase of 10 to 20 percent in the amount of material
ner than 2 m or in the amount of montmorillonite
(Odell et al., 1960). The inuences of organic matter
content on the classication properties of a soft clay
ate
from Brazil are shown in Fig. 4.24.
The maximum compacted densities and compressive
strength as a function of organic content of both nat-
ural samples and mechanical mixtures of inorganic
dM soils and peat are shown in Figs. 4.25 and 4.26, re-
spectively. Both the compacted density and strength
decrease signicantly with increased organic content
and the relationships for natural samples and the
mixtures are about the same. Increased organic content
also causes an increase in the optimum water content
for compaction.
The large increase in compressibility as a result of
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high organic content in clay is illustrated by the data

Figure 4.23 Relationship between clay content, plasticity in- in Fig. 4.27 for the clay whose classication properties
dex, and creep rate. are shown in Fig. 4.24. In Fig. 4.27 CR is the com-
pression ratio, dened as CC /(1 e0) expressed as a
percentage, and C is the secondary compression ratio,
dened as the change in void ratio per 10-fold increase
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hydraulic conductivity, and low strength. Soil organic in time after the end of primary consolidation.
matter is complex both chemically and physically, and The effect of organic matter on the strength and
many reactions and interactions between the soil and stiffness of soils depends largely on whether the or-
the organic matter are possible (Oades, 1989). It may ganic matter is decomposed or consists of bers that
occur in any of ve groups: carbohydrates; proteins;
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can act as reinforcement. In the former case, both the

fats, resins, and waxes; hydrocarbons; and carbon. Cel- undrained strength and the stiffness, or modulus, are
lulose (C6H10O5) is the main organic constituent of usually reduced as a result of the higher water content
soil. In residual soils organic matter is most abundant and plasticity contributed by the organic matter. In the
in the surface horizons. Organic particles may range latter, the bers can act as reinforcements, thereby in-
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down to 0.1 m in size. The specic properties of the creasing the strength.
colloidal particles vary greatly depending upon parent
material, climate, and stage of decomposition.
The humic fraction is gel-like in properties and neg- 4.10 CONCLUDING COMMENTS
atively charged (Marshall, 1964). Organic particles can
strongly adsorb on mineral surfaces, and this adsorp- Knowledge of soil composition is a useful indicator of
tion modies both the properties of the minerals and the probable ranges of geotechnical properties and
the organic material itself. Soils containing signicant their variability and sensitivity to changes in environ-
amounts of decomposed organic matter are usually mental conditions. Although quantitative values of
characterized by a dark gray to black color and an odor properties for analysis and design cannot be derived
of decomposition. At high moisture contents, decom- from compositional data alone, information on com-

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Figure 4.24 Inuence of organic content on classication properties of Juturnaiba organic
clay, Brazil (from Coutinho and Lacerda, 1987).
position can be helpful for explaining unusual behav- and more direct evaluation of their signicance is
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ior, identication of expansive soils, selection of needed. Examples of some soil types in which these
sampling and sample handling procedures, choice of factors may be especially important are decomposed
soil stabilization methods, and prediction of probable granite, tropical residual soils, volcanic ash soils, col-
future behavior. lapsing soils, loess, and carbonate sand, as discussed
For example, if it is known that a soil to be used in in more detail by Mitchell and Coutinho (1991).
earthwork construction contains either hydrated halloy-
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site, organic matter, or expansive minerals, then air-

drying laboratory samples prior to testing is likely to QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
result in erroneous data on mechanical properties and
1. Show that the loosest and densest packings of uni-
must be avoided. If a soil contains a large amount of
form size particles give void ratios of 0.91 and 0.34,
active clay minerals, then it can be anticipated that
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respectively. What is the coordination numbers

properties will be sensitive to changes in chemical en-
(number of particle contacts for each particle) for
vironment. Compositional data on the soil and pore
each packing?
water are useful to estimate the dispersion and erosion
potential of a soil (Chapter 8) and the risk of instability 2. Explain why smaller particles are stronger than
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as a result of leaching and solutioning processes. larger particles and why angular particles are more
In many cases, the effects of composition on behav- susceptible to breakage than round particles.
ior are reected by information on particle size, shape,
3. Using Figs. 4.8 and 4.11, show how the maximum
and size distribution of the coarse fraction, and the
and minimum void ratio changes with applied load
Atterberg limits of the ne fraction. On large projects
as particles progressively break and the coefcient
and whenever unusual behavior is encountered, how-
of uniformity Cu increases. Plot the data in elog
ever, compositional data are valuable aids for interpre-
v space and discuss the result.
tation of observations. Furthermore, the inuences of
compositional and structural factors are not always ad- 4. Using Eq. (4.8), derive a relationship between C
equately reected by the usual classication properties, (the percentage of clay) versus w (water content)

l
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ate
dM Figure 4.27 Effect of organic content on the compressibility
properties of Juturnaiba organic clay, Brazil (from Coutinho
and Lacerda, 1987).
Figure 4.25 Maximum dry density as a function of organic

for different values of eG (the void ratio of the gran-
content for a natural soil and soilpeat mixtures (from Frank-
lin et al., 1973). Reprinted with permission of ASCE.
ular phase). Discuss the sensitivity of eG on sand
clay mixture packing. What happens if silt is mixed
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instead of clay?
5. Using the reported undrained shear strengths at liq-
uid limit and plastic limit, derive a relationship be-
tween the compression index Cc and plasticity index
PI. Assume that the ratio of undrained shear
strength to vertical effective stress, su / v, is 0.3.
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Compare the result with the data presented in Fig.

4.18.
6. Assuming the thickness of adsorbed water layer is
100 A , estimate the amount of free water per gram
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of clay for the following conditions and discuss the

results:
a. Montmorillonite at its liquid limit with mono-
valent adsorbed cations (specic surface 840
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m2 /g of dry clay), liquid limit 900 percent

b. Montmorillonite at its plastic limit with mono-
valent adsorbed cations (specic surface 840
m2 /g of dry clay), plastic limit 100 percent
c. Montmorillonite at its liquid limit with divalent
adsorbed cations (specic surface 50 m2 /g of
Figure 4.26 Unconned compressive strength as a function dry clay), liquid limit 100 percent
of organic content for a natural soil and soilpeat mixtures d. Montmorillonite at its plastic limit with divalent
(from Franklin et al., 1973). Reprinted with permission of adsorbed cations (specic surface 50 m2 /g of
ASCE. dry clay), plastic limit 50 percent

e. Kaolinite at its liquid limit (specic surface soildiscuss the strengths and weaknesses of the
15 m2 /g of dry clay), liquid limit 70 percent Unied Soil Classication System (USCS) in pro-
f. Kaolinite at its plastic limit (specic surface viding a clear and unambiguous picture of the prob-
15 m2 /g of dry clay), plastic limit 30 percent able behavior of the following soil types. In
developing your answer, be specic concerning
7. By examining the data presented in Figs. 4.24 and what is measured and the terms of reference used
4.29, discuss why organic clays exhibit larger com- in the USCS and what is most important in deter-
pressibility compared to inorganic clays (see Fig. mining any property being discussed. (Note: Some
4.18). of the information in Chapter 8 may be useful in
8. Assume that you are able to determine accurate, developing your answer to this question.)
reliable quantitative values for all details of the min- a. Clean sand
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eralogical, chemical, and biological constituents of b. Decomposed granite
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a given soil. All particle sizes, shapes, and distri- c. Calcareous sand
butions are also known. Speculate on your ability
d. Organic silt
to predict the volume change, strength, and per-
meability properties of this soil over a range of wa- e. Expansive clay
f. Glacial till
ate
ter contents. Give reasons for why you would have
low or high condence in your predictions. g. Loess
9. In light of what is known about the dependence of h. Dispersive clay
engineering properties on soil compositionboth i. Volcanic ash
of the particles and of the other phases present in a
dM j. Estuarine mud
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CHAPTER 5
Soil Fabric and Its
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Measurement
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5.1 INTRODUCTION niques that incorporate small-scale features such as
inhomogeneity and microfractures into continuum
Although soils are composed of discrete soil particles models became available (Mura, 1987; Nemat-Nasser
and particle groups, a soil mass is almost always and Hori, 1999). Increased computational speeds al-
treated as a continuum for engineering analysis and
dM lowed simulation of an assembly of individual soil par-
design. Nonetheless, the specic values of properties ticles by modeling particle contact behavior, and this
such as strength, permeability, and compressibility de- led to the development of numerical methods such as
pend on the size and shape of the particles, their ar-
the discrete/distinct element method and contact dy-
rangements, and the forces between them. Thus, to
namics (Cundall and Strack, 1979; Moreau, 1994;
understand a property requires knowledge of these fac-
Cundall, 2001). In the early developments, simulations
tors. Furthermore, new theories of particulate mechan-
were limited to an assembly of two-dimensional cir-
ics and computational methods based on these theories
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cular disks. However, it is now possible to perform

are now becoming available. With these theories and
simulations with various three-dimensional particle
methods it may ultimately be possible to predict the
shapes, complex contact models, and pore uid inter-
mechanical behavior of soil masses in terms of the
characteristics of the particles themselves, although at- actions. These digital-type studies offer possibilities
taining this goal appears somewhat far off. for systematic investigation of soil fabric effects on
mechanical properties in comparison to laboratory-
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Particle arrangements in soils remained largely un-

known until suitable optical, X-ray diffraction, and type studies, which contain inherent errors associated
electron microscope techniques made direct observa- with measuring soil fabrics of different specimens.
tions possible starting in the mid-1950s. Interest then Furthermore, mechanical responses under the stress
centered mainly on clay particle arrangements and paths that are difcult to apply in the laboratory can
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their relationships to mechanical properties. In the late be investigated using distinct element methods.
1960s, knowledge expanded rapidly, sparked by im- Other innovations in the past two decades have led
proved techniques of sample preparation and the de- to improved material measurement techniques and
velopment of the scanning electron microscope. In the their interpretation using computers. These include the
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early 1970s attention was directed also at particle ar- environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM),
rangements in cohesionless soils. From this work came nanoindentation and probing, complex digital image
a realization that characterization of the properties of analysis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-Ray
sands and gravels cannot be done in terms of density tomography, and laser-aided tomography. Some of
or relative density alone, as had previously been them have been used to characterize the microscopic
thought. Particle arrangements and stress history must properties of soils (Oda and Iwashita, 1999).
be considered in these materials as well. The more established methods for studying and,
In the 1970s and 1980s, micromechanics theories where possible, quantifying the arrangements of par-
were developed that aimed to relate microstructure to ticles, particle groups, and voids in different soils are
macroscopic behavior. Various homogenization tech- described and illustrated in this chapter. Some ele-
109

110 5 SOIL FABRIC AND ITS MEASUREMENT
ments and applications of the newer methods are in-

troduced in later chapters.
5.2 DEFINITIONS OF FABRICS AND FABRIC

ELEMENTS
The term fabric refers to the arrangement of particles,
particle groups, and pore spaces in a soil. The term
structure is sometimes used interchangeably with fab-
ric. It is preferable, however, to use structure to refer
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to the combined effects of fabric, composition, and in-
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terparticle forces. Methods for determination of soil
fabric are described and examples of different fabric
types are given in the following sections. The impor-
tance of soil fabric as a factor determining soil prop-
ate
erties and behavior is discussed and illustrated in
Chapter 8. In practice, special problems, unusual soils,
and the need to ensure that measured properties prop-
erly reect the in situ conditions may require appli-
cation of these testing and interpretation methods.
It is necessary to consider the size, the form, and
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the function of different fabric units and to keep in
mind the scale at which the fabric is of interest. For
example, a carefully compacted clay liner for an im-
poundment may have uniformly and closely packed
particle groups within it, thus giving a material with
very low hydraulic conductivity. If, however, the liner
becomes broken into sections measuring a meter or so
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in each direction as a result of shrinkage cracking, then

leakage through it will be dominated totally by ow
through the cracks, and the small-scale fabric is un-
important. Similarly, the strength of intact, homoge-
neous soft clay will be inuenced greatly by the
particle arrangements on a microscale, whereas that of Figure 5.1 Modes of particle associations in clay suspen-
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sions and terminology. (a) Dispersed and deocculated, (b)

stiff ssured clay will be controlled by the properties
aggregated but deocculated (face-to-face association, or
along the ssures. parallel or oriented aggregation), (c) edge-to-face occulated
but dispersed, (d ) edge-to-edge occulated but dispersed, (e)
Particle Associations in Clay Suspensions edge-to-face occulated and aggregated, ( ) edge-to-edge
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occulated and aggregated, and (g) edge-to-face and edge-

Many soil deposits are formed by deposition from
to-edge occulated and aggregated. From An Introduction to
owing or still water. Accordingly, knowledge of par- Clay Colloid Chemistry, by H. van Olphen, 2nd ed., Copy-
ticle associations in suspensions is a good starting right 1977 by John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with per-
point for understanding how soil fabrics are formed
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mission from John Wiley & Sons.

and changed throughout the history of a soil. Clean
sands and gravels are usually comprised of single grain
arrangements, and these are discussed in Section 5.3.
Particle associations in clay suspensions may be more 2. Aggregated Face-to-face (FF) association of
complex. They can be described as follows and as il- several clay particles
lustrated in Fig. 5.1 (van Olphen, 1977): 3. Flocculated Edge-to-edge (EE) or edge-to-face
(EF) association of aggregates
1. Dispersed No face-to-face association of clay 4. Deocculated No association between aggre-
particles gates

DEFINITIONS OF FABRICS AND FABRIC ELEMENTS 111
Thicker and larger particles result from FF associa-
tion. The EF and EE associations can produce card-
house structures that are quite voluminous until
compressed.
The terms occulated and aggregated are often used
synonymously in a generic sense to refer to multipar-
ticle assemblages, and the terms deocculated and dis-
persed are used synonymously in a generic sense to
refer to single particles or particle groups acting in-
dependently.
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Particle Associations in Soils
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Particle associations in sediments, residual soils, and
compacted clays assume a variety of forms; however,
most of them are related to combinations of the con-
gurations shown in Fig. 5.1 and reect the difference
ate
in water content between a suspension and a denser
soil mass. Fine-grained soils are almost always com-
posed of multiparticle aggregates. Overall, three main
groupings of fabric elements may be identied (Collins
and McGown, 1974):
dM
1. Elementary Particle Arrangements Single
forms of particle interaction at the level of indi-
vidual clay, silt, or sand particles
2. Particle Assemblages Units of particle organi-
zation having denable physical boundaries and
a specic mechanical function, and which consist
of one or more forms of the elementary particle Figure 5.2 Schematic representation of elementary particle
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arrangements arrangements (Collins and McGown, 1974). (a) Individual

3. Pore Spaces Fluid and/or gas lled voids clay platelet interaction, (b) individual silt or sand particle
within the soil fabric interaction, (c) clay platelet group interaction, (d ) clothed silt
or sand particle interaction, and (e) partly discernible particle
Schematic illustrations of each of the fabric features interaction.
in these three classes are shown in Figs. 5.2 through
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5.4. Electron photomicrographs illustrating some of the

features are shown in Fig. 5.5. Figure 5.6 shows the
overall fabric of undisturbed Tucson silty clay, a fresh- units (Olsen, 1962; Yong and Sheeran, 1973). In a fab-
water alluvial deposit. The features shown in the g- ric composed of groupings of clusters, it is useful to
ures are sufcient to describe most fabrics, although a refer to intracluster and intercluster pore space and to
py
number of additional terms have also been used to de- cluster and total void ratios. The term ped (Brewer,
scribe the same or similar features. 1964) has a similar meaning to cluster.
Cardhouse is an edge-to-face arrangement forming
an open fabric similar to the edge-to-face occulated Fabric Scale
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but dispersed arrangement of Fig. 5.1c (Goldschmidt, The fabric of a soil may be viewed relative to three
1926). A domain (Aylmore and Quirk, 1960, 1962) or levels of scale. From smallest to largest they are:
packet or book (Sloane and Kell, 1966) is an aggregate
of parallel clay plates. An array of such fabrics is 1. Microfabric The microfabric consists of the
termed a turbostratic fabric and is similar to the inter- regular aggregations of particles and the very
weaving bunches of Fig. 5.3h. An edge-to-face asso- small pores between them. Typical fabric units
ciation of packets or books is termed a bookhouse and are up to a few tens of micrometers across.
is similar to the arrangement of Fig. 5.1e. A cluster is 2. Minifabric The minifabric contains the aggre-
a grouping of particles or aggregates into larger fabric gations of the microfabric and the interassem-

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Figure 5.3 Schematic representations of particle assemblages (Collins and McGown, 1974).
(a) connectors, (b) connectors, (c) connectors, (d ) irregular aggregations by connector as-
semblages, (e) irregular aggregations in a honeycomb, ( ) regular aggregation interacting
with particle matrix, (g) interweaving bunches of clay, (h) interweaving bunches of clay with
silt inclusions, (i) clay particle matrix, and ( j ) granular particle matrix.
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blage pores between them. Minifabric units may and minifabrics. Time-dependent deformations such as
be a few hundred micrometers in size. creep and secondary compression are controlled most
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3. Macrofabric The macrofabric may contain strongly by the mini- and microfabric.
cracks, ssures, root holes, laminations, and the
like that correspond to the transassemblage pores
shown in Fig. 5.6. 5.3 SINGLE-GRAIN FABRICS
Soil mechanical and ow properties depend on de- Sand and gravel particles are sufciently large and
tails of these three levels of fabric to varying degrees. bulky that they ordinarily behave as independent units.
For example, the hydraulic conductivity of a ne- Attempts to describe the stressdeformation behavior
grained soil is almost totally dominated by the macro- of granular soils using particulate mechanics theories

SINGLE-GRAIN FABRICS 113
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Figure 5.4 Schematic representation of pore space types (Collins and McGown, 1974).
[e.g., Newland and Allely (1957), Rowe (1962, 1973), In some cases, sand samples can be dried prior to
Horne (1965), Matsuoka (1974), Murayama (1983), impregnation since sand fabrics are not generally af-
Nemat-Nasser and Mehrabadi (1984), and Wan and fected by capillary stresses. A procedure for doing this
hte
Guo (2001)] have met with some success. The devel- to enable study of the fabrics produced in Monterey
opment of discrete element methods for numerical No. 0 sand by different methods of compaction is
modeling of granular soils has greatly extended the given by Mitchell et al. (1976).
potential for these methods as discussed in Section 5.1.
These theories are based on elastic distortion of par-
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ticles and the sliding and rolling of particles, usually Packing of Equal-Sized Spheres
assumed of spherical or disk shape. In real granular Regular packing of spheres of the same size provides
soils, the irregular particle shapes and distribution of insight into the maximum and minimum possible den-
sizes mean that packing is usually far from regular. sities, porosities, and void ratios that are possible in
Nonetheless, the theories and computations can pro- single-grain fabrics. Five different possible packing ar-
py
vide valuable insights into behavior, and knowledge of rangements are shown in Fig. 5.7, and properties of the
the characteristics of ideal systems can be useful for arrangements shown are listed in Table 5.1. The range
interpreting data on real soils (see Chapter 11). of possible porosities is from 25.95 to 47.64 percent,
and the corresponding range of void ratios is from 0.35
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Direct Observation of Cohesionless Soil Fabric to 0.91.

The study of the fabric of a cohesionless soil is usually Random packings of equal size spheres can be con-
done by optical means. The particles are large enough sidered to be composed of clusters of simple packings,
to be easily seen in the petrographic microscope. Thin each present in an appropriate proportion to give the
sections can be made after impregnation of a sample observed porosity. The relationship between coordi-
by a suitable resin or plastic. Water-soluble materials nation number N and porosity n in such systems is
are available for use in initially saturated sands. After
the resin or plastic has hardened, thin sections can be
prepared. N 26.486 10.726/n (5.1)

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Figure 5.5 Scanning electron photomicrograph features of undisturbed soil fabrics (Collins
and McGown, 1974). (a) Partly discernible particle systems in Lydda silty clay, Israel (fresh-
water alluvial deposit); (b) graingrain contacts in Ford silty loess, England (aeolian deposit);
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(c) connector assemblages in Breidmerkur silty till, Iceland (glacial ablation deposit); (d )
particle matrix assemblage in Immingham silty clay, England (estuarine deposit); (e) regular
aggregation assemblage in Holon silty clay, Israel (consisting of elementary particle arrange-
ments interacting with each other and silt) (freshwater alluvial deposit); ( ) interweaving
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bunch assemblage in Hurlford organic silty clay, Scotland (freshwater lacustrine deposit);
and (g) irregular aggregation assemblage in Sundland silty clay, Norway (marine deposit).
Glass balls allowed to fall freely form an anisotropic to accumulate near the base. Makse and co-workers
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assembly, with the balls tending to arrange themselves (1997) experiments produced the interesting additional
in chains (Kallstenius and Bergau, 1961). The number result that if the large grains in a binary mixture have
of balls per unit area in contact with a vertical plane a greater angle of repose than the small grains, then
can be different from the number in contact with a the mixture straties into alternating layers of small
horizontal plane. The same behavior is observed for and large grains. If the small grains have a larger angle
sand pluviated through air and water. of repose than the large grains, then segregation with-
Spontaneous segregation and stratication has been out stratication results. This type of behavior is rel-
observed when granular mixtures of particles of two evant to such geoengineering problems as the stability
different predominant sizes are dumped into a pile of dumped mine waste piles, geological formations
(Makse et al., 1997; Fineberg, 1997). When a mixture susceptible to static liquefaction, and the processing
of sizes is poured into a pile, the larger particles tend and transport of granular materials.

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Particle Packings in Granular Soils spheres shown by the values in Table 5.1, that is, po-
Particle sizes in soil vary, and as a result, smaller par- rosity in the range of 26 to 48 percent and void ratio
ticles can occupy pore spaces between larger particles. in the range of 0.35 to 0.91. This is illustrated by the
This results in a tendency toward higher densities and data in Table 5.2. The lower values of porosity and
lower void ratios than for uniform spheres. On the density and higher unit weight for silty sand and gravel
other hand, irregular particle shapes produce a ten- can be attributed to silt lling the large voids between
dency toward lower densities and higher porosities and the gravel particles.
void ratios. The net result is that the range of porosities Many studies have shown that a given cohesionless
and void ratios in real soils with single-grain fabrics soil can have different fabrics at the same void ratio
may not be much different from that for uniform or relative density. Characterization of this fabric can

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Figure 5.6 Overall microfabric in Tucson silty clay, United States (freshwater alluvial de-
posit) (Collins and McGown, 1974).
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be done in terms of grain shape factors, grain orien- self with respect to the sample and to the eld deposit
tations, and interparticle contact orientations (Lafeber, is also an essential part of the fabric description.
1966; Oda, 1972a; Mahmood and Mitchell, 1974; Orientations of long axes for a large number of
py
Mitchell et al., 1976). More recently, application of grains can be expressed by a histogram or rose dia-
image analysis techniques (Section 5.8) has led to bet- gram. A frequency histogram for a sand having a mean
ter understanding and quantication of fabric features. axial ratio equal to 1.65 and placed by tapping the side
The orientation of grains in a sand deposit can be of a vertical, cylindrical mold is shown in Fig. 5.9. The
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described in terms of the inclination of the particle orientation of each grain was assigned to one of the
axes to a set of reference axes. For example, the ori- 15 intervals between 0 and 180. The V-section refers
entation of the particle shown in Fig. 5.8 can be de- to a thin section from a vertical plane (oriented parallel
scribed by the angles and . In most studies, to the cylinder axis). The H-section refers to orienta-
however, a thin section is studied to give the orientations in the horizontal plane.
tions of apparent long axes. The long axes of particles Orientations of long axes in the vertical plane for
are referred to a single horizontal reference axis by an two samples of well-graded crushed basalt [mean
angle .1 The spatial orientation of the thin section it- (length)/(width) 1.64] are shown by the rose dia-
grams in Figs. 5.10 and 5.11. In this study, the orien-
1
This method underestimates the value of L / W for elongate particles tations of at least 400 grains were measured for each
having their long axis out of the plane of the thin section. sample, and the orientation of each was assigned to

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Figure 5.7 Ideal packings of uniform spheres: (a) simple cubic, (b) cubic tetrahedral, (c)
tetragonal sphenoidal, (d ) pyramidal, and (e) tetrahedral.
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Table 5.1 Properties of Ideal Packings of Uniformly Sized Spheres

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Coordination Layer Spacing Porosity

Type of Packing Number (R radius) Volume of Unit (%) Void Ratio
Simple cubic 6 2R 8R3 47.64 0.91
Cubicaltetrahedral 8 2R 43R3 39.54 0.65
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Tetragonalsphenoidal 10 3R 6R3 30.19 0.43

Pyramidal 12 2R 42R3 25.95 0.35
Tetrahedral 12 22/3R 42R3 25.95 0.35
one of the eighteen 10 intervals between 10 and 180. paction, however, resulted in a more nearly random
A completely random distribution would yield the fabric (Fig. 5.11).
dashed circles shown in the gures. There is a strong Interparticle contact orientations and their distribu-
preferred orientation in the horizontal direction in the tion inuence deformation and strength properties and
sample prepared by pouring (Fig. 5.10). Dynamic com- anisotropy. These orientations can be described in

Table 5.2 Maximum and Minimum Void Ratios, Porosities, and Unit Weights for Several Granular Soils
Dry Unit Weight

Void Ratio Porosity (%) (kN m3)
emax emin nmax nmin d min d max
Uniform spheres 0.91 0.35 47.6 26

Standard Ottawa sand 0.80 0.50 44 33 14.5 17.3
Clean uniform sand 1.0 0.40 50 29 13.0 18.5
Uniform inorganic silt 1.1 0.40 52 29 12.6 18.5
Silty sand 0.90 0.30 47 23 13.7 20.0
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Fine to coarse sand 0.95 0.20 49 17 13.4 21.7
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Micaceous sand 1.2 0.40 55 29 11.9 18.9
Silty sand and gravel 0.85 0.14 46 12 14.0 22.9
Modied from Lambe and Whitman (1969).
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Figure 5.8 Three-dimensional orientation of a sand particle.

py
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Figure 5.9 Frequency histograms of long particle axis orientations in two planes for a
uniform ne sand. Reprinted from Oda (1972a), with permission of The Japanese Society
of SMFE.

CONTACT FORCE CHARACTERIZATION USING PHOTOELASTICITY 119
Various methods to quantify long axis and contact
distributions are available (Oda, 1972a; Fisher et al.,
1987; Shih et al., 1998). The measured statistical dis-
tributions can be converted to a tensor that has the
same dimensionality as stresses and strains (Satake,
1978; Kanatani, 1984; Oda et al., 1985; Kuo et al.,
1998). One notable measure is the fabric tensor (Oda
et al., 1982b) that characterizes the contact normal di-
rections. This tensor and its evolution with plastic
Figure 5.10 Particle orientation diagram for crushed basalt. strains are used in development of micromechanics
Vertical section through a sample prepared by pouring. Den- theories as well as continuum-based constitutive mod-
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sity is 1600 kg / m3 and the relative density is 62 percent. els (e.g., Tobita, 1989; Muhunthan et al., 1996; Yimsiri
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and Soga, 2000; Wan and Guo, 2001; Li and Dafalias,
2002).
The mean value of the particle coordination number
and its standard deviation are additional important fab-
ric features in granular soils. The coordination number
ate
is the number of adjacent particles in contact with any
given particle, and it is dependent on particle size,
shape, size distribution, and void ratio. Relationships
between the different orientation and packing param-
dM eters and mechanical properties of cohesionless soils
are given in Chapter 8.
5.4 CONTACT FORCE CHARACTERIZATION

Figure 5.11 Particle orientation diagram for crushed basalt.
USING PHOTOELASTICITY
Vertical section through a sample prepared by dynamic com-
paction. Density is 1840 kg / m3 and the relative density is 90 Photoelasticity is a phenomenon in which light going
percent.
hte
through a photoelastic material (such as glass, rubber,

and polymer) is polarized by the internal stresses of
the material. The basic concept is that the speed of
terms of a perpendicular Ni to the tangent plane at the light depends on the direction of the plane of oscilla-
point of contact. As most fabric characterization stud- tion due to stress-induced optical anisotropy of the ma-
ies are done in a two-dimensional plane, and actual terial. The planes of the limiting velocities coincide
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particle contact points rarely occur in the analyzed with the direction of the principal stresses. Utilizing
plane, measurement of contact normals can be prone this technique, the analysis of a photoelastically sen-
to detection errors. sitive particle assembly under different boundary load-
The orientation of Ni is dened by angles and ing conditions gives information about the internal
as shown in Fig. 5.12. A procedure for determination force structure through particle contacts. Averaging the
py
of the angular distributions of normals E(, ) is contact forces over a number of particles in a region
given by Oda (1972a). For a fabric with axial sym- of interest gives the average effective stress. The down-
metry around the vertical axis, the function E(, ) side of this technique is that actual soil particles cannot
is independent of , so the distribution of E() as a be used. However, the force information obtained from
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function of can be used to characterize the distri- a transparent particulate assembly is useful for under-
bution of interparticle contact normals. Contact normal standing how actual soil particle systems are likely to
distributions for four sands deposited in water and behave.
compacted by tapping on the sides of their containers Light propagates in a vacuum or in air at a speed C
are shown in Fig. 5.13. The horizontal dashed lines of 3 108 m/s. In other transparent materials, the
represent the distributions for an isotropic fabric. In speed V is lower and the ratio C/V is called the re-
each case there is a greater proportion of contact plane fractive index. In photoelastic materials, the change in
normals in the near vertical direction; that is, there is refractive index in the i direction (ni) is proportional to
a preferred orientation of contact planes near the hor- the change in normal stress i in the same direction;
izontal. ni Kso i, where Kso is the stress-optical material

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Figure 5.12 Characterization of interparticle contact orientation.
dM
constant. Hence, the velocity becomes direction depen-
dent when the material is stressed in an anisotropic
manner.
Using a polarizer, the incoming light is polarized
hte
along a well-dened plane. If another polarizer is

placed along the polarized light, complete extinction
of the light can be achieved by making the ltering
direction perpendicular to that of the rst polarizer.
When the polarized light goes through a stressed trans-
parent material, two polarized lights are generated in
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the direction of principal strains (also the principal

stress directions in an elastic material). The velocity of
each component is inversely proportional to the differ-
ent refractive indices of its particular plane, and there
py
will be a relative retardation :
(nmax nmin)l Kso(max min)l (5.2)

Co
where l is the material thickness, nmax and nmin are the

refractive indices of the two polarized lights, and max
and min are the maximum and minimum principle
stress, respectively.
Figure 5.13 Probability density functions of E() for (a)
A polarizing analyzer can be placed along the po-
crushed chert, (b) Toyoura sand, (c) Soma sand, and (d ) To- larized lights and it will transmit only one component
chigi sand. The crushed chert and Toyoura sand are mainly of each of these waves. The polarized waves will in-
rodlike or at particles. Tochigi sand has spherical particles. terfere, and the light intensity of the polarized light
Soma sand is intermediate in particle shape (from Oda, coming out of the analyzer will be a function of and
1978). Reprinted by permission. the angle between the analyzer and direction of prin-

MULTIGRAIN FABRICS 121
cipal strains. The light intensity becomes zero when et al., 2003). A complicated network of force chains
the angle becomes zero and hence the principal strains develops in the direction of the maximum principal
directions can be determined. Optical lters known as stress.
quarter-wave plates can be added in the path of light Microscopic investigations of the development of
propagation to produce circularly polarized light. By contact force distribution under different loading con-
doing so, the image observed is not inuenced by the ditions provide physical insights to understand defor-
direction of principal strains, but the intensity I viewed mation behavior of granular materials. Further details
by a circular polariscope depends on by the follow- are given in Chapter 11.
ing equation: Photoelasticity investigations can also be performed
using three-dimensional particle assemblages. Al-
I I0 sin2( / ) (5.3) though the actual material may be transparent, the par-
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ticles become opaque due to refraction and reection
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where I0 is a constant and is the wavelength of the of light at the particle surfaces, which are often opti-
light. The light intensity becomes zero when N cally damaged. This adds difculty in examining the
(N fringe order 1, 2, ...), and hence the magnitude contact force distributions. However, if the pores are
of principal stress difference at a given point can be lled with a uid that has the same refractive index as
evaluated from Eq. (5.3). Photoelastic images of a cir- the photoelastic material, the assembly becomes more
ate
cular disk squeezed between two contacts are shown transparent. Figure 5.16 shows the force distribution in
in Fig. 5.14 (Howell et al., 1999). crushed glass particles when a cone penetrometer is
The forces applied to particles are not equal. Instead, pushed into the material (Allersma, 1999). Again, de-
the spatial distribution of forces varies signicantly due velopment of a strong force network is evident.
to random positions of the particles. Figure 5.15 shows
dM
images in an assemblage of pentagonal-shaped disks
under (a) geostatic stresses by gravity and (b) both 5.5 MULTIGRAIN FABRICS
gravity loading and point loading at the center of the
model (Geng et al., 2001). A chainlike force distribu- In Section 5.2, it was emphasized that single-grain fab-
tion, indicated by large light intensity paths, exists rics are rare in soils containing clay-size particles. This
even under geostatic stress conditions. Strong force is often true also for silts (particle sizes in the range
chains can develop in an assembly of pentagonal- of 2 to 74 m). For example, experiments have shown
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shaped polymer particles as shearing progresses (Geng that silt-size quartz particles sedimented in water can
2
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1.5
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1
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0.5
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
(a) (b)
Figure 5.14 Photoelastic image of a circular disk squeezed between two contacts: (a) the-
oretically expected image and (b) actual image (from Howell et al., 1999).

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Figure 5.16 Cone penetration test in photoelastic particles
(from Allersma, 1999).
dM
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Figure 5.15 Photoelastic images of pentagonal shape disk

assembly under (a) geostatic stresses by gravity and (b) both
gravity loading and point loading at the center of the model
(from Geng et al., 2001).
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Figure 5.17 Schematic diagram of a honeycomb fabric in

silt.
have a void ratio as large as 2.2. Quartz particles in
this size range may be somewhat platy and can account
for a part of this high void ratio as compared to an
py
upper limit of about 1.0 for single-grain assemblages sorb on nonclay particle surfaces, and clay surfaces are
of bulky particles. However, silt-size particles form often chemically reactive. In addition, clay particle
multigrain arrangements during slow sedimentation, groups in many soils may be remnants of a preexisting
because they are sufciently small that their arrange- rock from which the soil was derived.
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ments can be inuenced by surface force interactions.

An open honeycomb type of arrangement, as shown
schematically in Fig. 5.17, is thought to exist in some 5.6 VOIDS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION
silts (Terzaghi, 1925a). Loose fabrics such as this are
metastable and subject to sudden collapse or liquefac- Different types of pores are illustrated in Figs. 5.4 and
tion under the action of rapidly applied stresses. 5.6. The pore sizes and their distribution complement
Multigrain fabrics of clays and claynonclay mix- the particle and particle group sizes and their distri-
tures form because clay particle surface forces are sig- bution. Emphasis is usually placed on the solid phase
nicant relative to clay particle weight; clays can ad- rather than the liquid and gas phases when describing

SAMPLE ACQUISITION AND PREPARATION FOR FABRIC ANALYSIS 123
properties and behavior. However, the pores and voids ysis may be appropriate in some cases in order to
determine the uid and gas conductivity properties obtain information of more than one type or level of
that, in turn, control such important processes as the detail.
rate of uid and chemical transport, generation of ex-
cess pore pressures during deformation, consolidation Sample Preparation for Fabric Analysis
rate, the ease and rate of drainage, capillary pressure
development, and the potential for liquefaction under Acoustical, dielectric, thermal, and magnetic measure-
dynamic loading. Methods for determining and char- ments can be made directly on samples in their undis-
acterizing pore sizes and their distribution are de- turbed, wet state. Optical and electron microscopy,
scribed in Section 5.9. X-ray diffraction, and porosimetry require that the pore
uid be removed, replaced, or frozen. To do this with-
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out disturbance of the original fabric is difcult, and
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5.7 SAMPLE ACQUISITION AND in most cases there is no way to determine how much
PREPARATION FOR FABRIC ANALYSIS disturbance there may have been.
Pore Fluid Removal Air drying without signicant
Obtaining representative soil samples with minimal disruption of the natural fabric may be possible for
disturbance is essential if reliable measurements of en- soils that do not undergo much shrinkage. For soft
ate
gineering properties are to be made. The same consid- samples at high water content, oven drying may cause
erations apply in the selection and preparation of less fabric change than air drying, evidently because
samples for the study of fabric. Accordingly, the sam- the longer time required for air drying allows for
pling and preparation phases of fabric study are criti- greater particle rearrangement (Tovey and Wong,
cal, and special methods are many times needed.
dM 1973). On the other hand, the stresses induced during
Proven methods for reliable determination of fabric oven drying may result in some particle breakage.
can also be used for evaluation of the effects of dif- Water removal by drying at the critical point has also
ferent sampling procedures used in engineering prac- been used. If the temperature and pressure of the sam-
tice, although there does not appear to be much record ple are raised above the critical values, which for water
of this having been done. are 374C and 22.5 MPa, respectively, the liquid and
Both direct and indirect methods are used to study vapor phases are indistinguishable. The pore water can
the fabric and fabric features of soils, as listed in Table then be distilled off without the presence of airwater
hte
5.3. An illustrative schematic diagram prepared by interfaces that can lead to shrinkage. The high tem-
R. N. Yong that summarizes methods for analysis of perature and pressure may change the clay particles,
soil composition and fabric using various parts of the however. To avoid this, replacement by carbon dioxide
electromagnetic spectrum is shown in Fig. 5.18. In in- has been used. The critical temperature and pressure
terpreting the results from any of these methods, judg- of carbon dioxide are 31.1C and 7.19 MPa, respec-
ment is required to be sure that the conclusions pertain tively. The procedure requires prior impregnation of
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to properties and behavior of interest. For example, the sample with acetone, which may cause swelling in
discontinuities, fractures, and anisotropy on a macro- partly saturated and expansive soils (Tovey and Wong,
scale can override the inuences of microfabric details. 1973). Both critical point and freeze-drying cause less
Of the methods listed in Table 5.3, optical and elec- sample disturbance and shrinkage than do air or oven
tron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and pore size dis- drying, but they are more difcult and time consuming.
py
tribution offer the advantage of providing direct Freeze-drying can be used for removal of water.
(usually) unambiguous information about specic fab- Sublimation of the ice in a soil that has been rapidly
ric features, provided the samples are representative frozen avoids the problem of airwater interfaces and
and the sample preparation procedures have not de- shrinkage that accompany water removal by drying.
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stroyed the original fabric. On the other hand, these Sample size must be small, usually thinner than about
techniques are limited to small samples, and they are 3 mm, if disruption due to nonuniform freezing is to
destructive of the samples studied. The other tech- be avoided. Quick freezing is best done in a liquid that
niques are nondestructive, at least in principle, and can has been cooled to its melting point in liquid nitrogen,
be used for the study of soil fabric in situ and for the such as isopentane at 160C or Freon 22 at 145C.
study of changes in fabric that accompany compres- This avoids gaseous bubbling caused by direct immer-
sion, shear, and uid ow. However, with most of these sion in liquid nitrogen at 196C (Delage et al., 1982).
methods interpretation is seldom straightforward or un- The freezing temperature should be less than 130C
ambiguous. The use of several methods of fabric anal- to avoid formation of crystalline ice. Sublimation of

124
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Polarized Light
Micrograph
dM
Replica Transmission
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Electron Micrograph
or Diffraction Pattern
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Scanning Electron
Micrograph
Figure 5.18 Methods for examining mineralogy, fabric, and structure of soils using parts of
the electromagnetic spectrum (prepared by R. N. Yong, McGill University Soil Mechanics
Co
Laboratory).
125

Table 5.3 Techniques for Study of Soil Fabric
Scale of Observations and Features

Method Basis Discernable
Optical microscope Direct observation of fracture Individual particles of silt size and
(polarizing) surfaces of thin sections larger, clay particle groups,
preferred orientation of clay,
homogeneity on a millimeter
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scale or larger, large pores, shear
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zones
Useful upper limit of magnication
about 300
Electron microscope Direct observation of particles Resolution to about 100 A ; large
or fracture surfaces through depth of eld with SEM; direct
ate
soil sample (SEM) observation of particles; particle
observation of surface groups and pore space; details of
replicas (TEM) microfabric; environmental SEM
can be used to observe
dM specimens containing water
and gas
X-ray diffraction Groups of parallel clay plates Orientation in zones several square
produce stronger diffraction millimeters in area and several
than randomly oriented micrometers thick; best in single
plates mineral clays
Pore size distribution (1) Forced intrusion of a (1) Pores in range from 0.01 to
nonwetting uid (usually 10 m
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mercury)
(2) Capillary condensation (2) 0.1 m maximum
Wave propagation Particle arrangement, density, Anisotropy; measures fabric
and stress inuences wave averaged over a volume equal to
velocity sample size
Dielectric Variation of dielectric Assessment of anisotropy,
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dispersion and constant and conductivity occulation and deocculation,

electrical with frequency and properties; measures fabric
conductivity averaged over a volume equal to
sample size
py
Thermal conductivity Particle orientations and Anisotropy; measures fabric

density inuence thermal averaged over a volume equal to
conductivity sample size
Magnetic Variation in magnetic Anisotropy; measures fabric
susceptibility susceptibility with change of averaged over a volume equal to
Co
sample orientation relative sample size

to magnetic eld
Mechanical Properties Properties reect inuences of Fabric averaged over a volume
strength modulus fabric; see Chapter 11 equal to sample size; anisotropy;
permeability macrofabric features in some
compressibility cases
shrinkage and swell

METHODS FOR FABRIC STUDY 127
the water is then done at temperatures between 50 Grinding or cutting air-dried and Carbowax-treated
and 100C rather than at the initial freezing temper- samples may result in substantial particle rearrange-
ature to increase the rate of water vapor removal. At ment at the surface, thus making them of little value
temperatures less than 100C the vapor pressure of for study by the electron microscope. To overcome this
the ice, about 105 torr, may be less than the capability problem, successive peels from the surface of a dried
of the vacuum system. specimen using adhesive tape can be used to expose
The freezing process may produce fabric changes in the original fabric. Alternatively, the surface may be
very high water content systems such as a 10 percent coated with a resin solution that partly penetrates the
by weight slurry of bentonite in water (Kumai, 1979). sample. After hardening, the resin is peeled away re-
However, with more typical saturated clays at consis- vealing an undisturbed fabric. A comparison of sur-
tencies likely to be encountered in geotechnical inves- faces before and after this procedure is shown in Fig.
l
tigations, the effects of freeze-drying on the fabric are 5.19.
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small. Additional considerations in sample preparation The disturbed zone at the surface of Carbowax-
by freeze-drying are given by Tovey and Wong (1973) treated samples extends to a maximum depth of about
and Gillott (1976). 1 m in kaolinite (Barden and Sides, 1971). As thin
Pore Fluid Replacement If thin sections are re- sections used for polarizing microscope study are of
quired, as for optical microscopy or when drying the order of 30 m thick, this disturbed zone is of little
ate
shrinkage must be minimized, but the presence of a consequence. It is also insignicant for X-ray diffrac-
material in pore spaces is not objectionable, replace- tion studies.
ment of the pore water may be necessary. Various res- Fracture surfaces in dried specimens are sometimes
ins and plastics have been used for this purpose. taken as representative of the undisturbed fabric. Ad-
High-molecular-weight ethylene glycol such as Car-
dM ditional preparation, such as gentle blowing of the sur-
bowax 6000 is miscible with water in all proportions face or peeling is needed following fracture because
and has been used for many studies. Carbowax 6000 (1) there may be loose particles on the surface, and (2)
melts at 55C but is solid at lower temperatures. a fracture surface may be more representative of a
Impregnated samples are prepared by immersing an plane of weakness than of the material as a whole. An
undisturbed cube sample, 10 to 20 mm on a side, in alternative approach to avoid these problems is to frac-
melted Carbowax at 60 to 65C. The top surface of the ture a frozen wet specimen as described by Delage et
specimen should be left exposed to vapor for the rst al. (1982).
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day of immersion to allow escape of trapped gases and The method of sample preparation should be se-
prevent specimen rupture. The wax should be changed lected after consideration of scale of fabric features of
after 2 or 3 days to ensure water-free wax in the sample interest, method of observation to be used, and the soil
pores. Replacement of all water by the Carbowax is type and state as regards water content, strength, dis-
usually complete in a few days. After removal from turbance, and so forth. With these factors in mind, the
the liquid wax and cooling, the sample is ready for probable effects of the preparation methods on the fab-
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sectioning. ric can be assessed.

Thin sections are prepared by grinding using emery
cloth or abrasive powders and standard thin-section
techniques. However, heat, water, or other water-
py
soluble liquids cannot be used at any stage of the 5.8 METHODS FOR FABRIC STUDY
grinding or section mounting process. Measurements
by X-ray diffraction have shown that Carbowax re- Once suitable samples and surfaces have been pre-
placement of water has essentially no effect on the fab- pared, direct study of different fabric features is pos-
ric of wet kaolinite (Martin, 1966). sible using one or more of several methods, as
Co
Gelatins or water-soluble resins may be used in lieu indicated in Fig. 5.18. Details of these methods are
of Carbowax, or the sample may be impregnated with discussed in this section as well as the advantages and
methanol or acetone before replacement with resins or limitations of each.
plastics. Further details on resin impregnation are
given by Smart and Tovey (1982) and Jang et al. Polarizing Microscope
(1999).
Individual particles of silt and sand can be seen using
petrographic and binocular microscopes, and the sizes,
Preparation of Surfaces for Study orientations, and distributions of particles and pore
Surfaces chosen for study should reect the original spaces can be described systematically. Thin sections
fabric of the soil and not the preparation method. or polished surfaces can be used for two-dimensional

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Figure 5.19 Effect of surface preparation on fabric seen by the scanning electron microscope
(a) before peeling and (b) after one peeling, 5000 (from Tovey and Wong, 1973).
analyses. Three-dimensional analyses require a series

dM of preferred orientation. Rose diagrams are shown in
of parallel cross sections. Fig. 5.21 of both pore orientation (white gure) and
Many petrographic techniques and special treat- silt and sand grain orientation (black gure). Consid-
ments are available to aid in identication of features erable preferred orientation of both pores and particles
of interest (e.g., Stoopes, 2003). Rose diagrams can be is evident.
used to represent two-dimensional planar patterns. It is not usually possible to see individual clay par-
Three-dimensional patterns can be represented using ticles with the polarizing microscope because of limi-
stereo net projections. As an illustration of two- tations in resolving power and depth of eld. Practical
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dimensional representation, Fig. 5.20 shows the pore resolution is to a few micrometers using magnications
pattern in a section of a stony desert tableland soil from up to about 300 times. If, however, clay plates are
near Woomera, Australia, which suggests some degree aligned parallel to each other in a group, then they
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py
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Figure 5.20 Pore pattern of a section from a stony tableland soil from Woomera, Australia.
Pores in white, clay matrix in gray, and silt sand grains in black (from Lafeber, 1965).
Reprinted with permission of AJSR.

s2
L1 s1
R s1 R
L1
s2
Figure 5.21 Distribution of elongated pores (white gure) and of elongated skeleton grains
(black gure) in different directions for the pattern in Fig. 5.20. The broken circle represents
an even distribution of lengths over all directions. s1 and s2 are the major maxima of the
elongated pores, L1 is the major maximum of elongated grains, and R is the reference di-
l
rection (from Lafeber, 1965). Reprinted with permission of AJSR.
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behave optically as one large particle with denite op- singular orientations of particles (Lafeber, 1968), the
tical properties. semiquantitative scale proposed by Morgenstern and
ate
The optical axes and the crystallographic axes of the Tchalenko (1967c) given in Table 5.4 is useful.
clay minerals are almost coincident. For plate-shaped A vertical section taken through varved clay is
particles, the refractive indices in the a and b directions shown in Fig. 5.22. The upper half shows the winter-
are approximately equal, but different from that in the deposited clay varve and the lower half the summer-
c-axis direction. The difference in refractive indices
dM deposited silt varve. Strong preferred orientation of the
along different optical axes of a crystal determines the
optical property termed the birefringence.
If a group of parallel particles is viewed in plane Table 5.4 Orientation Scale for Clay Aggregates
polarized light looking down the c axis, a uniform eld Viewed in Plane Polarized Light
is seen as the group is rotated around the c axis. If the
same particle group is viewed with the c axis normal Birefringence Ratio Particle Parallelism
to the direction of the light, no light is transmitted
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when the basal planes are parallel to the direction of 1.0 Random
polarization, and a maximum is transmitted when they 1.00.9 Slight
are at 45 to it. Thus there are four positions of ex- 0.90.5 Medium
tinction and illumination when the sample is viewed 0.50.1 Strong
using light passed through crossed nicols and the mi- 0 Perfect
croscope stage is rotated through 360. For rod-shaped
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From Morgenstern and Tchalenko (1967c).

particles in parallel orientation, a uniform eld is ob-
served looking down the long axis, whereas illumina-
tion and extinction are seen when looking normal to
this axis. Use of a tint plate in the microscope is often
helpful because the resulting retardation of light waves
py
results in distinct different colors for extinction and

illumination.
If particle orientation is less than perfect or if the c-
axis direction of a group of parallel plates is other than
Co
normal to the direction of light, then the minimum in-

tensity is nite and the maximum intensity is less than
for perfect orientation. The ratio of minimum intensity
Imin to maximum intensity Imax is called the birefrin-
gence ratio .
Photometric measurements of the birefringence ratio
can be used to quantify clay particle orientation (Wu,
1960; Morgenstern and Tchalenko, 1967a). Although Figure 5.22 Thin section of varved clay under polarized
there may be difculties in photometric methods when light (courtesy of Division of Building Research, National
dealing with other than monomineral materials with Research Council, Canada).

clay is evident by comparison of illumination on the

left and extinction on the right. Were the clay plates
oriented randomly throughout, the thin section would
have had the same appearance at both orientations. The
upper portion of the silt varve is also seen to contain
some zones of well-oriented clay. A series of planar
pores is also visible. These pores probably were de-
veloped during impregnation of the sample or prepa-
ration of the thin section.
Optical microscope study of fabric provides a view
of some features that are too small to be seen by eye,
l
too large to be appreciated using an electron micro-
ria
scope, but important to understanding soil behavior.
Some of these features include distributions of silt and
sand grains, silt and sand particle coatings, homoge-
neity of fabric and texture, discontinuities of various
types, and shear planes (e.g., Mitchell, 1956; Morgen-
ate
stern and Tchalenko, 1967b, 1967c; McKyes and
Yong, 1971; Oda and Kazama, 1998). A thin section
from a shear zone through a soft silty clay at the site
of a foundation failure under an embankment at Fid-
dlers Ferry on the oodplain of the Mersey River,
dM
England, is shown in Fig. 5.23a. Details of the shear
zone deduced from the photomicrograph are shown in Figure 5.23b Details of Fiddlers Ferry shear zone (Mor-
Fig. 5.23b. genstern and Tchalenko, 1967c). F is a fragment of ambient
material; the hatched areas indicate the shear matrix where
the birefringence ratio 0.45; and the direction of hatch-
Electron Microscope ing is the average particle orientation over the stippled areas
The electron microscope can reveal clay particles and where 1.00.
hte
their arrangements directly. The practical limit of res-
olution of the transmission electron microscope (TEM)

is less than 10 A , and atomic planes can be seen. The
practical limit of the scanning electron microscope
(SEM) is about 100 A ; however, lesser magnication
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is sufcient to resolve details of clay particles and

other very small soil constituents. The major advan-
tages of the SEM relative to the TEM are the much
greater depth of eld, the wide, continuous range of
possible magnications (about 20 to 20,000), and
py
the ability to study surfaces directly. Either surface rep-

licas or ultra-thin sections are needed for the TEM. The
main advantage of the TEM relative to the SEM is its
higher limit of resolution. Historical developments
Co
along with its application to clay minerals and aggre-

gates examination are given by McHardy and Birnie
(1987) for SEM and Nadeau and Tait (1987) for TEM.
Both types of electron microscopy require an evac-
uated sample chamber (1 105 torr), so wet soils
cannot be studied directly unless they are housed in a
special chamber. Cold stages are available, so frozen
materials may be studied. It is usually necessary to
Figure 5.23a Photograph of Fiddlers Ferry shear zone coat SEM sample surfaces with a conducting lm to
(from Morgenstern and Tchalenko, 1967c). prevent surface charging and loss of resolution. Gold

placed in a very thin layer (20 to 30 nm) in a vacuum size from a 1 percent suspension followed by freeze-
evaporator is often used. drying. When sedimented in distilled water, the sedi-
The main difculty in the electron microscope study ment porosities were kaolinite 96 percent, illite 90
of fabric is the preparation of sample surfaces, surface percent, and montmorillonite 83 percent. When sedi-
replicas, or ultra-thin sections that retain the undis- mented in electrolyte solution, the porosities were 97,
turbed fabric of the original soil. In general, the higher 98 and 99 percent, respectively. The photomicrographs
the water content and void ratio of the original sample, reect the very high porosities of all samples and that
the greater the likelihood of disturbance. Soils contain- the occulating effect of the salt solution had a signif-
ing expansive clay minerals may undergo changes in icant effect on the initial microfabric.
microfabric as a result of removal of interlayer water, Undisturbed silt microfabrics are shown in Fig. 5.25.
or there may be shrinkage. The dryfracturepeel These silty clay microfabrics are formed under condi-
l
technique and the freezefracture technique appear the tions of uninterrupted sediment accumulation and have
ria
best of the available methods for obtaining represen- quite high porosities (60 to 90 percent). Sediments of
tative sample surfaces. this type are very compressible and weak.
That careful techniques are successful in preserving Progressive collapse of microfabric of a sensitive
delicate fabrics is evidenced by Fig. 5.24, which shows Champlain clay with increasing vertical loading is
the microstructures of six articial clay sediments (Os- shown in Fig. 5.26 (Delage and Lefebvre, 1984). The
ate
ipov and Sokolov, 1978). These samples were obtained preconsolidation pressure of the clay was 54 kPa. The
by gradual sedimentation of clay particles 1 m in SEM photos were taken along the vertical plane and
the distribution of macropores at each loading stage
was derived from the photos as shown in the gure.
dM Aggregate structure is apparent at the intact stage be-
low the preconsolidation pressure. At a loading of 124
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py
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Figure 5.24 Microfabrics of articial clay sediments. Scale

bar 2 m for all micrographs: (a) kaolinite in distilled
water, (b) kaolinite in 0.5 N NaCl, (c) illite in distilled water, Figure 5.25 Honeycomb microfabrics: (a) recent lacustrine
(d ) illite in 0.5 M NaCl, (e) montmorillonite in distilled wa- silt from Lake Vozhe and (b) recent marine silt from the
ter, and ( ) montmorillonite in 0.5 NaCl (from Osipov and Black Sea (from Sergeyev et al., 1980). Reprinted with per-
Sokolov, 1978). mission from Blackwell Scientic Publications, Ltd.

(a) (b) (c) (d)
l
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10 m intact 10 m 124 kPa 10 m 421kPa 10 m 1452 kPa
ate
Voids due to
Pores Solid particles pulling out of
particles
Figure 5.26 SEM photographs of a sensitive Champlain clay under consolidation at (a)
intact state, (b) 124 kPa, (c) 421 kPa, and (d ) 1452 kPa. The preconsolidation pressure of
dM
the clay is 54 kPa (from Delage and Lefebvre, 1984).
kPa, the collapse of macropores in the horizontal di- which the SEM electromagnetic lens must exist. This
rection is observed. Aggregates are also aligning in the pressure differentiation is achieved by a special device
horizontal direction. As the loading increases (421 and called a pressure-limiting aperture. Examination of
hte
1452 kPa), aggregates become less apparent by the samples can be done under a range of gaseous envi-
complete collapse of macropores and the particles are ronments (H2O, CO2, N2, etc.), relative humidities (0
aligning in the horizontal direction. Although the eld to 100 percent), pressures (up to 6.7 kPa), and tem-
of view at high magnication is limited, mosaics of peratures (180 to 1500C). ESEM images are taken
photomicrographs may be prepared to show larger fab- using an electrical current detector that collects and
ric features. Such a composite is shown in Fig. 5.6.
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processes signals generated by ionized gas molecules

Accessories are available for the SEM to enable de- (usually water vapour) in the specimen chamber. Sec-
termination of the elemental composition of specic ondary electrons emitted by the sample collide with
materials under observation (McHardy and Birnie, gas molecules, which then cause ionization of the gas,
1987; Bain et al., 1994). Further details on the tech- creating positive ions and additional secondary elec-
py
niques of electron microscopy used to examine the trons. The cascading amplication of the signal from
structures of soils can be found in Smart and Tovey the original secondary electrons enables the secondary
(1981, 1982). electron detector to create an image. The positive ions
are attracted to the negatively charged sample surface
Co
Environmental SEM and suppress the charging artefacts. This charge sup-
Conventional SEM samples have to be dry, vacuum pression allows imaging of nonconductive samples.
compatible, and electrically conductive. To examine A signicant feature of ESEM is its ability to ob-
liquid and hydrated samples, the pressure has to be at serve liquids inside the samples. The rate of sublima-
least 612 Pa, the minimum vapor pressure required to tion and condensation of water can be controlled by
maintain liquid water at 0C. An environmental scan- manipulating the pressure and temperature. Figure 5.27
ning electron microscope (ESEM) allows wet, natural, is an ESEM image of a sample containing illite clays
and nonconductive samples to be examined by having (left side) and quartz grains (right side). Water droplets
the specimen chamber at higher pressure separated were placed on the sample by condensation of distilled
from the high-vacuum electron optical regions in water present as a gaseous phase in the testing cham-

water is added to the specimen, the bentonite swells to
completely ll the macropores.
Image Analysis
Image analyzers can be used with both optical and
electron microscopes for quantication of fabric fea-
tures. Digital imaging cameras can resolve reected or
transmitted light from the sample into pixels. The
amount of light per pixel is then converted into an
analog signal. After the entire image is acquired, the
l
analog signal for each pixel is converted to digital form
ria
for analysis, manipulation, and storage. Image analysis
offers greatly increased potential for quantitative de-
Figure 5.27 ESEM image of illite clay (left side) and quartz scription of different fabric elements. Details of the
grains (right side). Water droplets placed on the samples method are beyond the scope of this book. Examples
of image analysis of soil specimens are given by Frost
ate
show that the quartz surface is hydrophilic and the illite sur-
face is hydrophobic (from Buckman et al., 2000). and Wright (1993), Tovey and Hounslow (1995), and
Frost and McNeil (1998).
ber. The photo shows the wettability of uids on soil X-ray Diffraction
dM
minerals. Spherical water droplets are observed on the
clay surface, indicating that this illite is hydrophobic.
As discussed in Section 3.22, crystallographic planes
in minerals refract X-rays at an intensity that depends
Quartz sand, on the other hand, is hydrophilic as low on (1) the amount of mineral in the volume of soil
domed droplets of water are formed on the surface. irradiated and (2) the proportion of the mineral grains
As pressure and temperature can be varied in the that are properly oriented. For clay minerals, parallel
specimen chamber, the ESEM allows studies of dy- orientation of plates enhances the basal reections but
namic changes in samples such as wetting, drying, ab- decreases the intensity of reection from lattice planes
hte
sorption, melting, corrosion, and crystallization. Figure oriented in other directions. The intensity of (001) re-
5.28 shows ESEM images of the swelling of bentonite ections provides a measure of clay particle orienta-
in a sandbentonite mixture (Komine and Ogata, tion.
2004). Initially, the bentonite particles are attached to The relative heights of basal peaks for different sam-
the sand grains and macropores can be observed. As ples of the same material give a measure of particle
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py
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Figure 5.28 ESEM images showing swelling process of bentonite clay in a sandbentonite
mixture (from Komine and Ogata, 2004).

orientation differences. A fabric Index (FI) based on features as well as on texture and disturbance (Kenney
areas of diffraction peaks is dened as (Gillott, 1970): and Chan, 1972). A number of laboratories routinely
X-ray sample tubes prior to selection of samples for
FI V/(P V) (5.4) removal and testing for determination of deformation
and strength properties. The procedure is simple, rapid,
where V is the area of the basal peak in a section cut and inexpensive (apart from the initial cost of the
perpendicular to the orientation plane, and P is the area equipment).
of the same peak from a section cut parallel to the X-radiography is also useful for the study of defor-
plane of parallel orientation of particles. The value of mation patterns in soils. Lead shot is placed in regular
FI ranges from zero for perfect preferred orientation to patterns in samples or in blocks of soil used for model
0.5 for perfectly random orientation. A similar proce- tests. The positions of the shot are determined at var-
l
dure that retains the concept of peak areas, but does ious stages throughout a test by comparison of succes-
ria
not require their exact measurement, is given by Yo- sive radiographs. The results can be used to locate
shinaka and Kazama (1973). shear zones and compute strains and their variation
The peak ratio (PR), dened as the ratio of the (002) throughout the material.
reection to that of the (020) reection, can also be X-ray computed tomography (CT) allows construc-
tion of a three-dimensional density prole inside
ate
used as a measure of orientation. The PR has the ad-
vantages of being independent of the particle concen- a material by assembling X-ray radiographic two-
tration within the total soil and of minimizing the dimensional images taken at different angles. The res-
effects of mechanical and instrumentation variables olution of a CT scanner is determined by the
(Martin, 1966). The PR of kaolinite with completely dimensions of a source and a detector as well as their
random particle orientations is about 2.0. For maxi-
dM positions in relation to the test specimen. The tech-
mum parallel orientation the PR is about 200. The rea- nique has been used to examine the locations of shear
sons for choosing the (002) and (020) reections are zones within a specimen as local dilation inside the
that (1) they are strong and (2) the corresponding 2 shear band gives low electron density (Desrues et al.,
values are not too far apart, thus ensuring that about 1996; Otani et al., 2000; Alshibi et al., 2003; Otani
the same sample volume will be irradiated for deter- and Obara, 2004). Figure 5.29 shows the locations of
mination of both peaks. shear zones in cylindrical sand specimens that were
X-ray diffraction methods had the advantage of sheared to different axial strains in triaxial compres-
hte
quantication of data in a way that was not possible sion. The specimens showed strain-softening behavior
with optical and electron microscope methods. How- and exhibited uniform bulging with no apparent single
ever, the development of image analysis techniques for or multiple shear bands. The CT images were taken at
use with the latter has largely overcome this problem. strains greater than the peak axial strain of approxi-
X-ray methods have some disadvantages, including (1) mately 2 percent. No apparent shear zones are ob-
served at an axial strain of 4.6 percent, indicating that
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difcult interpretation in multimineral soils, (2) the

data are weighted in favor of the fabric nearest the the strain softening was due to dilation throughout the
sample surface, and (3) the soil volume irradiated will specimens. As the axial strain increased, however,
usually include both microfabrics and minifabrics, and shear zones with large local void ratio appeared inside
the results will average rather than distinguish them. the specimens. The following two shear zone structures
py
Thus, X-ray diffraction is best suited for fabric anal- are apparent (Desrues et al., 1996; Alshibi et al., 2003):
ysis of single mineral clays in which particle orienta-
1. Cone-Shaped Shear Zone The images of the
tions over regions the size of the X-ray beam (a few
horizontal plane show black circles appearing at
millimeters) are of interest or in conjunction with other
the center, and they become smaller in diameter
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methods that can provide detail on the character of the

from the boundary toward the middle height of
microfabric.
the specimen (Fig. 5.29a). This suggests a cone-
shaped shear zone from the midheight to the
Transmission X-Ray and Computed Tomography boundary. The tip of the cone is at the midheight
Scan and the symmetry exists at the central axis of the
By detecting differences in electron density in mate- specimen.
rials, transmission X-ray is a useful and nondestructive 2. Conjugate-Inclined Shear Zones The horizon-
method for the study of soil stratigraphy, homogeneity, tally sliced images show radially oriented lines
and macrofabric. X-radiographs of samples while still generating outward from the circle (Fig. 5.29a).
in sample tubes provide information about the above These are the inclined lines in the vertically

PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS 135
l
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ate
dM
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Figure 5.29 CT scans of a dense sand specimen under triaxial compression: (a) Horizontal
slice at the midheight, (b) vertical slice, and (c) 3D image (from Alshibi et al., 2003).
rig
sliced images (Fig. 5.29b). Close examination of determinations and from image analysis of thin sec-
these lines reveal that there are several pairs of tions and SEM pictures.
conjugate shear bands at two different inclined
angles as shown in Fig. 5.29c. Volumetric Pore Size Distribution Determinations
py
Further details of shear bands are given in Chapter Volumetric pore size distributions can be determined
11. Other noninvasive techniques reported to observe using forced intrusion of a nonwetting uid, a capillary
particle packing arrangements include nuclear mag- condensation method based on interpretation of ad-
netic resonance imaging (Ehrichs et al., 1995; Ng and sorption and desorption isotherms, and by removal of
Co
Wang, 2001) and laser-aided tomography (Matsushima water by suction or air pressure.
et al., 2002). The maximum pore size that can be measured using
the capillary condensation method is about 0.1 m.
With the possible exception of intraaggregate pores
5.9 PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS most soil pores are larger, so this method is of limited
usefulness. The mercury intrusion method, however, is
The shape and distribution of voids are one of the three useful for measurement of pore sizes from about 0.01
most important measures of fabric, along with contact m to several tens of micrometers. The basis of the
distributions and particle orientations. Pore information method is that a nonwetting uid (uid-to-solid contact
can be obtained by volumetric pore size distribution angle 90) will not enter pores without application of

pressure. For pores of cylindrical shape, the capillary 4. The apparatus may not have the capacity to pen-
pressure equation applies, and etrate the smallest pores in a sample.
4 cos In spite of these limitations, pore size distributions

d (5.5) determined by the mercury intrusion method can pro-
p
vide useful information about factors inuencing fabric
and fabricproperty interrelationships. An example is
where d is the diameter of pore intruded, is the sur- shown in Fig. 5.30. The data are in the form of cu-
face tension of the intruding uid, is the contact an- mulative volumes of pore space intruded for a pore of
gle, and p is the applied pressure. the indicated size and larger. It may be seen that the
The volume of mercury intruded into an evacuated pores cover a range of sizes and that changes in density
dry sample that is about 1 g in weight is measured
l
and sample preparation method result in changes in
ria
using successively higher pressures. The total volume pore size distributions.
of mercury intruded at any pressure gives the total vol- Pore size distributions may be estimated for sands,
ume of pores with an equivalent diameter larger than which are too coarse for mercury intrusion, by deter-
that corresponding to that pressure. The surface tension mination of the pore water volume that is drained ei-
of mercury is 4.84 104 N/mm at 25C. The contact ther by application of suction to the sample or by
ate
angle is about 140; measurements by Diamond application of air pressure to the pore water. Equation
(1970) gave 139 for montmorillonite and 147 for (5.5) applies. The surface tension of water, 7.5 105
other clay mineral types. N/mm at ordinary temperature, and a contact angle
Limitations of the mercury intrusion method are: of 0 should be used.
1. Pores must be dry initially. Freeze-dried samples
dM
are often used to minimize the effect of volume Image Analysis
change upon drying. The spatial distribution of local voids inside a soil
2. Isolated pores are not measured. specimen can be obtained by analyzing the images ob-
3. Pores accessible only through smaller pores will tained from thin sections. Generally, two image anal-
not be measured until the smaller pores are pen- ysis methods are available: (1) method of polygons and
etrated. (2) mean free path. In the rst method the centroids of
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Figure 5.30 Pore size distributions in crushed basalt as affected by compaction method.

INDIRECT METHODS FOR FABRIC CHARACTERIZATION 137
particles are located and linked to produce polygons, stress, and fabric of the soil. According to elastic the-
representing individual void elements as shown in Fig. ory, which is applicable to soils for the small defor-
5.31a. Using this method, Bhatia and Soliman (1990) mations associated with wave propagation, the shear
found that looser specimens of sand exhibited a greater wave (S-wave) velocity Vs and the compression wave
variability in local void ratio than denser specimens. (P-wave) velocity Vp are related to the shear modulus
Frost and Jang (2000) used this method to quantify the G and the constrained modulus M by
variation of local void distribution produced by differ-
ent preparation methods. Moist tamped specimens had Vs G/ (5.6)
a higher standard deviation of local void ratio for the
same mean void ratio than air-pluviated specimens. and
The mean free path method measures the mean free
l
path between particles by use of a scanning line that Vp M/ (5.7)
ria
passes through both particles and voids as shown in
Fig. 5.31b. The spacing and orientation of the line are where is the mass density.
varied, and a representative void is then produced by The constrained modulus M is related to the more
summing over the void lines found on a number of familiar Youngs modulus according to
scanned lines in each direction (Kuo et al., 1998). Us-
ate
ing this method, Masad and Muhunthan (2000) found 1
that larger local voids exist in the horizontal direction M E (5.8)
(1 )(1 2)
than the vertical for a pluviated specimen.
in which is Poissons ratio. Youngs modulus and
dM the shear modulus are related to each other by
5.10 INDIRECT METHODS FOR FABRIC
CHARACTERIZATION E 2(1 )G (5.9)
All physical properties of a soil depend in part on the The moduli depend on the applied effective stresses,
fabric; therefore, the measurement of a property pro- stress history, void ratio, and plasticity index. For co-
vides indirect measure of the fabric. Some of the mea- hesionless soils the modulus varies approximately as
surements that are particularly useful are listed in Table the square root of the effective conning pressure. For
hte
5.3 and are discussed briey in this section. cohesive soils the modulus varies as the effective con-
ning pressure to a power between 0.5 and 1.0. The
Elastic Wave Propagation small strain shear modulus of soil depends on contact
The propagation velocities of compression and shear stiffness and fabric state. Therefore, the change in
waves through a soil depend on the density, conning shear wave velocity with conning pressure provides
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py
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Figure 5.31 Image analysis methods to determine void fabric: (a) polygon method (after
Bhatia and Soliman, 1990) and (b) mean free path method (Kuo et al., 1998).

insight on the pressure dependency of contact stiffness. 2000

Equations (5.6) and (5.7) assume isotropic elasticity. If Toyoura sand Dr = 30% Vp
the material is viscoelastic, the wave velocities become Air pluviation o' = 98 kPa Vs
frequency dependent. Solutions for various viscoelastic
models are given by Santamarina et al. (2001). 1500 Vw = 1492 (m/s)
If two samples of the same soil have the same mass
density and are under the same effective conning 2(1 + v )
pressure but have different fabrics, they will have dif- Vp2 = Vs2
3[
4 +
3(1 2 ) (1 B) ]
b
Vp & Vs (m/s)
b
ferent modulus values. This difference will be reected
by differences in shear and compression wave veloci- 1000
vb = 0.35
ties. These velocities can be measured, and this pro- vb = 0.4
l
vides a means for assessing fabric. The shear wave
ria
velocity is the more useful of the two because shear
waves are only transmitted through the solid grain 500
vb = 0.25
structure of the soil mass, that is shear waves cannot vb = 0.5
be transmitted through water. Anisotropic soil structure
ate
and stress states can be detected on the basis of dif-
Vs = 212 (ms)
ferent shear wave velocities in different directions. Fur-
0
ther details of the relationships between small strain
moduli and compositional and environmental factors 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
are given in Chapter 11. B-value
If the material is dry, the bulk modulus of the skel-
dM Figure 5.32 Variation in P- and S-wave velocities with B
eton can be derived using both shear wave and com-
value in loose Toyoura sand under an isotropic compression
pression wave velocity measurements. If the material stress of 98 kPa (after Tsukamoto et al., 2002).
includes water, the P-wave velocity depends on the
elastic properties of soil solids and water, saturation,
and porosity. For fully saturated conditions, solutions
are available for two-phase media (Biot, 1956a, 1956b; whereas that at B 0.05 (Sw 90 percent) is only
Stoll, 1989; Mavko et al., 1998; Santamarina et al., 500 m/s. The S-wave velocity, on the other hand, is
hte
2001). The solutions show that there are two P-waves independent of the water saturation. Kokusho (2000)
and one S-wave. The fast P-wave and S-wave are the derives the following relationship that relates the fast
standard waves and the velocities have weak depend- P-wave velocity to B value:
ency on frequency. The slow P-wave (or Biot wave),
which is associated with the diffusional process of wa-
43 3(1 2(1 )
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ter ow in deforming porous media, especially at low Vp Vs b

(5.10)
frequency, and is very difcult to detect (Plona, 1980; )(1 B) b
Nakagawa et al., 1997). Hence, the fast P-wave and S-

wave are commonly used to characterize the soil. where b is Poissons ratio of soil skeleton. Equation
In fully saturated condition, the fast P-wave propa- (5.10) is plotted in Fig. 5.32 for different b values.
py
gates with a velocity that is 10 to 15 percent faster There is a dramatic decrease in P-wave velocity with
than the velocity through water. This is because the even a very small decrease in B value from fully sat-
stiffness of the soil skeleton contributes to increasing urated conditions.
P-wave velocity. In very loose saturated soil, the P-
Co
wave velocity is essentially controlled by the bulk Dielectric Dispersion and Electrical Conductivity
modulus of water and has a value of about 1500 m/s. The ow of electricity through a soil is a composite of
When air is introduced, P-wave velocity decreases. (1) ow through the soil particles alone, which is
Even with a small amount of air, the reduction is dra- small, because the solid phase is a poor conductor, (2)
matic due to a large decrease in bulk modulus of the ow through the pore uid alone, and (3) ow through
uidair mixture. The effect of B-value (or water sat- both solid and pore uid. The total electrical ow also
uration ratio Sw) on P- and S-wave velocities of Toy- depends on the porosity, tortuosity of ow paths, and
oura sand specimen (Dr 30 percent) is shown in Fig. conditions at the interfaces between the solid and liq-
5.32 (Tsukamoto et al., 2002). The fast P-wave veloc- uid phases. These factors are, in turn, dependent on the
ity at B 0.95 (Sw 100 percent) is 1700 m/s, particle arrangements and the density. Thus, a simple

INDIRECT METHODS FOR FABRIC CHARACTERIZATION 139
measurement of electrical conductivity would seem a conductivity may increase. These changes are termed
rapid and reliable means for evaluation of soil fabric. anomalous dispersion. Several regions of anomalous
However, electrical measurements in soils are com- dispersion may develop over the frequency range from
plicated by the fact that if direct current is used, then zero to microwave (1011 Hz). Different polarization
there will be electrokinetic coupling phenomena, such mechanisms cease to be effective above different fre-
as electroosmosis, and electrochemical effects that can quency values, thus accounting for the successive
cause irreversible changes in the system, as discussed regions of anomalous dispersion. Electrolyte solutions
in Chapter 9. On the other hand, if alternating current alone do not exhibit dispersion effects at frequencies
(AC) is used, then the measured responses depend on less than 108 Hz, but clays do in the radio frequency
frequency. Thus the application of electrical methods range. For example, the conductivity and dielectric dis-
and interpretation of the data require careful consid- persion behavior of saturated illite are shown in Fig.
l
eration of how the measurement method may inuence 5.33.
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what is being measured. At the same time, however, The electrical response characteristics in the low-
measurement of the frequency dependence of electrical frequency range depend on particle size and size dis-
properties can be useful for evaluation of fabric and as tribution, water content, direction of current ow
an index for engineering properties. relative to the direction of preferred particle orienta-
The capacitance C and the resistance R can be meation, type and concentration of electrolyte in the pore
ate
sured relatively easily. If electrical ow is in one di- water, particle surface characteristics, and sample dis-
mension only, then the electrical conductivity is turbance. Relationships between dielectric properties
given by and compositional and state parameters such as poros-
ity, particle shape, fabric anisotropy, and specic sur-
L/(RA)
dM (5.11) face area are given by Arulanandan (1991). The theory
is based on Maxwells (1881) relationship between po-
where L is the sample length and A is the cross- rosity and the dielectric properties of a mixture of so-
sectional area. lution and spherical particles, and its extension to
The capacitance can be converted to the relative di- ellipsoidal particles that are all oriented in one direc-
electric constant D (see Chapter 6) using tion by Fricke (1953). Extensive discussion of electro-
magnetic properties of soils is given in Santamarina et
al. (2001).
D CL/(A0) (5.12)
hte
The formation factor appears in the relationships

used to describe soil properties and state in terms of
where 0 is the permittivity of vacuum (8.8542 1012 electrical properties. The formation factor is the ratio
C2 J1 m1). of the electrical conductivity of the pore water to the
In ne-grained materials such as clays, the applica- electrical conductivity of the wet soil. It is a nondi-
tion of an AC eld causes the electrical charges that mensional parameter that depends on particle shape,
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are concentrated adjacent to particle surfaces to move

back and forth with amplitude dependent on such fac-
tors as type of charge, association of charge with sur-
faces, particle arrangement, and strength and frequency
of the eld. These oscillating charges contribute to a
py
polarization current that can be measured. The number

of charges per unit volume times the average displace-
ment is the polarizability. The magnitude of the po-
larizability is determined by the composition and
Co
structure of the material and is reected by the dielec-

tric constant.
Phenomena contributing to polarization include di-
pole rotation, accumulation of charges at interfaces be-
tween particles and their suspending medium, ion
atmosphere distortion, coupling of ows, and distortion
of a molecular system. The extent to which polariza-
tion can develop depends on ease of charge movement Figure 5.33 Dielectric and conductivity dispersion charac-
and time available for displacement. With increase in teristics of saturated illite (Grundite) (from Arulanandan et
frequency the dielectric constant may decrease and the al., 1973).

long axis orientation, porosity, and degree of satura- ture caused by mechanically and environmentally
tion. If a soil has an anisotropic fabric, then the for- induced changes in state of the soil.
mation factor is different in different directions.
Mechanical Properties
Thermal Conductivity
The mechanical properties of soil, including stress
Heat transfer through soils is through soil grains, wa- deformation behavior, strength, compressibility, and
ter, and pore air. As the thermal conductivity of soil permeability, depend on fabric in ways that are rea-
minerals is about 2.9 W/(m C), and the values for sonably well understood, as considered in Chapter 8.
water and air are 0.6 and 0.026 W/(m C), respec- Therefore, information about fabric can be deduced
tively, heat transfer is mainly through the soil particles. from measurements of these properties and known in-
Accordingly, the lower the void ratio, the greater the
l
terrelationships between properties and fabric.
number and area of interparticle contacts and the
ria
higher the degree of saturation, the higher is the ther-
mal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of a typical
soil is likely to be in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 W/(m 5.11 CONCLUDING COMMENT
C). This property is considered in more detail in Sec-
Fabric analyses are useful in research to show how
ate
tion 9.6.
Thermal conductivity can be determined using a rel- mechanical properties are dependent on particle asso-
atively simple transient heat ow method in which a ciations and arrangements. Fabric information can be
line heat source, called a thermal needle, is inserted used to deduce details of the depositional and postdep-
into the soil. The needle contains both a heating wire ositional history of a deposit. The effects of different
and a temperature sensor. When heat is introduced into
dM sampling methods can be assessed through the study
the needle at a constant rate, the temperatures T2 and of fabric changes. Insights can be gained into the me-
T1 at times t2 and t1 are related to the thermal conduc- chanics of strength mobilization, the nature of peak
tivity k according to and residual strengths, and the stressstrain behavior
of soils from fabric studies.
4 ln(t2) ln(t1) The indirect methods for fabric study are often use-
k (5.13) ful for determination of properties, homogeneity, and
Q T2 T1 anisotropy in situ. They may be of value also for as-
hte
sessing whether reconstituted samples used for labo-

where Q is the heat input between t1 and t2. This ratory testing correctly duplicate the eld conditions.
method and factors inuencing the results are de- The particulate nature of soil and the many possible
scribed by Mitchell and Kao (1978). associations of discrete particles and particle groups
Differences in thermal conductivity in different di- mean that a soil of given composition can have many
rections provide a measure of soil anisotropy. For different fabrics and exist over a very wide range of
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example, the ratios of thermal conductivity in the states, each having its own unique set of geotechnical
horizontal direction kh to that in the vertical direction properties.
kv for three clays with preferred particle orientations in
the horizontal direction were in the range of 1.05 to
1.70, depending on the clay type, consolidation pres-
py
sure, and sample disturbance (Penner, 1963b). For the QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
probe in the vertical position in a cross anisotropic
fabric, the value of k determined from Eq. (5.13) is kh. 1. Two samples of the same remolded clay have been
For the probe in the horizontal direction, a value of ki consolidated from the liquid limit to the same water
Co
is measured that is related to kv and kh according to content. One was consolidated under an isotropic
(Carlslaw and Jaeger, 1957) set of stresses and the other under anisotropic
stresses. What differences in fabric would you an-
k2i ticipate? Why?
kv (5.14)
kh 2. Two slurries of the same clay, one with occulated
clay particles and the other with deocculated par-
Thermal probe measurements can also be used to ticles, have been consolidated under an effective
detect differences in density at different locations in stress of 100 kPa. Which will have the higher (a)
the same material (Bellotti et al., 1991) and for eval- void ratio, (b) sensitivity, (c) strength? Explain your
uation of changes in density, water content, and struc- answer.

l
Exhibit 5.1 Soil fabrics.
ria
3. A series of shrinkage tests was done on a ne- specic soil types and states for which each of these
grained soil mass, and it was found that the shrink- methods might be useful for gaining insights and
ate
age was a maximum in the Z direction and was a understanding of the macro- and microfabrics and
minimum in all directions lying in a plane perpen- their inuences on volume change, strength, and
dicular to the Z direction. permeability properties.
a. Was the soil mass likely to have been isotropi- 7. To obtain an essentially undisturbed sample of co-
cally consolidated or anisotropically consoli- hesionless soil from the eld that preserves the in
dated?
dM
b. If anisotropically consolidated, what was the ma-
situ fabric is usually impossible without resorting
to expensive and time-consuming procedures such
jor principal stress direction? as ground freezing or injection followed by setting
c. Would you expect the soil to be isotropic with of a grout or resin. Suppose that you do not have
respect to hydraulic conductivity? Why? If ani- the time or budget that will allow this, but wish to
sotropic, in which direction would the hydraulic reconstitute disturbed specimens of the soil in the
conductivity be greatest? Why? laboratory by forming them in such a way that they
hte
4. Could X-ray diffraction alone be used to distinguish will have fabrics that reasonably duplicate the un-
among the fabrics shown in Exhibit 5.1? Explain disturbed condition in the eld. Suggest practical
your answer. Pertinent geometrical parameters of laboratory procedures that might be used, starting
typical X-ray diffractometers are: distance from X- with dry and disturbed soil of the type indicated, to
ray source to sample 17 cm, divergence of X-ray reproduce specimens that could then be used for
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beam 1, angle of incidence of X-ray beam to fabric studies and measurements of mechanical
the sample surface in the range of 10 to 35. properties:
a. Beach sand
5. You are analyzing a new type of laboratory strength
test that imposes unusual boundary conditions on b. Alluvial deposit
py
the sample being tested. What methods of fabric c. Wind-blown dune sand
study would you use to examine the location, di- d. Uniform sand placed as a hydraulic ll
rection, thickness, and fabric of shear zones within e. Uniform sand placed as a hydraulic ll and then
specimens? What would these methods tell you? densied using vibratory probes
Co
6. Several methods for study and characterization of f. Sand ll placed as a pavement base and densied
soil fabric are listed in Table 5.3. Indicate some by a vibratory roller

FALTA EL CAPITULO 6
CHAPTER 7
Effective, Intergranular, and
l
Total Stress
ria
ate
7.1 INTRODUCTION phases (usually water and air) can carry normal stress
but not shear stress. Furthermore, whenever the total
The compressibility, deformation, and strength prop- head in the uid phases within the soil mass differs
erties of a soil mass depend on the effort required to from that outside the soil mass, there will be uid ow
distort or displace particles or groups of particles rel-
dM into or out of the soil mass until total head equality is
ative to each other. In most engineering materials, reached.
resistance to deformation is provided by internal In this chapter, the relationships between stresses in
chemical and physicochemical forces of interaction a soil mass are examined with particular reference to
that bond the atoms, molecules, and particles together. stress carried by the assemblage of soil particles and
Although such forces also play a role in the behavior stress carried by the pore uid. Interparticle forces of
of soils, the compression and strength properties de- various types are examined, the nature of effective
pend primarily on the effects of gravity through self
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stress is considered, and physicochemical effects on

weight and on the stresses applied to the soil mass. pore pressure are analyzed.
The state of a given soil mass, as indicated, for ex-
ample, by its water content, structure, density, or void
ratio, reects the inuences of stresses applied in the
past, and this further distinguishes soils from most 7.2 PRINCIPLE OF EFFECTIVE STRESS
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other engineering materials, which, for practical pur- The principle of effective stress is the keystone of
poses, do not change density when loaded or unloaded. modern soil mechanics. Development of this principle
Because of the stress dependencies of the state, a was begun by Terzaghi about 1920 and extended for
given soil can exhibit a wide range of properties. For- several years (Skempton, 1960a). Historical accounts
tunately, however, the stresses, the state, and the prop-
py
of the development are described in Goodman (1999)

erties are not independent, and the relationships and de Boer (2000). A lucid statement of the principle
between stress and volume change, stress and stiffness, was given by Terzaghi (1936) at the First International
and stress and strength can be expressed in terms of Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engi-
denable soil parameters such as compressibility and neering. He wrote:
Co
friction angle. In soils with properties that are inu-

enced signicantly by chemical and physicochemical The stresses in any point of a section through a mass of
forces of interaction, other parameters such as cohe- soil can be computed from the total principal stresses, 1,
sion may be needed. 2, 3, which act in this point. If the voids of the soil are
lled with water under a stress u, the total principal
Most problems involving volume change, deforma-
stresses consist of two parts. One part, u, acts in the water
tion, and strength require separate consideration of the and in the solid in every direction with equal intensity. It
stress that is carried by the grain assemblage and that is called the neutral stress (or the pore water pressure).
carried by the uid phases. This distinction is essential The balance 1 1 u, 2 2 u, and 3 3
because an assemblage of grains in contact can resist u represents an excess over the neutral stress u, and it has
both normal and shear stress, but the uid and gas its seat exclusively in the solid phase of the soil.
173

174 7 EFFECTIVE, INTERGRANULAR, AND TOTAL STRESS
This fraction of the total principal stresses will be called ticle forces in a soil mass. Interparticle forces at the
the effective principal stresses . . . . A change in the neutral microscale can be separated into the following three
stress u produces practically no volume change and has categories (Santamarina, 2003):
practically no inuence on the stress conditions for failure
. . . . Porous materials (such as sand, clay, and concrete) 1. Skeletal Forces Due to External Loading These
react to a change of u as if they were incompressible and forces are transmitted through particles from the
as if their internal friction were equal to zero. All the meas- forces applied externally [e.g., foundation load-
urable effects of a change of stress, such as compression,
distortion and a change of shearing resistance are exclu-
ing) (Fig. 7.1a)].
sively due to changes in the effective stresses 1, 2 and 2. Particle Level Forces These include particle
3. Hence every investigation of the stability of a saturated weight force, buoyancy force when a particle is
body of soil requires the knowledge of both the total and submerged under uid, and hydrodynamic forces
l
the neutral stresses. or seepage forces due to pore uid moving
ria
through the interconnected pore network (Fig.
In simplest terms, the principle of effective stress 7.1b).
asserts that (1) the effective stress controls stress 3. Contact Level Forces These include electrical
strain, volume change, and strength, independent of the forces, capillary forces when the soil becomes
magnitude of the pore pressure, and (2) the effective unsaturated, and cementation-reactive forces (Fig.
ate
stress is given by u for a saturated soil.1 7.1c).
There is ample experimental evidence to show that
these statements are essentially correct for soils. The When external forces are applied, both normal and
principle is essential to describe the consolidation of a tangential forces develop at particle contacts. All par-
liquid-saturated deformable porous solid, as was done ticles do not share the forces or stresses applied at the
for the one-dimensional case by Terzaghi and further boundaries in equal manner. Each particle has different
dM
developed for the three-dimensional case by others
such as Biot (1941). It is also an essential concept for
skeletal forces depending on the position relative to the
neighboring particles in contact. The transfer of forces
the understanding of soil liquefaction behavior during through particle contacts from external stresses was
earthquakes. shown in Fig. 5.15 using a photoelastic model. Strong
The total stress can be directly measured or com- particle force chains form in the direction of major
puted using the external forces and the body force due principal stress. The evolution and distribution of in-
to weight of the soilwater mixture. A pore water pres-
hte
terparticle skeletal forces in soils govern the macro-

sure, denoted herein by u0, can be measured at a point scopic stressstrain behavior, volume change, and
remote from the interparticle zone. The actual pore wa- strength. As the soil approaches failure, buckling of
ter pressure in the interparticle zone is u. We know particle force chains occurs and shear bands develop
that at equilibrium the total potential or head of the due to localization of deformation. Further discussion
water at the two points must be equal, but this does of microbehavior in relation to deformation and
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not mean that u u0, as discussed in Section 7.7. The strength is given in Chapter 11.
effective stress is a deduced quantity, which in practice Particle weights act as body forces in dry soil and
is taken as u0. contribute to skeletal forces, observed in the photo-
elastic model shown in Fig. 5.15. When the pores are
lled with uids, the weight of the uids adds to the
py
7.3 FORCE DISTRIBUTIONS IN A body force of the soiluids mixture. However, hydro-
PARTICULATE SYSTEM static pressure results from the uid weight, and the
uplift force due to buoyancy reduces the effective
The term intergranular stress has become synonymous weight of a uid-lled soil. This leads to smaller skel-
Co
with effective stress. Whether or not the intergranular etal forces for submerged soil compared to dry soil.
stress i is indeed equal to u cannot be ascertained Seepage forces that result from additional uid pres-
without more detailed examination of all the interpar- sures applied externally produce hydrodynamic forces
on particles and alter the skeletal forces.
1
The terms and are the principal total and effective stresses.
For general stress conditions, there are six stress components (11, 7.4 INTERPARTICLE FORCES
22, 33, 12, 23, and 31), where the rst three are the normal stresses
and the latter three are the shear stresses. In this case, the effective
stresses are dened as 11 11 u, 22 22 u, 33 33 Long-range particle interactions associated with elec-
u, 12 12, 23
23, and 31
31. trical double layers and van der Waals forces are dis-

INTERPARTICLE FORCES 175
External Load Body Force

Buoyancy Force
if Saturated
Viscous Drag by
Seepage Flow
Interparticle Capillary Force or

Forces Cementation-reactive
Force
Interparticle
l
Forces
ria
Seepage Electrical Forces
ate
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 7.1 Interparticle forces at the particle level: (a) skeletal forces by external loading,
(b) particle level forces, and (c) contact level forces (after Santamarina, 2003).
dM
cussed in Chapter 6. These interactions control the
occulationdeocculation behavior of clay particles
layers of water when clay plates are pressed together
may be 0.05 to 0.1 J/m2. The corresponding pressure
in suspension, and they are important in swelling soils required to squeeze out one molecular layer of water
that contain expanding lattice clay minerals. In denser may be as much as 400 MPa (4000 atm) (van Olphen,
soil masses, other forces of interaction become impor- 1977).
tant as well since they may inuence the intergranular Thus, pressure alone is not likely to be sufcient to
stresses and control the strength at interparticle con- squeeze out all the water between parallel particle sur-
hte
tacts, which in turn controls resistance to compression faces in naturally occurring clays. Heat and/or high
and strength. In a soil mass at equilibrium, there must vacuum are needed to remove all the water from a ne-
be a balance among all interparticle forces, the pres- grained soil. This does not mean, however, that all the
sure in the water, and the applied boundary stresses. water may not be squeezed from between interparticle
contacts. In the case of interacting particle corners,
edges, and faces of interacting asperities, the contact
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Interparticle Repulsive Forces

stress may be several thousand atmospheres because
Electrostatic Forces Very high repulsion, the Born
the interparticle contact area is only a very small pro-
repulsion, develops at contact points between particles.
portion ( 1%) of the total soil cross-sectional area
It results from the overlap between electron clouds,
in most cases. The exact nature of an interparticle con-
and it is sufciently great to prevent the interpenetra-
py
tact remains largely a matter for speculation; however,

tion of matter.
there is evidence (Chapter 12) that it is effectively solid
At separation distances beyond the region of direct
to solid.
physical interference between adsorbed ions and hy-
Hydration repulsions decay rapidly with separation
dration water molecules, double-layer interactions pro-
Co
distance, varying inversely as the square of the dis-

vide the major source of interparticle repulsion. The
tance.
theory of these forces is given in Chapter 6. As noted
there, this repulsion is very sensitive to cation valence,
Interparticle Attractive Forces
electrolyte concentration, and the dielectric properties
of the pore uid. Electrostatic Attractions When particle edges and
Surface and Ion Hydration The hydration energy surfaces are oppositely charged, there is attraction due
of particle surfaces and interlayer cations causes large to interactions between double layers of opposite sign.
repulsive forces at small separation distances between Fine soil particles are often observed to adhere when
unit layers (clear distance between surfaces up to about dry. Electrostatic attraction between surfaces at differ-
2 nm). The net energy required to remove the last few ent potentials has been suggested as a cause. When the

gap between parallel particle surfaces separated by dis- There is also an increase in resistance to tangential
tance d at potentials V1 and V2 is conductive, there is force at particle contacts. However, when the bond
an attractive force per unit area, or tensile strength, breaks, the shear capacity at a contact reduces to that
given by (Ingles, 1962) of the uncemented contacts.
An analysis of the strength of cemented bonds
4.4 106 (V1 V2)2 should consider three cases: (i) failure in the cement,
F N/m2 (7.1) (ii) failure in the particle and (iii) failure at the ce-
d2
mentparticle interface. The following equation can be
derived (Ingles, 1962) for the tensile strength T per
where F is the tensile strength, d is in micrometers, unit area of soil cross section:
and V1 and V2 are in millivolts. This force is indepen-
l
dent of particle size and becomes signicant (greater 1 n
T Pk
ria
than 7 kN/m2 or 1 psi) for separation distances less (7.2)
1e n
than 2.5 nm. Ai
Electromagnetic Attractions Electromagnetic at- 1
tractions caused by frequency-dependent dipole inter-

actions (van der Waals forces) are described in Section where P is the bond strength per contact zone, k is the
ate
6.12. Anandarajah and Chen (1997) proposed a method mean coordination number of a grain, e is the void
to quantify the van der Waals force between particles ratio, n is the number of grains in an ideal breakage
specically for ne-grained soils with various geomet- plane at right angles to the direction of T, and Ai is
ric parameters such as particle length, thickness, ori- the total surface area of the ith grain.
entation, and spacing. For a random and isotropic assembly of spheres of
diameter d, Eq. (7.2) becomes
dM
Primary Valence Bonding Chemical interactions
between particles and between the particles and adja-
cent liquid phase can only develop at short range. Co- Pk
T (7.3)
valent and ionic bonds occur at spacings less than 0.3 d (1 e)
2
nm. Cementation involves chemical bonding and can

be considered as a short-range attraction. For a random and isotropic assembly of rods of length
Whether primary valence bonds, or possibly hydro- l and diameter d
hte
gen bonds, can develop at interparticle contacts with-

out the presence of cementing agents is largely a Pk
matter of speculation. Very high contact stresses be- T (7.4)
d(l d/2)(1 e)
tween particles could squeeze out adsorbed water and
cations and cause mineral surfaces to come close to- Bond strength P is evaluated in the following way (Fig.
gether, perhaps providing opportunity for cold weld- 7.2) for two cemented spheres of radius R. It may be
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ing. The activation energy for soil deformation is high, shown that
in the range characteristic for rupture of chemical
bonds, and strength behavior appears in reasonable
(R cos )
conformity with the adhesion theory of friction (Chap- cosh R sin (7.5)
ter 11). Thus, interatomic bonding between particles
py
seems possible. On the other hand, the absence of co-

hesion in overconsolidated silts and sands argues so for known , can be computed. Then, for cement
against such pressure-induced bonding. failure,
Cementation Cementation may develop naturally
Co
from precipitation of calcite, silica, alumina, iron ox- P c 2 (7.6)

ides, and possibly other inorganic or organic com-
pounds. The addition of stabilizers such as cement and where c is the tensile strength of the cement; for
lime to a soil also leads to interparticle cementation. If sphere failure,
two particles are not cemented, the interparticle force
cannot become tensile; they loose contact. However, if P s ()2 (7.7)
a particle contact is cemented, it is possible for some
interparticle forces to become negative due to the ten- where R sin , and s is the tensile strength of
sile resistance (or strength) of the cemented bonds. the sphere, and for failure at the interface

INTERPARTICLE FORCES 177
mented natural materials, if the soil is unloaded from
high overburden stress, elastic rebound may disrupt ce-
mented bonds.
Cementation allows interparticle normal forces to
become negative, and, therefore, the distribution and
evolution of skeletal forces may be different than in
uncemented soils, even though the applied external
stresses are the same. Thus, the stiffness and strength
properties of a soil are likely to differ according to
when and how cementation was developed. How to
account for this in terms of effective stress is not yet
l
clear.
ria
Capillary Stresses Because water is attracted to
soil particles and because water can develop surface
tension, suction develops inside the pore uid when a
saturated soil mass begins to dry. This suction acts like
a vacuum and will directly contribute to the effective
ate
stress or skeletal forces. The negative pore pressure is
usually considered responsible for apparent and tem-
porary cohesion in soils, whereas the other attractive
forces produce true cohesion.
dM When the soil continues to dry, air starts to invade
into the pores. The air entry pressure is related to the
pore size and can be estimate using the following equa-
tion, assuming a capillary tube as shown in Fig. 7.3a:
Figure 7.2 Contact zone failures for cemented spheres. 2aw cos
P c (7.9)
rp
hte
sin where P c is the capillary pressure at air entry, aw is

P 1 2R2(1 cos ) (7.8) the airwater interfacial tension, is contact angle de-

ned in Fig. 7.3, and rp is the tube radius. For pure
water and air, aw depends on temperature, for exam-
where 1 is the tensile strength of the interface bond. ple, it is 0.0756 N/m at 0C, 0.0728 N/m at 20C, and
In principle, Eq. (7.6), (7.7), or (7.8) can be used to 0.0589 N/m at 100C. If the capillary pressure Pc
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obtain a value for P in Eq. (7.2) enabling computation ( ua uw, where ua and uw are the air and water
of the tensile strength T of a cemented soil. pressures, respectively) is larger than P c, then air in-
The behavior of cemented soils can depend on the vades the pore.2 Since soil has pores with various sizes,
timing of cementation development. Articially ce- the water in the largest pores is displaced rst followed
mented soils are often loaded after cementation has
py
by smaller pores. This leads to a macroscopic model

developed, whereas cementation develops during or af- of the soilwater characteristic curve (or the capillary
ter overburden loading in natural soils. In the former pressuresaturation relationship), as discussed in Sec-
case, the particles and cementation bonding are loaded tion 7.11.
together and contact forces can become negative de-
Co
If the water surrounding the soil particles remains

pending on the tensile resistance of cementation bond- continuous [termed the funicular regime by Bear
ing. The distribution and magnitude of skeletal forces (1972)], the interparticle force acting on a particle with
are therefore inuenced by both geometric arrange- radius r can be estimated from
ment of particles and the cementation bonding at the
particle contacts. In the latter case, on the other hand,
the contact forces induced by external loading are de-
veloped before cementation coats the already loaded
2
It is often assumed that ua 0 (for gauge pressure) or 1 atm (for
absolute pressure). However, this may not be true in cases such as
particles. In this case, it is possible that cementation rapid water inltration when air in the pores cannot escape or the air
creates extra forces at particle contacts. In some ce- boundary is completely blocked.

Capillary Tube
Representing a Pore
2 rp

ua
^ 2aw cos
uw Pc = w gdc = rp
dc
l
ria
ate
(a) (b)
Figure 7.3 Capillary tube concept for air entry estimation: (a) capillary tube and (b) bundle
of capillary tubes to represent soil pores with different sizes.
dM
Fc r 2 P c
2 r 2 aw cos
rp
(7.10)
teractions of all these forces in a soil is beyond the
present state of knowledge. Nonetheless, their exis-
tence bears directly on the magnitude of intergranular
where rp is the size of the pore into which the air has pressure and the relationship between intergranular
entered. Since the uid acts like a membrane with neg- pressure and effective stress as dened by
ative pressure, this force contributes directly to the u.
A simplied equation for the intergranular stress in
hte
skeletal forces like the water pressure as shown in Fig.

7.4a. a soil may be developed in the following way. Figure
As the soil continues to dry, the water phase be- 7.5 shows a horizontal surface through a soil at some
comes disconnected and remains in the form of me- depth. Since the stress conditions at contact points,
nisci or liquid bridges at the interparticle contacts rather than within particles, are of primary concern, a
[termed the pendular regime by Bear (1972)]. The wavy surface that passes through contact points (Fig.
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curved airwater interface produces a pore water ten- 7.5a) is of interest. The proportion of the total wavy
sion, which, in turn, generates interparticle compres- surface area that is comprised of intergrain contact area
sive forces. The force only acts at particle contacts in is very small (Fig. 7.5c).
contrast to the funicular regime, as shown in Fig. 7.4b. The two particles in Fig. 7.5 that contact at point A
The interparticle force generally depends on the sep- are shown in Fig. 7.6, along with the forces that act in
py
aration between the two particles, the radius of the liq- a vertical direction. Complete saturation is assumed.
uid bridge, interfacial tension, and contact angle (Lian Vertical equilibrium across wavy surface xx is con-
et al., 1993). Once the water phase becomes discontin- sidered.3 The effective area of interparticle contact is
uous, evaporation and condensation are the primary ac; its average value along the wavy surface equals the
Co
mechanisms of water transfer. Hence, the humidity of total mineral contact area along the surface divided by
the gas phase and the temperature affect the water va- the number of interparticle contacts. Dene area a as
por pressure at the surface of water menisci, which in
turn inuences the air pressure ua.
3
Note that only vertical forces at the contact are considered in this
simplied analysis. It is evident, however, that applied boundary nor-
mal and shear stresses each induce both normal and shear forces at
7.5 INTERGRANULAR PRESSURE interparticle contacts. These forces contribute both to the develop-
ment of soil strength and resistance to compression and to the slip-
ping and sliding of particles relative to each other. These interparticle
Several different interparticle forces were described in movements are central to compression, shear deformations, and creep
the previous section. Quantitative expression of the in- as discussed in Chapters 10, 11, and 12.

INTERGRANULAR PRESSURE 179
Continuous
Water Film
Interparticle
Forces
Soil Particles
Soil Particles
Air
l
ria
Liquid
Bridges
Pores of Radius
rp Filled with Air
ate
Suction forces act only at particle
contacts and the magnitude of the
Negative pore pressure acts all forces depends on the size of liquid
around the particles bridges.
dM (a) (b)
Figure 7.4 Microscopic watersoil interaction in unsaturated soils: (a) funicular regime and
(b) pendular regime.
hte
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py
Figure 7.6 Forces acting on interparticle contact A.

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the average total cross-sectional area along a horizontal

plane served by the contact. It equals the total hori-
zontal area divided by the number of interparticle con-
tacts along the wavy surface. The forces acting on area
a in Fig. 7.6 are:
1. a, the force transmitted by the applied stress ,

which includes externally applied forces and
Figure 7.5 Surfaces through a soil mass. body weight from the soil above.

2. u(a ac), the force carried by the hydrostatic where aw /a. Although it is clear that for a dry soil
pressure u. Because a ac and ac is very small, 0, and for a saturated soil 1.0, the usefulness
the force may be taken as ua. Long-range, of Eq. (7.15) has been limited in practice because of
double-layer repulsions are included in ua. uncertainties about for intermediate degrees of sat-
3. A(a ac) Aa, the force caused by the long- uration. Further discussion of the effective stress con-
range attractive stress A, that is, van der Waals cept for unsaturated soils is given in Section 7.12.
and electrostatic attractions. Limiting the discussion to saturated soils, two ques-
4. Aac, the force developed by the short-range at- tions arise:
tractive stress A, resulting from primary valence
(chemical) bonding and cementation. 1. How does the intergranular pressure i relate to
5. Cac, the intergranular contact reaction that is gen- the effective stress as dened for most analyses,
l
erated by hydration and Born repulsion. that is, u?
ria
2. How does the intergranular pressure i relate to
Vertical equilibrium of forces requires that the measured quantity, m u0, that is taken
as the effective stress, recalling (Section 7.2) that
a Aa Aac ua Cac (7.11) pore pressure can only be measured at points out-
side the true interparticle zone?
ate
Division of all terms by a converts the forces to
Answers to these questions require a more detailed
stresses per unit area of cross section,
consideration of the meaning of uid pressures in soils.
ac
(C A) uA (7.12)
a
dM 7.6 WATER PRESSURES AND POTENTIALS
The term (C A)ac /a represents the net force across Pressures in the pore uid of a soil can be expressed
the contact divided by the total cross-sectional area in several ways, and the total pressure may involve
(soil plus water) that is served by the contact. In other several contributions. In hydraulic engineering, prob-
words, it is the intergrain force divided by the gross lems are analyzed using Bernoullis equation for the
area or the intergranular pressure in common soil me- total heads and head losses associated with ow be-
hte
chanics usage. Designation of this term by i gives tween two points, that is,
i A u (7.13) p1 v2 p v2
Z1 1 Z2 2 2 h12 (7.16)
w 2g w 2g
Equations analogous to Eqs. (7.11), (7.12), and (7.13)
rig
can be developed for the case of a partly saturated soil.

To do so requires consideration of the pressures in the where Z1 and Z2 are the elevations of points 1 and 2,
water uw and in the air ua and the proportions of area p1 and p2 are the hydrostatic pressures at points 1 and
a contributed by water aw and by air aa with the con- 2, v1 and v2 are the ow velocities at points 1 and 2,
dition that w is the unit weight of water, g is the acceleration due
to gravity, and h12 is the loss in head between points
py
1 and 2. The total head H (dimension L) is

a w aa a i.e., ac 0
p v2
The resulting equation is HZ (7.17)
Co
w 2g
aw
i A ua (u ua) (7.14) Flow results only from differences in total head;
a w
conversely, if the total heads at two points are the
same, there can be no ow, even if Z1 Z2 and p1
In the absence of signicant long-range attractions, p2. If there is no ow, there is no head loss and h12
this equation is similar to that proposed by Bishop 0.
(1960) for partially saturated soils The ow velocity through soils is low, and as a re-
sult v 2 /2g 0, and in most cases it may be neglected.
i ua (ua uw) (7.15) Therefore, the relationship

WATER PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM IN SOIL 181
p1 p 1. Gravitational potential g (head Z, pressure pz)
Z1 Z2 2 h12 (7.18)
w w corresponds to elevation head in normal hydrau-
lic usage.
is the basis for evaluation of pore pressures and anal- 2. Matrix or capillary potential m (head hm, pres-
ysis of seepage through soils and other porous media. sure p) is the work per unit quantity of water to
Although the absence of velocity terms is a factor transport reversibly and isothermally an innites-
that seems to simplify the analysis of ows and pres- imal quantity of water to the soil from a pool
sures in soils, there are other considerations that tend containing a solution identical in composition to
to complicate the problem. These include: the soil water at the same elevation and external
gas pressure as that of the point under consider-
1. The use of several terms to describe the status of ation in the soil. This component corresponds to
l
water in soils, for example, potential, pressure, the pressure head in normal hydraulic usage. It
ria
and head. results from that part of the boundary stresses
2. The possible existence of tensions in the pore wa- that is transmitted to the water phase, from pres-
ter. sures generated by capillarity menisci, and from
3. Compositional differences in the water from water adsorption forces exerted by particle sur-
faces. A piezometer measures the matrix poten-
ate
point-to-point and adsorptive force elds from
particle surfaces. tial if it contains uid of the same composition
4. Differences in interparticle forces and the energy as the soil water.
state of the pore uid from point to point owing 3. Osmotic (or solute) potential s (head hs, pres-
to thermal, electrical, and chemical gradients. sure ps) is the work per unit quantity of water to
Such gradients can cause uid ows, deforma-
dM transport reversibly and isothermally an innites-
tions, and volume changes, as considered in more imal quantity of water from a pool of pure water
detail in Chapter 9. at a specied elevation and atmospheric pressure
to a pool containing a solution identical in com-
Some formalism in denition and terminology is position to the soil water, but in all other respects
necessary to avoid confusion. The status of water in a identical to the reference pool. This component
soil can be expressed in terms of the free energy rel- is, in effect, the osmotic pressure of the soil wa-
ative to free, pure water (Aitchison, et al., 1965). The ter, and it depends on the composition and ability
hte
free energy can be (and is) expressed in different ways, of the soil particles to restrain the movement of
including adsorbed cations. The osmotic potential is nega-
tive, that is, water tends to ow in the direction
1. Potential (dimensionsL2T2: J/kg) of increasing concentration.
2. Head (dimensionsL: m, cm, ft)
3. Pressure (dimensionsML1 T2: kN/m2, dyn/ The total potential, head, and pressure then become
rig
cm2, tons/m2, atm, bar, psi, psf)

g m s (7.19)
If the free energy is less than that of pure water
under the ambient air pressure, the terms suction and H Z hm hs (7.20)
negative pore water pressure are used.
py
The total potential (head, pressure) of soil water is P pz p ps (7.21)

the potential (head, pressure) in pure water that will
cause the same free energy at the same temperature as At equilibrium and no ow there can be no varia-
in the soil water. An alternative denition of total po- tions in , H, or P within the soil.
Co
tential is the work per unit quantity to transport re-

versibly and isothermally an innitesimal amount of
pure water from a pool at a specied elevation at at- 7.7 WATER PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM IN SOIL
mospheric pressure to the point in soil water under
consideration. Consider a saturated soil mass as shown in Fig. 7.7.
The selection of the components of the total poten- Conditions at several points will be analyzed in terms
tial (total head H, total pressure P) is somewhat of heads for simplicity, although potential or pressure
arbitrary (Bolt and Miller, 1958); however, the follow- could also be used with the same result. The system is
ing have gained acceptance for geotechnical work assumed at constant temperature throughout. At point
(Aitchison, et al., 1965): 0, a point inside a piezometer introduced to measure

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 7.7 Schematic representation of a saturated soil for analysis of pressure conditions.
pore pressure, Z 0, hm hm0, and hs0 0 if pure At point 2, which is between the same two clay par-
water is used in the piezometer. Thus, ticles as point 1 but closer to a particle surface, there
hte
will be a different ion concentration than at 1. Thus,

H0 0 hm0 0 hm0 at equilibrium, and assuming Z2 0,
It follows that u0
hm2 hs2 hm1 hs1 hm0
w
rig
P0 hm0 w u0 (7.22)
A similar analysis could be applied to any point in the
system. If point 3 were midway between two clay par-
the measured pore pressure. ticles spaced the same distance apart as the particles
Point 1 is at the same elevation as point 0, except it on either side of point 1, then hs3 hs1, but Z3 0.
py
is inside the soil mass and midway between two clay Thus,
particles. At this point, Z1 0, but hs 0 because the
electrolyte concentration is not zero. Thus,
u0
Z3 hm3 hs3 Z3 hm3 hs1 (7.24)
w
Co
H1 0 hm1 hs1
A partially saturated system can also be analyzed,
If no water is owing, H1 H0, and but the inuences of curved airwater interfaces must
be taken into account in the development of the hm
hm1 hs1 hm0 terms.
The conclusions that result from the above analysis
Also, because p1 p0 u0 of component potentials are:
1. As the osmotic and gravitational components
u0 hm1 w hs1 w (7.23) vary from point to point in a soil at equilibrium,

MEASUREMENT OF PORE PRESSURES IN SOILS 183
the matrix or capillary component must also vary reach equilibrium, and the suction can be deter-
to maintain equal total potential. The concept that mined by the water content of the lter paper.
hydrostatic pressure must vary with elevation to These techniques are used for measurement of
maintain equilibrium is intuitive; however, the pore pressures less than atmospheric.
idea that this pressure must vary also in response 3. Pressure-Membrane Devices An exposed soil
to compositional differences is less easy to vi- sample is placed on a membrane in a sealed
sualize. Nonetheless, this underlies the whole chamber. Air pressure in the chamber is used to
concept of water ow by chemical osmosis. push water from the pores of the soil through the
2. The total potential, head, and pressure are meas- membrane. The relationship between water con-
urable, and separation into components is possi- tent and pressure is used to establish the relation-
ble experimentally, although it is difcult. ship between soil suction and water content.
l
3. A pore pressure measurement using a piezometer 4. Consolidation Tests The consolidation pressure
ria
containing pure water gives a pressure u0 wh, on a sample at equilibrium is the soil water suc-
where h is the pressure head at the piezometer. tion. If the consolidation pressure were instanta-
When referred back to points between soil par- neously removed, then a negative water pressure
ticles, u0 is seen to include contributions from or suction of the same magnitude would be
osmotic pressures as well as matrix pressures. needed to prevent water movement into the soil.
ate
Since osmotic pressures are the cause of long- 5. Vapor Pressure Methods The relationship be-
range repulsions due to double-layer interactions, tween relative humidity and water content is used
measured pore water pressures may include con- to establish the relationship between suction and
tributions from long-range interparticle repulsive water content.
forces. dM 6. Osmotic Pressure Methods Soil samples are
equilibrated with solutions of known osmotic
pressure to give a relationship between water
7.8 MEASUREMENT OF PORE PRESSURES IN content and water suction.
SOILS 7. Dielectric Sensors Such as Capacitance Probes
and Time Domain Reectometry Soil moisture
Several techniques for the measurement of pore water can be indirectly determined by measuring the
pressures are available. Some are best suited for lab- dielectric properties of unsaturated soil samples.
hte
oratory use, whereas others are intended for use in the With the knowledge of soil water characteristics
eld. Some yield the pore pressure or suction by direct relationship (Section 7.11), the negative pore
measurement, while others require deduction of the pressure corresponding to the measured soil
value using thermodynamic relationships. moisture can be determined. The capacitance
probe measures change in frequency response of
1. Piezometers of Various Types Water in the pi- the soils capacitance, which is related to dielec-
rig
ezometer communicates with the soil through a tric constants of soil particle, water, and air. The
porous stone or lter. Pressures are determined capacitance is largely inuenced by water con-
from the water level in a standpipe, by a manom- tent, as the dielectric constant of water is large
eter, by a pressure gauge, or by an electronic compared to the dielectric constants of soil
pressure transducer. A piezometer used to mea-
py
particle and air. Time domain reectrometry

sure pressures less than atmospheric is usually measures the travel time of a high-frequency,
termed a tensiometer. electromagnetic pulse. The presence of water in
2. Gypsum Block, Porous Ceramic, and Filter the soil slows down the speed of the electromag-
Paper The electrical properties across a spe- netic wave by the change in the dielectric prop-
Co
cially prepared gypsum block or porous ceramic erties. Volumetric water content can therefore be
block are measured. The water held by the block indirectly measured from the travel time mea-
determines the resistance or permittivity, and the surement.
moisture tension in the surrounding soil deter-
mines the amount of moisture in the block Piezometer methods are used when positive pore
(Whalley et al., 2001). The same principle can be pressures are to be measured, as is usually the case in
applied by placing a dry lter paper on a soil dams, slopes, and foundations on soft clays. The other
specimen and allowing the soil moisture to ab- methods are suitable for measurement of negative pore
sorb into the paper. When the suction in the lter pressures or suction. Pore pressures are often negative
paper is equal to the suction in the soil, the two in expansive and partly saturated soils. More detailed

descriptions and comparisons of these and other meth- dened effective stress u0 differ by the net
ods are given by Croney et al. (1952), Aitchison et al. interparticle stress due to physicochemical contribu-
(1965), Richards and Peter (1987), and Ridley et al. tions,
(2003).
i A R (7.30)
7.9 EFFECTIVE AND INTERGRANULAR
PRESSURE When A and R are both small, as would be true in
granular soils, silts, and clays of low plasticity, or in
In Section 7.5, it was shown that the intergranular pres- cases where A R, the intergranular and effective
sure is given by stress are approximately equal. Only in cases where
l
either A or R is large, or both are large but of signi-
i A u
ria
(7.25) cantly different magnitude, would the intergranular and
effective stress be signicantly different. Such a con-
where u is the hydrostatic pressure between particles dition appears not to be common, although it might be
(or hm w in the terminology of Section 7.7). General- of importance in a well-dispersed sodium montmoril-
ized forms of Eq. (7.24) are lonite, where compression behavior can be accounted
ate
for reasonably well in terms of double-layer repulsions
u0 Z w hm w hs w (7.26) (Chapter 10).4
The derivation of Eq. (7.30) assumed vertical equi-
and librium, with contributing forces parallel to each other,
that is, the intergranular stress i is the sum of the
u hm w u0 Z w hs w (7.27) skeletal forces (dened as u0) and the elec-
dM trochemical stress (A R), as illustrated in Fig. 7.8a.
Thus, Eq. (7.25) becomes, for the case of no elevation This implies that the deformation induced by the elec-
difference between a piezometer and the point in ques- trochemical stress (A R) is equal to the deformation
tion (i.e., Z 0), induced by the skeletal forces at contacts [i.e., a par-
allel model as described by Hueckel (1992)]. The
i A u0 hs w (7.28) change in pore uid chemistry at constant connement
hte
() leads to changes in intergranular stresses (i), re-

Because the quantity hs w is an osmotic pressure and sulting in changes in shear strength, for example.
the salt concentration between particles will invariably An alternative assumption can be made; the total
be greater than at points away from the soil (such as deformation of soil is the sum of the deformations of
in a piezometer), hs w will be negative. This pressure the particles and in the double layers as illustrated in
reects double-layer repulsions. It has been termed R Fig. 7.8b. The effective stress is then equal to the
rig
in some previous studies (Lambe, 1960; Mitchell, electrochemical stress (R A):

1962). If hs w in Eq. (7.28) is replaced by the absolute
value of R, we obtain
i R A u0 (7.31)
i A u0 R (7.29)
py
This is called the series model (Hueckel, 1992), and

From Eq. (7.25), it was seen that the intergranular the model can be applicable for very ne soils at high
pressure was dependent on long-range interparticle at- water content, in which particles are not actually in
tractions A as well as on the applied stress and the contact with each other but are aligned in a parallel
Co
pore water pressure between particles u. Equation arrangement. Increase in intergranular stress i or ef-
(7.29) indicates that if intergranular pressure i is to fective stress changes the interparticle spacing,
be expressed in terms of a measured pore pressure u0, which may contribute to changes in strength properties
then the long-range repulsion R must also be taken into upon shearing.
account. The actual hydrostatic pressure between par-
ticles u u0 R includes the effects of long-range
repulsions as required by the condition of constant to-
4
tal potential for equilibrium. A detailed analysis of effective stress in clays is presented by Chat-
topadhyay (1972), which leads to similar conclusions, including Eq.
In the general case, therefore, the true intergranular (7.29). i was termed the true effective stress and it governed the
pressure i A u0 R and the conventionally volume change behavior of Namontmorillonite.

ASSESSMENT OF TERZAGHIS EQUATION 185
Skeletal Force
Skeletal Force
Electrochemical Force Electrochemical Force
Skeletal Force
Skeletal Force Electrochemical Force
Electrochemical Force
i i
l
ria
Skeletal Force
= _ u0
Skeletal Force Electrochemical
Particle Deformation
= _ u0 Force A _ R
by Skeletal Force
Electrochemical
Force A _ R
ate
Deformation at
the Contact Total Deformation
i
i at the Contact
i = _ u0 + A _ R i = _ u0 = A _ R
dM (a) (b)
Figure 7.8 Contribution of skeletal force ( u0) and electrochemical force (A R) to

intergranular force i: (a) parallel model and (b) series model.
hte
Since the particles are arranged in parallel as well of saturated soils. Skempton proposed three possible
as nonparallel manner, the chemomechanical coupling relationships for effective stress in saturated soils:
behavior of actual soils can be far from the predictions
made by the above two models. In fact, Santamarina 1. The true intergranular pressure for the case when
(2003) argues that the impact of skeletal forces by ex- AR0
ternal forces, particle-level forces, and contact-level
rig
forces on soil behavior is different, and mixing both (1 ac)u (7.32)

types of forces in a single algebraic expression in terms
of effective stress can lead to incorrect prediction [e.g., in which ac is the ratio of contact area to total
Eq. (7.15) for unsaturated soils and Eq. (7.30) for soils cross-sectional area.
py
with measurable interparticle repulsive and attractive 2. The solid phase is treated as a real solid that has
forces]. compressibility Cs and shear strength given by
i k tan (7.33)
Co
7.10 ASSESSMENT OF TERZAGHIS EQUATION where is an intrinsic friction angle and k is a

true cohesion. The following relationships were
The preceding equations and discussion do not conrm
derived: For shear strength,
that Terzaghis simple equation is indeed the effective

stress that governs consolidation and strength behavior
of soils. However, its usefulness has been established ac tan
1 u (7.34)
from the experience of many years of successful ap- tan
plication in practice. Skempton (1960b) showed that
the Terzaghi equation does not give the true effective where is the effective stress angle of shearing
stress but gives an excellent approximation for the case resistance. For volume change,

1 Cs
C
u (7.35)
Table 7.1 Compressibility Values for Soil, Rock,
and Concrete
where C is the soil compressibility. Compressibility a

3. The solid phase is a perfect solid, so that 0 per kN/m2 106
and Cs 0. This gives
Material C Cs Cs /C
u (7.36) Quartzitic sandstone 0.059 0.027 0.46
Quincy granite (30 m deep) 0.076 0.019 0.25
To test the three theories, available data were studied Vermont marble 0.18 0.014 0.08
to see which related to the volume change of a system Concrete (approx.) 0.20 0.025 0.12
l
acted upon by both a total stress and a pore water Dense sand 18 0.028 0.0015
ria
pressure according to Loose sand 92 0.028 0.0003
London clay (over cons.) 75 0.020 0.00025
V Gosport clay (normally cons.) 600 0.020 0.00003
C (7.37)
V
After Skempton (1960b).
ate
and also satised the Coulomb equation for drained
a
Compressibilities at p 98 kN/m2; water Cw 0.49
shear strength d : 106 per kN/m2.
d c tan (7.38)
dM
when both a total stress and a pore pressure are acting.
It may be noted that this approach assumes that the
A more rigorous evaluation of the contribution of
soil particle compressibility to effective stress was
Coulomb strength equation is valid a priori. made by Lade and de Boer (1997) using a two-phase
The results of Skemptons analysis showed that Eq. mixture theory. The volume change of the soil skeleton
(7.32) was not a valid representation of effective stress. can be separated into that due to pore pressure incre-
Equations (7.34) and (7.35) give the correct results for ment u and that due to the change in conning pres-
soils, concrete, and rocks. Equation (7.36) accounts sure ( u) (or u). The effective stress
hte
well for the behavior of soils but not for concrete and increment is dened as the stress that produces the
rock. The reason for this latter observation is that in same volume change,
soils Cs /C and ac tan /tan approach zero, and,
thus, Eqs. (7.34) and (7.35) reduce to Eq. (7.36). In CV0 Vsks Vsku CV0( u)
rock and concrete, however, Cs /C and ac tan /tan
are too large to be neglected. The value of tan /tan CuV0 u (7.40)
rig
may range from 0.1 to 0.3, ac clearly is not negli-

gible, and Cs /C may range from 0.1 to 0.5 as indicated
where Vsks is the volume change of soil skeleton due
in Table 7.1.
to change in conning pressure, Vsku is the volume
Effective stress equations of the form of Eqs. (7.32),
change of soil skeleton due to pore pressure change,
py
(7.34), (7.35), and (7.36) can be generalized to the gen-

V0 is the initial volume, C is the compressibility of the
eral form (Lade and de Boer, 1997):
soil skeleton by conning pressure change, and Cu is
the compressibility of the soil skeleton by pore pres-
u (7.39)
sure change. Rearranging Eq. (7.40) leads to
Co
where is the fraction of the pore pressure that gives

the effective stress.5 Different expressions for pro-
posed by several researchers are listed in Table 7.2. 1
Cu
C
u (7.41)
5
A more general expression has been proposed as ij ij iju, Lade and de Boer (1997) used this equation to de-
where ij is the tensor that accounts for the constitutive characteristics rive an effective stress equation for granular materials
of the solid such as complex kinematics associated with anisotropic
elastic materials (Carroll and Katsube, 1983; Coussy, 1995; Did- under drained conditions. Consider a condition in
wania, 2002). which the total conning pressure is constant [ (

ASSESSMENT OF TERZAGHIS EQUATION 187
Table 7.2 Expressions for to Dene Effective Stress
Pore Pressure Fraction Note Reference

1 Terzaghi (1925b)
n n porosity Biot (1955)
1 ac ac grain contact area per unit area of plane Skempton and Bishop (1954)
tan Equation (7.34) Skempton (1960b)
1 ac
tan
C Equation (7.35); for isotropic elastic Biot and Willis (1957), Skempton
1 s
C deformation of a porous material; for solid (1960b), Nur and Byerlee (1971), Lade
l
rock with small interconnected pores and and de Boer (1997)
ria
low porosity (Lade and de Boer, 1997)
Cs Equation (7.43) Suklje (1969); Lade and de Boer (1997)
1 (1 n)
C
After Lade and de Boer (1997).
ate
u) 0], but the pore pressure changes by u.6 The
volume change of soil skeleton caused by change in
pore pressure ( Vsku) is attributed solely from the vol-
dM
umetric compression of the solid grains ( Vgu). Hence,
Vsku CuV0 u Cs(1 n)V0 u Vgu or

Cu Cs(1 n) (7.42)
where Cs is the compressibility of soil grains due to

hte
pore pressure change and n is the porosity. Substituting

Eq. (7.42) into (7.41) gives

1 (1 n)
Cs
C
u or
rig

1 (1 n)
Cs
C (7.43)
Figure 7.9 shows the variations of with stress for

py
quartz sand and gypsum sand (Lade and de Boer, Figure 7.9 Variation of with stress for quartz sand and
1997). For a stress level less than 20 MPa, is essen- gypsum sand (Lade and de Boer, 1997).
tially one. Thus, Terzaghis effective stress equation,
while not rigorously correct, is again shown to be an
Co
excellent approximation in almost all cases for satu- Can the effective stress concept also be applied for
rated soils (i.e., solid grains and pore uid are consid- undrained conditions where drainage is prevented?
ered to be incompressible compared to soil skeleton That is, when an isotropic total stress load of iso is
compressibility). applied, is u equal to iso? Using a two-phase mix-
ture theory, the total stress increment ( iso) is sepa-
rated into partial stress increments for the solid phase
6
( s) and the uid phase ( ) (Oka, 1996). Consid-
An example of this condition is a soil under a seabed, in which the
sea depth varies. This condition is often called the unjacked con- ering that the macroscopic volumetric strains by two
dition. phases are equal but of opposite sign for undrained

conditions, Oka (1996) showed that the partial stresses Air

Water
are related to the total stress as follows: (reference fluid)

C Cs
iso Solid Surface
(C/n) (1 1/n)Cs Cl (7.44)
(a)
[(1/n) 1]C (Cs /n) Cl
s iso
(C/n) (1 1/n)Cs Cl
Water
where n is the porosity, C is the compressibility of soil (reference fluid)
skeleton, Cs is the compressibility of soil particles, and
l
Air
Cl is the compressibility of pore uid.
ria
If the excess pore pressure generated by undrained
Solid surface
isotropic loading is u, the partial stress increment
for the uid phase becomes (Oka, 1996) (b)
ate
n u (7.45) Water
Air
Combining Eqs. (7.45) and (7.46),
Solid
C Cs
u iso (7.46)
dM
C Cs n(Cl Cs)
(c)
The multiplier in the right-hand side of the above Figure 7.10 Wettability of two uids (water and air) on a
equation is in fact Bishops pore water pressure coef- solid surface: (a) contact angle less than 90, (b) contact an-
cient B (Bishop and Eldin, 1950).7 For typical soils gle more than 90, and (c) unsaturated sand with water as the
(Cs 1.9 2.7 108 m2 / kN, Cl 4.9 109 wetting uid and air as the nonwetting uid.
m2 /kN, C 105 104 m2 /kN), so the values of B
hte
are roughly equal to 1. Hence, it can be concluded that

Terzaghis effective stress equation is also applicable
air are the wetting and nonwetting uid, respectively.8
for undrained conditions for most soils.
The environmental SEM photos in Fig. 5.27 showed
that water can be either wetting or nonwetting uid
depending soil mineralogy.
rig
7.11 WATERAIR INTERACTIONS IN SOILS The contact angle is a property related to interac-
tions of solid and two uids (water and air, in this
Wettability refers to the afnity of one uid for a solid case).
surface in the presence of a second or third uid or
gas. A measure of wettability is the contact angle, as ws
py
which was introduced in Eq. (7.9). Figure 7.10 illus- cos (7.47)
trates a drop of the reference liquid (water for Fig. aw
7.10a and air for Fig. 7.10b) resting on a solid surface
in the presence of another uid (air for Fig. 7.10a and where as is the interfacial tension between air and
solid, ws is the interfacial tension between water
Co
water for 7.10b). The interface between the two uids

meets the solid surface at a contact angle . If the angle and solid, and aw is the interfacial tension between
is less than 90, the reference uid is referred to as the
wetting uid for a given solid surface. If the angle is
greater than 90, the reference liquid is referred to as 8
Some contaminated sites contain non-aqueous-phase liquids
the nonwetting phase. The gure shows that water and (NAPLs). In general, NAPLS can be assumed to be nonwetting with
respect to water since the soil particles are in general primarily
strongly water-wet. Above the water table, it is usually appropriate
to assume that the water is the wetting uid with respect to NAPL
and that NAPL is a wetting uid with respect to air, implying that
7
A similar equation for B value has been proposed by Lade and de the wettability order is water NAPL air. Below the water table,
Boer (1997). water is the wetting uid and NAPL is the nonwetting uid.

WATERAIR INTERACTIONS IN SOILS 189
air and water. The microscopic scale distribution of
1 Dune Sand
water and air is illustrated in Fig. 7.10c, whereby it is 2 Loamy Sand
assumed that water is wetting the grain surfaces. 3 Calcareous Fine Sandy Loam
106
The aforementioned discussion on wettability and 4 Calcareous Loam
contact angle assumes static water drops on solid sur- 5 Silt Loam Derived from Loess
105 6 Young Oligotrophous Peat Soil
faces. It has been observed for movement of water rel-
Matric suction ua uw (kPa)

7 7 Marine Clay
ative to soil that the dynamic contact angle formed
by the receding edge of a water droplet is generally 104 6
less than the angle formed by its advancing edge.
Matric suction (or capillary pressure) refers to the 103 5
pressure discontinuity across a curved interface sepa-
l
rating two uids. This pressure difference exists be- 102 4
3
ria
cause of the interfacial tension present in the uid
uid interface. Matric suction is a property that causes 101 2
porous media to draw in the wetting uid and repel 1
the nonwetting uid and is dened as the difference 100
between the nonwetting uid pressure and the wetting
ate
uid pressure. For a two-phase system consisting of 10-1
water and air, the matric suction is 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Volumetric Water Content w
un uw (7.48)
Figure 7.11 Soilwater characteristic curves for some Dutch
soils (from Koorevaar et al., 1983; copied from Fredlund and
dM
where un is the pressure of the nonwetting uid (air)
and uw is the pressure of the wetting uid (water).
Rahardjo, 1993).
Assuming that the soil pores have a cylindrical

shape, like a bundle of capillary tubes as illustrated in
Fig 7.3b, the interface between two liquids in each tube processes do not follow the same curve and the volu-
forms a subsection of a sphere. The capillary pressure metric water content versus matric suction curves ex-
is then related to the tube radius, contact angle, and hibit hysteresis during cycles of drainage and wetting
hte
the interfacial tension between the two liquids. The as shown in Fig. 7.12a. One cause of hysteresis is the
pressure drop across the interface is directly propor- existence of ink bottle neck pores at the microscopic
tional to the interfacial tension and inversely propor- scale as shown in Fig. 7.12b. Larger water-lled pores
tional to the radius of curvature. It follows that higher can remain owing to the inability of water to escape
air pressure is required for air to enter water-saturated through smaller openings below in the case of drainage
ne-grained than coarse-grained materials. or above in the case of evaporation. Another cause is
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Soil contains a range of different pore sizes, which irreversible change in soil fabric and shrinkage during
will drain at different capillary pressure values. This drying.
leads to a soilwater characteristic relationship in The curves in Fig. 7.11 have two characteristic
which the matric suction is plotted against the volu- pointsthe air entry pressure a and residual volu-
py
metric water content (or sometimes water saturation metric water content r as dened in Fig. 7.12a. The
ratio) such as shown in Fig. 7.11.9 The curves are often entry pressure is the matric suction at which the air
determined during air invasion into a previously water- begins to enter the pores and the pores become inter-
saturated soil. As the volumetric water content de- connected (Corey, 1994). At this point, the air per-
meability becomes greater than zero. Corey (1994)
Co
creases, as a result of drainage or evaporation, the

matric suction increases. When water inltrates into also introduced the term displacement pressure (d
the soil (wetting or imbibition), the conditions reverse, in Fig. 7.12b) and dened it as the matric suction at
with the volumetric water content increasing and ma- which the rst water desaturation occurs during a
tric suction decreasing. Usually drainage and wetting drainage cycle.10 The entry pressure is always slightly
9 10
The soilwater characteristic curve is referred to by a variety of For the Dense NAPLwater two-phase system (often Dense NAPL
names depending on different disciplines. They include moisture re- is the nonwetting uid and water is the wetting uid), the displace-
tention, soilwater retention, specic retention, and moisture char- ment pressure may be important to examine the potential of DNAPL
acteristic. invading into a noncontaminated water-lled porous media.

Scanning
Curve
Suction
Scanning
Hysteresis
Curve
Initial drainage Draining

Curve
a
d
Main Drying Curve
l
Main Wetting
ria
Curve
r Water Content
Wetting
r Residual Water Content
ate
a Air Entry Value
d Displacement pressure
(b)
(a)
Figure 7.12 Hysteresis of a soilwater characteristic curve: (a) effect of hysteresis and (b)
dM
ink bottle effect: a possible physical explanation for the hysteresis.
greater than the displacement pressure because pore algebraic formulas have been proposed to t the mea-
throats smaller than the maximum must be penetrated sured soil-water characteristic relations. The most pop-
to establish air connectivity. The air entry pressure is ular ones are (a) the BrooksCorey (1966) equation:
hte
much greater for ne-grained than for coarse-grained

soils because of their smaller pore sizes. m when d (7.49)
Residual water content r is dened as the water
content that cannot be further reduced by the increase
in matric suction. At this stage, the water phase
becomes essentially discontinuous and the regime
d
r
m r 1/
when d (7.50)
rig
changes from the funicular to pendular state, as de-

scribed in Section 7.4. However, this does not mean where m is the volumetric water content at full
that the soil cannot have a degree of saturation less saturation and is the curve-tting parameter called
that the residual saturation because residual water can the pore size distribution index and (b) the van Gen-
continue to evaporate. Hence, it is important to note uchten equation (1980):
py

that the residual saturation dened here is a mathe- 1 / m 1m
matical tting parameter without a specic quantitative r
0 1 (7.51)
value. m r
The shape of the soilwater characteristic curve de-
Co
pends on many factors, including the grain size distri- where 0 and m are curve-tting parameters.
bution, soil fabric, the contact angle, and the interfacial Various modications have been proposed to these
tension [see Eq. (7.11)]. If the material is uniform with equations to include behaviors such as hysteresis, non-
a narrow range of pore sizes, the curve has three dis- wetting uid trapping, and three-phase conditions.
tinct parts: a straight part up to the air entry pressure,
a relatively horizontal middle part, and an end part that
is almost vertical (soil 1 in Fig. 7.11). On the other 7.12 EFFECTIVE STRESS IN UNSATURATED
hand, if the material is well graded, the curve is SOILS
smoother (soils 3, 4, and 5 in Fig. 7.11). The capillary
pressure increases gradually as the water saturation de- Although it seems clear that the volume change and
creases and the middle part is not horizontal. Many strength behavior of partly saturated soils are con-

EFFECTIVE STRESS IN UNSATURATED SOILS 191
trolled by an effective stress that is not the same as the Limitations in Bishops equation were highlighted
total stress, the appropriate formulation for the effec- by Jennings and Burland (1962) in their experiments
tive stress is less certain than for a fully saturated soil. investigating the volume change characteristics of un-
As noted earlier, Bishop (1960) proposed Eq. (7.15) saturated soils. Figure 7.14 shows that the oedometer
(assuming i ): compression curve of air-dry silt falls above that of
saturated silt. Also, as shown in the gure, some air-
ua (ua uw) (7.52) dry samples were consolidated at four different pres-
sures (200, 400, 800, and 1600 kPa) and then soaked.
The term ua is the net total stress. The term
ua uw represents the soil water suction that adds to 0.84
l
the effective stress since uw is negative. Thus, the
ria
Bishop equation is appealing intuitively because neg-
ative pore pressures are known to increase strength and
decrease compressibility. Using Eq. (7.52), the shear 0.80
strength of unsaturated soil can be expressed as
ate
0.76
{( ua) (ua uw)}tan (7.53)
Void Ratio e
Initially Soaked Test
where is the effective friction angle of the soil. 0.72
However, difculties in the evaluation of the parameter
, its dependence on saturation ( 1 for saturated
dM Air Dry (8 specimens)
soils and 0 for dry soils), and that the relationship
0.68 Soaked at Constant Void Ratio
between and saturation is soil dependent, as shown
Soaked at Constant Applied
in Fig. 7.13a, all introduce problems in the application Pressure
of Eq. (7.53). Since water saturation is related to matric
0.64
suction as described in Section 7.11, it is possible that 10 100 1000
depends on matric suction as shown in Fig. 7.13b.
Applied Pressure (kPa )
Nonetheless, because of the complexity in determining
hte
, the attempt to couple total stress and suction to- Figure 7.14 Oedometer compression curves of unsaturated
gether into a single equivalent effective stress is un- silty soils (after Jennings and Burland, 1962 in Leroueil and
certain (Toll, 1990). Hight, 2002).
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1. Compacted
Boulder Clay 0.55
(ua uw)
2. Compacted Shale =
(ua uw)
Coefficient
3. Breadhead silt
py
Coefficient
4. Silt
5. Silty clay
6. Sterrebeek silt
7. White clay
Co
(ua_uw)b = Air Entry Value
Degree of SaturationS(%) (ua_uw)/(ua_uw)b

(a) (b)
Figure 7.13 Variation of parameter with the degree of water saturation Sr for different
soils: (a) versus water saturation (after Gens, 1996) and (b) versus suction (after Khalili
and Khabbaz, 1998).

The void ratio decreased upon soaking and the nal in which a and b are material parameters that may also
state was very close to the compression curve of the depend on degree of saturation and stress. For exam-
saturated silt. Additional tests in which constant vol- ple, Fredlund et al. (1978) propose the following equa-
ume during soaking was maintained by adjusting the tion:
applied load were also done. Again, after equilibrium,
the state of soaked samples was close to the compres- ( ua)tan (ua uw)tan b (7.55)
sion curve of the saturated silt. Soaking reduces the
suction and, hence, Bishops effective stress decreases. where b is the angle dening the rate of increase in
This decrease in effective stress should be associated shear strength with respect to soil suction. An example
with an increase in void ratio. However, the experi- of this parameter as a function of water content, fric-
mental observations gave the opposite trend (i.e., a de- tion angle, and matric suction is given by Fredlund et
l
crease in void ratio is associated with irreversible al. (1995).
ria
compression). The presence of meniscus water lenses Similarly, the change in void ratio e of an unsat-
in the soil before wetting was stabilizing the soil struc- urated soil can be given by (Fredlund, 1985)
ture, which is not taken into account in Bishops equa-
tion (7.52). at ( ua) am (ua uw) (7.56)
An alternative approach is to describe the shear
ate
strength/deformation and volume change behavior of where at is the coefcient of compressibility with re-
unsaturated soil in terms of the two independent stress spect to changes in ua and am is the coefcient of
variables ua and ua uw (Coleman, 1962; Bishop compressibility with respect to changes in capillary
and Blight, 1963; Fredlund and Morgenstern, 1977; pressure. A similar equation, but with different coef-
Fredlund, 1985; Toll, 1990, Fredlund and Rahardjo,
dM cients, can be written for change in water content.
1993; Tarantino et al., 2000). Figure 7.15 shows the For a partly saturated soil, change in water content and
results of isotropic compression tests of compacted ka- change in void ratio are not directly proportional.
olin. Different compression curves are obtained for The two stress variables, or their modications that
constant suction conditions, and relative effects of include porosity and water saturation, have been used
ua and ua uw on volume change behavior can be in the development of elasto-plastic-based constitutive
observed. Furthermore, the preconsolidation pressure models for unsaturated soils (e.g., Alonso et al., 1990;
(or yield stress) increases with suction. Wheeler and Sivakumar, 1995; Houlsby, 1997; Gallip-
hte
On this basis, the dependence of shear strength on oli et al., 2003). The choice of stress variables is still
stress is given by equations of the form in debate; further details on this issue can be found in
Gens (1996), Wheeler and Karube (1996), Wheeler et
a( ua) b(ua uw) (7.54)
al. (2003), and Jardine et al. (2004).
Bishops parameter in Eq. (7.52) is a scalar quan-
tity, but microscopic interpretation of water distribution
rig
1.25
in pores can lead to an argument that is directional
Preconsolidation dependent (Li, 2003; Molenkamp and Nazemi,
pressure
1.20
2003).11 During the desaturation process, the number
of soil particles under a funicular condition decreases,
py
1.15
and they change to a pendular condition with further
drying. For particles in the funicular region, the suction
Void Ratio e
1.10
pressure acts all around the soil particles like the water
ua _ uw (kPa) pressure as illustrated in Fig. 7.4a. Hence, the effect is
Co
1.05 300 kPa isotropic even at the microscopic level. However, once
the microscopic water distribution of a particle changes
Curves are Averages of 200 kPa to the pendular condition, the capillary forces only act
1.00 Several Tests 100 kPa on a particle at locations where water bridge forms and
0 kPa the contribution to the interparticle forces becomes
0.95
25 50 100 200 400
_ ua (kPa)
11
A microstructural analysis by Li (2003) suggests the following ef-
Figure 7.15 Isotropic compression tests of compacted kaolin fective stress expression:
(after Wheeler and Sivakumar, 1995 in Leroueil and Hight,
2002). ij ij uaij ij (ua uw)

more or less point wise, as shown in Fig. 7.4b. As in the pendular regime) in the macroscopic effective
described in Section 7.3, the magnitude of capillary stress equations.
force depends on the size of the water bridge and the
separation of the two particles, and hence, the contact
force distribution in the particle assembly becomes de- QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
pendent not only on pore size location and distribution
but also on the relative locations of particles to one 1. A sand in the ground has porosity n of 0.42 and
another (or soil fabric). It is therefore possible that the specic gravity Gs of 2.6. It is assumed that these
distribution of the pendular-type capillary forces be- values remain constant throughout the depth. The
comes directional dependent. water table is 4 m deep and the groundwater is un-
In clayey soils, water is attracted to clay surface by der hydrostatic condition. The suctionvolumetric
l
electrochemical forces, creating large matric suction. water content relation of the sand is given by soil
ria
Although uw u0 is used in practice, the actual pore 1 in Fig. 7.11.
pressure u acting at interparticle contacts may be dif- a. Calculate the saturated unit weight and dry unit
ferent from u0, as discussed in Section 7.9. The con- weight.
tribution of the long-range interparticle forces to b. Evaluate the unit weights at different saturation
mechanical behavior of unsaturated clayey soils re-
ate
ratios Sw.
mains to be fully evaluated.
c. Plot the hydrostatic pore pressures with depth
down to a depth of 10 m and evaluate the satu-
ration ratios above the water table.
7.13 CONCLUDING COMMENTS
d. Along with the hydrostatic pore pressure plot,
sketch the vertical total stress with depth using
dM
The concepts in this chapter provide insight into the
meanings of intergranular pressure, effective stress, the unit weights calculated in parts (a) and (b).
and pore water pressure and the factors controlling e. Estimate the vertical effective stress with depth.
their values. Because soils behave as particulate ma- Use Bishops equation (7.52) with Sw. Com-
terials and not as continua, knowledge of these stresses ment on the result.
and of the factors inuencing them is a necessary pre-
requisite to the understanding and quantication of 2. Repeat the calculations done in Question 1 with soil
5 in Fig. 7.11. The specic gravity of the soil is
hte
compressibility, deformation, and strength in constitu-

tive relationships for behavior. Various interparticle 2.65. Comment on the results by comparing them
forces have been identied and their possible effects to the results from Question 1.
on soil behavior are highlighted. 3. Using Eq. (7.3), estimate the tensile strength of a
The effective stress in a soil is a function of its state, soil with different values of tensile strengths of ce-
which depends on the water content, density, and soil ment, sphere, and interface. The soil has a particle
rig
structure. These factors are, in turn, inuenced by the diameter of 0.2 mm and the void ratio is 0.7. As-
composition and ambient conditions. The relationships sume k/(1 e) 3.1. Consider the following two
between soil structure and effective stress are devel- cases: (a) 0.0075 mm and 5 and (b)
oped further in Chapter 8. Chemical, electrical, and 0.025 and 30. Comment on the results.
thermal inuences on effective pressures and uid
py
pressures in soils have not been considered in the de- 4. Compute the following contact forces at different
velopments in this chapter. They may be signicant, particle diameters d ranging from 0.1 to 10 mm.
however, as regards soil structure stability uid ow, Comment on the results in relation to the effective
volume change, and strength properties. They are an- and intergranular pressure described in Section 7.9.
Co
alyzed in more detail in subsequent chapters. a. Weight of the sphere, W 61 Gs wd 3, where Gs
An understanding of the components of pore water is the specic gravity (say 2.65) and w is the
pressure is important to the proper measurement of unit weight of water.
pore pressure and interpretation of the results. Inclu- b. Contact force by external load, N d 2, where
sion of the effect of pore water suction and air or gas is the external conning pressures applied.
pressure on the mechanical behavior of unsaturated The equation is approximate for a simple cubic
soils requires modication of the effective stress equa- packing of equal size spheres (Santamarina,
tion used for saturated soils. Complications arise from 2003). Consider two cases, (i) 1 kPa (
the difculty in the choice of stress variables and in depth of 0.1 m) and (ii) 100 kPa ( depth
treatment of contact-level forces (i.e., capillary forces of 10 m).

c. Long-range van der Waals attraction force, A 7. Give a microscopic interpretation for why an un-
Ahd/(24t 2), where Ah is the Hamaker constant saturated soil can collapse and decrease its volume
(Section 6.12) and t is the separation between upon wetting as shown in Fig. 7.14 even though the
particles (Israelachvili, 1992, from Santamarina, Bishops effective stress decreases.
2003). Use Ah 1020 N-m and t 30 A .
8. Clay particles in unsaturated soils often aggregate
5. Discuss why it is difcult to measure suction using creating matrix pores and intraaggregate pores. Air
a piezometer-type tensiometer for long-term moni- exists in the matrix pores, but the intraaggregate
toring of pore pressures. Describe the advantages of pores are often saturated by strong water attraction
other indirect measurement techniques such as po- to clay surfaces. The total potential of unsaturated
rous ceramic and dielectric sensors. soil can be extended from Eq. (7.19) to g
m s p, where p is the gas pressure poten-
l
6. For the following cases, compare the effective
tial.12 Discuss the values of each component of the
ria
stresses calculated by the conventional Terzaghis
equation and by the modied equation (7.39) with above equation in the matrix pores and the intraag-
values presented in Fig. 7.8. Discuss the possible gregate pores.
errors associated with effective stress estimation by
Terzaghis equation.
ate
12
a. Pile foundation at a depth of 20 m. This was proposed by a Review Panel in the Symposium on Mois-
ture Equilibrium and Moisture Changes in Soils Beneath Covered
b. A depth of 5 km from the sea level where the Areas in 1965.
subsea soil surface is 1 km deep.
dM
hte
rig
py
Co

CHAPTER 8
Soil DepositsTheir Formation,
l
Structure, Geotechnical
ria
Properties, and Stability
ate
8.1 INTRODUCTION structures with characteristic properties, how these
properties and the associated behavior are interelated,
Long before methods were available to conrm spe-
dM and why these processes and properties are relevant
cic soil fabrics and structures, hypotheses were ad- to geotechnical applications are the subjects of this
vanced about them, their formation, and their stability chapter.
in an attempt to account for such phenomena as
strength loss of clays on remolding, differences in
properties of soils deposited in different environments,
collapsing soils and soil liquefaction, creep and sec- 8.2 STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
ondary compression, pore pressure generation during
Early Concepts
hte
deformation, anisotropy, thixotropic hardening, and the

mobilization of friction and cohesion. Early ideas about soil fabric and structure were largely
Two soils can have the same fabrics but different speculative because techniques for direct observation
properties if the forces between particles and particle of particles had not yet been developed. There was
groups are not the same. Fabric stability is sensitive to particular interest in the development of explanations
changes in stresses and chemical environment. To take for the loss of strength that accompanied the distur-
rig
both fabric and its stability into account, the term bance of many natural clays at constant water content.
structure is used. Particles, particle groups, and their This sensitivity of the undisturbed structure, which is
associations, together with interparticle forces and ap- quantied as the ratio of the undisturbed to fully re-
plied stresses, determine the overall soil structure. molded strength at the same water content, can be great
enough to give the strength loss due to remolding
py
The term structure is also used to account for dif-

ferences between the properties of a soil in its natural shown in Fig. 8.1.
state and of the same soil at the same void ratio but Terzaghi (1925a) theorized that adsorbed water lay-
thoroughly remolded, or between the soil in its natural ers had a high viscosity near particle surfaces and were
state and after remolding and the reapplication of the responsible for strong adhesion between mineral grains
Co
original stress state. Thoroughly remolded and re- at points of contact between particles. Disturbance of
worked soil is said to be destructured. Virtually every the clay caused contacts to rupture, more water to ll
natural, undisturbed soil has structure. As emphasized in around the old contact points, and the strength to
by Leroueil and Vaughan (1990), the structure can be drop. Different adsorbed ions were also recognized as
as signicant in determining engineering behavior as possibly responsible for differences in strength and
can such important factors as porosity and stress his- sensitivity (Terzaghi, 1941). Goldschmidt (1926) hy-
tory. pothesized that particles in sensitive clay are arranged
How residual and transported soil deposits are in a cardhouse that collapses on remolding.
formed, how the formative processes and subsequent A load-carrying skeleton consisting of highly com-
changes over time act to produce unique types of soil pressed bond clay trapped between silt and ne sand
195

196 8 SOIL DEPOSITSTHEIR FORMATION, STRUCTURE, GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES, AND STABILITY
properties of soil, to interrelate structure and proper-

ties. Modern concepts of soil structure and its impor-
tance in geotechnics began to be formulated in the
early 1950s, for example, Lambe (1953) and in the
comprehensive review of clay microstructure given by
Bennett and Hurlbut (1986).
General Considerations in Structure Development

A soils structure is composed of a fabric and inter-
particle force system that reect all facets of the soil
composition, history, present state, and environment.
l
Structure-determining factors and processes are sum-
ria
marized in Fig. 8.2. Initial conditions dominate the
structure of young deposits at high porosity or freshly
compacted soils, whereas older soils at lower porosity
are likely to be inuenced more by the postdeposi-
ate
tional changes.
Single-grain fabrics are uncommon in soils contain-
ing clay. Complex fabric units of micrometer-to-
millimeter size or greater consisting of skeleton grains,
clay aggregates, and pores are characteristic of most
dM ne-grained soil structures.
The principle of chemical irreversibility of clay fab-
ric (Bennett and Hurlbut, 1986) applies generally to
ne-grained soil deposits. This principle recognizes
that the chemical environment is critical during the in-
itial stages of sediment fabric formation in water. How-
Figure 8.1 Strength loss of a clay that is extremely sensitive
ever, after the initial occulation of particles and
deposition, the chemistry is much less important in in-
hte
to remolding. Clay that becomes uid on remolding is termed

quick clay (photograph courtesy of Haley and Aldrich, Inc.). uencing fabric changes and subsequent states. Me-
chanical energy rather than chemical energy becomes
the dominant factor inuencing subsequent behavior.
particles was suggested by Casagrande (1932a) as re-
sponsible for marine clay sensitivity. Such a fabric is Residual Soils
rig
assumed to form by simultaneous deposition of oc- The texture of residual soils formed by the in-place
culated clay particles and silt and sand grains in the weathering of crystalline rocks may be quite similar to
saltwater environment. The clay deposited in the inter- that of the parent rock. Clay particles may form coat-
stices between the elements of the skeleton, termed ings over silt and sand grains as a result of repeated
matrix clay, is assumed to be only partly consolidated wetting and drying. Open, porous fabrics form in some
py
and remain at high water content. Remolding mixes zones, while dense, low-porosity fabrics form in oth-
the matrix and bond clays, thereby destroying the pri- ers, and heterogeneity is common.
mary load-carrying structure and causing a reduction Intense weathering and leaching, coupled with an
in strength. abundance of aluminum and iron oxides, produces fab-
Co
Winterkorn and Tschebotarioff (1947) suggested rics and textures ranging from open granular to dense
that sensitivity resulted from a cementation similar to and clayey in tropical and subtropical soils. Concre-
that in loess and sandstone. This cementation was at- tions and nodules are common in some of these ma-
tributed to slow recrystallization or formation of ce- terials. For example, a red kaolinitic clay from Kenya
menting materials from inorganic substances of low is composed of crumbs made up of subcrumbs
solubility. that can in turn break up into sub-subcrumbs that
In the years since the formulation of these ideas of contain a random arrangement of individual particles
soil structure, it has been possible to determine fabrics (Barden, 1973). Pores are in two classes: irregular
and compositions in more detail and, along with a bet- pores of about 1 m and very small pores of about
ter understanding of the stressdeformationstrength 5 nm.

STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 197
l
ria
ate
Figure 8.2 Structure-determining factors and processes.
Alluvial Soils
dM work of lmy particles may form. Camontmorillonite
Alluvial soils can be deposited in marine, brackish wa- particles are usually made up of several unit layers.
ter, or freshwater basins. Single clay particles are rare, Some heavily consolidated montmorillonites exhibit
and occulated fabrics of particle groups can form in surprisingly little preferred orientation.
water over the full range of salinities. Edge-to-face There is little or no preferred particle orientation in
soft marine and brackish water illitic clays, except
hte
occulated and aggregated arrangements, similar to

Fig. 5.3e, are common in marine clays, with dispersed within aggregates, whereas in soft freshwater clays,
groups and turbostratic groups, similar to inter- particles larger than 0.5 m align with their long axes
weaving bunches (Fig. 5.3h) found mainly in brackish normal to the direction of the consolidation pressure.
water clays (Collins and McGown, 1974). In clay sediments derived from preexisting shale, the
Silt and sand grains are reasonably evenly distrib- aggregates themselves may be small rock fragments
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uted, except in varved or stratied clays, and the larger within which the clay plates are intensely oriented.
grains are not usually in contact with each other. Open The open packing of sensitive postglacial clay may
initial fabrics are characteristic of water-laid sediments, be due in part to the presence of very small quartz
with the degree of openness dependent on clay min- particles of platy morphology (Krinsley and Smalley,
eralogy, particle size, and water chemistry, including 1973; Smalley et al., 1973). Below a critical size of
py
both the total salt content and the monovalent/divalent about a cleavage mechanism appears to exist, so platy
cation ratio. The intensity of occulation may be less particles of quartz and possibly other nonclay minerals
in brackish and freshwater deposits, so subsequent form as a result of grinding.
consolidation can cause greater preferred orientation of Organic matter in the form of microscopic animal
Co
platy particles and particle groups than in saltwater and plant fragments, microorganisms, and organic
clays. Very slow accumulation rates allow for more compounds can have a profound effect on the structure
stability in open fabrics than is possible when the sed- and properties of postglacial clays (Soderblom, 1966;
iment accumulates rapidly. Pusch, 1973a, 1973b). The number of bacteria in the
Aggregates in illitic clay contain particle arrange- oceans is from 1 109 to 3 1011 per m3 at depths
ments ranging from random to booklike. Booklike of 10 to 50 m beneath the surface (Reinheimer, 1971).
aggregates are most common in kaolinite. The concen- It is probable that microorganisms were prevalent in
tration and type of adsorbed cations usually controls the ocean at the time postglacial clays were formed as
the basic fabric units in smectite. Namontmorillonite well. As organic material and clay surfaces interacted,
can separate into unit layers, and an interwoven net- organic matter was attached to the sedimentary aggre-

gates. In the new environment most of the organisms mineral types are characteristic of these materials.
died or became dormant because of the absence of nu- Well-developed domains of clay are common, and
trients, subsequently contributing humic acids, fulvic there may be soft clay zones that bridge over some
acids, and humus. Either aggregating or dispersing ten- pores caused by the arching action of the large parti-
dencies result, depending on the environment. Electron cles. High past stresses on some boulder clays have
micrographs of ultrathin sections (Pusch, 1973a) show developed macrofabric features that include shear
organic matter both as uffy bodies and as distinct ob- zones and shear planes.
jects associated with aggregates.
Fabric anisotropy as a result of one-dimensional Remolded and Compacted Soil Fabrics
compression after deposition will ordinarily result in The fabric immediately after remolding or compacting
some anisotropy of mechanical properties. Currents, a soil depends on several factors, including strength of
l
waves, and slopes may also cause preferred orienta- preexisting fabric units, compaction method, and com-
ria
tions of particles. An example for Portsea Beach sand paction or remolding effort. The general effects of dis-
is shown in Fig. 8.3. The long axes of elongate parti- turbance and remolding at constant water content are
cles show preferred orientations parallel to the coast- to break down occulated aggregations, destroy shear
line and dipping landward at an angle of about 10. planes, eliminate large pores, and produce a more ho-
ate
mogeneous fabric (on a macroscopic scale). Whether
Aeolian Soils or not there will be a preferred direction of particle
Wind-deposited soils such as loess are characterized orientation depends on the methods used. When well-
by particles in the silt and ne sand ranges, although dened shear planes are formed, there usually is an
small amounts of clay are often present. These depos- alignment of platy particles or particle groups along
its, which are usually partly saturated, are often subject
dM the shear plane.
to collapse if saturated. The loose metastable fabric is Under anisotropic consolidation conditions, plates
maintained by clay and light carbonate cementation at align with their long axes in the plane acted on by the
grain contacts. The overall macrofabric can be de- major principle stress. An isotropic (hydrostatic) con-
scribed as bulky granular. solidation stress produces an isotropic fabric, provided
Directional, preferred orientation in Vicksburg (Mis- the fabric was isotropic at the start of consolidation.
sissippi) loess was observed and described by Matal- Soil compaction can be done using different meth-
ucci et al. (1969). The long axes of grains concentrated ods, including impact, kneading, vibratory, and static.
hte
in an azimuth direction of 285 to 289, with an incli- The method used and the initial state of the soil can
nation of 3 to 8. A prevailing wind direction of 290 have profound effects on the fabrics of both sands and
at the time of deposition was deduced from the thin- clays and on the properties of the compacted soil. In
ning pattern of the loess in the area, thus accounting clays, the water content is important; it controls the
for the observed three-dimensional anisotropy. ease with which particles and particle groups can be
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rearranged under the compactive effort.

Glacial Deposits A major factor in formation of fabric in a compacted
The wide range of particle sizes within and among ne-grained soil is whether or not the compaction ram-
glacial soils, as well as their widely varying rates of mer induces large shear strains. If the hammer (impact
deposition from meltwater, produces a range of fabric compaction), tamper (kneading compaction), or piston
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types. The presence of small, platy quartz particles de- (static compaction) does not penetrate the soil, as is
rived by glacial grinding was noted earlier. Many silty usual for compaction dry of optimum water content,
and sandy ablation tills have a multimodal grain size then there may be a general alignment of particles or
distribution, with coarser particles distributed through particle groups in horizontal planes. If the soil is suf-
Co
a ne-particle matrix (McGown, 1973). The fabric of ciently wet of optimum that the compaction rammer
the matrix is variable. Many fabric forms are similar penetrates the soil surface as a result of a bearing ca-
to those observed in collapsing soils (Barden et al., pacity failure under the rammer face, there is an align-
1973). ment of particles along the failure surfaces. A series
Boulder clays differ from soft, sedimentary clays in of such zones is developed as a result of successive
that they contain a wider range of grain sizes, with rammer blows, and a folded or convoluted fabric may
some particles extending into the gravel to boulder result, as shown, for example, by Fig. 8.4.
ranges, and they are much denser. Many boulder clays
have been subjected to high vertical and tangential Effects of Postformational Changes
stresses as a result of readvancing ice sheets. Poor sort- As listed in Fig. 8.2, a large number of postformational
ing and the presence of a large number of different factors can modify the initial structure of a soil.

STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 199
l
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ate
dM
hte
rig
py
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Figure 8.3 Fabric and particle orientation in Portsea Beach sand (Lafeber and Willoughby,
1971). (a) Vertical cross section (perpendicular to the coastline) where B is the dip direction
of bedding plane, H is the horizontal plane, and I is the imbrication plane. (b) Distribution
of long axis orientations.

weakly bonded, such as in loess. Shrinkage associated

with drying collapses open particle arrangements and
creates domain-type aggregates in some soils and ten-
sion cracking in others. Drying concentrates clay
around sand and silt particles and between their contact
points. Ice lens formation in frost-susceptible soils can
open cracks and ssures, followed later by collapse on
thawing.
Pressure and Consolidation Consolidation under
pressure usually strengthens the structure through de-
crease in porosity and the formation of stronger inter-
l
particle contacts. However, in some soils that possess
ria
bonding and cementation in their initial states, consol-
idation stresses greater than some critical value can
break down the structure, thus causing weakening and
collapse.
Temperature Transformations of structure associ-
ate
ated with leaching, precipitation, cementation, weath-
Figure 8.4 Microfabric of Takahata kaolin compacted wet ering, and pressure increase develop more rapidly at
of optimum using impact compaction 1000. Reprinted from high temperatures than at low temperatures.
Yoshinaka and Kazama (1973) with permission of The Jap- Shearing Shearing collapses some structures,
anese Society of SMFE. dM whereas in others, such as heavily overconsolidated
clay, it may change the structure signicantly only in
the immediate vicinity (a few millimeters) of the shear
Time Chemical diffusion and chemical reactions plane.
are time dependent. Following deposition, remolding, Unloading Stress relief as a result of unloading can
or compaction, the interparticle forces, and therefore allow elastic rebound of particles and particle groups
the mechanical properties, can also change simply as and the onset of swelling. Some very stiff materials
a result of pore pressure redistribution in the new en- may split and/or spall after unloading.
hte
vironment. The following sections of this chapter describe and

Seepage and Leaching The ow of uids through discuss the structures, properties, and stability of many
a soil can do at least four things: of the soils identied above in more detail.
1. Move particles.
2. Cause compression due to seepage forces. 8.3 RESIDUAL SOILS
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3. Remove chemicals, colloids, and microorganisms

by leaching. Our geotechnical understanding of residual and tropi-
4. Introduce chemicals, colloids, and microorgan- cal soils is much less developed than it is for sedi-
isms. mentary sands, clays, silts, and tills. This is because
by far the greatest amount of what might be termed
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Precipitation/Cementation Precipitation of mate- classical geotechnical engineering has developed

rials onto particle surfaces, at interparticle contacts, from research and projects involving sedimented soils,
and in pores can produce cementation. A fabric of that is, materials that have been eroded, transported,
partly discernable particle groups may form. and redeposited in a new environment. Much work
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Weathering In the zone of weathering, some ma- with these materials has been in areas of temperate
terials are broken down and others are formed. climate. However, the need for knowledge and under-
Changes in pore water chemistry inuence the inter- standing of the engineering behavior of tropical resid-
particle forces and occulationdeocculation tenden- ual soils is great, owing to the extensive construction
cies. Weathering can disrupt the initial soil fabric. worldwide in areas covered by these soils.
Cyclical wetting and drying and freezing and thaw- Residual soils differ from sedimentary soils in that
ing disrupt weak particle assemblages and intergroup they have formed in place in response to the local
associations. Wetting generally means weakening and parent material, climate, topography, and drainage
may lead to collapse of some structures, particularly conditions. They may retain elements of the parent
those with open fabrics where particles are only material structure; they are usually nonuniform and

RESIDUAL SOILS 201
characterized by highly variable thickness or depth to
bedrock. Frequently encountered residual soils include
tropical soils, saprolite, and decomposed granite.
Various engineering classication systems are avail-
able, and they can be categorized into three types
(Wesley, 1988): (a) methods based on weathering pro-
le, (b) methods based on pedological classication
(see Section 8.4), and (c) methods for specic local
soils. Discussion of these systems is given by Wesley
(1988) and Wesley and Irfan (1997). Due to the great
diversity in residual soil types and properties, devel-
l
opment of a single engineering classication system
ria
that has universal applicability is unlikely.
Tropical Soils
In regions of high temperature and abundant rainfall,
ate
rock weathering is intensive and is characterized by
the rapid breakdown of feldspars and ferromagnesian
minerals, the removal of silica and bases (Na2O, K2O,
MgO), and the concentration of iron and aluminum
oxides. This process is termed laterization (Gidigasu,
dM
1972; Grant, 1974; and others) and involves leaching
of SiO2 and deposition of Fe2O3 and Al2O3. A laterite
is a soil whose ratio of SiO2 to Al2O3 is less than 1.33,
whereas a lateritic soil has a ratio between 1.33 and
2.00 (Bawa, 1957).
With abundant rainfall, high temperature, good Figure 8.5 Schematic diagram of a typical tropical residual
drainage, and crystalline parent materials, feldspars soil prole (from Little, 1969).
hte
weather initially to kaolinite, hydrated iron and alu-

minum oxides (sesquioxides) are formed, and the more
resistant quartz and mica particles may remain. As the layers are not always clearly dened, and there are
weathering proceeds, the content of kaolinite de- several systems for classifying them based on the de-
creases, and the hydrated iron and aluminum oxides gree of weathering and engineering properties (Little,
(goethite and gibbsite) progressively alter to hematite 1969; Deere and Patton, 1971; Tuncer and Lohnes,
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(Fe2O3). Because of the high iron concentration, the 1977).

resulting soils, termed oxisols, are usually red. Owing to their compositions, structures, and for-
The tropical weathering of volcanic ash and rock mational histories, laterites and andisols have several
leads to formation of allophane and halloysite, along unique properties relative to those of typical sand and
with the sesquioxides of iron and aluminum. Smectites
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clay deposits formed from transported sediments

(montmorillonites) may also form in the early stages (Mitchell and Sitar, 1982).
of weathering of volcanic materials. Ultimately, kao-
linite and gibbsite may form. Soils formed from weath- 1. Cemented particle aggregates and clusters sus-
ering of volcanic ash and rocks are termed andisols. ceptible to mechanical breakdown are common.
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Allophane as a clay mineral type is described in Continued mechanical working or the removal of
Chapter 3. The term allophane soil is also used to refer sesquioxides from such soils can result in sig-
to andisols. They occur commonly in the Caribbean, nicant changes in properties. The effects of
the Andes, and the Pacic areas of the United States, remolding and sesquioxide removal on the
Indonesia, Japan, and New Zealand. A comprehensive classication properties of a lateritic soil are
presentation of the structure and properties of allo- shown in Table 8.1.
phane soils is given by Maeda et al. (1977) and Wesley 2. Air drying may cause clay size particles to form
(1977). aggregates of silt and sand size and a loss of
A typical deep weathering prole in the tropics is plasticity, as shown by the data in Table 8.2. The
shown schematically in Fig. 8.5. Boundaries between signicant decrease in plasticity that resulted

Table 8.1 Physical Properties of Unremolded, Remolded, and

Sesquioxide-Free Lateritic Soil
Sesquioxide
Property Unremolded Remolded Free
Liquid limit (%) 57.8 69.0 51.3
Plastic limit (%) 39.5 40.1 32.1
Plasticity index (%) 18.3 28.0 19.2
Specic gravity 2.80 2.80 2.67
Proctor density 13.3 13.0 13.8
l
(kN/m3)
ria
Optimum moisture 35.0 34.5 29.5
content (%)
From Townsend et al. (1971).
ate
Table 8.2 Effect of Air Drying on Index Properties of a Hydrated Laterite Clay from the Hawaiian Islands
Wet
dM (at Natural Moist Dry
Moisture (Partial Air (Complete
Index Properties Content) Drying) Air Drying) Remarks
Sand content (%) 30 42 86 Dispersion prior to hydrometer test
with sodium silicate
Silt content (%) 34 17 11
(0.050.005 mm)
hte
Clay content (%) 36 41 3

(0.005 mm)
Liquid limit (%) 245 217 NP Soaking in water for 7 days did
Plastic limit (%) 135 146 NP not cause regain of plasticity
Plasticity index (%) 110 71 NP lost due to the air drying
After Willis (1946); in Gidigasu (1974). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science Publishers.
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from drying a number of different tropical soils 6. Soils in tropical areas exist at water contents
is shown in Fig. 8.6. higher than those that are desirable for most
py
3. Drying may cause hardening, and this hardening earthwork construction. As a result, difculties in
may be irreversible in some cases. British Stan- soil handling and compaction are common.
dard BS1377 (1990) recognizes the irreversible The yielding and strength of residual soils reect their
changes that occur during drying and recom- bonded structure. The preconsolidation pressure may
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mends that tropical residual soils be tested in have no connection with the stress history or overbur-
their natural state wherever possible. den pressure on the soil. Typical preconsolidation pres-
4. The compacted dry density, plasticity index, and sure values of residual soils are given in Table 8.3.
compressibility of tropical residual soils are After yielding, residual soils exhibit large compressi-
likely to be less than the values for temperate bility as a result of structure degradation and particle
soils of comparable liquid limit. On the other breakage. A relationship between compression index
hand, the strength and permeability may be and in situ void ratio for several soils is given in Fig.
higher. 8.7. Extensive discussion on the mechanical behavior
5. Tropical residual soils commonly are heteroge- of residual soils in relation to their bonded structure is
neous in structure and texture. given by Vaughan (1988).

RESIDUAL SOILS 203
l
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Figure 8.6 Effect of drying on the Atterberg limits of some tropical soils (from Morin and
Todor, 1975).
ate
Table 8.3 Yield Stresses of Various Residual Soils
a)
ine
Obtained from Odometer or K0 Triaxial Tests
Gu
w
Ne
dM
Soil Type and Location Yield Stress (kPa) 1.5
a
ap
Soft Clay (Canada) Sensitivity 8
(P
Sensitivity 4
ite
Compression Index, Cc
Halloysite and allophone, Papua
ys
llo
Seprolitic (Sea USA)
New Guinea 100350
Ha
Tuccarul, various
d
Volcanic clay 110270
an
1.0 (Brazil)
ne
Gneiss, basalt, and sandstone, From Basalt
ha
(Brazil)
lop
Brazil 60450
Al
Granite, basalt, and sandstone,
hte
Brazil 50200 Lateritic

Halloysite and allophone, Japan 200550 0.5 (Brazil) From Basalt (Brazil)
Granite, gneiss, and schist, USA 50150 e iss
Gneiss, Venezuela 50300 Gn il)
om az From Volcanic Ash (Italy)
Fr (Br
Volcanic ash, Indonesia and New
Gurl. Venezuela (Field)
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Zealand 200500
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
After Fookes (1997). In Situ Void Ratio
Figure 8.7 Relationship between compression index, mea-

py
sured by odometer tests and initial void ratio (after Vaughan,

1988).
Saprolite
Saprolite is derived from the in situ decomposition of
parent rock and typically contains soil-like components
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and partially weathered and/or fresh rock components.

Decomposed Granite
Saprolites usually retain some visible remnant rock
structure, such as schistosity, relict joints, and parent Selective and progressive decomposition of unstable
rock fabric. Often the contact between saprolitic soil minerals in granitic bedrock breaks up the rock by
and the underlying parent rock is gradational and in- spheroidal weathering, disintegration, and disaggrega-
distinct. Although saprolites may retain much of their tion. Granitic rock may weather to depths of 30 m or
rocklike appearance, they break down easily into a more and may contain mixtures of solid rock and re-
soil-like material. The cracks and joints in a saprolite sidual debris throughout most of the prole. The pro-
are often lled with clay, and this can result in low portion of solid rock usually decreases gradually from
resistance to sliding when wet. the base upward.

Granitic rock weathers in general accordance with als that are coarse and uniformly graded, and for
Bowens reaction series. Biotite decomposes rst, highly angular particles and particles with high intra-
followed by plagioclase feldspar. When part of the granular void content. Consequences of this may in-
plagioclase has decomposed and breakdown of the clude substantial reductions in the peak frictional
orthoclase begins, the rock breaks into fragments of strength with increasing conning pressure. For ex-
decomposed granite called gruss. When most of the ample, Yapa et al. (1995) found a reduction in friction
orthoclase has weathered to kaolinite, the gruss crum- angle of 25 percent in densely compacted specimens
bles to silty sand, which typically contains mica akes. and about 15 percent in loose specimens over the con-
Apart from some mechanical breakdown, the quartz ning pressure range from 100 to 1500 kPa. Friction
fragments remain unchanged. angles assigned to decomposed granites used in 12 em-
Decomposed granite proles generally contain four bankment dam lls constructed in California in the
l
zones as shown in Fig. 8.8. The deepest zone consists 1960s were conservatively selected and ranged from
ria
of angular granitic blocks. The amount of residual de- 29 to 38. Compaction to greater than 90 percent mod-
bris is small, although the rock may be relatively ied Proctor maximum relative compaction at opti-
highly altered. The next zone above contains abundant mum water content is recommended to minimize
angular to subangular core stones in a matrix of gruss settlement due to postconstruction hydrocompression
and residual debris. The upper middle zone is the most when the ll is wetted.
ate
variable part of the weathering prole and typically During the 1995 Kobe, Japan, earthquake, many re-
contains about equal amounts of rounded core stones, claimed land sites in Kobe liqueed extensively. The
gruss, and residual debris. The topmost zone usually soil used for reclamation was decomposed granite
consists of an unstructured mass of clayey sand with called Masado, which is a well-graded material with
a highly variable grain size distribution.
dM particles ranging from gravels to nes. The liquefac-
Construction can be difcult in areas underlain by tion of this soil was surprising because of its higher
decomposed granite. The bedrock prole is highly ir- uniformity coefcient and greater dry density than
regular, and competent bedrock may be located at vari- sandy soils. The weak and crushable character of Ma-
able depths below the ground surface. The core stones sado particles is considered to be one of the causes.
can present signicant obstacles to excavation. Seem- The undrained cyclic shear strength of the decomposed
ingly sound pieces of rock and gravel break down granite was found to be much smaller than that of a
when excavated or used in earthwork construction. The gravelly soil that had a similar particle size distribution
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presence of mica may cause cohesionless soils com- but with strong particles (Kokusho et al., 2004).
posed of decomposed granite to be highly compressi-
ble. Colluvial Soils
Decomposed granite can be used successfully as an Colluvium is soil that has formed in place but subse-
embankment ll material provided it is remembered quently has been transported down slope by gravity.
that particles may undergo substantial breakage under
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Colluvial soils frequently consist of abundant parent

relatively low stresses. Breakage is greatest in materi- rock fragments in a heterogeneous clayey to sandy ma-
trix. They are often found on hillsides and may accu-
mulate in topographic depressions or swales. Slope
stability problems may be associated with thick accu-
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mulations of colluvium. For example, the colluviums

in Hong Kong can be up to 30 m thick, often exist in
a loose state on steep slopes, and have been responsible
for catastrophic landslides leading to signicant loss of
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life. (Philipson and Brand, 1985).
Pyritic Soils
Pyrite (FeS2) bearing rocks and soils are responsible
for foundation heave, concrete degradation, steel cor-
rosion, environmental damage, acid drainage, acceler-
ated weathering of rock, and loss of strength and
stability of geomaterials. Sulfur occurs in rock and soil
in the forms of sulde (S or S2), sulfate (SO42), and
Figure 8.8 Zones of a mature prole of decomposed granite. organic sulfur. The amount of sulde sulfur (also

SURFICIAL RESIDUAL SOILS AND TAXONOMY 205
known as pyritic sulfur) in a material is a good indi- mechanisms, and mitigation strategies associated with
cator of the potential for weathering. Sulde-induced pyrite-bearing soils and rocks is given by Bryant et al.
heave has occurred in materials containing as little as (2003).
0.1 percent sulde sulfur (Belgeri and Siegel, 1998).
Products of pyrite oxidation include sulfate miner-
als, insoluble iron oxides, such as goethite (FeOOH) 8.4 SURFICIAL RESIDUAL SOILS AND
and hematite (Fe2O3), and sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Sul- TAXONOMY
furic acid can dissolve other suldes, heavy metals,
and the like that are present in the oxidation zone, thus Agricultural soil maps are often available for areas
allowing the effects of oxidation to increase as the where engineering data are lacking. They can be useful
process builds upon itself. Sulfate crystals form in cap- for preliminary assessments of surcial soils and their
l
illary zones and localize along discontinuities due to properties. These soils are of particular importance in
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reduced conning stress in these regions. Volume in- highway, aireld, and land development projects. Sur-
crease from the growth of sulfate minerals along bed- face soils are classied so that they can be aggregated
ding planes is a dominant factor in the vertical heave into categories that are useful for understanding gen-
that occurs in shale and other layered materials. The esis, properties, and behavior, especially in relation to
production of sulfates by pyrite oxidation also in- agriculture. All soils in the United States (more than
ate
creases the potential for further deleterious reactions, 11,000 in 1980) and numerous soils in other countries
such as the formation of gypsum (CaSO4 2H2O) and have been classied according to soil taxonomy (Soil
other expansive sulfate minerals (e.g., ettringite). Survey Staff, 1975).
Pyrite oxidation processes proceed in the following Soil taxonomy is a multicategory system of soil clas-
way: dM sication that includes 10 orders, about 47 suborders,
200 great groups, 1000 subgroups, 2000 families, and
10,000 series. Unlike most classication systems, each
FeS2 72 O2 H2O Fe2 2SO42 2H
category of soil taxonomy carries elements of the
Fe2 14 O2 H Fe3 21 H2O higher category so that when a soil is classied at the
family level, the family name indicates the order, sub-
Fe3 3H2O Fe(OH)3 3H order, great group, and subgroup to which the soil
belongs. The soil family name also may contain infor-
FeS2 14Fe3 8H2O 15Fe2
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mation on particle size, mineralogy, mean annual soil

2SO42 16H temperature, pH, soil slope, and soil depth.
Soil orders and suborders of the world are related to
climate. The orders and their characteristics are given
These reactions are usually catalyzed by microbial ac-
below. The general characteristics of residual soil pro-
tivity. The sulfuric acid that is produced is often the
les and the denitions of specic horizons within pro-
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source of acid rock drainage (ARD) and acid mine

les are given in Section 2.7 and Table 2.4.
drainage (AMD).
Entisols (recent soils) are generally without prole
Gypsum forms when sulfate ions react with calcium
development and include alluvial deposits of clay to
in the presence of water,
gravel, deep, soft mineral deposits such as sand dunes,
loess, glacial drift, and masses of rock fragments from
py
H2SO4 CaCO3 H2O CaSO4 2H2O CO2 imperfectly weathered, consolidated rocks. Entisols
include some recent, young soils formed in poorly
and is accompanied by very large volume increases, as drained areas. In general, geotechnical engineers en-
the products of pyrite oxidation reactions are signi- counter these soils more than any other because large
Co
cantly less dense than the initial sulde (pyrite). Pyrite, construction activities tend to concentrate in areas
of specic gravity (Gs 4.85.1), reacts with calcite where these soils accumulate, such as in river valleys
(Gs 2.7) to create gypsum (Gs 2.3) (Hawkins and and in areas bounded by water. The majority of large
Pinches, 1997). urban areas are located in such regions. To understand
Mitigation options that are useful for preventing or the characteristics of these soils requires consideration
reducing sulde-induced problems include controlling of transportation, deposition, and postdepositional sed-
the pyrite oxidation process, use of restraining forces imentary processes. These topics are considered in
to prevent ground movement, design measures that al- Section 2.8.
low for movement, and removal or neutralization of Vertisols (inverted soils) are deep and clayey and are
acid. A recent review of geotechnical problems, heave known also as black cotton, black earth, and blackland

soils. They are associated with a climate that has very deep. A relatively thick B horizon may be brightly col-
dry and very wet seasons. The texture of all horizons ored (red and yellow) as a result of oxidation and hy-
is clayey, and the dominant clay mineral is smectite. dration of iron. The B horizon has more than twice the
The soils are expansive. clay content of the A horizon. The cation exchange
Inceptisols, or new soils, include tundra and selected capacity is low in all horizons, and the clay fraction is
soils of marshes, swamps, and at areas. Tundra is a composed mainly of kaolinite, illite, and quartz. Many
dark gray, peaty accumulation over gray mottled min- lateritic soils of subtropical regions are ultisols.
eral horizons. The soil is poorly drained and boggy. Oxisol is an iron oxide and aluminum oxide-rich,
The clay mineral content is low. Permafrost (perma- highly weathered clayey material that changes irre-
nently frozen soil) is frequently present in the substra- versibly to concretions, hardpans, or crusts when de-
tum. Humic-gley inceptisols are mineral soils formed hydrated. Clay minerals are rapidly broken down and
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in poorly drained areas that possess a sticky, compact, removed. What little clay remains is usually kaolinitic.
ria
gray, or olive-gray B or C horizon. The A horizon may Deposits of these soils may be up to 30 m or more in
contain 5 to 10 percent organic matter. depth and may range in texture from friable soils to
Aridisols (arid soils) are characterized by surface ac- hard rock. Some oxisols are strong and resistant to
cumulations of salts from upward movement of water, breakdown; however, others may lose their granular
characteristics when worked, becoming soft, clayey,
ate
and usually consist of several centimeters of soil over
a calcareous parent material. The soils may be alkaline, and impervious. Most laterites of the tropics are oxi-
with high concentrations of soluble salts of calcium, sols.
magnesium, and sodium near the surface. Illite and Histosols, or organic soils, are bog soils whose char-
smectite are common in these soils. acteristics depend largely on the nature of the vegeta-
Mollisols generally form in cool areas having annual
dM tion from which they form.
rainfall of 400 to 650 mm. They typically have a dark An 11th order, andisols was also proposed to ac-
A1 horizon, and the horizon boundaries are indistinct. commodate the soil developed from volcanic ash.
Smectites predominate in the clay fraction over illite.
There may be local accumulations of sepiolite, paly-
gorskite, and attapulgite, and calcium salts may be 8.5 TERRESTRIAL DEPOSITS
present.
Aeolian Deposits
Spodosols are found south of the tundras in areas
hte
where rainfall exceeds 600 mm/yr, and summers are Of the various sediment transporting agents, wind is
short and cool. Spodosols are characterized by mod- the only one that can move material uphill for any
erate humus accumulation, a thin A1 horizon, and a distance. Wind is most easily able to move sand. It is
strongly eluviated A2 horizon. The B horizon is dark not a universal agent of erosion, as its effects are re-
brown to reddish brown and often cemented by organic stricted to areas of a particular climate such as deserts
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compounds and iron oxides. The texture of all horizons or to specic places such as beaches and plowed elds.
except O is often sandy. The soils are acid, have a low The load suspended by the wind, which is composed
cation exchange capacity, and illite dominates the clay primarily of silt-size particles, is carried high above the
fraction. ground and may be transported for great distances. The
Alsols are found south of the spodosol region and bed load, moved by saltation and traction, moves
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east of the prairies in northeastern United States and slowly and as a unit.
southeastern Canada and in the humid, temperate areas Deposition from wind occurs with reduction in wind
of western Europe and eastern Asia, where rainfall av- velocity. Consequently, accumulations are found in the
erages 750 to 1300 mm annually. These soils are char- lee of desert areas. Coarser particles of sand, carried
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acterized by a thin A1 horizon (50 to 150 mm) and a by saltation and traction, pile in dunes with their long
well-developed gray to yellowish A2 horizon. The B axis parallel to the wind. Loess deposits, composed of
horizon is gray to reddish brown, darker, and of ner silt-size particles, are of particular interest because of
texture than either the A or C horizons. They are acid their unique structure and properties and are described
soils, and kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral. more fully in Section 8.16.
Ultisols are found in areas of high temperature and
high rain (1000 to 1500 mm/yr). Leaching is great, Glacial Deposits
and mineral decay is rapid. Surface accumulation of Several types of deposit form from glacial melting, as
organic matter is small, and the leached A horizon is listed in Table 8.4. Moraines are dropped directly from

TERRESTRIAL DEPOSITS 207
Table 8.4 Deposits of the Glacial Environment
I. Ice Deposited Material

A. Sediments
1. Boulder clay or till (drift includes glacial and glacio-uvial sediments)
2. Erratics
B. Structures
1. Moraines
a. Lateral moraineribbon of debris on sides of glacier
b. Medial morainemerging of inner lateral moraines of two joining glaciers
c. Englacial morainematerial within ice
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d. Subglacial morainematerial at sole of glacier
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e. Ground morainedeposited subglacial moraine
f. Terminal or end moraineridge of deposits built up at end of glacier
g. Recessional moraineterminal moraine of receding glacier
2. Drumlins
Mounds of boulder clay formed under deep ice
ate
II. Glacio-Fluvial Deposited Material
A. Sediments
1. Coarse gravel to clay, progressively sorted dams and deltas
2. Crudely bedded gravel and sand in kames and eskers
B. Structures dM
1. Alluvial fans for glaciers terminating on land
2. Outwash plains merged with fans
3. Deltas for glaciers terminating in standing water
4. Kettle holes caused by melting of stranded ice blocks
5. Kamesmounds of crudely bedded sand and gravel caused by stream from melting ice
6. Eskerwinding ridge of sand and gravel from meltwater stream in ice tunnel or from receding ice
III. Glacial Lake Deposited Material
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A. Sediments
1. Sands to clay
2. Poor sorting and stratication of channel deposits
3. Excellent stratication of lake oor deposits
B. Structures
1. Overow channels where lake water escaped
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2. Shore line deposits and terraces from waves and currents

3. Deltas
4. Lake oor sediments including varved clays
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the melting ice. There are several types of moraine, sorted gravel and sand deposits. Many lateral moraines
depending on where the material is dumped relative to and dead ice deposits are mixed glacial and glacio-
the ice mass, as indicated in the table. Moraines usu- uvial deposits.
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ally contain a wide range of unsorted particle sizes, Glacial lake deposits are quiet water sediments that
and the material is known as till. When large amounts are usually composed of ne-grained materials. Varved
of boulders and clay are present, the deposit is referred clay is an example (see Fig. 2.13). The formation and
to as boulder clay. Some glacial moraines are densely characteristics of varved clay are discussed in Section
compacted owing to compression under advancing ice 2.8.
masses. The characteristics of a specic glacial deposit de-
Glacio-uvial deposits are transported from the pend on the type and erodability of the parent material,
melting point by owing meltwater; kames and eskers the type and distance of transportation, gradients, and
(Fig. 8.9) are examples. Kames and eskers are poorly pressures. For example, bottom moraines are usually

ley. As the stream overows its banks during ood

stage, friction against the ground surface outside the
channel decreases the energy of the water, and a layer
consisting mainly of sands and gravels is dropped. This
process leads to the formation of natural levees.
The alluvial valley of the lower Mississippi River is
illustrative of alluvial deposits and their complexity.
The valley covers and extends from Cairo, Illinois, to
the Gulf of Mexico. All types of deposits from sands
to highly plastic clays may be found at some point
within the valley. The fall of sea level during the last
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stages of glaciation led to scouring of a valley beneath
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the present oodplain surface. Rising sea at the end of
the glacial period resulted in deposition of sands and
gravels in the bottom of the valley followed by ner
material above. In the 25,000 years since the last gla-
ciation, the Mississippi River has changed from an
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overloaded, shallow, braided stream to a deep, single-
Figure 8.9 Glacio-uvial sediments (Selmer-Olsen, 1964). channel, and meandering river.
The variety of deposits found within the Mississippi
River Valley is great, and their interrelationships are
dM complex; however, each can be accounted for in a log-
ner grained and more consolidated than lateral or end ical way in terms of the factors governing its deposi-
moraines. Finely ground (silt and clay size) rock our tion and history, as described by Kolb and Shockley
is produced by the grinding action of the ice and may (1957).
be a major constituent of postglacial marine and lake The coarser materials were laid down initially in the
clays found in Canada and Scandinavia. bottom of the valley. Occasional lenses of clay, sandy
More extensive and detailed information on glaciers silt, and silty sand are found in these substratum de-
and the characteristics of glacial deposits can be found posits. The depths to these materials vary from about
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in Leggett and Hatheway (1988) and West (1995), 3 m in the north to 30 m in the southern part of the
among many other texts and references. river, and the thickness varies from 15 to 125 m in the
same direction.
Braided stream deposits are usually remote from
Alluvial Deposits
present large streams. Most are relatively dense, sandy
Alluvial deposits form from pluvial (high rain area) silts and clayey sands. Natural levees rise to 5 m or
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and uvial (river) deposition and are generally char- more above the oodplain and decrease in grain size
acterized by laterally discontinuous, lenticular beds away from the crest and in a downstream direction.
that are oriented downstream and have different parti- Point bar deposits composed of silts and silty sands
cle size characteristics. Gravels are often in contact form on the inside of river bends during high-water
with sand and silt.
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periods. Clayey swales with high organic and water

Deposition from streams results from a decrease in contents form between the bars and the original riv-
slope, increased resistance to ow, a decrease in stream erbank. The alternating pervious bars and impervious
discharge, or a discharge into the more quiet waters of swales have been responsible for seepage problems in
oceans and lakes. As the slope attens, the stream loses connection with articial levees. Abandoned sections
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energy, and all particles larger than a certain size are of the river, left behind as oxbow lakes, ll with weak
dumped in a jumble of large and small particles. The and compressible clay and silty clay layers with thick-
ow then slips to one side following the steepest slope. nesses up to 30 m or more. Abandoned river courses
The channel may subsequently ll, and the ow shifts many miles long ll with materials similar to those of
again. When this process occurs at the base of a slope, the oxbow lakes.
the result is an alluvial fan, a temporary feature that is Medium- to high-plasticity clays, often organic,
a symmetrical pile of material spread out radially from termed backswamp deposits, form in shallow areas
the point of slope change. during ood stage. Because of desiccation between pe-
In advanced stages of stream development, the riods of deposition, they have water contents lower
stream occupies only a small part of a broad, at val- than the abandoned channel deposits.

MARINE DEPOSITS 209
Lacustrine and Paludal Deposits action capable of removing the sediment as fast as it
Lacustrine, or lake, deposition can occur under fresh- is deposited. Deltas build forward from the coastline
water or saline conditions. Gravity settling of sedi- in a complex process that leads to the formation of a
ments discharged into saline lakes may be accelerated number of separate channels, isolated lagoons, levees,
by occulation of clay particles. Saline deposition can marshy ground, and small streams. As a result, deltas
lead to precipitation of salt beds, or evaporite deposits. may consist of coarse and ne material, organic matter,
Freshwater lacustrine deposits are generally ne- and marl (a loose or friable deposit of sand, silt, or
grained, quiet water deposits, except for narrow shore clay containing calcium carbonate). Coarse and ne
zones of sand. As an example, large shallow lakes, materials alternate owing to the continual shifting of
present in much of the western United States during the stream. Suspended silt and clay in the main stream
Pleistocene time, have resulted in the formation of lat- is occulated by salts in the seawater to form marine
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erally continuous and thick clay beds. The Corcoran mud in the seaward delta face, which is later covered
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clay, which covers an area of about 15,000 km2 in by alluvial, lacustrine, and beach deposits as the delta
Californias San Joaquin Valley, forms an extensive grows.
conning bed and aquiclude in the valley and is a sig- The complex formations of the Mississippi River
nicant feature inuencing groundwater development. delta reect the composite effects of the advancing
delta and the encroaching sea. Pleistocene sediments
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Paludal, or swamp, deposits usually consist of plas-
tic silts, muds, and clays with high water content and consisting of dense clays, sands, and gravels underlie
organic matter. Difcult problems may be associated the delta. Sand and shell beaches, often 5 m high or
with these deposits because of their low strength and more, are among the most suitable deltaic formations
high compressibility and from the formation of marsh for foundation support. Conversely, difcult geotech-
gas. dM nical problems are associated with ne-grained and or-
ganic delta sediments because of their low strength and
high compressibility.
8.6 MIXED CONTINENTAL AND MARINE
DEPOSITS 8.7 MARINE DEPOSITS
Littoral Deposits An averaged and idealized prole through the marine
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Littoral deposits form in the tidal zone and consist of environment is shown in Fig. 8.10. The continental
tidal lagoon, tidal at, and beach sediments. Lagoon shelf extends from low tide to an average water depth
sediments include ne-grained sands and silts in the of about 130 m (nearly 450 ft). The steeper continental
channels and organic-rich silt and clay in the quiet ar- slope (average of 4 leads down to the more gently
eas. Organic matter and carbonates may be abundant. sloping continental rise. The average water depth in
Tidal at deposits consist of ne-grained dark muds, the deep ocean is more than 3500 m (11,500 ft).
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with lenses or stringers of sand and gravel, and are There are three main types of marine sediments:
free of intermediate-size sediments. Beach deposits lithogenous (derived from terrestrial, volcanic, or cos-
consist of clean ne- to coarse-grained sand with oc- mic sources), biogenous (remains of marine organ-
casional stringers of gravel. isms), and hydrogenous (precipitates from the seawater
or interstitial water). An engineering classication sys-
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Estuarine Deposits tem that incorporates compositional and depositional

characteristics of these sediments was developed by
Estuaries are semienclosed coastal bodies of water that
Noorany (1989) as shown in Fig. 8.11. This system is
have a free connection with the sea. The sediments
patterned after the Unied Soil Classication System,
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consist of channel muds, silts, and sands deposited in

the most widely used system for classication of ter-
response to seasonal river processes and tidal rhythms.
restrial soils for engineering purposes.
Estuarine sediments typically grade seaward into ne-
Biogenous sediments, formed from the remains of
grained tidal deposits and landward into coarser-
marine plants and animals, cover about half of the con-
grained river (alluvial) deposits. Fine-grained tidal ats
tinental shelves, more than half of the deep-sea abyssal
with salt marshes often fringe estuaries.
plains, and parts of the continental slopes and rises
(Noorany, 1989). They are abundant as coarse-grained
Deltaic Deposits bioclastic sediments in shallow waters of the coastal
Deltas form at the mouth of rivers where they enter zones in tropical regions (between 30N and 30S lat-
the sea. They build up where there is no tidal or current itude).

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Figure 8.10 Idealized prole of the continental margin, with vertical exaggeration (after
Heselton, 1969).
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Neritic Deposits oceans in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

The neritic, or continental shelf, environment extends Most consist of porous or hollow particles. An electron
to water depths of up to 200 m. In shallow water, dep- photomicrograph of a calcareous sand is shown in Fig.
osition occurs when the intensity of wave-caused tur- 8.12. Special geotechnical features of the calcareous
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bulence decreases. Generally there is a decrease in sediments are (Semple, 1988) that they are composed
particle size and increased inuences of biological and of weak, angular particles, particle sizes and size dis-
chemical factors in the seaward direction, although the tributions are variable, there is uneven cementation
sediment distributions may be irregular due to tidal over short distances, and they have high void ratio rel-
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currents and seasonal climatic variations. Neritic de- ative to silicate sediments. As a result, these materials
posits reect sediment source areas and climatic con- may be the source of special geotechnical problems.
ditions, with sandstone, shale, and limestone typically For example, the side friction developed on driven
present in shelf areas. With the exception of the bi- piles in calcareous sands is often very much lower than
ogenous sediments, the physical properties of conti- anticipated based on the behavior of piles in quartz
nental shelf deposits are essentially the same as those sand (Noorany, 1985; Murff, 1987; Jewell et al., 1988).
of comparable terrestrial soils.
Calcareous Sands Calcareous bioclastic sands are Bathyal Deposits
formed from the skeletal remains of corals, shells of The bathyal environment includes the continental slope
mollusks, and algae. They are widely distributed in the and the continental rise. Bathyal sediments are typi-

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Figure 8.11 Chart for classication of marine sediments (from Noorany, 1989). Reprinted
with permission of ASCE.
211

slide scar now exists. The exact triggering mechanisms

for such events are unknown in most cases; however,
earthquakes are believed to be the cause of some of
them.
Abyssal Deposits
Deep-ocean (abyssal) deposits consist primarily of
brown clays and calcareous and silicious oozes, with
thicknesses of 300 to 600 m. Terrigenous deposits are
derived from land, whereas pelagic sediments settle
from the water alone and contain the shells and skeletal
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remains of tiny marine organisms and plants. Accu-
mulation rates range from less than a millimeter per
thousand years in the deep sea to a few tens of centi-
meters per year in near-shore areas close to the mouths
of large rivers (Grifn et al., 1968). Oozes contain
ate
more than 50 percent biotic material.
Calcareous ooze, composed of empty shells or tests,
covers about 35 percent of the seaoor for water
depths up to about 5 km. It is usually nonplastic, cream
to white in color, and composed of easily crushed
sand- to silt-size particles. Brown clay is found beneath
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Figure 8.12 Electron photomicrographs of calcareous sand most of the deeper ocean areas. Its origin is believed
from Guam. Magnication is 45 (courtesy of I. Noorany). to be atmospheric dust and ne material circulated by
ocean currents. About 60 percent of this material is
ner than 60 m, and the clay fraction contains chlo-
rite, smectite, illite, and kaolinite, with illite often the
cally ne sand, silt, and mud of high water content and most abundant. Brown clays have high water contents,
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low shear strength. The tectonic setting of the depo- moderate-to-high plasticity, and low strength. Siliceous
sitional area and the characteristics of the continental ooze, composed of plant remains, is found mainly in
source materials largely control the distribution, ge- the Antarctic, northeast of Japan, and in some areas of
ometry, and properties of these sediments. the equatorial Pacic.
Erosion, transport, and deposition of these sediments Except near their surface, deep-sea deposits are nor-
may be caused by the frictional effects of contour- mally consolidated and highly compressible. There is
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following undercurrents that result in thick sequences an apparent overconsolidation of the near-surface ma-
of sediment drift consisting of alternating thin layers terial at many locations. This evidently reects bond-
of very ne sands, silts, and muds (Leeder, 1982). Ap- ing developed as a result of the extremely slow rate of
preciable quantities of sediments can be transported deposition and physicochemical effects (Noorany and
from the continental slope and rise to the deep-ocean Gizienski, 1970). Much of the available data on the
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abyssal plains by slumps, debris ows, and turbidity mechanical properties of deep-seaoor soils pertains to
ows. material from the upper 6 m.
Detailed exploration of the ocean margins indicates
that debris ows are probably a much more important
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depositional process on the seaoor than has been pre- 8.8 CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DEPOSITS
viously suspected. For example, debris ow deposits
of enormous extent have been identied that were gen- Evaporite deposits formed by precipitation of salts
erated by large sediment slides on the northwestern from salt lakes and seas as a result of the evaporation
African continental margin. The ow traveled on a of water are sometimes found in layers that are up to
slope as at as 0.1 for a distance of several hundred several meters thick. The major constituents of sea-
kilometers. The deposits cover an area of about 30,000 water, their relative proportions, and some of the more
km2 and originated from a massive slump of about 600 important evaporite deposits are listed in Table 8.5. In
km3 on the upper continental rise where a prominent some areas alternating layers of evaporite and clay or

FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 213
Table 8.5 Major Constituents of Seawater and Evaporite Deposits
Percent by Weight
Ion Grams per Liter of Total Solids Important Evaporite Deposits
Sodium, Na 10.56 30.61 Anhydrite CaSO4
Magnesium, Mg2 1.27 3.69 Barite BaSO4
Calcium, Ca2 0.40 1.16 Celesite SrSO4
Potassium, K 0.38 1.10 Kieserite MgSO4 H2O
Strontium, Sr2 0.013 0.04 Gypsum CaSO4 2H2O
Chloride, Cl 18.98 55.04 Polyhalite Ca2K2Mg(SO4 ) 2H2O
Bloedite Ma2Mg(SO4)2 4H2O
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Sulfate, So42 2.65 7.68
Hexahydrite MgSO4 6H2O
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Bicarbonate, HCO3 0.14 0.41
Epsomite MgSO4 7H2O
Bromide, Br 0.065 0.19 Kainite K4Mg4(Cl/SO4 ) 11H2O
Fluoride, F 0.001 Halite NaCl
Boric Acid, H3BO3 0.026 0.08 Sylvite KCl
34.485 100.00 Flourite CaF2
ate
Bischofite MgCl2 6H2O
Carnallite KMgCl3 6H2O
Adapted from data by Degens (1965).
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other ne-grained clastic sediments are formed during about 50 kPa, owing to the roughness and interlocking
cyclic wet and dry periods. of the diatoms, but becomes more compressible under
Many limestones have been formed by precipitation higher stresses owing to crushing of the diatoms (Day,
or from the remains of various organisms. Because of 1995).
the much greater solubility of limestones than of most
other rock types, they may be the source of special
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problems caused by solution channels and cavities un- 8.9 FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND PROPERTY
der foundations. RELATIONSHIPS: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
More than 12 percent of Canada is covered by a
peaty material, termed muskeg, composed almost en- The variety of possible soil fabrics and the many pos-
tirely of decaying vegetation. Peat and muskeg may sible interparticle force systems associated with each
have water contents of 1000 percent or more, they are mean that the potential number of soil structures is
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very compressible, and they have low strength. The almost limitless. The mechanical properties of a soil
special properties of these materials and methods for reect the inuences of the structure to a degree that
analysis of geotechnical problems associated with depends on the soil type, the structure type, and the
them are given by MacFarlane (1969), Dhowian and particular property of interest. The effects of structure
Edil (1980), and Edil and Mochtar (1984). can be of equal importance to those of initial void ratio
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Chemical sediments and rocks in freshwater lakes, and stress. In this sense, structure refers to the differ-
ponds, swamps, and bays are occasionally encountered ences between the actual void ratio and effective stress
in civil engineering projects. Biochemical processes and the corresponding values for the same soil in the
form marls ranging from relatively pure calcium car- destructured state. The difference between void ratio
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bonate to mixtures with mud and organic matter. Iron under a given effective stress for a soil with some
oxide is formed in some lakes. Diatomite or diatoma- structure, which is the case for consolidation of virtu-
ceous earth is essentially pure silica formed from the ally all sediments from a high void ratio, and the void
skeletal remains of small (up to a few tenths of a mil- ratio of a completely destructured soil is illustrated in
limeter) freshwater and saltwater organisms. Com- Fig. 8.13.
pacted lls of diatomaceous earth can have very low It is possible that a soil can be at state to the right
dry unit weights (1.0 to 1.2 Mg/m3) and high moisture of the virgin compression curve in Fig. 8.13 as a result
contents (40 percent or more). The material may be- of bonding by chemical cementation or aging effects.
have as a dense granular material at stresses below Thus the full range of possible states in void ratio

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Figure 8.13 The inuence of metastable fabric on void ratio under and effective consoli-
dation pressure.
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Figure 8.14 Possible states in void ratioeffective stress space.

FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 215
effective stress space is greater than shown in Fig.
8.13, as may be seen in Fig. 8.14. Virgin compression
from an initial state at o to a is followed by the de-
velopment of bonding, which enables the soil to resist
additional compressive stress ab. At point b the soil
is under effective stress b. The completely destruc-
tured soil under the same stress would be at point d.
The difference in void ratios between the structured
soil at b and the destructured soil at d results from a
bonding contribution bc and a fabric contribution
cd.
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Figure 8.15a shows one-dimensional compression
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curves for various reconstituted clays with a wide
range of plasticities. The void index, was proposed by
Burland (1990) for correlating the compression behav-
ior of different clays and for assessing the inuence of
structure on properties. The void index Iv is dened as
ate
e e*
Iv 100
(8.1)
C*c
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in which e is the void ratio, e*100 is the intrinsic void
ratio under an effective vertical stress of 100 kPa in
the one-dimensional odometer test, and C* c is the in-
trinsic compression index. The intrinsic properties are
determined for a reconstituted samples of clay that
have been prepared at a water content of about 1.25
times the liquid limit. The intrinsic compression curves
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can be normalized as shown in Fig. 8.15b.

Knowledge of the intrinsic compression curve is
useful because the departure of a compression curve
for the soil in its natural state from the intrinsic com-
pression curve indicates the existence of soil structure
resisting the applied load. Figure 8.16a shows the sed-
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imentation compression curves of several marine

deposits reported by Skempton (1970). The water
contents (or void ratios) of naturally sedimented clays
were plotted against the in situ vertical effective over-
burden stress. The normalized compression curves,
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termed the sedimentation compression line (SCL), are Figure 8.15 (a) One-dimensional compression curves for
shown in Fig. 8.16b along with the intrinsic compres- several clays. (b) Normalized compression curves dening
sion curve, termed the intrinsic compression line the intrinsic compression line (ICL) (from Burland, 1990).
(ICL).
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At a given void ratio, the effective overburden pres-

sure carried by a sedimented clay is approximately ve
times the pressure that can be resisted by the equivalent soil structure degrades and the compression curves
reconstituted clay owing to the fabric and soil structure move toward the intrinsic compression curve. A gen-
developed during sedimentation and postdepositional eralized view of in situ states of natural soils in relation
processes. For instance, the compression curves of a to the void index and vertical overburden pressure is
freshwater glacial lake clay lie well above the sedi- given in Fig. 8.18 (Chandler et al., 2004).
mentation compression line and the intrinsic compres- Several principles relate the fabric and structure of
sion line before yielding as shown in Fig. 8.17. Once a soil to the mechanical properties of interest in engi-
the loading exceeds the preconsolidation pressure, the neering:

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Figure 8.16 (a) Compression curves for several clays (from Skempton, 1970). (b) Normal-
ized compression curves for clays in (a) showing the intrinsic compression line (ICL) and
sedimentation compression line (SCL).
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1. Under a given effective consolidation pressure, particles and particle groups may be essentially
a soil with a occulated fabric is less dense than stress free as a result of arching by surrounding
the same soil with a deocculated structure. fabric elements, as discussed further in Chapter
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2. At the same void ratio, a occulated soil with 11.

randomly oriented particles and particle groups 8. Two samples of a soil without cementation can
is more rigid than a deocculated soil. have a different structure at the same void ratio-
3. Once the maximum precompression stress has effective stress coordinates if they have different
been reached, a further increment of pressure stress histories. In Fig. 8.19, a sample initially
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causes a greater change in fabric of a occulated at point a on the virgin compression curve can
soil structure than in a deocculated soil struc- deform to point b as a result of disturbance and
ture. reconsolidation or by secondary compression
4. The average pore diameter and range of pore under stress a stained for a long time. A sam-
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sizes is smaller in deocculated and/or destruc- ple initially at c can reach point b as a result of
tured soils than in occulated and/or undis- unloading from c. The stressdeformation
turbed soils. properties of the two samples will differ. The
5. Shear displacements usually orient platy parti- overconsolidation ratio (OCR), dened as the
cles and particle groups with their long axes ratio of the maximum past consolidation effec-
parallel to the direction of shear. tive stress to the present overburden effective
6. Anisotropic consolidation stresses tend to align stress is a good measure of stress history. The
platy particles and particle groups with their OCR of sample 2 in Fig. 8.19 is c / a.
long axes in the major principal plane. 9. Volume change tendencies determine pore pres-
7. Stresses are usually not distributed equally sure development during undrained deforma-
among all particles and particle groups. Some tion.

SOIL FABRIC AND PROPERTY ANISOTROPY 217
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10. Changes in structure of a saturated soil at con- the rate of deformation is slow or positive pore pres-
stant volume are accompanied by changes in ef- sures will be generated if deformation is rapid. On the
fective stress. These effective stress changes are other hand, if the soil is initially at a state in the di-
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immediate. lative zone, slow deformation will be accompanied by

11. Changes in structure of a saturated soil at con- swelling and rapid deformation will be accompanied
stant effective stress are accompanied by by generation of negative pore pressures. In general,
changes in void ratio. The change in void ratio normally consolidated to slightly overconsolidated
is not immediate but depends on the time for clays and saturated loose sands are contractive,
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water to drain from or enter the soil. whereas heavily overconsolidated clays and dense
sands are dilative.
Figure 8.20 illustrates points 9, 10, and 11. For any
saturated, destructured soil there is a unique relation-
ship between combinations of void ratio and effective 8.10 SOIL FABRIC AND PROPERTY
consolidation pressure termed the critical state or ANISOTROPY
steady state line, as discussed in more detail in Chapter
11. If the soil is on this line, there is no tendency for Anisotropic consolidation, shear, directional transpor-
change in volume during shear deformation. However, tation components, method of remolded or compacted
if the state of the soil is in the region above and to the soil preparation, and compaction of soil in layers each
right of the critical state line it will either contract if may produce anisotropic fabrics. Fabric anisotropy on

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Figure 8.17 Compression curves for freshwater glacial lake clay at pressures below and
above yield (from Burland, 1990).
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Figure 8.18 Void index in relation to stress states for dif- Figure 8.19 Illustration of different paths to reach the same
ferent clay types (from Chandler et al., 2004). present void ratioeffective stress state.

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Figure 8.20 Initial state in relation to the critical-state or steady-state line and its inuence
on pore pressure or volume changes during deformation.
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a macroscale usually leads to mechanical property an- the nding that as the density increased the intensity
isotropy, and the property differences in different di- of preferred orientation decreased. The sample stiff-
rections may be signicant. Examples of anisotropic ness, as measured by the ratio of stress to shear dis-
fabrics in sands are given in Figs. 5.9 and 5.10. placement at 50 percent of peak strength, was about
Some examples are presented in this section to il- twice as high for shear across the direction of preferred
lustrate the general nature and magnitudes of aniso- orientation than parallel to it.
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tropy in properties that may be associated with a Figure 8.22 shows the variation in friction angle as
homogeneous anisotropic fabric. These considerations a function of the loading direction in plane strain and
are separate from property anisotropy caused by strat- triaxial compression in relation to the initial bedding
ication of different soil layers, although the latter may plane measured on dense Toyoura sand specimens
be very important in the eld, especially with respect (Park and Tatsuoka, 1994). The term is the angle of
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to uid ow. Additional analysis and discussion of the the bedding plane relative to the maximum principal
effects of fabric and stress anisotropy on soil stress stress direction, and the measured friction angles are
deformation and strength are given in Chapter 11. normalized by the friction angle in plane strain com-
pression with 90. The friction angle is the lowest
Sands and Silts when the loading direction is approximately at 30.
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The strength of crushed basalt, both along and across This is partly because the failure shear plane coincides
the direction of preferred orientation of grains, is with the bedding plane. The friction angles in triaxial
shown in Fig. 8.21. Preferred orientation of the some- compression are generally less than those in plain
what elongated particles (mean particle length to width strain compression due to the intermediate stress effect
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ratio 1.64) was obtained by pouring the soil into a (see Chapter 11). Less bedding effect is also observed
shear box. Intense preferred orientation was obtained in triaxial compression because multiple shear planes
at moderate relative densities, as shown by Fig. 5.11. at different directions are often produced in triaxial
At the lower relative densities the strength was about compression samples, whereas fewer, but more dis-
40 percent greater across the plane of particle orien- tinct, shear plane are observed in plane strain com-
tation than along it. As shown by Fig. 8.21, this dif- pression.
ference decreased with increasing density, and for The orientations of contact planes between particles
relative densities above 90 percent, the strengths in the have signicant inuence on the stressstrain and vol-
two directions were the same. This is consistent with ume change behavior of granular soils when they are

sheared in different directions. The contact plane ori-

entation can be represented by the normal to the plane
, as shown in Fig. 5.12. Probability density functions
E() of these normals for four sands are shown in Fig.
5.13. The fabric of each sand was formed by pouring
the sand through water into a cylindrical mold fol-
lowed by tapping to attain the desired density. From
Fig. 5.13 it may be noted that there was considerable
anisotropy in particle contact orientations for sands
with rodlike or at particles and for sands with nearly
spherical particles.
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Triaxial compression tests were done on samples of
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these sands with different maximum principal stress
directions relative to the original horizontal plane.
The results of these tests for Toyoura sand (b in Fig.
5.13) are shown in Fig. 8.23. Toyoura sand is com-
posed of elongated, at particles having an axial ratio
ate
of 1.65, but similar results were obtained also for the
Tochigi sand (Fig. 5.13d). The results of these and
other tests reported by Oda (1972a) included tests at
different relative densities. They illustrate important
dM aspects of anisotropic granular soil fabric on mechan-
ical properties, for example:
1. The stressstrain and volume change behavior

are different for different principal stress direc-
tions.
2. The effects of fabric anisotropy are somewhat
greater in sand with elongated grains than in sand
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with more spherical grains.

Figure 8.21 Effect of shear direction on strength of samples 3. The deformation modulus and dilation decrease
of crushed basalt prepared by pouring into a shear box (from as the angle decreases from 90 to 0 for sand
Mahmood and Mitchell, 1974). fabric formed by pluviation.
4. The stressstrainvolume change properties of
dense sand tested at 0 are comparable to
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those for loose samples tested at 90.

5. The secant modulus at 50 percent of peak
strength decreases with decreasing values of .
The ratio of E50 for 90 to that at 0 is
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2 to 3 for dense sand.
Overall, the major inuence of anisotropy of gran-

ular soil fabric, as measured by both particle long axis
orientations and interparticle contact orientations, is to
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give different volume change (dilatancy) tendencies,

which, in turn, give different stressdeformation and
strength behavior for different directions of loading.
Fabric and mechanical property anisotropy are also
found in undisturbed sands and silts in the eld. Un-
disturbed samples of Vicksburg loess exhibit up to 12
Figure 8.22 Variation of friction angles in plane strain and percent higher strength when sheared perpendicular to
triaxial compression as a function of principal stress direction grain orientation than parallel to it (Matalucci et al.,
relative to bedding plane orientation (from Park and Tat- 1970). The friction angle measured in triaxial tests de-
suoka, 1994). creased from 34 to 31 for dry loess and from 24 to

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Figure 8.23 Effect of initial fabric anisotropy on stressstrain and volume change behavior
of Toyoura sand. Angle is between major principal stress direction and the original hori-
zontal plane (from Oda, 1972a). Reprinted with permission of The Japanese Society of
Co
SMFE.
21 for moist samples as the direction of the major testing undisturbed samples1 cut as shown in Fig. 8.24.
principal stress was changed from normal to the pre-
ferred orientation of particles to 45 to it.
1
Anisotropic fabric in undisturbed Portsea Beach To handle undisturbed sand samples, Lafeber and Willoughby
(1971) used a two-stage replacement of the original seawater by pol-
sand is shown in Fig. 8.3. The effect of this anisotropy yethylene glycol (Carbowax 4000). Triaxial tests were done after rst
on the behavior in triaxial compression was studied by heating the samples to melt the Carbowax.

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Figure 8.24 Orientations of triaxial cylinders of Portsea Beach sand in relation to in situ
conditions (Lafeber and Willoughby, 1971).
dM
Values of mean secant modulus for samples at different 1. Anisotropic fabric, as indicated by particle ori-
orientations are given in Table 8.6. There are signi- entations and interparticle contact orientations, is
cant differences among samples tested in different di- likely in natural deposits, compacted lls, and
rections, and there is no horizontal plane of isotropy laboratory samples.
for deformation modulus. 2. Anisotropic fabrics produce anisotropic mechan-
Collectively, the results of studies of the effects of ical properties.
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fabric anisotropy on properties of granular soils show 3. Strengths and deformation moduli are higher for
the following: shear directions across planes of preferred ori-
entation than along them.
4. The magnitude of strength and modulus aniso-
Table 8.6 Effect of Sample Orientation on Secant tropy depends on density and the extent to which
particles are platy and elongated. Differences in
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Modulus of Undisturbed Samples of Portsea Beach

Sand peak strength of the order of 10 to 15 percent
may exist when the axial ratios of particles are
Sample Sample Secant Standard 1.6 or greater.
Axis Axis Modulus Deviation 5. Differences in moduli in different directions are
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Direction Azimuth (kN/m2) (kN/m2) greater than differences in peak strength. Moduli
in different directions may differ by a factor of 2
Vertical 5.41 104 0.27 104 or 3.
Horizontal Parallel to 6. The effect of fabric anisotropy on mechanical
4.01 104 0.24 104
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coastline property anisotropy is primarily through differ-

Horizontal 30 with ences in volume change tendencies for defor-
coastline 3.85 104 0.18 104 mation in different directions.
Horizontal 60 with
coastline 3.76 104 0.23 104 Clays
Horizontal Perpendicu-
lar to Clay fabric anisotropy studies in clays have dealt
coastline 3.55 104 0.53 104
mainly with effects on strength and hydraulic conduc-
tivity. Undrained strength anisotropy results from stress
Data from Lafeber and Willoughby (1971). anisotropy during consolidation, apart from any pos-

SAND FABRIC AND LIQUEFACTION 223
sible fabric anisotropy. In terms of the effective stress ume change tendencies. This, in turn, inuences the
strength parameters c and , analysis of the effects dilatancy contribution to the strength of sands and the
of stress anisotropy by Brinch-Hansen and Gibson volume changes in drained deformation and the pore
(1949) leads to pressures in undrained shear of clays.
Anisotropy of soil fabric and natural stratication
cu c are responsible for higher hydraulic conductivities in
cos (1 K0) sin (2A 1) the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction
p p

2
for most soil deposits, and this topic is discussed in
cu cu more detail in Section 9.3.
(1 K0) cos2 45
p p 2

1 K0
2 1/2
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(8.2) 8.11 SAND FABRIC AND LIQUEFACTION
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2
If saturated sand is at a void ratio above the critical-
where cu is undrained shear strength, p is vertical con- state or steady state line (Fig. 8.20) and sheared rap-
solidation pressure, K0 is the coefcient of lateral Earth idly, it will try to densify. As water cannot escape from
pressure at rest, and is the inclination of the failure the pores instantaneously, the collapsing structure will
ate
plane to the horizontal. The pore pressure parameter transfer normal stress to the pore water. The accom-
A is dened as panying decrease in effective stress reduces the shear
strength to a low value, and the soil mass liquees.
Cyclic loading due to earthquakes is perhaps the most
u
A (8.3) common cause of dynamic liquefaction. The resistance
( 1 3)
dM to liquefaction depends on characteristics of the sand,
including gradation, particle size, and particle shape;
where u is the change in pore water pressure at fail- relative density; conning pressure; and initial stress
ure, and ( 1 3) is the deviator stress at failure. state. A comprehensive review of the state of knowl-
The degree of mobilization of c and at peak edge of the causes and effects of soil liquefaction
stress difference and the strain at failure in an un- during earthquakes was published by the National
drained test vary with orientation of principal stresses. Research Council (NRC, 1985) and by Kramer (1996).
hte
Data on the variation of undrained compressive Liquefaction depends on a sands resistance to de-
strength with orientation of the failure plane are sum- formation and the degree to which rapidly applied
marized in Fig. 8.25. Strengths in the vertical and hor- shear stresses cause a tendency for the structure to re-
izontal directions may differ by as much as 40 percent duce in volume or collapse. Since samples of the same
as a result of fabric anisotropy. The differences in un- sand at the same density but having different fabrics
drained strength in the different directions result from have different stressstrain and volume change prop-
rig
differences in pore pressures developed during shear erties, see Section 8.8, it follows that different fabrics
(Duncan and Seed, 1966; Bishop, 1966; Nakase and should inuence liquefaction resistance as well. Figure
Kamei, 1983; Kurukulasuriya et al., 1999). The effec- 8.27 shows for three sands that preparation of samples
tive stress strength parameters are independent of sam- by two different methods produced distinctly different
ple orientation. The drained strength is independent of resistances to liquefaction, as measured by the number
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shear stress orientation relative to fabric orientation, as of load cycles to cause liquefaction at a particular value
demonstrated by tests on kaolin (Duncan and Seed, of cyclic stress ratio. The cyclic stress ratio for these
1966; Morgenstern and Tchalenko, 1967b). Stress tests was dened as the ratio of half the cyclic deviator
paths for two samples from a clay with anisotropic stress to the initial effective conning pressure.
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fabric but isotropic initial stresses are shown schemat- The differences in liquefaction behavior result from
ically in Fig. 8.26. differences in the sand fabric owing to different sample
The facts that both the effective stress strength pa- preparation methods (Mitchell et al., 1976). Results
rameters and the drained strength are independent of similar to those in Fig. 8.27 are shown in Fig. 8.28 for
fabric anisotropy, but that pore pressures developed in samples of Monterey No. 0 sand at a relative density
undrained shear are strongly inuenced by anisotropy, of 50 percent prepared by three different methods.
suggest that the effect of fabric anisotropy on strength Similar behavior was measured for samples of the
is the same for both sands and clays. Changes in stress same sand at a relative density of 80 percent (Mulilus
orientation relative to fabric orientation inuence vol- et al., 1977). Monterey No. 0 sand is a uniform me-

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Figure 8.25 Variation of compressive strength with orientation of failure plane (from Dun-
can and Seed, 1966). Reprinted with permission of ASCE.
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Figure 8.26 Stress paths in triaxial compression for differently oriented samples for clay
with anisotropic fabric.

SAND FABRIC AND LIQUEFACTION 225
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Figure 8.27 Inuence of sand sample preparation method on liquefaction resistance (from
Mulilis et al., 1977). Reprinted with permission of ASCE.
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Figure 8.28 Liquefaction resistance of Monterey No. 0 sand prepared to a relative density
of 50 percent by three methods (Mulilus et al., 1977).

dium sand with rounded to subrounded grains consist- of undisturbed sand in the eld since the eld fabric
ing predominantly of quartz with some feldspar and is not usually known, and undisturbed samples are vir-
mica. tually impossible to obtain. It also explains partially
That the fabrics were different for the different prep- why such heavy reliance is placed on the results of in
aration methods was determined by analysis of particle situ tests such as the standard penetration test and the
long axis and interparticle contact on normal orienta- cone penetration test for assessment of the in situ liq-
tions measured on thin sections cut through the uefaction resistance of sand deposits.
samples. Pluviation resulted in distinct preferred Of several laboratory methods that can be used to
orientation of particle long axes in the horizontal di- prepare sand samples, pluviation usually produces the
rection. Moist vibration produced the most random ori- most compressible and weakest fabrics at any relative
entation of particle long axes, with moist tamping density. Thus this method can be used to obtain a lower
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giving intermediate values. The results of static triaxial bound or most conservative estimate of the properties
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compression tests (Fig. 8.29) showed stressstrain and that the same sand at the same relative density can
volume change behavior consistent with the observed have in the undisturbed state in the eld. Most sands
fabrics and liquefaction resistance. That is, the weakest in situ are stronger because of prestressing effects, ag-
and least dilative material was that prepared by dry ing, and cementation. The difference between the plu-
pluviation, and the strongest and most dilative material viated sample lower bound values and the actual in situ
ate
was prepared by moist vibration. values can be large. A corollary of this is that undis-
From results such as these, it is clear that relative turbed sand deposits can suffer a stress loss on distur-
density by itself is insufcient for characterization of bance; that is, they are sensitive in the same way as
the sand properties. This means that sand samples re- many clay deposits owing to loose metastable struc-
constituted in the laboratory ordinarily cannot be used
dM tures.
for determination of properties that are representative
8.12 SENSITIVITY AND ITS CAUSES

As noted at the beginning of this chapter, early con-
cepts of fabric and structure in geotechnical engineer-
ing were developed, at least in part, to explain the loss
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of undrained strength when undisturbed clay is re-

molded. Although virtually all normally consolidated
soils exhibit some amount of sensitivity, quick clay, as
illustrated in Fig. 8.1, is the most sensitive. Large de-
posits of this material, which turns into a heavy viscous
uid on remolding, are found in previously glaciated
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areas of North America and Scandinavia.

The ratio of peak undisturbed strength (Sup) to re-
molded strength (Sur), as determined by the unconned
compression test, was used initially as the quantitative
measure of sensitivity St ( Sup /Sur) (Terzaghi, 1944).
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The remolded strength of some clay is so low, how-

ever, that unconned compression test specimens can-
not be formed. Therefore, the vane shear test is often
used to measure sensitivity, both in the eld and in the
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laboratory, as is also the Swedish fall-cone test (Swed-

ish State Railways, 1922; Karlsson, 1961).
Several classications of sensitivity have been pro-
posed; one of them is given in Table 8.7. Marine clays
with high salinity may exhibit considerable sensitivity
up to 30 (Torrance, 1983). Clays become quick not
because the undisturbed strength becomes very high
Figure 8.29 Inuence of sample preparation method on but because the remolded strength becomes very low.
drained triaxial compression behavior of Monterey No. 0 Salt leaching is a requirement for the development of
sand at 50 percent relative density. very high sensitivity of more than 100. Leaching de-

SENSITIVITY AND ITS CAUSES 227
Table 8.7 Classication of Clay Sensitivity Values
St
Insensitive 1.0
Slightly sensitive clays 12
Medium sensitive clays 24
Very sensitive clays 48
Slightly quick clays 816
Medium quick clays 1632
Very quick clays 3264
64
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Extra quick clays
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From Rosenqvist (1953).
Figure 8.30 Photomicrograph of undisturbed Leda clay, air
dried. Picture width is 8 m (Tovey, 1971).
creases the liquid limit of low-activity clays and con-
ate
sequently the remolded strength, while the void ratio
remains essentially constant or decreases only a small
amount. quick clays as a consequence of delayed or secondary
compression. This compression can be accelerated as
Composition of Sensitive Clays a result of leaching of salts during formation of the
deposit (Torrance, 1974).
dM
Quick clays may not differ from clays of low sensitiv-
ity in terms of mineral composition, grain size distri-
Causes of Sensitivity
bution, or fabric. Most quick clays are postglacial
deposits, with the mineralogy of the clay fraction dom- At least six different phenomena may contribute to the
inated by illite and chlorite and that of the nonclay development of sensitivity:
fraction by quartz and feldspar. Amphibole and calcite
are also common. The activity of quick clays is usually 1. Metastable fabric
hte
less than 0.5. The pore uid composition and the 2. Cementation
changes in composition that have developed between 3. Weathering
the time of deposition and the present are of paramount 4. Thixotropic hardening
importance. Changes in the type and amount of elec- 5. Leaching, ion exchange, and change in the
trolyte, organic compounds, and small quantities of monovalent/divalent cation ratio
6. Formation or addition of dispersing agents
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surface-active agents are controlling factors in the de-

velopment of quick clay. Metastable Fabric When particles and particle
groups occulate and/or pack inefciently, the initial
Fabric of Sensitive Clays fabric after deposition is open and involves some
With the possible exception of strongly cemented soils, amount of edge-to-edge and edge-to-face associations
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the undisturbed fabric of sensitive clays is composed in a cardhouse arrangement of elongate and platy par-
of occulated assemblages of particles or aggregates. ticles. A consequence of this is well illustrated by the
Electron photomicrographs show open and occulated sedimentation compression line relative to the intrinsic
particle arrangements in medium sensitive to quick compression line in Fig. 8.16b. During consolidation
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clays. The contribution of fabric to high sensitivity is this fabric can carry effective stress at a void ratio
through open networks of particles and aggregates that higher than would be possible if the particles and par-
are linked by unstable connections. The fabric of un- ticle groups were arranged in an efcient, parallel ar-
disturbed Leda clay is shown in Fig. 8.30. A very wide ray. When saturated soil is mechanically remolded
range of particle sizes may be seen. from a state such as represented by point 1 in Fig. 8.13,
The microfabric of quick clay and that of adjacent the fabric is disrupted, effective stresses are reduced
zones of much less sensitive clay may be the same. because of the tendency for the volume to decrease,
Thus, while an open occulated fabric is necessary, it and the strength is less.
is not a sufcient condition for quick clay develop- If the original consolidation stress is reapplied, then
ment. Some preferred orientation might develop in there will be additional consolidation, and the void ra-

tio will decrease to a point as represented by 2 in Fig. effective stress to almost zero from the initial value of
8.13. Mechanical remolding and reapplication of 200 kPa. This illustrates the interdependence of effec-
stresses will cause consolidation to point 3, and con- tive stress and structure, as well as the effects of struc-
tinued repetition of the process will lead ultimately to ture metastability.
a minimum void ratio for the fully destructured soil at A point of practical importance is that the continu-
n. Thus, if the soil is at any state within the shaded ing generation of metastable fabrics following distur-
zone of Fig. 8.13, it will have some degree of metas- bance explains why some sand deposits have been
tability of structure and could be further consolidated observed to reliquefy at the same locations in succes-
if disturbed and recompressed. sive earthquakes.
Sensitivity values resulting from metastable particle Cementation Many soils contain carbonates, iron
arrangements were measured in undrained triaxial tests oxide, alumina, and organic matter that may precipitate
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on saturated kaolinite samples consolidated from high at interparticle contacts and act as cementing agents.
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initial water content (Houston, 1967). They decreased On disturbance, the cemented bonds are destroyed
from 12 at high water content and low consolidation leading to a loss of strength. Four naturally cemented
pressure to 2 at low water content and high consoli- Canadian clays tested by Sangrey (1970) had sensitiv-
dation pressure. Consolidated, undrained triaxial com- ities of 45 to 780.
pression tests on saturated sandkaolinite mixtures
ate
Late glacial plastic clay from near Lilla Edit in the
consolidated initially under an effective stress of 200 Gota Valley of Sweden has a sensitivity of 30 to 70.
kPa gave the results shown in Fig. 8.31. The loss in The apparent preconsolidation pressure as determined
strength due to disturbance was accompanied by a by odometer tests is much greater than the maximum
large increase in pore water pressure and decrease in past overburden pressure (Bjerrum and Wu, 1960).
dM When consolidation pressure greater than this apparent
maximum past pressure is applied, there is a marked
reduction in cohesion. This was interpreted to result
from a rupture of cemented interparticle bonds that
were created by carbonation of microfossils and or-
ganic matter and precipitation of pore water salts at
particle contacts. Removal of carbonates, gypsum, and
iron oxide by leaching with EDTA (a disodium salt of
hte
ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid) resulted in a marked

reduction in the apparent preconsolidation pressure of
quick clay from Labrador (Bjerrum, 1967).
A quasi-preconsolidation effect (Leonards and Ra-
miah, 1960) results if clay remains under constant
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stress for a long period. Whether or not the additional

resistance is due to a true chemical cementation is de-
batable; however, the effect is the same, and an in-
crease in sensitivity results.
Weathering Weathering processes change the types
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and relative proportions of ions in solution, which, in

turn, can alter the occulationdeocculation tenden-
cies of the soil after disturbance. Some change in the
undisturbed strength is also probable; however, the ma-
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jor effect on sensitivity is usually through change in

the remolded strength. Strengths and sensitivities may
be increased or decreased, depending on the nature of
the changes in ionic distributions (Moum et al., 1971).
Thixotropic Hardening Thixotropy is an isother-
mal, reversible, time-dependent process occurring un-
der conditions of constant composition and volume
whereby a material stiffens while at rest and softens or
Figure 8.31 Stressstrain characteristics of kaolinitesand liquees upon remolding. The properties of a purely
mixtures illustrating the effects of disturbance. thixotropic material are shown in Fig. 8.32. Thixo-

of the same clay that is allowed to rest at constant
water content and pore uid composition. However, the
results of studies on samples allowed to harden starting
from present composition suggest that sensitivities up
to about 8 or so may be possible due to thixotropy
(Skempton and Northey, 1952; Seed and Chan, 1957;
Mitchell, 1960).2
Leaching and Changes in Monovalent/Divalent Cat-
ion Ratios Reduction in salinity of marine clay by
leaching is an essential rst step in the development of
quick clay, as rst suggested by Rosenqvist (1946).
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Freshwater leaching following a drop in sea level or
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rise in land level results in removal of the seawater
environment. Percolating freshwater in silt and sand
lenses is sufcient to remove salt from the clay by
Figure 8.32 Properties of a purely thixotropic material. diffusion without the requirement that the water ow
through all the pores of intact clay (Torrance, 1974).
ate
Although leaching causes little change in fabric, the
interparticle forces are changed, resulting in a decrease
tropic hardening may account for low to medium sen- in undisturbed strength of up to 50 percent, and such
sitivity and for a part of the sensitivity of quick clays a large reduction in remolded strength that quick clay
(Skempton and Northey, 1952).
dM forms. The large increase in interparticle repulsion is
The mechanism of thixotropic hardening is ex- responsible for the deocculation and dispersion of the
plained as follows (Mitchell, 1960). Sedimentation, clay on mechanical remolding. It results in part from
remolding, and compaction produce soil structures the decrease in electrolyte concentration causing in-
compatible with these processes. Once the externally crease in double-layer thickness. Changes in strength
applied energy of remolding or compaction is re- and the increase in sensitivity accompanying the leach-
moved, however, the structure is no longer in equilib- ing of salt from a Norwegian marine clay are shown
rium with the surroundings. If the interparticle force in Fig. 8.34. The relationship between sensitivity and
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balance is such that attraction is somewhat in excess salt content for several Norwegian marine clays is
of repulsion, there will be a tendency toward occu- shown in Fig. 8.35. Conrmation of the leaching hy-
lation of particles and particle groups and for reorgan- pothesis was obtained by means of leaching tests on
ization of the watercation structure to a lower energy articially sedimented clays (Bjerrum and Rosenqvist,
state. Both effects, which have been demonstrated ex- 1956). A srum clay sedimented in saltwater (35 g/liter)
perimentally, take time because of the viscous resis- and then leached of salt exhibited an increase in sen-
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tance to particle and ion movement. sitivity from 5 to 110. A sample sedimented in fresh-
The effect of time after disturbance on the pressure water had a sensitivity of 5 to 6.
in the pore water is particularly signicant. Several Although leaching of salt is necessary, it may not be
studies show that there is a continual decrease in pore sufcient for the development of quick clay. The salt
water pressure, or increase in pore water tension, with
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content of Champlain clay in eastern Canada rarely

time after compaction or remolding. Figure 8.33 and exceeds 1 to 2 g/liter and is usually less than 1 g/liter,
Ripple and Day (1966) show that shear of thixotropic yet the sensitivities of different samples range from as
clay pastes causes an abrupt decrease in pore water low as 10 to over 1000 (Eden and Crawford, 1957;
tension (increase in pore water pressure) followed by Penner, 1963c, 1964, 1965). The reason for this large
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slow regain during periods of rest. The concurrent range is that the essential condition for development
time-dependent increase in effective stress accounts for of quick clay is an increase in interparticle repulsions.
the observed increase in undrained strength. Considerations in Chapter 6 show that the type of cat-
The importance of thixotropic hardening in contrib- ions and the relative amounts of monovalent and
uting to the sensitivity of clay in the eld is impossible divalent cations have a controlling inuence on
to determine. Laboratory studies start with a specic equilibrium particle arrangements.
present composition and density. The initial state of a
clay deposit in nature is usually far different than at
the present time, and the history of an undisturbed clay 2
Sherard (1975, personal communication) indicated that thixotropic
bears little resemblance to that of a remolded sample strength ratios of up to 100 have been measured in Champlain clay.

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Figure 8.33 Effect of shear on pore water tensions for various clays (after Day, 1955).
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The electrokinetic or zeta potential in Champlain also shown in Fig. 8.36. The percent monovalent cat-
clay, as determined using electroosmosis (see Chapter ions in the pore water is given by
9), correlates well with sensitivity, as shown in Fig.
8.36 (Penner, 1965). The electrokinetic potential is a Na K
measure of the double-layer potential, with higher val- 100
ues associated with thicker double layers and higher Na K Ca2 Mg2

sensitivity. For clays of low salinity (1 or 2 g salt/

liter of pore water) the sensitivity correlates well with with all concentrations in milliequivalents per liter. The
the percent of monovalent cations in the pore water, dependence of sensitivity on monovalent to total cation

ratio was also shown by Moum et al. (1971). An anal-
ysis in terms of sodium adsorption ratio (Section 6.15)
leads to a similar result (Balasubramonian and Mor-
genstern, 1972).
The percent monovalent cation in seawater is only
about 75 on a meq/liter basis. Thus, according to the
relationship in Fig. 8.36, if seawater is leached without
change in the relative concentrations of Na, K,
Mg2, and Ca2, very high sensitivities cannot develop.
Selective removal of divalent cations is necessary. In
quick clay, Ca2 and Mg2 are removed from the sys-
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tem, possibly by organic matter (Soderblom, 1969;
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Lessard and Mitchell, 1985). The mechanism by which
these changes occur as deduced by Lessard (1981) is
summarized as follows.
Organic matter from marine organisms deposits si-
multaneously with the illite, feldspar, and quartz that
ate
constitute the bulk of a postglacial marine clay. Iron
oxide minerals are also present in small quantities. As
the depth of burial increases with continued deposition,
so does the distance to oxygen supply from the sea-
dM water above.
Bacterial oxidation of the organic matter depletes
the oxygen content of the pore water, and an anaerobic
environment develops that reduces ferric oxides to sol-
uble ferrous iron. Simultaneously, sulfates in the pore
water are reduced to hydrogen sulde by the organic
matter with the aid of sulfate-reducing bacteria. The
formation of iron sulde materials then follows:
hte
Fe2 H2S black amorphous FeS

slowly crystallizes FeS2 (pyrite)
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The amount of FeS and FeS2 produced is limited by

the rate of diffusion of sulfate from the overlying sea-
water and/or by the amount and reactivity of detrital
iron.
Carbon dioxide generated by the bacterial oxidation
py
of organic matter produces an increase in alkalinity

(pH increase) and decrease in the amount of dissolved
Ca2 and Mg2, as the latter precipitate as Mgcalcite.
All of these transformations can occur in a period of
Co
only several years.

If the deposit is uplifted above sea level, sulfate be-
comes scarce, oxidation of organic matter is slow be-
cause of the depleted O2 content, and suldes remain
stable. Freshwater leaching decreases the salt content,
Figure 8.34 Changes in properties of a normally consoli- which in combination with the low Ca2 and Mg2
dated marine clay when subjected to leaching by freshwater concentrations that result from the sulfate reduction
(Bjerrum, 1954). processes, provides the necessary conditions for the
existence of a quick clay, that is, low-salt content, high
percentage of monovalent cations in the adsorbed lay-
ers on the clay particles, and high pH.

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ate
dM
Figure 8.35 Relationship between sensitivity and salt concentration for some Norwegian
hte
clay deposits (Bjerrum, 1954).
Aging of Quick Clay Samples From studies on the quick clay from LaBaie, Que-
Important changes in the properties of quick clays have bec, it was possible to explain the transformations that
been observed to develop with time after sampling, cause changes in properties after sampling, such as
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including increases in remolded strength and liquid those shown in Fig. 8.37 (Lessard and Mitchell, 1985).
limit and decrease in the liquidity index, all without Geotechnical properties of the LaBaie clay determined
change in water content. For example, the changes that within one month after sampling are shown in Fig.
occurred in remolded quick clay from Outardes-2 in 8.38. This clay is composed primarily of rock our
containing plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, amphibole,
py
Quebec over a 1-year period are shown in Fig. 8.37.

Changes such as these mean that laboratory tests on and calcite, with about 10 percent illite and trace
aged samples can give results that are misleading rel- amounts of kaolinite and chlorite.
ative to the clay properties in situ. The liquidity index, Samples of the LaBaie clay were stored under dif-
see Section 4.5, is useful for expressing and comparing ferent conditions. The changes in remolded strength,
Co
the consistencies of different clays, as it normalizes the liquidity index, pH, and concentrations of several ion
water content relative to the plasticity index.3 types as a function of storage time are shown in Fig.
8.39. These results show that aging leads to increases
in both pore water salinity and the concentrations of
3
Similarly, the void index, Iv [Eq. (8.1)] is often used for correlating divalent cations in the pore water and decreases in pH.
the compression behavior of different clays and for assessing the
inuence of structure on properties (Burland, 1990; Cotecchia and
Collectively, the compositional changes are responsible
Chandler, 2000; Jardine et al., 2004). for increase in remolded strength (Fig. 8.37) and de-
crease in liquidity index (Fig. 8.39) because each
e e 100
* depresses the double layer, thereby decreasing the
Iv
C *c interparticle repulsive forces. The remolded strength

forms sulfuric acid and ferric hydroxide. The reactions
can be rapid at high pH. Slow transformation of
Fe(OH)3 to yellow goethite (FeOOH) may give a
brownish color to the clay.
The sulfuric acid reacts with the Mgcalcite to in-
crease the concentrations of Ca2 and Mg2 in the pore
water and in the adsorbed complex on the clay parti-
cles. Concurrently, sodium and potassium are dis-
placed from the double layer to the pore water. The
salinity increases, and the increase in concentrations of
the divalent cations causes increases in the remolded
l
strength and the liquid limit and decreases in the sen-
ria
sitivity and liquidity index. More complete descrip-
tions of the reactions, including phase diagrams and
reaction kinetics are given by Lessard (1981) and Les-
sard and Mitchell (1985). An important role of bacteria
in mediating the oxidation and reduction reactions
ate
associated with quick clay formation and aging is
suggested. The importance of geochemical and
microbiological processes in geotechnical engineering
has been given little attention in the past. Future stud-
dM ies of the phenomena and processes are likely to pro-
vide important new insights and understanding.
Signicance of Aging in Practice

The aging of quick clays shows how even seemingly
small changes in environmental conditions can result
in signicant changes in properties. These changes can
occur over times typical of those associated with the
hte
eld and laboratory phases of many projects, for ex-

ample, from several weeks to a few months. If extreme
care is not exercised during sample storage, laboratory
tests may give misleading results. Simple pH measure-
Figure 8.36 Relationship between sensitivity and monova-
lent cations in low-salt-content clays and between sensitivity ments at the time of sampling and again at the time of
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and electrokinetic potential (data from Penner, 1965). testing can provide a rapid and easy means for assess-
ing whether aging processes have occurred. To mini-
mize the aging effects the exposure of samples to air
correlates well with both the concentration of divalent should be minimized, thick wax caps should be used
cations and the total cation concentration, as shown in with rust-free sample tubes, and samples should be
py
Fig. 8.40. The method of storage (see Fig. 8.39) does stored at low temperatures to slow down reaction rates.
not affect the correlations shown in Fig. 8.40; rather,
it inuences the time required for the chemical con- Summary of Sensitivity-Causing Mechanisms
centration changes to occur. The six causes for the development of sensitivity dis-
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These changes in chemistry and properties are cussed above are summarized in Table 8.8. An estimate
caused by the following sequence of events. When of the upper limit of sensitivity for each mechanism is
quick clay is sampled or exposed, some contact with also given. Virtually all natural soils, including many
the air and oxygen is inevitable. This air causes some sands, are sensitive in that they lose some strength on
of the remaining organic matter to oxidize and form disturbance and remolding. Exceptions are heavily ov-
carbonic acid, which, in turn, dissolves calcium car- erconsolidated stiff ssured clays that can gain strength
bonate, thus increasing the concentrations of calcium because of the elimination of ssures and planes of
and bicarbonate in the pore water. Even extremely low weakness. Quick clays are formed from soft glacial
partial pressures of O2 are sufcient to initiate oxida- marine clays only after removal of excess salt by leach-
tion phases of the sulfur cycle. The oxidation of pyrite ing and further increase in double-layer repulsions as

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Figure 8.37 Changes in the remolded strength and consistency of a Canadian quick clay as
a function of time (Lessard, 1978).
hte
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py
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Figure 8.38 Geotechnical characteristics of the quick clay from LaBaie as a function of
depth (after Lessard, 1981).

PROPERTY INTERRELATIONSHIPS IN SENSITIVE CLAYS 235
a result of an increase in the relative proportion of
monovalent cations (mainly sodium) in the pore water
and increase in pH. More than one mechanism may
contribute to the total sensitivity of any one soil.
8.13 PROPERTY INTERRELATIONSHIPS IN

SENSITIVE CLAYS
The geotechnical properties of normally consolidated,
noncemented sensitive clays t a pattern that is pre-
l
dictable in terms of sensitivity, liquidity index, and ef-
ria
fective stress using the concepts given in the preceding
sections.
General Characteristics of Sensitive Clays
ate
Glacial and postglacial clays of high and low sensitiv-
ity exhibit signicant differences, as shown by the pro-
les in Fig. 8.41 for a normal clay from Drammen and
a quick clay from Manglerud, both in Norway. One of
dM the most important of these differences is that at Man-
glerud the water content is well above the liquid limit;
that is, the liquidity index is greater than 1.0. This is
characteristic of quick clays.
Plasticity and Activity When normal clays are con-
verted to highly sensitive or quick clays by the chem-
ical changes described in Section 8.12, the liquid limit,
plasticity index, and activity decrease. These changes
hte
are reected by an increase in the liquidity index at

constant effective stress. The liquid limit of highly sen-
sitive clay is usually less than 40 percent and rarely
Figure 8.39 Effect of time and storage conditions on the greater than 50 percent. Plastic limit values are usually
properties of LaBaie quick clay. about 20 percent. The activity of most normal inor-
ganic marine clays is of the order of 0.5 to 1.0,
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whereas the activity of quick clays can be as low as

0.15. The sensitivity of a given clay type usually cor-
relates uniquely with liquidity index, as may be seen
in Fig. 8.42 for Norwegian marine clays.
Pore Pressure Parameter, A [Eq. (8.3)] High pore
py
pressures are developed when sensitive soils are

sheared. For some quick clay, pore pressures as high
as two times the peak deviator stress have been mea-
sured. Loose sand may develop excess pore pressure
Co
equal to the initial conning effective stress when

sheared rapidly without drainage, thereby losing its
strength completely.
Undrained Shear Strength to Consolidation Pressure
Ratio, Su /p The Su /p ratio (often indicated as the c/
p ratio) decreases with increasing sensitivity, ranging
from 0.3 or more for normally consolidated insensitive
clays to less than 0.1 for quick clays. This is illustrated
Figure 8.40 Dependence of remolded strength on cation by Fig. 8.43 for normally consolidated clay. In this
concentration in LaBaie quick clay. gure the consolidation pressure p is taken as the over-

Table 8.8 Summary of the Causes of Sensitivity in Soils
Approximate Upper Limit

Mechanism of Sensitivitya Predominant Soil Types Affected
Metastable fabric Slightly quick (816) All soils
Cementation Extra quick (64) Soils containing Fe2O3, Al2O3, CaCO3, free
SiO2
Weathering Medium sensitive (24) All soils
Thixotropic hardening Very sensitiveb Clays
Leaching, ion exchange, and change in Extra quick (64) Glacial and postglacial marine clays
l
monovalent/divalent cation ratio
ria
Formation or addition of dispersing Extra quick (64) Inorganic clays containing organic compounds
agents in solution or on particle surfaces
a
Adjectival descriptions according to Rosenqvist (1953).
b
Pertains to samples starting from present composition and water content. Role of thixotropy in causing sensitivity in
ate
situ is indeterminate.
burden vertical effective stress, vo, and CIUC means Sensitivity As each point on the curves for fully
isotropically consolidated undrained compression tests
dM destructured soil in Figs. 8.13 and 8.14 represents com-
were used for determination of strength. pletely remolded material, the sensitivity at any point
StressStrain Relationships In general, strain at on this curve must be unity. Thus this curve is a line
failure decreases with increasing sensitivity. Some of constant sensitivity or sensitivity contour. Saturated
quick clays are quite brittle during unconned loading clay at a given water content and pore uid composi-
and fracture at very low strains, sometimes by axial tion cannot be made weaker than its thoroughly re-
splitting. Further working of the fractured specimen molded strength. Therefore, a water contenteffective
may cause it to turn into a uid mass. stress relationship to the left of that for the fully de-
hte
Compressibility The compressibility of highly sen- structured soil is not possible. The undisturbed strength
sitive clays is relatively low until the consolidation increases with increasing effective stress at constant
stress exceeds the preconsolidation pressure. It then in- water content (Fig. 8.45), and the sensitivity at all
creases sharply as shown by Fig. 8.44 for Champlain points to the right of the fully destructured soil curve
clay. As the void ratio reduces under higher consoli- is greater than 1. Thus, the maximum gradient of sen-
dation pressures, the compressibility eventually as-
rig
sitivity increase is generally normal to the contour for

sumes a lower value. the fully destructured soil.
Pore Pressure Parameter, A The pore pressure at
Property, Effective Stress, and Water Content failure is controlled by the tendency of the soil to dilate
Relationships or contract. Thus A decreases with decreasing water
py
Consolidation Because the initial structure depends content at constant initial effective stress. At constant
on many factors and the volume changes under pres- water content, the lower the effective stress, the easier
sure are a function of structure, a soil does not have a it is for the soil to dilate since less energy is required
unique consolidation curve. All states and compression for expansion against low pressures than high. There-
Co
curves must be above the curve for the fully destruc- fore, the maximum gradient of A is as shown in Fig.
tured material. 8.46.
Strength of Normally Consolidated Soil The higher Strain at Failure Restrained dilation increases ef-
the effective stress at a given water content, the greater fective stress, thus increasing shearing resistance. Con-
the undrained strength because of increased frictional sequently, the deformation required to cause failure
resistance between particles. For constant effective increases with increasing dilation. On the other hand,
stress, strength increases with decreasing water content strain at failure should decrease with increase in A
because of increased dilatancy. Thus the general be- because A varies inversely with dilation tendencies.
havior shown in Fig. 8.45 is observed. Consequently, the maximum positive gradient of strain

PROPERTY INTERRELATIONSHIPS IN SENSITIVE CLAYS 237
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ate
dM
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Figure 8.41 Soil proles for marine clays of low and high sensitivity (from Bjerrum, 1954).
py
at failure should be opposite to the maximum gradient sensitivity, A , and strain at failure. Contours based on
for A . these values are shown in Fig. 8.47. The variations in
Co
Example of Relationships The results of triaxial the measured values are in general accord with the
compression tests on kaolinite (Houston, 1967) illus- predictions stated previously.
trate the above relationships. By consolidating different
samples from several different initial water contents
and remolding and reconsolidating them in various SensitivityEffective StressLiquidity Index
ways, samples covering a range of initial effective Relationship
stress and water content values, each reecting a dif- General relationships between sensitivity, effective
ferent structure, were obtained. The results of un- stress, and water content can be established based on
drained triaxial tests yield values of strength, normalization of the remolded strength versus water

l
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Figure 8.42 Sensitivity as a function of liquidity index for
Norwegian marine clays. Relationship was averaged from Figure 8.44 Consolidation curves for Champlain (Leda)
ate
many more data points than those shown (data from Bjerrum, clay. Reproduced with permission from the National Re-
1954). search Council of Canada, from the Canadian Geotechnical
Journal, Vol. 3, pp. 6173, 1966.
dM
hte
Figure 8.43 Normalized undrained shear strength of nor-

mally consolidated clay as a function of liquidity index (from
Bjerrum and Simons, 1960). Reprinted with permission of
rig
ASCE.
content relationship. The liquidity index (LI) provides

a basis for this normalization. A unique relationship
py
between sensitivity, liquidity index, and effective stress

exists if:
Figure 8.45 Gradient of strength increase with water content
1. The LIeffective stress relationship is the same and effective stress variation.
for thoroughly remolded specimens of all clays.
Co
This relationship is the contour for a sensitivity

of 1.0.
2. The relationship between remolded strength and liquidity index for several clays is shown in Fig. 8.48.
liquidity index is the same for all clays. The data points in this gure were based on fall-cone
3. At any value of liquidity index, the variation of tests for determination of the liquidity index. The
Su /p with effective consolidation pressure is the wider band of values reported by Houston and Mitchell
same for all clays. This xes the undisturbed (1969) resulted, at least in part, from the use of dif-
strength in terms of LI and effective stress. ferent methods for determination of the strength and
liquidity index values. A general relationship between
These conditions hold sufciently well for most sen- the undrained shear strength of the remolded clay and
sitive clays. Remolded shear strength as a function of the liquidity index for the heavy curve in Fig. 8.48 is

DISPERSIVE CLAYS 239
available, to estimate changes in strength and sensitiv-
ity due to change in effective stress or liquidity index,
and as a guide for extrapolating a small amount of data
to a larger pattern. A very similar approach that relates
sensitivity, stress state, and void index Iv is proposed
by Cotecchia and Chandler (2000) and Chandler
(2000).
8.14 DISPERSIVE CLAYS
l
Some ne-grained soils are structurally unstable, easily
ria
dispersed, and, therefore, easily eroded. Soils in which
the clay particles will detach spontaneously from each
other and from the soil structure and go into suspen-
sion in quiet water are termed dispersive clays. The
consequences of the exposure of dispersive clays to
ate
water may be several, as shown by Figs. 8.50 and 8.51.
The surface erosion pattern on an excavated slope,
which is characteristic of badlands topography, is
Figure 8.46 Gradient of pore pressure parameter A with shown in Fig. 8.50. Erosion tunnels in a ood control
water content and effective stress variations. dike are shown in Fig. 8.51. Failures of this type have
dM occurred in well-constructed, low homogeneous dams.
In each case shown, the soil contained readily dis-
persed clay particles that went easily into suspension
1
Su (kPa) (8.4) in owing water. Failures of this type have occurred in
(LI 0.21)2 embankments, dams, and slopes composed of clays
with low-to-medium plasticity (CL and CLCH) that
The following equation that can be deduced from contain montmorillonite. Dispersive piping in dams
Sharma and Bora (2003) also ts the relationship de-
hte
has occurred either on the rst reservoir lling or, less

ned by Eq. (8.4) well: frequently, after raising the reservoir to a higher level.
Dispersive clay failures are usually initiated when
2 w water ows into small cracks and ssures. When a res-
log log LL log L (8.5)
log(wL /wp ) w ervoir is lled for the rst time, settlement may accom-
pany saturation of the soil, particularly if the soil was
rig
In Eq. (8.5) is the undrained strength and w, wL, and placed dry of optimum and not well compacted. Set-
wp are the water content, liquid limit, and plastic limit tlement below the phreatic surface and arching above
values. it can result in crack formation. Water moving through
By averaging data for several clays, the relationship the crack picks up dispersive clay particles, with the
between liquidity index, effective stress, and sensitivity rate of removal increasing as the seepage velocity and
py
shown in Fig. 8.49 is obtained. Figure 8.49 is also valid size of opening increase. This is a fundamentally dif-
for moderately overconsolidated clays, provided the ferent mechanism than erosive piping, which develops
preconsolidation pressure is used instead of the present and works backward from the discharge face. Tunnel-
effective stress. This is because the water content and ing has been initiated in soils with a hydraulic con-
Co
undrained strength depend more on the preconsolida- ductivity as low as 1 107 m/s.
tion pressure than on the present effective stress. Some Visual classication, Atterberg limits, and particle
deviations from the values in Fig. 8.49 are to be ex- size analyses do not provide a basis for differentiation
pected because of the extensive averaging used in its between dispersive clays and ordinary erosion-resistant
preparation. These deviations may be greatest for extra clays. However, relatively simple chemical tests, a dis-
quick clays because of the very low remolded strength, persion test, a crumb test, and the pinhole test (Sher-
the difculty in determining it accurately, and its con- ard et al., 1976) can be used for identication of
trolling inuence on the calculated value of sensitivity. dispersive clays.
Nonetheless, the relationships in Figs. 8.48 and 8.49 In the pinhole test, distilled water is allowed to ow
can be used to estimate sensitivity and strength when through a 1.0-mm-diameter hole drilled through a
undisturbed samples or in situ strength data are not compacted specimen. If the soil is dispersive, the water

l
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dM
hte
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py
Figure 8.47 Strength properties of normally consolidated kaolinite as a function of effective

stress and water content: (a) shear strength, (b) strain at failure, (c) pore pressure parameter
A , and (d ) sensitivity.
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becomes muddy and the hole rapidly erodes. For non- indicating probable dispersive clay behavior in soils of
dispersive clays the water remains clear and there is relatively low total salt concentration in the pore water.
no erosion. The pinhole test and test procedure are As determination of the ESP requires measurement of
described in ASTM Standard D4647-93 (1998) both the cation exchange capacity and the amount of
(ASTM 2000). sodium in the exchange complex, it is not a simple or
As noted in Section 6.15, the exchangeable sodium rapid method for identication of dispersive clay. A
percentage (ESP) is a strong indicator of potential dis- simpler chemical measure of potential dispersivity,
persive behavior, with an ESP greater than 2 indicating supported by the results of tests on many samples, was
possible dispersion, and an ESP greater than 10 to 15 proposed by Sherard et al. (1972, 1976) that is based

DISPERSIVE CLAYS 241
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Figure 8.50 Erosion pattern in excavated slope of sensitive
clay (courtesy of J. L. Sherard).
ate
on the percent sodium in the saturation extract from a
Figure 8.48 Relation between shear strength of remolded
clay and liquidity index (from Leroueil et al., 1983). Repro- soilwater paste. This correlation is shown in Fig.
duced with permission from the National Research Council 8.52.
of Canada. Many subsequent tests have shown, however, that
dM the zones in Fig. 8.52 are not always reliable indicators
of dispersibility. For example, Craft and Acciardi
(1984) found that only 62.3 percent of 223 samples
were classied correctly. This is not surprising because
hte
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py
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Figure 8.49 General relationships between sensitivity, liquidity index, and effective stress.

pressure, and velocity of owing water. The inuence

of the chemistry of the water used for evaluation of
dispersibility was illustrated by the results of pinhole
tests on compacted samples of shale by Statton and
Mitchell (1977). A decrease in pH of the eroding water
to less than about 4, using hydrochloric acid, or an
increase to greater than about 11, using calcium hy-
droxide or sodium hydroxide, caused a change from
dispersive to nondispersive behavior. Similarly, in-
creasing the salt concentration of the water at its nat-
ural pH of 6.3 to 0.1 N CaCl2 or 0.5 N NaCl caused
l
erosion of the dispersive clay to stop.
ria
In the dispersion test the percentage of particles ner
than 5 m is determined by hydrometer analyses of
samples with and without dispersing agent in the sus-
pension water (Sherard et al., 1972). The higher the
ratio of percentage material ner than 5 m by weight
ate
Figure 8.51 Erosion damage on the crest of 5-m-high ood measured in the test without dispersing agent to that
control dike caused by rain runoff concentrating in drying measured in the test with a dispersing agent, the
cracks, Rio Zulia, Venezuela (courtesy of J. L. Sherard).
greater the probability of dispersion in the eld. This
ratio, when expressed as a percentage, is termed the
dM percent dispersion. Values greater than 20 to 25 percent
whether or not a soil will exhibit dispersive behavior indicate that dispersion may be a problem. Values
depends not only on its chemical and mineralogical greater than 50 percent are nearly always indicative of
composition but also on its state, as reected by water soils susceptible to severe erosion damage initiated by
content, density, and structure, on the chemistry of the clay dispersion.
water to which it is exposed, and on the specic con- In the crumb test a small clod of the soil is placed
ditions of exposure, including temperature, conning in a beaker and submerged in water. If the soil clod is
hte
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py
Co
Figure 8.52 Relationship between dispersibility (susceptibility to colloidal erosion) and dis-
solved pore water salts based on pinhole tests and eld observations. SAR sodium ab-
sorption ratio, Eq. (6.33). Concentrations in meq / liter (from Sherard et al., 1976). Reprinted
with permission of ASCE.

COLLAPSING SOILS AND SWELLING SOILS 243
initially dry, it will often slake. If it is dispersive, clay Three mechanisms are responsible for these modes
particles will go into suspension in the quiet water, and of failure. Dispersion, which is dependent on the clay
the zone around the clod will become cloudy. and water chemistry, was described in the preceding
Of the several tests developed for identication of section. Swelling slaking results from stress relief and
dispersive clays, the pinhole test is considered the most water intake due to water adsorption and osmotic
reliable. But even with this test, it is important that the forces. Compression of entrapped air in partially sat-
samples correctly simulate the soil state and the water urated soils is responsible for body slaking and, to
composition to be expected in the eld. some extent, for surface slaking. Rapid water absorp-
Several methods can be used to mitigate the adverse tion into the material compresses the air, which, in
effects of dispersive soils. The addition of 2 to 3 per- turn, exerts tensile stresses on the soil structure. If the
cent hydrated lime during construction will usually structural strength is insufcient to withstand these
l
convert a soil to a nondispersive form. Filters that are stresses, then the material splits apart. Seedsman
ria
designed to retain small particle sizes should be used (1986) found that the slaking mechanism was related
on the discharge side of dams and dam cores. For an to the bulk density, and the higher the density the more
existing dam, in which tunneling erosion is expected resistant the material to slaking by any mode.
to develop, lime can be added at the upstream face to
be carried inward by the percolating water. Additional
ate
strategies were suggested and evaluated by Sherard and
Decker (1977). 8.16 COLLAPSING SOILS AND SWELLING
SOILS
Large areas of Earths surface, particularly in the Mid-
8.15 SLAKING dM west and Southwest United States, parts of Asia, South
Most ne-grained soils slake after exposure to air and America, and southern Africa, are covered by soils that
subsequent unconned immersion in water; an initially are susceptible to large decreases in bulk volume when
intact piece of soil will disintegrate into a pile of pieces they become saturated. Such materials are termed col-
or sediment of small particles. This disintegration may lapsing soils. Collapse may be triggered by water alone
begin immediately upon immersion or develop slowly or by saturation and loading acting together. Soils with
with time. Slaking usually is more rapid and vigorous collapsible structures may be residual, water deposited,
hte
in materials that have been dried prior to immersion or aeolian. In most cases, the deposits have a loose
compared to the same material immersed at its initial structure of bulky shaped grains, often in the silt-to-
water content. Whether a material slakes or not has ne-sand range. Collapsible grain structures are left
been proposed as a basis for distinguishing between behind in residual soils as a result of leaching of sol-
soil and rock (Morgenstern and Eigenbrod, 1974). The uble and colloidal material. Water- and wind-deposited
slaking of hard clays and clay shale is a concern in the collapsing soils are usually found in arid and semiarid
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stability of open excavations and the shale durability regions and are a consequence of the loose fabrics and
when it is used as an aggregate or rockll for construc- weak structures that form.
tion. Debris ows (mudows and torrential stream depos-
From controlled tests on relatively pure samples of its) are deposited suddenly and locally, and may form
a loose, metastable structure. Torrential stream sedi-
py
different clays (Moriwaki and Mitchell, 1977) and on

clay shales (Seedsman, 1986), four modes of disinte- ments, in particular, form a loose, poorly graded ma-
gration were identied. These are: terial. Some small amount of clay is present that serves
as a binder for the deposit after it dries. Some cemen-
1. Dispersion Slaking Particles of clay detach tation may also develop because in the arid climates
Co
from the surface of the intact clay by dispersion where such deposits form, water moves upward to
into the adjacent water. evaporate, leaving behind its content of dissolved salts.
2. Swelling Slaking Water is adsorbed by the clay If subsequently wetted, the loose structure can collapse
and the material swells and softens. and cause large settlements.
3. Surface Slaking Aggregates of clay particles When a large canal was constructed through the San
spall off the surface and accumulate as sediment Joaquin Valley during the 1960s to carry water from
in the adjacent water. northern California to southern California, it was nec-
4. Body Slaking The material splits and disinte- essary to cross many collapsible debris ow deposits.
grates into pieces, and the failure appears to de- In order to minimize future settlements of the canal
velop from the inside out. and appurtenant structures as a result of canal leakage,

extensive preponding was carried out before construc- The low density and light cementation of the loess
tion of the canal. structure make it susceptible to collapse. When main-
Soils susceptible to large collapse as a result of wet- tained dry, it is reasonably strong and incompressible.
ting can be identied using a density criterion. If the The porous structure may persist even beneath 60 m
density is sufciently low that the void space is larger of overburden. When saturated, however, loess depos-
than needed to hold the liquid limit water content, then its may lose their stability. Compression due to satu-
collapse problems are likely (Gibbs and Bara, 1967). ration alone may be small, but with a surcharge, it may
If the void space is less than that needed for the liquid be very large, as shown in Fig. 8.54. Watering lawns
limit water content, then collapse is not likely unless around new houses founded on loess has been known
the soil is loaded. to cause large settlements. If saturated loess deposits
Loess deposits are widespread throughout the mid-
l
western United States and parts of Asia. This material,
ria
which is wind-blown silt, is light brown in color, crum-
bly, and essentially devoid of stratication. The par-
ticles are predominantly silt size and composed of
feldspar and quartz. A small amount of clay, usually
less than 15 percent, may be present. Smectite is the
ate
usual clay mineral type. Calcite may be present in
amounts up to 30 percent and can act as weak cement
that precipitates along the sides of vertical root holes
and at interparticle contacts. Densities of undisturbed
loess may be as low as 1.2 g/cm3, and the natural
dM
water content of metastable deposits of loess is low,
on the order of 10 percent. Most loesses plot near the
A-line on the plasticity chart.
Because of vertical root holes formed by gradual
burial of grassy plains, the absence of stratication,
and light cementation, loess cleaves on vertical planes,
and vertical faces cut in loess are quite stable, as shown
hte
in Fig. 8.53. In fact, if inclined slopes are cut, they will Figure 8.54 Compression properties of Missouri River basin
gradually erode back to a series of steplike vertical loess (from Clevenger, 1958). Reprinted with permission of
faces. ASCE.
rig
py
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Figure 8.53 Loess deposit. Note vertical slopes.

are subjected to dynamic loading, such as from an to be more durable over the long term than compaction
earthquake, there may be instantaneous liquefaction shales, unless exposure to water and ions in solution
and large ow slides. The undisturbed density of a lo- leads to dissolution of the cementing material. Pyrite
ess deposit may be a fair indicator of the potential or sulfates in sedimentary rocks can be the cause of
settlement and loss of strength that may result from geochemical processes, often catalyzed by microbio-
saturation. Detailed information about the nature and logical activity, that result in heave and loss of the
behavior of Mississippi loess, a widespread loess de- intact rock strength. This deterioration can occur in
posit, is given by Krinitzky and Turnbull (1967). time periods as short as a few months. Chemically non-
durable shales are likely to be especially troublesome
in environments with pH less than 6. Recommenda-
8.17 HARD SOILS AND SOFT ROCKS tions for identifying these materials are given by Noble
l
(1977, 1983).
ria
Among the continuum of soils and rocks that are en- Knowledge of the geologic history of a deposit, the
countered in engineering and construction, very heav- mineralogical and chemical composition, and the new
ily overconsolidated ne-grained soils and mudstones, loading and exposure conditions provides initial in-
shales, and siltstones are sometimes among the most sights about whether shales, siltstones, and sandstones
difcult to deal with. It is not always clear whether can be expected to degrade. Accelerated weathering
ate
such materials should be treated as soil or rock. If be- and durability tests are used to classify shale durability.
havior is rocklike, the material can be used in earth- Tests used for this purpose have been described and
work construction like a rock and placed in thick lifts reviewed by Huber (1997). They include water adsorp-
without much compaction. If the shale is susceptible tion, wetdry, freezethaw, jar slaking, crushing, point
to break down, however, it must be treated as a soil
dM load strength, ultrasonic disaggregation, and slake
and placed in thin, well-compacted lifts. If considered durability tests in which the breakdown of shale
a rock and subsequent deterioration under the actions submerged in a rotating wire basket (Franklin and
of stress, water, and chemical change causes break- Chandra, 1972) is determined. The results of these
down, loss of strength and increase in compressibility, tests form the basis of several shale durability classi-
then there can be failures. Conversely, if the durability cation systems that have as their goal to distinguish
and mechanical properties are too conservatively as- shales that cause problems from those that do not. One
signed, then unnecessary overdesigns and excessive of the rst such systems was developed by Underwood
hte
costs may result. (1967) for engineering evaluations. Table 8.9, adapted
Shale is a prime example of a material that illus- from Underwoods study, is a listing of physical and
trates the soft rock-hard soil problem. According to composition properties associated with the indicated
Terzaghi et al. (1996): types of unfavorable behavior. It may be seen that the
range of most properties within which unfavorable be-
Shale is a clastic sedimentary rock mainly composed of
havior is likely to develop is rather broad, which means
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silt-size and clay-size particles. Most shales are laminated

and display ssility; the rock has a tendency to split along
that any single test or observation by itself is unlikely
relatively smooth and at surfaces parallel to the bedding. to be sufcient for conrmation of favorable or unfa-
When ssility is completely absent, the clastic sedimentary vorable behavior.
deposit is called mudstone, or clay rock.
py
Unweathered, intact shale, although considerably 8.18 CONCLUDING COMMENTS

weaker and less durable than most igneous and meta-
morphic rocks, may still have adequate resistance and This chapter is concerned with how residual and trans-
long-term stability to be stable on cut slopes or to be ported soil deposits are formed, how the formative
Co
used as an embankment ll or stable pavement sub- processes and subsequent changes over time act to
grade. On the other hand, many shales that appear in- produce unique types of soil structures with character-
tact and rocklike when exposed or excavated can have istic properties, and how these properties and the as-
properties that deteriorate with time. The problems, sociated behavior are interrelated. Several illustrations
then, are to determine whether degradation is likely, of the relevance of these processes and properties to
and if so, how much and how fast. geotechnical applications are among the subjects of
Degradation, apart from that caused by mechanical this chapter.
processes such as unloading, compression, crushing, The structure of a soil depends on its fabric and
and shearing, is usually by slaking (see Section 8.15) interparticle force system. It reects all facets of the
initiated by exposure to air, moisture, and changed soils composition, history, present state, and environ-
chemical environment. Cementation shales are likely mental inuences. Soil particles come in a great variety

246
Table 8.9 Properties and Conditions Likely to Cause Problems with Shale
l
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Physical and Compositional Properties Probable in Situ Behavior
Lab tests and in situ Unfavorable behavior High pore Low Tendency to Slope Rapid Rapid Tunnel
observations probable for values pressure bearing rebound stability slaking erosion support
in indicated range capacity problems problems
ate
Compressive 3001800
strength, kPa
Modulus of 1401400
elasticity, MPa
Cohesive strength, 30700
dM
kPa
Angle of internal 1020
friction, deg.
Dry unit weight, 11.017.3 (?)
kN/m3
Potential swell, % 315
Natural moisture 2035
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content, %
Hydraulic 105
conductivity, m/s
Predominant clay Smectite or illite
minerals
Activity 0.752.0
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Wetting and drying Reduces to grain
cycles sizes
Spacing of rock Closely spaced (?)
defects
Orientation of rock Adverse
py
defects
State of stress Existing
overburden
Co
Adapted from Underwood (1967).

of sizes, shapes, and compositions. The possible par- 2. The results of unconned compression tests on two
ticle arrangements (fabric) and stabilities of these ar- samples of kaolinite compacted by two different
rangements (structure) are many; therefore, any single methods are shown in Fig. 11.20.
soil can exist in many different states, each of which a. Why is the peak strength greater by static com-
can be viewed as a somewhat different material. paction than by kneading compaction? (Knead-
Geochemical and microbiological inuences on the ing compaction is the type produced by a
geological processes and properties that are important sheepsfoot roller, and static compaction is pro-
in geoengineering are only now beginning to be stud- duced by a smooth steel roller.)
ied and understood by geotechnical engineers. It is b. Why are the ultimate or residual strengths of the
likely that knowledge drawn from these elds will be materials prepared by the two methods the
very useful in the future. same?
l
c. If this kaolinite were to be used for a structural
ria
ll, which method of compaction would you
specify? Why?
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS d. If this kaolinite were to be used for the core of
an earth dam, which method of compaction
ate
1. Indicate whether each of the following statements would you specify? Why?
is True or False. Justify your answer with a brief e. If each material was saturated without further
statement. change in dry unit weight and then sheared un-
a. Rearrangement of particles during shear pro- drained, sketch the curves of pore water pressure
vides an important contribution to the residual versus strain that you would expect to obtain for
strength of a highly plastic clay.
dM
b. The relationship between critical void ratio and
each.
3. Given heavily overconsolidated clay under a present
effective conning pressure is the same for un- vertical effective overburden stress of 200 kPa, the
disturbed and reconstituted samples of the same maximum past effective stress on the horizontal
sand. plane was 600 kPa. Consider this to be state I. It
c. The sensitivity of a clay can be explained by the has been determined that this clay has a peak fric-
change in effective stress caused by remolding. tion angle of 30 and a residual friction angle
hte
d. Collapse of structure in a saturated soil is usually r of 17. There is no cementation of the clay struc-
accompanied by an increase in effective stress. ture. Rapid shear is dened as deformation at a rate
e. Relative density is a suitable single parameter for fast enough so there can be no change in pore pres-
characterizing sand properties. sure in the shear zone. Slow shear is deformation
f. Strength loss when a sensitive clay is disturbed at a rate slow enough that there can be no change
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is related to the liquidity index. in pore pressure in the shear zone.

g. Marine clays have very high values of sodium a. What is the overconsolidation ratio?
adsorption ratio and exchangeable sodium per- b. Show paths on a diagram of shear stress versus
centage, which means that they are dispersive effective normal stress on the failure plane to
py
clays. represent the following, and state for each

whether the accompanying changes in volume
h. Two samples of the same sand have the same
( V) and pore pressure ( u) are positive, nega-
relative density and are conned under the same
tive, or zero:
mean effective stress. Therefore, they have the
i. Rapid shear from I to peak strength
Co
same stressdeformation, volume change, and

strength properties. ii. Slow shear from I to peak strength
i. A compacted clay liner is to be used for contain- iii. Rapid shear from peak strength to residual
ment of nonpolar organic solvent wastes. Time strength
can be saved in determining the hydraulic con- c. What changes in fabric would you anticipate in
ductivity of this clay by mixing the soil with the going from I to peak strength and from peak
solvent and then compacting samples for testing, strength to residual strength?
rather than doing the compaction using water and d. Deep cuts in heavily overconsolidated clay
then using the solvents as permeants. Each pro- sometimes fail many years after they are made,
cedure will give the same result. and stability analyses have indicated that the av-

erage strength at the time of failure corresponds Na 1.0 meq/liter

to that at residual state.
Ca2 2.5 meq/liter
i. Account for the time delay.
ii. Is it reasonable to assume simultaneous de- Mg2 1.0 meq/liter
velopment of residual strength at all points
along the failure surface? If not, how can the Comment on the probable structural state of the
behavior be explained? Take into account soil at the time of construction.
stressstrain properties and water content d. The reservoir water to be stored behind this dam
changes that may be involved. will contain the following cation concentrations:
4. Suggest ways by which a quick clay might be sta-
l
bilized in situ, that is, made less susceptible to large
ria
strength loss. Na 4.0 meq/liter
5. It is shown in Fig. 8.48 that there is a unique re- Ca2 0.5 meq/liter
lationship between remolded shear strength and li-
quidity index that seems to be independent of the Mg2 0.3 meq/liter
ate
particular clay. Explain why this should be so.
6. Which is easier to determine, the exchangeable so- Comment on the possible consequences of pro-
dium percentage or the sodium adsorption ratio? longed percolation by this water. Justify your
Why? conclusions numerically.
7. Salt-affected soils are classied by agronomists as
dM 8. State special geotechnical characteristics of the
follows: following soil types and relate them to their
(1) formational processes, (2) composition, (3) en-
vironmental setting, and (4) structure. By all means
consult references in addition to the relevant sec-
Exchangeable Usual tions in this book to enhance the quality of your
Sodium Usual Structural answers.
Soil Group Percentage pH State a. Loess
hte
Saline 15 8.5 b. Organic clay

Saline-alkali 15 8.5 c. Decomposed granite
Nonsaline alkali 15 8.510.0 d. Expansive soil
Nonsaline, nonalkali 15 8.5 e. Pyrite-rich soil
f. Loose sand
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g. Carbonate sand
a. Complete the above table by lling in the last h. Glacial moraine
column on the right. i. Saprolite
b. Which, if any, of these soil types may be a prob-
py
j. Torrential stream deposits and mudows

lem soil? Why?
9. Manned missions to the Moon are likely to resume
c. A practical form of the Gapon equation is
within the next several years for several purposes,
including scientic studies, astronomical observa-
Co
Na* tions, resource development, military advantage,

0.17 (SAR) and development of a launching platform for further
Na* Mg*
space exploration. The lunar soil and its properties
will have important impacts on many aspects of
where SAR is the sodium adsorption ratio and * these activities, especially facilities construction,
refers to the cation concentrations adsorbed on their operation, and maintenance. Consider the fol-
the clay. At the time of construction of a small lowing aspects of the Moon and its surface envi-
earth dam, the soil was compacted and the water ronment:
in it contained the following cation concentra- a. Lunar rocks are primarily basaltic.
tions: b. The gravitational eld is one-sixth that of Earth.

c. The lunar surface temperature ranges from b. Soil particle sizes and size distributions
150C at lunar midnight to 120C at lunar c. Whether or not lunar soils will be cohesive
noon. d. The nature and magnitude of lunar soil weath-
d. There is no free water. ering
e. Atmospheric pressure is 1013 Earth atmos- e. Local and regional variability of lunar soil com-
pheres. positions and densities
f. There is much higher cosmic and solar radiation f. Coefcient of friction between soil particles (see
on the Moon than on Earth. Chapter 11)
g. There is a high frequency of meteorite impact g. The ultimate bearing capacity of a cohesionless
compared to Earth. soil on the Moon compared to that of the same
l
soil on Earth.
Use principles relating to geologic and soil-forming
ria
h. The optimum size of particles that might form
processes, soil composition, surfaces, fabric, structure, metastable honeycomb structures on the Moon
and any other relevant concepts to make reasoned es- as opposed to a nding by Terzaghi that silt-size
timates of or comments on the following: particles in the range of 6- to 20-m diameter
a. Soil particle composition are most susceptible to this effect on Earth.
ate
dM
hte
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py
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CHAPTER 9
Conduction Phenomena
l
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ate
9.1 INTRODUCTION ow are important under a variety of circumstances. A
coupled ow is a ow of one type, such as hydraulic,
Virtually all geotechnical problems involve soil or rock driven by a potential gradient of another type, such as
deformations and stability and/or the ow through
dM electrical.
earth materials of uids, chemicals, and energy in var- This chapter includes a review of the physics of di-
ious forms. Flows play a vital role in the deformation, rect and coupled ow processes through soils and their
volume change, and stability behavior itself, and they quantication in practical form, an evaluation of rele-
may control the rates at which the processes occur. vant parameters, their magnitudes, and factors inu-
Descriptions of these ows, predictions of ow quan- encing them, and some examples of applications.
tities, their rates and changes with time, and associated
changes in the properties and composition of both the
hte
permeated soil and the owing material are the sub-

9.2 FLOW LAWS AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS
jects of this chapter.
Water ow through soil and rock has been most ex- Fluids, electricity, chemicals, and heat ow through
tensively studied because of its essential role in prob- soils. Provided the ow process does not change the
lems of seepage, consolidation, and stability, which state of the soil, each ow rate or ux Ji (as shown in
rig
form a major part of engineering analysis and design. Fig. 9.1) relates linearly to its corresponding driving
As a result, much is known about the hydraulic con- force Xi according to
ductivity and permeability of earth materials. Chemi-
cal, thermal, and electrical ows in soils are also Ji Lii Xi (9.1)
important. Chemical transport through the ground is a
py
major concern in groundwater pollution, waste dis- in which Lii is the conductivity coefcient for ow.
posal and storage, remediation of contaminated sites, When written specically for a particular ow type and
corrosion, leaching phenomena, osmotic effects in clay using familiar phenomenological coefcients, Eq. (9.1)
layers, and soil stabilization. Heat ows are important becomes, for cross section area A
Co
relative to frost action, construction in permafrost ar-

eas, insulation, underground storage, thermal pollution,
Water flow qh khih A Darcys law (9.2)
temporary ground stabilization by freezing, permanent
ground stabilization by heating, underground transmis- Heat flow qt ktit A Fouriers law (9.3)
sion of electricity, and other problems. Electrical ows Electrical flow I eie A Ohms law (9.4)
are important to the transport of water and ground sta-
bilization by electroosmosis, insulation, corrosion, and Chemical flow JD Dic A Ficks law (9.5)
subsurface investigations.
In addition to the above four ow types, each driven In Eqs. (9.2) to (9.5) qh, qt, I, and JD are the water,
by its own potential gradient, several types of coupled heat, electrical, and chemical ow rates, respectively.
251

252 9 CONDUCTION PHENOMENA
9.3 HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY

Darcys law1 states that there is a direct proportionality
between apparent water ow velocity vh or ow rate
qh and hydraulic gradient ih, that is,
vh kh ih (9.6)
qh kh ih A (9.7)
where A is the cross-section area normal to the direc-

tion of ow. The constant kh is a property of the ma-
l
terial. Steady-state and transient ow analyses in soils
ria
are based on Darcys law. In many instances, more
attention is directed at the analysis than at the value of
kh. This is unfortunate because no other property of
importance in geotechnical problems is likely to ex-
ate
hibit such a great range of values, up to 10 orders of
magnitude, from coarse to very ne grained soils, or
show as much variability in a given deposit as does
the hydraulic conductivity. Some soils exhibit 2 or 3
orders of magnitude variation in hydraulic conductivity
dM as a result of changes in fabric, void ratio, and water
content. These points are illustrated by Fig. 9.2 in
which hydraulic conductivity values for a number of
soils are shown.
Figure 9.1 Four types of direct ow through a soil porous Different units for hydraulic conductivity are often
mass. A is the total cross-section area normal to ow; n is used by different groups or agencies; for example, cen-
porosity. timeters per second by geotechnical engineers, feet per
year by groundwater hydrologists, and Darcys by pe-
hte
troleum technologists. Figure 9.3 can be used to con-

vert from one system to another. The preferred unit in
the SI system is meters/second.
Coefcients kh, kt, e, and D are the hydraulic, thermal, Theoretical Equations for Hydraulic Conductivity
electrical conductivities, and the diffusion coefcient,
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respectively. Typical ranges of values for these prop- Fluid ow through soils ner than coarse gravel is lam-
erties are given later. The driving forces for ow are inar. Equations have been derived that relate hydraulic
conductivity to properties of the soil and permeating
given by the respective hydraulic, thermal, electrical,
uid. A usual starting point for derivation of such
and chemical gradients, ih, it, ie, and ic, respectively.
equations is Poiseuilles law for ow through a round
py
The terms in Eqs. (9.2) through (9.5) are identied capillary, which gives the average ow velocity, vave,
in Fig. 9.1 and in Table 9.1, which also shows analogs according to
between the various ow types. As long as the ow
rates and gradients are linearly related, the mathemat- p R2
vave
Co
ical treatment of each ow type is the same, and the i (9.8)

8 h
equations for ow of one type may be used to solve
problems of another type provided the property values where is viscosity, R is tube radius, and p is unit
and boundary conditions are properly represented. Two
well-known practical illustrations of this are the cor-
respondence between the Terzaghi theory for clay con- 1
This law was established empirically by Darcy based on the re-
solidation and one-dimensional transient heat ow, and sults of ow tests through sands. Its general validity for the descrip-
tion of hydraulic ow through most soil types has been veried by
the use of electrical analogies for the study of seepage many subsequent studies. Historical accounts of the development of
problems. Darcys law are given by Brown et al. (2003).

HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY 253
Table 9.1 Conduction Analogies in Porous Media
Fluid Heat Electrical Chemical

Potential Total head h (m) Temperature T Voltage V (volts) Chemical potential or
(C) concentration c (mol
m3)
Storage Fluid volume W Thermal energy u Charge Q (Coulomb) Total mass per unit total
(m3 /m3) (J/m3) volume, m (mol/m3)
Conductivity Hydraulic Thermal Electrical conductivity Diffusion coeff. D
conductivity kh conductivity kt (siemens/m) (m2 /s)
(W/m/ C)
l
(m/s)
ria
Flow qh (m3 /s) qt (J/s) Current I (amp) jD (mol/s)
Flux qh /A (m3 /s/m2) qt /A (J/s/m2) I/A (amp/m2) JD jD /A (mol s1 m2)
h T V c
Gradient ih (m/m) it (C/m) ie (v/m) ic (mol m4)
x x x x
Conduction Darcys law Fouriers law Ohms law Ficks law
ate
h T V V c
qh kh A qt kt A I e A JD D A
x x x R x
Capacitance Coefcient of Volumetric heat Capacitance C (farads Retardation factor, Rd
volume change C(J/ C/m3) coul/volt) (dimensionless)
dW a dQ
M dM w v C
dh 1e dT
kh
cv
Continuity
W
t q
h 0
A
u
t
q
t 0
A
Q
t

I
A
0
(m)
t
JD 0
Steady state 2qh 0 2qt 0 2I 0 2JD 0
h k 2h T k 2T V 2V c D* 2c
hte
Diffusion h 2 t 2
t M x t C x t C x2 t RD x2
k
M
cv
k
C
a
rig
weight of the owing uid. Because the ow channels 1 p 2

qcir R ia (9.10)
in a soil are of various sizes, a characteristic dimension 2 Hh
is needed to describe average size. The hydraulic ra-
py
dius RH
where a is the cross-sectional area of the tube. For
other shapes of cross section, an equation of the same
flow channel cross-section area form will apply, differing only in the value of a shape
RH
wetted perimeter coefcient Cs, so
Co
is useful. p RH2
For a circular tube owing full, q Cs ia (9.11)
h
R2 R
RH (9.9) For a bundle of parallel tubes of constant but irreg-
2R 2 ular cross section contributing to a total cross-sectional
area A (solids plus voids), the area of ow passages A
so Poiseuilles equation becomes lled with water is

l
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ate
Figure 9.2 Hydraulic conductivity values for several soils. Soil identication code: 1, com-
pacted caliche; 2, compacted caliche; 3, silty sand; 4, sandy clay; 5, beach sand; 6, compacted
Boston blue clay; 7, Vicksburg buckshot clay; 8, sandy clay; 9, siltBoston; 10, Ottawa
sand; 11, sandGaspee Point; 12, sandFranklin Falls; 13, sandScituate; 14, sandPlum
dM
Island; 15, sandFort Peck; 16, siltBoston; 17, siltBoston; 18, loess; 19, lean clay; 20,
sandUnion Falls; 21, siltNorth Carolina; 22, sand from dike; 23, sodium Boston blue
clay; 24, calcium kaolinite; 25, sodium montmorillonite; 2630, sand (dam lter) (From
Lambe and Whitman (1969). Copyright 1969 by John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with
permission from John Wiley & Sons.
hte
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py
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Figure 9.3 Hydraulic conductivity and permeability conversion chart.

A SnA (9.12) (LT1), and the absolute or intrinsic permeability K has
units of area (L2).
where S is the degree of saturation and n is the poros- The effects of permeant properties are accounted for
ity. For this condition the hydraulic radius is given by by the / p term, provided the fabric of the soil is the
same in the presence of different uids. The pore shape
A A L volume available for flow factor k0 has a value of about 2.5 and the tortuosity
RH factor has a value of about 2 in porous media con-
P PL wetted area
taining approximately uniform pore sizes.
Vw For equal size spheres, S0 becomes 6/D (surface
(9.13) area/volume of a sphere), where D is the diameter. If
Vs S0
a soil is considered to consist of spheres of different
l
where P is the wetted perimeter, L is the length of ow sizes, an effective diameter Deff can be computed from
ria
channel in the direction of ow, Vs is the volume of the particle size distribution (Carrier, 2003) according
solids and S0 is the wetted surface area per unit volume to
of particles. The wetted surface area depends on the
100%
particle sizes and the soil fabric and may be considered Deff (9.19)
(i /Dave,i)
ate
as an effective surface area per unit volume of solids.
It is less than the total specic surface area of the soil
where fi is the fraction of particles between two sizes
since ow will not occur adjacent to all particle sur-
(Dli and Dsi) and Dave,i is the average particle size be-
faces.
tween two sizes (D0.5 0.5
li Dsi ); S0 can also be estimated
For void ratio e and volume of solids Vs, the volume
from the specic surface area. Methods for nonplastic
of water Vw is
soils and clayey soils are given in Chapter 3 and also
dM
Vw eVs S (9.14)
are summarized by Chapuis and Aubertin (2003). Var-
ious modications for S0 are available to take irregular
particle shapes (Loudon, 1952; Carrier, 2003) into ac-
Equation (9.11) becomes count.

The KozenyCarman equation accounts well for the
p e dependency of permeability on void ratio in uniformly
q Cs RH2 Snih A Cs p RH2 S i A
1e h graded sands and some silts; however, serious discrep-
hte
ancies are often found when it is applied to clays. The

(9.15)
main reasons for these discrepancies are that most clay
soils do not contain uniform pore sizes and changes in
and substitution for RH using Eqs. (9.13) and (9.14) pore uid type are often accompanied by changes in
gives the clay fabric. Particles in clays are grouped in clus-

ters or aggregates that have large intercluster pores and
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1 p 3 e3 small intracluster pores. The inuences of fabric and

q Cs S i A (9.16)
S 02 1e h nonuniform pore sizes on the hydraulic conductivity of
ne-grained soils are discussed further later in this sec-
By analogy with Darcys law, tion.
py
If comparisons are made using materials having the

kh Cs p 1 e3
S0 1 e
2
S3 (9.17)
same fabric, the inuence of permeant on hydraulic
conductivity is quite well accounted for by the p /
term. If, however, a ne-grained soil is molded or com-
pacted in different permeants, then the fabrics may be
Co
For full saturation, S 1, and denoting Cs by 1/

quite different, and the hydraulic conductivities for
(k0T 2), where k0 is a pore shape factor and T is a tor-
samples at the same void ratio can differ greatly.
tuosity factor, Eq. (9.17) becomes
If Cs in Eq. (9.17) is taken as a composite shape

factor, and noting that total surface area per unit vol-
1 e3 ume is inversely proportional to particle size, then
K kh (9.18)
p k0 T S 0 1 e
2 2
This is the KozenyCarman equation for the permea- kh CD2s

w e3
1e
S3 (9.20)
bility of porous media (Kozeny, 1927; Carman, 1956).
The hydraulic conductivity kh has units of velocity where Ds is a characteristic grain size.

Like the KozenyCarman equation, Eq. (9.20) de- and clays (Khalifa et al., 2002). These nonsteady and
scribes the behavior of cohesionless soils reasonably turbulent ow conditions are not treated herein.
well, but it is inadequate for clays. For a uniform sand As early as 1898, instances were cited in which hy-
with bulky particles and a given permeant, Eqs. (9.17) draulic ow velocity in ne-grained materials in which
and (9.20) indicate that kh should vary directly with laminar ow can be expected increased more than pro-
e3 /(1 e) and D2s , and experimental observations sup- portionally with increases in gradient (King, 1898).
port this. The absence of water ow at nite hydraulic gradients
Despite the inability of the theoretical equations to in ceramic lters of 0.1-m average pore diameter
predict the hydraulic conductivity accurately in many was reported by Derjaguin and Krylov (1944). Oakes
cases, they do reect the overwhelming importance of (1960) found no detectable ow through a 30-cm-long
pore size. Flow velocity depends on the square of pore suspension of 6 percent Wyoming bentonite subjected
l
radius, and hence the ow rate depends on radius to to a 50-cm head of water. Experiments by Miller and
ria
the fourth power. The specic surface in the Kozeny Low (1963) led to the conclusion that there was a
Carman equation and the representative grain size term threshold gradient for ow through sodium montmo-
in Eq. (9.20) are both measures of pore size. All other rillonite. Flow rates through clay-bearing sandstones
factors equal, the hydraulic conductivity depends far were found to increase more than directly with gradi-
ate
more on the ne particles than on the large. A small ent up to gradients of 170 by von Englehardt and Tunn
percentage of nes can clog the pores of an otherwise (1955). Deviations from Darcys law in pure and nat-
coarse material and result in a manyfold lower hydrau- ural clays up to gradients of 900 were measured by
lic conductivity. On the other hand, the presence of Lutz and Kemper (1959). Apparent deviations from
ssures, cracks, root holes, and the like can result in Darcys law for ow in undisturbed soft clay are shown
enormous increases in the rate of water ow through
dM in Fig. 9.4.
an otherwise compact soil layer. The reported deviations from linearity between ow
Equation (9.20) predicts that the hydraulic conduc- rate and hydraulic gradient are most signicant in the
tivity should vary with the cube of the degree of sat- lower range of gradients. Hydraulic gradients in the
uration, and some, but not all, experimental data eld are seldom much greater than one. Thus, de-
support this, even in the case of ne-grained soils. viations from Darcys law, if real, could have very
Consideration of ow through unsaturated soils is important implications for the applicability of
given in Section 9.4. steady-state and transient ow analyses, including con-
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solidation, that are based on it. Furthermore, gradients

typically used in laboratory testing are high, commonly
Validity of Darcys Law more than 10, and often up to several hundred. This
A basic premise of Darcys law is that ow is laminar brings the suitability of laboratory test results as indi-
and steady through saturated porous media. If particle cators of eld behavior into question.
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and pore sizes and ow rates are sufciently great, then Three hypotheses have been proposed to account for
ow is turbulent, and Darcys law no longer applies. nonlinearity between ow velocity and gradient: (1)
Turbulent ow conditions are likely in ows through non-Newtonian water ow properties, (2) particle mi-
gravel and rockll (Ahmed and Sunada, 1969; Ar- grations that cause blocking and unblocking of ow
bhabhirama and Dinoy, 1973; George and Hansen, passages, and (3) local consolidation and swelling that
py
1992; Hansen et al., 1995; Li et al., 1998).2 Some mod- is inevitable when hydraulic gradients are applied
ication of Darcys law is needed also to account for across a compressible soil. The apparent existence of
nonsteady and wave-induced ows through sands, silts, a threshold gradient below which ow was not de-
tected was attributed to a quasi-crystalline water struc-
Co
ture. It is now known, however, that many of the

effects interpreted as resulting from unusual water
2
Flow transitions from laminar to turbulent ow when the Reynolds properties can be ascribed to undetected experimental
number Re, dened as the ratio of inertial to viscous forces, exceeds errors arising from contamination of measuring sys-
a critical value. For ow through soils the critical value of interstitial
ow Re is in the range of 1 to 10, with Re dened as (Khalifa et al.,
tems (Olsen, 1965), local consolidation and swelling,
2002) and bacterial growth (Gupta and Swartzendruber,
4 v
1962). Additional careful measurements by a number
Re of investigators (e.g., Olsen, 1969; Gray and Mitchell,
(1 n)Avd
1967; Mitchell and Younger, 1967; Miller et al., 1969;
in which is uid density, is tortuosity (ratio of ow path mean
length to thickness), v is ow velocity, n is porosity, and Avd is the Chan and Kenney, 1973) failed to conrm the exis-
ratio of pore surface area exposed to ow to the volume of solid. tence of a threshold gradient in clays. Darcys law was

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 9.4 Dependence of ow velocity on hydraulic gradient. Undisturbed soft clay from
Ska Edeby, Sweden (from Hansbo, 1973).
hte
obeyed exactly in several of these studies. Thus it is electrolyte concentration was changed from 0.6 to 0.1
unlikely that unusual water properties are responsible N NaCl are shown in Fig. 9.5. The cumulative through-
for non-Darcy ow behavior. put is the ratio of the total ow volume at any time to
On the other hand, particle migrations leading to the sample pore volume. The hydraulic conductivities
void plugging and unplugging, electrokinetic effects, for these materials ranged from more than 1 107 to
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and chemical concentration gradients can cause appar- less than 1 109 m/s.
ent deviations from Darcys law. Analysis of interpar- Practical Implications Evidence indicates that
ticle bond strengths in relation to the magnitude of Darcys law is valid, provided that all system variables
seepage forces shows that particles that are not partic- are held constant. However, unless fabric changes, par-
ipating in the load-carrying skeleton of a soil mass can ticle migrations, and internal void ratio redistributions
py
be moved under moderate values of hydraulic gradient. caused by effective stress and chemical changes can
Soils with open, occulated fabrics and granular soils be shown to be negligible, hydraulic conductivity mea-
with a relatively low content of nes appear particu- surements in the laboratory should be made under con-
larly susceptible to the movement of ne particles dur- ditions of temperature, pressure, hydraulic gradient,
Co
ing permeation. and pore uid chemistry as closely approximating

Internal swelling and dispersion of clay particles those in the eld as possible. This is particularly im-
during permeation can cause changes in ow rate and portant in connection with the testing of clays as po-
apparent non-Darcy behavior. Tests on illitesilt tential waste containment barriers, such as slurry walls
mixtures showed that the hydraulic conductivity de- and liners for landlls and impoundments (Daniel,
pends on clay content, sedimentation procedure, 1994). Microbial activities may be important as well,
compression rate, and electrolyte concentration. Sub- as they can lead to formation of biolms, pore clog-
sequent behavior was quite sensitive to the type and ging, and large reductions in hydraulic conductivity as
concentration of electrolyte used for permeation and shown, for example, by Dennis and Turner (1998).
the total throughput volume of permeant. Changes in Unfortunately, duplication of eld conditions is not
relative hydraulic conductivity that occurred while the always possible, especially as regards the hydraulic

l
ria
Figure 9.5 Reduction in hydraulic conductivity as a result of internal swelling (from Hard-
castle and Mitchell, 1974).
ate
gradient. If hydraulic gradients are low enough to du- u0
i p (9.24)
plicate those in most eld situations, then the labora-
dM wH
tory testing time usually becomes unacceptably long.
In such cases, tests over a range of gradients are de- The real gradient for any layer thickness or loading
sirable in order to assess the stability of the soil struc- intensity can be obtained by using actual values of u0
ture against changes due to seepage forces. and H and the appropriate value of p from Fig. 9.6.
Similarly, the gradients that are developed in labo- For small values of u0 / w H, as is the case in the
ratory consolidation tests on thin samples are many eld, for example, for u0 50 kPa, H 5m, then
times greater than exist in thick layers of the same clay u0 / w H 1, and the eld gradients are low throughout
hte
in the eld. The variation of hydraulic gradient i with most of the layer thickness during the entire consoli-
time factor T during one-dimensional consolidation ac- dation process. On the other hand, for a laboratory
cording to the Terzaghi theory is shown in Fig. 9.6. sample of 10 mm thickness and the same stress in-
The solution of the Terzaghi equation gives excess crease, u0 / w H is 500, and the hydraulic gradients are
pore pressure u as a function of position (z/H) and very large. In this case a gradient-dependent hydraulic
time factor conductivity could be the cause of signicant differ-
rig
ences between the laboratory-measured and eld val-

2uM sin MzH e

M2T
ues of coefcient of consolidation. Constant rate of
u 0
(9.21) strain or constant gradient consolidation testing of such
m0
soils is preferable to the use of load increments be-
py
cause lower gradients minimize particle migration ef-

where M (2m 1)/2. Thus, the hydraulic gradient fects.
is

Anisotropy

Co
u 2u0 Mz M2T
i cos e (9.22) Anisotropic hydraulic conductivity results from both
z w wH m0 H preferred orientation of elongated or platy particles and
stratication of soil deposits. Ratios of horizontal-to-
If a parameter p is dened by vertical hydraulic conductivity from less than 1 to
more than 7 were measured for undisturbed samples
cosMzH e
of several different clays (Mitchell, 1956). These ratios
M2T
p2 (9.23) correlated reasonably well with preferred orientation of
m0
the clay particles, as observed in thin section. Ratios
of 1.3 to 1.7 were measured for kaolinite consolidated
Eq. (9.22) becomes one dimensionally from 4 to 256 atm, and 0.9 to 4.0

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 9.6 Hydraulic gradients during consolidation according to the Terzaghi theory.
were measured for illite and Boston blue clay consol- drains are used. On the other hand, lateral drainage
hte
idated over a pressure range up to more than 200 atm beneath a loaded area may not be greatly inuenced
(Olsen, 1962). A ratio of approximately 2 was mea- by a high ratio of horizontal to vertical conductivity if
sured for kaolinite over a range of void ratios corre- the width of loaded area is large compared to the thick-
sponding to consolidation pressures up to 4 atm ness of the drainage layer.
(Morgenstern and Tchalenko, 1967b). Thus, an average
hydraulic conductivity ratio of about 2 as a result of
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microfabric anisotropy may be typical for many clays. Fabric and Hydraulic Conductivity
Large anisotropy in hydraulic conductivity as a re- The theoretical relationships developed earlier in this
sult of stratication of natural soil deposits or in earth- section indicate that the ow velocity should depend
work compacted in layers is common. Varved clays on the square of the pore radius, and the ow rate is
have substantially greater hydraulic conductivity in the proportional to the fourth power of the radius. Thus,
py
horizontal direction than in the vertical direction owing fabrics with a high proportion of large pores are much
to the presence of thin silt layers between the thin clay more pervious than those with small pores. For ex-
layers. The ratio of horizontal values to vertical values ample, remolding several undisturbed soft clays re-
determined in the laboratory, rk, is 10 5 for Con- duced the hydraulic conductivity by as much as a
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necticut Valley varved clay (Ladd and Wissa, 1970). factor of 4, with an average of about 2 (Mitchell,
Similar values were measured for the varved clay in 1956). This reduction results from the breakdown of a
the New Jersey meadows. Values less than 5 were mea- occulated open fabric and the destruction of large
sured for New Liskeard, Ontario, varved clay (Chan pores.
and Kenney, 1973). An illustration of the profound inuence of com-
The practical importance of a high hydraulic con- paction water content on the hydraulic conductivity of
ductivity in the horizontal direction depends on the dis- ne-grained soil is shown in Fig. 9.7. All samples were
tance to a drainage boundary and the type of ow. For compacted to the same density. For samples compacted
example, the rate of groundwater ow will clearly be using the same compactive effort, curves such as those
affected, as will the rate of consolidation when vertical in Fig. 9.8 are typical. For compaction dry of optimum,

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 9.8 Inuence of compaction method on the hydraulic

conductivity of silty clay. Constant compactive effort was
used for all samples.
Figure 9.7 Hydraulic conductivity as a function of compac-

py
tion water content for samples of silty clay prepared to con- Three levels of fabric are important when consid-
stant density by kneading compaction. ering the hydraulic conductivity of ner-grained soils.
The microfabric consists of the regular aggregations of
particles and the very small pores, perhaps with sizes
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clay particles and aggregates are occulated, the resis- up to about 1 m, between them through which very
tance to rearrangement during compaction is high, and little uid will ow. The minifabric contains these ag-
a fabric with comparatively large pores is formed. For gregations and the interassemblage pores between
higher water contents, the particle groups are weaker, them. The interassemblage pores may be up to several
and fabrics with smaller average pore sizes are formed. tens of micrometers in diameter. Flows through these
Considerably lower values of hydraulic conductivity pores will be much greater than through the intraag-
are obtained wet of optimum in the case of kneading gregate pores. On a larger scale, there may be a ma-
compaction than by static compaction (Fig. 9.8) be- crofabric that contains cracks, ssures, laminations, or
cause the high shear strains induced by the kneading root holes through which the ow rate is so great as
compaction method break down occulated fabric to totally obscure that through the other pore space
units. types.

These considerations are of particular importance in aggregates or clusters as shown schematically in Fig.
the hydraulic conductivity of compacted clays used as 9.10. These aggregates of N particles each have an
barriers for waste containment. The controlling units intracluster void ratio ec. The spaces between the ag-
in these materials are the clods, which would corre- gregates comprise the intercluster voids and are
spond to minifabric units. Acceptably low hydraulic responsible for the intercluster void ratio ep. The total
conductivity values are obtained only if clods and in- void ratio eT is equal to the sum of ec and ep. The
terclod pores are eliminated during compaction (Ben- clusters and intracluster voids comprise the microfa-
son and Daniel, 1990). This requires that compaction bric, whereas the assemblage of clusters comprises the
be done wet of optimum using a high effort and a minifabric. Fluid ow in such a system is dominated
method that produces large shear strains, such as by by ow through the intercluster pores because of their
sheepsfoot roller. larger size.
l
The wide range of values of hydraulic conductivity The sizes of clusters depend on the mineralogical
ria
of compacted ne-grained soils that results from the and pore uid compositions and the formational proc-
large differences in fabric associated with compaction ess. Conditions that favor aggregation of individual
to different water contents and densities is illustrated clay plates produce larger clusters than deocculating,
by Fig. 9.9. The grouping of contours means that se- dispersing environments. There is general consistency
lection of a representative value for use in a seepage with the interparticle double-layer interactions de-
ate
analysis is difcult. In addition, if it is required that scribed in Chapter 6. When a ne-grained soil is
the hydraulic conductivity of earthwork not exceed a sedimented in or mixed with waters of different
certain value, such as may be the case for a clay liner electrolyte concentration or type or with uids of dif-
for a waste pond, then specications must be carefully ferent dielectric constants, quite different fabrics result.
drawn. In so doing, it must be recognized also that
dM This explains why the / term in Eqs. (9.18) and
other properties, such as strength, also vary with com- (9.20) is inadequate to account for pore uid differ-
paction water content and density and that the com- ences, unless comparisons are made using samples
paction conditions that are optimal for one property having identical fabrics. This will only be the case
may not be suitable for the other. A procedure for the when a pore uid of one type replaces one of another
development of suitable specications for compacted type without disturbance to the soil.
clay liners is given by Daniel and Benson (1990). The cluster model developed by Olsen (1962) ac-
The primary reason equations such as (9.18) and counts for discrepancies between the predicted and
hte
(9.20) fail to account quantitatively for the variation of measured variations in ow rates through different
the hydraulic conductivity of ne-grained soils with soils. The following equation can be derived for the
change in void ratio is unequal pore sizes (Olsen, ratio of estimated ow rate for a cluster model, qCM to
1962). A typical soil has a fabric composed of small the ow rate predicted by the KozenyCarman equa-
tion (9.18) qKC:
rig
py
Co
Figure 9.9 Contours of constant hydraulic conductivity for Figure 9.10 Cluster model for permeability prediction (after Ol-
silty clay compacted using kneading compaction. sen, 1962).

qCM (1 ec /eT)3 found reasonable for compacted ne-grained soils and

N2/3 (9.25)
qKC (1 ec)4 / 3 degrees of saturation greater than about 80 percent.
Similarly to Eq. (9.7), the unsaturated ow equation
Application of Eq. (9.25) requires assumptions for in the direction i can be written as

the variations of ec with eT that accompany compres-
sion and rebound. Olsen (1962) considered the relative z
vi k(S) (9.26)
compressibility of individual clusters and cluster as- xi xi
semblages. The compressibility of individual clusters
is small at high total void ratios, so compression is where k(S) is saturation-dependent hydraulic conduc-
accompanied by reduction in the intercluster pore tivity, is the matric suction equivalent head (L), and
sizes, but with little change in intracluster void ratio. z/ xi is the unit gravitational vector measured upward
l
This assumption is supported by the microstructure in direction z (1.0 if xi is the direction of gravity z).
ria
studies of Champlain clay by Delage and Lefebvre When percolating water inltrates vertically into dry
(1984) Thus, the actual hydraulic conductivity de- soil, the hydraulic gradient near the sharp wetting front
creases more rapidly with decreasing void ratio during can be very large because of a large value of the /
compression than predicted by the KozenyCarman x term. However, the wetting front becomes less sharp
ate
equation until the intercluster pore space is comparable as the inltration proceeds and the gravity term then
to that in a system of closely packed spheres, when dominates. The hydraulic gradient then is close to one
the clusters themselves begin to compress. Further de- and the magnitude of ux is equal to the hydraulic
creases in porosity involve decreases in both ec and eT. conductivity k(S).
As the intercluster void ratio now decreases less rap- Using Eq. (9.26), the equation of mass conservation
idly, the hydraulic conductivity decreases at a slower
dM becomes
rate with decreasing porosity than predicted by the
KozenyCarman equation. During rebound increase in
porosity develops mainly by swelling of the clusters,
whereas the ow rate continues to be controlled pri-
(nS)
t

xi
k(S)

xi

z
xi
R
w
(9.27)
marily by the intercluster voids.

where n is the porosity, w is the density of the water,
Recent attempts to quantify saturation and hydraulic
and R is a source or sink mass transfer term such as
conductivity of ne-grained soils containing a distri-
water uptake by plant roots (ML3).
hte
bution of particle sizes and fabric elements in terms of

If the soil is assumed to be incompressible and there
pore-scale relationships have given promising results
is no sink/sources (R 0), Eq. (9.27) becomes
(Tuller and Or, 2003). Expressions for clay plate spac-

ing in terms of surface properties and solution com-
S z
position derived using DLVO theory (see Chapter 6), n k()
combined with assumed geometrical representations of t xi xi xi
rig
clay aggregates and pore space in combination with

silt and sand components, are used in the formulation. or C()

t

xi
k()

xi

z
xi (9.28)
where C() n(S/ ) and k(S) is converted to k()

py
9.4 FLOWS THROUGH UNSATURATED SOILS

using the soilwater characteristic curve (S relation-
Darcys law [Eq. (9.7)] also applies for ow through ships). Equation (9.28) is called the Richards equation
unsaturated soils such as those in the vadose zone (Richards, 1931). For given S and k() relationships
above the water table where pore water pressures are and initial/boundary conditions, the nonlinear govern-
Co
negative. However, the hydraulic conductivity is not ing equation can be solved for (often numerically by
constant and depends on the amount and connectivity the nite difference or nite element method).
of water in the pores. For instance, Eq. (9.20) predicts The hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils can
that hydraulic conductivity should vary as the cube of be a function of saturation, water content, matric suc-
the degree of saturation.3 This relationship has been tion, or others. Measured hydraulic conductivities of
well-graded sand and clayey sand as a function of (a)
matric suction and (b) saturation ratio are shown in
3
The hydraulic conductivity can also be a function of volumetric Fig. 9.11. Both gures are related to each other, as the
moisture content or matric suction . These variables are related
to each other by the soilwater characteristic curve as described in matric suction is a function of saturation ratio by the
Chapter 7. soil moisture characteristic curve as described in Sec-

FLOWS THROUGH UNSATURATED SOILS 263
1.E+01 1.E+01
1.E-01 Sand 1.E-01 Sand
Clayey Sand
Hydraulic Conductivity (m/s)

1.E-03 Clayey Sand
Hydraulic conductivity (m/s)

1.E-03
1.E-05 1.E-05
1.E-07 Clayey Sand > Sand 1.E-07
1.E-09 1.E-09
1.E-11 1.E-11
1.E-13 1.E-13
1.E-15 1.E-15
1.E-17 1.E-17
1.E-19 Sand > Clayey Sand
1.E-19
1.E-21 1.E-21
1.E-01 1.E+00 1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 0 20 40 60 80 100
l
Matric Suction (kPa) Saturation (%)
ria
(a) (b)
1.E+00
1.E+00
Sand 1.E-02
Relative Permeability kr
1.E-02
Relative Permeability kr
Clayey Sand
1.E-04
ate
1.E-04
1.E-06
1.E-06
1.E-08 1.E-08
1.E-10 1.E-10
1.E-12 1.E-12 Sand

1.E-14
1.E-16
dM
1.E-01 1.E+00 1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05
1.E-14
1.E-16
0 20 40 60
Clayey Sand
80 100
Matric Suction (kPa) Saturation (%)
(c) (d)
Figure 9.11 Hydraulic conductivity of partially saturated sand and clayey sand as a function
of matric suction and degree of saturation (from Stephens, 1996).
hte
tion 7.12. Various methods to measure the hydraulic meability, no interconnected path for the permeating
conductivity of unsaturated soils are available (Klute, uid) to 1 ( permeating uid at full saturation). The
1986; Fredlund and Rahardjo, 1993). However, the equation can be used for a nonwetting uid (e.g., air)
rig
measurement in unsaturated soils is more difcult to by substituting the values of and of the nonwetting
perform than in saturated soils because the hydraulic uid.
conductivity needs to be determined under controlled The data in Fig. 9.11a and 9.11b can be replotted
water saturation or matric suction conditions. as the relative permeability against matric suction in
A general expression for the hydraulic conductivity Fig. 9.11c and against saturation ratio in Fig. 9.11d.
py
k of unsaturated soils can be written as The two different curves in Fig. 9.11d clearly show
that kr S3 derived from Eq. (9.20) is not universally
g applicable. At very low water contents, the water in
k krK kr ks (9.29)
the pores becomes disconnected as described in Chap-
Co
ter 7. Careful experiments show that the movement of

where ks is the saturated conductivity, K is the intrinsic water exists even at moisture contents of a few percent,
permeability of the medium (L2) such as given by Eq. but vapor transport becomes more important at this dry
(9.18), is the density of the permeating uid (ML3), state (Grismer et al., 1986). Therefore, Eq. (9.20) is
g is the acceleration of gravity (LT2), is the dynamic not suitable for low saturations. One reason for this
viscosity of the permeating uid (MT1L1), and ks is discrepancy is that soil contains pores of various sizes
the conductivity under the condition that the pores are rather than the assumption of uniform pore sizes used
fully lled by the permeating uid (i.e., full saturation). to derive Eq. (9.20).
The dimensionless parameter kr is called the relative Considering that the soil contains pores of random
permeability, and the values range from 0 ( zero per- sizes, Marshall (1958) derived the following equation

for hydraulic conductivity as a function of pore sizes in which k(i) is the calculated hydraulic conductivity
for an isotropic material: for a specied water content i; is i the last water con-
tent class on the wet end, for example, i 1 denotes
n2 r 21 3r 22 5r 23 (2m 1)r 2m the pore class corresponding to the saturated water
K content S, and i l denotes the pore class correspond-
m2 8
ing to the lowest water content L for which hydraulic
(9.30) conductivity is calculated; ks /ksc is the matching factor,
dened as the measured saturated hydraulic conductiv-
in which K is the specic hydraulic conductivity (perity divided by the calculated saturated hydraulic con-
meability) (L2), n is the porosity, m is the total number ductivity; and l is the total number of pore classes (a
of pore classes, and ri is the mean radius of the pores pore class is a pore size range corresponding to a water
l
in pore class i. Pore sizes can be measured from data content increment) between L and S. Thus
ria
on the amount of water withdrawn as the suction on
the soil is progressively increased. Using the capillary m S
equation, the radius of the largest water-lled pore un- (9.35)
l S L
der a suction of (L) is given by
ate
A constant value of l is used at all water contents, and
2
r (9.31) the value of l establishes the number of pore classes
wg for which 2 terms are included in the calculation at
j
saturation. Other pore size distribution models for un-
in which is the surface tension of water, w is the saturated soils are available, and an excellent review
density of water, and g is the acceleration of gravity.
dM of these models is given by Mualem (1986).
As it is usually more convenient to use moisture suc- Equation (9.34) can be written in an integration form
tion than pore radius, Eq. (9.29) can be rewritten as as (after Fredlund et al., 1994)
K
2 n2 2
[ 322 52
22wg2 m2 1 3 k()
ks 2 Sp
ksc 2wg

L
x
2(x)
dx (9.36)
(2m 1)2
m ] (9.32)
hte
where suction is given as a function of volumetric

The permeability K can be converted to the hydraulic water content , and x is a dummy variable. The hy-
conductivity k by multiplying the unit weight (wg) di- draulic conductivity for fully saturated condition is cal-
vided by the dynamic viscosity of water . This gives culated by assigning S. For generality, the term
2S in Eq. (9.34) is replaced by ps , where p is a constant
2 n2 2 that accounts for the interaction of pores of various
rig
k [ 32
2 53
2
sizes (Fredlund et al., 1994).
2wg m2 1
From Eq. (9.36), the relative permeability kr is a
(2m 1)2
m ] (9.33) function of water content as follows:
S
py
Following Green and Corey (1971), the porosity n x x

equals the volumetric water content of the saturated kr() dx dx (9.37)
r 2(x) r 2(x)
condition S, and m is the total number of pore classes
between S and zero water content 0.
A matching factor is usually used in Eq. (9.33) to Herein, the lowest water content L is assumed to be
Co
equate the calculated and measured hydraulic conduc- the residual water content r. If the moisture content
tivities. Matching at full saturation is preferable to suction relationship (or the soilwater character-
matching at a partial saturation point because it is sim- istic curve) is known, the relative permeability kr can
pler and gives better results. Rewriting Eq. (9.33) and be computed from Eq. (9.37) by performing a numer-
introducing a matching factor gives ical integration. The hydraulic conductivity k is then
estimated from Eq. (9.29) with the knowledge of sat-
[(2j 1 2i)
ks 2 2S l urated hydraulic conductivity ks.
k(i) 2
] The use of the soilwater characteristic curve to es-
ksc 2wg m2 j1
j
timate the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils
(i 1, 2, . . . , l) (9.34) is attractive because it is easier to determine this curve

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 265
in the laboratory than it is to measure the hydraulic larger than the vertically inltrating water ow. How-
conductivity directly. Apart from Eq. (9.37), the fol- ever, if the matric suction is reduced by large inltra-
lowing relative permeability function proposed by Mu- tion, the barrier breaks and water enters into the
alem (1976) is often used primarily because of its initially dry coarse layer. Solutions are available to
simplicity: evaluate the amount of water owing laterally across
the capillary barrier interface at the point of break-
kr()
r
s r d()
q
r
s
r
d
()
2
(9.38)
through for a given set of ne and coarse soil hydraulic
properties and interface inclination (Ross, 1990; Steen-
huis et al., 1991; Selkar, 1997; Webb, 1997).
Capillary barriers have received increased attention
where q describes the degree of connectivity between as a means for isolating buried waste from ground-
l
the water-conducting pores. Mualem (1976) states that water ow and as part of landll cover systems in dry
q 0.5 is appropriate based on permeability measure-
ria
climates (Morris and Stormont, 1997; Selkar, 1997;
ments on 45 soils. van Genuchten et al. (1991) substi- Khire et al., 2000). The barrier can be used to divert
tuted the soilwater characteristic equation (7.52) into the ow laterally along an interface and/or to store
Eq. (9.38) and obtained the following closed-form so- inltrating water temporarily in the ne layer so that
lution4: it can be removed ultimately by evaporation and tran-
ate

p 1/m m 2
spiration. Capillary barriers are constructed as simple
r r two-layer systems of contrasting particle size or mul-
kr() 1 1
S r S r tiple layers of ne- and coarse-grained soils. If the
(9.39) thickness of the overlying ne layer is too small, cap-
dM illary diversion is reduced because of the conning
ow path in the ne layer. The minimum effective
Both Eq. (9.39) as well as Eq. (9.37) using the soil thickness is several times the air-entry head of the ne
water characteristic curve by Fredlund and Xing soil (Warrick et al., 1997; Smersrud and Selker, 2001).
(1994) give good predictions of measured data as Khire et al. (2000) stress the importance of site-specic
shown in Fig. 9.12. metrological and hydrological conditions in determin-
The two hydraulic conductivitymatric suction ing the storage capacity of the ne layer. The soil for
curves shown in Fig. 9.11a cross each other at a matric the underlying coarse layer should have a very large
hte
suction value of approximately 50 kPa (or 5 m above particle size contrast with the ne soil, but nes
the water table under hydrostatic condition). Below migrations into the coarse sand should be avoided.
this value, the hydraulic conductivity of sand is larger Smesrud and Sekler (2001) suggest the d50 particle size
than that of the clayey sand. However, as the matric ratio of 5 to be ideal. The thickness of the coarse sand
suction increases, the water in the sand drains rapidly layer does not need to be great, as the purpose of the
toward its residual value, giving a very low hydraulic layer is simply to impede the downward water migra-
rig
conductivity. On the other hand, the clayey sand holds tion.

the pore water by the presence of nes and the hy-
draulic conductivity becomes larger than that of the
sand at a given matric suction.
9.5 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
If the sand is overlain by the clayey sand, then the
py
matric suction at the interface is larger than 50 kPa, Heat ow through soil and rock is almost entirely by
and the water inltrating downward through the ner conduction, with radiation unimportant, except for sur-
clayey sand cannot enter into the coarser sand layer face soils, and convection important only if there is a
because the underlying sand layer is less permeable high ow rate of water or air, as might possibly occur
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than the overlying clayey sand. The water will instead through a coarse sand or rockll. The thermal conduc-
move laterally along the bedding interface. This phe- tivity controls heat ow rates. Conductive heat ow is
nomenon is called a capillary barrier (e.g., Zaslavsky primarily through the solid phase of a soil mass. Values
and Sinai, 1981; Yeh et al., 1985; Miyazaki, 1988). of thermal conductivity for several materials are listed
The barrier will be maintained as long as the lateral in Table 9.2. As the values for soil minerals are much
discharge along the interface (preferably inclined) is higher than those for air and water, it is evident that
the heat ow must be predominantly through the sol-
ids. Also included in Table 9.2 are values for the heat
4
m 1 1 / n is assumed (van Genuchten et al., 1991). See Eq. capacity, volumetric heat, heat of fusion, and heat of
(7.52). vaporization of water. The heat capacity can be used

10
Hydraulic Conductivity, k 10(m/s)
Hydraulic Conductivity, k (cm/day)

1
0.1 Predicted coefficient

of permeability
(drying)
Predicted coefficient
0.01 of permeability
(wetting)
l
Measured coefficient
ria
of permeability
(drying)
0.001
Measured coefficient
of permeability
(wetting)
0.0001
ate
20 30 40 50 60
Volumetric Water Content
(a)
Figure 9.12 Comparisons of predicted and measured relationships between hydraulic con-
ductivity and volumetric water content for two soils. (a) By Eq. (9.37) with the measured
data for Guelph loam (from Fredlund et al., 1994) and (b) by Eq. (9.39) with the measured
dM
data for crushed Bandelier Tuff (van Genuchten et al., 1991).
to compute the volumetric heat using the simple rela- to carry heat away from buried electrical transmission
tionships for frozen and unfrozen soil given in the ta- cables, or as an insulating material, for example, for
ble. Volumetric heat is needed for the analysis of many underground storage of liqueed gases. The water con-
hte
types of transient heat ow problems. The heat of fu- tent below which the thermal resistivity begins to rise
sion is used for analysis of ground freezing and thaw- with further drying is termed the critical water content,
ing, and the heat of vaporization applies to situations and below this point the system is said to have lost
where there are liquid to vapor phase transitions. thermal stability (Brandon et al., 1989).
The denser a soil, the higher is its composite thermal The following factors inuence the thermal resistiv-
conductivity, owing to the much higher thermal con- ity of partly saturated soils (Brandon and Mitchell,
rig
ductivity of the solids relative to the water and air. 1989).

Furthermore, since water has a higher thermal conduc-
tivity than air, a wet soil has a higher thermal conduc- Mineralogy All other things equal, quartz sands
tivity than a dry soil. The combined inuences of soil have higher thermal conductivity than sands con-
unit weight and water content are shown in Fig. 9.13, taining a high percentage of mica.
py
which may be used for estimates of the thermal con- Dry Density The higher the dry density of a soil,
ductivity for many cases. If a more soil-specic value the higher is the thermal conductivity.
is needed, they may be measured in the laboratory us- Gradation Well-graded soils conduct heat better
ing the thermal needle method (ASTM, 2000). More than poorly graded soils because smaller grains
Co
detailed treatment of methods for the measurement of can t into the interstitial spaces between the
the thermal conductivity of soils are given by Mitchell larger grains, thus increasing the density and the
and Kao (1978) and Farouki (1981, 1982). mineral-to-mineral contact.
The relationship between thermal resistivity (inverse Compaction Water Content Some sands that com-
of conductivity) and water content for a partly satu- pacted wet and then dried to a lower water content
rated soil undergoing drying is shown in Fig. 9.14. If have signicantly higher thermal conductivity
drying causes the water content to fall below a certain than when compacted initially at the lower water
value, the thermal resistivity increases signicantly. content.
This may be important in situations where soil is used Time Sands containing high percentages of silica,
as either a thermally conductive material, for example, carbonates, or other materials that can develop ce-

ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY 267
Table 9.2 Thermal Properties of Materials a
Thermal
Conductivity Material Btu/h/ft2 / F/ft W/m/K
Air 0.014 0.024
Water 0.30 0.60
Ice 1.30 2.25
Snow
(100 kg m3) 0.03 0.06
(500 kg m3) 0.34 0.59
l
Shale 0.90 1.56
ria
Granite 1.60 2.76
Concrete 1.0 1.8
Copper 225 389
Soil 0.151.5 (1.0) 0.252.5 (1.7)
Polystyrene 0.0150.035 0.030.06
ate
Heat Capacity Material Btu/lb/ F kJ/kg/K
Water 1.0 4.186
Ice 0.5 2.093
dM Snow
(100 kg m3) 0.05 0.21
(500 kg m3) 0.25 1.05
Minerals 0.17 0.710
Rocks 0.200.55 0.802.20
Volumetric Heat Material Btu/ft3 / F kJ/m3 /K
Unfrozen Soil d (0.17 w/100) d (72.4 427w/100)
hte
Soil
Frozen soil d (0.17 0.5w/100) d (72.4 213w/100)
Snow
(100 kg m3) 3.13 210
(500 kg m3) 15.66 1050
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Heat of Fusion Water 143.4 Btu/lb 333 kJ/kg

Soil 143.4(w/100) d Btu/ft3 3.40 104(w/100) d kJ/m3
Heat of Vaporization Water 970 Btu/lb 2.26 MJ/kg
Soil 970(w/100) d Btu/ft3 230(w /100) d MJ/m3
d dry unit weight, in lb/ft3 for U.S. units and in kN/m3 for SI units; w water content in percent.
py
mentation may exhibit an increased thermal con- 9.6 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY

Co
ductivity with time.

Temperature All crystalline minerals in soils have Ohms law, Eq. (9.4), in which e is the electrical con-
decreasing thermal conductivity with increasing ductivity, applies to soilwater systems. The electrical
temperature; however, the thermal conductivity of conductivity equals the inverse of the electrical resis-
water increases slightly with increasing tempera- tivity, or
ture, and the thermal conductivity of saturated
pore air increases markedly with increasing tem- 1 L
e (siemens/meter; S/m) (9.40)
perature. The net effect is that the thermal con- RA
ductivity of moist sand increases somewhat with
increasing temperature. where R is the resistance ( ), L is length of sample

fects particle size, shape, and surface conductance, soil

structure, including fabric and cementation, and tem-
perature.
Electrical measurements found early applications in
the elds of petroleum engineering, geophysical map-
ping and prospecting, and soil science, among others.
The inherent complexity of soilwater systems and the
difculty in characterizing the wide ranges of particle
size, shape, and composition have precluded develop-
ment of generally applicable theoretical equations for
electrical conductivity. However, a number of empiri-
l
cal equations and theoretical expressions based on
ria
simplied models may provide satisfactory results,
depending on the particular soil and conditions. They
differ in assumptions about the possible ow paths for
electric current through a soilwater matrix, the path
lengths and their relative importance, and whether
ate
charged particle surfaces contribute to the total current
ow.
Nonconductive Particle Models

Figure 9.13 Thermal conductivity of soil (after Kersten,
1949). Formation Factor The electrical conductivity of
dM clean saturated sands and sandstones is directly propor-
tional to the electrical conductivity of the pore water (Ar-
chie, 1942). The coefcient of proportionality depends on
porosity and fabric. Archie (1942) dened the formation
factor, F, as the resistivity of the saturated soil, T, divided
by the resistivity of the saturating solution, W, that is,
hte
T
F W (9.41)
W T
where W and T are the electrical conductivities of the

pore water and saturated soil, respectively.
rig
An empirical correlation between formation factor and

porosity for clean sands and sandstones is given by
F nm (9.42)
py
where n is porosity, and m equals from 1.3 for loose sands

to 2 for highly cemented sandstones. An empirical relation
Figure 9.14 Typical relationship between thermal resistivity between formation factor at 100 percent water saturation
Co
and water content for a compacted sand. and apparent formation factor at saturation less than
100 percent is
(m), and A is its cross-sectional area (m2). The value W

FatSw1 (Sw)p (9.43)
of electrical conductivity for a saturated soil is usually T
in the approximate range of 0.01 to 1.0 S/m. The spe-
cic value depends on several properties of the soil, where p is a constant determined experimentally. Archie
including porosity, degree of saturation, composition suggested a value of p 2; however, other published val-
(conductivity) of the pore water, mineralogy as it af- ues of p range from 1.4 to 4.6, depending on the soil and

whether a given saturation is reached by wetting or by tance of clayey particles to the total current ow would
drainage. be small.
Capillary Model In this and the theoretical models
that follow, direct current (DC) conductivity is as- Conductive Particle Models
sumed, although they may apply to low-frequency al-
ternating current (AC) models as well. Consider a In conductive particle models the contribution of the
saturated soil sample of length L and cross-sectional ions concentrated at the surface of negatively charged
area A. If the pores are assumed to be connected and particles is taken into account. Two simple mixture
can be represented by a bundle of tubes of equal radius models are presented below; other models can be
and length Le and total area Ae, where Ae porosity found in Santamarina et al. (2001).
A, and Le is the actual length of the ow path, then Two-Parallel-Resistor Model A contribution of sur-
face conductance is included, and the soilwater sys-
l
an equation for the formation factor as a function of
ria
the porosity n and the tortuosity T Le /L is tem is equivalent to two electrical resistors in parallel
(Waxman and Smits, 1968). The result is that the total
electrical conductivity T is
T2
F (9.44)
n
T X(W s) (9.49)
ate
For S 1, and assuming that the area available for
electrical ow is nSA, then F T 2 /nS. In principle, if in which s is a surface conductivity term, and X is a
F is measured for a given soil and n is known, a value constant analogous to the reciprocal of the formation
of tortuosity can be calculated to use in the Kozeny factor that represents the internal geometry.
Carman equation for hydraulic conductivity.
dM This approach yields better ts of T versus W data
Cluster Model As discussed earlier in connection for clay-bearing soils. However, it assumes a constant
with hydraulic conductivity, the cluster model (Olsen, value for the contribution of the surface ions that is
1961, 1962) shown in Fig. 9.10 assumes unequal pore independent of the electrolyte concentration in the pore
sizes. Three possible paths for electrical current ow water, and it fails to include a contribution for the sur-
can be considered: (1) through the intercluster pores, face conductance and pore water conductance in a se-
(2) through the intracluster pores, and (3) alternately ries path.
through inter- and intracluster pores. On this basis the Three-Element Network Model A third path is in-
hte
following equations for formation factor as a function cluded in this formulation that considers ow along
of the cluster model parameters can be derived (Olsen, particle surfaces and through pore water in series in
1961): addition to the paths included in the two-parallel-
resistor model. The ow paths and equivalent electrical

circuit are shown in Fig. 9.15. Analysis of the electrical
1 eT 1
F T2 (9.45) network for determination of T gives
rig
eT ec 1X
aWs
XYZ (9.46) T bs cW (9.50)
(1 e)W es
py
[(1 eT)/(eT ec)]2

Y (9.47) If the surface conductivity s is negligible, the sim-
1 (Tc /T)2 [(1 ec)2 /ec(eT ec)]
ple formulation proposed by Archie (1942) for sands
2 is obtained; that is, T constant W. Some of the

ec T geometric parameters a, b, c, d, and e can be written
Za (9.48)
Co
eT ec Tc as functions of porosity and degree of saturation; oth-

ers are obtained through curve regression analysis of
in which T is the intercluster tortuosity, Tc is the intra- T versus W data.
cluster tortuosity, and a is the effective cluster contact Soil conductivity as a function of pore uid con-
area. The cluster contact area is very small except for ductivity is shown in Fig. 9.16 for a silty clay. The
heavily consolidated systems. three-element model ts the data well over the full
This model successfully describes the ow of cur- range, the two-element model gives good predictions
rent in soils saturated with high conductivity water. In for the higher values of conductivity, and the simple
such systems, the contribution of the surface conduc- formation factor relationship is a reasonable average

l
ria
ate
Figure 9.15 Three-element network model for electrical conductivity: (a) current ow paths
and (b) equivalent electrical circuit.
dM
for conductivity values in the range of about 0.3 to 0.6 frequency, and 0 is the permittivity of vacuum [8.85
S/m. 1012 C2 /(Nm2)]. The frequency-dependent effective
conductivities of deionized water and kaolinitewater
Alternating Current Conductivity and Dielectric mixtures at two different water contents (0.2 and 33
Constant percent) are shown in Fig. 9.18a. The complicated in-
teractions of different polarization mechanisms are re-
The electrical response of a soil in an AC eld is fre-
hte
sponsible for the variations shown.

quency dependent owing to the polarizability proper-
A material is dielectric if charges are not free to
ties of the system constituents. Several scale-dependent
move due to their inertia. Higher frequencies are
polarization mechanisms are possible in soils, as
needed to stop polarization at smaller scales. The di-
shown in Fig. 9.17. The smaller the element size the
electric constant (or the real relative permittivity !5)
higher the polarization frequency. At the atomic and
decreases with increasing frequency; more polariza-
rig
molecular scales, there are polarizations of electrons

tion mechanisms occur at lower frequencies. The
[electronic resonance at ultraviolet (UV) frequencies],
frequency-dependent dielectric constants of deionized
ions [ionic resonance at infrared (IR) frequencies], and
water and kaolinitewater mixtures are shown in Fig.
dipolar molecules (orientational relaxation at micro-
9.18b. The value for deionized water is about 79 above
wave frequencies). A mixture of components (like wa-
py
10 kHz. Below this frequency, the values increase with

ter and soil particles) having different polarizabilities
decrease in frequency. This is attributed to experimen-
and conductivities produces spatial polarization by
tal error caused by an electrode effect in which charges
charge accumulation at interfaces (called Maxwell
Wagner interfacial polarization). The ions in the Stern
Co
layer and double layer are restrained (Chapter 6), and 5

hence they also exhibit polarization. This polarization To describe the out-of-phase response under oscillating excitation,
the electrical properties of a material are often dened in the complex
results in relaxation responses at radio frequencies. plane:
Further details of the polarization mechanisms are j
given by Santamarina et al. (2001).
The effective AC conductivity eff is expressed as where is the complex permittivity, j is the imaginary number
(1), and and are real and imaginary numbers describing the
electrical properties. The permittivity is often normalized by the
eff !"0 (9.51) permittivity of vacuum 0 as

! ! j!
where is the conductivity, ! is the polarization loss 0
(called the imaginary relative permittivity), " is the where ! is called the relative permittivity.

100
Deionized Water
102
eff (S/m)
33%
104 No Data
Available
0.2%
106
100 102 104 106 108 1010
Frequency (Hz)
(a)
l
ria
Electrode Effect
106 33% Deionized Water
104 0.2% No Data

Figure 9.16 Soil electrical conductivity as a function of pore Available
uid conductivity and comparisons with three models.
102
ate
100
accumulate at the electrodespecimen interface (Klein 100 102 104 106 108 1010
and Santamarina, 1997). Similarly to the observations Frequency (Hz)
made for the effective conductivities, the real permit-
dM (b)
tivity values of the mixtures show complex trends of
Figure 9.18 (a) Conductivity and (b) relative permittivity as
frequency dependency.
a function of frequency for deionized water and kaolinite at
For analysis of AC conductivity and dielectric con- water contents of 0.2 and 33 percent (from Santamarina et
stant as a function of frequency in an AC eld, Smith al., 2001).
and Arulanandan (1981) modied the three-element
model shown in Fig. 9.15 by adding a capacitor in
parallel with each resistor. The resulting equations can
hte
be t to experimental frequency dispersions of the con-

rig
py
Co
Figure 9.17 Frequency ranges associated with different polarization mechanisms (from San-
tamarina et al., 2001).

ductivity and apparent dielectric constant by computer Table 9.3 Self-Diffusion Coefcients for Ions at
optimization of geometrical and compositional param- Innite Dilution in Water
eters. The resulting parameter values are useful for
characterizing mineralogy, porosity, and fabric. More Anion D0 1010(m2 /s) Cation D0 1010(m2 /s)
detailed discussions on electrical models, data inter- (1) (2) (3) (4)
pretation, and correlations with soil properties are
given by Santamarina et al. (2001). OH 52.8 H 93.1
F 14.7 Li 10.3
Cl 20.3 Na 13.3
Br 20.8 K 19.6
9.7 DIFFUSION I 20.4 Rb 20.7
HCO3 Cs
l
11.8 20.5
ria
Chemical transport through sands is dominated by ad- NO3 19.0 Be2 5.98
vection, wherein dissolved and suspended species are SO42 10.6 Mg2 7.05
carried with owing water. However, in ne-grained CO32 9.22 Ca2 7.92
soils, wherein the hydraulic ow rates are very small, Sr2 7.90
for example, kh less than about 1 109 m/s, chemical Ba2 8.46
ate
diffusion plays a role and may become dominant when Pb2 9.25
kh becomes less than about 1 1010 m/s. Ficks law, Cu2 7.13
Eq. (9.5), is the controlling relationship, and D(L2T1), Fe2a 7.19
the diffusion coefcient, is the controlling parameter. Cd2a 7.17
Diffusive chemical transport is important in clay Zn2 7.02
barriers for waste containment, in some geologic Ni2a 6.79
dM
processes, and in some forms of chemical soil Fe3a 6.07
stabilization. Comprehensive treatments of the diffu- Cr3a 5.94
sion process, values of diffusion coefcients and Al3a 5.95
methods for their determination, and applications, a
Values from Li and Gregory (1974). Reprinted with
especially in relation to chemical transport and waste
permission from Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol.
containment barrier systems, are given by Quigley et
38, No. 5, pp. 703714. Copyright 1974, Pergamon
hte
al. (1987), Shackelford and Daniel (1991a, 1991b),

Press.
Shincariol and Rowe (2001) and Rowe (2001).
Diffusive ow is driven by chemical potential gra-
dients, but for most applications chemical concentra-
tion gradients can be used for analysis. The diffusion 4. Retardation of some species as a result of ion
coefcient is measured and expressed in terms of exchange and adsorption by clay minerals and
rig
chemical gradients. Maximum values of the diffusion organics or precipitation

coefcient D0 are found in free aqueous solution at 5. Biodegradation of diffusing organics
innite dilution. Self-diffusion coefcients for a num- 6. Osmotic counterow
ber of ion types in water are given in Table 9.3. Usu- 7. Electrical imbalance, possibly by anion exclusion
ally cationanion pairs are diffusing together, thereby
py
slowing down the faster and speeding up the slower. The diffusion coefcient could increase with time of
This may be seen in Table 9.4, which contains values ow through a soil as a result of such processes as
of some limiting free solution diffusion coefcients for (Quigley, 1989):
some simple electrolytes. 1. K xation by vermiculite, which would decrease
Co
Diffusion through soil is slower and more complex the cation exchange capacity and increase the
than diffusion through a free solution, especially when free water pore space
adsorptive clay particles are present. There are several 2. Electrical imbalances that act to pull cations or
reasons for this (Quigley, 1989): anions
3. The attainment of adsorption equilibrium, thus
1. Reduced cross-sectional area for ow because of eliminating retardation of some species
the presence of solids
2. Tortuous ow paths around particles In an attempt to take some of these factors, espe-
3. The inuences of electrical force elds caused by cially geometric tortuosity of interconnected pores,
the double-layer distributions of charges into account, an effective diffusion coefcient D* is

DIFFUSION 273
Table 9.4 Limiting Free Solution Diffusion transient diffusion, that is, the time rate of change of
Coefcients for Some Simple Electrolytes concentration with distance:
Electrolyte D0 1010(m2 /s) c 2c

D* 2 (9.53)
(1) (2) t x
HCl 33.36
For transient diffusion with constant effective diffusion
HBr 34.00
coefcient D*, the solution for this equation is of ex-
LiCl 13.66
actly the same form as that for the Terzaghi equation
LiBr 13.77
for clay consolidation and that for one-dimensional
NaCl 16.10
transient heat ow.
l
NaBr 16.25
An error function solution for Eq. (9.53) (Ogata,
ria
NaI 16.14
1970; Freeze and Cherry, 1979), for the case of one-
KCl 19.93
dimensional diffusion from a layer at a constant source
KBr 20.16
concentration C0 into a layer having a sufciently low
KI 19.99
initial concentration that it can be taken as zero at t
CsCl 20.44
ate
0, is
CaCl2 13.35
BaCl2 13.85
C x x
erfc 1 erf (9.54)
Reported by Shackelford and Daniel, 1991a after Rob- C0 2D*t 2D*t
inson and Stokes, 1959. Reprinted from the Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 117, No. 3, pp. 467484.
dM where C is the concentration at any time at distance
Copyright 1991. With permission of ASCE. from the source.
Curves of relative concentration as a function of
depth for different times after the start of chloride dif-
used. Several denitions have been proposed (Shack- fusion are shown in Fig. 9.19a (Quigley, 1989). An
elford and Daniel, 1991a) in which the different factors effective diffusion coefcient for chloride of 6.47
are taken into account in different ways. Although 1010 m2 /s was assumed. Also shown (Fig. 9.19b) is
the migration velocity of the C/C0 front within the soil
hte
these relationships may be useful for analysis of the

importance of the factors themselves, it is sufcient for as a function of time. As chloride is one of the more
practical purposes to use rapidly diffusing ionic species, Fig. 9.19 provides a
basis for estimating maximum probable migration dis-
D* a D0 (9.52) tances and concentrations as a function of time that
result solely from diffusion.
rig
in which a is an apparent tortuosity factor that takes When there are adsorptiondesorption reactions,
several of the other factors into account, and use values chemical reactions such as precipitationsolution, ra-
of D* measured under representative conditions. The dioactive decay, and/or biological processes occurring
effective coefcient for diffusion of different chemicals during diffusion, the analysis becomes more complex
through saturated soil is usually in the range of about than given by the foregoing equations. For adsorption
py
2 1010 to 2 109 m2 /s, although the values can desorption reactions and the assumption that there is
be one or more orders of magnitude lower in highly linearity between the amount adsorbed and the equi-
compacted clays and clays, such as bentonite, that can librium concentration, Eq. (9.53) is often written as
behave as semipermeable membranes (Malusis and
Co
Shackelford, 2002b). Values for compacted clays are c D* 2c

(9.55)
rather insensitive to molding water content or method t Rd x2
of compaction (Shackelford and Daniel, 1991b), in
stark contrast to the hydraulic conductivity, which may where Rd is termed the retardation factor, and it is
vary over a few orders of magnitude as a result of dened by
changes in these factors. This suggests that soil fabric
differences have relatively minor inuence on the ef- d
Rd 1 K (9.56)
fective diffusion coefcient. d
Whereas Ficks rst law, Eq. (9.5), applies for
steady-state diffusion, Ficks second law describes in which d is the bulk dry density of the soil, is the

tailed discussions of distribution coefcients and their

determination are given by Freeze and Cherry (1979),
Quigley et al., (1987), Quigley (1989), and Shackel-
ford and Daniel (1991a, b).
9.8 TYPICAL RANGES OF FLOW

PARAMETERS
Usual ranges for the values of the direct ow conduc-
tivities for hydraulic, thermal, electrical, and diffusive
l
chemical ows are given in Table 9.5. These ranges
ria
are for ne-grained soils, that is, silts, silty clays,
clayey silts, and clays. They are for full saturation;
values for partly saturated soils can be much lower.
Also listed in Table 9.5 are values for electroosmotic
ate
conductivity, osmotic efciency, and ionic mobility.
These properties are needed for analysis of coupling
of hydraulic, electrical, and chemical ows, and they
are discussed further later.
dM 9.9 SIMULTANEOUS FLOWS OF WATER,
CURRENT, AND SALTS THROUGH
SOIL-COUPLED FLOWS
Usually there are simultaneous ows of different types
through soils and rocks, even when only one type of
hte
driving force is acting. For example, when pore water

containing chemicals ows under the action of a hy-
draulic gradient, there is a concurrent ow of chemical
through the soil. This type of chemical transport is
Figure 9.19 Time rate of chloride diffusion (from Quigley, termed advection. In addition, owing to the existence
1989). (a) Relative concentration as a function of depth after of surface charges on soil particles, especially clays,
rig
different times and (b) velocity of migration of the front hav- there are nonuniform distributions of cations and ani-
ing a concentration C / C0 of 0.5. ons within soil pores resulting from the attraction of
cations to and repulsion of anions from the negatively
charged particle surfaces. The net negativity of clay
particles is caused primarily by isomorphous substitu-
py
volumetric water content, that is, the volume of water tions within the crystal structure, as discussed in Chap-
divided by the total volume (porosity in the case of a ter 3, and the ionic distributions in the pore uid are
saturated soil), and Kd is the distribution coefcient. described in Chapter 6. Because of the small pore sizes
The distribution coefcient denes the amount of a in ne-grained soils and the strong local electrical
Co
given constituent that is adsorbed or desorbed by a soil elds, clay layers exhibit membrane properties. This
for a unit increase or decrease in the equilibrium con- means that the passage of certain ions and molecules
centration in solution. Other reactions inuencing the through the clay may be restricted in part or in full at
amount in free solution relative to that xed in the soil both microscopic and macroscopic levels.
(e.g., by precipitation) may be included in Kd, depend- Owing to these internal nonhomogeneities in ion
ing on the method for measurement and the conditions distributions, restrictions on ion movements caused by
being modeled. Distribution coefcients are usually de- electrostatic attractions and repulsions, and the de-
termined from adsorption isotherms, and they may be pendence of these interactions on temperature, a vari-
constants for a given soilchemical system or vary ety of microscopic and macroscopic effects may be
with concentration, pH, and temperature. More de- observed when a wet soil mass is subjected to ow

SIMULTANEOUS FLOWS OF WATER, CURRENT, AND SALTS THROUGH SOIL-COUPLED FLOWS 275
Table 9.5 Typical Range of Flow Parameters for Fine-Grained Soilsa
Parameter Symbol Units Minimum Maximum

Porosity n 0.1 0.7
Hydraulic kh m s1 1 1011 1 106
conductivity
Thermal kt W m1 K1 0.25 2.5
conductivity
Electrical e siemens m1 0.01 1.0
conductivity
m2 s1 V1 1 109 1 108
l
Electro osmotic ke
ria
conductivity
Diffusion D m2 s1 2 1010 2 109
coefcient
Osmotic " 0 1.0
efciencyb
ate
Ionic mobility u m2 s1 V1 3 109 1 108
a
The above values of ow coefcients are for saturated soil. They may be
much less in partly saturated soil.
b
0 to 1.0 is the theoretical range for the osmotic efciency coefcient. Values
greater than about 0.7 are unlikely in most ne-grained materials of geotechnical
dM
interest.
gradients of different types. A gradient of one type Xj ow is developed later. Electroosmosis has been used
can cause a ow of another type Ji, according to for many years as a means for control of water ow
and for consolidation of soils. Chemicalosmosis, the
hte
Ji Lij Xj (9.57) ow of water caused by a chemical gradient acting

across a clay layer, has been studied in some detail
The Lij are termed coupling coefcients. They are prop- recently, owing to its importance in waste containment
erties that may or may not be of signicant magnitude systems.
in any given soil, as discussed later. Types of coupled Isothermal heat transfer, caused by heat ow along
ow that can occur are listed in Table 9.6, along with with water ow, has caused great difculties in the
rig
terms commonly used to describe them.6 creation of frozen soil barriers in the presence of ow-
Of the 12 coupled ows shown in Table 9.6, several ing groundwater. Electrically driven heat ow, the Pel-
are known to be signicant in soilwater systems, at tier effect, and chemically driven heat ow, the Dufour
least under some conditions. Thermoosmosis, which is effect, are not known to be of signicance in soils;
py
water movement under a temperature gradient, is im- however, they appear not to have been studied in any
portant in partly saturated soils, but of lesser impor- detail in relation to geotechnical problems.
tance in fully saturated soils. Signicant effects from Streaming current, the term applied to both hydrau-
thermally driven moisture ow are found in semiarid lically driven electrical current and ion ows, has im-
and arid areas, in frost susceptible soils, and in expan- portance to both chemical ow through the ground
Co
sive soils. An analysis of thermally driven moisture (advection) and the development of electrical poten-
tials, which may, in turn, inuence both uid and ion
ows as a result of additional coupling effects. The
complete roles of thermoelectricity and diffusion and
6
Mechanical coupling also occurs in addition to the hydraulic, ther- membrane potentials are not yet known; however, elec-
mal, electrical, and chemical processes listed in Table 9.6. A common
manifestation of this in geotechnical applications is the development trical potentials generated by temperature and chemical
of excess pore pressure and the accompanying uid ow that result gradients are important in corrosion and in some
from a change in applied stress. This type of coupling is usually most groundwater ow and stability problems.
easily handled by usual soil mechanics methods. A few other types
of mechanical coupling may also exist in soils and rocks (U.S. Na- Whether thermal diffusion of electrolytes, the Soret
tional Committee for Rock Mechanics, 1987). effect, is important in soils has not been evaluated;

Table 9.6 Direct and Coupled Flow Phenomena
Gradient X
Chemical
Flow J Hydraulic Head Temperature Electrical Concentration
Fluid Hydraulic Thermoosmosis Electroosmosis Chemical
conduction osmosis
Darcys law
Heat Isothermal heat Thermal Peltier effect Dufour effect
transfer or conduction
l
thermal ltration Fouriers law
ria
Current Streaming current Thermoelectricity Electric Diffusion and
Seebeck or conduction membrane
Thompson effect Ohms law potentials or
sedimentation
ate
current
Ion Streaming current Thermal diffusion Electrophoresis Diffusion Ficks
ultraltration of electrolyte or law
(also known as Soret effect
hyperltration)
dM
however, since chemical activity is highly temperature
dependent, it may be a signicant process in some
systems. Finally, electrophoresis, the movement of
qhe
qh

ke E
kh H
( C 0) (9.59a)
charged particles in an electrical eld, has been used The ratio (kc /kh) in Fig. 9.20 indicates the hydraulic
for concentration of mine waste and high water content
hte
head difference in centimeters of water required to give

clays. a ow rate equal to the osmotic ow caused by a 10-
The relative importance of chemically and electri- fold difference in salt concentration on opposite sides
cally driven components of total hydraulic ow is il- of the layer. The ratio ke /kh gives the hydraulic head
lustrated in Fig. 9.20, based on data from tests on difference required to balance that caused by a 1 V
kaolinite given by Olsen (1969, 1972). The theory for difference in electrical potentials on opposite sides of
rig
description of coupled ows is given later. A practical the layer. During consolidation, the hydraulic conduc-
form of Eq. (9.57) for uid ow under combined hy- tivity decreases dramatically. However, the ratios kc /kh
draulic, chemical, and electrical gradients is and ke /kh increase signicantly, indicating that the rel-
ative importance of osmotic and electroosmotic ows
H log(CB /CA) E to the total ow increases. Although the data shown in
py
qh kh A kc A ke A (9.58)
L L L Fig. 9.20 are shown as a function of the consolidation
pressure, the changes in the values of kc /kh and ke /kh
in which kh, kc, and ke are the hydraulic, osmotic, and are really a result of the decrease in void ratio that
electroosmotic conductivities, H is the hydraulic head accompanies the increase in pressure, as may be seen
Co
difference, E is the voltage difference, and CA and CB in Fig. 9.20c.

are the salt concentrations on opposite sides of a clay These results for kaolinite provide a conservative es-
layer of thickness L. timate of the importance of osmotic and electroosmotic
In the absence of an electrical gradient, the ratio of ows because coupling effects in kaolinite are usually
osmotic to hydraulic ows is smaller than in more active clays, such as montmoril-

lonite-based bentonites. In systems containing conned
qhc k log(CB /CA) clay layers acted on by chemical and/or electrical gra-
c ( E 0) (9.59)
qh kh H dients, Darcys law by itself may be an insufcient
basis for prediction of hydraulic ow rates, particularly
and, in the absence of a chemical gradient, the ratio of if the clay is highly plastic and at a very low void ratio.
electroosmotic ows to hydraulic ows is Such conditions can be found in deeply buried clay

QUANTIFICATION OF COUPLED FLOWS 277
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 9.20 Hydraulic, osmotic, and electroosmotic conductivities of kaolinite (data from
Olsen 1969, 1972): (a) consolidation curve, (b) conductivity values, and (c) conductivities
as a function of void ratio.
py
and clay shale and in densely compacted clays. For Each approach has advantages and limitations. It is as-
more compressible clays, the ratios kc /kh and ke /kh may sumed in the following that the soil properties remain
be sufciently high to be useful for consolidation by unchanged during the ow processes, an assumption
Co
electrical and chemical means, as discussed later in this that may not be justied in some cases. The effects of
chapter. ows of different types on the state and properties of
a soil are discussed later in this chapter. However,
when properties are known to vary in a predictable
9.10 QUANTIFICATION OF COUPLED FLOWS manner, their variations may be taken into account in
numerical analysis methods.
Quantication of coupled ow processes may be done
by direct, empirical determination of the relevant pa-
rameters for a particular case or by relationships de- Direct Observational Approach
rived from a theoretical thermodynamic analysis of the In the general case, there may be uid, chemical, elec-
complete set of direct and coupled ow equations. trical, and heat ows. The chemical ows can be sub-

divided according to the particular chemical species ductivity coefcient kh is readily determined.7 The co-
present. Each ow type may have contributions caused efcient of electroosmotic hydraulic conductivity is
by gradients of another type, and their importance usually determined by measuring the hydraulic ow
depends on the values of Lij and Xj in Eq. (9.57). A rate developed in a known DC potential eld under
complete and accurate description of all ows may be conditions of ih 0. The electrical conductivity e is
a formidable task. obtained from the same experiment through measure-
However, in many cases, ows of only one or two ment of the electrical current.
types may be of interest, some of the gradients may The main advantage of this empirical, but direct, ap-
not exist, and/or some of the coupling coefcients may proach is simplicity. It is particularly useful when only
be either known or assumed to be unimportant. The a few of the possible couplings are likely to be im-
matrix of ows and forces then reduces signicantly, portant and when some uncertainty in the measured
l
and the determination of coefcients is greatly simpli- coefcients is acceptable.
ria
ed. For example, if simple electroosmosis under iso-
thermal conditions is considered, then Eq. (9.57) yields General Theory for Coupled Flows
When several ows are of interest, each resulting from
qw LHH(H) LHE(E) LHC(C) (9.60) several gradients, a more formal methodology is nec-
ate
I LEH(H) LEE(E) LEC(C) (9.61) essary so that all relevant factors are accounted for
properly. If there are n different driving forces, then
JC LCH(H) LCE(E) LCC(C) (9.62) there will be n direct ow coefcients Lii and n(n
1) coupling coefcients Lij(i j). The determination
of these coefcients is best done within a framework
where qw water ow rate that provides a consistent and correct description of
I
Jc

dM
electrical current
chemical ow rate
each of the ows. Irreversible thermodynamics, also
termed nonequilibrium thermodynamics, offers a basis
H hydraulic head for such a description. Furthermore, if the terms are
E electrical potential properly formulated, then Onsagers reciprocal rela-
C chemical concentration tions apply, that is,
Lij coupling coefcients; the rst subscript
indicates the ow type and the second de-
hte
notes the type of driving force Lij Lji (9.65)
If there are no chemical concentration differences and the number of coefcients to be determined is sig-
across the system, then the last terms on the right-hand nicantly reduced. In addition, the derived forms for
side of Eqs. (9.60), (9.61), and (9.62) do not exist. In the coupling coefcients, when cast in terms of meas-
rig
this case, Eqs. (9.60) and (9.61) become, when written urable and understood properties, provide a basis for
in more familiar terms, rapid assessment of their importance.
The theory of irreversible thermodynamics as ap-
plied to transport processes in soils is only outlined
qw khih keie (9.63) here. More comprehensive treatments are given by
py
I hih eie (9.64) DeGroot and Mazur (1962), Fitts (1962), Katchalsky
and Curran (1967), Greenberg, et al. (1973), Yeung
and Mitchell (1992), and Malusis and Shackelford
where kh hydraulic conductivity (2002a).
ke electroosmotic hydraulic conductivity
Co
Irreversible thermodynamics is a phenomenological,

h electrical conductivity due to hydraulic macroscopic theory that provides a basis for descrip-
ow
e electrical conductivity
ih hydraulic gradient
7
ie electrical potential gradient Note that unless the ends of the sample are short circuited to prevent
the development of a streaming potential, there will be a small elec-
troosmotic counterow contributed by the keie term in Eq. (9.63).
Streaming potentials may be up to a few tens of millivolts in soils.
If permeability tests are done in the absence of an Streaming potential is one of four types of electrokinetic phenomena
electrical potential difference, then the hydraulic con- that may exist in soils, as discussed in more detail in Section 9.16.

SIMULTANEOUS FLOWS OF WATER, CURRENT, AND CHEMICALS 279
tion of systems that are out of equilibrium. It is based in the formulation of the ow equations. And # is also
on three postulates, namely, the sum of products of uxes and driving forces:
1. Local equilibrium, a criterion that is satised if

JX
n
local perturbations are not large. # i i (9.69)

i1
2. Linear phenomenological equations, that is,
The units of # are energy per unit time, and it is a
L X
n
Ji ( j 1,2, . . . , n) (9.66) measure of the rate of local free energy dissipation by
ij j
j1 irreversible processes.
Application of the thermodynamic theory of irre-
versible processes requires the following steps:
l
3. Validity of the Onsager reciprocal relations, a
ria
condition that is satised if the Ji and Xj are for- 1. Finding the dissipation function # for the ows
mulated properly (Onsager, 1931a, 1931b). Ex- 2. Dening the conjugated ows Ji and driving
perimental verication of the Onsager reciprocity forces Xi from Eq. (9.69)
for many systems and processes has been ob- 3. Formulating the phenomenological equations in
tained and is summarized by Miller (1960). the form of Eq. (9.66)
ate
4. Applying the Onsager reciprocal relations
Both the driving forces and ows vanish in systems
5. Relating the phenomenological coefcients to
that are in equilibrium, so the deviations of thermo-
measurable quantities
dynamic variables from their equilibrium values pro-
vide a suitable basis for their formulation. The When the Onsager reciprocity is used, the number
deviations of the state parameters Ai from equilibrium of independent coefcients Lij reduces from n2 to
are given by
dM [(n 1)n]/2.
i Ai A 0i (9.67) Application
The quantitative analysis and prediction of ows
where A 0i is the value of the state parameter at equilib- through soils, for a given set of boundary conditions,
rium and Ai is its value in the disturbed state. depends on the values of the various phenomenological
hte
Criteria for deriving the forces and ows are then coefcients in the above ow equations. Unfortunately,
developed on the basis of the second law of thermo- these are not always known with certainty, and they
dynamics, which states that at equilibrium, the entropy may vary over wide ranges, even within an apparently
S is a maximum, and i 0. The change in entropy homogeneous soil mass. The direct ow coefcients,
S that results from a change in state parameter gives that is, the hydraulic, electrical, and thermal conduc-
the tendency for a variable to change. Thus S/ i is tivities, and the diffusion coefcient, exhibit the
rig
a measure of the force causing i to change, and is greatest ranges of values. Thus, it is important to ex-
called Xi. amine these properties rst before detailed analysis of
The ows Ji, termed uxes in irreversible thermo- coupled ow contributions. For many problems, it may
dynamics, are given by i / t, the time derivative of be sufcient to consider only the direct ows, provided
py
i. On this basis, the resulting entropy production the factors inuencing their values are fully appreci-
per unit time becomes ated.
JX
n
dS
(9.68) 9.11 SIMULTANEOUS FLOWS OF WATER,
Co
i i
dt i1
CURRENT, AND CHEMICALS
The entropy production can be related explicitly to Use of irreversible thermodynamics for the description
various irreversible processes in terms of proper forces of coupled ows as developed above is straightforward
and uxes (Gray, 1966; Yeung and Mitchell, 1992). If in principle; however, it becomes progressively more
the choices satisfy Eq. (9.68), then the Onsager reci- difcult in application as the numbers of driving forces
procity relations apply. and different ow types increase. This is because of
It has been found more useful to use # T, the (1) the need for proper specication of the different
dissipation function, in which T is temperature, than coupling coefcients and (2) the need for independent

methods for their measurement. Thus, the analysis of

coupled hydraulic and electrical ows or of coupled
hydraulic and chemical ows is much simpler than the
analysis of a system subjected to electrical, chemical,
and hydraulic gradients simultaneously. Relationships
for the volume ow rate of water for several cases and
for thermoelectric and thermoosmotic coupling in sat-
urated soils are given by Gray (1966, 1969). The si-
multaneous ows of liquid and charge in kaolinite and
the uid volume ow rates under hydraulic, electric,
and chemical gradients were studied by Olsen (1969,
l
1972). The theory for coupled salt and water ows was
ria
developed by Greenberg (1971) and applied to ows
in a groundwater basin (Greenberg et al., 1973) and to
chemicoosmotic consolidation of clay (Mitchell et al.,
1973).
ate
Equations for the simultaneous ows of water, elec- Figure 9.21 Schematic diagram of system for analysis of
tricity, cations, and anions under hydraulic, electrical, simultaneous ows of water, electricity, and ions through a
and chemical gradients were formulated by Yeung soil.
(1990) using the formalism of irreversible thermody-
namics as outlined previously. The detailed develop-
ment is given by Yeung and Mitchell (1993). The
dM Jv L11(P) L12(E) L13(cc)
results are given here. The chemical ow is separated
into its anionic and cationic components in order to L14(ca) (9.71)
permit determination of their separate movements as a
function of time. This separation may be important in I L21(P) L22(E) L23(cc)
some problems, such as chemical transport through the
L24(ca) (9.72)
ground, where the fate of a particular ionic species, a
hte
heavy metal, for example, is of interest. Jcd L31(P) L32(E) L33(cc)

The analysis applies to an initially homogeneous soil
mass that separates solutions of different concentra- L34(ca) (9.73)
tions of anions and cations, at different electrical po- Jad L41(P) L42(E) L43(cc)
tentials and under different hydraulic heads, as shown
schematically in Fig. 9.21. Only one anion and one L44(ca) (9.74)
rig
cation species are assumed to be present, and no ad-

sorption or desorption reactions are occurring. These equations contain 4 conductivity coefcients Lii
The driving forces are the hydraulic gradient (P), and 12 coupling coefcients Lij. As a result of Onsager
the electrical gradient (E), and the concentration- reciprocity, however, the number of independent cou-
py
dependent parts of the chemical potential gradients of pling coefcients reduces because
the cation (cc) and of the anion (ca). The uxes
are the volume ow rate of the solution per unit area L12 L21
Jv, the electric current I, and the diffusion ow rates
of the cation Jdc and the anion Jda per unit area relative L13 L31
Co
to the ow of water. These diffusion ows are related

L14 L41
to the absolute ows according to
L23 L32
Ji Jid ci Jv (9.70) L24 L42
L34 L43
in which ci is the concentration of ion i. The set of
phenomenological equations that relates the four ows Thus there are 10 independent coefcients needed
and driving forces is for a full description of hydraulic, electrical, anionic,

SIMULTANEOUS FLOWS OF WATER, CURRENT, AND CHEMICALS 281
and cationic ows through a system subjected to hy- e bulk electrical conductivity of the soil
draulic, electrical, and chemical gradients. If three of " coefcient of osmotic efciency
the four forces can be set equal to zero during a mea- w unit weight of water
surement of the ow under the fourth force, then the cc concentration of cation
ratio of the ow rate to that force will give the value ca concentration of anion
of its corresponding Lij. However, such measurements u*c effective ionic mobility of the cation
are not always possible or convenient. Accordingly, u*a effective ionic mobility of the anion
two forces and one ow are usually set to zero and the D*c effective diffusion coefcient of the cation
appropriate Lij are evaluated by solution of simultane- D*a effective diffusion coefcient of the anion
ous equations. For measurements of hydraulic conduc- n soil porosity
tivity, electroosmotic hydraulic conductivity, electrical R universal gas constant (8.314 J K1 mol1)
l
conductivity, osmotic efciency, and effective diffusion T absolute temperature (K)
ria
coefcients done in the usual manner in geotechnical
and chemical laboratories, the detailed application of Subsequently, Manassero and Dominijanni (2003)
irreversible thermodynamic theory led Yeung (1990) pointed out that the practical equations for diffusion
and Yeung and Mitchell (1993) to the following de- L33 and L44 do not take the osmotic efciency " (Sec-
nitions for the Lij. It was assumed in the derivations
ate
tion 9.13) into account, so Eqs. (9.82) and (9.84) more
that the solution is dilute and there are no interactions properly should be
between cations and anions.8
k L L
L11 h 12 21
wn L22
(9.75) L33 cc (1 ")D*
RT
c c k"2
c
wn (9.85)

L12 L21
dM ke
(9.76) L44 ca
(1 ")D*
a c k"2
a (9.86)
n RT wn
"cckh L L
L13 L31 12 23 (9.77) This modication becomes important in clays wherein
wn L22
osmotic efciency, that is, the ability of the clay to
"cakh L L restrict the ow of ions, is high.
hte
L14 L41 12 24 (9.78) As the ows of ions relative to the soil are of more
wn L22
interest than relative to the water, Eq. (9.70) and Eqs.
e (9.73) and (9.74) can be combined to give
L22 (9.79)
n
L23 L32 ccu* (9.80) Jc (L31 ccL11) w(h) (L32 ccL12)(E)
rig
L24 L42 cau*a (9.81) RT

(L33 ccL13) (cc)
cc
D*
c cc
L33 (9.82) RT
RT (L34 ccL14) (ca) (9.87)
py
ca
L34 L43 0 (9.83)
D*
a ca Ja (L41 caL11) w(h) (L42 caL12)(E)
L44 (9.84)
RT
Co
RT
(L43 caL13) (cc)
where kh hydraulic conductivity as usually mea- cc
sured (no electrical short circuiting)
RT
ke coefcient of electroosmotic hydraulic (L44 caL14) (ca) (9.88)
conductivity ca
where (h) is the hydraulic gradient. In Eqs. (9.87)

8
The Lij coefcients in Eqs. (9.75) to (9.84) were derived in terms and (9.88) the gradient of the chemical potential has
of the cross-sectional area of the soil voids. They may be redened
in terms of the total cross-sectional area by multiplying each term been replaced by the gradient of the concentration ac-
on the right-hand side by the porosity, n. cording to

RT At the pore scale level, the uid particles carrying dis-

(ci ) (ci) (9.89) solved chemicals move at different speeds because of
ci
tortuous ow paths around the soil grains and variable
These equations reduce to the known solutions for velocity distribution in the pores, ranging from zero at
special cases such as chemical diffusion, advection the soil particle surfaces to a maximum along the cen-
dispersion, osmotic pressure according to the vant terline of the pore. This results in hydrodynamic dis-
Hoff equation [see Eq. (9.98)], osmosis, and ultra- persion and a zone of mixing rather than a sharp
ltration. They predict reasonably well the distribution boundary between two owing solutions of different
of single cations and anions as a function of time and concentrations. Mathematically, this is accounted for
position in compacted clay during the simultaneous ap- by adding a dispersion term to the diffusion coefcient
plication of hydraulic, electrical, and chemical gradi- in the L33 and L44 terms to account for the deviation
l
ents (Mitchell and Yeung, 1990). of actual motion of uid particles from the overall or
ria
The analysis of multicomponent systems is more average movement described by Darcys law. More de-
complex. The use of averaged chemical properties and tails can be found in groundwater and contamination
the assumption of composite single species of anions textbooks such as Freeze and Cherry (1979) and Dom-
and cations may yield reasonable approximate solu- inico and Schwartz (1997).
Numerical models are available for groundwater
ate
tions in some cases. Malusis and Shackelford (2002a)
present a more general theory for coupled chemical ow and contaminant transport into which the above
and hydraulic ow, based on an extension of the Yeung ow equations can be introduced (e.g., Anderson and
and Mitchell (1993) formulation, which accounts for Woessner, 1992; Zheng and Bennett, 2002). The most
multicomponent pore uids and ion exchange proc- widely used groundwater ow numerical code is
esses occurring during transport.9
dM MODFLOW developed by the United States Geolog-
The ow equations can be incorporated into numerical Survey (USGS); various updated versions are
ical models for the solution of transient ow problems. available (e.g., Harbaugh et al., 2000). To solve
Conservation of mass of species i requires that single-species contaminant transport problems in
groundwater, MT3DMS (Zheng and Wang, 1999) can
ci be used. The code utilizes the ow solutions from
Ji Gi (9.90) MODFLOW. More complex multispecies reactions can
t
be simulated by RT3D (Clement, 1997). POLLUTE
hte
(Rowe and Booker, 1997) provides one- and one-

in which Gi is a sourcesink term describing the ad- half-dimensional solution to the advectiondispersion
dition or removal rate of species i from the solution. equation and is widely used in landll design. A va-
As commonly used in groundwater ow analyses of riety of public domain groundwater ow and contam-
contaminant transport, Gi is given by inant transport codes is available from the web sites of

the USGS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
rig
Kd Kd ci (U.S. EPA), and the U.S. Salinity Laboratory.
Gi 1 ici (9.90a)
n n t
where i is the decay constant of species i, is the

9.12 ELECTROKINETIC PHENOMENA
py
bulk dry density of the soil, Kd is the distribution co-

efcient, and n is the soil porosity. As dened previ- Coupling between electrical and hydraulic ows and
ously, the distribution constant is the ratio of the gradients can generate four related electrokinetic phe-
amount of chemical adsorbed on the soil to that in nomena in materials such as ne-grained soils, where
solution. The quantity in the brackets on the right-hand
Co
there are charged particles balanced by mobile coun-

side of Eq. (9.90) is the retardation factor Rd dened tercharges. Each involves relative movements of elec-
by Eq. (9.56). tricity, charged surfaces, and liquid phases, as shown
Advection rather than diffusion is the dominant schematically in Fig. 9.22.
chemical transport mechanism in coarse-grained soils.
Electroosmosis
9
When an electrical potential is applied across a wet
Malusis and Shackelford (2002a) dened parameters in terms of the
total cross-sectional area for ow rather than the cross-sectional area soil mass, cations are attracted to the cathode and an-
of voids as used in the development of Eqs. (9.75) through (9.84). ions to the anode (Fig. 9.22a). As ions migrate, they

ELECTROKINETIC PHENOMENA 283
l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 9.22 Electrokinetic phenomena: (a) electroosmosis, (b) streaming potential, (c) elec-
trophoresis, and (d) migration or sedimentation potential.
hte
carry their water of hydration and exert a viscous drag of the electrodes and repelled from the other. Nega-
on the water around them. Since there are more mobile tively charged clay particles move toward the anode as
cations than anions in a soil containing negatively shown in Fig. 9.22c. This is called electrophoresis.
charged clay particles, there is a net water ow toward Electrophoresis involves discrete particle transport
the cathode. This ow is termed electroosmosis, and through water; electroosmosis involves water transport
rig
its magnitude depends on ke, the coefcient of elec- through a continuous soil particle network.
troosmotic hydraulic conductivity and the voltage gra-
dient, as considered in more detail later. Migration or Sedimentation Potential
The movement of charged particles such as clay rela-
py
Streaming Potential
tive to a solution, as during gravitational settling, for
When water ows through a soil under a hydraulic example, generates a potential difference, as shown in
gradient (Fig. 9.22b), double-layer charges are dis- Fig. 9.22d. This is caused by the viscous drag of the
placed in the direction of ow. This generates an elec- water that retards the movement of the diffuse layer
Co
trical potential difference that is proportional to the cations relative to the particles.
hydraulic ow rate, called the streaming potential, be- Of the four electrokinetic phenomena, electroos-
tween the opposite ends of the soil mass. Streaming mosis has been given the most attention in geotechni-
potentials up to several tens of millivolts have been cal engineering because of its practical value for
measured in clays. transporting water in ne-grained soils. It has been
used for dewatering, soft ground consolidation, grout
Electrophoresis injection, and the containment and extraction of chem-
If a DC eld is placed across a colloidal suspension, icals in the ground. These applications are considered
charged particles are attracted electrostatically to one in a later section.

9.13 TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS AND THE

IMPORTANCE OF COUPLED FLOWS I
ke w
n
ih
e
n e
i (9.93)
To assess conditions where coupled chemical, electri-

cal, and hydraulic ows will be signicant relative to For chemical ow relative to the soil:
direct ows, it is necessary to know the values of the
Lij relative to the Lii. Estimates can be made by con-
sidering the probable values of the soil state parameters
and the several ow and transport coefcients given in
Jc
(1 ")ckh ck2e w
n

ne
ih
cke
n e
i
Eqs. (9.75) to (9.84). Typical ranges are given in Table

9.5.
D*
"ckh
n w
RT ic (9.94)
l
In Table 9.5 the diffusion coefcients and ionic mo-
ria
bilities for cations and anions are considered together
since they lie within similar ranges for most species. Coupling Inuences on Hydraulic Flow
Values of ionic mobility for specic ions in dilute so- In the absence of applied electrical and chemical gra-
lution are given in standard chemical references, for dients, ow under a hydraulic gradient is given by the
example, Dean (1973), and values of diffusion coef- rst bracketed term on the right-hand side of Eq.
ate
cients are given in Tables 9.3 and 9.4. Ionic mobility (9.92). It contains the quantity k2e w /ne, which com-
is related to the diffusion coefcient according to pensates for the electroosmotic counterow generated
by the streaming potential, which causes the measured
DiziF value of kh to be slightly less than the true value of
ui (9.91)
dM RT L11.
As it is not usual practice to short-circuit between
in which zi is the ionic valence and F is Faradays the ends of samples during hydraulic conductivity test-
constant. Similarly to the diffusion coefcients, the ing, the second bracketed term on the right-hand side
ionic mobilities are considerably less in a soil than in of Eq. (9.92) is not zero. This term represents an elec-
a free solution, especially in a ne-grained soil. troosmotic counterow that results from the streaming
The importance of coupled ows to uid, electrical potential and acts in the direction opposite to the hy-
current, and chemical transport through soil under dif- draulically driven ow. Analysis based on the values
hte
ferent conditions can be examined by study of the con- of properties in Table 9.5, as well as the results of
tributions of the different terms in Eqs. (9.71), (9.72), measurements, for example, Michaels and Lin (1954)
(9.87), and (9.88). For this purpose, the equations have and Olsen (1962) show that this counterow is negli-
been rewritten in one-dimensional form and in terms gible in most cases, but it may become signicant rel-
of the hydraulic, electrical, and chemical concentration ative to the true hydraulic conductivity for soils of very
gradients: ih dh/dx, ie dV/dx, and ic dc/ low hydraulic conductivity, for example, kh 1
rig
dx, respectively. In addition, the chemical ows have 1010 m/s. For example, for a value of ke of 5 109
been represented by a single equation. This assumes m2 /s-V, an electrical conductivity of 0.01 mho/m, and
that all dissolved species are moving together. Terms a porosity of 35 percent, the counterow term is 0.7
involving the ionic mobility u do not exist in such a 1010 m/s.
py
formulation because the cations and anions move to- In the presence of an applied DC eld the second
gether, with the effects of electrical elds assumed to bracketed term on the right-hand side of Eq. (9.92) can
accelerate the slower moving ions and to retard the be very large relative to hydraulic ow in soils ner
faster moving ions. Thus there is no net transfer of than silts, as ke, which typically ranges within only
electric charge due to ionic movement. The Lij coef- narrow limits, is large relative to kh; that is, kh is less
Co
cients have been replaced by the physical and chemical than 1 108 m/s in these soils. The relative effect-
quantities that determine them, as given by Eqs. (9.74) iveness of hydraulic and electrical driving forces for
through (9.85). The resulting equations are the follow- water movement can be assessed by comparing gra-
ing. For uid ow: dients needed to give equal ow rates. They will be
equal if
Jv kh
n
k2
k
e w ih e ie RT
en n
"kh
i
wn c keie khih (9.95)
(9.92)
The hydraulic gradient required to balance the elec-
For electrical current ow: troosmotic ow then becomes

TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF COUPLED FLOWS 285
ke
ih i (9.96)
kh e
As the hydraulic conductivity of soils in which elec-

troosmosis is likely to be used is usually of the order
of 1 109 m/s or less, whereas ke is in the range of
1 109 to 1 108 m2 /s V, it follows that even
small electrical gradients can balance ows caused by
large hydraulic gradients. Because of this, and because
ke is insensitive to particle size while kh decreases rap-
idly with decreasing particle size, electroosmosis is ef-
l
fective in ne-grained soils, as discussed further in
ria
Section 9.15.
Chemically driven hydraulic ow is given by the last
Figure 9.23 Theoretical values of osmotic pressure as a
term on the right-hand side of Eq. (9.92). It depends
function of concentration difference across a clay layer for
primarily on the osmotic efciency ". Osmotic ef- different values of osmotic efciency coefcient, ". (T
ate
ciency has an important inuence on the movement of 20C).
chemicals through a soil, the development of osmotic
pressure, and the effectiveness of clay barriers for
chemical waste containment.
Osmotic Efciency The osmotic efciency of clay, Values of osmotic efciency coefcient, ", or
a slurry wall, a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL), or other
dM membrane efciency (" expressed as a percentage),
seepage and containment barrier is a measure of the have been measured for clays and geosynthetic clay
materials effectiveness in causing hydraulic ow un- liners; for example, Kemper and Rollins (1966), Letey
der an osmotic pressure gradient and of its ability to et al. (1969), Olsen (1969), Kemper and Quirk (1972),
act as a semipermeable membrane in preventing the Bresler (1973), Elrick et al. (1976), Barbour and Fred-
passage of ions, while allowing the passage of water. lund (1989), and Malusis and Shackelford (2002b,
The osmotic pressure concept can be better appreciated 2002c). Values of membrane efciency from 0 to 100
by rewriting the last term in Eq. (9.92): percent have been determined, depending on the clay
hte
type, porosity, and type and concentration of salts in

kh k RT c 1 solution. The results of many determinations were
" RTic " h (9.97)
wn n w x summarized by Bresler (1973) as shown in Fig. 9.24.
The efciency is shown as a function of a normalizing
This form is analogous to Darcys law, with the quan- parameter, the half distance between particles b times
the square root of the solution concentration c.
rig
tity RT c/ w being the head difference. The osmotic

efciency is a measure of the extent to which this the- To put these relations into more familiar terms for
oretical pressure difference actually develops. Theo- use in geotechnical studies, the half spacings were con-
retical values of osmotic pressure, calculated using the verted to water contents on the assumption of uniform
vant Hoff equation, as a function of concentration dif- water layer thicknesses on all particles, using specic
py
ference for different values of osmotic efciency are surface areas corresponding to different clay types and
shown in Fig. 9.23. noting that volumetric water content equals surface
The vant Hoff equation for osmotic pressure is area times layer thickness. The relationship between
specic surface area and liquid limit (LL) obtained by
(n
Co
kT niB) RT(ciA ciB) (9.98) Farrar and Coleman (1967) for 19 British clays
iA
where k is the Boltzmann constant (gas constant per LL 19 0.56As (20%) (9.99)
molecule), R is the gas constant per molecule, T is the
absolute temperature, ni is concentration in particles in which the specic surface area As is in square meters
per unit volume, and ci is the molar concentration. The per gram, was then used to obtain the relationships
vant Hoff equation applies for ideal and relatively di- shown in Fig. 9.25. The computed efciencies shown
lute solution concentrations (Malusis and Shackelford, in Fig. 9.25 should be considered upper bounds be-
2002c). According to Fritz (1986) the error is low cause the assumption of uniform water distribution
(5%) for 11 electrolytes (e.g., NaCl, KCl) and con- over the full surface area underestimates the effective
centrations 1.0 M. particle spacing in most cases. In most clays, espe-

concentrations on the inside of a lined repository

should be greater than on the outside, osmotically
driven water ow should be directed from the outside
toward the inside. The greater the osmotic efciency
the greater the driving force for this ow. Furthermore,
if the efciency is high, then outward diffusion of con-
tained chemicals is restricted (Malusis and Shack-
elford, 2002b). In diffusion-dominated containment
barriers, the effect of solute restriction on reducing sol-
ute diffusion is likely substantially more signicant
than the effect of osmotic ow (Shackelford et al.,
l
2001).
ria
Coupling Inuences on Electrical Flow
Substitution of values for the parameters in Eq. (9.93)
indicates, as would be expected, that electrical current
ate
ow is dominated completely by the electrical gradient
ie. In the presence of an applied voltage difference, the
other terms are of little importance, even if the move-
ments of anions and cations are considered separately
and the contributions due to ionic mobility are taken
dM into account. On the other hand, when a soil layer be-
haves as an open electrical circuit, small electrical po-
tentials, measured in millivolts, may exist if there are
hydraulic and/or chemical ows. This may be seen by
setting I 0 in Eq. (9.93) and solving for ie, which
must have value if ih has value. These small potentials
Figure 9.24 Osmotic efciency coefcient as a function of and ows are important in such processes as corrosion
bc where c is concentration of monovalent anion in nor- and electroosmotic counterow.
hte
mality and 2b is the effective spacing between particle sur-

faces (from Bresler, 1973). Coupling Inuences on Chemical Flow
Equation (9.94) provides a description of chemical
transport relative to the soil. It contains two terms that
cially those with divalent adsorbed cations, individual inuence chemical ow under a hydraulic gradient;
rig
clay plates associate in clusters giving an effective spe- one for chemical transport under an electrical gradient,
cic surface that is less than that determined by most and one for transport of chemical under a chemical
methods of measurement. This means that the curves gradient. The rst term in the rst bracket of the right-
in Fig. 9.25 should in reality be displaced to the left. hand side of Eq. (9.94) describes advective transport.
High osmotic efciencies are developed at low water As would be expected, the smaller the osmotic ef-
py
contents, that is, in very dense, low-porosity clays, and ciency, the more chemical ow through the soil is pos-
in dilute electrolyte systems. Malusis and Shackelford sible. The second term in the same bracket simply
(2002a, 2002b, 2002c) found that the osmotic ef- reects the advective ow reduction that would result
ciency decreases with increasing solute concentration from electroosmotic counterow caused by develop-
Co
and attribute this to compression of the diffuse double ment of a streaming potential. As noted earlier, this
layers adjacent to the clay particles. ow will be small, and its contribution to the total ow
Water ow by osmosis can be signicant relative to will be small, except in clays of very low hydraulic
hydraulically driven water ow in heavily overconsol- and electrical conductivities. Advective transport is the
idated clay and clay shale, where the void ratio is low dominant means for chemical ow for soils having a
and the hydraulic conductivity is also very low. Such hydraulic conductivity greater than about 1 109
ow may be important in geological processes (Olsen m/s.
1969, 1972). Densely compacted clay barriers for The importance of an electrical driving force for
waste containment, usually composed of bentonite, chemical ow depends on the electrical potential gra-
possess osmotic membrane properties. As the chemical dient. For a unit gradient, that is, 1 V/m, chemical ow

TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF COUPLED FLOWS 287
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 9.25 Osmotic efciency of clays as a function of water content.

rig
quantities are comparable to those by advective ow der conditions where the value of " is low such that
under a unit hydraulic gradient in a clay having a hy- the second term in the bracket is negligible, chemical
draulic conductivity of about 1 109 m/s. Electri- transport by diffusion is signicant relative to advec-
cally driven chemical ow is relatively less important tive chemical transport in soils with hydraulic conduc-
py
in higher permeability soils and more important in tivity values less than about 1 109 to 1 1010
soils with lower kh. In cases where the electrically m/s for chemicals with diffusion coefcients in the
driven chemical transport is of interest, as in electro- range given by Table 9.7, that is, 2 1010 to 2
kinetic waste containment barrier applications, anion, 109 m2 /s.
Co
cation, and nonionic chemical ows must be consid- This is illustrated by Fig. 9.26 from Shackelford
ered separately using expanded relationships such as (1988), which shows the relative importance of advec-
given by Eqs. (9.87) and (9.88). tive and diffusive chemical ows on the transit time
The last bracketed quantity of Eq. (9.94) represents through a 0.91-m-thick compacted clay liner having a
diffusive ow under chemical gradients. The quantity porosity of 0.5 acted on by a hydraulic gradient of
D*ic gives the normal diffusive ow rate. The second 1.33. A diffusion coefcient of 6 1010 m2 /s was
term represents a restriction on this ow that depends assumed. The transit time is dened as the time re-
on the clays osmotic efciency, "; that is, if the clay quired for the solute concentration on the discharge
acts as an effective semipermeable membrane, diffu- side to reach 50 percent of that on the upstream side.
sive ow of chemicals is restricted. However, even un- For hydraulic conductivity values less than about 2

term stability of clay liners are discussed by Mitchell

and Jaber (1990).
Rigid wall, exible wall, and consolidometer per-
meameters are used for compatibility testing in the lab-
oratory. These three types of test apparatus are shown
schematically in Fig. 9.27. Tests done in a rigid wall
system overestimate hydraulic conductivity whenever
chemicalclay interactions cause shrinkage and crack-
ing; however, a rigid wall system is well suited for
qualitative determination of whether or not there may
be adverse interactions. In the exible wall system the
l
lateral conning pressure prevents cracks from open-
ria
Figure 9.26 Transit times for chemical ow through a 0.91-
ing; thus there is risk of underestimating the hydraulic
m-thick compacted clay liner having a porosity of 50 percent conductivity of some soils. The consolidometer per-
and acted on by a hydraulic gradient of 1.33 (from Shack- meameter system allows for testing clays under a range
elford, 1988). of overburden stress states that are representative of
ate
those in the eld and for quantitative assessment of the
effects of chemical interactions on volume stability and
hydraulic conductivity. More details of these perme-
109 m/s the transit time in the absence of diffusion ameters are given by Daniel (1994).
would be very long. For diffusion alone the transit time
The effects of chemicals on the hydraulic conduc-
would be about 47 years. dM tivity of high water content clays such as used in slurry
Most compacted clay barriers and geosynthetic clay
walls are likely to be much greater than on lower water
liners are likely to have hydraulic conductivity values
content, high-density clays as used in compacted clay
in the range of 1 1011 to 1 109 m/s, with the
liners. This is because of the greater particle mobility
latter value being the upper limit allowed by the U.S.
and easier opportunity for fabric changes in a higher
EPA for most waste containment applications. In this
water content system. A high compactive effort or an
range, diffusion reduces the transit time signicantly
in comparison to what it would be due to advection effective conning stress greater than about 70 kPa can
make properly compacted clay invulnerable to attack
hte
alone. This is shown by the curve labeled advection

dispersion in Fig. 9.26. The calculations were done by concentrated organic chemicals (Broderick and
using the well-known advectiondispersion equation Daniel, 1990). However, it is not always possible to
(Ogata and Banks, 1961) in which the dispersion term ensure high-density compaction or to maintain high
includes both mechanical mixing and diffusion. Me- conning pressures, or eliminate all construction de-
chanical mixing is negligible in low-permeability ma- fects, so it is useful to know the general effects of
rig
terials such as compacted clay. different types of chemicals on hydraulic conductivity.

The inuences of inorganic chemicals on hydraulic
conductivity are consistent with (1) their effects on the
9.14 COMPATIBILITYEFFECTS OF double-layer and interparticle forces in relation to oc-
CHEMICAL FLOWS ON PROPERTIES culation, dispersion, shrinkage, and swelling, (2) their
py
effects on surface and edge charges on particles and

Chemical Compatibility and Hydraulic Conductivity the inuences of these charges on occulation and de-
The compatibility between waste chemicals, especially occulation, and (3) their effects on pH.
liquid organics, and compacted clay liners and slurry Acids can dissolve carbonates, iron oxides, and the
Co
wall barriers constructed to contain them must be con- alumina octahedral layers of clay minerals. Bases can
sidered in the design of waste containment barriers. dissolve silica tetrahedral layers, and to a lesser extent,
Numerous studies have been done to evaluate chemical alumina octahedral layers of clay minerals. Removal
effects on clay hydraulic conductivity because of fears of dissolved material can cause increases in hydraulic
that prolonged exposure may compromise the integrity conductivity, whereas precipitation can clog pores and
of the liners and barriers and because tests have shown reduce hydraulic conductivity.
that under some conditions clay can shrink and crack The most important factors controlling the effects of
when permeated by certain classes of chemicals. Sum- organic chemicals on hydraulic conductivity are (1)
maries of the results of chemical compatibility studies water solubility, (2) dielectric constant, (3) polarity,
are given by Mitchell and Madsen (1987) and Quigley and (4) whether or not the soil is exposed to the pure
and Fernandez (1989), and factors controlling the long- organic or a dilute solution. Exposure of clay barriers

COMPATIBILITYEFFECTS OF CHEMICAL FLOWS ON PROPERTIES 289
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 9.27 Three types of permeameter for compatibility testing: (a) rigid wall, (b) exible
wall, and (c) consolidometer permeameter (from Day, 1984).
rig
to water-insoluble pure or concentrated organics is 3. Many water-insoluble organic liquids (i.e., non-
likely only in the case of spills, leaking tanks, and with aquoues-phase liquids, NAPLs) can cause shrink-
py
dense non-aqueous-phase liquids (DNAPLs) or sink- age and cracking of clays, with concurrent
ers that accumulate above low spots in liners. Some increases in hydraulic conductivity.
general conclusions about the inuences of organics 4. Hydraulic conductivity increases caused by per-
on the hydraulic conductivity are: meation by organics are partly reversible when
water is reintroduced as the permeant.
Co
1. Solutions of organic compounds having a low 5. Concentrated hydrophobic compounds (like

solubility in water, such as hydrocarbons, have many NAPLs) permeate soils through cracks and
no large effect on the hydraulic conductivity. This macropores. Water remains within mini- and mi-
is in contrast to dilute solutions of inorganic com- cropores.
pounds that may have signicant effects as a 6. Hydrophilic compounds permeate the soil more
result of their inuence on occulation and dis- uniformly than NAPLs, as the polar molecules
persion of the clay particles. can replace the water in hydration layers of the
2. Water-soluble organics, such as simple alcohols cations and are more readily adsorbed on particle
and ketones, have no effect on hydraulic conduc- surfaces.
tivity at concentrations less than about 75 to 80 7. Organic acids can dissolve carbonates and iron
percent. oxides. Buffering of the acid can lead to precip-

itation and pore clogging downstream. However, ative to that measured with water. The decreases in
after long time periods these precipitates may be hydraulic conductivity for dioxane concentrations up
redissolved and removed, thus leading to an in- to 70 percent can be accounted for in terms of uid
crease in hydraulic conductivity. density and viscosity, as may be seen in Fig. 9.28b
8. Pure bases can cause a large increase in the hy- where the intrinsic values of permeability are shown.
draulic conductivity, whereas concentrations at or As noted earlier in this chapter, the intrinsic permea-
below the solubility limit in water have no effect. bility is dened by K k / .
9. Organic acids do not cause large-scale dissolu- Although many chemicals do not have signicant
tion of clay particles. effect on the hydraulic conductivity of clay barriers,
this does not mean that they will not be transported
The combined effects of conning pressure and con- through clay. Unless adsorbed by the clay or by or-
l
centration, as well as permeant density and viscosity, ganic matter, the chemicals will be transported by ad-
ria
are illustrated by Fig. 9.28 (Fernandez and Quigley, vection and diffusion. Furthermore, the actual transit
1988). The data are for water-compacted, brown Sarnia time through a barrier by advection, that is, the time
clay permeated by solutions of dioxane in domestic for chemicals moving with the seepage water, may be
landll leachate. Increased hydrocarbon concentration far less than estimated using the conventional seepage
caused a decrease in hydraulic conductivity up to con- velocity. The seepage velocity is usually dened as the
ate
centrations of about 70 percent, after which the hy- Darcy velocity khih, divided by the total porosity n. In
draulic conductivity increased by about three orders of systems with unequal pore sizes the ow is almost to-
magnitude for pure dioxane (Fig. 9.28a), for samples tally through mini- and macropores, which comprise
that were unconned by a vertical stress (v 0). On the effective porosity ne, which may be much less than
the other hand, the data points for samples maintained
dM the total porosity. Thus effective compaction of clay
under a vertical conning stress of 160 kPa indicated barriers must break down clods and aggregates to de-
no effect of the dioxane on hydraulic conductivity rel- crease the effective pore size and increase the propor-
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 9.28 (a) Hydraulic conductivity and (b) intrinsic permeability of compacted Sarnia
clay permeated with leachatedioxane mixtures. Initial tests run using water () followed by
leachatechemical solution (). (from Fernandez and Quigley, 1988). Reproduced with per-
mission from the National Research Council of Canada.

ELECTROOSMOSIS 291
tion of the porosity that is effective porosity, thereby charges of one sign on or near the surface of the wall
increasing the transit time. and countercharges concentrated in a layer in the liquid
a small distance from the wall, as shown in Fig. 9.29.10
The mobile shell of counterions is assumed to drag
9.15 ELECTROOSMOSIS water through the capillary by plug ow. There is a
high-velocity gradient between the two plates of the
The coefcient of electroosmotic hydraulic conductiv- condenser as shown.
ity ke denes the hydraulic ow velocity under a unit The rate of water ow is controlled by the balance
electrical gradient. Measurement of ke is made by de- between the electrical force causing water movement
termination of the ow rate of water through a soil and friction between the liquid and the wall. If v is the
sample of known length and cross section under a ow velocity and is the distance between the wall
l
known electrical gradient. Alternatively, a null indicat- and the center of the plane of mobile charge, then the
ria
ing system may be used or it may be deduced from a velocity gradient between the wall and the center of
streaming potential measurement. From experience it positive charge is v / ; thus, the drag force per unit
is known that ke is generally in the range of 1 109 area is dv /dx v / , where is the viscosity. The
to 1 108 m2 /s V (m/s per V/m) and that it is of force per unit area from the electrical eld is E/
the same order of magnitude for most soil types, as L, where is the surface charge density and E/ L
ate
may be seen by the values for different soils and a is the electrical potential gradient. At equilibrium
freshwater permeant given in Table 9.7.
Several theories have been proposed to explain elec-
troosmosis and to provide a basis for quantitative pre- v E
(9.100)
diction of ow rates. L
dM
Helmholtz and Smoluchowski Theory or
This theory, based on a model introduced by Helm-
holtz (1879) and rened by Smoluchowski (1914), is
one of the earliest and most widely used. A liquid- 10
A derivation using a PoissonBoltzmann distribution of counter-
lled capillary is treated as an electrical condenser with ions adjacent to the wall gives the same result.
hte
Table 9.7 Coefcients of Electroosmotic Permeability
Water ke in 105 Approximate kh

No. Material Content (%) (cm2 /s-V) (cm/s)
rig
1. London clay 52.3 5.8 108

2. Boston blue clay 50.8 5.1 108
3. Kaolin 67.7 5.7 107
4. Clayey silt 31.7 5.0 106
py
5. Rock our 27.2 4.5 107

6. Na-Montmorillonite 170 2.0 109
7. Na-Montmorillonite 2000 12.0 108
8. Mica powder 49.7 6.9 105
104
Co
9. Fine sand 26.0 4.1

10. Quartz powder 23.5 4.3 104
11. s quick clay
A 31.0 20.02.5 2.0 108
12. Bootlegger Cove clay 30.0 2.45.0 2.0 108
13. Silty clay, West Branch Dam 32.0 3.06.0 1.2 108 6.5 108
14. Clayey silt, Little Pic River, 26.0 1.5 2 105
Ontario
ke and water content data for Nos. 1 to 10 from Casagrande (1952). kh estimated by authors; no. 11
from Bjerrum et al. (1967); no. 12 from Long and George (1967); no. 13 from Fetzer (1967); no. 14
from Casagrande et al. (1961).

l
ria
Figure 9.29 HelmholtzSmoluchowski model for electrokinetic phenomena.
L D E
ate
v (9.101) qA Nqa Na (9.104b)
E L
From electrostatics, the potential across a condenser If the porosity is n, then the cross-sectional area of
is given by voids is nA, which must equal Na. Thus,
dM

(9.102) qA
D E

n
L
A (9.105)
D
where D is the relative permittivity, or dielectric con- By analogy with Darcys law we can write Eq.
stant of the pore uid. Substitution for in Eq. (9.105) as
(9.102) gives
hte
qA keie A (9.106)
v
D E
L
(9.103) in which ie is the electrical potential gradient E/ L
and ke the coefcient of electroosmotic hydraulic con-
ductivity is
The potential is termed the zeta potential. It is not
rig
the same as the surface potential of the double-layer

D
0 discussed in Chapter 6, although conditions that ke n (9.107)
give high values of 0 also give high values of zeta
potential. A common interpretation is that the actual
According to the HelmholtzSmoluchowski theory
py
slip plane in electrokinetic processes is located some

small, but unknown, distance from the surface of par- and Eq. (9.107), ke should be relatively independent of
ticles; thus should be less than 0. Values of in the pore size, and this is borne out by the values listed in
range of 0 to 50 mV are typical for clays, with the Table 9.7. This is in contrast to the hydraulic conduc-
lowest values associated with high pore water salt con- tivity kh, which varies as the square of some effective
Co
centrations. pore size. Because of this independence of pore size,

For a single capillary of area a the ow rate is electroosmosis can be more effective in moving water
through ne-grained soils than ow driven by a hy-
draulic gradient.
D E
qa va a (9.104a) This is illustrated by the following simple example.
L Consider a ne sand and a clay of hydraulic conduc-
tivity kh of 1 105 m/s and 1 1010 m/s, respec-
and for a bundle of N capillaries within total cross- tively. Both have ke values of 5 109 m2 /s V. For
sectional area A normal to the ow direction equal hydraulic ow rates khih keie, so

ELECTROOSMOSIS 293
ke E
ih i (9.108) FE A0 F0r 2 (9.112)
kh e L
If an electrical potential gradient of 20 V/m is used, where A0 is the concentration of wall charges in ionic
substitution in Eq. (9.108) shows that ih is 0.01 for the equivalents per unit volume of pore uid, and F0 is the
ne sand and 1000 for the clay. This means that a Faraday constant. Replacement of FH by FE in Eq.
hydraulic gradient of only 0.01 can move water as ef- (9.111) gives
fectively as an electrical gradient of 20 V/m in ne
sand. However, for the clay, a hydraulic gradient of r 4 E F A
qa A F 0 0 r 2iea (9.113)
1000 would be needed to offset the electroosmotic 8 0 0 L 8
ow.
l
so for a total cross section of N capillaries and area A
ria
However, it does not follow that electroosmosis will
always be an efcient means to move water in clays
because the above analysis does not take into account A0 F0r 2
qA nie A (9.114)
the power requirement to develop the potential gradient 8
of 20 V/m or energy losses in the system. These points
ate
are considered further later. This equation shows that ke should vary as r 2, whereas
the HelmholtzSmoluchowski theory leads to ke in-
Schmid Theory dependent of pore size, as previously noted. Of the two
theories, the Helmholtz gives the better results for
The HelmholtzSmoluchowski theory is essentially a
soils, perhaps because most clays have a cluster or ag-
large-pore theory because it assumes a negligible ex-
gregate structure with electroosmotic ow controlled
dM
tension of the counterion layer into the pore. Also, it
does not account for an excess of ions over those
more by the larger pores than by the intracluster pores.
needed to balance the surface charge. A model that
Spiegler Friction Model
overcomes the rst of these problems was proposed by
Schmid (1950, 1951). It can be considered a small- A completely different concept for electrokinetic proc-
pore theory. esses takes into account the interactions of the mobile
The counterions are assumed to be distributed uni- components (water and ions) on each other and of the
hte
formly throughout the uid phase in the soil. The elec- frictional interactions of these components with pore
trical force acts uniformly over the entire pore cross walls (Spiegler, 1958). This theory provides insight
section and gives the same velocity prole as shown into conditions leading to high electroosmotic ef-
by Fig. 9.29. The hydraulic ow rate through a single ciency.
capillary of radius r is given by Poiseuilles law: The assumptions include:
rig
1. Exclusion of coions,11 that is, the medium be-

r 4
haves as a perfect perm-selective membrane,
q i (9.109)
8 w h admitting ions of only one sign
2. Complete dissociation of pore uid ions
py
The hydraulic seepage force per unit length causing The following equation for electroosmotic transport
ow is of water across a ne-grained porous material contain-
ing adsorbed and free ions can be derived:
FH r 2 wih (9.110)
Co
C3
(W H) (9.115)
so C1 C3(X34 /X13)
in which is the true electroosmotic water ow

r2
q F (9.111) (moles/faraday), W is the measured water transport
8 H
The electrical force per unit length FE is equal to the 11

Ions of the opposite sign to the charged surface are termed coun-
charge times the potential, that is, terions. Ions of the same sign are termed coions.

(moles/faraday), H is the water transport by ion hy- opposite sign. The greater the difference between the
dration (moles/faraday), C3 is the concentration of free concentrations of cations and anions, the greater the
water in the material (mol/m3), C1 is the concentration net drag on the water in the direction toward the cath-
of mobile counterions m2, X34 is the friction coefcient ode. The efciency and economics of the process de-
between water and the solid wall, and X13 is the friction pend on the volume of water transported per unit
coefcient between cation and water. electrical charge passed. If the volume is high, then
Concentrations C1 and C3 are hypothetical and prob- more water is transported for a given expenditure of
ably less than values measured by chemical analysis electrical energy than if it is low. This volume may
because some ions may be immobile. Evaluation of X13 vary over several orders of magnitude depending on
and X34 requires independent measurements of diffu- such factors as soil type, water content, and electrolyte
sion coefcients, conductance, transference numbers, concentration.
l
and water transport. Thus Eq. (9.115) is limited as a In a low exchange capacity soil at high water content
ria
predictive equation. Its real value is in providing a rel- in a low electrolyte concentration solution, there is
atively simple physical representation of a complex much more water per cation than in a high exchange
process. capacity, low water content soil having the same pore
From Eq. (9.115), water electrolyte concentration. This, combined
with cation-to-anion ratio considerations, leads to
ate
1 the predicted water transportwater contentsoil
(W H) (9.116) typeelectrolyte concentration relationships shown
(C1 /C3 X34 /X13)
schematically in Fig. 9.30, where increasing electrolyte
concentration in the pore water results in a much
At high water contents and for large pores, X34 /X13
0 because X34 becomes negligible. Then
dM
X340 C3 /C1 (9.117)
This relationship indicates that a high water-to-cation

ratio implies a high rate of electroosmotic ow. At low
water contents and for small pores, X34 will not be
hte
zero, thus reducing the ow. An increase in C1 reduces

the ow of water per faraday of current passed because
there is less water per ion. An increase in X13 increases
the ow because there is greater frictional drag on the
water by the ions.
rig
Ion Hydration
Water of hydration is carried along with ions in a direct
current electric eld. The ion hydration transport H is
given by
py
H tN t
N
(9.118)
where t and t
are the transport numbers, that is, num-
Co
bers that represent the fraction of current carried by a

particular ionic species. The numbers N and N
are
the number of moles of hydration water per mole of
cation and anion, respectively.
9.16 ELECTROOSMOSIS EFFICIENCY

Electroosmotic water ow occurs if the frictional drag Figure 9.30 Schematic prediction of water transport by elec-
between the ions of one sign and their surrounding troosmosis in various clays according to the Donnan concept
water molecules exceeds that caused by ions of the (from Gray, 1966).

ELECTROOSMOSIS EFFICIENCY 295
greater decrease in efciency for inactive clay than 2C0
y (9.120)
more plastic, active clay. Tests on sodium kaolinite (in- A0
active clay) and sodium illite (more active clay) gave
the results shown in Fig. 9.31, which agree well with The concentration C0 is in the external solution, is
the predictions in Fig. 9.30. the mean molar activity coefcient in the external so-
The slopes and locations of the curves can be ex- lution, is the mean activity coefcient in the double
plained more quantitatively in the following way. Al- layer, and A0 is the surface charge density per unit pore
ternatively to the double-layer theory given in Chapter volume. The parameter A0 is related to the cation
6, the Donnan (1924) theory can be used to describe exchange capacity (CEC) by
equilibrium ionic distributions in ne-grained materi-
als. The basis for the Donnan theory is that at equilib-
(CEC)w
l
rium the potentials of the internal and external A0 (9.121)
ria
solutions are equal and that electroneutrality is re- w
quired in both phases. It may be shown (Gray, 1966;
Gray and Mitchell, 1967) that the ratio R of cations to where w is the density of water and w is the water
anions in the internal phase for the case of a symmet- content. The higher R, the greater is the electroosmotic
rical electrolyte (z z) is given by
ate
water transport, all other things equal.
From Eqs. (9.119) to (9.121) it may be deduced that
C 1 (1 y2)1 / 2 exclusion of anions is favored by a high exchange
R (9.119)
C 1 (1 y2)1 / 2 capacity (active clay), a low water content, and low
salinity in the external solution. However, the concen-
where dM tration of anions in the double layer builds up more
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 9.31 Electroosmotic water transport versus concentration of external electrolyte so-
lution for homoionic kaolinite and illite at various water content (from Gray, 1966).

rapidly as the salinity of the external solution increases E L

EH (9.124)
in inactive clays than in active clays. As a result the P LEE
efciency, as measured by volume of water per unit
charge passed, decreases much more rapidly with in- In electroosmosis P 0, so Eq. (9.122) is
creasing electrolyte concentration than in the more ac-
tive clay.
The results of electroosmosis measurements on a qh LHE E (9.125)
number of different materials are summarized in Fig.
9.32, which shows water ow rate as a function of and Eq. (9.122) becomes
water content. This gure may be used as a guide for
prediction of electroosmotic ow rates. The ow rates I LEE E (9.126)
l
shown are for open systems, that is, solution was ad-
ria
mitted at the anode at the same time it was extracted so
from the cathode. Electrochemical effects (Section
9.18) and water content changes were minimized in
qh LHE
these tests. Thus, the values can be interpreted as upper (9.127)
bounds on the ow rates to be expected in practice. I LEE
ate
Values of water content, electrolyte concentration in
the pore water, and type of clay are required for elec- By Onsagers reciprocity theorem LEH LHE so
troosmosis efciency estimation. Water content is read-
ily measured, the electrolyte concentration is easily
determined using a conductivity cell, and the clay type
dM
can be determined from plasticity and grain size in-
qh
I P0

E
P I0
(9.128)
formation if mineralogical data are not available. Elec-

This equivalence between streaming potential and elec-
troosmotic ow rates of 0.03 to 0.06 gal/h/amp are
troosmosis was rst shown experimentally by Saxen
predicted using Fig. 9.32 for soils 11, 13, and 14 in
(1892) and is known as Saxens law. It has been ver-
Table 9.7. Electrical treatment for consolidation and
ied for claywaterelectrolyte systems. Care must be
ground strengthening was effective in these soils. For
taken to ensure consistency in units. For example, the
soil 12, however, a ow rate of 0.008 to 0.012 gal/h/
electroosmotic ow rate in gallons per hour per ampere
hte
amp was predicted, and electroosmosis was not effec-

is equal to 0.0094 times the streaming potential in mil-
tive.
livolts per atmosphere.
Saxens Law Prediction of Electroosmosis from
Energy Requirements
Streaming Potential
The preceding analysis leads to a prediction of the
rig
Streaming potential can be measured directly during a

amount of water moved per unit charge passed, for
measurement of hydraulic conductivity by using a
example, gallons or cubic meters of water per hour per
high-impedance voltmeter and reversible electrodes.
ampere or moles per faraday. If this quantity is denoted
Equivalence between streaming potential and elec-
by ki, then
troosmosis may be derived. Expansion of Eq. (9.57)
py
for coupled hydraulic and current ows gives

qh ki I (9.129)
qh LHH P LHE E (9.122)
Unlike ke, ki varies over a wide range, as may be seen
Co
I LEH P LEE E (9.123) in Fig. 9.32. The power consumption P is
in which qh is the hydraulic ow rate, I is the electric Eqh

current, LHH and LEE are the direct ow coefcients, P E I (in W) (9.130)
ki
LHE and LEH are the coupling coefcients for hydraulic
ow due to an electrical gradient and electrical ow for E in volts and I in amperes. The power consump-
due to a hydraulic gradient, P is the pressure drop, tion per unit volume of ow is
and E is the electrical potential drop.
In a usual hydraulic conductivity measurement,
there is no electrical current ow, so I 0, and E is P E
103 (in kWh) (9.131)
the streaming potential. Equation (9.123) then becomes qh ki

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 9.32 Electroosmotic water transport as a function of water content, soil type, and
electrolyte concentration: (a) homoionic kaolinite and illite, (b) illitic clay and collodion
py
membrane, and (c) silty clay, illitic clay, and kaolinite.

Co
297

Relationship Between ke and ki equations in place of Darcys law in consolidation

From Eqs. (9.108) and (9.129), the electroosmotic ow theory.
rate is given by
Assumptions
E The following idealizing assumptions are made:
qh ki I ke A (9.132)
L
1. There is homogeneous and saturated soil.
2. The physical and physicochemical properties of
Because E/I is resistance and L/(resistance A) is the soil are uniform and constant with time.12
specic conductivity , Eq. (9.132) becomes 3. No soil particles are moved by electrophoresis.
4. The velocity of water ow by electroosmosis is
l
ke directly proportional to the voltage gradient.
ria
ki (9.133)
5. All the applied voltage is effective in moving wa-
ter.13
As ke varies within relatively narrow limits, Eq. (9.133) 6. The electrical eld is constant with time.
shows that the electroosmotic efciency, measured by 7. The coupling of hydraulic and electrical ows
ate
ki, is a sensitive function of the electrical conductivity can be formulated by Eqs. (9.63) and (9.64).
of the soil. For soils 11, 13, and 14 in Table 9.7, is 8. There are no electrochemical reactions.
in the range of 0.02 to 0.03 S. For soil 12, in which
electroosmosis was not effective, is 0.25 S. In es- Governing Equations
sence, a high value of electrical conductivity means For one-dimensional ow between plate electrodes
that the current required to develop the voltage is too (Fig. 9.33a), Eq. (9.63) becomes
dM
high for economical movement of water. In addition,
if high current is used, the generation of gas, heat, and k u V
electrochemical effects become excessive. qh h ke (9.134)
w x x
for the ow rate per unit area. For radial ow for the
9.17 CONSOLIDATION BY ELECTROOSMOSIS conditions shown in Fig. 9.33b and a layer of unit
hte
thickness
If, in a compressible soil, electroosmosis draws water
to a cathode where it is drained away and no water is
k u V
allowed to enter at the anode, then consolidation of the qh h 2r ke 2r (9.135)
soil between the electrodes occurs in an amount equal w r r
to the volume of water removed. Water movement
rig
away from the anode causes consolidation in the vi- Introduction of Eq. (9.134) in place of Darcys law
cinity of the anode. The effective stress must increase in the derivation of the diffusion equation governing
concurrently. Because the total stress in the vicinity of consolidation in one dimension leads to
the anode remains essentially unchanged, the pore wa-
ter pressure must decrease. Water drains at the cathode kh 2u 2V u
py
k mv (9.136)
where there is no consolidation. Therefore, the total, w x2 e
x2
t
effective, and pore water pressures at the cathode re-
main unchanged. As a result, hydraulic gradient de- and
velops that tends to cause water ow from cathode to
Co
anode. Consolidation continues until the hydraulic

force that drives water back toward the anode exactly
12
balances the electroosmotic force driving water toward Flow of water away from anodes toward cathodes causes a non-
uniform decrease in water content along the line between electrodes.
the cathode. This leads to changes in hydraulic conductivity, electroosmotic hy-
The usefulness of consolidation by electroosmosis draulic conductivity, compressibility, and electrical conductivity with
as a means for soil stabilization was established by a time and position. To account for these effects, which are discussed
by Mitchell and Wan (1977) and Acar et al. (1990), would greatly
number of successful eld applications, for example, complicate the analysis because it would be highly nonlinear. Similar
Casangrande (1959) and Bjerrum et al. (1967). Two problems arise in classical consolidation theory, but the simple linear
questions are important: (1) How much consolidation theory developed by Terzaghi is adequate for most cases.
13
In most cases some of the electrical energy will be consumed by
will there be? and (2) How long will it take? Answers generation of heat and gases at the electrodes. To account for those
to these questions are obtained using the coupled ow losses, an effective voltage can be used (Esrig and Henkel, 1968).

CONSOLIDATION BY ELECTROOSMOSIS 299
kh u V
ke (9.139)
w x x
or
k
du e w dV (9.140)
kh
The solution of this equation is
l
k
u e w V C (9.141)
ria
kh
At the cathode, V 0 and u 0; therefore, C 0,

and the pore pressure at equilibrium at any point is
given by
ate
k
u e w V (9.142)
kh
dM where the values of u and V are those at any point of

interest. A similar result is obtained from Eq. (9.135)
Figure 9.33 Electrode geometries for analysis of consoli- for radial ow.
dation by electroosmosis: (a) one-dimensional ow and (b) Equation (9.142) indicates that electroosmotic con-
radial ow. solidation continues at a point until a negative pore
pressure, relative to the initial value, develops that is
proportional to the ratio ke /kh and to the voltage at the
point. For conditions of constant total stress, there must
hte
2u ke 2V 1 u be an equal and opposite increase in the effective

(9.137)
x2
kh w
x2
cv t stress. This increase in effective stress causes the con-
solidation. For the one-dimensional case, consolidation
where mv is the compressibility and cv is the coefcient by electroosmosis is analogous to the loading shown
of consolidation. For radial ow, the use of Eq. (9.135) in Fig. 9.35.
For a given voltage, the magnitude of effective stress
rig
gives
increase that develops depends on ke /kh. As ke only

varies within narrow limits for different soils, the total
2u ke 2V 1 u k V 1 u consolidation that can be achieved depends largely on
e w
r 2
kh w
r 2
r r kh r cv t kh. Thus, the potential for consolidation by electroos-
py
(9.138) mosis increases as soil grain size decreases because the

ner grained the soil, the lower is kh. However, the
amount of consolidation in any case depends on the
Both V and u are functions of position, as shown in soil compressibility as well as on the change in effec-
Fig. 9.34; V is assumed constant with time, whereas u
Co
tive stress. For linear soil compression with increase in

varies. effective stress, the coefcient of compressibility av is
Amount of Consolidation de de
av (9.143)
When the hydraulic gradient that develops in response d du
to the differing amounts of consolidation between the
anode and cathode generates a counterow (kh / w)/ or
(u/ x) that exactly balances the electroosmotic ow
ke(V/ x) in the opposite direction, consolidation is de av du av d (9.144)
complete. As there then is no ow, qh in Eqs. (9.14)
and (9.135) is zero. Thus Eq. (9.134) is in which d is the increase in effective stress.

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 9.34 Assumed variation of voltage with distance during electroosmosis: (a) one-
dimensional ow and (b) radial ow.
py
Thus, the more compressible the soil, the greater pendent on the voltage at the point. Accordingly, prop-
will be the amount of consolidation for a given stress erties at the end of treatment vary along a line between
increase, just as in the case of consolidation under ap- the anode and cathode, as shown, for example, by the
Co
plied loads. It follows, also, that electroosmosis will be posttreatment variations in shear strength and water
of little value in an overconsolidated clay unless the content shown in Fig. 9.36. Values of these properties
effective stress increases are large enough to bring the before treatment are also shown for comparison. More
material back into the virgin compression range. uniform property distributions between electrodes can
The consolidation loading of any small element of be obtained if the polarity of electrodes is reversed
the soil is isotropic, as it is done by increasing the after partial completion of consolidation (Wan and
effective stress through reduction in the pore water Mitchell, 1976).
pressure. The entire soil mass being treated is not con- The results shown in Fig. 9.36 were obtained at a
solidated isotropically or uniformly, however, because site in Norway where electroosmosis was used for the
the amount of consolidation varies with position, de- consolidation of quick clay (Bjerrum et al., 1967). The

CONSOLIDATION BY ELECTROOSMOSIS 301
l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 9.35 Consolidation by electroosmosis and by direct loading, one-dimensional case:
(a) electroosmosis and (b) direct loading.
hte
variations in strength and water content after treatment voltage, and TV is the time factor, dened in terms of
are consistent with the patterns to be expected based the distance between electrodes L and real time t as
on the predicted variation of pore pressure decrease
and vertical strain stress increase with voltage and po- cvt
sition shown in Fig. 9.35. TV (9.146)
L2
rig
Rate of Consolidation where cv is the coefcient of consolidation, given by

Solutions for Eqs. (9.137) and (9.138) have been ob-
tained for several cases (Esrig, 1968, 1971). For the kh
cv
py
one-dimensional case, and assuming a freely draining (9.147)

mv w
(open) cathode and a closed anode (no ow), the pore
pressure is The average degree of consolidation U as a function
of time is
Co
ke 2k V

u V(x) e w 2 m
kh

kh w 4 (1)n 1
2
U1 exp n 2TV
(n (1)1/2) sin(n 1/2)
n
x 3 n0 (n 1/2)3 2

n0
2
L (9.148)

exp n
1 2 2
2
TV (9.145) Solutions for Eqs. (9.145) and (9.148) are shown in
Figs. 9.37 and 9.38. They are applied in the same way
as the theoretical solution for classical consolidation
where V(x) is the voltage at x, Vm is the maximum theory.

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
s, Norway
Figure 9.36 Effect of electroosmosis treatment on properties of quick clay at A
(from Bjerrum et al., 1967): (a) Undrained shear strength, (b) remolded shear strength, (c)
water content, and (d) Atterberg limits.

ELECTROCHEMICAL EFFECTS 303
l
ria
Figure 9.39 Average degree of consolidation as a function
ate
of dimensionless time for radial consolidation by electroos-
mosis (from Esrig, 1968). Reprinted with permission of
ASCE.
Figure 9.37 Dimensionless pore pressure as a function of
dimensionless time and distance for one-dimensional consol-
idation by electroosmosis.
dM to pile driving, pile pulling, reduction of negative skin
friction, and recovery of buried objects. Special solu-
tions for in situ determination of soil consolidation
properties by electroosmosis measurements have also
been developed (Banerjee and Mitchell, 1980).
One of the most important points to be noted from
these solutions is that the rate of consolidation depends
completely on the coefcient of consolidation, which
hte
varies directly with kh, but is completely independent

of ke. Low values of kh, as is the case in highly plastic
clays, mean long consolidation times. Thus, whereas a
low value of kh means a high value of ke /kh and the
potential for a high effective consolidation pressure, it
also means longer required consolidation times for a
rig
given electrode spacing. The optimum situation is

when ke /kh is high enough to generate a large pore
water tension for reasonable electrode spacings (2 to 3
m) and maximum voltage (50 to 150 V DC), but kh is
Figure 9.38 Average degree of consolidation versus dimen-
py
sionless time for one-dimensional consolidation by electroos- high enough to enable consolidation in a reasonable
mosis. time. The soil types that best satisfy these conditions
are silts, clayey silts, and silty clays. Most successful
eld applications of electroosmosis for consolidation
have been in these types of materials. As noted earlier,
Co
A numerical solution to Eq. (9.138) gives the results the electrical conductivity of the soil is also important;
shown in Fig. 9.39 (Esrig, 1968, 1971). For the case if it is too high, as in the case of high-salinity pore
of two pipe electrodes, a more realistic eld condition water, adverse electrochemical effects and unfavorable
than the radial geometry of Fig. 9.33b, Fig. 9.39 cannot economics may preclude use of electroosmosis for
be expected to apply exactly. Along a straight line be- consolidation.
tween two pipe electrodes, however, the ow pattern
is approximately the same as for the radial case for a
considerable distance from each electrode. 9.18 ELECTROCHEMICAL EFFECTS
A solution for the rate of pore pressure buildup at
the cathode for the case of no drainage (closed cath- The measured strength increases in the quick clay at
ode) is shown in Fig. 9.40. This condition is relevant s, Norway (Fig. 9.36), were some 80 percent greater
A

l
ria
ate
Figure 9.40 Dimensionless pore pressure at the face of a cylindrical electrode as a function
of dimensionless time for the case of a closed cathode (a swelling condition) (from Esrig
and Henkel, 1968).
dM
than can be accounted for solely by reduction in water Chlorine may also form in a saline environment. Some
content. Also, the liquid and plastic limits were of the exchangeable cations on the clay may be re-
changed as a result of treatment. Consolidation alone placed by H. Because hydrogen clays are generally
should have no effect on the Atterberg limits because unstable, and high acidity and oxidation cause rapid
changes in mineralogy, particle characteristics, and/or deterioration of the anodes, the clay will soon alter to
pore solution characteristics are needed to do this. the aluminum or iron form depending on the anode
hte
In addition to movement of water when a DC volt- material. As a result, the soil is usually strengthened
age eld is applied between metal electrodes inserted in the vicinity of the anode. If gas generation at the
into a wet soil, the following effects may develop: ion anode causes cavitation and heat causes desiccation,
diffusion, ion exchange, development of osmotic and cracking may occur. This will limit the negative pore
pH gradients, desiccation by heat generation at the pressure that can develop to a value less than 1 atm,
electrodes, mineral decomposition, precipitation of and also the electrical resistance will increase, leading
rig
salts or secondary minerals, electrolysis, hydrolysis, to a loss in efciency.

oxidation, reduction, physical and chemical adsorption, Hydrogen gas is generated at the cathode
and fabric changes. As a result, continuous changes in
soil properties that are not readily accounted for by the 4H2O 4e 2H2 4OH (9.150)
simplied theory developed previously must be ex-
py
pected. Some of them, such as electrochemical hard- Cations in solution are drawn to the cathode where
ening of the soil that results in permanent changes in they combine with (OH) that is left behind to form
plasticity and strength, may be benecial; others, such
hydroxides. The pH may rise to values as high as 12
as heating and gas generation, may impair the ef-
at the cathode. Some alumina and silica may go into
Co
ciency of electroosmosis. For example, heat and gas

solution in the high pH environment.
generation were so great that a eld test of consoli-
More detailed information about electrochemical re-
dation by electroosmosis for foundation stabilization of
the leaning Tower of Pisa was unsuccessful. actions during electroosmosis can be found in Titkov
A simplied mechanism for some of the processes et al. (1965), Esrig and Gemeinhardt (1967), Chilingar
during electroosmosis is as follows. Oxygen gas is and Rieke (1967), Gray and Schlocker (1969), Gray
evolved at the anode by hydrolysis (1970), Acar et al. (1990), and Hamed et al. (1991).
Soil strength increases resulting from consolidation
2H2O 4e O2 4H (9.149) by electroosmosis and the concurrent electrochemical
hardening have application for support of foundations
Anions in solution react with freed H to form acids. on and in ne-grained soil. Pile capacity for a bridge

SELF-POTENTIALS 305
foundation in varved clay at a site in Canada was well 9.20 SELF-POTENTIALS
below the design value and inadequate for support of
the structure (Soderman and Milligan, 1961; Milligan, Natural DC electrical potential differences of up to
1994). Electrokinetic treatment using the piles as an- several tens of millivolts exist in the earth. These self-
odes resulted in sufcient strength increase to provide potentials are generated by differing chemical condi-
the needed support. Recently reported model tests by tions in adjacent soil layers, uid ow, subsurface
Micic et al. (2003) on the use of electrokinetics in soft chemical reactions, and temperature differences. The
marine clay to increase the load capacity of skirt foun- self-potential (SP) method is one of the oldest geo-
dations for offshore structures resulted in increases in physical methods for characterization of the subsurface
soil strength and supporting capacity of up to a factor (National Research Council, 2000). Self-potentials
of 3. may be the source of phenomena of importance in geo-
l
technical problems as well.
ria
The magnitude of self-potential between different
soil layers depends on the contents of oxidizing and
9.19 ELECTROKINETIC REMEDIATION reducing substances in the layers (F. Hilbert, in Veder,
1981). These potentials can cause a natural electroos-
The transport of dissolved and suspended constituents mosis in which water ows in the direction from the
ate
into and out of the ground by electroosmosis and elec- higher to the lower potential, that is, toward the cath-
trophoresis, as well as electrochemical, reactions have ode. The process is shown schematically in Fig. 9.41.
become of increasing interest because of their potential An oxidizing soil layer is positive relative to a reducing
applications in waste containment and removal of con- layer, thus inducing an electroosmotic water ow to-
taminants from ne-grained soils. The electrolysis re- ward the interface. If water accumulates at the inter-
face, there can be swelling and loss of strength, leading
dM
actions at the electrodes described in the preceding
section, wherein acid is produced at the anode and base ultimately to formation of a slip surface.
at the cathode, are of particular relevance. After a few
days of treatment the pH in the vicinity of the anode Generation of Self-Potentials in Soil Layers
may drop to less than 2, and that at the cathode in-
crease to more than 10 (Acar and Alshewabkeh, 1993). Soils in an oxidizing environment are usually yellow
Toxic heavy metals are preferentially adsorbed by or tan to reddish brown and are characterized by oxides
and hydrates of trivalent iron and a low pH relative to
hte
clay minerals and they precipitate except at low pH.

Iron or aluminum cations from decomposing anodes reducing soils, which are usually dark gray to blue-
can replace heavy-metal ions from exchange sites, the gray in color and contain suldes and oxides and hy-
acid generated at the anode can redissolve precipitated droxides of divalent iron. The local electrical potential
material, and the acid front that moves across the soil of the soil depends on the iron concentrations and
can keep the metals in solution until removed at the can be calculated from Nernsts equation:
rig
cathode. Geochemical reactions in the soil pores im-

pact the efciency of the process. Among them are
complexation effects that reverse ion charge and
reverse ow directions, precipitation/dissolution,
sorption, desorption and dissolution, redox, and im-
py
mobilization or precipitation of metal hydroxides in the

high pH zone near the cathode.
Some success has been reported in the removal of
organic pollutants from soils, at least in the laboratory,
Co
as summarized by Alshewabkeh (2001). However, it is

unlikely that large quantities of non-aqueous-phase liq-
uids can be effectively transported by electrokinetic
processes, except as the NAPL may be present in the
form of small bubbles that move with the suspending
water.
An in-depth treatment of the fundamentals of elec- Figure 9.41 Natural electroosmosis due to self-potential dif-
trokinetic remediation and the practical aspects of its ferences between oxidizing and reducing soil layers. The ox-
implementation are given by Alshewabkeh (2001) and idizing soil layer is positive relative to the reducing layer
the references cited therein. (redrawn from Hilbert, in Veder, 1981).

0.771
RT
F
c3
ln Fe
c2
Fe
(9.151)
then ke /hh 50 m/V. If the self-potential difference is
50 mV, then from Eq. (9.142) a pore pressure value of
in which the concentrations are of Fe in solution in u 50 9.81 0.05 25 kPa

moles/liter pore water. The difference in potentials be-
tween two layers gives the driving potential for elec- is generated, which is not an insignicant value. If wa-
troosmosis. Values calculated using the Nernst ter that is driven toward the interface cannot escape or
equation are too high for actual soil systems because be absorbed by the soil, then the effective stress will
it applies for conditions of no current ow, and the be reduced by this amount. If the water is absorbed
owing current also generates a diffusion potential act- into the clay layer, then softening will result. Either
ing in the opposite direction. Hilbert, in Veder (1981), way, the resistance to sliding along the interface will
l
gives the electrical potential as a function of the in situ be reduced.
ria
pH, that is,
Landslide Stabilization Using Short-Circuit
Conductors
0.186 0.059 pH (9.152)
If slope instability is caused by a slip surface between
ate
Reasonable agreement has been obtained between reducing and oxidizing soil layers, then a simple means
measured and calculated values of for different soil for stabilization can be used (Veder, 1981). Short-
layers. The end result is that potential differences of circuiting conductors, such as steel rods, are driven
up to 50 mV or so are developed between different into the soil so that they extend across the slip surface
layers. Potentials measured in a trench excavated in a and about 1 to 2 m into the soil below. The mechanism
dM
slide zone are shown in Fig. 9.42. that is then established is shown in Fig. 9.43.
Electric current generated by reduction reactions in
the oxidizing soil layer and oxidizing reactions in the
Excess Pore Pressure Generation by Self-Potentials reducing layer ows through the conductors. Because
The pore pressure that may develop at an interface be- of the presence of oxidizing agents such as ferric iron,
tween two different soil layers is given by Eq. (9.142) oxygen, and manganese compounds, in the upper ox-
in which V is the difference in self-potentials between idizing layer that take up electrons, electrons pass from
the layers. For a given value of V, the magnitude of the metal conductor to the soil. That is, the introduc-
hte
pore pressure depends directly on ke /kh. For example, tion of electrons initiates reducing reactions. In the re-
if ke 5 109 m2 /s V and kh 1 1010 m/s, ducing layer, on the other hand, there is already a
rig
py
Co
Figure 9.42 Electrical potentials measured in a trench cut into a slide (from Veder, 1981).
Reprinted with permission of Springer-Verlag.

THERMALLY DRIVEN MOISTURE FLOW 307
for use of short-circuiting conductors are (1) intact co-
hesive soils with a low hydraulic conductivity, (2)
shear between oxidizing and reducing clay layers, and
(3) a relatively thin, well-dened shear zone.
9.21 THERMALLY DRIVEN MOISTURE FLOW

Thermally driven ows in saturated soils are rather
small. Gray (1969) measured thermoelectric currents
on the order of 1 to 10 A/ C cm, with the warm side
l
positive relative to the cold side. Thermoosmotic pres-
ria
sures of only a few tenths of a centimeter water head
per degree Celsius were measured in saturated soil. Net
ows in different directions have been measured in dif-
ferent investigations, evidently because of different
temperature dependencies of chemical activity coef-
ate
cients. These small thermoelectric and thermoosmotic
effects in saturated soils may be of little practical sig-
Figure 9.43 Mechanism for slide stabilization using short- nicance in geotechnical problems.
circuiting conductors (adapted from Veder, 1981).
On the other hand, thermally driven moisture ows
dM in partly saturated soils can be large, and that these
ows can be very important in subgrade stability,
surplus of electrons. If these pass into the conductor, swelling soils, and heat transfer and storage problems
then the environment becomes favorable for oxidation of various types. Theoretical representations of mois-
reactions. Thus, positive charges are generated in the ture ow through partly saturated soils based solely on
reducing soil layer as the conductor carries electrons the application of irreversible thermodynamics, such as
away. The oxidizing soil layer then takes up these elec- developed by Taylor and Cary (1964), have not been
trons. completely successful. They underestimate the ows
hte
Completion of the electrical circuit requires current substantially, perhaps because of the inability to ade-
ow through the soil pore water in the manner shown quately represent all the processes and interactions.
in Fig. 9.43, where adsorbed cations, shown as Na, A widely used theory for coupled heat and moisture
plus the associated water, ow away from the soil layer ow through soils was developed by Philip and De
interface. This electroosmotic transport of water re- Vries (1957). It accounts for both liquid- and vapor-
duces the water content in the slip zone. Thus, short- phase ows. Vapor-phase ow depends on the thermal
rig
circuit conductors have three main effects (Veder, and isothermal vapor diffusivities and is driven by tem-
1981): perature and moisture content gradients. The liquid-
phase ow depends on the thermal and isothermal
1. Natural electroosmosis is prevented because the liquid diffusivities and is driven by the temperature
py
short-circuiting conductors eliminate the poten- gradient, the moisture content gradient, and gravity.
tial difference between the two soil layers. The two governing equations are:
2. Electrochemical reactions produce electroos-
motic ow in the opposite direction, thus helping For vapor-phase ow:
to drain the shear zone.
Co
3. Corrosion of the conductors produces high va- qvap

lence cations that exchange for lower valence ad- DTVT DV (9.153)
w
sorbed cations, for example, iron for sodium,
which leads to soil strengthening. and for liquid-phase ow:
Several successful cases of landslide stabilization
using short-circuiting conductors have been described qliq
DTLT DL k i (9.154)
by Veder (1981) and the references cited therein. Typ- w
ically, steel rods about 25 mm in diameter are used,
spaced a maximum of 3 to 4 m apart in grid patterns where qvap vapor ux density (M/L2 /T)
covering the area to be stabilized. Conditions favorable w density of water (M/L3)

T temperature (K) in which is the surface tension of water (F/L).

volumetric water content (L3 /L3) Use of the above equations requires knowledge of
DTV thermal vapor diffusivity (L2 /T/K) four relationships to describe the properties of the soils
DV isothermal vapor diffusivity (L2 /T) in the system:
qliq liquid ux density (M/L2 /T)
DTL thermal liquid diffusivity (L2 /T/K) 1. Hydraulic conductivity as a function of water
DL isothermal liquid diffusivity (L2 /T) content
k unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (L/T) 2. Thermal conductivity as a function of water con-
i unit vector in vertical direction tent
3. Volumetric heat capacity (see Table 9.2)
The thermal vapor diffusivity is given by 4. Suction head as a function of water content
ria
D0 d 0
DTV v[a (a) ]h (9.155) The hydraulic conductivity and suction relationships
w dT
are hysteretic; that is, they depend on whether the soil
The isothermal vapor diffusivity is given by is wetting or drying. Examples of the variations of the
different properties needed for the analysis are shown
ate
D0 hg d in Fig. 9.44 as a function of degree of saturation and
DV va 0 (9.156) volumetric water content. The data are for a crushed
w RT d
limestone that is used for a trench backll around bur-
where D0 molecular diffusivity of water vapor in air ied electrical transmission cables. This material is used
(L2 /T) because of its low thermal resistivity, which makes it
v mass ow factor P/(P p) suitable for effective dissipation of heat from the bur-
dM
P total gas pressure in pore space ied cable, provided the saturation does not fall below
about 40 percent.
p partial pressure of water vapor in pore
space The vapor ow is made up of a ow away from the
tortuosity factor high-temperature side that is driven by a vapor density
a volumetric air content (L3 /L3) gradient and a return ow caused by variation in the
h relative humidity of air in pores pore vapor humidity as reected by variations in soil
suction. At moderate soil suction values, for example,
hte
ratio of average temperature gradient in

the air-lled pores to the overall temper- a few meters for sand and several tens of meters for
ature gradient clay, the thermal vapor diffusivity predominates, and
g acceleration of gravity (L/T2) moisture is driven away from the heat source (McMil-
R gas constant (FL/M/K) lan, 1985).
0 density of saturated water vapor (M/L3) The isothermal diffusivity term only becomes im-
rig
suction head of water in the soil (negative portant at very high suction levels. The liquid ow con-
head) (L) sists of a capillarity-driven ow toward the heat source
(a) a/ak for 0 a ak and an outward liquid ow due to variations in water
1 for a ak surface tension with temperature. McMillans analysis
ak a at which liquid conductivity is lost or showed that for both sand and clay the isothermal liq-
py
at which the hydraulic conductivity falls uid diffusivity term was 4 to 5 orders of magnitude
below some arbitrary fraction of the sat- greater than the thermal liquid diffusivity term. Thus
urated value capillarity-driven ow predominates for any signicant
gradient in the volumetric moisture content. The very
Co
The thermal liquid diffusivity is given by small thermal liquid diffusivity is consistent with the

observations noted earlier for saturated soils in which
d measured water ows under thermal gradients are
DTL k (9.157)
dT small.
The total water ow q in an unsaturated soil under
The isothermal diffusivity is given by the action of a temperature gradient and its resulting

water content gradient equals the sum of the vapor-
d phase and liquid-phase movements. Thus, from Eqs.
DL k (9.158)
d (9.153) to (9.158),

THERMALLY DRIVEN MOISTURE FLOW 309
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 9.44 Examples of properties used for analysis of thermally driven moisture ow in
a partially saturated, compacted, crushed limestone: (a) particle size distribution, (b) suction
head as a function of volumetric water content, (c) hydraulic conductivity as a function of
degree of saturation and volumetric water content, (d) isothermal liquid diffusivity as a
function of degree of saturation and volumetric water content, (e) isothermal vapor diffusivity
as a function of degree of saturation and volumetric water content, and (f) Thermal water
rig
diffusivity as a function of degree of saturation and volumetric water content. Thermal re-
sistivity as a function of water content for this soil is shown in Fig. 9.14.
q Equation (9.159) is the governing equation for mois-

(DTV DTL)T (DV DL ) ki
py
w ture movement under a thermal gradient in unsaturated

soils as proposed by Philip and De Vries (1957). Dif-
DTT D k i (9.159) ferentiation of this equation and application of the
continuity requirement gives the general differential
in which
Co
equation for moisture ow:

D DTV DTL thermal water diffusivity k
(DTT) (D) (9.162)
(9.160) t z
and The heat conduction equation for the soil is

D DV DL isothermal water diffusivity
(9.161)
T
t
k

t T
C
(9.163)

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
where kt thermal conductivity Table 9.2. Three topics are considered in this section:
C volumetric heat capacity (1) the depth of frost penetration, which illustrates the
application of transient heat ow analysis, (2) frost ac-
The ratio of thermal conductivity to the volumetric tion in soils, a phenomenon of great practical impor-
rig
heat capacity is the thermal diffusivity A. tance that can be understood through consideration of
Both transient and steady-state temperature distri- interactions of the physical and physicochemical prop-
butions computed using the Philip and De Vries theory erties of the soil, and (3) some effects of freezing on
incorporated into numerical models have agreed well the behavior and properties of the soil after thawing.
with measured values in a number of cases. The actual
py
These topics are also covered in some detail by Konrad

moisture movements and distributions have not agreed (2001) and the references therein.
as well, for example, Abdel-Hadi and Mitchell (1981)
and Cameron (1986). The numerical simulations have
been done using transform methods, nite difference Depth of Frost Penetration
Co
methods, the nite element method, and the integrated Accurate estimation of the depth of ground freezing
nite difference method. Cameron (1986) reformulated during the winter, the depth of thawing in permafrost
the equations in terms of suction head rather than areas during the summer, and the refrigeration and time
moisture content and incorporated them into the nite requirements for articial ground freezing for tempo-
element model of Walker et al. (1981) for solution of rary ground stabilization are all problems involving
two-dimensional problems. transient heat ow analysis. They differ from the con-
duction analyses in the preceding sections in that the
9.22 GROUND FREEZING phase change of water to ice must be taken into ac-
count. Prediction of the maximum depth of frost pen-
Heat conduction in soils and rocks is discussed in Sec- etration illustrates this type of problem. Theoretical
tion 9.5, and values for thermal properties are given in solutions of this problem are based on a mathematical

GROUND FREEZING 311
analysis developed by Neumann in about 1860 (Berg- T 2T
a 2 (9.168)
gren, 1943; Aldrich, 1956; Brown, 1964; Konrad, t z
2001).
The relationship between thermal energy u and tem- where a kt /C is the thermal diffusivity (L2 /T). Equa-
perature T for a soil mass at constant water content is tion (9.168) is the one-dimensional, transient heat ow
shown in Fig. 9.45. In the absence of freezing or thaw- equation.
ing At the interface between frozen and unfrozen soil,
z Z, and the equation of heat continuity is
u
C (9.164)
T dZ
Ls q qu (9.169)
dt
l
The Fourier equation for heat ow is
ria
where Ls is the latent heat of fusion of water and q
T qu is the net rate of heat ow away from the interface.
qt kt (9.165) Equation (9.169) can be written
z
ate
In the absence of freezing or thawing, thermal conti- dZ T T
Ls k ku u (9.170)
nuity and conservation of thermal energy require that dt z z
the rate of change of thermal energy of an element plus
the rate of heat transfer into the element equal zero, where the subscripts u and f pertain to unfrozen and
that is, for the one-dimensional case frozen soil, respectively. Simultaneous solution of Eqs.
(9.168) and (9.170) gives the depth of frost penetra-
u

q
dM
0 (9.166)
tion.
Stefan Formula The simplest solution is to assume
t z
that the latent heat is the only heat to be removed dur-
ing freezing and neglect the heat that must be removed
Using Eqs. (9.164) and (9.165), Eq. (9.166) may be
to cool the soil water to the freezing point, that is, the
written
thermal energy stored as volumetric heat is neglected.
This condition is shown by Fig. 9.46. For this case Eq.
hte
T 2T (9.168) does not exist, and Eq. (9.170) becomes

C kt 2 (9.167)
t z
dZ T
or Ls k s (9.171)
dt Z
rig
where Ts is the surface temperature. The solution of

this equation is
py
Co
Figure 9.45 Thermal energy as a function of temperature

for a wet soil. Figure 9.46 Assumed conditions for the Stefan equation.

Z 2k T dt
Ls
s

1/2
(9.172)
(9.170) has been made for the conditions shown in Fig.
9.48, assuming that the soil has a uniform initial tem-
perature that is T0 degrees above freezing and that the
surface temperature drops suddenly to Ts below freez-
ing (Aldrich, 1956). The solution is

The integral of Ts dt is a measure of freezing intensity. 1/2
2kTst
It can be expressed by the freezing index F, which has Z (9.173)
units of degrees time. Index F is usually given in Ls
degree-days. It is shown in relation to the annual tem-
perature cycle in Fig. 9.47. Freezing index values are where k is taken as an average thermal conductivity
derived from meteorological data. Methods for deter- for frozen and unfrozen soil. The dimensionless cor-
l
mination of freezing index values are given by Linell rection coefcient depends on the two parameters
ria
et al. (1963), Straub and Wegmann (1965), McCormick shown in Fig. 9.49. The thermal ratio is given by
(1971), and others. Maps showing mean freezing index
values are available for some areas. It is important T0
(9.174)
when using such data sources to be sure that there are Ts
ate
not local deviations from the average values that are
given. Different types of ground cover, local topogra- and the fusion parameter is
phy and vegetation, and solar radiation all inuence
the net heat ux at the ground surface. C
T (9.175)
The Stefan equation can also be used to estimate the Ls s
summer thaw depth in permafrost; that is, the thickness
dM
of the active layer. In this case the ground thawing An averaged value for the volumetric heats of frozen
index, also in degree-days and derived from meteoro- and unfrozen soil can be used for C in Eq. (9.175).
logical data, is used in Eq. (9.172) in place of the In application, the quantity Tst in Eq. (9.173) is re-
freezing index (Konrad, 2001). placed by the freezing index, and Ts in (9.175) is given
Modied Berggren Formula The Stefan formula by F/t, where t is the duration of the freezing period.
overpredicts the depth of freezing because it neglects The coefcient corrects the Stefan formula for ne-
the removal of the volumetric heats of frozen and un- glect of volumetric heat. For soils with high water con-
hte
frozen soil. Simultaneous solution of Eqs. (9.168) and tent C is small relative to Ls; therefore, is small and
rig
py
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Figure 9.47 Freezing index in relation to the annual temperature cycle.

GROUND FREEZING 313
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 9.48 Thermal conditions assumed in the derivation of the modied Berggren for-
rig
mula.
the Stefan formula is reasonable. For arctic climates, depths of frost penetration may be misleading if esti-
where T0 is not much above the freezing point, is mates for a proposed pavement or other structure are
py
small, is greater than 0.9, and the Stefan formula is needed because of differences in ground surface char-
satisfactory. However, in more temperate climates and acteristics and because the pavement or foundation
in relatively dry or well-drained soils, the correction base will be at different water content and density than
becomes important. the surrounding soil.
Co
A comparison between theoretical freezing depths The solutions do not account for ow of water into
and a design curve proposed by the Corps of Engineers or out of the soil or the formation of ice lenses during
is shown in Fig. 9.50 for several soil types. The the- the freezing period. This may be particularly important
oretical curves were developed by Brown (1964) using when dealing with frost heave susceptible soils or
the modied Berggren equation and the thermal prop- when developing frozen soil barriers for the cutoff of
erties given in Fig. 9.13. groundwater ow. Methods for prediction of frost
Consideration should be given to the effect of dif- depth in soils susceptible to ice lens formation and the
ferent types of surface cover on the ground surface rate of heave are given by Konrad (2001). The initia-
temperature because air temperature and ground tem- tion of freezing of owing groundwater requires that
perature are not likely to be the same, and the effects the rate of volumetric and latent heat removal be high
of thermal radiation may be important. Observed enough so that ice can form during the residence time

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 9.49 Correction coefcients for use in the modied Berggren formula (from Aldrich,
1956).
hte
of an element of water moving between the boundaries a complex manner. If the cooling rate is too high, then
of the specied zone of solidication. the soil freezes before water can migrate to an ice lens,
so the heave becomes only that due to the expansion
of water on freezing.
rig
Frost Heaving
Three conditions are necessary for ice lens forma-
Freezing of some soils is accompanied by the forma-
tion and frost heave:
tion of ice layers or lenses that can range from a
millimeter to several centimeters in thickness. These 1. Frost-susceptible soil
lenses are essentially pure ice and are free from large
py
2. Freezing temperature
numbers of contained soil particles. The ground sur- 3. Availability of water
face may heave by as much as several tens of cen-
timeters, and the overall volume increase can be many Frost heaving can occur only where there is a water
times the 9 percent expansion that occurs when water table, perched water table, or pocket of water reason-
Co
freezes. Heave pressures of many atmospheres are ably close to the freezing front.
common. The freezing of frost-susceptible soils be- Frost-Susceptible Soils Almost any soil may be
neath pavements and foundations can cause major dis- made to heave if the freezing rate and water supply
tress or failure as a result of uneven uplift during are controlled. In nature, however, the usual rates of
freezing and loss of support on thawing, owing to the freezing are such that only certain soil types are frost
presence of large water-lled voids. Ordinarily, ice susceptible. Clean sands, gravels, and highly plastic
lenses are oriented normal to the direction of cold-front intact clays generally do not heave. Although the only
movement and become thicker and more widely sep- completely reliable way to evaluate frost susceptibility
arated with depth. is by some type of performance test during freezing,
The rate of heaving may be as high as several mil- soils that contain more than 3 percent of their particles
limeters per day. It depends on the rate of freezing in ner than 0.02 mm are potentially frost susceptible.

GROUND FREEZING 315
l
ria
ate
Figure 9.50 Predicted frost penetration depths compared with the Corps of Engineers de-
sign curve (Brown, 1964). Curve asandy soil: dry density 140 lb / ft3, saturated, moisture
content 7 percent. Curve bsilt, clay: dry density 80 lb / ft3, unsaturated, moisture content
2 percent. Curve csandy soil; dry density 140 lb / ft3, unsaturated, moisture content 2
percent. Curve dsilt, clay: dry density 120 lb / ft3, moisture content 10 to 20 percent (sat-
dM
urated). Curve esilt, clay: dry density 80 lb / ft3 saturated, moisture content 30 percent.
Curve fPure ice over still water.
Frost-susceptible soils have been classied by the A method for the evaluation of frost susceptibility
Corps of Engineers in the following order of increasing that takes project requirements and acceptable risks
hte
frost susceptibility: and freezing conditions into account as well as the soil
type is described by Konrad and Morgenstern (1983).
Mechanism of Frost Heave The formation of ice
lenses is a complex process that involves interrelation-
Group
ships between the phase change of water to ice, trans-
(increasing
port of water to the lens, and general unsteady heat
rig
susceptibility) Soil Types

ow in the freezing soil. The following explanation of
F1 Gravelly soils with 3 to 20 percent the physics of frost heave is based largely on the mech-
ner than 0.02 mm anism proposed by Martin (1959). Although the Martin
F2 Sands with 3 to 15 percent ner (1959) model may not be correct in all details in the
py
than 0.02 mm light of subsequent research, it provides a logical and

F3 a. Gravelly soils with more than instructive basis for understanding many aspects of the
20 percent ner than 0.02- frost heave process.
mm sands, except ne silt The ice lens formation cycle involves four stages:
Co
sands with more than 15

percent ner than 0.02 mm 1. Nucleation of ice
b. Clays with PI greater than 12 2. Growth of the ice lens
percent, except varved clays 3. Termination of ice growth
F4 a. Silts and sandy silts 4. Heat and water ow between the end of stage 3
b. Fine silty sands with more than and the start of stage 1 again
15 percent ner than 0.02
In reality, heat and water ows continue through all
mm
four stages; however, it is convenient to consider them
c. Lean clays with PI less than 12
separately.
percent
The temperature for nucleation of an ice crystal, Tn,
d. Varved clays
is less than the freezing temperature, T0. In soils, T0 in

pore water is less than the normal freezing point of

water because of dissolved ions, particle surface force
effects, and negative pore water pressures that exist in
the freezing zone. The freezing point decreases with
decreasing distance to particle surfaces and may be
several degrees lower in the double layer than in the
center of a pore. Thus, in a ne-grained soil, there is
an unfrozen lm on particle surfaces that persists until
the temperature drops below 0C.
The face of an ice front has a thin lm of adsorbed
water. Freezing advances by incorporation of water
l
molecules from the lm into the ice, while additional
ria
water molecules enter the lm to maintain its thick-
ness. It is energetically easier to bring water to the ice
from adjacent pores than to freeze the adsorbed water
on the particle or to propagate the ice through a pore
constriction.
ate
The driving force for water transport to the ice is an
equivalent hydrostatic pressure gradient that is gener-
ated by freezing point depression, by removal of the
water from the soil at the ice front, which creates a
higher effective stress in the vicinity of the ice than
Figure 9.51 Temperature versus depth relationships in a
dM
away from it, by interfacial tension at the icewater
interface, and by osmotic pressure generated by the freezing soil.
high concentration of ions in the water adjacent to the
ice front. Ice formation continues until the water ten-
sion in the pores supplying water becomes great The quantity L is the latent heat. Supercooling of 1C
enough to cause cavitation, or decreased upward water is sufcient to lift 12.5 kg a distance of 10 mm. Al-
ow from below leads to new ice lens formation be- ternatively, the energy for heave may originate from
hte
neath the existing lens. the thin water lms at the ice surface (Kaplar, 1970).
The processes of freezing and ice lens formation As long as water can ow to a growing ice lens fast
proceed in the following way with time according to enough, the volumetric heat and latent heat can pro-
Martins theory. If homogeneous soil, at uniform water duce a temporary steady-state condition so that (dT/
content and temperature T0 above freezing, is subjected dz)A (dT/dz)B. For example, silt can supply water at
to a surface temperature Ts below freezing, then the a rate sufcient for heave at 1 mm/h. After some time
rig
variation of temperature with depth at some time is as the ability of the soil to supply water will drop because
shown in Fig. 9.51. The rate of heat ow at any point the water supply in the region ahead of the ice front
is kt(dT/dz). If dT/dz at point A is greater than at becomes depleted, and the hydraulic conductivity of
point B, the temperature of the element will drop. the soil drops, owing to increased tension in the pore
When water goes to ice, it gives up its latent heat, water. This is illustrated in Fig. 9.52, where hydraulic
py
which ows both up and down and may slow or stop conductivity data as a function of negative pore water
changes in the value of dT/dz for some time period, pressure are shown for a silty sand, a silt, and a clay,
thus halting the rate of advance of the freezing front all compacted using modied AASHTO effort, at a
into the soil. water content about 3 percent wet of optimum.
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Ground heave results from the formation of a lens A small negative pore water pressure is sufcient to
at A, with water supplied according to the mechanisms cause water to drain from the pores of the silty sand,
indicated above. The energy needed to lift the over- and this causes a sharp reduction in hydraulic conduc-
lying material, which may include not only the soil and tivity. Because the clay can withstand large negative
ice lenses above, but also pavements and structures, is pore pressures without loss of saturation, the hydraulic
available because ice forms under conditions of super- conductivity is little affected by increasing reductions
cooling at a temperature T X TFP, where TFP is the in the pore pressure (increasing suction). The small
freezing temperature. The available energy is decrease that is observed results from the consolidation
needed to carry the increased effective stress required
L(TFP T X) to balance the reduction in the pore pressure. For the
F (9.176)
TFP silt, water drainage starts when the suction reaches

GROUND FREEZING 317
which have now reduced the distance that water can
be from a particle surface. The temperature drop must
reach a depth where there is sufcient water available
after nucleation to supply a growing lens. The thicker
the overlying lens, the greater the distance, thus ac-
counting for the increased spacings between lenses
with depth. The greater the depth, the smaller the ther-
mal gradient, as may be seen in Fig. 9.51, where
(dT/dz)A (dT/dz)A where A is on the temperature
distribution curve for a later time t2. Because of this,
the rate of heat extraction is slowed, and the temporary
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steady-state condition for lens growth can be main-
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tained for a longer time, thus enabling formation of a
thicker lens.
More quantitative analyses of the freezing and frost
heaving processes in terms of segregation potential,
rates, pressures, and heave amounts are available. The
ate
Proceedings of the International Symposia on Ground
Freezing, for example, Jones and Holden (1988),
Nixon (1991), and Konrad (2001) provide excellent
sources of information on these issues.
dM Thaw Consolidation and Weakening
When water in soil freezes, it expands by about 9 per-
cent of its original volume. Thus a fully saturated soil
increases in volume by 9 percent of its porosity, even
Figure 9.52 Hydraulic conductivity as a function of negative
in the absence of ice segregation and frost heave. The
pore water pressure (from Martin and Wissa, 1972).
expansion associated with freezing disrupts the origi-
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nal soil structure. When thawed, the water returns to

its original volume, the melting of segregated ice
about 40 kPa; however, a signicant continuous water leaves voids, and the soil can be considerably more
phase remains until substantially greater values of suc- deformable and weaker that before it was frozen. Un-
tion are reached. der drained conditions and constant applied overburden
In sand, the volume of water in a pore is large, and stress, the soil may consolidate to a denser state than
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the latent heat raises the freezing temperature to the it had prior to freezing. The lower the density of the
normal freezing point. Hence, there is no supercooling soil, the greater is the amount of thaw consolidation.
and no heave. Negative pore pressure development at The total settlement of foundations and pavements as-
the ice front causes the hydraulic conductivity to drop, sociated with thawing is the sum of that due to (1) the
so water cannot be supplied to form ice lenses. Thus phase change, (2) melting of segregated ice, and (3)
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sands freeze homogeneously with depth. In clay, the compression of the weakened soil structure.
hydraulic conductivity is so low that water cannot be Testing of representative samples under appropriate
supplied fast enough to maintain the temporary steady- boundary conditions is the most reliable means for
state condition needed for ice lens growth. Heave in evaluating thaw consolidation. Samples of frozen soil
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clay only develops if the freezing rate is slowed to well are allowed to thaw under specied levels of applied
below that in nature. Silts and silty soils have a com- stress and under dened drainage conditions, and the
bination of pore size, hydraulic conductivity, and freez- decrease in void ratio or thickness is determined. An
ing point depression that allow for large heave at example of the effects of freezing and thawing on the
normal freezing rates in the eld. compression and strength of initially undisturbed Bos-
The freezing temperature penetrates ahead of a com- ton blue clay is shown in Fig. 9.53 from Swan and
pleted ice lens, and a new lens will start to form only Greene (1998). These tests were done as part of a
after the temperature drops to the nucleation temper- ground freezing project for ground strengthening to en-
ature. The nucleation temperature for a new lens may able jacking of tunnel sections beneath operating rail
be less than that for the one before because of reduced lines during construction of the recently completed
saturation and consolidation from the previous ows, Central Artery/Tunnel Project in Boston. Detailed

0
2
4 C1-UF
e0 = 1.064
Vertical Strain, v (%)

6
8 C4-FT
e0 = 1.171
10
12
14
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16
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18
20
22
10 100 1000 10000
ate
Effective Stress, c (kPa)
(a)
120
dM 100
Deviator Stress, 1 3 (kPa)
UUC1-UF
80 (13)max = 109.6 kPa
1 = 2.3%
su/3cell = 0.36
60 e0 = 1.02; w = 37.5%
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40
UUC4-FT
(1 3)max = 42.4 kPa
20 1 = 12.8%
su/3cell = 0.14
e0 = 1.13; w = 43.2%
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0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Axial Strain. %
(b)
Figure 9.53 (a) Comparison between the compression behavior of unfrozen (C1-UF) and
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frozen then thawed (C4-FT) samples of Boston blue clay. (b) Deviator stress vs. axial strain
in unconsolidatedundrained triaxial compression of unfrozen (UUC1-UF) and frozen and
thawed (UUC4-FT) Boston blue clay (from Swan and Greene, 1998).
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analysis of the thaw consolidation process and its an- cations are usually temporary, and they have the ad-
alytical representation is given by Nixon and Ladanyi vantage that the ground is not permanently altered,
(1978) and Andersland and Anderson (1978). except for such property changes as may be caused by
the freezethaw processes. Returning the ground to its
pristine state may be important for environmental rea-
Ground Strengthening and Flow Barriers by
sons where alternative methods for stabilization could
Articial Ground Freezing
permanently change the state and composition of the
Articial ground freezing has applications for formation subsoil.
of seepage cutoff barriers in situ, excavation support, Freezing is usually accomplished by installation of
and other ground strengthening purposes. These appli- freeze pipes and circulation of a refrigerant. For emer-

gency and rapid ground freezing, expendable refrig- 160
erants such as liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide in an
open pipe can be used. The thermal energy removal
and time requirements for freezing the ground can be
calculated using the appropriate thermal conductivity,
volumetric heat, and latent heat properties for the
120
ground and heat conduction theory in conjunction with First Second Third
the characteristics of the refrigeration system (Sanger, Stage Stage Stage
1968; Shuster, 1972; Sanger and Sayles, 1979). For
many applications the energy required to freeze the
ground in kcal/m3 will be in the range of 2200 to 2800
l
Natural Strain, -%
times the water content in percent (Shuster, 1972). 80
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However, if the rate of groundwater ow exceeds about Pa
M
1.5 m/day, it may be difcult to freeze the ground 55 Temperature
0. Effect
without a very high refrigeration capacity to ensure =
,
that the necessary temperature decrease and latent heat C
0
removal can be accomplished within the time any el- =
ate
T
ement of water is within the zone to be frozen. 40
The long-term strength and stressstrain character-
istics of frozen ground depend on the ice content, tem- Pa
,= 0.55 M
perature, and duration of loading. The short-term T= 2.2 C
Stress effect
strength under rapid loading, which can be up to 20
dM
MPa at low temperature, may be 5 to 10 times greater T = 2.2 C, = 0.138 MPa
than that under sustained stresses. That is, frozen soils 0
0 10 tf 20 30
are susceptible to creep strength losses (Chapter 12). Time, t (hr)
The deformation behavior of frozen soil is viscoplastic,
and the stress and temperature have signicant inu- Figure 9.54 Creep curves for a frozen organic silty clay
ence on the deformation at any time. The creep curves (from Sanger and Sayles, 1979).
in Fig. 9.54 illustrate these effects. The onset of the
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third stage of creep indicates the beginning of failure.

The evaluation of stability of frozen soil masses, the
prediction of creep deformation, and the possibility of the permeability of soils to water and how this property
creep rupture are complex problems because of het- depends on soil type, especially gradation, and is
erogeneous ground conditions, irregular geometries, sensitive to testing conditions, soil fabric, and en-
and temperature and stress variations throughout the vironmental factors. The understanding of these fun-
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frozen soil mass. Design and implementation consid- damentals is important, not only because of the
erations for use of ground freezing in construction are insights provided but also because many of the same
given by Donohoe et al. (1998). considerations apply to the several other types of ows
that are known to be importantchemical, electrical,
and thermal. Knowledge of one is helpful in the un-
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9.23 CONCLUDING COMMENTS derstanding and quantication of the other because the
mathematical descriptions of the ows follow similar
Conductivity properties are one of the four key dimen- force-ux relationships.
sions of soil behavior that must be understood and At the same time it is necessary to take into account
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quantied for success in geoengineering. The other that the ows of uids of different composition and the
three dimensions are volume change, deformation and application of hydraulic, chemical, electrical, and ther-
strength, and the inuences of time. They form the mal driving forces to soils can cause changes in com-
subjects of the following three chapters of this book. positions and properties, with differing consequences,
Water ows through soils and rocks under fully sat- depending on the situation. Furthermore, as examined
urated conditions have been the most studied, and hy- in considerable detail in this chapter, ow coupling can
draulic conductivity properties, their determination and be important, especially advective and diffusive chem-
application for seepage studies of various types, con- ical transport, electroosmotic water and chemical ow,
struction dewatering, and the like are central to geo- and thermally driven moisture ow. Considerable im-
technical engineering. One objective of this chapter has petus for research on these processes has been gener-
been to elucidate the fundamental factors that control ated by geoenvironmental needs, including enhanced

and more economical waste containment and site re- 6. How can the effects of incompatibility between
mediation strategies. chemicals in a waste repository and a compacted
Ground freezing, in addition to its importance in en- clay liner best be minimized?
gineering and construction in cold regions, is seeing
7. Two parallel channels, one with owing water and
new applications for temporary ground stabilization
the other with contaminated water, are 100 ft apart.
needed for underground construction in sensitive urban
areas. The surface elevation of the contaminated channel
is 99 ft, and the surface elevation of the clean wa-
ter channel is at 97 ft. The soil between the two
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS channels is sand with a hydraulic conductivity of
1 104 m/s, a dry unit weight of 100 pcf, and
1. A uniform sand with rounded particles has a void a specic gravity of solids of 2.65. Estimate the
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ratio of 0.63 and a hydraulic conductivity, k, of 2.7 time it will take for seepage from the contaminated
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104 m/s. Estimate the value of k for the same channel to begin owing into the initially clean
sand at a void ratio of 0.75. channel. Make the following assumptions and sim-
2. The soil prole at a site that must be dewatered plications:
consists of three homogeneous horizontal layers of a. Seepage is one dimensional.
ate
equal thickness. The value of k for the upper and b. The only subsurface reaction is adsorption onto
lower layers is 1 106 m/s and that of the mid- the soil particles.
dle layer is 1 104 m/s. What is the ratio of the c. The soilwater partitioning coefcient is 0.4
average hydraulic conductivity in the horizontal cm3 /g.
direction to that in the vertical direction?
dM d. Hydrodynamic dispersion can be ignored.
3. Consider a zone of undisturbed San Francisco Bay
8. For the compacted clay waste containment liner
mud free of sand and silt lenses. Comment on the
shown below and assuming steady-state condi-
probable effect of disturbance on the hydraulic
tions:
conductivity, if any. Would this material be ex-
pected to be anisotropic with respect to hydraulic a. What is the contaminant transport for pure
conductivity? Why? molecular diffusion?
b. What is the contaminant transport rate for pure
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4. Assume the specic surface of the San Francisco advection?

Bay mud in Question 3 is 50 m2 /g and prepare a
c. What is the contaminant transport rate for ad-
plot of the hydraulic conductivity in meters/sec-
ond as a function of water content over the range vection plus diffusion?
of 100 percent decreased to 25 percent by consol- d. Why dont the answers to parts (a) and (b) add
idation using the KozenyCarman equation. up to (c)?
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Would you expect the actual variation in hydraulic

conductivity as a function of water content to be
of this form? Why? Sketch the variation you
would expect and explain why it has this form.
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5. At a Superfund site a plastic concrete slurry wall

was proposed as a vertical containment barrier
against escape of liquid wastes and heavily con-
taminated groundwater. The subsurface conditions
consist of horizontally bedded mudstone and silt-
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stone above thick, very low permeability clay

shale. The cutoff wall was to extend into the slay
shale, which has been shown to be able to serve
as a very effective bottom barrier. For the nal
design and construction, however, a 3-ft-wide NOTE: Advection and diffusion are in the
gravel trench was used instead of the slurry wall. same direction; therefore, J 0, and the so-
Sumps and pumps placed in the bottom of the
lution will be in the form
trench are used to collect liquids. Explain how this
trench can serve as an effective cutoff and discuss
the pros and cons of the two systems. c a1ea2x a3

9. One-dimensional ow is occurring by electroos-
mosis between two electrodes spaced at 3.0 m with
a potential drop of 100 V (DC) between them.
What should the water ow rate be if the coef-
cient of electroosmotic permeability, ke, is 5
109 m2 /s V assuming an open system? If no wa-
ter is resupplied at the anode, what maximum con-
solidation pressure should develop at a point
midway between electrodes if the hydraulic con-
ductivity of the soil is 1 108 m/s?
Assume that the water pressure at the top of the leach-
10. a. A soil has a coefcient of electroosmotic per-
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ate collection layer is atmospheric and that the only
meability equal to 0.3 108 m/s per V/m
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uxes across the liner are water and electricity. The
and a hydraulic conductivity of 6 109 m/s. characteristics of the compacted clay liner are:
Starting from the general relationship
Hydraulic conductivity
ate
Ji Lij Xj kh 1 107 m/s
Electroosmotic coefficients
derive an expression for the pore water tension ke 2 109 m2 /s V
that may be developed under ideal conditions
for consolidation of the clay by electroosmosis
dM ki 0.2 106 m3 /s amp
and compute the value that should develop at a a. Wire mesh is proposed for use as electrodes.
point where the voltage is 25 V. Be sure to Where would you place the anode and cathode
indicate correct units with your answers. meshes?
b. In the absence of electrochemical effects or b. If the waste pond is to be lled to an average
cavitation, would you consider your answer to depth of 6 m, what voltage drop should be
part (a) to represent an upper or lower bound maintained between the electrodes?
estimate of the pore water tension? Why?
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c. What will the power cost be per hectare of im-

(HINT: Consider the inuence of consolidation poundment per year? Power costs $0.09 per
on the soil properties that are used to predict kWh.
the pore water tension.) d. Assume that the leachate collection layer is
11. In 1892 Saxen established that there is equivalence ushed continuously with freshwater and that
between electroosmosis and streaming potential the liquid waste contains dissolved salts. Write
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such that the results of a hydraulic conductivity the complete set of equations that would be re-
test in which streaming potential is measured can quired to describe all the ows across the liner
be used to predict the volume ow rate during during electroosmosis. Dene all terms.
electroosmosis in terms of the electrical current. e. Will maintenance of a no hydraulic ow con-
py
Starting with the general equations for coupled dition ensure that no leachate will escape
electrical and hydraulic ow, derive Saxens law. through the clay liner? Why?
What will be the drainage rate from a soil, in
13. a. Estimate the minimum footing depths for struc-
m3 /h amp, if the streaming potential is 25 mV/
tures in a Midwestern city where the freezing
atm? What will be the cost of electrical power per
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index is 750 degree-days and the duration of

cubic meter of water drained if electricity costs
the freezing index is 100 days. The mean an-
$0.10 per kWh and a maximum voltage of 75 V
nual air temperature is 50F. The soil is silty
is used? clay with a water content of 20 percent and a
12. It might be possible to prevent leakage of hazard- dry unit weight of 110 lb/ft3. Assume no ice
ous and toxic chemicals through waste impound- segregation and compare values according to
ment and landll clay or geosynthetic-clay liners the Stefan and modied Berggren formulas.
by means of an electroosmosis counterow barrier b. What will be the depth of frost penetration be-
against hydraulically driven seepage. Consider the low original ground surface level if a surface
impoundment and liner system shown below. heave of 6 inches develops due to ice lens for-

mation? Assume a frozen ground temperature through the liner as a function of the hydraulic
of 32F. conductivity. Show in the same diagram the
c. If a pavement is to be placed over the soil, what proportions of the total that are attributable to
thickness of granular base course should be diffusion and advection.
used to prevent freezing of the subgrade? The Assume that the leachate collection layer is
base course will be compacted to a dry density fully drained, but for purposes of analysis the
of 125 lb/ft3 at a water content of 15 percent. uid level can be considered at the bottom of
If the pavement structure is to contain an 8- the clay. Determine the leakage rate through
inch-thick Portland cement concrete surface the liner per unit area as a function of the hy-
layer, will your result tend to overestimate or draulic conductivity and show it on a diagram.
underestimate the base thickness required? 15. The diagram below shows the cross section of a
l
Why? tunnel and underlying borehole in which waste
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14. A compacted ne-grained soil is to be used as a canisters for spent nuclear fuel are located. Such
liner for a chemical waste storage area. Free liquid an arrangement is proposed for deep (e.g., several
leachate and possibly some heavier than water hundred meters) burial of nuclear waste in crys-
free phase nonsoluble, nonpolar organic liquids talline rock. The surrounding rock can be assumed
ate
(DNAPLs) may accumulate in some areas as a re- fully saturated, and the groundwater table will be
sult of rupturing and corrosion of the drums in within a few tens of meters of the ground surface.
which they were stored. Two sources of soil for Thermal studies have shown that the temperature
use in the liner are available. They have the fol- of the waste canister will rise to as high as 150C
lowing properties: at its surface. A canister life of about 100 years is
anticipated using either stainless steel or copper
dM for the material. The surrounding environment
must be safe against leakage of radionuclides from
Property Soil A Soil B
the repository for a minimum of 100,000 years.
Unied class (CH) (CL)
Liquid limit (%) 90 45
Plastic limit (%) 30 25
Clay size (%) 50 30
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Silt size (%) 30 40

Sand size (%) 20 30
Predominant clay Smectite Illite
mineral
Cation exchange 60 20
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capacity (meg/100 g)
a. Which of the two soils would be best suited for

use in the liner? Why?
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b. What tests would you use to validate your

choice? Why?
c. Assume that you have conrmed that it will be
possible to compact the soil to states that will
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have hydraulic conductivities in the range of 1

108 to 1 1011 m/s. A liner thickness of
0.6 m is proposed. Leachate is likely to accu-
mulate to a depth of 1.0 m above the top of the
liner. A leachate collection layer will underlie
the liner.
d. If the concentration of dissolved salts in the
leachate is 1.0 M and the average diffusion co-
efcient is 5 1010 m2 /s, determine for the
steady state the total amount of dissolved
chemical per unit area per year that will escape

Clay or a mix of clay with other materials such as c. Assess the probable natures and directions of
sand and crushed rock is proposed for use as the heat and uid ows that will develop, if any.
ll both around the canisters and in the tunnel. d. What alterations might occur in the material
a. What are the most important properties that the during the life of the repository if any? Con-
backll should possess to ensure isolation and sider the effects of groundwater from the sur-
buffering of the waste from the outside envi- rounding ground, corrosion of the canister, and
ronment? the prolonged exposure to high temperature.
b. What clay material would you propose for this Would each of these alternations be likely to
application and under what conditions would enhance or impair the effectiveness of the clay
you place it? pack?
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CHAPTER 10
Volume Change Behavior
l
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ate
10.1 INTRODUCTION the void ratios encompass virtually the full range from
fresh sediments to shale. Mechanical and chemical
Volume changes in soils are important because they changes accompany and inuence the densication
determine settlements due to compression, heave due process. In general, the void ratioeffective pressure
to expansion, and contribute to deformations caused by relationship is related to grain size and plasticity in the
shear stresses. Changes in volume cause changes in
dM manner shown by Fig. 10.2b.
strength and deformation properties that, in turn, inu- Particle size and shape, which together determine
ence stability. Volume changes are induced by changes specic surface area, are the most important factors
in applied stresses, chemical and moisture environ- inuencing both the void ratio at any pressure and the
ments, and temperature. The effects of stress changes effects that physicochemical and mechanical factors
are generally the most important and have been the have on consolidation and swelling (Meade, 1964).
most studied. Particle size and shape are direct manifestations of
In this chapter, factors contributing to volume composition, with increasing colloidal activity and ex-
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change are discussed, and their relative importance is

pansiveness associated with decreasing particle sizes.
considered. Emphasis is on consolidation and swelling.
Values of compression index, Cc, dened in Fig.
Shrinkage is a special case of consolidation, wherein
10.1, from less than 0.2 to as high as 17 for specially
the consolidation pressure is developed internally from
prepared sodium montmorillonite under low pressure
capillary menisci and the surface tension of water.
have been measured, although values less than 2.0 are
Reader familiarity with the phenomenological as-
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usual. The compression index for most natural clays is

pects of compression and swelling as ordinarily treated
less than 1.0, with a value less than 0.5 in most cases.
in geotechnical engineering is assumed, as described
by the idealized void ratioeffective pressure relation- The swelling index, Cs, is less than the compression
ships shown in Fig. 10.1. Unless otherwise noted, the index, usually by a substantial amount, as a result of
particle rearrangement during compression that does
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discussion in this chapter is based on the behavior in

one-dimensional deformation conditions. Although the not recur during expansion. After one or more cycles
mathematics and numerical analyses needed for quan- of recompression and unloading accompanied with
tication of volume changes in two or three dimen- some irrecoverable volumetric strain, the reloading and
sions are more complex, the phenomena and processes swelling indices measured in the preyield region be-
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that control the behavior are the same. come nearly equal. Swelling index values for three
clay minerals, muscovite, and sand are listed in Table
10.1. For undisturbed natural soils the swelling index
10.2 GENERAL VOLUME CHANGE BEHAVIOR
values are usually less than 0.1 for nonexpansive ma-
OF SOILS terials to more than 0.2 for expansive soils.
The compressibility of dense sands and gravels is
Soil void ratio is normally in the range of about 0.5 to far less than that of normally consolidated clays; none-
4.0, as shown in Fig. 10.2. Although the range of pres- theless, volume changes under high pressures may be
sures of interest in most cases (up to a few hundred substantial in granular materials as shown in Fig. 10.3.
kilopascals) is relatively small on a geological scale, At low stress levels, the compressibility of sand de-
325

326 10 VOLUME CHANGE BEHAVIOR
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Figure 10.1 Idealized void ratioeffective stress relationships for a compressible soil.
dM
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Figure 10.2 Compression curves for several soils (redrawn from Lambe and Whitman,
1969).

PRECONSOLIDATION PRESSURE 327
Table 10.1 Swelling Index Values for Several Minerals
Pore Fluid, Adsorbed Cations, Void Ratio at Effective

Electrolyte Concentration, in Gram Consolidation Pressure of
Mineral Equivalent Weights per Liter 100 psf (5 kPa) Swelling Index
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Kaolinite Water, sodium, 1 0.95 0.08
Water, sodium, 1 104 1.05 0.08
Water, calcium, 1 0.94 0.07
Water, calcium, 1 104 0.98 0.07
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Ethyl alcohol 1.10 0.06
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Carbon tetrachloride 1.10 0.05
Dry air 1.36 0.04
Illite Water, sodium, 1 1.77 0.37
Water, sodium, 1 103 2.50 0.65
Water, calcium, 1 1.51 0.28
ate
Water, calcium, 1 103 1.59 0.31
Dry air 1.46 0.04
Smectite Water, sodium, 1 101 5.40 1.53
Water, sodium, 5 104 11.15 3.60
dM Water, calcium, 1 1.84 0.26
Water, calcium, 1 103 2.18 0.34
Muscovite Water 2.19 0.42
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Dry air 2.29 0.41

Sand 0.01 to 0.03
From Olson and Mesri (1970). Reprinted with permission of ASCE.
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pends on initial density. However, at higher stress lev-

els, yielding is observed, and the compression curves
for a given sand at different initial densities merge into
a unique compression line. Particle crushing is the pri-
mary cause of the large volumetric strains that occur
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along the normal compression line. The yield stress is

related to particle tensile strength (McDowell and Bol-
ton, 1998; Nakata et al., 2001).
Compressibility data for several sands, gravels, and
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rocklls are shown in Fig. 10.4. At a pressure of 700

kPa (100 psi) a compression of 3 percent is common,
and values as high as 6.5 percent have been measured.
Interestingly, the compacted shells of a rockll dam
are sometimes more compressible than the compacted
clay core.
10.3 PRECONSOLIDATION PRESSURE
Figure 10.3 Compressibility of three sands under high pres- Three different relationships between the present over-
sure (from Pestana and Whittle, 1995). burden effective stress v0 and the maximum past over-

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Figure 10.4 Field compressibility of earth and rockll materials (from Wilson, 1973). Re-
printed with permission from John Wiley & Sons.
burden effective stress vm are possible for the soil at solidation, and overconsolidated clays become
a site: normally consolidated clays when loaded beyond
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their maximum past pressure.

1. vm v0 Underconsolidated The soil has 3. vm v0 Overconsolidated or Preconsol-
not yet reached equilibrium under the present idated The soil has been consolidated, or be-
overburden owing to the time required for con- haves as if consolidated, under an effective stress
solidation. Underconsolidation can result from
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greater than the present overburden effective

such conditions as deposition at a rate faster than stress. Characteristics, causes, and mechanisms
consolidation, rapid drop in the groundwater ta- of preconsolidation are summarized in Table
ble, insufcient time since the placement of a ll 10.2. Cemented or structured soil may behave
or other loading for consolidation to be com- like an overconsolidated soil; the yield pressure
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pleted, and disturbance that causes a structure is larger than the maximum past pressure even
breakdown and decrease in effective stress. though the soil has not experienced a pressure
2. vm v0 Normally Consolidated The soil is greater than the present overburden stress.
in effective stress equilibrium with the present
overburden effective stress. Surprisingly few, if Accurate knowledge of the maximum past consoli-
any, deposits have been encountered that are ex- dation pressure is needed for reliable predictions of
actly normally consolidated. Most are at least settlement and to aid in the interpretation of geologic
very slightly overconsolidated as a result of history. If the recompression to virgin compression
processes of the type summarized in Table 10.2. curve does not show a well-dened break, such as at
Underconsolidated soil behaves as normally point B in Fig. 10.1, the preconsolidation pressure is
consolidated soil until the end of primary con- difcult to determine. Gentle curvature of the com-

PRECONSOLIDATION PRESSURE 329
Table 10.2 Preconsolidation Mechanisms for Horizontal Deposits Under Geostatic Stresses
Stress
History In situ Stress
Category Description Prole Condition Remarks/References
A. Mechanical one 1. Changes in total Uniform with K0, but value at Most obvious and
dimensional vertical stress constant given OCR varies easiest to identify
(overburden, p v0 for reload versus
glaciers, etc.) unload
2. Changes in pore (except with
l
pressure seepage)
ria
(water table,
seepage
conditions,
etc.)
B. Desiccation 1. Drying due to Often highly Can deviate from Drying crusts found at
ate
evaporation, erratic K0, e.g., isotropic surface of most
vegetation, capillary stresses deposits; can be at
etc. depth within deltaic
deposits
2. Drying due to
freezing
C. Drained creep
dM 1. Long-term Uniform with K0, but not Leonards and Altschaef
(aging) secondary constant necessarily (1964); Bjerrum
compression p / v0 normally (1967)
consolidated
value
D. Physicochemical 1. Natural Poorly understood and
hte
cementation often difcult to

due to prove. Very
carbonates, pronounced in eastern
silica, etc. Canadian clays, e.g.,
2. Other causes of Not uniform No information Sangrey (1972),
bonding due Bjerrum (1973), and
rig
to ion Quigley (1980)

exchange,
thixotropy,
weathering
etc.
py
After Jamiolkowski et al., 1985.

Co
pression curve over the preconsolidation pressure Fig. 10.6 from Leroueil et al. (1990). The higher values
range is characteristic of sands, weathered clays, heav- of apparent preconsolidation pressure associated with
ily overconsolidated clays, and disturbed clays. the faster rates of loading reect the inuences of the
The rate of loading and time have signicant effects viscous resistance of the soil structure. The rate-
on the equilibrium void ratioeffective stress relation- dependent value of preconsolidation pressure, p can
ship, especially for sensitive structured clays as shown be approximated by (e.g., Leroueil et al., 1985)
in Fig. 10.5. It is not surprising, therefore, that rate of
loading and time inuence also the measured precon- log( p) A B log(a) (10.1)
solidation pressure. The preconsolidation pressure de-
creases as the duration of load application increases where a is the vertical strain rate in one-dimensional
and as the rate of deformation decreases, as shown by consolidation, and A and B are tting parameters. Typ-

Constant Rate of Strain Tests at 5 C

100 Constant Rate of Strain Tests at 25 C
Preconsolidation Pressure (kPa)

90 Constant Rate of Strain Tests at 35 C
Creep Tests at 25 C 5 C
80
70 25 C
60 35 C
50
Conventional
Consolidation Test at
40 Conventional Consolidation
25 C (At End of Primary
Test at 25 C (After 24
Consolidation State)
Hours of Loading)
l
30
10 -9 10 -8 10 -7 10 -6 10-5 10-4
ria
Volumetric Strain Rate (s-1)
Figure 10.7 Effect of compression strain rate and tempera-

ture on measured preconsolidation pressure of Berthierville
Figure 10.5 Compression curves corresponding to different clay (from Leroueil and Marques, 1996).
ate
times after the completion of primary consolidation.
dictions of eld behavior are possible only if

dM undisturbed samples or in situ tests are used for deter-
mination of properties. The following factors, several
of which are treated in more detail in later sections,
are important in determining resistance to volume
change.
Physical Interactions Between Particles Physical
interactions include bending, sliding, rolling, and
crushing of soil particles. Physical interactions are
hte
more important than physicochemical interactions at

high pressures and low void ratios.
Physicochemical Interactions Between Particles
These interactions depend on particle surface forces
that are responsible for double-layer interactions, sur-
Figure 10.6 Effect of load duration increment and defor- face and ion hydration, and interparticle attractive
rig
mation rate on compression curves (Leroueil et al., 1990). forces. Physicochemical interactions are most impor-
(a) Ottawa clay (data from Crawford, 1964). (b) Backebol tant in the formational stages of ne-grained soil de-
clay (data from Sallfors, 1975). posits when they are at low pressures and high void
ratios.
Chemical and Organic Environment Chemical
py
ical examples of the tting for the results of different precipitates cement particles together. Organic matter
types of compression tests on Berthierville clay are inuences surface forces and water adsorption prop-
shown in Fig. 10.7 (Leroueil and Marques, 1996). The erties, which, in turn, increase the plasticity and com-
effect of temperature on preconsolidation pressure can pressibility. Expansion of pyrite minerals in some
Co
also be seen, and this is further discussed in Section shales and other earth materials as a result of oxidation
10.12. The data in Figs. 10.6 and 10.7 also illustrate caused by exposure to air and water has been the
the difculties and uncertainties in determining the true source of signicant structural damage (Bryant et al.,
in situ conditions from the results of laboratory tests. 2003). Temperature changes may cause changes in hy-
dration states of some salts leading to volume changes.
Mineralogical Detail Small differences in certain
10.4 FACTORS CONTROLLING RESISTANCE characteristics of expansive clay minerals can have ma-
TO VOLUME CHANGE jor effects on the swelling of a soil.
Fabric and Structure Compacted expansive soils
Both compositional and environmental factors inu- with occulent structures may be more expansive than
ence volume change, so meaningful quantitative pre- those with dispersed structures. Figure 10.8 is an ex-

PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS IN VOLUME CHANGE 331
a decrease in effective stress. The responses of satu-
rated soils to temperature change are analyzed in Sec-
tion 10.12.
Pore Water Chemistry Any change in the pore so-
lution chemistry that depresses the double layers or
reduces the water adsorption forces at particle surfaces
reduces swell or swell pressure. An example of this is
shown in Fig. 10.8, where increased electrolyte con-
centration in the water imbibed by a compacted clay
resulted in reduced swelling. For soils containing only
nonexpansive clay minerals, the pore water chemistry
l
has relatively little effect on the compression behavior
ria
after the initial fabric has formed and the structure has
stabilized under a moderate effective stress. This is in
accordance with the principle of chemical irreversibil-
ity of clay fabric, discussed in Section 8.2. The leach-
ing of normally consolidated marine clay at high water
ate
Figure 10.8 Effect of structure and electrolyte concentration content, however, may be sufcient to cause a small
of absorbed solution on swelling of compacted clay (adapted
reduction in volume owing to changes in interparticle
from Seed et al. 1962a).
forces (Kazi and Moum, 1973; Torrance, 1974).
Stress Path The amount of compression or swell-
ing associated with a given change in stress usually
ample. At pressures less than the preconsolidation
dM
pressure, the soil with a occulent structure was less
compressible than the same soil with a dispersed struc-
depends on the path followed. Loading or unloading
from one stress to another in stages can give consid-
erably different volume change behavior than if the
ture. The reverse is generally true for pressures greater
stress change is done in one step. An example for
than the preconsolidation pressure.
swelling of a compacted sandy clay is shown in Fig.
Stress History An overconsolidated soil is less
10.10. Each sample was placed under water after com-
compressible but more expansive than the same ma-
paction and allowed to swell under different surcharge
terial initially at the same void ratio but normally con-
hte
pressures. Further discussion of the stress path de-

solidated. This is illustrated in Fig. 10.9. If anisotropic
pendency on volume change is given in Section 10.11
stress systems have been applied to a soil in the past,
and Chapter 11.
then anisotropic compression and swelling character-
istics usually result.
Temperature Increase in temperature usually
rig
causes a decrease in volume for a fully drained soil. If

10.5 PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS IN VOLUME
drainage is prevented, increase in temperature causes
CHANGE
Physical interactions between particles include bend-
ing, sliding, rolling, and crushing. In general, the
py
coarser the gradation, the more important are physical

particle interactions relative to chemically induced par-
ticle interactions. Deformation resistance developed by
particle rolling and sliding is discussed in Chapter 11.
Co
Particle bending is important in soils with platy par-

ticles. Even small amounts of mica in coarse-grained
soils can greatly increase the compressibility. Mixtures
of a dense sand having rounded grains with mica akes
can even duplicate the form of the compression and
swelling curves of clays, as shown in Fig. 10.11. Chat-
tahoochie River sand with a mica content of 5 percent
is twice as compressible as the same sand with no mica
Figure 10.9 Comparison of compressibility and swell char- (Moore, 1971). On the other hand, a well-graded soil
acteristics for normally consolidated (compression curve) and may be little affected in terms of compressibility by
overconsolidated (rebound and recompression curves) soil. the addition of mica. Further discussion of the me-

l
ria
Figure 10.10 Effect of unloading stress path on swelling of a compacted sandy clay (Seed
et al. 1962a).
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Figure 10.11 Comparison of compression and swelling curves for several clays and sand
mica mixtures (from Terzaghi, 1931).
Co
chanical behavior of micasand mixtures is given in terpreted, probably erroneously, as balanced entirely
Chapter 11. by interparticle repulsion.
Cross-linking adds rigidity to soil fabric, especially The importance of grain crushing increases with in-
clays containing platy particles. Particles and particle creasing particle size and conning stress magnitude.
groups act as struts whose resistance depends both on Particle breakage is a progressive process that starts at
their bending resistance and on the strengths of the relatively low stress levels because of the wide disper-
junctions at their ends. According to van Olphen sion of the magnitudes of interparticle contact forces.
(1977), cross-linking is important even in pure clay The number of contacts per particle depends on gra-
systems, where the conning pressure is sometimes in- dation and density, and the average contact force in-

PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS IN VOLUME CHANGE 333
creases greatly with particle size, as summarized in Studies of compressibility and grain crushing in
Table 10.3. Statistical analyses of the probable fre- sands and gravels under isotropic and anisotropic tri-
quency distribution of contact forces show large devi- axial stresses up to 20 MPa showed the following (Lee
ations from the mean (Marsal, 1973). An example of and Farhoomand, 1967):
this obtained from a numerical simulation of a particle
assemblage is presented in Chapter 11. 1. Coarse granular soils compress more and have
Unstressed, or idle particles, can occupy voids be- more particle breakage than ne granular soils.
tween larger particles or particle arches associated with A comparison of gradation curves before and af-
strong force chains, as discussed in Chapter 7. The ter isotropic compression is shown in Fig. 10.12.
percentage of idle particles depends on gradation, fab- 2. Soils with angular particles compress more and
ric, void ratio, stress history, and stress level. In soils undergo more particle crushing than soils with
l
containing idle particles, particulate mechanics analy- rounded particles.
ria
ses of behavior that depend on such quantities as av- 3. Uniform soils compress and crush more than
erage number of particles per unit area or per unit well-graded soils with the same maximum grain
volume, average number of contacts per particle, and size.
the like lose their relevance unless the analyses allow 4. Under a given stress, compression and crushing
for their existence. continue indenitely at a decreasing rate.
ate
The resistance to grain crushing or breakage de- 5. Volume change during compression depends pri-
pends on the strength of the particles, which, in turn, marily on the major principal stress and is inde-
depends on mineralogy and the soundness of the pendent of the principal stress ratio.
grains. Failure may be by compression, shear, or in a 6. The higher the principal stress ratio (Kc 1c /
split tensile mode. Quartz grains are more resistant
dM 3c) during consolidation, the greater the amount
than feldspar, but there is greater variability in crushing of grain crushing.
and splitting resistance with changes in particle size
for quartz than for feldspar. Particle crushing results in increase in nes content
The amount of grain crushing to be expected for with increasing conning pressure. An example of the
rocklls and gravels is summarized in Table 10.4. In change in particle size distribution curve with increas-
this table, Bq is the proportion of the solid phase by ing conning pressure is shown in Fig. 10.13 (Fuku-
weight that will undergo breakage, and qi is the con- moto, 1992). Particle crushing can be quantied by
hte
centration of solids [Vs /V 1/(1 e)]. Hardins (1985) relative breakage parameter Br, which
Table 10.3 Contacts and Contact Forces in Granular

Soils
rig
Average
Grain Grain Contact
Contacts/ Contacts/ Force for
Particle Particle 1 atm
py
Soil Type (Range) (Mean) (N)

Loose uniform 410 6.1
gravel
Co
Dense uniform 413 7.7

gravel
Well-graded 51912 5.9
gravel, 0.8
mm d
200 mm
Medium sand 102
Gravel 10
Rockll, 104
d 0.7 m

Table 10.4 Grain Crushing in Rocklls and Gravels
Crushing Particle
Grain Size Strength Breakage
Samples Distribution of Grains Bqqia
El inernillo Well-graded High 0.020.10
silicied con- rocklls and for 5
glomerate gravels 1f 80
kg/cm2
Pinzandaran sand
l
and gravel
ria
San Francisco
basalt (grada-
tions 1 and 2)
El inernillo Somewhat uni- High 0.100.20
diorite form rocklls for 5
ate
1f 80
kg/cm2
El granero slate Well-graded Low
(gradation A) rocklls
Mica granitic
gneiss
dM
(gradation X)
Mica granitic Uniform rockll Low Increases
gneiss produced by with 1f
(gradation Y) blasting meta- maximum
morphic rocks value
(Cu 5) 0.30
hte
a
Bq is grain breakage parameter; qi is initial concentration of solids; 1f
is major principal stress at failure.
From Marsal, 1973. Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons.
rig
py
Co
Figure 10.12 Comparison of crushing of soils with different initial grain sizes for isotropic
compression under 8 MPa (from Lee and Farhoomand, 1967). Reproduced with permission
from the National Research Council of Canada.

FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND VOLUME CHANGE 335
100
Ottawa Sand : Initial Grading 0.42-0.82 mm

80 One dimensional consolidation to
' v=14000 psi (97MPa)
60 ' v=8000 psi (55MPa)
' v=5000 psi (34MPa)
40
' v=1000 psi (6.9MPa)
Initial
20
l
ria
0
0.01 0.1 1
Grain Size (mm)
(a)
ate
100
Landstejin Sand : Initial Grading 4-7 mm
80 Isotropically consolidated to 490 kPa and

then sheared in triaxial compression to
axial strain of 24%
dM 60 Isotropically consolidated to 98 kPa and
then sheared in triaxial compression to
40 axial strain of 24%
Isotropically consolidated to 980 kPa Initial

20
0
hte
0.01 0.1 1 10
Grain Size (mm)
(b)
Figure 10.13 Change in particle size distribution curve with increasing conning pressure:
rig
(a) Ottawa sand and (b) Landstejn sand (from Fukumoto, 1992).
is dened in Fig. 10.14. The increase in Br with iso- solidation of these clays is related to sequential break-
py
tropic compression pressure is shown in Fig. 10.15 for age of clay aggregates into smaller aggregates as con-
Dogs Bay carbonate sand (Coop and Lee, 1993). The solidation pressure increases (Bolton, 2000).
gure also shows the increase in Br at critical-state
failure (discussed further in Chapter 11). A unique
Co
particle breakage characteristic at failure is obtained 10.6 FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND VOLUME
irrespective of shearing conditions (i.e., undrained CHANGE
triaxial, drained triaxial, or constant mean pressure
shearing). Collapse, shrinkage, and compression are due to par-
Aggregates of clay mineral particles are often ob- ticle rearrangements from shear and sliding at inter-
served in clays, and intact aggregate clusters of clay particle contacts, disruption of particle aggregates, and
particles can be considered as the smallest units con- grain crushing. Thus, both the arrangement of particles
trolling the macroscopic mechanical behavior. These and particle groups and the forces holding them in
aggregate clusters behave in some ways similarly to place are important. Swelling depends strongly on
granular particles (e.g., Barden, 1973, and Collins and physicochemical interactions between particles, but
McGown, 1974). It can be conceptualized that the con- fabric also plays a role.

An illustration of such differences is provided by the

data in Table 10.5, where dry void ratios of several
undisturbed and remolded clays are listed. In each
case, the clay was dried from its natural water content
either undisturbed or after thorough remolding. The
substantially lower dry void ratios for the remolded
samples indicate greater shrinkage than in the undis-
turbed samples.
Structure anisotropy on a macroscale may be re-
ected by anisotropic shrinkage. For preferred orien-
tation of platy particles parallel to the horizontal,
l
vertical shrinkage on drying is greater than lateral
ria
shrinkage. For example, the vertical shrinkage of
Seven Sisters clay was three times greater than the hor-
izontal shrinkage (Warkentin and Bozozuk, 1961).
Collapse
ate
Figure 10.14 Denition of relative breakage parameter Br
by Hardin (1985). Collapse, as a result of wetting under constant total
stress, is an apparent contradiction to the principal of
effective stress discussed in Chapter 7. The addition of
water increases the pore water pressure and reduces
dM the effective stress; hence, expansion might be ex-
pected. The apparent anomaly of volume decrease
under decreased effective stress is because of the
application of continuum concepts to a phenomenon
that is controlled by particulate behavior at contact lev-
els for unsaturated soils. Collapse requires:
1. An open, low-density, partly unstable, partly
hte
saturated fabric
2. A high enough total stress that the structure is
metastable
3. A strong enough clay binder or other cementing
agent to stabilize the structure when dry
rig
When water is added to a collapsing soil in which

Figure 10.15 Increase in Br with conning pressure under the silt and sand grains are stabilized by clay coatings
isotropic compression (NCL) and at critical state (CSL) or buttresses, the effective stress in the clay is reduced,
achieved by standard triaxial compression shearing (both
the clay swells, becomes weaker, and contacts fail in
drained and undrained) and constant mean pressure shearing.
shear, thereby allowing the coarser silt and sand par-
py
ticles to assume a denser packing. Thus, compatibility

with the principle of effective stress is maintained on
a microscale.
Shrinkage
Co
Compression
Drying shrinkage of ne-grained soils is caused by
particle movements resulting from pore water tensions Sands In Chapter 8 it was shown that the volume
developed by capillary menisci. If two samples of clay changes during the shear of samples of sand at the
are at the same initial water content but have different same void ratio but with different initial fabrics can be
fabrics, the one that is the more deocculated and dis- different. Different volume change tendencies for dif-
persed shrinks the most. This is because the average ferent fabrics developed resulting from different meth-
pore sizes are smaller in the deocculated sample, thus ods of sample preparation have also manifested
allowing greater capillary stresses, and because of eas- themselves by differences in liquefaction behavior un-
ier relative movements of particles and particle groups. der undrained cyclic loading (see Fig. 8.22).

FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND VOLUME CHANGE 337
Table 10.5 Void Ratios of Several Clays After Drying in the Undisturbed and
Remolded States
Natural
Water Dry Void Dry Void
Content Ratio Ratio
Clay (%) Sensitivity Undisturbed Remolded
Boston blue 35.6 6.8 0.69 0.50
Boston blue 37.5 5.8 0.75 0.53
Fore River, Maine 41.5 4.5 0.65 0.46
l
Goose Bay, Labrador 29.0 2.0 0.60 0.55
ria
Chicago 39.7 3.4 0.65 0.55
Beauharnois, Quebec 61.3 5.5 0.76 0.70
St. Lawrence 53.6 5.4 0.79 0.66
ate
The compression behavior of a natural intact ce- strengths of cementation bonding and particles on the
mented calcarenite sand is shown in Fig. 10.16 (Cuc- compression behavior of structured soils.
covillo and Coop, 1997). Similarly to structured clays,
dM Clays Compression curves obtained by odometer
the initial compressibility before yielding is stiff due tests on undisturbed and remolded Leda (Champlain)
to cementation. If the cementation is stronger than the clay, illite, and kaolinite are shown in Fig. 10.17. Li-
particle crushing strength, the compression line will lie quidity index is used as an ordinate, and the sensitivity
to the right of the normal compression line of the un- curves from Fig. 8.49 are superimposed.
cemented reconstituted sand. If the cementation is Curve A is for undisturbed Leda clay at an initial
weaker than the particle crushing strength, the com- water content corresponding to a liquidity index of
pression curve will merge gradually toward that of the 1.82. Because the sensitivity contours were developed
hte
uncemented sand before yielding (Cuccovillo and for normally consolidated clays, they cannot be used
Coop, 1999). This highlights the importance of relative to estimate sensitivity for stresses less than the precon-
solidation pressure. After the preconsolidation stress
has been exceeded the curve cuts sharply across the
sensitivity contours, indicating a large decrease in sen-
p (kPa)
sitivity as the structure is broken down by compres-
rig
100 1000 10000 10000

2.20 sion.
Intact Curve B is for kaolinite remolded at a liquidity index
Intact IB Reconstituted
2.00 of 2.06. The early part of the consolidation curve is
not shown in Fig. 10.17. Immediately after remolding
py
at high water content the effective stress is very low,

1.80 NCL and the sensitivity is equal to 1. Curve B shows that
consolidation results in an increase in sensitivity to a

1.60 maximum of about 15 to 18, at an effective consoli-

dation pressure of about 20 kPa. At this point, the in-
Co
2.40
terparticle and interaggregate shear stresses caused by
the applied compressive stress begin to exceed the
bond strengths, the degree of structural metastability
1.20 decreases, and the sensitivity decreases.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Curve D is for kaolinite remolded at a liquidity in-
In p(kPa)
dex of 0.98. It differs considerably from curve B. This
Figure 10.16 Isotropic compression curves of intact and re- is consistent with the results of other studies that show
constituted calcarenite sand specimens (from Cuccovillo and that the compression behavior, and therefore also the
Coop, 1997). structure, are different for a given clay remolded at

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 10.17 Change in sensitivity with consolidation for various clays.
different water contents, for example, Morgenstern and Swelling

Tchalenko (1967b). Signicantly lower sensitivity is The structure inuences swelling of ne-grained soils
rig
developed in the kaolinite of curve D than that of curve that is initiated by reduction of effective stress by un-
B. These observations show that both the concentration loading and/or addition of water. For example, an ex-
of clay in suspension and the rate of sediment accu-
pansive soil that is compacted dry of optimum water
mulation are important in determining the initial struc-
content can swell more than if compacted to the same
ture of clay deposits. At high pressures, both curves
py
density wet of optimum (Seed and Chan, 1959). This

tend to merge together, indicating that the initial fab-
rics have been destroyed. difference cannot be accounted for in terms of differ-
Curve E is for a well-graded illitic clay remolded at ences in initial water content and, therefore, must be
a liquidity index of 1.36. The consolidation curve in- ascribed to differences in structure.
Co
dicates a low sensitivity at all consolidation pressures. A swell sensitivity has been observed in some clays
Results of strength tests showed that the actual sensi- wherein the swelling index for the remolded clay is
tivity ranged from 1.0 to 2.6. higher than that of the same clay undisturbed. The in-
Curve C is for Leda clay remolded at a liquidity creased swelling of the disturbed material can result
index of 1.82. The sensitivity increases from 1 to about both from the rupture of interparticle bonds that inhibit
8 with reconsolidation, indicating development of me- swelling in the undisturbed state and from differences
tastability after remolding and recompression. The sen- in fabric. Old, unweathered, overconsolidated clays
sitivity decreases at high pressures as convergence with may be particularly swell sensitive. Swell sensitivities
curve A is approached. All of the above ndings are as high as 20 were measured in one case (Schmert-
consistent with the principles stated in Section 8.13. mann, 1969).

OSMOTIC PRESSURE AND WATER ADSORPTION INFLUENCES ON COMPRESSION AND SWELLING 339
10.7 OSMOTIC PRESSURE AND WATER
ADSORPTION INFLUENCES ON COMPRESSION
AND SWELLING
Adsorption of cations on clays, the formation of double
layers, and water adsorption on soil surfaces generate
repulsive forces between particles as described in
Chapters 6 and 7. Calculation of interparticle repul-
sions due to interacting double layers may be done in
more than one way; the osmotic pressure concept is
convenient and most widely used. By this approach,
l
the pressure that must be applied to prevent movement
ria
of water either in or out of clay is determined as a
function of particle spacings expressed in terms of void
ratio or water content.
The concept of osmotic pressure is illustrated by
Fig. 10.18. The two sides of the cell in Fig. 10.18a are
ate
separated by a semipermeable membrane through
which solvent (water) may pass but solute (salt) can-
not. Because the salt concentration in solution is
greater on the left side of the membrane than on the
right side, the free energy and chemical potential of
the water on the left are less than on the right.1 Because
dM
solute cannot pass to the right to equalize concentra-
tions due to the presence of the membrane, solvent
passes into the chamber on the left.
The effect of this is twofold as shown by Fig.
10.18b. First, the solute concentration on the left is
reduced and that on the right side is increased, which
hte
reduces the concentration imbalance between the two

chambers. Second, a difference in hydrostatic pressure
develops between the two sides. Since the free energy
of the water varies directly with pressure and inversely
with concentration, both effects reduce the imbalance
between the two chambers. Flow continues through the
Figure 10.18 Osmotic pressure: (a) Initial condition: no
rig
membrane until the free energy of the water is the equilibrium, (b) nal condition: equilibrium, and (c) osmotic
same on each side. pressure equilibrium.
It would be possible in a system such as that shown
by Fig. 10.18a to completely prevent ow through the
membrane by applying a sufcient pressure to the so-
py
lution in the left chamber, as shown by Fig. 10.18c. absolute temperature, ni is the concentration (particles
The pressure needed to exactly stop ow is termed the per unit volume), and ci is the molar concentration.
osmotic pressure , and it may be calculated, for dilute Thus, the osmotic pressure difference between two so-
solutions, by the vant Hoff equation, which was intro- lutions separated by a semipermeable membrane is di-
Co
duced in Section 9.13: rectly proportional to the concentration difference.
(n (c
In a soil, there is no true semipermeable membrane
kT iA niB) RT iA ciB) (10.2) separating regions of high- and low-salt concentration.
The effect of a restrictive membrane is created, how-
where k is the Boltzmann constant (gas constant per ever, by the inuence of the negatively charged clay
molecule), R is the gas constant per mole, T is the surfaces on the adsorbed cations. Because of the at-
traction of adsorbed cations to particle surfaces, the
cations are not free to diffuse, and concentration dif-
1
Formal treatment of the concepts stated here and derivation of Eq. ferences responsible for osmotic pressures are devel-
(10.1) are given in standard texts on chemical thermodynamics. oped whenever double layers on adjacent particles

overlap. The situation is shown schematically in Fig. where ca is the midplane anion concentration, and c 0
10.19. The difference in osmotic pressure midway be- and c0 are the equilibrium solution concentrations of
tween particles and in the equilibrium solution sur- cations and anions. At equilibrium in dilute solutions
rounding the clay is the interparticle repulsive pressure
or swelling pressure Ps. It can be expressed in terms
cc ca c0 c0 c02 (10.6)
of midplane potentials according to the following
equation (see Section 6.11):
because c
0 c0 . Thus Eq. (10.5) becomes
Ps p 2n0kT(cosh u 1) (10.3)
where n0 is the concentration in the external solution, Ps RTc0 cc c0

2 (10.7)
l
and u is the midplane potential function. c0 cc
ria
In terms of midplane cation and equilibrium solution
concentrations cc and c0 (Bolt, 1956), Eq. (10.2) be- Midplane concentrations can be determined using
comes the relationships in Chapter 6. Equation (10.7) assumes
Ps RT (c ci 0) (10.4)
parallel at plates and may be written in terms of void
ate
ic ratio for saturated clay. The water content w, in terms
of weight of water per unit weight of soil solids, di-
For single cation and anion species of the same valence vided by the specic surface of soil solids As gives the
average thickness of water layer, which is half the par-
Ps RT(cc ca c
0 c0 ) (10.5) ticle spacing or d. Thus,
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 10.19 Mechanism of osmotic swelling pressure generation in clay.

w systems that cover most of the moisture suction or
d (10.8)
w As overburden ranges of interest in soil mechanics or soil
science are available (Collis-George and Bozeman,
For saturated soil the void ratio is related to the water 1970). They are suitable for
content by
4 105
e Gsw (10.9) c 0
20 (10.13)
where Gs is the specic gravity of solids. Substituting where is the swelling pressure or matric suction (see
Eq. (10.9) into Eq. (10.8) gives Section 7.12) measured in centimeters of water.
Since the sum of the applied constraint in con-
l
e centration units and the external solution concentration
ria
d (10.10) must equal the midplane concentration, the pressure or
Gs w As
suction is given by
Bolt (1955, 1956) showed that the double-layer equa-
tions (see Chapter 6) can be combined with Eq. (10.10)
c c
m 0
ate
5
(10.14)
to give 4 10
v(c0)1 / 2(x0 d) 2 c0
cc
1/2
For homovalent and dication/monoanion systems, cm
is found from
/2 dM d
(10.11)

e 2
c
(1 (c0 /cc)2 sin2 )1/2 v()1/2
c
0 1/2
Gs As
m
41 %2 m
in which v is the cation valence and distance x0 equals
approximately 0.1/ v nm for illite, 0.2/ v nm for kao- (10.15)
linite, and 0.4/ v nm for montmorillonite. The param-
eter is given by
where 1.0 1015 cm/mmol at 20C and % is the
hte
double-layer charge in meq/cm2. For dilute concentra-

2F 2 /DRT (10.12) tions in the external solution, Eqs. (10.14) and (10.15)
reduce to
in which F is the Faraday constant, R is the gas con-
stant, and T is the temperature. 2
Combinations of (Ps /RTc0) and v(c0)1/2(x0 e/ 0.25 105 (10.16)
v2(e/Gs As)2
rig
Gs w As) that satisfy Eqs. (10.7) and (10.11) are given

in Table 10.6. These values may be used to calculate
theoretical curves of void ratio versus pressure for con- For mixed-cation heterovalent systems, cm is given by

solidation or swelling. For any value of log[Ps /(RTc0)]
e

the swelling pressure may be calculated. The void ratio v()1/2
py
1/2
can be computed from the corresponding value of Gs As
cm
v(c0)1/2(x0 e/Gs w As). For a given soil, Ps depends
c
completely on cc and c0 and those factors that cause cc
1/2 1/2
to be large relative to c0; for example, low c0, low
cos1 1/a 1 14 %2
Co
cm m
valence of cation, and high dielectric constant, cause
high interparticle repulsions, high swelling pressures,
and large physicochemical resistance to compression. cm
It is apparent from the values in Table 10.6 that the (10.17)
dominating inuence on swelling pressure at any given
void ratio is the specic surface area, which is deter- The value of a in Eq. (10.17) is given by
mined mainly by mineralogy and particle size.
The preceding relationships were developed for soils 2cm (c 2 1/2
m cm ) [4cmcm (cm cm ) ]
containing a single electrolyte, and they assume ideal a
2cm
behavior in accord with the DLVO theory as developed
in Chapter 6. Approximate equations for mixed-cation (10.18)

Table 10.6 Relation Between the Distance Variable Expressed as a

Function of the Void Ratio and the Swelling Pressure of Pure Clay
Systema
v(c0)1/2 v(c0)1/2
(x0 e/ Gs w As) log Ps /(RTc0) (x0 e/ Gs w As) log Ps /(RTc0)
0.050 3.596 0.997 0.909
0.067 3.346 1.188 0.717
0.100 2.993 1.419 0.505
0.200 2.389 1.762 0.212
0.046
l
0.300 2.032 2.076
ria
0.400 1.776 2.362 0.301
0.500 1.573 2.716 0.573
0.600 1.405 3.09 0.899
0.700 1.258 3.57 1.301
0.801 1.130 4.35 1.955
ate
0.902 1.012
a
v is the cation valence; is 8F /1000 DRT 1015 cm/mmol for water
at normal T; c0 is the concentration in bulk solution (mmol/cm3); x0 4/ vT
1/ v A for illite, 2/ v A
for kaolinite, and 4/ v A
for montmorillonite; e is
the void ratio; Gs w is the density of solids, As is the specic surface area of
dM
clay; Ps is the swelling pressure; R is the gas constant; T is the absolute
temperature; F is the Faraday constant; and D is the dielectric constant.
Adapted from Bolt (1956).
where cm is the midplane anion concentration. Since

hte
evaluation of Eq. (10.18) requires knowledge of the

midplane concentrations of the different ions sepa-
rately, the application of Eq. (10.17) is not as straight-
forward as is the case of Eqs. (10.13) and (10.14).
Applicability of Osmotic Pressure Concepts

rig
A reasonably clear understanding of how well the os-

motic pressure concept can account for the compres-
sion and swelling behavior of ne-grained soils has
been developed.
py
Homoionic Cation Systems

Early testing of the applicability of the osmotic pres- Figure 10.20 Relationship between particle spacing and
sure theory was done using pure clays consisting of pressure for montmorillonite (modied from Warkentin et al.,
Co
specially prepared, very ne grained clay minerals. 1957).

Good agreement between theoretical and experimental
values of interparticle spacing and pressure for mont-
morillonite with particles ner than 0.2 m in 104 curves for sodium and calcium montmorillonite in 103
NaCl solution is shown in Fig. 10.20. The rst com- M electrolyte solutions are compared in Fig. 10.21.
pression curves are above decompression and re- Agreement is fairly good as regards the inuence of
compression curves because of cross-linking and cation valence. However, the experimental curves are
nonparallel particle arrangements, that is, fabric ef- substantially above the theoretical curves. This may be
fects, which are eliminated during the rst compres- caused by dead volumes of liquid resulting from
sion cycle. Theoretical and experimental compression terraced particle surfaces (Bolt, 1956).

l
ria
Figure 10.21 Compression curves of Na-montmorillonite
and Ca-montmorillonite, fraction 2 m, in equilibrium with
103 M NaCl and CaCl2, respectively. The dashed lines rep-
resent the theoretical curves for As 800 m2 / g (Bolt, 1956).
ate
Osmotic pressure theory was used successfully for
prediction of swelling pressure developed in opalinum
shale, a Jurassic clay rock (Madsen and Muller-
dM
Vonmoos, 1985, 1989). Swelling pressure was pre-
dicted using Eq. (10.2) and compared with the
measured values, with the results shown in Fig. 10.22.
Particle spacings were calculated from specic surface
area and water content.
Agreement between theory and experiment has not
Figure 10.22 Predicted and measured swelling pressures for
been good for clays containing particles larger than a Opalinum shale (Madsen and Muller-Vonmoos, 1989).
hte
few tenths of a micrometer. The coarse fraction (0.2 to

2.0 m) of two bentonites gave swelling pressures less
than predicted, whereas the ne fraction (0.2 m)
gave values close to theoretical, even though the of the midplane concentrations suffers from several de-
charge densities of the two fractions were the same ciencies, as discussed in Chapter 6. In addition, phys-
(Kidder and Reed, 1972). ical particle interactions and the effects of interparticle
rig
Compression and swelling curves for three size frac- short- and long-range forces such as van der Waals
tions of sodium illite are shown in Fig. 10.23. The forces are neglected.
discrepancies between theory and experiment are fairly
large for the 0.2-m fraction; nonetheless, the ex-
perimental curves are in the predicted relative positions Mixed-Cation Systems
py
(Fig. 10.23a). However, for samples containing coarser Most soils contain mixtures of sodium, potassium, cal-
particles (Figs. 10.23b and 10.23c), the curves are in cium, and magnesium in their adsorbed cation com-
reverse order to theoretical prediction. This is because plex. Therefore, modications of the double-layer and
the compression was controlled by initial particle ori- osmotic pressure equations for homoionic clays are re-
Co
entations and physical interactions between the larger quired. The extent to which the resulting equations
particles rather than by osmotic repulsive pressures. may be suitable depends on the structural status of the
The concentration of CaCl2 or MgCl2 has essentially clay as well as on the particle size. Equations for
no inuence on the swelling of a 2-m fraction of mixed-cation systems are derived on the assumption
illite, and the consolidation is inuenced only by how that ions of all species are distributed uniformly over
the changes in concentration change the initial struc- the clay surfaces in proportion to the amounts present.
ture (Olson and Mitronovas, 1962). However, sodium and calcium ions may separate into
Factors in addition to clay particle size may also distinct regions. This is termed demixing (Glaeser and
contribute to failure of the theory in natural soils. The Mering, 1954; McNeal et al., 1966; McNeal, 1970;
DLVO theory that serves as the basis for determination Fink et al., 1971).

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 10.23 Inuence of NaCl concentration and particle size on compression and swelling
behavior of Fithian illite.
hte
Observed behavior was good for several cases ex- ical particle interference and fabric factors related to
amined using a demixed ion model (5 out of 6) for particle size. The behavior is consistent with the prin-
values of exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) less ciple of chemical irreversibility of clay fabric (Bennett
than about 50 (McNeal, 1970). Based on X-ray deter- and Hurlbut, 1986), which is discussed in Section 8.2.
rig
minations of interplate spacings in montmorillonite Nonetheless, when the physical and chemical inu-
(Fink et al., 1971) it appears that for ences of cation type on fabric and effective specic
surface are taken into account, the behavior can be
1. ESP 50 percent, there is random mixing of better understood, as illustrated, for example, by Di
Na and Ca2 and unlimited swelling between all Maio (1996). For those cases in which fabric changes
py
plates on addition of water. and interparticle interactions are small, such as swell-
2. 10 percent ESP 50 percent, there is demixing from a precompressed state, or for clays with very
ing on interlayer exchange sites, with progres- high specic surface area (very small particles) such

sively more sets of plates collapsing to a 20-A as bentonite, the theory gives a reasonable description
Co
repeat spacing with decrease in ESP. of swelling, at least qualitatively.

3. ESP 10 to 15 percent the interlayer exchange
complex is predominantly Ca saturated, with Na Water Adsorption Theory of Swelling
ions on external planar and edge sites.
An alternative to the osmotic pressure theory for clay
swelling is that swelling is caused by surface hydration
Summary (Low, 1987, 1992). Interaction of water with clay sur-
Osmotic pressure (double-layer) theory fails to explain faces reduces the chemical potential of the water,
the rst compression of most natural clays of the type thereby generating a gradient in the chemical potential
encountered in geotechnical practice because of phys- that causes additional water to ow into the system.

INFLUENCES OF MINERALOGICAL DETAIL IN SOIL EXPANSION 345
The general relationships that describe the water prop- ness would correspond to a water content of 400 per-
erties as a function of water layer thickness and water cent. Thus, a material such as sodium montmorillonite
content are given in Section 6.5. (bentonite) with its very high specic surface would
The swelling pressure (in atmospheres) for pure be expected to be expansive over a wide range of water
clays follows the following empirical relationship contents, and experience shows clearly that it is. On
(Low, 1980): the other hand, consider an illite or a smectite made
up of quasi-crystals so that interlayer swelling is neg-
( 1) B exp[ /w] B exp[ki /(tw)] (10.19) ligible. As both materials have surface structures that
are essentially the same, it would be expected that the
hydration forces should be similar. Thus, an adsorbed
in which B and are constants characteristic of the water layer of 5 nm would also be reasonable. How-
clay, w is the water content, w is the density of water,
l
ever, the specic surface areas of pure illite and non-
ria
t is the average thickness of water layers, and ki / expanded smectite are only about 100 m2 /g, which
( w As), where As is the specic surface. corresponds to a water content of 50 percent. For a
Equation (10.19) shows, as would be expected, that pure kaolinite having a specic surface of 15 m2 /g, the
the lower the water content and, therefore, the smaller water content would be only 7.5 percent for a 5-nm-
the water layer thickness, the higher is the swelling thick adsorbed layer.
ate
pressure. Whereas this approach can explain the swell- It is evident, therefore, that the specic surface dom-
ing of pure clays accurately, the osmotic pressure the- inates the amount of water required to satisfy forces
ory cannot (Low, 1987, 1992). of hydration. Except for very heavily overconsolidated
On the other hand, the inuences of surface charge clays and those soils that contain large amounts of ex-
density, cation valence, electrolyte concentration, and
dM pandable smectite, there is sufcient water present
dielectric constant, which have profound inuences on even at low water contents to satisfy surface hydration
swelling and swelling pressure, as shown in the pre- forces, and swelling is small. On the other hand, when
vious section, are not directly accounted for by the the clay content is high and particle dissociation into
hydration theory unless appropriate adjustments can be unit layers is extensive, the effective specic surface
made for the inuences of these factors on B, , and area is large and swelling can be signicant. The ten-
ki. An explanation that is consistent with both the in- dency for smectite dissociation into unit layers can be
uences of the double-layer/osmotic pressure theory evaluated through consideration of double-layer inter-
hte
and the water adsorption theory is as follows. actions, with those conditions that favor the develop-
Charge density and cation type inuence the relative ment of high repulsive forces, as discussed in Chapter
proportions of fully expandable and partially expand- 6, leading to greater dissociation.
able layers in swelling clay. For example, calcium
montmorillonite does not swell to interplate distances
greater than about 0.9 nm where the particles stabilize
rig
by attractive interactions between the basal planes of 10.8 INFLUENCES OF MINERALOGICAL

the unit layers as inuenced by exchangeable cations DETAIL IN SOIL EXPANSION
and adsorbed water (Norrish, 1954; Blackmore and
Miller, 1962; Sposito, 1984). In the presence of high In soils where swelling is attributable solely to the clay
electrolyte concentrations or pore uids of low dielec- content, smectite or vermiculite are the most likely
py
tric constant, interlayer swelling is suppressed, and the minerals because only these minerals have sufcient
effective specic surface is greatly reduced relative to specic surface area so that there are unsatised water
that for the case where interlayer swelling occurs. The adsorption forces at low water contents. Details of
amount of water required to satisfy surface hydration structure and the presence of interlayer materials may
Co
is reduced greatly. have signicant effects on the swelling properties of

A hydration water layer thickness on smectite sur- these minerals. In addition, the presence of certain
faces of about 10 nm is needed to reach a distance other minerals in soils and shales, such as pyrite and
beyond which the water properties are no longer inu- gypsum, as well as geochemical and microbiological
enced by surface forces (see Fig. 6.9), and Low (1980) factors, may lead to signicant amounts of swelling
indicates that the swelling pressure of montmorillonite and heave. Details of all the phenomena go well be-
is about 100 kPa for a water layer thickness of about yond the scope of this book; however, a few examples
5 nm. For a fully expanding smectite having a specic are given in this section to illustrate their nature and
surface area of 800 m2 /g, this latter water layer thick- importance.

Crystal Lattice Conguration Effects properties of expansive clays, for example, Rich
Greatest swelling is observed for charge deciencies (1968). Some aspects of interlayering between the ba-
in silicate layer structures of about one per unit cell as sic sheets in the expansive clay minerals are:
indicated in Table 10.7. Evidently, for layer silicates 1. Optimum conditions for interlayer formation are:
with sufcient isomorphous substitution to give charge a. Supply of A13 ions
deciencies greater than 1.0 to 1.5 per unit cell, the b. Moderately acid pH (5)
balancing cations are so strongly held and organized c. Low oxygen content
in the interlayer regions that interlayer swelling is pre- d. Frequent wetting and drying
vented. 2. Hydroxyaluminum is the principal interlayer ma-
Within the range of charge deciencies where swell terial in acid soils, but FeOH layers may be
is observed, there is no consistent relationship between
l
present.
charge, as measured by the cation exchange capacity,
ria
3. Mg(OH)2 is probably the principal interlayer
and the amount of swell (Foster, 1953, 1955). This component in alkaline soils.
nding is more consistent with the surface hydration 4. Randomly distributed islands of interlayer mate-
model for clay swelling than with the osmotic pressure rial bind adjacent layers together. The degree of
theory. interlayering in soils is usually small (10 to 20
ate
An inverse correlation exists between free swell and percent), but this is enough to x the basal spac-
the b dimension of the montmorillonite crystal lattice ing of montmorillonite and vermiculite at 14 A .
(Davidtz and Low, 1970). Differences in b dimension, 5. The cation exchange capacity is reduced by in-
which may be caused by differences in isomorphous terlayer formation.
substitution, evidently cause changes in water hydra- 6. Swelling is reduced.
tion forces. Furthermore, as the water content in-
dM
creases, so also does the b dimension, as shown in Fig.
6.5. Swelling ceases when the b dimension reaches Salt Heave
0.9 nm. Some saline soils with high contents of salts can un-
dergo changes in volume associated with hydration
Hydroxy Interlayering dehydration phenomena. One example is the swelling
of some soils containing large amounts of sodium sul-
The occurrence, formation, and properties of fate (Na2SO4) found in and around the Las Vegas area
hte
hydroxylcation interlayers (FeOH, AlOH, MgH) of Nevada. When the temperature falls from above
have been studied regarding their effects on physical about 32C to below about 10C, the salt hydrates to
Na2SO4 10H2O with accompanying increase in vol-
ume. This salt heave has been responsible for damage
Table 10.7 Inuence of Lattice Charge on to light structures and is described in more detail by
Blaser and Scherer (1969) and Blaser and Arulanandan
rig
Expansion
(1973).
Negative Charge
Mineral per Unit Cell Tendency to Expand Impact of Pyrite
Sulfur occurs in rock and soil as sulde (S or S2),
py
Margarite 4 None
Muscovite Only with drastic sulfate (SO42), and organic sulfur. The sulde min-
chemical treat- erals, of which pyrite is one of the most common and
ment, if at all easily oxidized (Burkart et al., 1999), are of greatest
concern. The amount of sulde sulfur is a good indi-
Co
Biotite 2
Paragonite cator of the potential for oxidation reactions and
Hydrous mica 1.2
weathering that can result in expansion. Sulde-
and illite induced heave has occurred in materials containing as
Vermiculite 1.40.9 Expanding little as 0.1 percent sulde sulfur (Belgeri and Siegel
Montmorillonite 1998). Products of pyrite oxidation include sulfate
Beidellite 1.00.6 Readily expanding minerals, insoluble iron oxides such as goethite
Nontronite (FeOOH) and hematite (Fe2O3), and sulfuric acid
Hectorite (H2SO4). Sulfuric acid can dissolve other suldes,
Pyrophyllite 0 None heavy metals, carbonates, and the like that are present
in the oxidation zone, thus allowing the effects of ox-
From Brindley and MacEwen (1953). idation to increase as the process builds upon itself.

INFLUENCES OF MINERALOGICAL DETAIL IN SOIL EXPANSION 347
The relative proportion of sulfate sulfur is indicative et al., 1998; Yohta, 1999, 2000). The amount of heave
of the degree of weathering or oxidation that has al- was as much as 480 mm. The cost for repairs was
ready occurred. Sulfate crystals develop in the capil- estimated at 10 billion yen (Yohta, 2000). The mud-
lary zone and tend to localize along discontinuities due stone at the site contained 5 percent pyrite. Whereas
to reduced stress in these regions. The increase in vol- the pH of the sediment was initially 7 to 8 before
ume resulting from the growth of sulfate minerals heave, the pH of the heaved ground was about 3,
along bedding planes is a dominant factor in the ver- and it contained acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria
tical heave that occurs in shales and other materials (Oyama et al., 1998).
that have subhorizontal ssility (Kie, 1983; Hawkins Yamanaka et al. (2002) further conrmed the pres-
and Pinches, 1997). The production of sulfates by py- ence and effects of sulfate-reducing, sulfur-oxidizing,
rite oxidation also increases the potential for further and acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria by means of
l
deleterious reactions, such as the formation of gypsum several series of laboratory culture experiments. Test
ria
and expansive sulfate minerals (e.g., ettringite). Gyp- results presented by Yamanaka et al. (2002), which
sum (CaSO4 2H2O) is considered to be the primary include electron photomicrographs of the bacteria,
cause of heave resulting from sulfate expansion. Vol- showed consistent variations of hydrogen sulde con-
ume increases associated with several suldic chemical centration, pH, Fe3 concentration, Fe2 Fe3 con-
weathering reactions are given in Table 10.8. For com- centration, and SO42 concentration over time periods
ate
parative purposes, these percentages are based on the up to 50 days for both the natural mudstone and the
assumption that the altered rock was initially com- mudstone after heat treatment to 121C. The heat treat-
posed of 100 percent of the original mineral. ment prevented or greatly slowed the bacterial activity,
Sulde oxidation reactions are usually catalyzed by whereas very signicant changes in concentrations and
microbial activity. Gypsum forms when sulfate ions
dM pH were measured for tests done at 28C. For example,
react with calcium in the presence of water, resulting the concentration of H2S increased from 0.3 to 2.2 mM
in very large volume increases. The products of pyrite in 20 days, the pH decreased from about 6.5 to 1.3
oxidation reactions are signicantly less dense than the in 47 days, the concentration of Fe3 increased from
initial sulde product (pyrite); for example, the specic about 6 to 125 in 5 days, and the concentration of
gravity of pyrite is 4.8 to 5.1, whereas that of gypsum SO42 increased from less than 1 to about 15 mM in
is only 2.3, and that of calcium is 2.6. Acidity pro- 25 days.
duced by pyrite oxidation can also result in signicant Based on their results and observations, Yamanaka
hte
quantities of acid mine and rock drainage. et al. (2002) developed the following explanation for
the processes leading to the foundation heave. The
Bacterially Generated HeaveCase History ground temperature, which had been about 18C at
About 1000 wooden houses founded on mudstone sed- depth, increased to about 25C in the summer after
iments in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, excavation. Initial anaerobic, high water content con-
ditions and the stimulation of sulfate-reducing bacteria
rig
were damaged by heaving of their foundations (Oyama

generated H2S. As the ground dried and became per-
meable to air, sulfate-oxidizing bacteria grew and stim-
ulated production of H2SO4, the lowering of pH, and
Table 10.8 Volume Increases of Selected Mineral pyrite oxidation. The reaction of H2SO4 with the cal-
py
Transformations cium carbonate present in the mudstone led to forma-

tion of gypsum and, with potassium and ferric ions, to
Mineral Transformation formation of jarosite. The foundation heave was asso-
ciated with the volume increase that accompanied the
Original Volume Increase of
formation of both gypsum and jarosite crystals.
Co
Mineral New Mineral Crystalline Solids (%)

Illite Alunite 8 Sulfate-Induced Swelling of Cement- and Lime-
Illite Jarosite 10 Stabilized Soils
Calcite Gypsum 60
Pyrite Jarosite 115 Some ne-grained soils, especially in arid and semiarid
Pyrite Anhydrous ferrous areas, contain signicant amounts of sulfate and car-
sulfate 350 bonate. Sodium sulfate, Na2SO4, and gypsum, Ca SO4
Pyrite Melanterite 536 2H20, are the common sulfate forms, and calcium
carbonate, CaCO3, and dolomite, MgCO3, are the usual
Data from Fasiska et al. (1974), Shamburger et al. carbonate forms. The dominant clay minerals in these
(1975), and Taylor (1988). soils are expansive smectites. Delayed expansion fol-

lowing admixture stabilization of these soils using fective stress is linear, and properties of the soil do not
Portland cement and lime has developed at several sites change during the consolidation process. Deformations
(Mitchell, 1986). Although test programs showed sup- in only one dimension, usually vertical, are considered
pression of swelling and substantial strength increase since determinations of settlements caused by loadings
at short times (days) as a result of the incorporation of from structures or lls are common applications of the
the stabilizer, subsequent heave of magnitude sufcient theory. In such a case, the relationship between void
to destroy pavements developed after of exposure to ratio and vertical stress is as shown in Fig. 10.24a for
water at some later time. The mechanism associated a normally consolidated clay layer, and that in Fig.
with this process appears to be as follows. 10.24b applies for an overconsolidated clay layer.2
When cement or lime is mixed with soil and water, As shown in any basic text on soil mechanics, the
there is a pH increase to about 12.4, some calcium amount of vertical settlement H that a homogeneous
l
goes into solution and exchanges with sodium on the clay layer of thickness H will undergo if subjected to
ria
expansive clay. This ion exchange, along with light a vertical stress increase at the surface is given by
cementation by carbonate and gypsum, if present, sup-
presses the swelling tendency of the clay. The mixed e
and compacted soil is nonexpansive and has higher H H (10.20)
1 e0
strength than the untreated material. If sodium sulfate
ate
is present, then available lime is depleted according to in which e0 is the initial void ratio and e is the de-
crease in void ratio due to the stress increase from
Ca(OH)2 Na2SO4 CaSO4 2NaOH v0
to v1
. For convenience, the change in void ratio
is often written in terms of compression index or co-
Silica (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) dissolve from the
dM efcient of compressibility and change in effective
clay in the high pH environment and/or they may be stress as dened in Fig. 10.1.
present in amorphous form initially. These compounds The rate at which consolidation under the stress in-
can then combine with calcium, carbonate, and sulfate creases from v0 to v1
is determined using Terzaghis
to form ettringite, Ca6[Si(OH)6]2(SO4)3 26H2O, and/ solution to the one-dimensional diffusion equation ap-
or thaumasite, Ca6[Si(OH)6]2(SO4)2(CO3)2 24H2O, plied to the transient state water ow from the consol-
which are very expansive materials (Mehta and Hu, idating clay layer. It is assumed in this theory that the
1978). In addition, in the case of lime-treated soil, if rate of volume decrease is controlled totally by hydro-
hte
the available lime is depleted, the pH will drop and the dynamic lag, that is, the time required for water to ow
further dissolution of SiO2 from the clay will stop. As out of the consolidating soil under the gradients gen-
silica is needed for formation of the cement (CSH) that erated by the applied pressures. The governing equa-
is the desired end product of the pozzolanic lime sta- tion is
bilization reaction, long-term strength gain is pre-
u 2u
rig
vented. Consequently, when the treated material is cv 2 (10.21)

given access to water, a large amount of swell may t z
occur. Further details concerning limesulfate heave
reactions in soils are given in Dermatis and Mitchell in which u is the excess pore pressure, t is time, z is
(1992). distance from a drainage surface, and cv is the coef-
py
cient of consolidation. The coefcient is given by
kh(1 e)
10.9 CONSOLIDATION cv (10.22)
av w
Co
Introduction and Simple One-Dimensional Theory

Terzaghis (1925b) quantitative description of soil where kh is the hydraulic conductivity, av de/d v
compression and its relation to effective stress and the is the coefcient of compressibility, and w is the unit
rate at which it occurs marked the beginning of modern weight of water.
soil mechanics. An ideal homogeneous clay layer is
assumed to follow the paths shown in Fig. 10.1 when
subjected to compression, unloading, and reloading. 2
In engineering practice compression and swelling curves are often
Key assumptions for analysis of the consolidation rate plotted using settlement ratio, H / H as ordinate rather than void
ratio, e, for convenience in settlement computations. Void ratio is
according to the Terzaghi theory are that the soil is used herein because it is more indicative of the state and properties
saturated, the relationship between void ratio and ef- of the soil.

CONSOLIDATION 349
l
ria
Figure 10.24 Idealized compression curves for clay layers: (a) normally consolidated and
ate
(b) overconsolidated.
Solutions for Eq. (10.22) for different boundary con- greater than 0.4 indicates high compressibility. Corre-
ditions are given in standard soil mechanics texts in
dM lations between compression index and compositional
terms of a dimensionless depth z/H (where H is the and state parameters have been proposed by a number
maximum distance to a drainage boundary) and a di- of investigators. Several such relationships for cohesive
mensionless time factor T cvt/H 2 for different soils were summarized by Djoenaidi (1985) and quoted
boundary conditions. The solution for u (z/H, T) by Kulhawy and Mayne (1990), and these relationships
for a layer of thickness 2H that is initially at equilib- are shown in Fig. 10.26. A simple correlation between
rium and subjected to a rapidly applied uniform sur- the compression ratio, dened as Cc /(1 e0), where
face loading is shown in Fig. 10.25a. The average e0 is the initial void ratio, and the natural water content
hte
degree of consolidation U over the full depth of the is shown in Fig. 10.27.
clay layer as a function of T for this case is shown in The large increase in compressibility that occurs
Fig. 10.25b. when sensitive clay is loaded beyond its maximum
prior effective consolidation pressure is shown in Fig.
Ranges of Compressibility and Consolidation 8.44. Values of compression index for the steepest part
Parameters of the compression curve as a function of in situ void
rig
The curves in Fig. 10.2, as well as the fact that the ratio and sensitivity are shown in Fig. 10.28. The pro-
void ratio of a soil cannot decrease without limit under found inuence of structure metastability as repre-
increasing pressure, mean that the assumption of a lin- sented by high sensitivity is clearly evident.
ear relationship between void ratio and log of effective Usual ranges of coefcient of consolidation for ne-
py
consolidation pressure that denes the compression in- grained soils are given in Fig. 4.19. Owing to the direct
dex Cc is simply a useful engineering approximation dependence of the coefcient of consolidation cv on
that applies over a range of stresses and void ratios of hydraulic conductivity and its inverse proportionality
practical interest.3 Values for compression index less to coefcient of compressibility, reliable determination
of a representative value in any case is difcult. Both
Co
than 0.2 represent soils of slight to low compressibil-

ity; values of 0.2 to 0.4 are for soils of moderate to hydraulic conductivity and compressibility are changed
intermediate compressibility; and a compression index by sample disturbance and by consolidation itself.
Most settlement predictions are done using average
values for coefcient of consolidation.
3
Compression index Cc or swelling index Cs and the coefcient of
compressibility av are related as follows: Shortcomings of Simple Theory for Predicting
de C Cs Volume Change and Settlements
av ln 10 c or ln 10
d v v v In many cases, predictions of the volume changes and
Hence, av is both stress level and stress history dependent. settlements and the rates at which they develop, which

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 10.25 Solution to the one-dimensional consolidation equation: (a) distribution of

excess pore water pressures as a function of dimensionless time and depth for a doubly
drained clay layer and (b) average degree of consolidation as a function of time factor.
py
are based on the above simple theory, are poor. Among 4. Changes in pore pressure dissipation rates during
the types of deviations between the observed and pre- and following construction
dicted settlement and pore pressure responses are the 5. Apparent lack of strength gain with consolidation
Co
following (Crooks et al., 1984; Becker et al., 1984; following load application
Tse, 1985; Mitchell, 1986; Duncan, 1993): There are two types of reasons for deviations from
the simple theory. In the rst category are those that
1. Differences in predicted and observed initial pore relate to soil behavior and the fact that in general the
pressure development upon load applications simple relationships between effective stress shown in
2. Continued pore pressure buildup after completion Figs. 10.1 and 10.24 are neither unique nor time in-
of loading dependent. In the second category are those that relate
3. Differences between eld consolidation rates and to the constitutive models and their application and the
those predicted based on the results of laboratory fact that the simplifying assumptions that may be re-
tests quired are not representative of the real conditions.

CONSOLIDATION 351
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Figure 10.26 Representative values of compression index Cc for cohesive soils (Djoenaidi,
1985).
ate
Soil Behavior Factors Characteristics of the real
behavior of ne-grained soils that are important in de-
termining the amount and rate of consolidation in-
dM clude:
1. Fabric and Structure Resistance to compression
is determined by both effective stress and struc-
ture. Structural inuences that must be consid-
ered relate to the initial state, the effects of
sample disturbance, structural breakdown asso-
ciated with consolidation under pressures greater
hte
Figure 10.27 Compression ratio as a function of natural wa- than the maximum past consolidation pressure,
ter content (from Lambe and Whitman, 1969). Reprinted and the effects of anisotropic loading.
with permission from John Wiley & Sons. 2. Time and Rate of Loading The relationship be-
tween void ratio and effective consolidation pres-
sure is not unique for a ne-grained soil but is
inuenced by rate of loading and time under a
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constant load as well. That is,
e e( , t) (10.23)
py
In differential form, Eq. (10.23) can be written
de
dt

e
t
d
dt

e
t
(10.24)
Co
According to this relationship, the total void ratio

change at any time is the sum of two compo-
nents: (1) that due to change in effective stress,
or effective stress related compressibility, given
by the rst term on the right-hand side of Eq.
Figure 10.28 The inuence of sensitivity and in situ void (10.24) and (2) that due to time, or time-related
ratio on compression index (from Leroueil et al., 1983). Re- compressibility, given by the second term on the
produced with permission of the National Research Council right. The rate at which the total void ratio de-
of Canada. creases as a function of time after application of

a stress increase may be controlled by either how information about them and about how to account for
rapidly the water can escape under a hydraulic them can be found in Gibson et al. (1981), Tse (1985),
gradient or by how fast the structure of the soil Mesri and Castro (1987), Leroueil et al. (1990), Scott
can deform or creep under a given magnitude of (1989), Duncan (1993), and elsewhere. Generalization
effective stress. Component (1) compression is of Terzaghis one-dimensional consolidation theory to
commonly referred to as primary consolidation. three dimensions was made by Biot (1941). At present,
Component (2) compression is commonly re- there are nite element and nite difference codes that
ferred to as secondary compression. In addition, solve Biots consolidation equation incorporating non-
aging phenomena during time under sustained linear stressstress relationships as well as anisotropic
stress generate additional resistance to further hydraulic conductivity. The hydraulic conductivity can
compression. also be a function of void ratio or effective stress. Fur-
l
3. Temperature Owing to differential thermal ex- ther details can be found in Lewis and Schreer (1997)
ria
pansions of soil solids and the pore uid and and Coussy (2004). Soil behavior factors are consid-
changes in interparticle bond strength and resis- ered further in the remainder of this section.
tance to sliding that can result from changes in
temperature, temperature-induced changes in ef-
Effects of Sample Disturbance
fective stress and volume are possible. These ef-
ate
fects are considered further in Section 10.12. The effects of sample disturbance on the compression
curve of sensitive or structured clay are shown in Fig.
Modeling Factors The commonly used constitutive 8.44 and include:
models for soil compression and consolidation may not
give suitable representations of actual behavior for the 1. A lower void ratio under any effective stress.
following reasons:
dM
1. The relationship between void ratio and effective
2. Higher values of recompression index and lower
values of the compression index for a disturbed
consolidation pressure is not linear, as is assumed clay than for the undisturbed soil.
for the Terzaghi consolidation theory. In fact, the 3. Less clearly dened stress history; determination
use of compression index and swelling index to of the maximum past consolidation pressure may
characterize soil compression and swelling rec- be difcult and uncertain.
ognize the nonlinear nature of the void ratio
hte
effective stress relationship. Several methods to estimate the inuences of sample

2. Changes in void ratio, compressibility, and hy- disturbance on measured compression properties and
draulic conductivity during consolidation are ne- strength have been proposed. Among them, Schmert-
glected or not properly taken into account. manns (1955) procedure is useful for determination of
3. Secondary compression, which is creep of the a corrected maximum past pressure and for estimation
soil skeleton, is often neglected, and models for of more representative values of swelling and recom-
rig
taking it into account are of uncertain validity. pression indices.

4. Soil properties differ among the strata making up The SHANSEP (stress history and normalized soil
the soil prole and within the individual strata engineering properties) method (Ladd and Foott, 1974)
themselves. was developed for more accurate determination of the
strength of soft clay. By this method, samples are con-
py
5. Boundary conditions are uncertain or unknown,

especially the drainage boundaries. Given that the solidated beyond the maximum past pressure into the
time for primary consolidation varies as the virgin compression range. Provided the structure of the
square of the distance to a drainage layer, errors consolidated clay does not differ extensively from that
of the undisturbed clay, the relationships between the
Co
in denition and location of drainage boundaries

have a major impact on settlement rate predic- ratios of shear stress divided by effective consolidation
tions. pressure versus strain and pore pressure divided by ef-
6. Although one-dimensional analyses are often fective consolidation pressure versus strain are the
used, two- and three-dimensional effects may be same for both the original undisturbed clay and the
important. consolidated samples. An uncertainty in this method,
7. The stress increments may not be known with however, is the extent of breakdown of a structured
certainty. soil from its initial state when it is consolidated past
its prior maximum past pressure. Evidence indicates
Analysis of modeling factors of the type listed above that it works well for clays of low-to-medium sensi-
is outside the scope of this book; however, additional tivity.

SECONDARY COMPRESSION 353
10.10 SECONDARY COMPRESSION solidation.5 Thus, it is convenient to dene a coefcient
of secondary compression, Ce, according to
According to the simple consolidation theory, which
assumes uniqueness between void ratio and effective
Ce de/d(log t) (10.25)
stress, consolidation ends when excess hydrostatic
pressures within a clay layer are fully dissipated. On
this basis, the relationship between degree of consoli- The value of Ce is usually related to the compression
dation and dimensionless time is as shown in Fig. index Cc as shown in Table 10.9, where values are
10.25b. In reality, however, most soils continue to listed for a number of different natural soils. Average
compress in the manner shown in Fig. 10.29. The rea- values for Ce /Cc are 0.04 0.01 for inorganic clays
son for secondary compression is that the soil structure and silts, 0.05 0.01 for organic clays and silts, and
0.075 0.01 for peats. Similar behavior for a number
l
is susceptible to a viscous or creep deformation under
of clean sands is shown in Fig. 10.30, where it may
ria
the action of sustained stress as the fabric elements
adjust slowly to more stable arrangements. The rate of be seen that Ce /Cc falls in the range of 0.015 to 0.03.
secondary compression is controlled by the rate at A general relationship between void ratio, effective
which the structure can deform, as opposed to the rate consolidation pressure, and time is shown in Fig.
of primary consolidation, which is controlled by 10.31, with slopes Ce and Cc indicated. When the
ate
Darcys law, which determines how rapidly water can curves corresponding to different times after the end
escape from the pores under a hydraulic gradient.4 of primary consolidation are projected onto the void
The mechanism of secondary compression involves ratiolog effective stress plane, Fig. 10.5 is obtained
sliding at interparticle contacts, expulsion of water for the assumption of linearity between void ratio and
from microfabric elements, and rearrangement of ad- log . Algebraic manipulation of the secondary com-
sorbed water molecules and cations into different po-
dM pression equation and the primary compression equa-
sitions. The observed behavior is consistent with that tion shows that the preconsolidation pressure is rate
of a thermally activated rate process, which involves dependent (Soga and Mitchell, 1996), consistent with
mechanisms that are discussed in more detail in Sec- the data presented in Fig. 10.7.
tion 12.4. Both laboratory tests and eld measurements, as
The relationship between void ratio and log of time well as theoretical arguments, have been made to es-
during secondary compression is linear for most soils tablish whether or not (1) the relationship between the
end-of-primary consolidation void ratio and effective
hte
over the time ranges of interest following primary con-

consolidation pressure is unique and independent of
load increment ratio or deformation rate, and (2)
whether or not both primary consolidation and second-
ary compression can occur together or if all primary
consolidation must be completed before secondary
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compression begins. The answers to these questions

are important as they impact the usefulness of labo-
ratory odometer test results on thin samples with short
drainage paths, in which consolidation times are short,
for prediction of the consolidation of thick layers in
py
the eld wherein consolidation times are often very

long. Detailed discussion of these issues is outside the
scope of this book. Among the many important refer-
ences on these points are Taylor (1942), Murayama
Co
and Shibata (1961), Bjerrum (1967), Walker (1969),

Figure 10.29 Idealized relationship between void ratio and
logarithm of time showing primary consolidation and sec-
ondary compression. 5
There is no reason to believe that secondary compression should
continue indenitely because a nal equilibrium of the structure
should ultimately develop under a given stress state. In nature, chem-
ical, biological, and climate changes also develop over long time
4
It is commonly assumed that there are no excess hydrostatic pres- periods. These changes can accelerate the establishment of equilib-
sures during secondary compression. However, water is expelled dur- rium or create new conditions of disequilibrium. However, the as-
ing secondary compression, and water ow is driven by hydrostatic sumption of linearity between void ratio and log of time after the
head differences, so there must be some small hydrostatic pressure end of primary consolidation is sufciently accurate for most prac-
difference between the interior and a drainage boundary. tical cases.

Table 10.9 Values of the Ratio of Coefcient of Secondary

Compression to Compression Index for Natural Soils
Grouping Soil Type Ce / Cc

Inorganic clays Whangamarino clay 0.030.04
and silts Leda clay 0.0250.06
Soft blue clay 0.026
Portland sensitive clay 0.0250.055
San Francisco Bay mud 0.040.06
New Liskeard varved clay 0.030.06
l
Silty clay C 0.032
ria
Near-shore clays and silts 0.0550.075
Mexico City clay 0.030.035
Hudson River silt 0.030.06
Organic clays Norfolk organic silt 0.05
and silts Calcareous organic silt 0.0350.06
ate
Postglacial organic clay 0.050.07
Organic clays and silts 0.040.06
New Haven organic clay silt 0.040.075
Peats Amorphous and brous peat 0.0350.083
Canadian muskeg 0.090.10
Peat 0.0750.085
dM Peat 0.050.08
Fibrous peat 0.060.085
From Mesri and Godlewski (1977).
hte
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py
Co
Figure 10.31 General relationship among void ratio, effec-

Figure 10.30 C / Cc values for clean sands (from Mesri et tive stress, and time (from Mesri and Godlewski, 1977). Re-
al., 1990). Reprinted with permission of ASCE. printed with permission of ASCE.

IN SITU HORIZONTAL STRESS (K0) 355
Aboshi (1973), Mesri (1973), Mesri and Godlewski In most cases, the horizontal stress in the ground
(1977), Jamiolkowski et al. (1985), Leroueil et al. does not equal the vertical overburden stress. The min-
(1985, 1988), Mesri and Choi (1985), Leroueil (1988), imum and maximum possible values can be calculated
Mesri et al. (1995), Leroueil (1995), and Mesri (2003). on the basis of plasticity theories for earth pressure.
In spite of these uncertainties, conventional practice The actual value, which must fall somewhere between
has been to assume that secondary compression does these limiting values, is a proportion of the vertical
not begin until completion of primary consolidation. overburden stress that depends primarily on soil type
This has the advantage of simplicity in that settlement and stress history. It is often determined (or estimated)
estimates can be made on the basis of degree of con- on the basis of these two factors using empirical cor-
solidation according to the simple theory during times relations, and, sometimes the results of in situ tests
up to the end of primary consolidation. For longer such as the self-boring pressuremeter (Mair and Wood,
l
times, the total settlement is taken as the consolidation 1987). The main limitation of in situ measurements is
ria
settlement increased by an amount of secondary com- that they invariably cause disturbance and allow lateral
pression derived from Eq. (10.25). This is undoubtedly deformations of the ground that change the stress being
an oversimplication of real behavior, as from the per- measured. The general ranges of in situ lateral stress
spective of the soil, there should be no difference be- for different soil types are summarized, and factors in-
tween the two types of compression. It compresses just uencing lateral stress are reviewed in this section.
ate
sufciently to withstand the applied stresses at any
time, and the rate at which it occurs in any element Development of Horizontal Stress
depends on whether or not the rate of water ow from
The relationship between the horizontal effective stress
the element at that time is controlled by a preexisting
and the vertical effective stress depends on the lateral
hydrostatic excess pressure gradient (primary consoli-
dM deformation that accompanies changes in vertical
dation) or by the time-dependent generation of small
stress. If the vertical stress and strain increase without
pore pressures owing to structural readjustment (sec-
any deformation in the horizontal directions (i.e., one-
ondary compression).
dimensional compression, as would be the case for an
On this basis, it would seem most likely that within
accumulating sediment), the soil is said to be in an at-
a clay layer both primary consolidation and secondary
rest state, and the horizontal stress associated with this
compression may be occurring concurrently in differ-
condition is termed the at-rest pressure.
ent elements. The major difculty has been in the for-
The ratio between the horizontal and vertical effec-
hte
mulation of a constitutive model to describe both the

tive stresses during initial compression of a soil is a
hydrodynamic and viscous components of the soil re-
constant, dened by the coefcient of earth pressure at
sponse that is both accurate and that can be readily
rest K0 ( h / v). Values of K0 for normally con-
implemented into analytical or numerical solutions.
solidated soils are generally in the range of 0.3 to 0.75.
With recent advances in theory and programs that can
Jakys equation has been found to give a good estimate
be run on personal computers, it is now possible to
rig
for many soils:

more properly describe the actual soil response and to
make improved settlement rate predictions (Duncan,
1993). K0 1 sin (10.26)
in which is the effective stress friction angle

py
10.11 IN SITU HORIZONTAL STRESS (K0) measured in triaxial compression tests. Although cor-
relations have been published that suggest unique re-
Terzaghis consolidation theory considers compression lationships between K0 and liquid limit or plasticity
only in one dimension. The soil model relates the ver- index, a comprehensive set of data for 135 clay soils
Co
tical strain to the change in vertical stress, and this indicates little correlation, as shown in Fig. 10.32. This
denes the volume change under zero horizontal dis- is not surprising since the Atterberg limits depend only
placement conditions. There is no need to consider the on composition, and K0 is a state parameter that is
change in horizontal stress to calculate the deforma- dependent on composition, structure, and stress history.
tion, even though the actual horizontal stress changes When the vertical stress on a normally consolidated
during loading and unloading. However, once soil de- soil is reduced, the horizontal stress does not decrease
formation departs from the one-dimensional condition, in the same proportion as the vertical stress. Thus, the
it is necessary to consider the state and changes of the value of at-rest earth pressure coefcient for an over-
stresses in the other directions and the associated vol- consolidated soil (K0)oc is greater than that for the nor-
ume change behavior. mally consolidated soil (K0)nc, and it varies with the

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ate
Figure 10.32 Lack of correlation between coefcient of
earth pressure at rest and plasticity index for normally con-
solidated soils (from Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990). Reprinted
with permission from EPRI.
dM
amount of overconsolidation, as shown schematically
in Fig. 10.33, and in Fig. 10.34 for 48 clays. The data
in Fig. 10.34 can be approximated by the equation Figure 10.34 Dependence of (K0)oc on overconsolidation ra-
tio (from Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990). Reprinted with per-
mission from EPRI.
K0 (1 sin )(OCR)sin (10.27)
Kulhawy and Mayne (1990) give additional useful cor-

hte
relations for estimation of K0. toward the K0 line coincides with the region of largest
The complicated stress paths associated with one- compression index (steepest slope on the volumetric
dimensional compression of four clays are illustrated strain versus effective mean stress diagrams), implying
in Fig 10.35. In the upper plot for each clay the de- structural degradation.
viator stress is shown as a function of the mean ef-
fective stress during one-dimensional compression.
rig
Effect of Lateral Yielding on the Coefcient of Earth

Before yielding, the stress path shows larger stress ra- Pressure
tios than the K0 1 sin line. As the stress state
If an element of soil initially under an at-rest stress
approaches the preconsolidation pressure, the stress
condition is allowed to yield by compressing in a ver-
path moves to the K0 1 sin line. The curvature
tical direction while spreading laterally, for example,
py
triaxial or plane strain compression, then the horizontal

earth pressure coefcient decreases until a failure con-
dition is reached. If, on the other hand, the element is
compressed in the horizontal direction while being al-
Co
lowed to expand in the vertical direction, triaxial or

plane strain extension, then the horizontal earth pres-
sure increases until failure develops. These two con-
ditions and the associated variations in K are shown in
Fig. 10.36. The two failure conditions are termed ac-
tive and passive, respectively, and the corresponding
earth pressure coefcients are the coefcient of active
earth pressure Ka and the coefcient of passive earth
pressure Kp.
Figure 10.33 Variation of horizontal effective stress with According to classical theories of earth pressure
vertical effective stress for loading and unloading. based on limiting equilibrium of a plastic material hav-

IN SITU HORIZONTAL STRESS (K0) 357
100 1000
(a r)/2(kPa)
(a r)/2(kPa)
ure d
50 500 fai
l ture g)
ak s truc therin
Pe d e a
K o( by we
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 500 1000 1500 2000
(a + r)/2(kPa) (a + r)/2(kPa)
0 0
e0 = 1.97 e0 = 0.69
4
v(%)
v(%)
10
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ria
8
20
12
(a) Sensitive Canadian clay (b) Unweathered Keuper marl
ate
200 50
(a r)/2(kPa)
(a r)/2(kPa)
ilure
k fa
Pea
100 25
d)
ucture
d estr
K o(
dM 0 0
0 100 100 100 100 0 25 50 75 100
(a + r)/2(kPa) (a + r)/2(kPa)
0 0
e0 = 1.04 e0 = 0.69
5 5
v(%)
v (%)
10 10
hte
15 15
(c) Artificially bonded soil (d) Chalk
Figure 10.35 Variation in lateral stress with mean stress during one-dimensional consoli-
dation of four clays (from Leroueil and Vaughan, 1990).
rig
ing a friction angle and a cohesion c, the limiting Under one-dimensional conditions, compression is
minimum and maximum values of the earth pressure usually plotted on the elog v plane, as shown in Fig.
py
coefcients are 10.1. For three-dimensional stress and deformation

conditions, however, the volumetric behavior is often

plotted on the eln p plane (or v ln p plane), where
2c p is the mean effective pressure and v is the specic
Ka tan2 45 tan 45 (10.28)
v
Co
2 2 volume (1 e). When a specimen is consolidated

Kp tan2 45

2

2c
v
tan 45

2 (10.29)
isotropically, the slope of the normal compression line
is dened as de/d ln p( dv /d ln p) (Scho-
eld and Wroth, 1968).6
Figure 10.37 shows the change in void ratio with
These limiting values are for isotropic soil and a hor- mean effective stress (p) for reconstituted kaolin clay
izontal ground surface. Standard soil mechanics texts specimens consolidated isotropically at constant stress
should be consulted for further details on limiting earth
pressure coefcients under sloping ground and the in- 6
The swelling (or recompression) line is often called the ! line on
uences of changes in applied loads on in situ lateral eln p plane and the slope is dened as the recompression index
stress. !( de / d ln p)

Stress Paths
1.9 q
1
2
1.7
3 p
Void Ratio
1.5
Stress Path 1: q/p = 0.375

1.3 Stress Path 2: q/p = 0.288
Stress Path 3: q/p = 0
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70 100 200 300 500 1000
Mean Pressure p (kPa)
Figure 10.37 Effect of stress ratio ( 1 / 3 or q / p) on vol-
ate
umetric compression behavior of reconstituted kaolin clay.
Figure 10.36 Variation of lateral earth pressure coefcient
with deformation of a soil element.
in the ground is anisotropic. Furthermore, although it

ratios ( 1 / 3 or q/p) as shown by the stress paths
dM
in the insert diagram. The compression lines are par-
is usually assumed that the in situ stresses are the same
in all directions beneath level ground, there are some
allel to each other and therefore they will have the conditions in which this may not be true. These include
same compression index . Similar behavior is ob- situations wherein there is a directional component to
served in sands; the isotropic compression line and the the soil fabric that formed during deposition, as might
one-dimensional compression line are parallel to each be the case, for example, for an alluvial or beach de-
other. Assuming that K0 is constant during loading, the posit. Directional variability has been measured at
value of isotropically consolidated specimens will be
hte
some sites by means of pressure cells, pressure meters

the same as that of one-dimensionally consolidated that contain multiple sensing arms, and at plate dil-
specimens.7 atometers. With the development of new shear wave
Examination of Fig. 10.37 indicates that the volu- and tomography methods for the nondestructive and
metric behavior of soils can be separated into two com- nonintrusive testing of soil layers, it is possible to ob-
ponents: (i) one due to compression or swelling by the tain much more data on the actual lateral stress state
rig
increase or decrease in mean effective pressure p and and its variability, thus providing new insights into ge-
(ii) the other due to dilation or contraction by shearing ologic and soil formational history, as well as quanti-
of the soil by the increase in q. Further discussion of tative values for use in the analysis and prediction of
deformation behavior under combined volumetric and behavior.
deviatoric stress loading conditions is given in Chapter
py
11.
Time Dependence of Lateral Earth Pressure at Rest
Anisotropy It is usually assumed in conventional geotechnical
Unless the horizontal earth pressure coefcient is equal analyses that the coefcient of lateral earth pressure at-
Co
to 1.0, which is not the usual case, the stress condition rest K0 is a time-invariant constant. Whether or not this
is indeed the case is not known with certainty, and
there is no clear consensus on how K0 should be ex-
7
In one dimensional consolidation condition, p (1 2K0) v. The pected to vary with time (Schmertmann, 1983). How-
relationship between Cc ( de / d log v) and ( de / d ln p) ever, if a soil is assumed to remain under a constant
is Cc ln 10: Cc de / d log v ln 10[de / d(ln v)] ln effective stress state following consolidation and there
10de / {d ln p d[ln(1 2K0)]} ln 10de / d ln p) (K0 is constant
in normally consolidated state, hence d[ln(1 2K0)] 0). On the are no changes in the compositional or environmental
other hand, it is not possible to relate Cs obtained from the one- conditions, then slow changes in lateral pressure
dimensional consolidation test to ! obtained from the isotropic un- should occur in any material that is susceptible to creep
loading test. This is because the K0 value changes as the specimen
is unloaded and therefore the d[ln(1 2K0)] term in the above equa- and stress relaxation. Creep and stress relaxation are
tion does not become zero. analyzed in Section 12.7.

TEMPERATUREVOLUME RELATIONSHIPS 359
As long as a deviator stress is acting K0 1.0, and
a soil element will tend to distort. If the vertical stress
is greater than the horizontal stress (K0 1.0), then
the element will try to expand laterally, but under one-
dimensional conditions it cannot, and the horizontal
stress increases to restrain it. Conversely, if the hori-
zontal stress is initially greater than the vertical stress
(K0 1.0), then the element will try to compress lat-
erally, but under one-dimensional conditions it cannot,
so the horizontal stress decreases. Thus, over long pe-
riods of time, the coefcient of horizontal earth pres-
l
sure at rest in normally consolidated soil should
ria
increase toward 1.0 and that in heavily overconsoli-
dated soil should decrease toward 1.0.
Values of K0 as a function of time, as determined in
triaxial cells by Lacerda (1976), for undisturbed sam-
ples of soft San Francisco Bay mud, are shown in Fig.
ate
10.38. Also shown is a theoretical relationship between
K0 and time that was developed using the general Figure 10.39 Volume of pore water drained from saturated
stressstraintime equations developed in Section illite under an isotropic effective stress of 200 kPa as a func-
12.9. Thus, both theory and experiment support the tion of temperature change.
above reasoning that K0 should increase with time
dM
when K0 is less than 1.0.
Fig. 10.40. Temperature effects such as these must be
considered relative to their inuences on deformation
10.12 TEMPERATUREVOLUME and stability both in the laboratory and the eld.
RELATIONSHIPS
Theoretical Analysis
Temperature changes generate volume and/or effective
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stress changes in saturated soils. For example, the per- Drained Conditions Increase in temperature causes
centage of the original pore water volume that is thermal expansion of mineral solids and pore water. In
drained from a saturated specimen of illite subjected addition, there can be changes in soil structure. For a
to a temperature increase from 18.9 to 60C followed temperature change T, the volume change of the pore
by cooling to 18.9C while maintaining an isotropic water is
effective stress of 200 kPa is shown in Fig. 10.39. The
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variation in effective stress 3 under the same temper- ( Vw) T wVw T (10.30)
ature changes but with drainage prevented is shown in
where w is the thermal expansion coefcient of soil
water, and Vw is the pore water volume. The change in
volume of mineral solids is
py
( Vs) T sVs T (10.31)
where s is the thermal coefcient of cubical expansion

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of mineral solids, and Vs is the volume of solids. The

thermal coefcient of water is approximately 15 times
greater than that of the solids (Cui et al., 2000).
If a saturated soil is free to drain due to a change in
temperature while under constant effective stress, the
volume of water drained is
Figure 10.38 K0 as a function of time for San Francisco Bay ( VDR) T ( Vw) T ( Vs) T ( Vm) T (10.32)
mud. The theoretical curve was developed by Kavazanjian
and Mitchell (1984) using the general stressstraintime Eq. in which ( Vm) T is the change in total volume due to
(12.43) adapted for zero lateral strain. T, with volume increases considered positive.

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Figure 10.40 Effect of temperature changes on the effective stress in saturated illite under
constant conning pressure.
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In a soil mass with all grains in contact, and assum-
ing the same coefcient of thermal expansion for all
ity of mineral solids under hydrostatic pressure, and
the compressibility of mineral solids under concen-
soil minerals, the soil grains and the soil mass undergo trated loadings, respectively, then
the same volumetric strain s T. In addition, the
change in temperature induces a change in interparticle ( Vw) P mwVw u (10.36)
forces, cohesion, and/or frictional resistance that ne-
cessitates some particle reorientations to permit the soil ( Vs) P msVs u msVs (10.37)
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structure to carry the same effective stress. If the vol-

ume change due to this effect is ( VST) T , then
where u is the change in pore water pressure and
is the change in effective stress. The term ms Vs is
( Vm) T sVm T ( VST ) T (10.33)
the change in volume of mineral solids due to a change
in effective stress, which also manifests itself by
and
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changes in forces at interparticle contacts. Also

( VDR) T wVw T s Vs T
( Vm) P mv Vm (10.38)
[s Vm T ( VST ) T] (10.34)
py
where mv is the compressibility of the soil structure.

Undrained Conditions The governing criterion for
From Eqs. (10.30), (10.31), (10.36), (10.37), and
undrained conditions is that the sum of the separate
(10.38), Eq. (10.35) becomes
volume changes of the soil constituents due to both
temperature and pressure changes must equal the sum
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of the volume changes of the soil mass due to both wVw T s Vs T ( Vm) T Mv Vm
temperature and pressure changes; that is
mwVw u Vs(ms u ms ) (10.39)
( Vw) T ( Vs) T ( Vw) P ( Vs) P
For constant total stress during a temperature change
( Vm) T ( Vm) P (10.35)
where the subscripts T and P refer to temperature u (10.40)

and pressure changes, respectively. If mw, ms, and ms
refer to the compressibility of water, the compressibil- Thus, Eq. (10.39) becomes

w Vw T sVs T ( Vm) T mv Vm temperature. The compressibilities mv and mw are neg-
ative because an increase in pressure causes a decrease
mwVw u u Vs(ms ms) (10.41) in volume, and ST is negative if an increase in tem-
perature causes a decrease in volume of the soil struc-
Since ms and ms are not likely to be signicantly dif- ture.
ferent, and both are much less than mv and mw , little
error results from assuming ms ms 0, so Eq.
(10.41) can be written Volume Change Behavior
Permanent volume decreases occur when the temper-
wVw T sVs T ( Vm) T ature of normally consolidated clay is increased under
drained conditions, as shown by Fig. 10.41. Tempera-
mv Vm u mwVw u (10.42)
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ture changes in the order indicated were carried out on
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a sample of saturated, remolded illite after initial con-
The left side of Eq. (10.42) is equal to ( VDR) T , solidation to an effective stress of 200 kPa. Water
and the right side is an equivalent volume change drains from the sample during increase in temperature
caused entirely by a change in pore pressure. Because and is absorbed during temperature decrease. The
shape of the curves is similar to normal consolidation
ate
Vm Vw Vs (10.43) curves for volume changes caused by changes in ap-
plied stresses.
Eq. (10.42) may be written, after substitution for When the temperature is increased, two effects oc-
( Vm) T by Eq. (10.33), cur. If the increase is rapid, a signicant positive pore
pressure develops due to greater volumetric expansion
w Vw T sVw T ( VST) T mv Vm u
mwVw u
dM (10.44)
of the pore water than of the mineral solids. The lower
the hydraulic conductivity of the soil, the longer the
time required for this pore pressure to dissipate. Dis-
sipation of this pressure accounts for the parts of the
Rearrangement of Eq. (10.44) gives the pore pressure
curves in Fig. 10.41 that resemble primary consolida-
change accompanying a temperature change:
tion.
The second effect results because increase in tem-
n T(s w) ( VST ) T /Vm
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u perature causes a decrease in the shearing resistance at

mv nmw individual particle contacts. As a consequence, there is
n T(s w) ST T partial collapse of the soil structure and decrease in
(10.45) void ratio until a sufcient number of additional bonds
mv nmw
are formed to enable the soil to carry the stresses at
the higher temperature. This effect is analogous to sec-
in which n is the porosity, and ST is the physicochem-
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ondary compression under stress increase.

ical coefcient of structural volume change dened by When the temperature drops, differential thermal
contractions between the soil solids and the pore water
( VST ) T /Vm
ST (10.46) cause pressure reduction in the pore water. The soil
T then absorbs water, as shown by the temperature de-
py
crease curves in Fig. 10.41. No secondary volume

Thus, the factors controlling pore pressure changes are change effect is observed because the temperature de-
the magnitude of T, porosity, the difference between crease causes a strengthening of the soil structure and
thermal expansion coefcients for soil grains and wa- no further structural adjustment is required to carry the
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ter, the volumetric strain due to physicochemical ef- effective stress. On subsequent temperature increases,
fects, and the compressibility of the soil structure. For the secondary effect is negligible because the structure
most soils (but not rocks) mv mw , so has already been strengthened in prior cycles.
The nal height changes and volumes of water
n(s w) T ST T drained associated with each temperature change
u (10.47)
mv shown in Fig. 10.41 are plotted as a function of tem-
perature in Fig. 10.42, and clay structure volume
Consistency in algebraic signs is required for the changes are shown in Fig. 10.43. The forms of these
application of the above equations. Both s and w are plots are similar to conventional compression curves
positive and indicate volume increase with increasing involving virgin compression, unloading, and reload-

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Figure 10.41 Volume of water drained from a saturated clay as a function of time as a
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result of temperature changes.
ing. An irrecoverable volume reduction after each ST , dened previously by Eq. (10.46). For the cases
temperature cycle is noted. Again, the effect of shown, ST has a value of about 0.5 104 C1.
temperature increase is analogous to a pressure in- The effect of temperature on clay compression de-
crease. The slope of the curves in Fig. 10.43 is the pends on the pressure range (Campanella and Mitchell,
coefcient of thermal expansion for the soil structure 1968; Plum and Esrig, 1969). Weaker structure at low

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Figure 10.42 Effect of temperature variations on the height and volume change of saturated
illite.
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stresses caused by increased temperature causes con- (Leroueil and Marques, 1996). The data show that
solidation to a lower void ratio in order to carry the there is approximately 1 percent decrease in precon-
stress. The weakening effect of higher temperature is solidation pressure per one 1C temperature increase
py
compensated by the strengthening effect of lower void between 5 and 40C and somewhat less at higher tem-
ratio. As shown in Fig. 10.44, the compression index peratures (Leroueil and Hight, 2002).
Cc is found to be approximately independent of tem- Stress history or overconsolidation ratio has a major
perature. On the other hand, the isothermal swelling inuence on the volume change caused by increase in
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index ! ( de/d ln p) of reconstituted samples of temperature (Hueckel and Baldi, 1990). For normally
an illitic clay measured under isotropic conning stress consolidated to moderately overconsolidated clay, ir-
conditions is found to be temperature dependent as recoverable volume reduction was observed by struc-
shown in Fig. 10.45. ture degradation and the shear strength increased.
The preconsolidation pressure of a natural soft clay Volume expansion was observed in heavily overcon-
depends on temperature as illustrated in Fig. 10.7. Fig- solidated clay, and the expansion rate increased with
ure 10.46 shows the normalized preconsolidation pres- OCR.
sure ( preconsolidation pressure at temperature T/ The effect of heating followed by cooling at two
preconsolidation pressure at 20C) with temperature stages in a consolidation test is shown in Fig. 10.47.

0.08
0.06
T
0.04

0.02

0.00
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10 20 40 60 80 100 200
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Figure 10.45 Effect of temperature on swelling index of is-
otropically consolidated illitic clay specimens. The clay con-
tained small amounts of Kaolin, chlorite and quartz and had
a liquid limit of 30 percent (after Graham et al., 2001).
ate
dM
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Figure 10.46 Effect of temperature on preconsolidation

Figure 10.43 Volume changes in clay structure caused by pressure. The preconsolidation pressure at temperature T is
temperature change. normalized by the preconsolidation pressure at 20C (after
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Leroueil and Marques, 1996).
The effect is remarkably similar to the development of

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an apparent precompression due to aging and creep

under a sustained stress as discussed in Chapter 12.
Pore Pressure Behavior

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Pore pressure changes in saturated soils caused by tem-

perature changes are reasonably well predicted by Eq.
(10.47). The most important factors are the thermal
expansion of the pore water, the compressibility of the
soil structure, and the initial effective stress. The ap-
propriate value of the compressibility mv depends on
the rebound and recompression characteristics of the
soil. When temperature increases, pore pressure in-
Figure 10.44 Effect of temperature on isotropic consolida- creases, and effective stress decreases, which is a con-
tion behavior of saturated illite (Campanella and Mitchell, dition analogous to unloading. When temperature
1968). decreases, pore pressure decreases, and effective stress

pore water pressure and effective stress than for the
buckshot clay.
The parameter F is approximately the same for dif-
ferent clays (Table 10.10). Knowledge of F values al-
lows determination of laboratory temperature control
to assure accurate pore pressure measurements in un-
drained testing of soil samples. For example, if it were
desired to keep pore pressure uctuations within 5
kPa for one of the clays in Table 10.10, the required
temperature control would be about 0.5C for a sample
at an effective stress of 500 kPa.
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The preceding analyses indicate that the overall vol-
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ume changes that result from changes in temperature
may not be large. However, the structural weakening
and pore pressure changes that occur may be signi-
cant in terms of their inuences on shear deformation
and strength.
ate
Figure 10.47 Effect of heating and cooling on void ratio
versus pressure relationship of illite (Plum and Esrig, 1969).
increases. As the previous temperature history caused

dM Knowledge of volume changes to be expected in a soil
permanent volume decrease at the higher temperature, mass as a result of changes in connement, loading,
the condition is analogous to recompression. Thus, the exposure to water and chemicals, changes in temper-
appropriate value of mv is based on the slope of the ature and the like is one of the four dimensions of soil
rebound or recompression curves, both of which are behavior that must be understood for success in geo-
approximately the same, and can be dened by engineering, the other three being uid and energy
conduction properties, deformation and strength
Vm /Vm 0.435 Cs properties, and the inuences of time. The nature and
(mv)R (10.48)
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(1 e0) inuences of different factors on volume change have

been the subject of this chapter.
where Cs is the swelling index, e0 is the initial void Soil compression and consolidation under applied
ratio, and is the effective stress at which (mv)R is to stress have been the most studied owing to their es-
be evaluated. sential role in estimation of settlements, and this was
A pore pressuretemperature parameter F may be one of the rst motivations for development of soil
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dened as the change in pore pressure per unit change mechanics. The mechanical aspects of compression
in temperature per unit effective stress, or alternatively, and swelling are far better understood and quantied
the change in unit effective stress per unit change in than are those generated by physicochemical, geo-
temperature, that is, chemical, and microbiological factors, although inter-
est and research on the latter is intensifying.
py
u/ T / e [( w) ST /n] Although analysis of volume change is typically

F 0 s done through consideration of a soil mass as a contin-
T 0.435Cs
uum, the processes that determine it are at the partic-
(10.49) ulate level and involve discreet particle movements
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required to produce a new equilibrium following

Some values of F are given in Table 10.10. The values changes in stress and environmental conditions. Im-
listed for are averages for the indicated temperature portant aspects of colloidal type interactions involving
ranges. interparticle forces, water adsorption phenomena, and
The inuence of effective stress on change in pore soil fabric effects were analyzed in this chapter. Dis-
pressure can be seen for the data for Vicksburg buck- creet particle movements and their relationships to
shot clay and for the saturated sandstone. The greater macroscopic volumetric and deviatoric behavior are
change in pore pressure for a given T for a higher discussed in more detail in Chapters 11 and 12.
initial effective stress is predicted by this theory. Also, Soil swelling, sometimes referred to as the hidden
the much lower compressibility of the sandstone is re- disaster owing to the very large economic, but un-
sponsible for a much higher temperature sensitivity of spectacular, damages (several billion dollars in the

Table 10.10 Temperature-Induced Pore Pressure Changes Under

Undrained Condtions
F
( u/ T)
T u
Soil Type (kN/m2) (C) (kN/m2) (C1)
Illite (grundite) 200 21.143.4 58 0.013
San Francisco 150 21.143.4 50 0.015
Bay mud
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Weald Claya 710 25.029.0 51 0.018
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Kaolinite 200 21.143.4 78 0.017
Vicksburg 100 20.036.0 28 0.017
buckshot 650 20.036.0 190 0.018
clayb
Saturated 250 5.315.0 190 0.079
ate
sandstone 580 5.315.0 520 0.092
(porous stone)
a
From Henkel and Sowa (1963).
b
From Ladd (1961) Fig. VIII-6.
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U.S.) to pavements, structures, and utilities each year, Depth Range Unit Weight
is attributable to both double layer repulsions and wa- (m) Soil Type (kN/m3)
ter adsorption in soils that contain signicant amounts
05 Surcharge ll 19.0
of high plasticity clay minerals. Other causes of soil
510 Rubble ll 17.0
and rock expansion have been identied as well, such
1018 Clean sand 18.0
as pyrite related mineral transformations and sulfate
hte
1830 Soft clay 16.0

reactions, often mediated by microorganisms.
30 Bedrock
The water table is at a depth of 8 m.
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS a. Show proles of vertical total, effective, and
1. What is the single most important property or water pressure as a function of depth below the
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characteristic controlling the consolidation and ground surface before placement of the sur-
swelling behavior of a soil? Why? charge ll. Assume that each layer is normally
consolidated.
2. If two samples of the same sand have the same b. Show proles of vertical total, effective, and
relative density and are conned under the same water pressure as a function of depth immedi-
py
effective stress, can they have different volume ately after placement of the surcharge ll.
change properties? Why? Indicate if the clay layer is normally consoli-
3. In what soil types and under what conditions do dated, overconsolidated, or underconsolidated
physical particle interactions dominate in deter- at this time.
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mining the compression and swelling behavior? In c. Show proles of vertical total, effective, and
what soil types and under what conditions do water pressure as a function of depth at a long
physicochemical factors dominate? time after the placement of the surcharge ll.
Are the sand and clay layers normally consol-
4. Provide an explanation for the differences in idated, underconsolidated, or overconsolidated?
amount of swelling associated with expansion fol-
d. Show proles of vertical total, effective, and
lowing the different stress paths shown in Fig.
water pressure as a function of depth immedi-
10.10.
ately after removal of the surcharge ll. Are the
5. Consider the following soil prole beneath a level sand and clay layers normally consolidated, un-
ground surface: derconsolidated, or overconsolidated?

e. Show proles of vertical total, effective, and a. Sodium montmorillonite in 0.002 M NaCl
water pressure as a function of depth at a long b. Sodium montmorillonite in 0.2 M NaCl
time after removal of the surcharge ll. Are the c. Sodium illite in 0.002 M NaCl
sand and clay layers normally consolidated,
under-consolidated, or overconsolidated? d. Sodium illite in 0.2 M NaCl
Assume any quantities needed but not stated.
f. Show depth proles and approximate values of
the horizontal coefcient of earth pressure at 11. Consider the real behavior of sediments formed
rest for the conditions in parts (a) through (e). from montmorillonite and illite in waters of the
above concentrations. Approximately what void
6. Two near-surface strata of the same soft clay are
ratios would you expect to nd after normal con-
to be consolidated. In one the consolidation is to
solidation to a pressure of 1.0 atm? If different
be done by placement of a surcharge ll at the
l
than the values you calculated in the preceding
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ground surface. In the other, the consolidation is
problem, state why?
to be effected by lowering the water table to the
bottom of the clay layer and evaporation of water 12. A normally consolidated, saturated marine clay is
from the ground surface, which will cause shrink- sampled without structural disturbance from be-
age of the clay. The ground water table is initially neath the seaoor and sealed to prevent water
ate
at the top of the clay stratum. Show proles of movement in or out. The temperature of the clay
effective stress and water pressure versus depth for in situ is 5C. The effective stress at the time of
each stratum corresponding to the condition where sampling is 200 kPa and the void ratio of the clay
the vertical effective stress is the same in each at is 0.90. The sealed sample is taken immediately to
middepth. Will the clay structure be the same in the shipboard laboratory where the original in situ
each stratum at this depth at this time? Why?
dM conning stress is immediately reapplied.
7. Describe and contrast the compression, consoli- a. What will be the subsequent effective stress in
dation, and swelling potential properties of the fol- the laboratory at a temperature of 20C? The
lowing soil types. Assume their initial states (wa- clay has a compression index of 0.5 and a
ter content, overburden pressure, environmental swelling index of 0.05. Other properties are as
chemistry) to be representative of the indicated follows:
soil type as ordinarily encountered in nature. Compressibility of water 4.83 105
hte
a. Loess cm2 /kg

b. Varved clay Coefcient of thermal expansion of solid
c. Carbonate sand mineral particles 0.35 104 C1
d. Quick clay Coefcient of thermal expansion of water
e. Tropical andisol 2.07 104C1
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f. Glacial moraine Coefcient of thermal expansion of the soil

g. Torrential stream deposit or mudow structure 0.5 104C1
h. Sand hydraulic ll b. How does the change in effective stress com-
puted in part (a) compare with the value esti-
i. Compacted clay liner of an earth dam mated on the basis of Table 10.10 in the text?
py
8. Prepare a schematic diagram of liquidity index c. If the same conning stress is maintained but
versus log effective consolidation pressure. Show drainage of the sample is then allowed, how
the positions of normally consolidated and heavily much water, expressed as a percentage of the
overconsolidated samples of a given clay on this original sample volume, will move in or out of
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diagram. the clay?

9. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the os- d. Illustrate the changes accompanying the oper-
motic pressure and water adsorption theories for ation in parts (a) and (c) on a diagram of void
clay swelling in terms of their adequacy to explain ratio versus log effective consolidation pres-
the inuences of mineralogical and compositional sure.
factors on the swelling of ne-grained soils. 13. Identify and discuss some possible consequences
10. Calculate the equilibrium void ratios at a pressure of seawater intrusion into a freshwater sand aqui-
of 1.0 atm for the following systems assuming that fer overlying a compressible clay stratum which,
the DLVO and osmotic pressure theories are valid: in turn, overlies another freshwater aquifer.

14. What is a collapsing soil? What conditions can (consolidating) a highly plastic clay slurry that is
initiate collapse? What factors determine the mag- initially at a liquidity index considerably greater
nitude and rate of collapse? Is the process com- than 1.0. Explain how each of the methods that
patible with the principle of effective stress? Why? you have identied works.
15. Volume and temperature stability over long peri- 17. Comment on the mechanisms of primary consoli-
ods of time (thousands of years) is a very im- dation and secondary compression in terms of the
rate-controlling factors, inuences of and effects
portant consideration in the utilization of earth
on soil structure, whether they occur sequentially
materials as containment barriers for various types or concurrently, and the suitability of our usual
of chemical and radioactive waste. What mineral procedures for quantifying them for geoengineer-
types, gradations, and placement conditions would ing analysis.
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you specify for this application? Why?
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18. Suggest possible methods for preventing or reduc-
16. Suggest possible methods other than direct loading ing swelling on the exposure of expansive soil to
using surcharge lls for reducing the water content water and explain the mechanisms involved.
ate
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CHAPTER 11
Strength and Deformation
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Behavior
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11.1 INTRODUCTION In reality, the shearing resistance of a soil depends
on many factors, and a complete equation might be of
All aspects of soil stabilitybearing capacity, slope the form
stability, the supporting capacity of deep foundations,
and penetration resistance, to name a fewdepend on Shearing resistance F(e, c, , , C, H, T, , , S)
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soil strength. The stressdeformation and stress

deformationtime behavior of soils are important in (11.3)
any problem where ground movements are of interest.
Most relationships for the characterization of the in which e is the void ratio, C is the composition, H
stressdeformation and strength properties of soils are is the stress history, T is the temperature, is the strain,
empirical and based on phenomenological descriptions is the strain rate, and S is the structure. All param-
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of soil behavior. The MohrCoulomb equation is by eters in these equations may not be independent, and
far the most widely used for strength. It states that the functional forms of all of them are not known.
Consequently, the shear resistance values (including c
and ) are determined using specied test type (i.e.,
direct shear, triaxial compression, simple shear), drain-
py
ff c ff tan (11.1)

age conditions, rate of loading, range of conning
ff c ff tan (11.2) pressures, and stress history. As a result, different fric-
tion angles and cohesion values have been dened, in-
cluding parameters for total stress, effective stress,
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where ff is shear stress at failure on the failure plane, drained, undrained, peak strength, and residual
c is a cohesion intercept, ff is the normal stress on the strength. The shear resistance values applicable in
failure plane, and is a friction angle. Equation (11.1) practice depend on factors such as whether or not the
applies for ff dened as a total stress, and c and are problem is one of loading or unloading, whether or not
referred to as total stress parameters. Equation (11.2) short-term or long-term stability is of interest, and
applies for ff dened as an effective stress, and c and stress orientations.
are effective stress parameters. As the shear resis- Emphasis in this chapter is on the fundamental fac-
tance of soil originates mainly from actions at inter- tors controlling the strength and stressdeformation
particle contacts, the second equation is the more behavior of soils. Following a review of the general
fundamental. characteristics of strength and deformation, some re-
369

370 11 STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR
lationships among fabric, structure, and strength are (1ff 3ff

) (1ff
3ff
)sin (11.5)
examined. The fundamentals of bonding, friction, par-
ticulate behavior, and cohesion are treated in some de- where the primes designate effective stresses
tail in order to relate them to soil strength properties. 1ff and 3ff
are the major and minor principal
Micromechanical interactions of particles in an assem- effective stresses at failure, respectively.
blage and the relationships between interparticle fric- 2. The basic contributions to soil strength are fric-
tion and macroscopic friction angle are examined from tional resistance between soil particles in con-
discrete particle simulations. Typical values of strength tact and internal kinematic constraints of soil
parameters are listed. The concept of yielding is intro- particles associated with changes in the soil fab-
duced, and the deformation behavior in both the pre- ric. The magnitude of these contributions de-
yield (including small strain stiffness) and post-yield pends on the effective stress and the volume
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regions is summarized. Time-dependent deformations change tendencies of the soil. For such materials
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and aging effects are discussed separately in Chapter the stressstrain curve from a shearing test is
12. The details of strength determination by means of typically of the form shown in Fig. 11.1a. The
laboratory and in situ tests and the detailed constitutive maximum or peak strength of a soil (point b)
modeling of soil deformation and strength for use in may be greater than the critical state strength,
numerical analyses are outside the scope of this book.
ate
in which the soil deforms under sustained load-
ing at constant volume (point c). For some soils,
the particles align along a localized failure plane
11.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF after large shear strain or shear displacement,
STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION and the strength decreases even further to the
residual strength (point d). The corresponding
Strength
dM
1. In the absence of chemical cementation between
three failure envelopes can be dened as shown
in Fig. 11.1b, with peak, critical, and residual
grains, the strength (stress state at failure or the friction angles (or states) as indicated.
ultimate stress state) of sand and clay is ap- 3. Peak failure envelopes are usually curved in the
proximated by a linear relationship with stress: manner shown in Fig. 4.16 and schematically in
Fig. 11.1b. This behavior is caused by dilatancy
ff ff tan (11.4) suppression and grain crushing at higher
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stresses. Curved failure envelopes are also ob-

or served for many clays at residual state. When
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Shear
Secant Peak
Stress Strength Envelope
or Stress
Ratio / Peak b Shear Tangent Peak Critical state
Stress Strength Envelope Strength Envelope
peak
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c At Large Strains Peak Strength

b, c critical state
Critical State
b Residual Strength Envelope
d
Residual c residual
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d
a d
Strain a a Normal effective stress
Dense or Loose or Normally
Overconsolidated Consolidated
(a) (b)
Figure 11.1 Peak, critical, and residual strength and associated friction angle: (a) a typical
stressstrain curve and (b) stress states.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION 371
expressed in terms of the shear strength nor- 4. The peak strength of cohesionless soils is inu-
malized by the effective normal stress as a func- enced most by density, effective conning
tion of effective normal stress, curves of the pressures, test type, and sample preparation
type shown in Fig. 11.2 for two clays are ob- methods. For dense sand, the secant peak fric-
tained. tion angle (point b in Fig. 11.1b) consists in part
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Figure 11.2 Variation of residual strength with stress level (after Bishop et al., 1971): (a)
Brown London clay and (b) Weald clay.

of internal rolling and sliding friction between resistance depends only on composition and ef-
grains and in part of interlocking of particles fective stress. The basic concept of the critical
(Taylor, 1948). The interlocking necessitates state is that under sustained uniform shearing at
either volume expansion (dilatancy) or grain failure, there exists a unique combination of
fracture and/or crushing if there is to be void ratio e, mean pressure p, and deviator
deformation. For loose sand, the peak friction stress q.1 The critical states of reconstituted
angle (point b in Fig. 11.1b) normally coincides Weald clay and Toyoura sand are shown in Fig.
with the critical-state friction angle (point c), 11.4. The critical state line on the p q plane is
and there is no peak in the stressstrain curve. linear,2 whereas that on an e-ln p (or e-log p)
5. The peak strength of saturated clay is inuenced plane tends to be linear for clays and nonlinear
most by overconsolidation ratio, drainage con- for sands.
l
ditions, effective conning pressures, original 7. At failure, dense sands and heavily overconsol-
ria
structure, disturbance (which causes a change in idated clays have a greater volume after drained
effective stress and a loss of cementation), and shear or a higher effective stress after undrained
creep or deformation rate effects. Overconsoli- shear than at the start of deformation. This is
dated clays usually have higher peak strength at due to its dilative tendency upon shearing. At
a given effective stress than normally consoli- failure, loose sands and normally consolidated
ate
dated clays, as shown in Fig. 11.3. The differ- to moderately overconsolidated clays (OCR up
ences in strength result from both the different to about 4) have a smaller volume after drained
stress histories and the different water contents shear or a lower effective stress after undrained
at peak. For comparisons at the same water con- shear than they had initially. This is due to its
tent but different effective stress, as for points
dM contractive tendency upon shearing.
A and A, the Hvorslev strength parameters ce 8. Under further deformation, platy clay particles
and e are obtained (Hvorslev, 1937, 1960). begin to align along the failure plane and the
Further details are given in Section 11.9. shear resistance may further decrease from the
6. During critical state deformation a soil is com- critical state condition. The angle of shear re-
pletely destructured. As illustrated in Fig. 11.1b, sistance at this condition is called the residual
the critical state friction angle values are inde- friction angle, as illustrated in Fig. 11.1b. The
pendent of stress history and original structure; postpeak shearing displacement required to
hte
for a given set of testing conditions the shearing cause a reduction in friction angle from the crit-
ical state value to the residual value varies with
the soil type, normal stress on the shear plane,
and test conditions. For example, for shale my-
Water Content w
Normally Consolidated lonite3 in contact with smooth steel or other pol-

ished hard surfaces, a shearing displacement of
rig
Void Ratio e
Virgin Compression only 1 or 2 mm is sufcient to give residual

strength.4 For soil against soil, a slip along the
A A
e ff
py
Rebound
Overconsolidated
1
In three-dimensional stress space ( x, y, z, xy, yz, zx) or
the equivalent principal stresses ( 1, 2, 3), the mean effective
stress p, and the deviator stress q is dened as
ff e

Co
p (x y z) / 3 (1 2 3) / 3

Shear Stress
Peak Strength Envelope

crit q (1 / 2)
Overconsolidated (x y)2 (y z)2 (z x)2 6 xy
2
6 yz
2
6 zx
2
A e (1 / 2)(1 2)2 (2 3)2 (3 1)2

A
ce Hvorslev Envelope For triaxial compression condition ( 1 2 3), p ( 1
2 2) / 3, q 1 2
Normally Consolidated 2
The critical state failure slope on pq plane is related to friction
0 ff angle , as described in Section 11.10.
Normal Effective Stress 3
A rock that has undergone differential movements at high temper-
ature and pressure in which the mineral grains are crushed against
Figure 11.3 Effect of overconsolidation on effective stress one another. The rock shows a series of lamination planes.
strength envelope. 4
D. U. Deere, personal communication (1974).

500 4
Critical State Line Critical State Line
Deviator Stress q (MPa)

Deviator Stress q (kPa)
400 3
300
2
200
Overconsolidated
1
100 Normally Consolidated
l
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0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 1 2 3 4
Mean Pressure p(kPa) Mean Pressure p(MPa)
(a-1) p versus q (b-1) p versus q
ate
0.7 Critical State Line Critical State Line
Initial State
0.95
Isotropic Normal
0.6 Compression Line
0.90
dM Void ratio e
Void ratio e
0.5 0.85
0.80
0.4
Overconsolidated
0.75
hte
0.3 Normally Consolidated
100 200 300 400 500 0.02 0.05 0.1 0.5 1 5

Mean Pressure p (kPa) Mean Pressure p(MPa)
(b-2) e versus logp
(a-2) e versus lnp
rig
(a) (b)
Figure 11.4 Critical states of clay and sand: (a) Critical state of Weald clay obtained by
drained triaxial compression tests of normally consolidated () and overconsolidated ()
specimens: (a-1) qp plane and (a-2) eln p plane (after Roscoe et al., 1958). (b) Critical
py
state of Toyoura sand obtained by undrained triaxial compression tests of loose and dense
specimens consolidated initially at different effective stresses, (b-1) qp plane and (b-2) e
log p plane (after Verdugo and Ishihara, 1996).
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shear plane of several tens of millimeters may of two samples of the same soil at the same void
be required, as shown by Fig. 11.5. However, ratio but with different fabrics are accountable
signicant softening can be caused by strain in terms of different effective stresses as dis-
localization and development of shear bands, cussed in Chapter 8.
especially for dense samples under low conne- 10. Undrained strength in triaxial compression may
ment. differ signicantly from the strength in triaxial
9. Strength anisotropy may result from both stress extension. However, the inuence of type of test
and fabric anisotropy. In the absence of chemi- (triaxial compression versus extension) on the
cal cementation, the differences in the strength effective stress parameters c and is relatively

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 11.5 Development of residual strength with increasing shear displacement (after
Bishop et al., 1971).
small. Effective stress friction angles measured

in plane strain are typically about 10 percent
hte
greater than those determined by triaxial com-

pression.
11. A change in temperature causes either a change
in void ratio or a change in effective stress (or
a combination of both) in saturated clay, as dis-
cussed in Chapter 10. Thus, a change in tem-
rig
perature can cause a strength increase or a

strength decrease, depending on the circum-
stances, as illustrated by Fig. 11.6. For the tests
on kaolinite shown in Fig. 11.6, all samples
py
were prepared by isotropic triaxial consolidation

at 75F. Then, with no further drainage allowed,
temperatures were increased to the values indi-
cated, and the samples were tested in uncon-
Co
ned compression. Substantial reductions in

strength accompanied the increases in temper-
ature.
StressStrain Behavior
1. Stressstrain behavior ranges from very brittle
for some quick clays, cemented soils, heavily
overconsolidated clays, and dense sands to duc- Figure 11.6 Effect of temperature on undrained strength of
tile for insensitive and remolded clays and loose kaolinite in unconned compression (after Sherif and Bur-
sands, as illustrated by Fig. 11.7. An increase in rous, 1969).

(a) Typical Strain Ranges in the Field

Retaining Walls
Stiffness G or E
Foundations
Tunnels
Linear Elastic
Nonlinear Elastic
Preyield Plastic
Full Plastic
l
ria
10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100 101
Figure 11.7 Types of stressstrain behavior.
Strain %
Dynamic Methods
Local Gauges
conning pressure causes an increase in the de-
ate
Conventional Soil Testing
formation modulus as well as an increase in
strength, as shown by Fig. 11.8. (b) Typical Strain Ranges for Laboratory Tests
2. Stressstrain relationships are usually nonlin- Figure 11.9 Stiffness degradation curve: stiffness plotted
ear; soil stiffness (often expressed in terms of against logarithm of strains. Also shown are (a) the strain
tangent or secant modulus) generally decreases
dM levels observed during construction of typical geotechnical
with increasing shear strain or stress level up to structures (after Mair, 1993) and (b) the strain levels that can
peak failure stress. Figure 11.9 shows a typical be measured by various techniques (after Atkinson, 2000).
stiffness degradation curve, in terms of shear
modulus G and Youngs modulus E, along with
typical strain levels developed in geotechnical
construction (Mair, 1993) and as associated with four zones: (1) linear elastic zone, (2) nonlinear
different laboratory testing techniques used to elastic zone, (3) pre-yield plastic zone, and (4)
full plastic zone.
hte
measure the stiffness (Atkinson, 2000). For ex-

ample, Fig. 11.10 shows the stiffness degrada- 3. In the linear elastic zone, soil particles do not
tion of sands and clay subjected to increase in slide relative to each other under a small stress
shear strain. As illustrated in Fig. 11.9, the stiff- increment, and the stiffness is at its maximum.
ness degradation curve can be separated into The soil stiffness depends on contact interac-
tions, particle packing arrangement, and elastic
rig
stiffness of the solids. Low strain stiffness val-

ues can be determined using elastic wave veloc-
ity measurements, resonant column testing, or
local strain transducer measurements. The mag-
nitudes of the small strain shear modulus (Gmax)
py
and Youngs modulus (Emax) depend on applied

conning pressure and the packing conditions
of soil particles. The following empirical equa-
tions are often employed to express these de-
Co
pendencies:
Gmax AG FG(e)pnG (11.6)
Ei(max) AE FE(e)i nE (11.7)
where FG(e) and FE(e) are functions of void

ratio, p is the mean effective conning pres-
Figure 11.8 Effect of conning pressure on the consoli- sure, i is the effective stress in the i direction,
dated-drained stressstrain behavior of soils. and the other parameters are material constants.

Confining
TC PSC Pressure
Toyoura Sand 78.4 kPa Confining Pressures
Secant Shear Modulus G (MPa)
Secant Shear Modulus G (MPa)

140
120
Ticino Sand 49 kPa c = 400 kPa
120
100
100 c = 200 kPa
80
80
c = 100 kPa
60 60
40 40 c = 30 kPa
l
20
ria
20
10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100
Shear Strain (%) Shear Strain (%)
ate
(a) (b)
Figure 11.10 Stiffness degradation curve at different conning pressures: (a) Toyoura and
Ticino sands (TC: triaxial compression tests, PSC: plain strain compression tests) (after
Tatsuoka et al., 1997) and (b) reconstituted Kaolin clay (after Soga et al., 1996).
dM
Figure 11.11 shows examples of the tting of plastic soils at low conning pressure conditions
the above equations to experimental data. to greater than 5 102 percent at high conn-
4. The stiffness begins to decrease from the linear ing pressure or in soils with high plasticity (San-
elastic value as the applied strains or stresses tamarina et al., 2001).
increase, and the deformation moves into the 5. Irrecoverable strains develop in the pre-yield
nonlinear elastic zone. However, a complete cy- plastic zone. The initiation of plastic strains can
hte
cle of loading, unloading, and reloading within be determined by examining the onset of per-
this zone shows full recovery of strains. The manent volumetric strain in drained conditions
strain at the onset of the nonlinear elastic zone or residual excess pore pressures in undrained
ranges from less than 5 104 percent for non- conditions after unloading. Available experi-
rig
At each vertical effective stress,

Undisturbed horizontal effective stress h (kPa)
104 Remolded was varied between 98 kPa and
500
Shear Modulus,Gmax MPa
Remolded with CaCO3

Vertical Young's Modulus
196 kPa
nG = 0.13
Evmax/FE(e) (MPa)
py
103 450
400 nE = 0.49
102 nG = 0.65
nG = 0.63 350
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101 300
100 250
100 101 102 103 104 100 150 200 250 300
Confining pressure, p (kPa) Vertical Effective Stress,v (kPa)
(a) (b)
Figure 11.11 Small strain stiffness versus conning pressure: (a) Shear modulus Gmax of
cemented silty sand measured by resonant column tests (from Stokoe et al. 1995) and (b)
vertical Youngs modulus of sands measured by triaxial tests (after Tatsuoka and Kohata,
1995).

mental data suggest that the strain level that in- changes when drainage is allowed or changes in
itiates plastic strains ranges between 7 103 pore water pressure and effective stress when
and 7 102 percent, with the lower limit for drainage is prevented. The general nature of this
uncemented normally consolidated sands and behavior is shown in Figs. 11.13a and 11.13b
the upper limit for high plasticity clays and ce- for drained and undrained conditions, respec-
mented sands. tively. The volume and pore water pressure
6. A distinctive kink in the stressstrain relation- changes depend on interactions between fabric
ship denes yielding, beyond which full plastic and stress state and the ease with which shear
strains are generated. A locus of stress states deformations can develop without overall
that initiate yielding denes the yield envelope. changes in volume or transfer of normal stress
Typical yield envelopes for sand and natural from the soil structure to the pore water.
l
clay are shown in Fig. 11.12. The yield envelope 8. The stressstrain relation of clays depends
ria
expands, shrinks, and rotates as plastic strains largely on overconsolidation ratio, effective
develop. It is usually considered that expansion conning pressures, and drainage conditions.
is related to plastic volumetric strains; the sur- Figure 11.14 shows triaxial compression behav-
face expands when the soil compresses and ior of clay specimens that are rst normally con-
shrinks when the soil dilates. The two inner en- solidated and then isotropically unloaded to
ate
velopes shown in Fig. 11.12b dene the bound- different overconsolidation ratios before shear-
aries between linear elastic, nonlinear elastic, ing. The specimens are consolidated at the same
and pre-yield zones. When the stress state conning pressure p0, but have different void
moves in the pre-yield zone, the inner envelopes ratios due to the different stress history (Fig.
move with the stress state. This multienvelope
dM 11.14a). Drained tests on normally consolidated
concept allows modeling of complex deforma- clays and lightly overconsolidated clays show
tions observed for different stress paths (Mroz, ductile behavior with volume contraction (Fig.
1967; Prevost, 1977; Dafalias and Herrman, 11.14b). Heavily overconsolidated clays exhibit
1982; Atkinson et al., 1990; Jardine, 1992). a stiff response initially until the stress state
7. Plastic irrecoverable shear deformations of reaches the yield envelope giving the peak
saturated soils are accompanied by volume strength and volume dilation. The state of the
hte
Yield State
Initial Condition Pre-yield State
q = a-r Yield State q = a-r Initial State Surrounded by
MPa MPa Linear Elastic Boundary
Failure Line Stress Path
rig
0.8
0.6
Yield Envelope
Yield Envelope
0.6
0.4
0.4 Preyield Boundary
py
0.2
0.2 Linear Elastic
Boundary MPa
MPa
0.0 0.0
Co
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

p = (a + 2r)/3 p = (a + 2r)/3
-0.2
-0.2
-0.4
Failure Line
(a) (b)
Figure 11.12 Yield envelopes: (a) Aoi sand (Yasufuku et al., 1991) and (b) Bothkennar clay
(from Smith et al., 1992).

Same Initial Confining Pressure Same Initial Confining Pressure
Dense Soil Critical State

Dense Soil
Deviator Metastable Fabric Deviator Cavitation
Stress Stress
Critical State
Loose Soil Loose Soil Critical State
Metastable Fabric
Axial or Deviator Strain Axial or Deviator Strain
l
ria
Dense Soil
Dense Soil
-u Cavitation
+V/V0
0 0
ate
Loose Soil Loose soil
-V/V0 +u
Metastable Fabric Metastable Fabric
dM (a) (b)
Figure 11.13 Volume and pore pressure changes during shear: (a) drained conditions and
(b) undrained conditions.
hte
3 Heavily
Overconsolidated 3 Heavily Overconsolidated
Initial State Deviator Deviator
Failure at Critical State Stress 2 Lightly Stress U3
(D: Drained, U: Undrained) Overconsolidated
Void 2 Lightly Overconsolidated
Ratio U2
D Critical State
rig
Virgin Compression Line

U1 1 Normally Consolidated U1
1 Normally consolidated
Axial or Deviatoric Strain Axial or Deviatoric Strain

py
2 Lightly Overconsolidated
U2
D 3 Heavily Overconsolidated
+V/V0 -u
U3 3 Heavily Overconsolidated
Co
3 Heavily
Overconsolidated
Critical
2 Lightly Overconsolidated
State Line 2 Lightly Overconsolidated
-V/V0 +u
p0 log p 1 Normally Consolidated
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 11.14 Stressstrain relationship of normally consolidated, lightly overconsolidated,

and heavily overconsolidated clays: (a) void ratio versus mean effective stress, (b) drained
tests, and (c) undrained tests.

FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND STRENGTH 379
soil then progressively moves toward the critical
state exhibiting softening behavior. Undrained
shearing of normally consolidated and lightly
overconsolidated clays generates positive excess
pore pressures, whereas shear of heavily over-
consolidated clays generates negative excess
pore pressures (Fig. 11.14c).
9. The magnitudes of pore pressure that are de-
veloped in undrained loading depend on initial
consolidation stresses, overconsolidation ratio,
density, and soil fabric. Figure 11.15 shows the
l
undrained effective stress paths of anisotropi-
ria
cally and isotropically consolidated specimens
(Ladd and Varallyay, 1965). The difference in
undrained shear strength is primarily due to dif-
ferent excess pore pressure development asso-
ciated with the change in soil fabric. At large
ate
strains, the stress paths correspond to the same
friction angle.
10. A temperature increase causes a decrease in un-
drained modulus; that is, a softening of the soil.
As an example, initial strain as a function of
dM
stress is shown in Fig. 11.16 for Osaka clay Figure 11.16 Effect of temperature on the stiffness of Osaka
clay in undrained triaxial compression (Murayama, 1969).
(MPa) Failure Line in

Triaxial Compression
0.3 tested in undrained triaxial compression at dif-
ferent temperatures. Increase in temperature
r/a = 0.54
hte
causes consolidation under drained conditions

0.2 and softening under undrained conditions.
Deviator Stress q = a + r
0.1 11.3 FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND STRENGTH

rig
Fabric Changes During Shear of Cohesionless

0.0 Materials
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 (MPa)
The deformation of sands, gravels, and rocklls is in-
Mean Pressure uenced by the initial fabric, as discussed and illus-
-0.1 p = (a + 2r )/3 trated in Chapter 8. As an illustration, fabric changes
py
associated with the sliding and rolling of grains during

triaxial compression were determined using a uniform
-0.2 sand composed of rounded to subrounded grains with
r/a = 1.84 sizes in the range of 0.84 to 1.19 mm and a mean axial
Co
length ratio of 1.45 (Oda, 1972, 1972a, 1972b, 1972c).

-0.3 Failure Line in
Samples were prepared to a void ratio of 0.64 by tamp-
Triaxial Extension ing and by tapping the side of the forming mold. A
Initial At Failure
delayed setting waterresin solution was used as the
Anisotropically Consolidated r/a = 0.54
pore uid. Samples prepared by each method were
Isotropically Consolidated
Anisotropically Consolidated r/a = 1.84
tested to successively higher strains. The resin was
then allowed to set, and thin sections were prepared.
Figure 11.15 Undrained effective stress paths of anisotrop- The differences in initial fabrics gave the markedly dif-
ically and isotropically consolidated specimens (after Ladd ferent stressstrain and volumetric strain curves shown
and Varallyay, 1965). in Fig. 11.17, where the plunging method refers to

l
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ate
Figure 11.17 Stressstrain and volumetric strain relationships for sand at a void ratio of
0.64 but with different initial fabrics (after Oda, 1972a). (a) Sample saturated with water
and (b) sample saturated with waterresin solution.
dM
tamping. There is similarity between these curves and As the stress state approaches failure, a direct shear-
those for Monterey No. 0 sand shown in Fig. 8.23. A induced fabric forms that is generally composed of
statistical analysis of the changes in particle orientation regions of homogeneous fabric separated by discon-
with increase in axial strain showed: tinuities. No discontinuities develop before peak
strength is reached, although there is some particle ro-
hte
1. For samples prepared by tapping, the initial fab- tation in the direction of motion. Near-perfect preferred
ric tended toward some preferred orientation of orientation develops during yield after peak strength is
long axes parallel to the horizontal plane, and the reached, but large deformations may be required to
intensity of orientation increased slightly during reach this state.
deformation.
2. For samples prepared by tamping, there was very
rig
weak preferred orientation in the vertical direc- Compaction Versus Overconsolidation of Sand
tion initially, but this disappeared with deforma- Specimens at the same void ratio and stress state be-
tion. fore shearing, but having different fabrics, can exhibit
different stressstrain behavior. For example, consider
Shear deformations break down particle and aggre- a case in which one specimen is overconsolidated,
py
gate assemblages. Shear planes or zones did not appear whereas the other is compacted. The two specimens
until after peak stress had been reached; however, the are prepared in such a way that the initial void ratio is
distribution of normals to the interparticle contact the same for a given initial isotropic conning pres-
planes E() (a measure of fabric anisotropy) did sure. Coop (1990) performed undrained triaxial com-
Co
change with strain, as may be seen in Fig. 11.18. This pression tests of carbonate sand specimens that were
gure shows different initial distributions for samples either overconsolidated or compacted, as illustrated in
prepared by the two methods and a concentration of Fig. 11.19a. The undrained stress paths and stress
contact plane normals within 50 of the vertical as de- strain curves for the two specimens are shown in Figs.
formation progresses. Thus, the fabric tended toward 11.19b and 11.19c, respectively. The overconsolidated
greater anisotropy in each case in terms of contact sample was initially stiffer than the compacted speci-
plane orientations. There was little additional change men. The difference can be attributed to (i) different
in E() after the peak stress had been reached, which soil fabrics developed by different stress paths prior to
implies that particle rearrangement was proceeding shearing and (ii) different degrees of particle crushing
without signicant change in the overall fabric. prior to shearing (i.e., some breakage has occurred dur-

FABRIC, STRUCTURE, AND STRENGTH 381
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ate
dM
Figure 11.18 Distribution of interparticle contact normals as a function of axial strain for
sand samples prepared in two ways (after Oda, 1972a): (a) specimens prepared by tapping
hte
and (b) specimens prepared by tamping.
ing the preconsolidation stage for the overconsolidated much lower peak strength for the sample prepared by
specimen). Therefore, overconsolidation and compac- kneading compaction.
rig
tion produced materials with different mechanical The recoverable deformation of compacted kaolinite
properties. However, at large deformations, both spec- with occulent structure ranges between 60 and 90
imens exhibited similar strengths because the initial percent, whereas the recovery of samples with dis-
fabrics were destroyed. persed structures is only of the order of 15 to 30 per-
py
cent of the total deformation, as may be seen in Fig.

11.21. This illustrates the much greater ability of the
Effect of Clay Structure on Deformations
braced-box type of fabric that remains after static com-
The high sensitivity of quick clays illustrates the prin- paction to withstand stress without permanent defor-
ciple that occulated, open microfabrics are more rigid mation than is possible with the broken-down fabric
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but more unstable than deocculated fabrics. Similar associated with kneading compaction.
behavior may be observed in compacted ne-grained Different macrofabric features can affect the defor-
soils, and the results of a series of tests on structure- mation behavior as illustrated in Fig. 11.22 for the un-
sensitive kaolinite are illustrative of the differences drained triaxial compression testing of Bothkennar
(Mitchell and McConnell, 1965). Compaction condi- clay, Scotland (Paul et al., 1992; Clayton et al., 1992).
tions and stressstrain curves for samples of kaolinite Samples with mottled facies, in which the bedding fea-
compacted using kneading and static methods are tures had been disrupted and mixed by burrowing
shown in Fig. 11.20. The high shear strain associated mollusks and worms (bioturbation), gave the stiffest
with kneading compaction wet of optimum breaks response, whereas samples with distinct laminated fea-
down occulated structures, and this accounts for the tures showed the softest response.

1.0
Overconsolidated
0.8
0.6
q (MPa)
Normal Compression Line
2 0.4
Compacted
0.2
Overconsolidated
Sample
Void 0
l
1.5 0 0.2 0.4 0.6
Ratio p (MPa)
ria
(b)
q (MPa)
Compacted Sample
1.0
1
Compacted
ate
0.75
0.5
(MPa) Overconsolidated
0.1 1
Mean Pressure p 0.25
dM (a)
0
0 4 8 12 16 20
Axial strain a (%)
(c)
Figure 11.19 Undrained response of compacted specimen and overconsolidated specimen

of carbonate sand: (a) stress path before shearing, (b) undrained stress paths during shearing,
and (c) stressstrain relationships (after Coop, 1990).
hte
If slip planes develop at failure, platy and elongated clay can also be accounted for in terms of differences
particles align with their long axes in the direction of in effective stress, provided part of the undisturbed
slip. By then, the basal planes of the platy clay parti- strength does not result from cementation. Remolding
rig
cles are enclosed between two highly oriented bands breaks down the structure and causes a transfer of ef-
of particles on opposite sides of the shear plane. The fective stress to the pore water.
dominant mechanism of deformation in the displace- An example of this is shown in Fig. 11.23, which
ment shear zone is basal plane slip, and the overall shows the results of incremental loading triaxial com-
py
thickness of the shear zone is on the order of 50 m. pression tests on two samples of undisturbed and re-
Fabrics associated with shear planes and zones have molded San Francisco Bay mud. In these tests, the
been studied using thin sections and the polarizing mi- undisturbed sample was rst brought to equilibrium
croscope and by using the electron microscope (Mor- under an isotropic consolidation pressure of 80 kPa.
genstern and Tchalenko, 1967a, b and c; Tchalenko, After undrained loading to failure, the triaxial cell was
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1968; McKyes and Yong, 1971). The residual strength disassembled, and the sample was remolded in place.
associated with these fabrics is treated in more detail The apparatus was reassembled, and pore pressure was
in Section 11.11. measured. Thus, the effective stress at the start of com-
pression of the remolded clay at the same water con-
tent as the original undisturbed clay was known.
Structure, Effective Stresses, and Strength
Stressstrain and pore pressurestrain curves for two
The effective stress strength parameters such as c and samples are shown in Figs. 11.23a and 11.23b, and
are isotropic properties, with anisotropy in un- stress paths for test 1 are shown in Fig. 11.23c.
drained strength explainable in terms of excess pore Differences in strength that result from fabric dif-
pressures developed during shear. The undrained ferences caused by thixotropic hardening or by differ-
strength loss associated with remolding undisturbed ent compaction methods can be explained in the same

FRICTION BETWEEN SOLID SURFACES 383
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ate
Figure 11.21 Ratio of recoverable to total strain for samples
dM of kaolinite with different structure.
Stress-Strain Relationships Stress Paths
0.6 0.6
hte
(a r)/2 ao
0.4 (a r)/2 ao 0.4
Facies Facies
0.2 0.2
Mottled Mottled
rig
Bedded Bedded
Laminated Laminated
0.0 0.0
Figure 11.20 Stressstrain behavior of kaolinite compacted 0 2 4 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Axial Strain (%) (a + r)/2ao
by two methods.
py
Figure 11.22 Effect of macrofabric on undrained response

of Bothkennar clay in Scotland (after Hight and Leroueil,
2003).
way. Thus, in the absence of chemical or mineralogical
changes, different strengths in two samples of the same
Co
soil at the same void ratio can be accounted for in

terms of different effective stress. true friction coefcient is shown in Fig. 11.24 and is
represented by
T
11.4 FRICTION BETWEEN SOLID SURFACES tan (11.8)
N
The friction angle used in equations such as (11.1),
(11.2), (11.4), and (11.5) contains resistance contri- where N is the normal load on the shear surface, T is
butions from several sources, including sliding of the shear force, and , the intergrain sliding friction
grains in contact, resistance to volume change (dila- angle, is a compositional property that is determined
tancy), grain rearrangement, and grain crushing. The by the type of soil minerals.

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 11.23 (a) and (b) Effect of remolding on undrained strength and pore water pressure
in San Francisco Bay mud. (c) Stress paths for triaxial compression tests on undisturbed and
py
remolded samples of San Francisco Bay mud.
Basic Laws of Friction 11.24, the value of T is the same for a given value
Co
Two laws of friction are recognized, beginning with of N regardless of the size of the sliding block.
Leonardo da Vinci in about 1500. They were restated
by Amontons in 1699 and are frequently referred to as Although these principles of frictional resistance
Amontons laws. They are: have long been known, suitable explanations came
much later. It was at one time thought that interlocking
1. The frictional force is directly proportional to the between irregular surfaces could account for the be-
normal force, as illustrated by Eq. (11.8) and Fig. havior. On this basis, would be given by the tangent
11.24. of the average inclination of surface irregularities on
2. The frictional resistance between two bodies is the sliding plane. This cannot be the case, however,
independent of the size of the bodies. In Fig. because such an explanation would require that de-

l
ria
ate
Figure 11.23
dM (Continued )
contacting surfaces. He observed that the actual area

of contact is very small because of surface irregulari-
ties, and thus the cohesive forces must be large.
The foundation for the present understanding of the
hte
mobilization of friction between surfaces in contact

was laid by Terzaghi (1920). He hypothesized that the
normal load N acting between two bodies in contact
causes yielding at asperities, which are local hills
on the surface, where the actual interbody solid contact
develops. The actual contact area Ac is given by
rig
N
Ac (11.9)
y
py
where y is the yield strength of the material. The

shearing strength of the material in the yielded zone is
assumed to have a value m. The maximum shearing
force that can be resisted by the contact is then
Co
T Acm (11.10)
Figure 11.24 Coefcient of friction for surfaces in contact.
The coefcient of friction is given by T/N,
crease as surfaces become smoother and be zero for T Acm m

(11.11)
perfectly smooth surfaces. In fact, the coefcient of N Acy y
friction can be constant over a range of surface rough-
ness. Hardy (1936) suggested instead that static This concept of frictional resistance was subse-
friction originates from cohesive forces between quently further developed by Bowden and Tabor (1950,

1964). The TerzaghiBowden and Tabor hypothesis, Surface Adsorption

commonly referred to as the adhesion theory of fric- Because of unsatised force elds at the surfaces of
tion, is the basis for most modern studies of friction. solids, the surface structure may differ from that in the
Two characteristics of surfaces play key roles in the interior, and material may be adsorbed from adjacent
adhesion theory of friction: roughness and surface ad- phases. Even clean surfaces, prepared by fracture of
sorption. a solid or by evacuation at high temperature, are rap-
idly contaminated when reexposed to normal atmos-
Surface Roughness pheric conditions.
The surfaces of most solids are rough on a molecular According to the kinetic theory of gases, the time
scale, with successions of asperities and depressions for adsorption of a monolayer tm is given by
l
ranging from 10 nm to over 100 nm in height. The
ria
slopes of the nanoscale asperities are rather at, with
individual angles ranging from about 120 to 175 as 1
tm (11.12)
shown in Fig. 11.25. The average slope of asperities SZ
on metal surfaces is an included angle of 150; on
rough quartz it may be over 175 (Bromwell, 1966).
ate
When two surfaces are brought together, contact is es- where is the area occupied per molecule, S is the
tablished at the asperities, and the actual contact area fraction of molecules striking the surface that stick to
is only a small fraction of the total surface area. it, and Z is the number of molecules per second strik-
Quartz surfaces polished to mirror smoothness may ing a square centimeter of surface. For a value of S
consist of peaks and valleys with an average height of equal to 1, which is reasonable for a high-energy sur-
about 500 nm. The asperities on rougher quartz surface, the relationship between tm and gas pressure is
dM
faces may be about 10 times higher (Lambe and Whit- shown in Fig. 11.26. The conclusion to be drawn from
man, 1969). Even these surfaces are probably smoother this gure is that adsorbed layers are present on the
than most soil particles composed of bulky minerals. surface of soil particles in the terrestrial environment,
The actual surface texture of sand particles depends on
geologic history as well as mineralogy, as shown in
Fig. 2.12.
hte
The cleavage faces of mica akes are among the

smoothest naturally occurring mineral surfaces. Even
in mica, however, there is some waviness due to ro-
tation of tetrahedra in the silica layer, and surfaces usu-
ally contain steps ranging in height from 1 to 100 nm,
reecting different numbers of unit layers across the
rig
particle.
Thus, large areas of solid contact between grains are
not probable in soils. Solid-to-solid contact is through
asperities, and the corresponding interparticle contact
stresses are high. The molecular structure and com-
py
position in the contacting asperities determine the mag-

nitude of m in Eq. (11.11).
Co
Figure 11.26 Monolayer formation time as a function of at-

Figure 11.25 Contact between two smooth surfaces. mospheric pressure.

and contacts through asperities involve adsorbed ma- cles. The asperities, caused by surface waviness, are
terial, unless it is extruded under the high pressure.5 more regular but not as high as those for the bulky
minerals.
Adhesion Theory of Friction Thus, it can be postulated that for a given number
The basis for the adhesion theory of friction is in Eq. of contacts per particle, the load per asperity decreases
(11.10), that is, the tangential force that causes slid- with decreasing particle size and, for particles of the
ing depends on the solid contact area and the shear same size, is less for platy minerals than for bulky
strength of the contact. Plastic and/or elastic defor- minerals. Because should increase as the normal load
mations determine the contact area at asperities. per asperity increases, and it is reasonable to assume
Plastic Junctions If asperities yield and undergo that the adsorbed lm strength is less than the strength
plastic deformation, then the contact area is propor- of the solid material (c m), it follows that the true
l
tional to the normal load on the asperity as shown by friction angle () is less for small and platy particles
ria
Eq. (11.9). Because surfaces are not clean, but are cov- than for large and bulky particles. In the event that two
ered by adsorbed lms, actual solid contact may de- platy particles are in face-to-face contact and the sur-
velop only over a fraction of the contact area as face waviness is insufcient to cause direct solid-to-
shown in Fig. 11.27. If the contaminant lm strength solid contact, shear will be through the adsorbed lms,
and the effective value of will be zero, again giving
ate
is c, the strength of the contact will be
a lower value of .
T Ac[m (1 )c] (11.13) In reality, the behavior of plastic junctions is more
complex. Under combined compression and shear
Equation (11.13) cannot be applied in practice be- stresses, deformation follows the von MisesHenky
cause and c are unknown. However, it does provide
dM criterion, which, for two dimensions, is
a possible explanation for why measured values of fric-
tion angle for bulky minerals such as quartz and feld- 2 3 2 y2 (11.14)
spar are greater than values for the clay minerals and
other platy minerals such as mica, even though the For asperities loaded initially to y, the appli-
surface structure is similar for all the silicate minerals. cation of a shear stress requires that become less
The small particle size of clays means that the load than y. The only way that this can happen is for the
per particle, for a given effective stress, will be small contact area to increase. Continued increase in leads
hte
relative to that in silts and sands composed of the bulky to continued increase in contact area. This phenome-
minerals. The surfaces of platy silt and sand size par- non is called junction growth and is responsible for
ticles are smoother than those of bulky mineral parti- cold welding in some materials (Bowden and Tabor,
1964). If the shear strength of the junction equals that
of the bulk solid, then gross seizure occurs. For the
rig
case where the ratio of junction strength to bulk ma-

terial strength is less than 0.9, the amount of junction
growth is small. This is the probable situation in soils.
Elastic Junctions The contact area between parti-
cles of a perfectly elastic material is not dened in
py
terms of plastic yield. For two smooth spheres in con-

tact, application of the Hertz theory leads to
d (NR)1 / 3 (11.15)
Co
Figure 11.27 Plastic junction between asperities with ad-

sorbed surface lms.
where d is the diameter of a plane circular area of
contact; is a function of geometry, Poissons ratio,
and Youngs modulus6; and R is the sphere radius. The
5
contact area is
Conditions may be different on the Moon, where ultrahigh vacuum
exists. This vacuum produces cleaner surfaces. In the absence of
suitable adsorbate, clean surfaces can reduce their surface energy by
cohering with like surfaces. This could account for the higher co-
hesion of lunar soils than terrestrial soils of comparable gradation. 6
For a sphere in contact with a plane surface 12(1 2) / E.

frictional resistance (Rowe, 1962). The residual fric-

Ac (NR)2 / 3 (11.16) tion angles of quartz, feldspar, and calcite are indepen-
4
dent of normal stress as shown in Fig. 11.28.
If the shear strength of the contact is i, then On the other hand, a decreasing friction angle with
increasing normal load up to some limiting value of
T i Ac (11.17) normal stress is evident for mica and the clay minerals
in Fig. 11.28 and has been found also for several clays
and and clay shales (Bishop et al., 1971), for diamond
(Bowden and Tabor, 1964), and for solid lubricants
T
such as graphite and molybdenum disulde (Campbell,
i (R)2 / 3 N1 / 3 (11.18) 1969). Additional data for clay minerals show that fric-
l
N 4 tional resistance varies as ()1 / 3 as predicted by Eq.
ria
(11.22) up to a normal stress of the order of 200 kPa
According to these relationships, the friction coef- (30 psi), that is, the friction angle decreases with in-
cient for two elastic asperities in contact should decreasing normal stress (Chattopadhyay, 1972).
crease with increasing load. Nonetheless, the adhesion There are at least two possible explanations of the
theory would still apply to the strength of the junction, normal stress independence of the frictional resistance
ate
with the frictional force proportional to the area of real of quartz, feldspar, and calcite:
contact.
If it is assumed that the number of contacting as- 1. As the load per particle increases, the number of
perities in a soil mass is independent of particle size asperities in contact increases proportionally, and
and effective stress, then the inuences of particle size the deformation of each asperity remains essen-
and effective stress on the frictional resistance of a soil
dM
with asperities deforming elastically may be analyzed.
tially constant. In this case, the assumption of one
asperity per contact for the development of Eq.
For uniform spheres arranged in a regular packing, the (11.22) is not valid. Some theoretical considera-
gross area covered by one sphere along a potential tions of multiple asperities in contact are availa-
plane of sliding is 4R 2. The normal load per contacting ble (Johnson, 1985). They show that the area of
asperity, assuming one asperity per contact, is contact is approximately proportional to the ap-
plied load and hence the coefcient of friction is
N 4R2
hte
(11.19) constant with load.

2. As the load per asperity increases, the value of
Using Eq. (11.16), the area per contact becomes in Eq. (11.13) increases, reecting a greater pro-
portion of solid contact relative to adsorbed lm
contact. Thus, the average strength per contact
Ac (4R3)2 / 3 (11.20) increases more than proportionally with the load,
4
rig
while the contact area increases less than pro-

and the total contact area per unit gross area is portionally, with the net result being an essen-
tially constant frictional resistance.
(Ac)T
1 2
R (4)2 / 3

(4)2 / 3 Quartz is a hard, brittle material that can exhibit both
py
4R2 4 16 (11.21) elastic and plastic deformation. A normal pressure of

11 GPa (1,500,000 psi) is required to produce plastic
The total shearing resistance of is equal to the deformation, and brittle failure usually occurs before
contact area times i, so plastic deformation. Plastic deformations are evidently
Co
restricted to small, highly conned asperities, and elas-

tic deformations control at least part of the behavior
(4)2 / 3 i iK()1 / 3 (11.22)
16 (Bromwell, 1965). Either of the previous two expla-
nations might be applicable, depending on details of
where K (4)2 / 3 /16. On this basis, the coefcient surface texture on a microscale and characteristics of
of friction should decrease with increasing , but it the adsorbed lms.
should be independent of sphere radius (particle size). With the exception of some data for quartz, there
Data have been obtained that both support and con- appears to be little information concerning possible
tradict these predictions. A 50-fold variation in the nor- variations of the true friction angle with particle size.
mal load on assemblages of quartz particles in contact Rowe (1962) found that the value of for assem-
with a quartz block was found to have no effect on blages of quartz particles on a at quartz surface de-

FRICTIONAL BEHAVIOR OF MINERALS 389
l
ria
Figure 11.28 Variation in friction angle with normal stress for different minerals (after
Kenney, 1967).
ate
creased from 31 for coarse silt to 22 for coarse sand. do tests on two very small particles that are sliding
This is an apparent contradiction to the independence relative to each other, and test results for particle as-
of particle size on frictional resistance predicted by Eq. semblages are inuenced by particle rearrangements,
(11.22). On the other hand, the assumption of one as- volume changes, surface preparation factors, and the
dM
perity per contact may not have been valid for all par-
ticle sizes, and additionally, particle surface textures on
like. Some values are available, however, and they are
presented and discussed in this section.
a microscale could have been size dependent. Further-
more, there could have been different amounts of par-
ticle rearrangement and rolling in the tests on the Nonclay Minerals
different size fractions. Values of the true friction angle for several minerals
hte
are listed in Table 11.1, along with the type of test and
Sliding Friction conditions used for their determination. A pronounced
The frictional resistance, once sliding has been initi- antilubricating effect of water is evident for polished
ated, may be equal to or less than the resistance that surfaces of the bulky minerals quartz, feldspar, and cal-
had to be overcome to initiate movement; that is, the cite. This apparently results from a disruptive effect of
coefcient of sliding friction can be less than the co- water on adsorbed lms that may have acted as a lu-
rig
efcient of static friction. A higher value of static bricant for dry surfaces. Evidence for this is shown in
friction than sliding friction is explainable by time- Fig. 11.29, where it may be seen that the presence of
dependent bond formations at asperity junctions. water had no effect on the frictional resistance of
Stickslip motion, wherein varies more or less er- quartz surfaces that had been chemically cleaned prior
to the measurement of the friction coefcient. The
py
ratically as two surfaces in contact are displaced, ap-

pears common to all friction measurements of minerals samples tested by Horn and Deere (1962) in Table 11.1
involving single contacts (Procter and Barton, 1974). had not been chemically cleaned.
Stickslip is not observed during shear of assemblages An apparent antilubrication effect by water might
of large numbers of particles because the slip of indi- also arise from attack of the silica surface (quartz and
Co
vidual contacts is masked by the behavior of the mass feldspar) or carbonate surface (calcite) and the for-
as a whole. However, it may be an important mecha- mation of silica and carbonate cement at interparticle
nism of energy dissipation for cyclic loading at very contacts. Many sand deposits exhibit aging effects
small strains when particles are not moving relative to wherein their strength and stiffness increase noticeably
each other. within periods of weeks to months after deposition,
disturbance, or densication, as described, for exam-
ple, by Mitchell and Solymar (1984), Mitchell (1986),
11.5 FRICTIONAL BEHAVIOR OF MINERALS Mesri et al. (1990), and Schmertmann (1991). In-
creases in penetration resistance of up to 100 percent
Evaluation of the true coefcient of friction and fric- have been measured in some cases. The relative im-
tion angle is difcult because it is very difcult to portance of chemical factors, such as precipitation at

Table 11.1 Values of Friction Angle () Between Mineral Surfaces
Mineral Type of Test Conditions (deg) Comments Reference

Quartz Block over particle Dry 6 Dried over CaCl2 before Tschebotarioff and
set in mortar testing Welch (1948)
Moist 24.5
Water saturated 24.5
Quartz Three xed particles Water saturated 21.7 Normal load per particle Haz (1950)
over block increasing from 1 to
100 g
l
Quartz Block on block Dry 7.4 Polished surfaces Horn and Deere (1962)
ria
Quartz Particles on Water saturated 2231 decreasing with in- Rowe (1962)
polished block creasing particle size
Quartz Block on block Variable 045 Depends on roughness Bromwell (1966)
and cleanliness
ate
Quartz Particleparticle Saturated 26 Single-point contact Procter and Barton
(1974)
Particleplane Saturated 22.2
Particleplane Dry 17.4
Feldspar Block on block Dry 6.8 Polished surfaces Horn and Deere (1962)
Feldspar
dM
Free particles on at Water saturated 37 25500 sieve Lee (1966)
surface
Feldspar Particleplane Saturated 28.9 Single-point contact Procter and Barton
(1974)
Calcite Block on block Dry 8.0 Polished surfaces Horn and Deere (1962)
hte
Muscovite Along cleavage Dry 23.3 Oven dry Horn and Deere (1962)
faces
Dry 16.7 Air equilibrated
Saturated 13.0
Phlogopite Along cleavage Dry 17.2 Oven dry Horn and Deere (1962)
faces
rig

Saturated 8.5
Biotite Along cleavage Dry 17.2 Oven dry Horn and Deere (1962)
faces
py
Saturated 7.4
Chlorite Along cleavage Dry 27.9 Oven dry Horn and Deere (1962)
faces
Co
Saturated 12.4
interparticle contacts, changes in surface characteris- As surface roughness increases, the apparent anti-
tics, and mechanical factors, such as time-dependent lubricating effect of water decreases. This is shown
stress redistribution and particle reorientations, in caus- in Fig. 11.29 for quartz surfaces that had not been
ing the observed behavior is not known. Further details cleaned. Chemically cleaned quartz surfaces, which
of aging effects are given in Chapter 12. give the same value of friction when both dry and wet,

FRICTIONAL BEHAVIOR OF MINERALS 391
l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 11.29 Friction of quartz (data from Bromwell, 1966 and Dickey, 1966).
show a loss in frictional resistance with increasing sur- Clay Minerals

face roughness. Evidently, increased roughness makes Few, if any, directly measured values of for the clay
it easier for asperities to break through surface lms, minerals are available. However, because their surface
resulting in an increase in [Eq. (11.13) and Fig.
hte
structures are similar to those of the layer silicates dis-

11.27]. The decrease in friction with increased rough- cussed previously, approximately the same values
ness is not readily explainable. One possibility is that would be anticipated, and the ranges of residual fric-
the cleaning process was not effective on the rough tion angles measured for highly plastic clays and clay
surfaces. minerals support this. In very active colloidal pure
For soils in nature, the surfaces of bulky mineral clays, such as montmorillonite, even lower friction an-
rig
particles are most probably rough relative to the scale gles have been measured. Residual values as low as 4
in Fig. 11.29, and they will not be chemically clean. for sodium montmorillonite are indicated by the data
Thus, values of 0.5 and 26 are reasonable in Fig. 11.28.
for quartz, both wet and dry. The effective stress failure envelopes for calcium
On the other hand, water apparently acts as a lubri-
py
and sodium montmorillonite are different, as shown by

cant in sheet minerals, as shown by the values for mus- Fig. 11.30, and the friction angles are stress dependent.
covite, phlogopite, biotite, and chlorite in Table 11.1. For each material the effective stress failure envelope
This is because in air the adsorbed lm is thin, and was the same in drained and undrained triaxial com-
surface ions are not fully hydrated. Thus, the adsorbed pression and unaffected by electrolyte concentration
Co
layer is not easily disrupted. Observations have shown over the range investigated, which was 0.001 N to 0.1
that the surfaces of the sheet minerals are scratched N. The water content at any effective stress was inde-
when tested in air (Horn and Deere, 1962). When the pendent of electrolyte concentration for calcium mont-
surfaces of the layer silicates are wetted, the mobility morillonite, but varied in the manner shown in Fig.
of the surface lms is increased because of their in- 11.31 for sodium montmorillonite.
creased thickness and because of greater surface ion This consolidation behavior is consistent with that
hydration and dissociation. Thus, the values of described in Chapter 10. Interlayer expansion in cal-
listed in Table 11.1 for the sheet minerals under satu- cium montmorillonite is restricted to a c-axis spacing
rated conditions (7 13) are probably appropriate for of 1.9 nm, leading to formation of domains or layer
sheet mineral particles in soils. aggregates of several unit layers. The interlayer spac-

Figure 11.30 Effective stress failure diagrams for calcium and sodium montmorillonite (af-
l
ter Mesri and Olson, 1970).
ria
the same time there is little increase in shear strength
because the shearing strength of water and solutions is
essentially independent of hydrostatic pressure. The
ate
small friction angle that is observed for sodium mont-
morillonite at low effective stresses can be ascribed
mainly to the few interparticle contacts that resist par-
ticle rearrangement. Resistance from this source evi-
dM dently approaches a constant value at the higher
effective stresses, as evidenced by the nearly horizontal
failure envelope at values of average effective stress
greater than about 50 psi (350 kPa), as shown in Fig.
11.30. The viscous resistance of the pore uid may
Figure 11.31 Shear and consolidation behavior of sodium contribute a small proportion of the strength at all ef-
montmorillonite (after Mesri and Olson, 1970). fective stresses.
An hypothesis of friction between ne-grained par-
hte
ticles in the absence of interparticle contacts is given

by Santamarina et al. (2001) using the concept of
ing of sodium montmorillonite is sensitive to double-
electrical surface roughness as shown in Fig. 11.32.
layer repulsions, which, in turn, depend on the
Consider two clay surfaces with interparticle uid as
electrolyte concentration. The inuence of the electro-
shown in Fig. 11.32b. The clay surfaces have a number
lyte concentration on the behavior of sodium mont-
of discrete charges, so a series of potential energy
rig
morillonite is to change the water content, but not the

wells exists along the clay surfaces. Two cases can be
strength, at any effective consolidation pressure. This
considered:
suggests that the strength generating mechanism is in-
dependent of the system chemistry.
The platelets of sodium montmorillonite act as thin 1. When the particle separation is less than several
py
lms held apart by high repulsive forces that carry the nanometers, there are multiple wells of minimum
effective stress. For this case, if it is assumed that there energy between nearby surfaces and a force is
is essentially no intergranular contact, then Eq. (7.29) required to overcome the energy barrier between
becomes the wells when the particles move relative to each
Co
other. Shearing involves interaction of the mole-

i A u0 R 0 (11.23) cules of the interparticle uid. Due to the multi-
ple energy wells, the interparticle uid molecules
Since u0 is the conventionally dened effective go through successive solidlike pinned states.
stress , and assuming negligible long-range attrac- This stickslip motion contributes to frictional
tions, Eq. (11.23) becomes resistance and energy dissipation.
2. When the particle separation is more than several
R (11.24) nanometers, the two clay surfaces interact only
by the hydrodynamic viscous effects of the in-
This accounts for the increase in consolidation pres- terparticle uid, and the frictional force may be
sure required to decrease the water content, while at estimated using uid dynamics.

PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS AMONG PARTICLES 393
disorder of particles, (i.e., local spatial uctuations of
coordination number, and positions of neighboring par-
ticles) produce packing constraints and disorder. This
leads to inhomogeneous but structured force distribu-
tions within the granular system. Deformation is as-
sociated with buckling of these force chains, and
energy is dissipated by sliding at the clusters of par-
ticles between the force chains.
Discrete particle numerical simulations, such as the
discrete (distinct) element method (Cundall and Strack,
1979) and the contact dynamics method (Moreau,
l
1994), offer physical insights into particle interactions
ria
and load transfers that are difcult to deduce from
physical experiments. Typical inputs for the simula-
tions are particle packing conditions and interparticle
contact characteristics such as the interparticle friction
angle . Complete details of these numerical methods
ate
are beyond the scope of this book; additional infor-
mation can be found in Oda and Iwashita (1999).
However, some of the main ndings are useful for
developing an improved understanding of how stresses
dM are carried through discrete particle systems such as
soils and how these distributions inuence the defor-
mation and strength properties.
Strong Force Networks and Weak Clusters

Figure 11.32 Concept of electrical surface roughness ac-
cording to Santamarina et al., (2001): (a) electrical roughness Examples of the computed normal contact force dis-
and (b) conceptual picture of friction in ne-grained particles. tribution in a granular system are shown in Figs.
hte
11.33a for an isotropically loaded condition and

11.33b for a biaxial loaded condition (Thornton and
Barnes, 1986). The thickness of the lines in the gure
The aggregation of clay plates in calcium montmo- is proportional to the magnitude of the contact force.
rillonite produces particle groups that behave more like The external loads are transmitted through a network
equidimensional particles than platy particles. There is of interparticle contact forces represented by thicker
rig
more physical interference and more intergrain contact lines. This is called the strong force network and is the
than in sodium montmorillonite since the water content key microscopic feature of load transfer through the
range for the strength data shown in Fig. 11.30 was granular system. The scale of statistical homogeneity
only about 50 to 97 percent, whereas it was about 125 in a two-dimensional particle assembly is found to be
to 450 percent for the sodium montmorillonite. At a a few tens of particle diameters (Radjai et al., 1996).
py
consolidation pressure of about 500 kPa, the slope of Forces averaged over this distance could therefore be
the failure envelope for calcium montmorillonite was expected to give a stress that is representative of the
about 10, which is in the middle of the range for non- macroscopic stress state. The particles not forming a
clay sheet minerals (Table 11.1). part of the strong force network are oating like a uid
Co
with small loads at the interparticle contacts. This can

be called the weak cluster, which has a width of 3 to
11.6 PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS AMONG 10 particle diameters.
PARTICLES Both normal and tangential forces exist at interpar-
ticle contacts. Figure 11.34 shows the probability dis-
Continuum mechanics assumes that applied forces are tributions (PN and PT) of normal contact forces N and
transmitted uniformly through a homogenized granular tangential contact forces T for a given biaxial loading
system. In reality, however, the interparticle force dis- condition. The horizontal axis is the forces normalized
tributions are strongly inhomogeneous, as discussed in by their mean force value (N or T), which de-
Chapter 7, and the applied load is transferred through pend on particle size distribution (Radjai et al., 1996).
a network of interparticle force chains. The generic The individual normal contact forces can be as great

tric compression of a dense granular assembly (Thorn-

ton, 2000). The strong force network carries most of
the whole deviator load as shown in Fig. 11.36 and is
the load-bearing part of the structure. For particles in
the strong force networks, the tangential contact forces
are much smaller than the interparticle frictional resis-
tance because of the large normal contact forces. In
contrast, the numerical analysis results show that the
tangential contact forces in the weak clusters are close
to the interparticle frictional resistance. Hence, the fric-
tional resistance is almost fully mobilized between par-
l
ticles in the weak clusters, and the particles are perhaps
ria
behaving like a viscous uid.
Buckling, Sliding, and Rolling

As particles begin to move relative to each other during
ate
shear, particles in the strong force network do not slide,
but columns of particles buckle (Cundall and Strack,
1979). Particles in the strong force network collapse
upon buckling, and new force chains are formed.
Hence, the spatial distributions of the strong force net-
work are neither static nor persistent features.
dM At a given time of biaxial compression loading, par-
ticle sliding is occurring at almost 10 percent of the
contacts (Kuhn, 1999) and approximately 96 percent
of the sliding particles are in the weak clusters (Radjai
Figure 11.33 Normal force distributions of a two- et al., 1996). Over 90 percent of the energy dissipation
dimensional disk particle assembly: (a) isotropic stress con- occurs at just a small percentage of the contacts (Kuhn,
hte
dition and (b) biaxial stress condition with maximum load in 1999). This small number of sliding particles is asso-
the vertical direction (after Thornton and Barnes, 1986). ciated with the ability of particles to roll rather than to
slide. Particle rotations reduce contact sliding and dis-
sipation rate in the granular system. If all particles
could roll upon one another, a granular assembly
as six times the mean normal contact force, but would deform without energy dissipation.7 However,
rig
approximately 60 percent of contacts carry normal this is not possible owing to restrictions on particle
contact forces below the mean (i.e., weak cluster rotations. It is impossible for all particles to move by
particles). When normal contact forces are larger than rotation, and sliding at some contacts is inevitable due
their mean, the distribution law of forces can be ap- to the random position of particles (Radjai and Roux,
proximated by an exponentially decreasing function; 1995).8 Some frictional energy dissipation can there-
py
Radjai et al. (1996) show that PN ( N/ N) fore be considered a consequence of disorder of par-
ke1.4(1 ) ts the computed data well for both two-and ticle positions.
three-dimensional simulations. The exponent was As deformation progresses, the number of particles
found to change very slightly with the coefcient of in the strong force network decreases, with fewer par-
Co
interparticle friction and to be independent of particle ticles sharing the increased loads (Kuhn, 1999). Figure
size distributions.
Simulations show that applied deviator load is trans-
ferred exclusively by the normal contact forces in the 7
This assumes that the particles are rigid and rolling with a single-
strong force networks, and the contribution by the point contact. In reality, particles deform and exhibit rolling resis-
weak clusters is negligible. This is illustrated in Fig. tance. Iwashita and Oda (1998) state that the incorporation of rolling
11.35, which shows that the normal contact forces con- resistance is necessary in discrete particle simulations to generate
realistic localized shear bands.
tribute greater than the tangential contact forces to the 8
For instance, consider a chain loop of an odd number of particles.
development of the deviator stress during axisymme- Particle rotation will involve at least one sliding contact.

l
ria
Figure 11.34 Probability distributions of interparticle contact forces: (a) normal forces and
ate
(b) tangential forces. The distributions were obtained for contact dynamic simulations of
500, 1024, 1200 and 4025 particles. The effect of number of particles in the simulation on
probability distribution appears to be small (after Radjai et al., 1996).
dM
hte
rig
py
Figure 11.35 Contributions of normal and tangential contact Figure 11.36 Contributions of strong and weak contact
forces to the evolution of the deviator stress during axisym- forces to the evolution of the deviator stress during axisym-
metric compression of a dense granular assembly (after metric compression of a dense granular assembly (after
Thornton, 2000).
Co
Thornton, 2000).
11.37 shows the spatial distribution of residual defor- boundary of the group shows large residual deforma-
mation, in which the computed deformation of each tion, whereas the center shows very small residual de-
particle is subtracted from the average overall defor- formation. The rotating group of interlocked particles,
mation (Williams and Rege, 1997). A group of inter- which can be considered as a weak cluster, becomes
locked particles that instantaneously moves as a rigid more apparent as applied strains increase toward fail-
body in a circular manner can be observed. The outer ure. The bands of large residual deformation [termed

Stress Ratio q/p

Contact Plane Normals Triaxial Compression
in Initial State: 1.5
A More in Vertical Direction
B Same in All Directions 1.0
C More in Horizontal Direction
0.5
-8 -6 -4 -2 2 4 6 8 10
-0.5 Axial Strain (%)
Triaxial Extension -1.0
(a)
l
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Fabric Anisotropy A
Contact Plane Normals
in Initial State: 0.4
A More in Vertical Direction
0.3
ate
B Same in All Directions
0.2
C More in Horizontal Direction
0.1
-8 -6 -4 -2 2 4 6 8 10
-0.1
Axial Strain (%)
-0.2
dM -0.3
-0.4
-0.5
Figure 11.37 Spatial distribution of residual deformation ob- (b)

served in an elliptic particle assembly at an axial strain level
of (a) 1.1%, (b) 3.3%, (c) 5.5%, (d) 7.7%, (e) 9.8%, and Figure 11.38 Discrete element simulations of drained tri-
( ) 12.0% (after Williams and Rege, 1997). axial compression and extension tests of particle assemblies
prepared at different initial contact fabrics: (a) stressstrain
hte
relationships and (b) evolution of fabric anisotropy parameter

A (after Yimsiri, 2001).
microbands by Kuhn (1999)] are where particle trans-
lations and rotations are intense as part of the strong
force network. Kuhn (1999) reports that their thick- of discrete particle simulations of particle assemblies
rig
nesses are 1.5D50 to 2.5D50 in the early stages of shear- prepared at different states of initial contact anisotropy
ing and increase to between 1.5D50 and 4D50 as under an isotropic stress condition (Yimsiri, 2001). The
deformation proceeds. This microband slip zone may initial void ratios are similar (e0 0.75 to 0.76) and
eventually become a localized shear band. both drained triaxial compression and extension tests
were simulated. Although all specimens are initially
py
isotropically loaded, the directional distributions of

Fabric Anisotropy contact forces are different due to different orientations
The ability of a granular assemblage of particles to of contact plane normals (sample A: more in the ver-
carry deviatoric loads is attributed to its capability to tical direction; sample B: similar in all directions; sam-
Co
develop anisotropy in contact orientations. An initial ple C: more in the horizontal direction). As shown in
isotropic packing of particles develops an anisotropic Fig. 11.38a, both samples A and C showed stiffer re-
contact network during compression loading. This is sponse when the compression loading was applied in
because new contacts form in the direction of com- the preferred direction of contact forces, but softer re-
pression loading and contacts that orient along the di- sponse when the loading was perpendicular to the pre-
rection perpendicular to loading direction are lost. ferred direction of contact forces. The response of
The initial state of contact anisotropy (or fabric) sample B, which had an isotropic fabric, was in be-
plays an important role in the subsequent deformation tween the two. Dilation was most intensive when the
as illustrated in Fig. 11.18. Figure 11.38 shows results contact forces were oriented preferentially in the di-

rection of applied compression; and experimental data forces categorized by their magnitudes when the spec-
presented by Konishi et al. (1982) shows a similar imen is under a biaxial compression loading condition
trend. (Radjai, 1999). The direction of contact anisotropy of
Figure 11.38b shows the development of fabric an- the weak clusters (N/ N less than 1) is orthogonal
isotropy with increasing strain. The degree of fabric to the direction of compression loading, whereas that
anisotropy is expressed by a fabric anisotropy param- of the strong force network (N/ N more than 2) is
eter A; the value of A increases with more vertically parallel. Figure 11.40 shows an example of fabric ev-
oriented contact plane normals and is negative when olution with strains in biaxial loading (Thornton and
there are more horizontally oriented contact plane nor- Antony, 1998). The fabric anisotropy is separated into
mals.9 The fabric parameter gradually changes with in- that in the strong force networks (N/ N of more
creasing strains and reaches a steady-state value as the than 1) and that in the weak clusters (N/ N less than
l
specimens fail. The nal steady-state value is indepen- 1). Again the directional evolution of the fabric in the
ria
dent of the initial fabric, indicating that the inherent weak clusters is opposite to the direction of loading.
anisotropy is destroyed by the shearing process. The Therefore, the stability of the strong force chains
nal fabric anisotropy after triaxial extension is larger aligned in the vertical loading direction is obtained by
than that after triaxial compression because the addi- the lateral forces in the surrounding weak clusters.
tional connement by a larger intermediate stress in
ate
the extension tests created a higher degree of fabric
anisotropy. Changes in Number of Contacts and Microscopic
Close examination of the contact force distribution Voids
for the strong force network and weak clusters gives At the beginning of biaxial loading of a dense granular
interesting microscopic features. Figure 11.39 shows dM assembly, more contacts are created from the increase
the values of A determined for the subgroups of contact
in the hydrostatic stress, and the local voids become
smaller. As the axial stress increases, however, the lo-
cal voids tend to elongate in the direction of loading
as shown in Fig. 11.41. Consequently particle contacts
0.1 are lost. As loading progresses, vertically elongated lo-
cal voids become more apparent, leading to dilation in
Fabric Anisotropy Parameter A
hte
0.05
0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6
N/<N>
rig
-0.05
-0.1
py
Figure 11.39 Fabric anisotropy parameter A for different

levels of contact force when the specimen is under biaxial
compression loading conditions (after Radjai et al., 1996).
Co
9
The density of contact plane normals E() with direction is tted
with the following expression (Radjai, 1999):
c
E() {1 A cos 2( c)}

where c is the total number of contacts, c is the direction for which Figure 11.40 Evolution of the fabric anisotropy parameters
the maximum E is reached, and the magnitude of A indicates the
amplitude of anisotropy. When the directional distribution of contact of strong forces and weak clusters when the specimen is un-
forces is independent of , the system has an isotropic fabric and der biaxial compression loading conditions (after Thornton
A 0. and Antony, 1998).

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
Figure 11.41 Simulated spatial distribution of local microvoids under biaxial loading (after
Iwashita and Oda, 2000): (a) 11 1.1% (before failure), (b) 11 2.2% (at failure), (c)
rig
11 4.4% (after failure), and (d ) 11 5.5% (after failure).
terms of overall sample volume (Iwashita and Oda, strain is required to reach the critical state void ratio.
py
2000). Practical implication of this is discussed further in Sec-

Void reduction is partly associated with particle tion 11.7.
breakage. Thus, there is a need to incorporate grain
crushing in discrete particle simulations to model the Macroscopic Friction Angle Versus Interparticle
Co
contractive behavior of soils (Cheng et al., 2003). Nor- Friction Angle

mal contact forces in the strong force network are quite Discrete particle simulations show that an increase in
high, and, therefore, particle asperities, and even par- the interparticle friction angle results in an increase
ticles themselves, are likely to break, causing the force in shear modulus and shear strength, in higher rates of
chains to collapse. dilation, and in greater fabric anisotropy. Figure 11.42
Local voids tend to change size even after the ap- shows the effect of assumed interparticle friction angle
plied stress reaches the failure stress state (Kuhn, on the mobilized macroscopic friction angle of the
1999). This suggests that the degrees of shearing re- particle assembly (Thornton, 2000; Yimsiri, 2001). The
quired for the stresses and void ratio to reach the crit- macroscopic friction angle is larger than the interpar-
ical state are different. Numerical simulations by ticle friction angle if the interparticle friction angle is
Thornton (2000) show that at least 50 percent axial smaller than 20. As the interparticle friction becomes

50
40
Macroscopic Friction Angle (degrees)
30
l
ria
20
Drained (Thornton, 2000)
Drained Triaxial Compression (Yimsiri, 2001)
ate
Undrained Triaxial Compression (Yimsiri, 2001)
10 Drained Triaxial Extension (Yimsiri, 2001)
Undrained Triaxial Extension (Yimsiri, 2001)
Experiment (Skinner, 1969)
0
dM 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Interparticle Friction Angle (degrees)
Figure 11.42 Relationships between interparticle friction angle and macroscopic friction
angle from discrete element simulations. The macroscopic friction angle was determined
from simulations of drained and undrained triaxial compression (TC) and extension (TE)
tests. The experimental data by Skinner (1969) is also presented (after Thornton, 2000, and
Yimsiri, 2001).
hte
more than 20, the contribution of increasing interpar- have like a uid. Increased friction at the contacts in-
ticle friction to the macroscopic friction angle becomes creases the stability of the system and reduces the
relatively small; the macroscopic friction angle ranges number of contacts required to achieve a stable con-
rig
between 30 and 40, when the interparticle friction dition. As long as the strong force network can be
angle increases from 30 to 90.10 formed, however, the magnitude of the interparticle
The nonproportional relationship between macro- friction becomes of secondary importance.
scopic friction angle of the particle assembly and in- The above ndings from discrete particle simula-
terparticle friction angle results because deviatoric load tions are partially supported by the experimental data
py
is carried by the strong force networks of normal given by Skinner (1969), which are also shown in Fig.
forces and not by tangential forces, whose magnitude 11.42. He performed shear box tests on spherical par-
is governed by interparticle friction angle. Increase in ticles with different coefcients of interparticle friction
interparticle friction results in a decrease in the per- angle. The tested materials included glass ballotini,
Co
centage of sliding contacts (Thornton, 2000). The in- steel ball bearings, and lead shot. Use of glass ballotini
terparticle friction therefore acts as a kinematic was particularly attractive since the coefcient of in-
constraint of the strong force network and not as the terparticle friction increases by a factor of between 3.5
direct source of macroscopic resistance to shear. If the and 30 merely by ooding the dry sample. Skinners
interparticle friction were zero, strong force chains data shown in Fig. 11.42 indicate that the macroscopic
could not develop, and the particle assembly will be- friction angle is nearly independent of interparticle
friction angle.
Effects of Particle Shape and Angularity

10
Reference to Table 11.1 shows that actually measured values of
for geomaterials are all less than 45. Thus, numerical simulations A lower porosity and a larger coordination number are
done assuming larger values of appear to give unrealistic results. achieved for ellipsoidal particles compared to spherical

particles (Lin and Ng, 1997). Hence, a denser packing

can be achieved for ellipsoidal particles. Ellipsoid par- Deviator
ticles rotate less than spherical particles. An assembly Stress
Critical
of ellipsoid particles gives larger values of shear q = a r State Line M (triaxial
strength and initial modulus than an assemblage of compression)
spherical particles, primarily because of the larger co- a
ordination number for ellipsoidal particles. Similar
ndings result for two-dimensional particle assemblies. r r
Circular disks give the highest dilation for a given
stress ratio and the lowest coordination number com- Mean Pressure p
pared to elliptical or diamond shapes (Williams and
l
Critical M (triaxial
Rege, 1997). An assembly of rounded particles exhib- extension)
ria
its greater softening behavior with fabric anisotropy State Line
change with strain, whereas an assembly of elongated
particles requires more shearing to modify its initial (a)
fabric anisotropy to the critical state condition
(Nouguier-Lehon et al., 2003). Specific Compression Lines of
ate
Volume v Constant Stress Ratio q/p

11.7 CRITICAL STATE: A USEFUL REFERENCE
CONDITION
cs
After large shear-induced volume change, a soil under
dM
a given effective conning stress will arrive ultimately
Isotropic
Compression
Line
at a unique nal water content or void ratio that is Critical
independent of its initial state. At this stage, the inter- State Line
locking achieved by densication or overconsolidation
1 ln p
is gone in the case of dense soils, the metastable struc-
ture of loose soils has collapsed, and the soil is fully (b)
hte
destructured. A well-dened strength value is reached Figure 11.43 Critical state concept: (a) pq plane and (b)
at this state, and this is often referred to as the critical vln p plane.
state strength. Under undrained conditions, the critical
state is reached when the pore pressure and the effec-
tive stress remain constant during continued deforma-
tion. The critical state can be considered a fundamental state stress ratio. The critical state on the void ratio (or
rig
state, and it can be used as a reference state to explain specic volume)mean pressure plane is dened by
the effect of overconsolidation ratios, relative density, two material parameters: cs, the critical state com-
and different stress paths on strength properties of soils pression index and %, the specic volume intercept at
(Schoeld and Wroth, 1968). unit pressure (p 1). The compression lines under
constant stress ratios are often parallel to each other,
py
Clays as shown in Fig. 11.43b.

Parameter M in Equation (11.25) denes the critical
The basic concept of the critical state is that, under state stress ratio at failure and is similar to for the
sustained uniform shearing, there exists a unique re- MohrCoulomb failure line. However, Equation
lationships among void ratio ecs (or specic volume
Co
(11.25) includes the effect of intermediate principal

vcs 1 ecs), mean effective pressure pcs, and deviator
stress 2 because p 1 2 3, whereas the
stress qcs as shown in Fig. 11.43. An example of the MohrCoulomb failure criterion of Eq. (11.4) or (11.5)
critical state of clay was shown in Fig. 11.4a. The crit- does not take the intermediate effective stress into ac-
ical state of clay can be expressed as count. In triaxial conditions, a r r and r
r a for compression and extension, respectively
qcs Mpcs
(11.25) (see Fig. 11.43).11 Hence, Eqs. (11.4) and (11.25) can
vcs 1 ecs % cs ln pcs (11.26) be related to each other for these two cases as follows:
where qcs is the deviator stress at failure, pcs is the

mean effective stress at failure, and M is the critical 11
a is the axial effective stress and r is the radial effective stress.

CRITICAL STATE: A USEFUL REFERENCE CONDITION 401
6 sin crit and C for drained triaxial compression. Hence, the de-
M for triaxial compression (11.27)
3 sin crit viator stress at critical state is smaller for the undrained
case than for the drained case. On the other hand, when
6 sin crit the initial state of the soil is overconsolidated from
M for triaxial extension (11.28)
3 sin crit D (Fig. 11.44b), the critical state becomes E for un-
drained loading and F for drained triaxial compression.
These equations indicate that the correlation be- The deviator stress at critical state is smaller for the
tween M and crit is not unique but depends on the drained case compared to the undrained case. It is im-
stress conditions. Neither is a fundamental property of portant to note that the soil state needs to satisfy both
the soil, as discussed further in Section 11.12. None- state equations [Eqs. (11.25) and (11.26)] to be at crit-
theless, both are widely used in engineering practice, ical state. For example, point G in Fig. 11.44b satises
l
and, if interpreted properly, they can provide useful pcs and qcs, but not ecs; therefore, it is not at the critical
ria
and simple phenomenological representations of com- state.
plex behavior. Converting the void ratio in Eq. (11.26) to water
The drained and undrained critical state strengths are content, a normalized critical state line can be written
illustrated in Figs. 11.44a and 11.44b for normally using the liquidity index (see Fig. 11.45).
ate
consolidated clay and heavily overconsolidated clay,
respectively. The initial mean pressurevoid ratio state wcs wPL /p)
ln(pPL
of the normally consolidated clay is above the critical LIcs (11.29)
wLL wPL ln(pPL /pLL)
state line, whereas that of the heavily overconsolidated
clay is below the critical state line. When the initial
state of the soil is normally consolidated at A (Fig.
dM where wcs is the water content at critical state when
11.44a), the critical state is B for undrained loading the effective mean pressure is p. pLL and pPL
are the
Critical
Deviator Critical Deviator Drained Peak Strength State Line
Stress q State Line M Stress q M
Drained Strength Undrained Strength
hte
C
Drained Strength
E
Undrained G F
Strength
3
B 3
1 D
1
rig
A Mean pressure p D Mean pressure p
Specific Specific
Volume v Volume v
py

B A F
Isotropic G E Isotropic
Co
Compression Compression
Line D Line
D
C

cs cs
Critical State Line Critical State Line
1 ln p 1 ln p
(a) (b)
Figure 11.44 Drained and undrained stressstrain response using the critical state concept:
(a) normally consolidated clay and (b) overconsolidated clay.

Water Liquidity
Critical Isotropic Critical
Content Index
State Line Compression Line State Line
Liquid Limit
wLL LI = 1
(ln(p), w) (ln(p), LI)

LI
w
LIeq-1
wcs LICS
Plastic Limit
wPL LI = 0
l
ria
ln(pLL) ln(p) ln(pPL) ln(pLL) ln(p) ln(pPL) Mean
Mean
pressure Pressure
(a) (b)
ate
Figure 11.45 Normalization of the critical state line: (a) water content versus mean pressure
and (b) liquidity index versus mean pressure.
mean effective pressure at liquid limit (wLL) and plastic Sands

limit (wPL), respectively; pLL 1.5 to 6 kPa and pPL
dM
150 to 600 kPa are expected considering the un-
The critical state strength and relative density of sand
can be expressed as
drained shear strengths at liquid and plastic limits are
in the ranges suLL 1 to 3 kPa and suPL 100 to 300
qcs Mpcs
(11.31)
kPa, respectively12 (see Fig. 8.48).
Using Eq. (11.29), a relative state in relation to the emax ecs 1
critical state for a given effective mean pressure (i.e., DR,cs (11.32)
emax emin ln(c /p)
hte
above or below the critical state line) can be dened

as (see Fig. 11.45)
where ecs is the void ratio at critical state, emax and emin
log(p /pLL) are the maximum and minimum void ratios, and c is
LIeq LI LIcs 1 LI (11.30) the crushing strength of the particles.13 The critical
/pLL
log(pPL )
state line based on Eq. (11.32) is plotted in Fig. 11.47.
rig
The plotted critical state lines are nonlinear in the e

where LIeq is the equivalent liquidity index dened by
ln p plane in contrast to the linear relationship found
Schoeld (1980). When LIeq 1 (i.e., LI LIcs) and
for clays. This nonlinearity is conrmed by experi-
q/p M, the clay has reached the critical state. Figure
mental data as shown in Fig. 11.4b.
11.46 gives the stress ratio when plastic failure (or
At high conning pressure, when the effective mean
py
fracture) initiates at a given water content. When LIeq

pressure becomes larger than the crushing strength,
1 (the state is above the critical state line), and the
many particles begin to break and the lines become
soil in a plastic state exhibits uniform contractive be-
more or less linear in the eln p plane, similar to the
havior. When LIeq 1 (the state is below the critical
state line), and the soil in a plastic state exhibits lo-
Co
calized dilatant rupture, or possibly fracture, if the

stress ratio reaches the tensile limit (q/p 3 for tri- 13
Equation (11.32) is derived from Eq. 11.36 proposed by Bolton
axial compression and 1.5 for triaxial extension; see (1986) with IR 0 (zero dilation). Boltons equation is discussed
further in Section 11.8. Other mathematical expressions to t the
Fig. 11.46b). Hence, the critical state line can be used experimentally determined critical state line are possible. For exam-
as a reference to characterize possible soil behavior ple, Li et al. (1999) propose the following equation for the critical
under plastic deformation. state line (ecs versus p):
ecs e0 s p
pa

12
A review by Sharma and Bora (2003) gives average values of where e0 is the void ratio at p 0, pa is atmospheric pressure, and
suLL 1.7 kPa and suPL 170 kPa. s and are material constants.

CRITICAL STATE: A USEFUL REFERENCE CONDITION 403
Dilatant Ductile Plastic

Rupture and Contractive
Fracture q Tensile Triaxial Compression
q/p Fracture
3
3 MTC
MTC 1
0.5 1.0 LIeq

MTE p
l
Triaxial Extension
ria
2
-1.5 MTE
3
Tensile Triaxial Extension

Fracture Dilatant Ductile Plastic
Fracture
Rupture and Contractive
ate
(a)
(b)
Figure 11.46 Plastic state of clay in relation to normalized liquidity index: (a) stress ratio
when plastic state initiates for a given LIeq and (b) denition of stress ratios used in (a) (after
Schoeld, 1980).
dM
emax ecs 1
DR,cs =
emax emin = In (c/p)
e max 0 emax 0
hte
0.2 0.2
Relative Density Dr
Relative Density Dr
0.4 0.4
0.6 0.6
rig
0.8 0.8
e min 1 emin 1
1.2 1.2
py
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

p/c p/c
(a) (b)
Figure 11.47 Critical state line derived from Eq. (11.32): (a) elog p plane and (b) ep
Co
plane.
behavior of clays. Coop and Lee (1993) found that would not be sufcient to cause further breakage. Coop
there is a unique relationship between the amount of et al. (2004) performed ring shear tests (see Section
particle breakage that occurred on shearing to a critical 11.11) on a carbonate sand to nd a shear strain re-
state and the value of the mean normal effective stress. quired to reach the true critical state (i.e., constant
This implies that sand at the critical state would reach particle grading). They found that particle breakage
a stable grading at which the particle contact stresses continues to very large strains, far beyond those

reached in triaxial tests. Figure 11.48a shows the vol- Early Studies
umetric strains measured for a selection of their tests, The important role of volume change during shear, es-
which were carried out at vertical stress levels in the pecially dilatancy, was recognized by Taylor (1948).
range of 650 to 860 kPa. A constant volumetric strain From direct shear box testing of dense sand specimens,
is reached at a shear strain of around 2000 percent. For he calculated the work at peak shear stress state and
specimens at lower stress levels, more shear strains showed that the energy input is dissipated by the fric-
(20,000 percent or more) were required. Similar nd- tion using the following equation:
ings were made for quartz sand (Luzzani and Coop,
2002). Figure 11.48b shows the degree of particle peak dx n dy n dx (11.33)
breakage with shear strains in the logarithmic scale.
The amount of breakage is quantied by Hardins
where peak is the applied shear stress at peak, n is the
l
(1985) relative breakage parameter Br dened in Fig.
conning normal (effective) stress on the shear plane,
ria
10.14. At very large strains, the value of Br nally
dx is the incremental horizontal displacement at peak,
stabilizes. The strain required for stabilization depends
dy is the incremental vertical displacement (expansion
on applied stress level. Interestingly, less shear strain
positive) at peak stress, and is the friction coefcient.
was needed for the mobilized friction angle to reach
The energy dissipated by friction (the component in
the steady-state value (Fig. 11.48c) than for attainment
ate
the right-hand side) is equal to the sum of the work
of the constant volume condition, (Fig. 11.48a). The
done by shearing (rst component in the left-hand
critical state friction angle was unaffected by the par-
side) and that needed to increase the volume (the sec-
ticle breakage.
ond component in the left-hand side). The latter com-
In summary, the critical state concept is very useful
ponent is referred to as dilatancy.
to characterize the strength and deformation properties
dM Rearranging Eq. (11.33),
of soils when it is used as a reference state. That is, a

soil has a tendency to contract upon shearing when its
peak dy
state is above the critical state line, whereas it has a tan m (11.34)
tendency to dilate when it is below the critical state dx
line. Various normalized state parameters have been
proposed to characterize the difference between the ac- Thus, the peak shear stress ratio or the peak mobilized
tual state and the critical state line, as illustrated in Fig. friction angle m consists of both interlocking (dy/dx)
and sliding friction between grains (). This equation
hte
11.49. These parameters have been used to character-

ize the stiffness and strength properties of soils. Some that relates stress to dilation is called the stress
of them are introduced later in this chapter. dilatancy rule, and it is an important relationship for
characterizing the plastic deformation of soils, as fur-
ther discussed in Section 11.20.
Rowe (1962) recognized that the mobilized friction
rig
11.8 STRENGTH PARAMETERS FOR SANDS angle m must take into account particle rearrange-
ments as well as the sliding resistance at contacts and
Many factors and phenomena act together to deter- dilation. Particle crushing, which increases in impor-
mined the shearing resistance of sands, for example, tance as conning pressure increases and void ratio
mineralogy, grain size, grain shape, grain size distri- decreases, should also be added to these components.
py
bution, (relative) density, stress state, type of tests and The general interrelationships among the strength con-
stress path, drainage, and the like [see Eq. (11.3)]. In tributing factors and porosity can be represented as
this section, the ways in which these factors have be- shown in Fig. 11.50. In this gure, f is the friction
come understood and have been quantied over the last angle corrected for the work of dilation. It is inuenced
Co
several decades are summarized. Several correlations by particle packing arrangements and the number of
are given to provide an overview and reference for sliding contacts. The denser the packing, the more im-
typical values and ranges of strength parameters for portant is dilation. As the void ratio increases, the mo-
sands and the inuences of various factors on these bilized friction angle decreases. The critical state is
parameters.14 dened as the condition when there is no volume
change by shearing [i.e., (dy/dx) 0 in Eq. (11.34)].
The corresponding mobilized friction angle m is crit .
14
A number of additional useful correlations are given by Kulhawy The true friction in the gure is associated with the
and Mayne (1990). resistance to interparticle sliding.

STRENGTH PARAMETERS FOR SANDS 405
Shear Strain (%)

0 50,000 100,000 150,000
Volumetric strain (%) 0 RS3

RS5
RS7
RS8
(a)
l
20 RS13
ria
RS15
40
Luzzani & Coop, 805 kPa
ate
650-930 kPa
1.0
248-386 kPa
0.8 60-97 kPa

Relative Breakage
RS7
0.6
dM RS8
(b)
0.4
0.2 ?
800 kPa
0.0 unsheared
hte
10 100 1000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000

Shear Strain
50
Mobilized Friction Angle (degrees)
rig
40
30 RS3
RS7
py
20 RS8
(c)
RS9
10
RS10
RS15
Co
0
1 10 100 1000 10,000 100,000
Shear Strain (%)
Figure 11.48 Ring shear test results of carbonate sand: (a) volumetric strain versus shear
strain, (b) the degree of particle breakage with shear strains, and (c) mobilized friction angle
versus shear strains (after Coop et al., 2004).

1. State parameter (Been and Jefferies, 1985)

Void ratio
e = e ec
Critical state
line (pc , e c) Loose Loose sand = eL ecL (>0)
Sand
ecD
( pL, eL ) Dense sand = eD ecD (<0)
2. State index (Ishihara et al., 1998)
<0
Is = (e 0 ec )/(e0 e)
>0
Loose sand Is = (e0 ecL)/(e0 eL) (>1)
Dense
sand Dense sand Is = (e 0 e cD)/(e0 e0) (<1)
ecL
l
( pD, e D) 3. State pressure index (Wang et al., 2002)
ria
Ip = p/pc
pcL pcD Loose sand Ip = pL/pcL (>1)
Dense sand Ip = pD/pcD (<1)
Log (Mean pressure p)
ate
Figure 11.49 Various parameters that relate the current state to the critical state.
1990; Yasufuku et al., 1991). This is demonstrated in

dM the ring shear test results shown in Figs. 11.48b and
46 11.48c; with increasing shear strains, the critical state
strength is reached well before particle crushing
42 m
ceases.
38 Dilation Peak Friction Angle

Interlocking crit The peak friction angle can be considered as the sum
hte
34 f of interparticle friction, rearrangement, crushing, and

Rearrangement, Fabric Development the dilation contribution. For plane strain conditions,
30 Bolton (1986) proposed the following empirical equa-
Crushing (estimated)
tion that relates the mobilized friction angle at a
26 given stress state to the critical state friction angle
Critical
Densest True Friction crit and dilation angle :
rig
Void Ratio
Packing
To Zero
crit 0.8 (11.35)
26 30 34 38 42
Porosity n (%)
where dilation angle is the ratio of volumetric strain
py
Figure 11.50 Contributions to shear strength of granular increment dv to the axial strain da at the stress state
soils (modied from Rowe, 1962). of interest. This is similar to Taylors equation (Eq.
(11.34)). However, in Eq. (11.34) changes with
shear, whereas crit is a constant material property.
Co
The relative density Dr is a convenient index to char-

Critical State Friction Angle acterize the interlocking characteristics packing struc-
The specic value of the critical state angle of internal ture. The effects of relative density, grain size, and
friction crit depends on the uniformity of particle gradation on the peak friction angle of cohesionless
sizes, their shape, and mineralogy and is developed at soils are illustrated by Fig. 11.51. Similar information
large shear strains irrespective of initial conditions. in terms of void ratio, unit weight, and Unied Soil
Typical values are 40 for well-graded, angular quartz Classication is given in Fig. 11.52. The peak values
or feldspar sands, 36 for uniform subangular quartz of friction angle for quartz sands range from about 30
sand, and 32 for uniform rounded quartz sand. Particle to more than 50, depending on gradation, relative den-
crushing appears to have little effect on crit (Coop, sity, and conning pressure.

Secant Friction Angle at Peak Failure (degree)

50 Uniformly Graded Cambria Sand
Initial Relative Density = 89.5%
45
Triaxial Extension
40
35
30
Dilation at Peak Failure Contraction at Peak Failure

25
l
20
0.1 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 20 50 100
ria
Effective Mean Pressure at Peak Failure (kPa)
Figure 11.51 Dependence of the friction angle of cohesion-
less soils on relative density and gradation (after Schmert- Figure 11.53 Effect of conning pressure on peak friction
mann, 1978). angle (after Yamamuro and Lade, 1996).
ate
To take effective conning pressure into account,
Bolton (1986) proposed the normalized dilatancy index
IR, dened as

dM IR Dr(Q ln p) R Dr ln
c
p
R (11.36)
where Dr is the relative density, and p is the mean

effective conning pressure. The empirical parameter
Q is related to the crushing strength of the soil parti-
cles; that is, Q ln c, where c is the crushing
hte
strength (same dimensions as p). The Q values (using

kPa) are 10 for quartz and feldspar, 8 for limestones,
Figure 11.52 Dependence of friction angle of cohesionless 7 for anthracite, and 5.5 for chalk. Bolton (1986) found
soils on unit weight and relative density (after NAVFAC, that R 1 ts the available data well. The critical state
1982). is achieved when IR 0, and this is given as Eq.
rig
(11.32). Index IR increases as the soil density increases.

The parameter characterizes the state of the soil in re-
Although the values of interparticle friction angle lation to the critical state, similarly to the ones illus-
and the critical state friction angle crit are essen- trated in Fig.11.49.
tially constant for a given mineral, the magnitudes of Using IR (between 0 and 4), Bolton (1986) deduced
py
the dilation angle in Eq. (11.35) vary with effective the following correlations for the peak friction angle
conning pressure; that is, Figs. 11.51 and 11.52 apply and critical state friction angle (in degrees) from the
for a particular value of conning pressure. In general, plots shown in Fig. 11.54.
the contribution of dilation increases with increasing
Co
density and decreases with increasing conning pres- m crit

3IR for triaxial compression conditions
sure. The effect of conning pressure on peak friction (11.37)
angle is shown in Fig. 11.53 (Yamamuro and Lade,
1996). Up to conning pressures of 5 to 10 MPa, the m crit
5IR for plane strain conditions
peak friction angle decreases with increasing conning
pressure due to suppressed dilation and particle crush- (11.38)
ing. At pressures greater than about 10 MPa, the fric-
tion angle remains approximately constant, but the The dilatancy contribution to sand strength, repre-
values in triaxial extension are smaller than those in sented by the difference between the peak triaxial com-
triaxial compression. pression friction angle and the critical state friction

As shown in Fig. 11.54 and by Eqs. (11.37) and

(11.38), the critical state and peak friction angles vary
20 depending on test conditions. The difference is related
Plane Strain Tests Eq.(11.38) to the magnitude of the intermediate principal stress in
Triaxial Compression Tests
relation to the major and minor principal stresses. Fur-
16
max crit (degrees)
Data for p 300 kPa ther details are given in Section 11.12.
12 Eq.(11.37) Undrained Strengths

In most cases, the deformation of sands occurs under
8 drained conditions. However, the undrained behavior
l
of sands is important when ow slides or earthquakes
ria
are of concern. These events are very rapid, and rapid
4 deformation of loose to medium dense cohesionless
soils can generate excess pore water pressures resulting
in loss of strength or liquefaction. The stress-strain re-
0 lationship in undrained triaxial tests of Toyoura sand
ate
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
at different densities are shown in Fig. 11.57a, and the
Relative Density Dr corresponding effective stress paths are shown in Fig.
11.57b (Yoshimine et al., 1998). A sudden ow failure
Figure 11.54 Difference between peak friction angle and
critical state friction angle for triaxial compression and plain
can occur in loose sand deposits by the drop in strength
strain compression data on sands (after Bolton, 1986).
dM with increase in shear strain. Typical undrained re-
sponses of sand specimens at different densities are
illustrated in Fig. 11.58a.
Loose sand exhibits peak strength and then softens.
angle crit, as determined by Bolton (1986), is shown The peak state on the p q plane is termed the collapse
in Fig. 11.55. The values shown are appropriate for surface (Sladen et al., 1985),15 and the slope increases
quartz sands (Q 10). with increase in initial density and decrease in conn-
Other forms to characterize the peak friction angle ing pressure, as illustrated in Fig. 11.58b. In triaxial
hte
in relation to the initial state of a sand are available. compression, the slope for many sandy soils ranges
For example, Been and Jefferies (1986) relate the peak from 0.62 to 0.90 with an upper bound of 1.0 (Olson
friction angle to the state parameter dened in Fig. and Stark, 2003). Once the soil softens, large shear
11.49, as shown in Fig. 11.56. deformation is generated by moderate shear stresses.
The softened soil eventually leads to the steady state,
in which there is no further contraction tendency. The
rig
pore pressures and stresses remain constant as the soil

continues to shear in a steady state of deformation
(Castro, 1975; Poulos, 1981). The steady state occurs
when the soil continuously deforms at constant vol-
ume, constant stress, and constant velocity.16 It devel-
py
ops under stress-controlled conditions because of the

owing nature of softened soil. When the soil is very
loose, the effective stress becomes zero, indicating a
static liquefaction condition, which is the transforma-
Co
tion of a granular material from a solid to a liqueed

state (Youd et al., 2001).
15
Similar concepts are proposed by others. For example, the critical
stress ratio (Vaid and Chern, 1985), the instability line (Lade, 1992),
Figure 11.55 Dilatancy component as a function of mean and the yield strength ratio (Olson and Stark, 2003).
effective stress at critical state and relative density (modied 16
The basic concept of the steady state is essentially the same as the
from Bolton, 1986). critical state dened for clay by Schoeld and Wroth (1969).

l
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ate
Figure 11.56 Peak friction angle versus state parameter (after Been and Jefferies, 1986).
dM
Even dense sands exhibit positive excess pore pres- For loose sand, the steady state is the minimum un-
sures at the beginning of deformation up to small drained shear strength associated with a rapid collaps-
strain. However, after a certain stress ratio is reached, ing of soil structure. As discussed in Section 11.7, it
the undrained stress path reverses its direction indicat- has been suggested that the stress state of the steady
ing contractive to dilative behavior as shown in Fig. state is a function of void ratio, so a unique critical
11.58c, and the stress reversal is called the state of state line exists on the elog p plane as shown in Fig.
hte
phase transformation (Ishihara et al., 1975). The 11.4b (Castro, 1975; Poulos et al., 1985, and others).
stressstrain response thereafter is strain hardening and The shape depends on grain angularity and nes con-
does not exhibit any peak. The soil eventually reaches tent (Zlatovic and Ishihara, 1995). At a given initial
the ultimate steady state or the critical state as long as void ratio, the steady state strength can be determined
the pore water does not cavitate. from the critical state line. For a relatively small con-
Medium dense specimens initially soften after the ning pressure, a small change in void ratio can give
rig
stress state passes the collapse line as illustrated in Fig. dramatic difference in undrained shear strength be-
11.58c. The stress state then reaches a point of mini- cause the critical state line on elog p plane is very
mum strength, which is called the quasi-steady state at at this stress level.
(Alarcon-Guzman et al., 1988) or ow with limited liq- For medium dense sand, the quasi-steady state can
uefaction (Ishihara, 1993). At this stage, the soil is in be considered as the minimum undrained shear
py
the state of phase transformation, and the mobilized strength. As the soil continues to deform, the shearing
strength then increases gradually with further shear resistance increases. Although the stress ratios at
strain due to increase in effective stress by negative quasi-steady state, and critical state are similar on the
pore water pressure development. As shearing contin- p q plane, the quasi-steady state on elog p plane
Co
ues, the soil shows a strain-hardening behavior, climb- lies below the critical state line as shown in Fig. 11.59.
ing along the critical state line, and the stress state For a given initial void ratio, therefore, the stress state
nally reaches the critical or ultimate steady state at of quasi-steady state is smaller than that of the critical
very large strains. Reported data indicate that the slope state.
of the critical state on the p q plane is approximately The location of the quasi-steady state line on elog
the same as that of the phase transformation line (Been p plane is inuenced by shear mode and sample prep-
et al., 1991; Ishihara, 1993; Zhang and Garga, 1997; aration method (i.e., soil fabric) (Konrad, 1990; Ishi-
Vaid and Sivathayalan, 2000); at least, these lines are hara, 1993; Yoshimine and Ishihara, 1998). Figure
difcult to distinguish from each other. 11.60 shows the undrained shear behavior of Toyoura

Next Page
l
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ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 11.57 Undrained stressstrain response of Toyoura sand specimens prepared at dif-
ferent densities by dry pluviation (after Yoshimine et al., 1998).
py
sand in triaxial compression, triaxial extension, and marily due to the anisotropic soil fabric. Further details
Co
simple shear (Yoshimine et al., 1999). The specimens are given in Section 11.12.
were prepared to similar void ratios, and an initial con- The slope of the collapsing surface and the mini-
ning pressure of 100 kPa was applied. The minimum mum undrained strength are related to both initial
undrained shear strength and the quasi-steady state density and conning pressure. Typical values of the
vary signicantly depending on the mode of shearing, collapse surface stress ratio obtained from triaxial
which in turn leads to different quasi-steady state lines compression tests are plotted against state parameter
on the ep plane as shown in Fig. 11.61. Hence, large in Fig. 11.62 (Olson and Stark, 2003). Although the
variation of minimum undrained shear strengths is of- data are scattered, a general trend for a given sand is
ten observed depending on shear mode, which is pri- that the slope decreases with decreasing state param-

Previous Page
STRENGTH PARAMETERS FOR CLAYS 411
Phase Transformation Critical State Line
Deviator Stress (1 3)

Critical State Collapse Surface
Dense for Loose Sand
Steady State
Dilative Collapse Surface for
Liquefaction Very Loose Sand
Loose
Medium Dense
Quasi-steady
State Critical State Very Loose
Mean Pressure p
Steady State (b)
l
Loose
ria
Liquefaction (3 = 0)
Excess Pore Pressure u
Very Loose Critical State

Critical State Line

Deviator Strain
Very Loose Phase Transformation
Loose Lines
ate
Collapse Surface for
Medium Dense Medium Dense Sand
Dense
Medium Dense
dM Dense
Mean Pressure p
Phase Transformation
(a) (c)
Figure 11.58 Typical undrained responses of sand specimens with different densities: (a)
stressstrainpore pressure response, (b) stress paths for loose and very loose specimens,
and (c) stress paths for medium dense and dense specimens.
hte
eter. Similarly, the minimum undrained strength nor-

malized by the initial conning pressure can be related
to state parameter as shown in Fig. 11.63 (Olson and
rig
Stark, 2003). For a given soil, the strength ratio de-

creases with increasing state parameter and is larger in
Toyoura Sand triaxial compression than in triaxial extension.
0.95
py
0.90
Void Ratio e
11.9 STRENGTH PARAMETERS FOR CLAYS

0.85 Quasi-steady
State Line Friction Angles
Co
0.80 The peak value of for clays decreases with increas-

Quasi-steady State ing plasticity index and activity as shown in Fig. 11.64.
Initial State Critical State Line Similarly, the critical state friction angle of normally
0.75 from Fig.11.4(b) consolidated kaolin clays ranges from 20 to 25,
whereas that of montmorillonite clays is approximately
0.02 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0
20. However, as the shearing continues, the friction
Effective Mean Pressure p (kPa)
angle of normally consolidated montmorillonite clays
Figure 11.59 Quasi-steady state line and critical state line decreases to a value between 5 and 10. This is called
on elog p plane (after Ishihara, 1993). the residual state and further details are given in Sec-

l
ria
ate
dM Figure 11.61 Quasi-steady state line in triaxial compression,
triaxial extension, and simple shear on ep plane (after
Yoshimine et al., 1999).
ce hce
hte
(11.40)
where hc is a material constant.

Figure 11.60 Undrained shear behavior of Toyoura sand in Substituting Eq. (11.40) into Eq. (11.39) gives
triaxial compression, triaxial extension, and simple shear (af-
ter Yoshimine et al., 1999).
rig
ff
hc ff tan e (11.41)
e e
tion 11.11. The friction angle of kaolin clays tends to
remain near the above values even at large strains. Reported values of hc and e range from 0.034 to
py
0.145, and from 9.9 to 18.8, respectively (Wood,

Failure Envelope for Overconsolidated Clays
1990).17
The differences in effective stress failure envelopes be- Rearranging Eq. (11.41) gives
tween normally consolidated and overconsolidated
clays were illustrated in Fig. 11.3, and Hvorslev (1960)
Co
ff
proposed the following relationship to model the tan m hc e tan e (11.42)
strength characteristics of overconsolidated clays: ff ff
ff ce ff tan e (11.39)

17
where e is an equivalent friction angle and ce is the For general stress conditions, Schoeld and Wroth (1968) modied
the Hvorslev equation to the following:

cohesion intercept. These are called the Hvorslev pa-
q 6 sin e p
rameters. If e is constant, ce becomes a linear function c cot for triaxial compression
pe 3 sin e pe pe
of e, which is the equivalent consolidation pressure
as determined from the void ratio at failure eff as shown
in Fig. 11.3.
q

6 sin e
c cot
pe 3 sin e pe
p
pe for triaxial extension

STRENGTH PARAMETERS FOR CLAYS 413
l
ria
ate
Figure 11.62 Relationship between the slope of the instability line and state parameter
(after Olson and Stark, 2003).
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 11.63 Relationship between the undrained shear strength ratio and state parameter
(after Olson and Stark, 2003).

l
ria
ate
Figure 11.64 Relationship between sin and plasticity index for normally consolidated
dM
soils (adapted from Kenny, 1959). Data for pure clays from Olsen, 1974.
where m is the mobilized friction angle at failure. For Undrained Shear Strength
normally consolidated clay, (e / ff) 1 and tan m Undrained shear strength su coupled with total stress
tan crit
hc tan e. Substituting this into Eq. analysis [c su and 0 in Eq. (11.1)] is often used
(11.42) gives
hte
to examine the failure state of geotechnical structures

under undrained conditions. The undrained shear
e strength of saturated normally consolidated clay deter-
tan m hc 1 tan crit (11.43)
ff mined using isotropically consolidated specimens as a
function of liquidity index is shown in Fig. 8.43.
Hence the peak friction angle m for overconsolidated The undrained strength for a given initial void ratio
rig
clays depends on the overconsolidation (e / ff) (the eini can be obtained using the critical state Eqs. (11.25)
rst term in the right-hand side) and the critical state and (11.26):
friction angle crit. The form of this equation is similar

to Eqs. (11.34) and (11.35) derived for sands.
The Hvorslev parameters, e and ce, have been M % 1 eini
su
py
exp (11.44)
termed true friction angle and true cohesion, and are 2
considered by some to reect the mechanism of shear
strength in terms of interparticle forces and friction. The above equation applies to both normally consoli-
Such an interpretation is questionable, however, be- dated and overconsolidated clays.
Co
cause, as shown in Chapter 8, two samples at the same For a given soil, the initial void ratio eini can be
water content but different effective stresses must have related to the current stress state and the overconsoli-
different structures. Thus, during deformation, there dation ratio. The relationship between undrained
will be differences in volume change under drained strength normalized by the effective overburden stress
conditions or differences in pore water pressure for de- after isotropic consolidation i has been deduced from
formation under undrained conditions. Furthermore, critical state soil mechanics by Wroth and Houlsby
Eq. (11.40) shows that ce is an effective stress- (1985) as
dependent property. Present evidence is that true co-
hesion is negligible in the absence of chemical bonding
between particles caused by cementation. su / i 0.129 0.00435PI (11.45)

BEHAVIOR AFTER PEAK AND STRAIN LOCALIZATION 415
in which PI is the plasticity index. Alternatively, the the initial effective overburden pressure. In Fig. 11.66,
following relationship can be used for normally con- the normalized strength of the overconsolidated clay is
solidated to slightly overconsolidated clays with low- further normalized to the normalized strength of the
to-moderate plasticity (Jamiolkowski et al., 1985): normally consolidated clay. That normalization of un-
drained shear strength leads to unique relationships,
su / vp
0.23 0.04 (11.46) such as those in these gures, forms the basis of the
SHANSEP (stress history and normalized soil engi-
where vp is the vertical preconsolidation stress, and su neering properties) method of design in soft clays
is for direct simple shear. (Ladd and Foott, 1974) that is widely used in practice:
The inuence of overconsolidation on the undrained
strength of clays is shown by Figs. 11.65 and 11.66. su

su

l
In Fig. 11.65, the undrained strength is normalized by (OCR)m (11.47)
v0
v0

ria
NC
where (su / v0)NC is the strength ratio of normally con-

solidated clay, m is a material constant, and OCR is
the overconsolidation ratio, dened as the ratio of the
ate
vertical preconsolidation stress vp to the current ver-
tical stress v. Typical values of m range between 0.7
and 0.9. This method is particularly well suited for use
with clays of low-to-medium sensitivity, that is, clays
that do not suffer large structural breakdown when
dM consolidated beyond their preconsolidation pressure. It
is also important to note that the strength ratio depends
largely on the mode of shearing as shown in Fig. 11.67
(Ladd, 1991) and the values given in Eqs. (11.45) and
(11.46) are at the lower range (or the conservative side)
in the gure. Further details of the effect of shearing
mode on undrained strength are given in Section 11.12.
hte
11.10 BEHAVIOR AFTER PEAK AND STRAIN

Figure 11.65 Effect of overconsolidation on the normalized LOCALIZATION
undrained shear strength of several clays (after Ladd et al.,
1977). When laboratory tests are done on soils exhibiting
peak strength, strains at a certain location in a soil
rig
specimen often localize after the peak, leading to

py
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Figure 11.66 Normalized undrained strength ratio as a func- Figure 11.67 Effect of shear modes on undrained shear
tion of overconsolidation ratio (after Ladd et al., 1977). strength ratios of different plasticity soils (after Ladd, 1991).

l
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ate
(a) (b)
Figure 11.68 Shear bands observed in plane strain compression tests: axial strain of (a) 9.6
percent and (b) 19 percent (after Alshibli and Sture, 2000).
dM
shear band formation in a direction diagonal to the
principal stress directions. Examples of shear bands
observed in the laboratory are shown in Fig. 11.68 (Al-
shibli and Sture, 2000). The deformation is localized,
and the two soil bodies on opposite sides of the shear
band act as rigid bodies. Strain localization tends to
hte
occur in soils that exhibit strain-softening behavior,

such as overconsolidated clay and dense sand under
low conning pressure. This observation illustrates the
difculty in obtaining the material behavior from ex-
perimental measurements at the specimen boundaries,
as these strains are different from the strains in the
rig
shear band where the actual shearing is occurring. The

peak strength and the associated strain are specimen
size dependent because of the progressive nature of
shear band development. Figure 11.69 Thickness of shear band as a function of par-
The direction of shear banding is inuenced by particle size (after Oda and Iwashita, 1999).
py
ticle size (Arthur et al., 1982; Vermeer, 1990). In plane

strain conditions, the direction of shear band with re-
spect to the loading direction is bounded by /4 ment is more than 20 particle diameters (Scarpelli and
/2 and /4 crit /2, where is the dilation angle Wood, 1982; Oda and Kazama, 1998). However, this
Co
at the peak stress and crit is the critical state friction does not mean that more particles are involved in the
angle. Experimental data indicate that the shear band shear band. It is more likely that the local void ratio
direction is close to /4 crit /2 for small diameter in the shear band is growing. Examination of resin-
particles (D50 0.2 mm), but the inclination decreases impregnated specimens with shear bands shows that
toward /4 /2 for larger diameter particles (Oda this local void ratio is larger than the maximum void
and Iwashita, 1999). ratio for a stable load-carrying structure (Oda and Ka-
The thickness of the shear band depends on particle zama, 1998, Frost and Jang, 2000) and the very loose
size as shown in Fig. 11.69. It increases with increas- structure in the shear band is shown in Fig. 11.70 using
ing displacement, but then reaches a constant value X-ray CT. Discrete particle simulations by Iwashita
between 7 to 10 particle diameters when the displace- and Oda (1998) show that the very large void ratios

RESIDUAL STATE AND RESIDUAL STRENGTH 417
increase in water content owing to dilatancy and (2)
reorientation of clay particles along the shear plane.
These processes transform the material to its residual
state. A postpeak drop in strength also occurs in nor-
mally consolidated clays if the strength loss due to
breakdown of structure and particle reorientation ex-
ceeds the strength gain due to consolidation during
shear.
The strength of the soil once the residual state has
been reached is a minimum and is termed the residual
strength. The deformation at this stage becomes local-
l
ized, and the residual state is developed within a shear
ria
band, as described in the previous section. The residual
Figure 11.70 Large local voids observed along the shear
zone using microfocus X-ray computed tomography (after strength-determining factors for a given test type and
Oda et al., 2004). strain rate are reduced to the effective stress, compo-
sition, and friction angle. The friction angle corre-
ate
sponding to this strength is the residual friction angle
r . Its value depends on the mineralogy, gradation,
inside the shear band (see Fig. 11. 41d) are associated bulky particle characteristics, and rate of shear. The
with particle rotation inside and near the shear band. relationships between stress and shear displacement for
The particles inside the shear band tend to rotate, soils with low and high clay fractions sheared under
whereas the particles outside the shear band remained
dM constant effective stress on the failure plane are shown
in their original positions. A high gradient of particle in Fig. 11.73. A residual condition can also be devel-
rotation is developed at the boundary of shear bands, oped under undrained conditions. In this case, the ef-
and the rotational resistance at this high rotational gra- fective stress on the shear plane at the residual state
dient zone was able to transfer loads even at void ratios will differ from that initially or at peak stress.
larger than the maximum void ratio. As a result of the rearrangement contributions to the
Possible situations where strain localization is likely residual strength of soils with low clay contents, as in
to occur are listed in Table 11.2. Fig. 11.73b, the loss of strength, under drained con-
hte
Distinct failure planes are often observed in both the ditions, between peak and residual is small. This is
laboratory and the eld. Figure 11.72 is an X-ray pho- illustrated by Fig. 11.74, which shows the critical and
tograph of shear bands observed in a model of a re- residual friction angles for sandbentonite mixtures
taining wall failure (Milligan, 1974 and interpretation tested in ring shear. Three zones are identied in Fig.
by Lesniewska and Mroz, 2000). Shear bands are ob-
11.74 and termed rolling shear, transitional shear, and
served in the eld as slip planes. The practical impli-
rig
sliding shear.
cation of strain localization is that there can be
The shear displacements required to reach the resid-
signicant differences between the continuum-based
ual strength can be large, as indicated by the values in
assumptions and analyses used in common geotech-
Table 11.3. Because the shear displacements required
nical design (such as friction angle and critical state)
to reach the residual state are large, the stability of
py
and the actual conditions. Accordingly, careful inter-

embankments and slopes is only controlled by residual
pretation of experimental and eld data, as well as the
relevance of analytical and numerical models is nec- strength when there are preexisting slide surfaces. For
essary. More detailed theoretical considerations of rst-time slides the stability is controlled by an average
strain localization and shear band formation are outside strength that lies between the peak and residual with a
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the scope of this book; however, other references are value that is inuenced by the amount of progressive
available (Chambon et al., 1994; Vardoulakis and Su- failure along the shear surface.
lem, 1995). Owing to the large displacements required to de-
velop a full residual condition, special testing methods
have been developed. For example, a ring shear device
11.11 RESIDUAL STATE AND RESIDUAL was developed by Bishop et al. (1971), which can be
STRENGTH used to shear specimens through large displacements
that are always in the same direction. The values of
The drop in drained strength after peak is reached in residual friction angle shown in Fig. 11.28 were ob-
intact overconsolidated clay can be attributed to (1) an tained by shearing samples in direct shear back and

Table 11.2 Possible Occurrences of Strain Localization
1. Dilative Material Subjected to Drained Shear Localization occurs after the deviator stress reaches its peak as the
soil dilates. This type of localization occurs in dense sand under low connement and in heavily overconsolidated
clay. Some examples are given in Desrues et al. (1996) and Saada et al. (1999).
2. Contractive Material Subjected to Undrained Shear Shear of loose sand at high connement causes softening
after the effective stress state passes the collapse line (see Section 11.8) due to generation of excess pore pressures.
In some cases, shear bands are hidden by bulging (Santamarina and Cho, 2003). Some examples are given in Finno
et al. (1998) and Mokni and Desrues (1999).
3. Dilative Material Subjected to Undrained Shear Cavitation Shear of dense sand at low connement generates
l
large reductions in pore pressure. If the pore pressure becomes less than the vapor pressure (100 kPa) of water,
ria
cavitation occurs. The effective stress drops at locations where cavitation occurs, and, therefore, the soil softens. Some
examples are given in Schreer et al. (1996), Roger et al. (1998), and Mokni and Desrues (1999).
4. Alignment of Platy Particles If soil particles are platy, they align at a certain angle and this reduces the shearing
resistance. The residual friction angle discussed in Section 11.11 is a good example of this type of strain localization
ate
behavior.
5. Lightly Cemented Soils When cemented sands are sheared under low connement, interparticle cementation breaks
at low strain levels, and the shear resistance drops. Examples are given in Santamarina and Cho (2003) for articially
cemented soils and Cuccovillo and Coop (1999) for naturally structured sands.
dM
6. Unsaturated Soils For soils at low degree of saturation, menisci form at the particle contacts, and this increases
interparticle attractions by surface tension. When the soil is sheared, some of the menisci break, and this additional
contribution to strength is lost, at least temporarily, until new menisci are formed. The loss of menisci causes local
decrease in interparticle attraction, and, therefore, the soil may undergo softening.
7. Particle Breakage When particle breakage occurs, there is a change in particle size distribution, particle shape, and
textures. The collapse of soil structure by particle breakage leads to contractive behavior upon shearing.
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8. Heterogeneous Soil If a soil has a layer of loose material sandwiched between denser materials, strain localizes in
the loose layer. Microlayering is observed in many natural soils due to their depositional conditions. For moist tamped
compacted soil, thin looser zones exist between tamping layers, and these can initiate localized failure.
9. Other Cases The degree of localization can be inuenced signicantly by experimental conditions. Inuencing
factors include nonuniform specimen shape, friction at end platens, high length-to-diameter specimens, and tilted
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platens. The occurrence of localization also depends on applied loading rate. Figure 11.71 shows failed samples of
kaolin clay after unconned compression tests at two different loading rates (Atkinson, 2000). Sample A, which was
loaded slowly, exhibited strain localization due to local uid migration in the dilating shear zone. Sample B, which
was loaded more rapidly, did not show distinct shear bands, as the pore uid did not have time to migrate within the
specimen.
py
Modied from Santamarina and Cho (2003).

Co
forth through displacements of 2 to 2.5 mm each side direct shear box to enable continued deformation al-
of center until minimum values were obtained. As Ta- ways in the same direction.
ble 11.3 indicates that many tens of millimeters in the
same direction may be required, some of the values in
Fig. 11.28 may be high, especially for the layer sili- Nonclay Minerals
cates, where the protrusion of particle edges across the The residual strength of nonclay minerals is not much
shear surface could give increased resistance. A pre- different than the critical state strength, as noted above.
ferred method of testing, if a ring shear device is not Quartz, feldspar, and calcite all have the same value of
available, is to separate and reset the two halves of a r 35, as shown in Fig. 11.28, even though the

l
ria
Figure 11.71 Samples of kaolin clay after unconned com-
pression tests: (a) slower loading and (b) faster loading (cour-
tesy of J. H. Atkinson, 2000). Figure 11.73 Stressshear displacement curves under con-
ate
stant effective normal stress on the shear plane (Skempton,
1985): (a) high clay fraction (40 percent and (b) low clay
fraction (20 percent).
dM
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py
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(a) (b)
Figure 11.72 Shear bands observed in centrifuge modeling of retaining wall failure: (a) X-
ray photograph (after Milligan, 1974) and (b) interpretation of the photography by Les-
niewska and Mroz (2000).

to sliding shear at high contents of clay size particles.

The more active the clay fraction, the lower the resid-
ual friction angle at a given clay size fraction percent-
age.
A composite relationship showing the residual fric-
tion angle as a function of clay size fraction, derived
from Kenney (1967), Lupini et al. (1981), Skempton
(1985), and others is shown in Fig. 11.75. There is a
sharp drop in the residual friction angle when PI ex-
ceeds 30 percent. This is attributed to a transition from
turbulant shear to sliding shear. Other correlations are
l
available for certain soil types (Mesri and Cepeda-
ria
Diaz, 1986; Colotta et al., 1989; Stark and Edit, 1994).
Highly plastic soils of volcanic origin are an excep-
tion to the general relationship shown in Fig. 11.75.
Figure 11.74 Inuence of clay fraction on the peak and re-
These soils, which may have clay size fractions well
sidual friction angles for sandbentonite mixtures as deter-
ate
mined by ring shear tests (after Lupini et al., 1981). above 50 percent, exhibit residual friction angles that
are several degrees higher than those shown in the g-
ure. Both particle morphology and structural factors
have been suggested as possible causes (Sitar, 1991;
Table 11.3 Displacements Corresponding to Various Wesley, 1992). As volcanic clays often contain large
Stages of Shear in Clays with a Clay Size Fraction
dM amounts of allophane, which consists of bulky shaped
Greater Than 30 Percenta particles rather than platy particles, rolling shear may
continue to make a major contribution. Alternatively,
Displacement (mm) or in addition, physicochemical attractive forces be-
tween particles may be sufciently strong to prevent
Normally
the development of parallel orientations of platy par-
Stage Overconsolidated Consolidated
ticles and basal plane shear. For soils with liquid limits
Peak 0.53 36 more than 50, Wesley (2003) shows that the position
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Volume change rate 0 410 on the plasticity chart in relation to the A-line [i.e.,
At r 1 30200 PI PI 0.73(LL 20)] is a good indicator to give
Residual r 100500 good correlations for residual friction angle for both
clays and volcanic ashes as shown in Fig. 11.76.
a
Intact clays with 600 kPa.
Data from Skempton (1985).
rig
interparticle friction angles are different (see Table

11.1). This is because the critical state friction angle
py
becomes approximately independent of interparticle

friction when the interparticle friction angle becomes
more than 25 ( 0.47), as illustrated in Fig. 11.42.
The shape and roughness of particles are important
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features that inuence the critical state friction angle.
Inuence of Increasing Clay Content

As the proportion of clay increases, the residual fric-
tion angle decreases as a result of the reduced contri-
bution from silt and sand particle rearrangement and
the lower sliding friction angle of the clay minerals in
comparison to the nonclay minerals. The inuence of Figure 11.75 Composite relationship showing dependence
clay fraction is indicated through the transition from of residual friction angle on soil composition as represented
rolling shear for soils composed mainly of bulky grains by activity and clay size fraction.

of the layer silicates and solid lubricants such as graph-
ite and molybdenum disulde (MoS2) is similar.
The type and number of bonds along the cleavage
planes are important for basal plane slip, as may be
seen by the values in Table 11.4. Of the materials
listed, only attapulgite does not t the pattern of de-
creased r with decreased interlayer bond strength.
The high residual strength of attapulgite is because
the lathlike particles occur as intermeshed aggregates,
and the crystal structure gives a stair-step mode of
cleavage. As a result, attapulgite behaves more like
l
a massive mineral than a platy mineral in shear
ria
(Chattopadhyay, 1972).
For many clays, the residual friction angle decreases
with increasing conning pressure, that is, the failure
envelopes are curved. The values in Fig. 11.28 for sev-
ate
Figure 11.76 Residual friction angle of volcanic clays and eral clay minerals, as well as the data for brown Lon-
clays in relation to their location on the plasticity chart rel- don clay and Weald clay in Fig. 11.2, show signicant
ative to the A-line (from Wesley, 2003). stress dependency of the residual friction angle, that
is, the failure envelope is curved. One possible reason
for this curvature is that under low normal stresses less
dM work is required to shear the clay in the absence of
Clay Minerals perfect orientation of clay particles in the shear zone
Basal plane slip is the dominant deformation mecha- than would be required to develop parallelism during
nism at large strain in the clay minerals and other layer shear.
silicates. Compression textures with basal planes ap- An alternative explanation of the stress dependency
proximately perpendicular to the normal load direction of r for clays can be based on the elastic junction
are formed in the shear zone, and most of the defor- theory developed in Section 11.4. If deformations at
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mation takes place in this zone as well as in zones of particle contacts are elastic, then the area of real con-
high particle orientation that enclose it. The behavior tact between sliding surfaces increases less than pro-
Table 11.4 Bonding Along Cleavage Planes, Cleavage Mode, and Residual Strength
rig
r
Mineral Mode of Cleavage Bonding Along Cleavage Planes (deg) Particle Shape
Quartz No denite cleavage 35 Bulky
py
Attapulgite Along (110) plane SiOSi, weak 30 Fibrous and

needle-shaped
Mica Good basal (001) Secondary valence (0.55 kcal/mol) 1724 Sheet
K linkages
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Kaolinite Basal (001) Secondary valence (0.55 kcal/mol) 12 Platy

H bonds (510 kcal/mol)
Illite Basal (001) Secondary valence (0.55 kcal/mol) 10.2 Platy
K linkages
Montmorillonite Excellent basal (001) Secondary valence (0.55 kcal/mol) 410 Platylmy
exchangeable ion linkages
Talc Basal (001) Secondary valence (0.55 kcal/mol) 6 Platy
Graphite Basal (001) van der Waals 36 Sheet
MoS2 Basal (001) Weak interlayer 2 Sheet
Adapted from Chattopadhyay (1972).

portionally with increase in normal effective stress; (1990) show from their database of past studies that
and according to Eq. (11.22), tan r should vary as the friction angle deduced from triaxial extension tests
(n)1 / 3. Data for several clays are shown in Fig. 11.77, is 10 to 20 percent larger than that from triaxial com-
which show agreement with this theory in the low- pression tests. Similar differences have been observed
pressure range (up to 200 kPa), but at higher stresses, between plane strain friction angle and triaxial com-
r is independent of stress, indicating that the solid pression friction angle for both sands and clays. The
contact area varies in direct proportion to effective nor- peak friction angles of sands determined from plane
mal stress. strain tests are 0.5 to 4 larger than those from triaxial
Both hypotheses appear tenable, and evidence is not compression tests (Cornforth, 1964). The Mohr
available to favor one over the other. Nonetheless, for Coulomb friction angle is based only on the major and
practical purposes it is clear that determinations of val- minor principal stresses [i.e., Eq. (11.5)]. Under tri-
l
ues of residual strength to be used for analysis of spe- axial compression conditions, the intermediate prin-
ria
cic problems should be made under stress conditions cipal stress, 2, equals the minor principal stress,
approximating those in the eld. whereas under plane strain loading it is greater. The
Other important considerations include the structural higher connement under plane strain loading can ac-
features and lithological details in the eld. Examples count for the higher measured friction angle.
of the former are presheared surfaces generated by The stress states at failure in the eld differ from
ate
old landslides and tectonic and glacial deformation, triaxial compression/extension and plane strain con-
whereas those for the latter are horizontal bedding ditions. The effect of intermediate principal stress can
planes, laminations, and weak seams (Mesri and Shah- be expressed by a b value, dened by
ien, 2003). They all can contribute in dropping to the
residual condition after relatively small displacements.
dM 2 3
b (11.48)
1 3
11.12 INTERMEDIATE STRESS EFFECTS AND
ANISOTROPY
where 1, 2, and 3 are maximum, intermediate, and
The friction angles shown in Fig. 11.51 and Fig. 11.52 minor principal stresses, respectively; b 0 for triaxial
are for triaxial compression. Kulhawy and Mayne compression conditions (1 2 3), whereas b
hte
rig
py
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Figure 11.77 Residual friction angle as a function of normal effective stress on the shear
plane raised to the minus one-third power (replotted from data in Chattopadhyay, 1972).

INTERMEDIATE STRESS EFFECTS AND ANISOTROPY 423
1 for triaxial extension conditions (1 2 3). The in triaxial extension than in triaxial compression, as
value of b for plane strain conditions depends on ma- observed in Fig. 11.38b. Greater shear resistance is ex-
terial properties but is approximately 0.3 to 0.4. pected for conditions that give a larger degree of fabric
anisotropy.
Sands
The intermediate stress effect can be measured using Clays
true triaxial apparatus or hollow cylinder torsional Effective stress friction angles for normally consoli-
shear apparatus. The inuence of intermediate princi- dated clays measured in plane strain compression are
pal stress (2) on measured friction angle of sands is compared with those determined in triaxial compres-
illustrated by Fig. 11.78. In general, the peak friction sion in Fig. 11.79. The added connement in plane
angle increases 10 to 15 percent from b 0 (triaxial strain yields a friction angle that is about 10 percent
l
compression) to b 0.3 to 0.4 (plane strain), and it
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higher than measured in triaxial compression. The
stays constant or slightly decreases as b reaches 1 (tri- measured friction angle in triaxial extension is about
axial extension). 20 percent greater than in triaxial compression, as
The variation of measured friction angle with shown in Fig. 11.80. These results are consistent with
changes in intermediate principal stress can be attrib- the data presented in Fig. 11.78 for sands.
ate
uted to the effects of different mean stress and stress The undrained shear strength su in triaxial compres-
anisotropy on the dilatancy and particle rearrangement sion is approximately twice as large as that of triaxial
contributions to the total strength. For given maximum extension for normally consolidated clay as shown in
and minimum principal stresses, the triaxial extension Fig. 11.67. This large variation is primarily due to the
conditions have the largest mean effective stress, difference in the excess pore pressures generated and
whereas the triaxial compression conditions have the is very much related to the initial bedding structure, as
dM
smallest mean effective stress. The higher connement discussed later.
for triaxial extension and plane strain conditions con-
tributes to the increasing friction angle for these con- Failure Envelopes
ditions.
Various models t the experimental data showing the
Fabric anisotropy also contributes to differences be-
intermediate stress effect. Among them are
tween triaxial and plane strain strengths. Discrete par-
hte
ticle simulations by Thornton (2000) show that the

average ratio of sliding contacts to the coordination I1I2
const. (Matsuoka and Nakai, 1985) (11.49)
number at failure were both independent of b. How- I3
ever, a larger degree of fabric anisotropy was observed
rig
py
Co
Figure 11.79 Comparative values of effective stress friction

Figure 11.78 Effect of intermediate principal stress on fric- angle of normally consolidated clays in triaxial compression
tion angle (from Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990). Reprinted with and plane strain compression (from Kulhawy and Mayne,
permission from EPRI. 1990). Reprinted with permission from EPRI.

60
Triaxial compression 40
50
40 Triaxial compression 30
Friction Angle
30
Triaxial compression 20
20
Lade and Duncan (1975)

10
l
Matsuoka and Nakai (1985)
ria
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
b-Value
Triaxial Plane Strain Triaxial
ate
Compression Extension
Figure 11.81 Failure criterion models that include the inter-

mediate stress effect.
dM deposit with their long axis in the direction perpendic-

ular to gravity, and, therefore, the assembly will be
Figure 11.80 Comparative values of effective stress friction inherently stiffer in the depositional (vertical) direction
angle of normally consolidated clays in triaxial extension and than in the horizontal direction. This is inherent or
triaxial compression (from Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990). Re- fabric anisotropy. The effect of inherent anisotropy
printed with permission from EPRI. on strength is controlled by how rapidly the fabric
changes during shearing (called induced anisotropy). If
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the fabric created by deformation-induced anisotropy

destroys the inherent anisotropy, the strength will not
I31
const. (Lade and Duncan, 1975) (11.50) be affected by the inherent anisotropy (even though the
I3 deformations prior to failure will be affected). Details
of the effects of fabric on mechanical property aniso-
where I1, I2, and I3 are the rst, second and third stress tropy were given in Section 8.9.
rig
invariants.18 The models are plotted in Fig. 11.81. Mat- Positive loading in triaxial compression tests is usu-
suoka and Nakais model gives the same friction angle ally in the direction perpendicular to the bedding plane,
for compression and extension, whereas Lade and whereas that in triaxial extension tests tends to be ra-
Duncans model gives the ratio of the triaxial extension dially inward in the bedding plane direction. Figure
friction angle (TE) to the triaxial compression friction 11.82 shows the undrained shearing responses of Toy-
py
angle (TC) to be 1.08 at TC 20 to 1.15 at TC oura sand specimens in triaxial compression and ex-
40. Given the large scatter in the published experi- tension tests (Yoshimine et al., 1998). The specimens
mental data (see Fig. 11.78), it is not possible to con- sheared in extension showed 100 percent excess pore
clude that one model is better than the other. pressure development leading to static liquefaction,
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whereas the specimens sheared in compression showed

Fabric Anisotropy small softening at the beginning but then hardening at
The soil fabric created during depositional and post- large strains due to large dilative behavior. Similar var-
depositional processes contributes to mechanical ani- iations in undrained shear strength of clays were shown
sotropy. For example, nonspherical particles tend to in Fig. 11.67. From these data, it is not clear whether
the difference is due to the intermediate stress (b value)
effect or to the initial anisotropic fabric generated dur-
18
ing dry pluviation.
The three stress invariants are dened as
Figure 11.83 shows different cases of variation in b
I1 1 2 3 I2 12 23 31 I3 123 value and the major principal stress direction in rela-
where 1, 2, and 3 are the principal stresses. tion to initial cross-anisotropic soil fabric. A direc-

RESISTANCE TO CYCLIC LOADING AND LIQUEFACTION 425
bedding plane, more sand particles had to move to pro-
vide more stable soil fabric, and a larger magnitude of
excess pore pressure was therefore developed. Exam-
ination of Figs. 11.82 and 11.84 indicates that conven-
tional triaxial compression can give higher undrained
shear strength with less softening compared to other
shear modes. Similar data were presented by Kirkgard
and Lade (1993) for normally consolidated San Fran-
cisco Bay mud. These ndings have practical signi-
cance since the use of triaxial compression data may
result in unconservative evaluation of ow liquefaction
l
potential or undrained shear strength.
ria
11.13 RESISTANCE TO CYCLIC LOADING AND
LIQUEFACTION
ate
Repeated or cyclic loading of soils can be caused by
a number of natural phenomena or human activities,
including earthquakes, wind, waves, vehicular trafc,
and reciprocating machinery. Cyclic loads cause
dM stresses and deformations in much the same manner as
do slowly applied loads; however, their relatively short
duration and repetitive and dynamic nature are respon-
sible for several unique aspects of soil behavior. At-
tention is given in this section primarily to saturated
cohesionless soils and clays because these materials
are particularly susceptible to strength degradation
and/or failure during earthquakes. Soils of the type
hte
encountered as pavement subgrades or as used in pave-

ment subbases and bases are usually relatively dense
and not susceptible to large strength and stiffness
Figure 11.82 Undrained response of dry plluviated Toyoura losses if properly prepared and compacted.
sand specimens in triaxial compression and extension: (a)
stressstrain relationships and (b) undrained stress paths (af-
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ter Yoshimine et al., 1998). Drained Behavior

Repeated cyclic shear straining of sand under drained
tional parameter is dened as the angle between the conditions is shown in Figs. 11.85a and 11.85b for
direction perpendicular to the bedding plane and the loose and dense Toyoura sand specimens, respectively.
major principal stress direction. The conventional tri- The cyclic loading usually causes densication. Fig-
py
axial compression will be case A (b 0 and 0) ures 11.85(a-2) and 11.85(b-2) show development of
in Fig. 11.83, whereas the triaxial extension will be volumetric strain with increasing number of loading
case B (b 1 and 90) in Fig. 11.83. Ideally, cycles. For the loose sand specimen (Fig. 11.85a), the
therefore, the investigation of b-value effects on volumetric strain increases more or less monotonically.
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strength should be performed with the same value Although there is a decreasing trend of void ratio with
or vice versa (e.g., cases A, C, and D or cases C, E, increasing number of cycles, it is also interesting to
and F in Fig. 11.83). note that, for a given cyclic shear application on the
Using a hollow cylinder torsional shear apparatus, dense sand specimen, the volumetric strain does not
Yoshimine et al. (1998) examined the effects of b value increase monotonically but uctuates with cyclic load-
and the loading direction separately on undrained ing, as illustrated in Fig. 11.85(b-2). Shear-induced di-
behavior of Toyoura sand, and some test results are lation is observed as the applied shear displacement
shown in Fig. 11.84. For sands with relative density reaches its maximum in the loading stage. During un-
between 30 and 41 percent, the effect of inherent an- loading, there is shear-induced volume contraction.
isotropy appears to be more signicant than the effect The combination of dilation during loading and con-
of b. When the loading direction was in parallel to the traction during unloading leads to overall contraction.

v v
h1 h1
h2 h1
h2
h1v> h2 > v h1v= h2 > v
= 90 v
F B
Parallel to the
Bedding Plane

11
Loading Direction
l
of Major Principal
ria
Stress in Relation 3
to the Bedding 22
E
Plane 1v> 2 > 3
ate
v v v
v
h1 h1
h1
Perpendicular to h2 h2 h2
the Bedding Plane
dM vv> h1 = h2 vv> h1 > h2 vv= h1 > h2
= 0
C D
0 A 1
Triaxial b - Value Triaxial
Compression Extension
Figure 11.83 Effects of inherent anisotropy and the intermediate stress.
hte
The inuences of shear strain magnitude and num- ment of shear strains with cyclic loading is called cy-
ber of load cycles are shown in Fig. 11.86. The den- clic mobility. Liquefaction is said to have occurred
sication results from the disruption of the initial soil when the pore water pressure has increased to the mag-
fabric caused by the repeated shear strains followed by nitude of the initial effective conning pressure, at
rig
repositioning of the soil grains into more efcient which point the strains become very large. Similar to
packing. The higher the initial void ratio and the the undrained response in monotonic loading, the un-
greater the number of cycles, the greater the effect. drained response of sand under cyclic loading depends
on density, conning pressure, and soil fabric. The ef-
Undrained Behavior fect of density on cyclic behavior of Toyoura sand un-
py
When saturated soil is subjected to repeated cycles of der triaxial loading conditions is shown in Fig. 11.88.
loading, and provided the shear stresses are of suf- All sands exhibit increase in pore pressure with in-
cient magnitude, the structure begins to break down, crease in number of loading cycles, but the shear strain
and part of the conning stress is transferred to the development for a given number of cycle is smaller for
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pore water, with a concurrent reduction of effective denser specimens. In the loose sand (Fig. 11.88a),
stress and strength. This, in turn, leads to increase in when the stress state reaches the collapse surface, the
shear strain under constant stress cyclic loading or a soil softens leading to sudden liquefaction. The me-
decrease in the cyclic stress required to cause a given dium dense sand (Fig. 11.88b) exhibits quasi-steady
value of cyclic strain. The deformation and failure be- state as the stress state reaches the phase transforma-
havior of sands in undrained cyclic loading depends on tion line. Some cycles with large stressstrain loops
initial void ratio, initial effective stress state, and the are observed and the specimen nally reaches lique-
cyclic shear stress amplitude. faction. The dense sand (Fig. 11.88c) never liquees.
The results of an undrained cyclic simple shear test Once the stress state reaches the phase transformation
on Monterey sand are shown in Fig. 11.87. Develop- line, the stressstrain curve moves back and forth

l
ria
ate
dM
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Figure 11.84 Effect of and b values on undrained response of dry plluviated Toyoura
sand: (a) effect of when b 0.5 and (b) effect of b when 45 (after Yoshimine et
al., 1998).
rig
along and below the steady-state line and shear strain between cyclic shear stress and number of load cycles
develops gradually. to initial liquefaction depends on the relative density,
Beneath gently sloping to at ground, liquefaction and is of the form shown in Fig. 11.89. In this gure
py
may lead to ground oscillation or lateral spread as a the cyclic shear stress applied by a simple shear ap-
consequence of either ow deformation or cyclic mo- paratus is normalized by dividing by the initial effec-
bility (Youd et al., 2001). The liquefaction suscepti- tive conning pressure 0, and the ratio is often called
bility of different types of natural and articial the cyclic resistance ratio (CRR). Methods for deter-
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sedimentary soil deposits is summarized in Table 11.5. mination of the liquefaction susceptibility of a specic
As the excess pore pressure developed during lique- site are given by Kramer (1996) and by Youd et al.
faction dissipates, ground settlement is observed. Sand (2001).
boils can develop through overlying less permeable In reality, generation of pore pressure is a result of
soils in order to dissipate the excess pore pressures the breakdown of soil structure and a tendency for the
from liqueed soil below. soil to densify, and this is caused by shear deforma-
The magnitude of the cyclic shear strains that de- tions, so liquefaction is more fundamentally controlled
velop following initial liquefaction decreases with in- by shear strain than by shear stress. Furthermore, there
creasing initial relative density and increases with is a level of shear strain, or threshold shear strain be-
increasing cyclic shear stress. The general relationship low which no pore pressure is generated. This is illus-

Stress Ratio q/p Stress Ratio q/p

Toyoura Sand 2 Toyoura Sand 2
Air Pluviated Air Pluviated
Initial Void Ratio = 0.845 Initial Void Ratio = 0.653
p = 98 kPa = constant p = 98 kPa = constant
_2 2 _2 2
Shear Strain (%) Shear Strain (%)
_1.2 _1.2
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(a-1) Stress Ratio Shear Strain Relation (b-1) Stress Ratio Shear Strain Relation
Volumetric Strain v
Volumetric Strain v
0.6
3
ate
_2 0 2
Shear Strain (%)

_2 dM 0 2 _0.6
Shear Strain (%)
(a-2) Volumetric Strain Shear Strain Relation (b-2) Volumetric Strain Shear Strain Relation
(a) (b)
Figure 11.85 Cyclic behavior of Toyoura sand in drained conditions: (a) loose sand and (b)
dense sand (after Pradhan and Tatsuoka, 1989).
hte
trated by Fig. 11.90 in which the pore pressure ratio

as a function of cyclic shear strain is shown for Mon-
terey No. 0 sand at three relative densities.
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The mechanics of pore pressure generation during

cyclic loading can be understood by reference to Fig.
11.91 from Seed and Idriss (1982) and by Fig. 8.20.
In Fig. 11.91, point A represents a soil specimen in its
initial state. Under cyclic loading it would, if allowed
py
to drain and compress, decrease in void ratio to point

B in order to be able to continue to sustain effective
pressure 0. However, since the soil cannot drain, the
collapsing soil structure generates a pore pressure de-
Co
noted in Fig. 11.91 by u. The magnitude of the pore

pressure depends on the slope of the rebound curve B
C, as discussed below.
From laboratory cyclic simple shear tests on several
sands, the general relationship between pore pressure
ratio (i.e., the generated pore pressure divided by the
initial effective conning pressure) and the cycle ratio
Figure 11.86 Effect of shear strain and number of load cy- as shown in Fig. 11.92 has been determined. The cycle
cles on the reduction in void ratio of Ottawa sand (from ratio is dened by the number of load cycles Ne divided
Youd, 1972). Reprinted with permission of ASCE. by the number of load cycles to cause liquefaction Nl.

mined from testing at different densities under the
same conning stress condition, whereas the constant
density contour lines move downward if the conning
pressure increases, as illustrated in Fig. 11.93 for Aio
sand samples prepared at the same relative density.
This is because a soil at a given void ratio behaves as
if relatively looser or more compressible at higher con-
ning pressure. There are many other factors that im-
pact the actual value of CRR to use in practice; the
major ones are the conning pressure, the initial shear
stresses under static condition, sample preparation
l
methods, and the mode of shearing (Seed, 1979; Seed
ria
and Harder, 1990). Additional information and data
can be found in Youd et al. (2001), Vaid et al. (2001),
Boulanger (2003), and Hosono and Yoshimine (2004).
ate
Residual Strength after Liquefaction
The residual strength of sands, silty sands, and silts
following liquefaction is a subject of continuing study
owing to its importance in the analysis of postearth-
dM quake stability and deformation of embankments,
dams, and structures. Detailed discussion of this topic
is outside the scope of this book; however, two ap-
proaches have been used to estimate the residual
strength, one based on steady state strength determined
by laboratory tests as described in Section 11.8 and the
other on the Standard Penetration Test (SPT) N value
(Seed, 1987; Seed and Harder, 1990). A correlation
hte
between the residual strength and the preearthquake

Figure 11.87 Results of an undrained cyclic simple shear SPT N value is shown in Fig. 11.94. The strength val-
test on loose Monterey sand (Seed and Idriss, 1982): (a) pore ues shown in this gure were determined by back anal-
water pressure response, (b) shear strain response, and (c) ysis of liquefaction-induced slides; thus, they avoid
applied cyclic shear stress.
problems related to sampling disturbance effects on
strength and are representative of known eld behavior.
rig
However, there is some uncertainty relating to how

Using the slope of the rebound curve (Fig. 11.91) and well the measured N values are representative of the
the densication that would occur if drainage was per- zone in which the failure developed. The selection of
mitted, it is possible to compute the induced pore pres- a particular value within the range of strengths shown
sure by for any given N value, and variability in the N values
py
that are measured, add additional uncertainty.

u Er rd (11.51) Excess pore pressures can be generated either in-
ternally as described above or externally by transient
where Er is the rebound modulus and rd is the vol- seepage ow from an adjacent liqueed region. For
Co
umetric strain that would occur if drainage were per- example, if there is a less permeable layer above a sand
mitted. Martin et al. (1975) give procedures to evaluate layer, excess pore pressures can develop under the
these two parameters from the results of static rebound impermeable layer leading to softening of the soil.
tests in a consolidation ring and cyclic load tests on Hence, local heterogeneity plays an important role in
dry sand, respectively. Finn (1981) reported good liquefaction-induced soil deformation and failure,
agreement between predicted and measured values us- which requires careful site investigation to identify any
ing the proposed method. low permeable layers.
The liquefaction resistance depends not only on cy- The strength degradation of clays due to cyclic load-
clic stress amplitude and density but also on the initial ing follows similar patterns to that of sand, but it is
effective stress state. For example, Fig. 11.89 is deter- much less for clays than for cohesionless and slightly

50 100
Dr = 30%
40 Initial Cyclic Loops 80 Reaching Collapse Surface
Initial p = 200 kPa
Before Failure after Several Cycles
Cyclic Stress q = 40 kPa 30 60

20 40
Liquefaction Failure
10 20
0 0
-15 -10 -5 -10 0 5 10 15 -20 0 50 100 150 200 250
-2 0 Liquefaction Failure -40
Reaching Collapse
l
-30 -60
Surface after Several Initial State
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Liquefaction
Cycles -40 -80
-50 -100
Axial Strain (%) Mean Pressure p(MPa)
(a)
ate
100 100
Dr = 50% Phase Transformation Phase Transformation
80 80 Initial State
Initial p = 200 kPa
60 60
Cyclic Stress q = 60 kPa

dM 40 40
Liquefaction Failure 20 20
0 0
-1 5 -10 -5 -20 0 5 10 15 -20 0 50 100 150 200 250
-40 -40
-60 -60
Reaching Collapse -80 -80 Liquefaction Reaching Collapse Surface
Surface after after Several Cycles
-100 -100
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Several Cycles Mean Pressure p(MPa)

Axial Strain (%)
(b)
50 50
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Dr = 70% Phase Transformation

40 40
Initial p = 100 kPa
Cyclic Stress q = 40 kPa30 30
Increasing
20 Cycles 20
10 10
py
0 0
-15 -10 -5 -10 0 5 10 15 -10 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Increasing -20 -20

Cycles -30 -30 Initial State
-40 -40
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Phase Transformation
-50 -50
Axial Strain (%) Mean Pressure p(MPa)
(c)
Figure 11.88 Cyclic behavior of Toyoura sand in undrained conditions: (a) loose sand, (b)
medium dense sand, and (c) dense sand (after Yamamoto, 1998).

Table 11.5 Liquefaction Susceptibility of Soil Deposits
Likelihood That Cohesionless Sediments, When Saturated,

General Distribution of Would Be Susceptible to Liquefaction (by Age of Deposit)
Cohesionless
Type of Deposit Sediments in Deposits 500 yr Holocene Pleistocene Prepleistocene
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
a. Continental Deposits
River channel Locally variable Very High High Low Very low
Floodplain Locally variable High Moderate Low Very low
Alluvial fan and plain Widespread Moderate Low Low Very low
l
Marine terraces and Widespread Low Very low Very low
ria
plains
Delta and fan-delta Widespread High Moderate Low Very low
Lacustrine and playa Variable High Moderate Low Very low
Colluvium Variable High Moderate Low Very low
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Talus Widespread Low Low Very low Very low
Dunes Widespread High Moderate Low Very low
Loess Variable High High High Unknown
Glacial till Variable Low Low Very low Very low
Tuff Rare Low Low Very low Very low
Tephra dM Widespread High High ? ?
Residual soils Rare Low Low Very low Very low
Sabka Locally variable High Moderate Low Very low
b. Coastal Zone
Delta Widespread Very high High Low Very low
Esturine Locally variable High Moderate Low Very low
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Beach high wave energy Widespread Moderate Low Very low Very low
Low wave energy Widespread High Moderate Low Very low
Lagoonal Locally variable High Moderate Low Very low
Fore shore Locally variable High Moderate Low Very low
c. Articial
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Uncompacted ll Variable Very high

Compacted ll Variable Low
(From Youd and Perkins (1978); reprinted from the Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 104, No. 4,
pp. 433446. Copyright 1978. With permission of ASCE.
py
cohesive soils that are susceptible to liquefaction as triaxial tests (Fig. 11.96b), the initial static shear is
Co
shown in Fig. 11.95 (Hyodo et al., 1994). An assump- dened as a /su (ac rc )/2su, where ac and rc

tion of a strength loss of about 20 percent is sometimes are the axial and radial consolidation stresses, respec-
used in practice. Figure 11.96 shows the undrained cy- tively. The values of cy /su (a r)/2su show
clic shear stress ratio cy /su that brings normally con- peaks at a /su 0.2 to 0.3, indicating that the small
solidated clays to failure after 10 loading cycles initial anisotropy gave increased cyclic resistance.
(Andersen, 2004). The data include eight clays with However, the undrained cyclic shear stress ratio at fail-
different plasticity indices. In the direct shear tests ure decreases when the initial static shear stress is
(Fig. 11.96a), the undrained cyclic shear stress ratio at higher or in triaxial extension conditions. Evidently in
failure decreases with increase in initial static shear normal clays the magnitude of cyclic shear strain is
stress a /su and increases with plasticity index. In the less than that required to cause complete remolding.

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Figure 11.89 Cyclic stress ratio and number of load cycles to cause initial liquefaction of
ate
a sand at different initial relative densities (from De Alba et al., 1976). Reprinted with
permission of ASCE.
dM
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rig
Figure 11.90 Pore pressure as a function of cyclic shear

strain illustrating a threshold strain of about 0.01 percent,
below which no excess pore pressures are developed (from
Dobry et al., 1981). Reprinted with permission of ASCE.
py
Complete remolding would dene an absolute lower

bound, and its value is dened by the clay sensitivity.
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Cyclic stresses could cause sufcient deformations in Figure 11.91 Mechanism of pore pressure generation during
quick clay to initiate a liquefaction-type ow failure. cyclic loading (Seed and Idriss, 1982).
Some examples are given in Andersen et al. (1988).
11.14 STRENGTH OF MIXED SOILS preparation methods. Figure 11.97 shows different sce-
narios of intergranular matrix of two different size par-
The presence of nes in sands can signicantly inu- ticles (Thevanayangam and Martin, 2002). Initially the
ence the strength behavior. Differing effects can be ob- maximum and minimum void ratios of a sandsilt mix-
tained depending on particle size, shapes, and sample ture decrease with increase in silt content, but then the

STRENGTH OF MIXED SOILS 433
Figure 11.92 Rate of pore pressure buildup in cyclic simple
l
shear tests (from Seed et al., 1976). Reprinted with permis- Figure 11.95 Comparison of the cyclic resistance ratios of
ria
sion of ASCE. Itukaichi clay and Toyoura sand (Hyodo et al., 1994).
ate
Cyclic Shear Strength / Static Undrained Shear Strength
Direct Simple Shear Tests - Strength at 10 Cycles
dM OCR = 1
1.2
Offshore Africa, PI=80 -100%
1.0 Marlin IIa, PI=50%
Troll I, PI=37%
0.8
(cy / suDSS)
Troll II, PI=20%

Marlin IIb+, PI=45%
0.6
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Drammen, PI=27%
Figure 11.93 Effect of conning pressure on cyclic resis-
tance ratio (Hyodo et al., 2002). 0.4
North Sea GC, PI=16-27%
0.2
Storeblt, PI=7-12%
0.0
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0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Initial Shear Stress / Static Undrained Shear Strength
(a / s uDSS )
Static Undrained Shear Strength (cy / su)
Triaxial Tests - Strength at 10 Cycles

1.0 OCR = 1
Offshore Africa, PI=80-100%
py
Cyclic Shear Strength /
0.8 Troll II, PI=20%

Marlin IIb+, PI=45%
Troll I, PI=37% Marlin IIa, PI=50%
0.6
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0.4
Drammen, PI=27%
0.2
Storeblt, PI=7-10%
0.0
-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Initial Shear Stress / Static Undrained Shear Strength
(a / s u)
Figure 11.94 Postliquefaction residual strength as a function Figure 11.96 Normalized shear stresses that give undrained
of Standard Penetration Test N values (Seed and Harder, failure after 10 cycles in (a) direct shear tests and (b) triaxial
1990). tests (Andersen, 2004).

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ate
dM
Figure 11.97 Granular mix classication (Thevanayangam and Martin, 2002).
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void ratios increase when the silt becomes the host soil nes content have the same granular void ratio and the
as shown in Fig. 4.4. In case (i), the ne particles t same mechanical properties, the nes are just occu-
in the void space formed by the coarse particles. The pying the void space and are not inuencing shear re-
mechanical behavior is little affected by the presence sistance.
of nes because the external forces are transferred Most reported cases show that, for a given granular
through the contacts between coarse particles. In cases void ratio, the undrained strength and cyclic shear re-
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(ii) and (iii), the ne particles start to fully occupy sistance are either independent of or increase with silt
some void space and separate the coarse particles and content (Shen et al., 1977; Vaid, 1994; Polito and
prevent them from touching each other. These ne par- Martin, 2001; Carraro et al., 2003). The undrained
ticles may reinforce the skeleton of coarse particles or response of sand mixed with equidimensional silt
they may make the skeleton unstable. As the propor- particles is shown in Fig. 11.98 (Kuerbis et al., 1988).
py
tion of ne particles increases, the coarse particles oat Specimens of the mixture were created by slurry dep-
inside the matrix of ne particles as illustrated as case osition, and the density was controlled in such a way
(iv). The ne grains then dominate the mechanical be- that all specimens had relatively similar granular void
havior of the mixed soils, and the coarse grains may ratios eG, even though the actual void ratio decreased
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or may not contribute to shear resistance as a reinforc- with increasing silt content. Both undrained triaxial
ing element. Once the mixing scenario reaches case compression and extension tests were performed fol-
(iv), the void ratio increases with increasing nes con- lowing isotropic consolidation. Increased silt content
tent due to increasing specic surface of the mixture. gave stiffer response in triaxial compression. Appar-
The threshold value to become case (iv) depends on ently, the silts lled the void space and stabilized the
the specic mixture but is usually in the range of 25 soil as shown in Fig. 11.99a. However, the effect was
to 45 percent nes in most cases (Polito and Martin, small in triaxial extension.
2001). Liquefaction resistance increases with relative den-
For cases (i) to (iii), the granular void ratio eG de- sity as shown in Fig. 11.89. However, increasing silt
ned in Chapter 4 is a useful index for consideration content gives scattered relationships between relative
of the effect of nes. If two mixed soils with different density and the CRR at 20 loading cycles, as shown in

STRENGTH OF MIXED SOILS 435
Silt Content e eG
% 0.8
Cyclic Resistance Ratio

0% fines
0 0.764 0.764 5% fines
4 0.728 0.802
200 7.5 0.669 0.805 0.6 10% fines
13.3 0.547 0.784 15% fines
22.3 0.448 0.863
0.4
(a r)/2 (kPa)
100 0.2
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Relative Density
l
0
100 200 300 400
(a)
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(a + r)/2 (kPa) 0.8
0% fines

100 5% fines
0.6 10% fines
Figure 11.98 Undrained triaxial compression and extension 15% fines
ate
tests on silty sand with different mixing ratios (Kuerbis et 0.4
al., 1988).
0.2
dM 0.0
0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3
Void Ratio
(b)
0.8
0% fines
5% fines
0.6 10% fines
15% fines
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0.4
(a) (b)
0.2
0.0
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0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4

Granular Void Ratio
(c )
Figure 11.100 Cyclic resistance ratios of silty sands plotted

against (a) relative density, (b) void ratio, and (c) granular
py
void ratio (from Carraro et al., 2003).

(c) (d)
Figure 11.99 Schematic diagrams of how ne particles are increasing silt content. If the CRR values are plotted
Co
placed inside coarse-grain matrix: (a) sandsilt mixture with

as a function of the granular void ratio eG, as shown
silt lling the void, (b) sandsilt mixture with silts between
sands and granular void ratio larger than emax, (c) sandclay
in Fig. 11.100c, the sandsilt mixtures give higher liq-
mixture, and (d ) sandmica mixture. uefaction resistance than clean sand, but the resistance
of these mixtures was independent of silt content.
The above results are applicable when the granular
void ratio eG is smaller than the maximum void ratio
Fig. 11.100a due to variations in maximum and mini- emax of the host medium (without nes). When nes
mum void ratios with increasing silt content. If the are added, it is possible to create specimens that have
CRR values are plotted in terms of void ratio and cy- eG larger than emax even though the overall void ratio
clic resistance as shown in Fig. 11.100b, the liquefac- is smaller than emax (Lade and Yamamuro, 1997; Thev-
tion resistance at a given void ratio decreases with anayagam and Mohan, 2000). This condition can be

achieved if some nes are placed between the coarser bridged between the host sand particles (Fig. 11.99d),
particles as shown in Fig. 11.99b. In this case, the and increased the overall void ratio as shown in Fig.
structure is metastable, and the strength of the mixed 11.102. On the other hand, inclusion of smaller silt and
soil is reduced due to fewer sand grain contacts. clay particles decreased the overall void ratio, as also
When smaller particles such as clays are added in- shown in Fig. 4.4. The open fabric of a sandmica
stead of silt-size particles, the clay nes act as a lu- mixture can give complicated soil deformation and
bricator at sand particle contacts as shown in Fig. strength properties depending on mica particle orien-
11.99c and make the soil unstable. Undrained re- tation and shear mode (Hight et al., 1998).
sponses of Ham river sand mixed with different kaolin Further increase in nes content leads to sand par-
contents are shown in Fig. 11.101 (Georgiannou et al., ticles oating in clay or silt as shown by case (iv) in
1991). Samples were prepared by pluviating the sand Fig. 11.97. The mixed soil then behaves more like pure
l
into distilled water with suspended kaolin particles so clay or silt. The deformation behavior then becomes
ria
that similar granular void ratios were achieved. Both more clay/silt dominated, and the coarser particles
undrained triaxial compression and triaxial extension may or may not contribute to the strength properties.
tests were performed after consolidating the samples For example, Fig. 11.103 shows that the liquefaction
under K0 stress conditions. In triaxial compression, the resistance of mixtures with nes content greater than
increase in clay content did not affect the peak stress, 35 percent was independent of silt content and granular
ate
but the strain-softening behavior was more pro- void ratio (Polito and Martin, 2001).
nounced. After the specimen passed the phase trans-
formation line, the stress increased toward the critical
state. In triaxial extension, addition of clay led to total 11.15 COHESION
liquefaction. The friction angle did not change for clay
dM
fractions up to 20 percent. This delayed the develop- True cohesion is shear strength in excess of that gen-
ment of anisotropic fabric needed to resist the increas- erated by frictional resistance to sliding between par-
ing load. ticles, the rearrangement of particles, and particle
The shape of ne particles also inuences the sta- crushing. That is, true cohesion must result from ad-
bility of the mixed soil. Hight et al. (1998) report the herence between particles in the absence of any exter-
behavior of micaceous sands in connection with ow nally applied or self-weight forces. The existence of
slides that occurred during construction of the Jamuna tensile or shear strength in the absence of effective
hte
Bridge in Bangladesh. The large and platy mica akes compressive stress in the soil skeleton or on the failure
plane might be considered true cohesion. However, the
particulate nature of soil and the fact that most inter-
particle contacts are not oriented in the plane of shear
(MPa) mean that the application of directional shear stress
0.3 Triaxial Compression Tests will induce normal forces at most interparticle con-
rig
Clay Content = 0%, eG = 0.77 tacts. These forces will, in turn, generate a resistance
Clay Content = 4.6%, eG = 0.80
Clay Content = 7.6%, eG = 0.80
0.2
py
Initial Stress
(a+ r)/2
State
0.1
(a+ r)/2
Co
0.0 0.5
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
(MPa)
Triaxial Extension Tests
Clay Content = 0%, e G = 0.77
-0.1 Clay Content = 3.5%, e G = 0.80
Clay Content = 7.5%, e G = 0.80
Figure 11.101 Undrained triaxial compression and exten-

sion test stress paths of claysand mixtures with different
mixing ratios but at similar granular void ratios (Georgiannou Figure 11.102 Effect of nes (mica, silt, and kaolin) on void
et al., 1991). ratio of a sand (Hight et al. 1998).

COHESION 437
0.30
Monterey Yatesville
Sand with 35% Sand with 50%
Silt Silt
0.25 Monterey Yatesville
Sand with 50% Sand with 75%
Cyclic Resistance Ratio CRR

Silt Silt
Monterey 100% Silt
0.20 Sand with 75%
Silt

0.15

0.10

l
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0.05
0.00
0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 2.20
ate
Granular Void Ratio eG
Figure 11.103 Variation of cyclic resistance ratio with granular void ratio with silt content
above the threshold value (Polito and Martin, 2001).
dM
to sliding at the contact provided the value of is solutionredeposition processes, or they may be
greater than zero. taken from solution. An analysis of the strength
Conrmation of the existence of a true cohesion and of cemented bonds was given by Ingles (1962)
determination of its value from strength tests is dif- and is summarized in Section 7.4 and Eqs. (7.2)
cult because projection of the failure envelope back to to (7.8). Cohesive strengths of as much as several
0 is uncertain, owing to the curvature of most hundred kilopascals (several tens of pounds per
hte
failure envelopes, unless tests are done at very low square inch) may result from cementation.
effective stresses. Tensile tests cannot be made on most Stressstrain curves and peak failure envelopes
soils. Harison et al. (1994) performed various types of for cemented sands are shown in Fig. 11.104.
tensile tests on compacted clay specimens but found These curves show that even relatively small
that the tensile strengths decreased with increase in amounts of cement can have very large effects on
specimen size due to increase in the number of internal the deformation properties. Small values of co-
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aws. There is no convenient way to run a triaxial hesion have a large effect on the stability of a
compression test while maintaining the effective stress soil and its ability to stand unsupported on steep
equal to zero on the potential failure plane. Strength slopes. However, at large strains when the ce-
can be measured by direct shear with no applied nor- mentation breaks down, the strengths become
mal stress . Some examples are given in Bishop and similar irrespective of the degree of cementation
py
Garga (1969), Graham and Au (1985), and Morris et as shown in Fig. 11.104a.
al. (1992); however, for the reason given in the previ- 2. Electrostatic and Electromagnetic Attractions
ous paragraph, the measured strength cannot be attrib- Electrostatic and electromagnetic attractions be-
uted specically to true cohesion. tween small particles are discussed in Sections
Co
6.12 and 7.4. Electrostatic attractions become

Possible Sources of True Cohesion signicant ( 7 kPa or 1 psi) for separation dis-
Three possible sources for true cohesion between soil tances 2.5 mm. Electromagnetic attractions or
particles have been proposed: van der Waals forces are a source of tensile
strength only between closely spaced particles of
1. Cementation Chemical bonding between par- very small size (1 m).
ticles by cementation by carbonates, silica, 3. Primary Valence Bonding and Adhesion
alumina, iron oxide, and organic compounds is When normally consolidated clay is unloaded,
possible. Cementing materials may be derived thus becoming overconsolidated, the strength
from the soil minerals themselves as a result of does not decrease in proportion to the effective

l
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ate
Figure 11.104 Stressstrain curves and failure envelopes for cemented and uncemented sand
at a relative density of 74 percent: (a) stressstrain curves and (b) failure envelopes based
on peak strength (from Clough et al., 1981). Reprinted with permission of ASCE.
dM
stress reduction, but a part is retained as shown stresses between particles generated by internal attrac-
in Fig. 11.3. Whether or not the higher strength tive forces. The mechanism of shear resistance result-
in the overconsolidated clay is because of the ing from these attractions should be the same as if the
lower void ratio or due to the formation of inter- contact normal stresses were derived from effective
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particle bonds is not known. However, a cold compression stresses carried by the soil. It is conven-
welding or adhesion may be responsible for ient, therefore, to think of cohesion (except for cemen-
some of it. This could result from the formation tation) as due to interparticle friction derived from
of primary valence bonds at interparticle con- interparticle attractions, whereas the friction term in
tacts. the MohrCoulomb equation is developed by interpar-
ticle friction caused by applied stresses. Essentially the
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Apparent Cohesion same concept was suggested by Taylor (1948) where

An apparent cohesion can be generated by capillary cohesion was attributed to an intrinsic pressure.
stresses. Water attraction to particle surfaces combined Similarly, Trollope (1960) attributed shear strength to
with surface tension causes an apparent attraction be- the Terzaghi and BowdenTabor adhesion theory, with
py
tween particles in a partly saturated soil. Equation (7.9) both applied stresses and interparticle forces contrib-
can be used to estimate the magnitude of tensile uting to the effective stress that developed the frictional
strength that can be developed by capillary stresses in resistance. Present evidence indicates that cohesion
a soil. This is not a true cohesion; instead, it is a fric- due to interparticle attractive forces is quite small in
almost all cases, whereas that due to chemical cemen-
Co
tional strength generated by the positive effective stress

created by the negative pore water pressure. tation can be signicant.
Summary
11.16 FRACTURING OF SOILS
Several contributions to cohesion are summarized in
Fig. 11.105 in terms of the potential tensile strengths Soil fracturing is often observed in geotechnical prac-
that can be generated by each mechanism as a function tice. Tensile cracks develop when there is external ten-
of particle size. For all the mechanisms except chem- sion stress such as at the crest of a landslide or vertical
ical cementation, cohesion is a consequence of normal cuttings. In some cases, water can ll the cracks, lead-

FRACTURING OF SOILS 439
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Figure 11.105 Potential contributions of several bonding mechanisms to soil strength
dM
(Ingles, 1962).
ing to further instability. Soil piping can occur in a dam principal effective stress is equal to the negative value
from water ow through cracks causing internal ero- of the tensile strength (t ).19 This criterion can be writ-
sion. Hydraulic fracturing results from increase in the ten as
pressure at the crack tips. Hydraulic fractures can be
hte
created by injecting uids, grouts, or chemicals and

used to control settlements caused by underground 3 t (11.52)
construction, to determine the in situ horizontal stress
state, to create an impermeable hydraulic barrier, or to When a tensile force is applied to a saturated soil in
inject ground treatment chemicals for soil reinforce- the direction of minor principal stress, it will be
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ment and contaminated ground remediation. Desicca- sheared in undrained conditions and the soil cracks if
tion also causes the development of tensile cracks as Eq. (11.52) is satised. The tensile total stress 3 then
the suction in the soil increases by evaporation and becomes
causes shrinkage of the soil by increase in effective
stresses.
py
Resistance to fracturing depends on tensile strength 3 u0 u t u0

(or true cohesion) of the material, which is often small
( 3 A( 1 3)) t (11.53)
in geomaterials except when they are cemented. Frac-
turing can occur in clays in undrained conditions by
Co
rapid increase in external pressure or in sands and where u0 is the initial pore pressure, u is the excess
clays by uid permeation. Various mechanisms for pore pressure generated during the shearing process
fracture initiation are described below. leading to fracture, A is Skemptons pore pressure pa-
rameter (Section 8.9), and 1 and 3 are the changes
Fracture under Undrained Conditions
If particle contacts cannot carry tension, it is often as-
sumed that the tensile cracking occurs when the minor 19
Note that the tensile strength of a soil is dened in terms of effec-
principal effective stress 3 becomes zero. If the soil tive stress. Unfortunately, many tensile strength values are written in
is cemented, cracking is generated when the minor total stress since pore pressure is not measured.

in major and minor principal total stresses, respec- increases, but the circumferential stress initially de-
tively.20 creases as long as the soil behaves linear elastically
Rearrangement of Eq. (11.53) gives and does not fail in shear (see Fig. 11.106a). Cracks
develop in the radial direction when the effective cir-
1 cumferential stress becomes zero for uncemented soils
3 (3i t) 1 (11.54) and equal to the negative value of the tensile strength
A
for cemented soils. Assuming that the clay behaves
linear elastically,21 the change in the radial total stress
where 3i is the initial minor principal effective stress r ( 1) at the cavity is equal to the negative of
prior to applying the tensile force. the change in the circumferential stress ( 3);
Injection of uid into a cylindrical cavity surrounded r . Substituting this condition in Eq. (11.54)
l
by a clay formation can lead to fracture by increase in under plane strain conditions (A 12 )22 gives
ria
cavity pressure. Examples of this mechanism are frac-
ture grouting and soil fracturing around driven piezom- Pf 3i r 3i
t or
eters (Lefebvre et al., 1981, 1991). According to cavity
expansion theory, the radial total stress at the cavity Pf 23i u0 t (11.55)
ate
20
A more general case can be written as 3 u0 ( p a q)
t, where p and q are the changes in mean pressure and deviator 21
For simplicity, the undrained behavior of clays is assumed to be
stress, and a is the modied pore pressure parameter dened by linear elastic-perfectly plastic.
Wood (1990). dM 22
No change of intermediate principal stress ( 2 0) is assumed.
Tension crack r = Pf

0 r
Pf
hte
0
Cavity

Displacement
- = t t
Solid Line: Total Stresses
Dotted Line: Effective Stresses
rig
Pf
(a)
Plastic r = Pf
Deformation
py
0 2su
2s r
0 u
Pf
Co
Crack Cavity
Displacement
Solid Line: Total Stresses

Plastic Instability Dotted Line: Effective Stresses
(b)
Figure 11.106 Fracture mechanisms of injection uids into a cavity: (a) tensile fracture in
undrained conditions and (b) shear failure in undrained conditions.

where Pf is the injection pressure that causes the clay 1981; Yanagisawa and Panah, 1989), and they can be
to fracture. The above mechanism assumes that the generalized by the following equation:
tensile fracture occurs when Eq. (11.53) is satised in
a uniform displacement eld at the injection cavity. Pf m3i n (11.57)
The fracture pressure Pf increases linearly with the in-
itial total conning pressure 3i with a slope of 2. In where m and n are material constants. Experimental
reality, deformation around the cavity is not uniform data give values of m varying between 1.5 and 1.8
and fracture can initiate at a localized zone at a pres- (Jaworski et al., 1981), whereas data indicating shear-
sure smaller than the prediction. This leads the slope induced fracture give values of m 1.05 to 1.085
between Pf and 3i to be smaller than 2. Other consid- (Panah and Yanagisawa, 1989). Reported values of
erations for this fracture mechanism include the effect fracture pressure as a function of conning pressure
l
of shear-induced pore pressure and a nonlinear stress for various soils are plotted in Fig. 11.107. The m val-
ria
strain relationship (Andersen et al., 1994). ues of individual data sets are in general bounded by
As injection pressure increases, the clay at the sur- Eqs. (11.55) and (11.56).
face of the cavity may reach undrained shear failure
before the circumferential effective stress becomes
Fracture under Drained Conditions
zero in uncemented soils or reaches the tensile strength
ate
in cemented soils. In such cases, the changes in the Forced seepage ow into a cavity in permeable soil
stress state at the cavity boundary with increasing cav- leads to soil fracture if the effective stress reduces to
ity strain are shown in Fig. 11.106b). Upon shear the negative sign of the tensile strength of the soil.
failure, the difference between the radial and circum- Practical applications of this situation are in situ per-
ferential stresses (both total and effective) remains
dM meability testing and bore hole stability.
equal to 2su, and, therefore, the minimum principal ef- To interpret the fracture conditions around a driven
fective stress never reaches zero. In such circumstance, piezometer, Bjerrum et al. (1972) developed the fol-
it is difcult to see how plastic yielding initiates a frac- lowing conditions for the initiation of fracture in soils
ture. However, there is much eld and experimental using the equilibrium equation with the assumptions of
evidence suggesting that fracture has indeed occurred steady state pore uid ow from a cylindrical cavity
even though plastic deformation was observed at the and elastic soil material. Horizontal cracks may de-
cavity due to the low undrained shear strength of the velop if the injection pressure exceeds the initial total
hte
soil (Mori and Tamura, 1987; Panah and Yanagisawa, vertical stress:
1989; Au et al., 2003). A possible explanation is that
the increase in plastic shear failure zone created shear Pinj u0 v0 (11.58)
bands or an unstable state around the cavity. This leads
to a localized microscale crack and the injected uid where Pinj is the injection pressure, u0 is the initial pore
can penetrate into the crack to produce local tensile pressure, and v0 is the initial vertical effective stress.
rig
stresses at the crack tips, as illustrated in Fig. 11.106b. Vertical cracks in the radial direction from the pie-
A simple cylindrical cavity expansion analysis shows zometer develop when the circumferential effective
that the cavity pressure required for the cavity bound- stress becomes smaller than the tensile strength of the
ary to reach the plastic state is material. Bjerrum et al. (1972) consider two cases: (i)
py
the piezometer is in contact with the surrounding soil

Pf 3i su (11.56) and (ii) the piezometer moves away from the surround-
ing soil (called blow off). For the former case,
cracks develop when the following condition is satis-
where 3i is the initial total stress prior to shearing and
Co
ed:
su is the undrained shear strength. The fracture pressure

Pf increases with initial conning pressure in direct
proportion (i.e., slope of 1). If the plastic zone around 1
Pinj u0 1 [t (1 )h0
] (11.59)
the expanding cavity increases before fracture initiates
or su increases with initial conning pressure, the frac-
ture pressure Pf would increase from the value given where is Poissons ratio, t is the tensile strength,
in Eq. (11.56) and, therefore, the linear proportion be- h0 is the initial horizontal effective stresses; is a
tween Pf and 3i is expected to be larger than 1. disturbance factor that considers the change in circum-
Empirical equations to estimate soil fracture under ferential effective stress due to piezometer installation.
undrained conditions are available (Jaworski et al., Typical values of are given in Table 11.6.

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 11.107 Increase in fracture pressure with initial conning pressure of different soils.
py
Co
Table 11.6 Typical Values of Disturbance Factors and
Range of
Compressibility Ratio
Soil Type E/ h0(1 v)
High compressibility 13 0.40.2 0.51.1

Medium compressibility 310 0.2 to 0.2 1.12.0
Low compressibility 1070 0.2 to 1.1 2.04.2
From Bjerrum et al. (1972).

In some cases, the radial effective stress in the soil al., 1992). Soil shrinks by the decrease in pore pressure
next to the piezometer becomes zero and the soil sep- and increase in effective stress. This decrease in vol-
arates from the piezometer. This occurs when the in- ume generates vertical cracks. On the other hand, the
jection pressure becomes larger than the total radial tensile strength that provides the resistance to crack
effective stress: formation increases with increased negativity of pore
water pressure.
Pinj u0 h0(1 ) (11.60)
Fracture Propagation
where is a disturbance factor that considers the Limited knowledge is available concerning fracture
change in radial effective stress during piezometer in- orientation and propagation. Some examples of frac-
stallation. Typical values of are given in Table 11.6. tures developed by injection of different uids are
l
Further increase in injection pressure leads to devel- shown in Fig. 11.109. When uid is injected into the
ria
opment of vertical cracks in the radial direction, which
occurs when the following condition is satised:
Pinj u0 (1 )[t (2 )h0

] (11.61)
ate
Desiccation Cracks
Reduction in moisture by surface evaporation from
clays leads to increase in interparticle contact forces
by suction. Soil then shrinks and desiccation cracks
may develop. The generation of cracks changes the
dM
hydraulic properties from Darcys-type homogeneous
ow to fracture-dominated ow. This can cause some
environmental problems, such as unexpected poor per-
formance of contaminant barrier systems. Figure
11.108 shows the crack patterns observed after desic-
cation of sensitive clays (Konrad and Ayad, 1997). The
cracks can be pentagonal and heptagonal in shape, and
hte
their size appears to be uniform. Morris et al. (1992)

report that crack depths from 0.5 to 6.0 m are observed (a)
in natural soils in Australia and Canada. Unfortunately,
the available knowledge for prediction of crack depth
and spacing is limited.
rig
The decrease in matrix suction resulting from evap-

oration leads to two counteracting effects (Morris et
py
Co
(b)
Figure 11.109 Different fracture patterns observed in labo-

ratory: (a) vertical and radial fractures hardened by epoxy
Figure 11.108 Photos of desiccation cracks (Konrad and and (b) horizontal fracture by cement bentonite mixture in-
Ayad, 1997). jection.

soil to create hydraulic fracture, a rule of thumb is that well before failure. A good example is the one-
vertical fractures are formed when K0 is less than 1 [as dimensional compression behavior discussed in Chap-
given Eq. (11.59)] and horizontal fractures develop ter 10. After the stress state becomes larger than the
when K0 is more than 1 [as given in Eq. (11.60) with preconsolidation pressure, the soil has yielded and
0]. However, this assumes injection into a linear plastic strains develop. This leads to the concept of
elastic innite soil medium. When multiple grout in- yield envelope (sometimes referred as yield surface or
jections are performed at close distance, horizontal limit state curve), which differentiates the state of the
fractures can be observed even though K0 is less than soil between elastic and plastic. Examples of the yield
1 (Soga et al., 2004). Natural bedding also affects frac- envelope of sands and clays were shown in Fig. 11.12.
ture orientation. In shallow formations, fractures are When the stress state reaches the yield envelope, the
often horizontally oriented or gradually dipped (Mur- total strain is governed by the development of plastic
l
doch and Slack, 2002). strain increments.
ria
Simple criteria presented as Eqs. (11.56) to (11.61) Unfortunately, for soils, there is no distinct transition
are applied for global stress conditions, where micro- from elastic to plastic behavior. Plastic strains do de-
scale cracks often develop by local tensile stresses at velop inside the yield envelope and the stiffness de-
the crack tips. Fracture mechanics have been used with grades even at very small strain levels. Figure 11.111
some success to characterize the cracking resistance of shows a schematic nonlinear stressstrain relationship
ate
the soils and to examine possible crack propagation
for a soil subjected to monotonic and cyclic deviator
(Morris et al., 1992; Harison et al., 1994; Murdoch and
loads. Some experimental data are shown in Figs.
Slack, 2002). The actual mechanisms of fracture de-
11.85 and 11.88. Under cyclic loading, the relation-
velopment in a uidsoil system are more complicated
ships are hysteretic, which indicates energy absorption,
than in the above analyses, as illustrated in Fig. 11.110.
They may involve plastic deformation at the crack tip,
dM or damping, during each complete cycle of stress re-
soil rate effects, penetration of injection uid into the versal. The shear modulus G and damping ratio are
cracks, and permeation of injection uid from cracks used to characterize the curves in Fig. 11.111, and they
into the soil medium. If the clay is overconsolidated are dened by
and saturated, the negative pore pressure generated by
shearing in front of the crack could possibly lead to
cavitation and dry cracks may develop in front of pen-
etrating injection uid.
hte
Secant Stiffness
11.17 DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS G1 G2

Shear Stress
Strains are often decomposed into elastic (recoverable)

and plastic (irrecoverable) parts. Conventional soil me- 2
rig
chanics assumes that plastic strains develop only when

the stress state satises some failure criterion (e.g., the Monotonic
loading curve
MohrColoumb criterion). Otherwise, the soil behaves
elastically. However, plastic strains usually develop 1
py
Localized Shearing 1 2 Shear Strain

with Dilation and Cyclic loading
Rate Effect curves
Co
Permeation
Injection Fluid Cavitation? Monotonic

loading curve
Fluid Penetration
Into Crack
Figure 11.110 Possible fracture propagation mechanisms in Figure 11.111 Monotonic and cyclic load stressstrain re-
soils. lationships at different strain amplitudes.

DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS 445
c mation parameters usually cannot be determined
G (11.62)
c accurately by conventional triaxial testing. With the
use of local strain measurement systems (Jardine et al.,
in which c is the applied shear stress and c is the 1984; Goto et al., 1991; Scholey et al., 1995; Cuccov-
corresponding shear strain, and illo and Coop, 1997; Lo Presti et al., 2001; Yimsiri and
Soga, 2002), however, it is now possible to measure
1 E the development of stresses from very small strains,
(11.63) which can then be used for accurate prediction of de-
2 G 2c
formations in the eld.
in which E is the energy dissipated per cycle per unit To characterize nonlinear deformation inside the
volume, given by the area within the hysteresis loop. yield envelope, it is convenient to dene four zones in
l
Understanding this pre-yield deformation behavior is the p q plane as shown in Figs. 11.112b, 112c and
ria
very important, as most strains observed in geotech- 112d. The initial stress state is considered to be at point
nical construction practice are indeed small (less than O, and the boundaries of the zones are determined by
0.1 percent) (Burland, 1989). Site response under stress probe testing in different stress path directions.
earthquake loading is inuenced by stiffness degrada- The boundaries often associated with strain levels (ax-
ate
tion and damping characteristics that are associated ial or shear strains), and the corresponding secant stiff-
with relatively small strain levels (Seed and Idriss, ness values are illustrated in Fig. 11.112a.
1982). This was illustrated in Fig. 11.9, which shows
typical strains observed in various types of geotech- 1. Zone 1 (True Elastic Region) Soil particles do
nical construction and shows that the necessary defor- not slide relative to each other under a small
dM
I II III IV
Stiffness G or E
q Critical-State Line
State A State B Y3 Envelope

IVIV
State C Y2 Envelope
hte
II III
dp Plastic Strain Increment

Strain
dt Total Strain Increment
O Y1 Envelope
1
dp/dt
Initial State
I
Strain p
rig
0
p
(a) (c) State B
Critical State Line q Critical State Line
q
py
Y3 Envelope Expanded Y3 Envelope

IV
II
III III
Y2 Envelope
Co
Y2 Envelope Y1 Envelope
I II O
Y1 Envelope Initial State
I
p
(b) State A (d) State C
Figure 11.112 Four zones of deformation characterization: (a) stiffness degradation and
plastic strain development, (b), (c), and (d) are the stress conditions and the location of the
four zones associated with three successive states (modied from Jardine, 1992).

stress increment, and the stiffness is at its maxi- elastic even though microscopically soil particles
mum. The soil stiffness is determined from con- may not be back to their original locations after
tact interactions, particle packing arrangement, the cyclic loading. When the stress state reaches
and elastic stiffness of the solids. The soil stiff- the outer boundary of zone 2 (called the Y2 en-
ness values can be obtained from elastic wave velope), plastic strains start to develop. The ini-
velocity measurements, resonant column testing, tiation of plastic strains can be determined by
and very accurate local strain transducers. Cyclic examining the onset of permanent volumetric
loading produces only very small hysteresis by strain in drained conditions or residual excess
stickslip motions at particle contacts and other pore pressures in undrained conditions after un-
mechanisms, producing very small energy dissi- loading. Hence the strain level that denes the Y2
pation less than 1 percent. The strains at which envelope is called volumetric threshold strain.23
l
the stress state reaches the outer boundary of The value of the volumetric threshold strain is
ria
zone 1 (called Y1 envelope) are usually described generally one order of magnitude higher than that
as elastic limit strains or elastic threshold strains. of the elastic threshold strains. The available ex-
This state is illustrated as state A in Fig. 11.112b. perimental data suggest that it ranges between
The elastic limit axial strain depends on soil type, 7 105 and 7 104 (the lower limit for un-
solid stiffness, and conning pressure as shown cemented normally consolidated sands and the
ate
in Table 11.7 for different geomaterials. Micro- upper limit for high plasticity clays and cemented
mechanics analysis by Santamarina et al. (2001) sands). At this strain level, the stiffness degrades
shows that it increases from less than 5 106 to 60 to 85 percent of the true elastic value
strain, for nonplastic soils at low conning pres- (Ishihara, 1996).
sure conditions, to greater than 5 104 strain
dM
at high conning pressure conditions or in soils
with high plasticity.
2. Zone 2 (Nonlinear Elastic Region) Soil parti- 23
Other denitions of the Y2 surface are available. For example, (a)
cles start to slide or roll relative to each other in perform undrained cyclic loading test and nd the linear relationship
this zone. The stressstrain behavior becomes between max and p / max, where max is the maximum strain for each
cycle and p is the residual strain (Smith et al., 1992); (b) the strain
nonlinear, and the stiffness begins to decrease level when excess pore pressures start to accumulate in a sequence
from the true elastic value as the applied strains of undrained cyclic tests at different strain levels (Vucetic, 1994); (c)
hte
or stresses increase. However, a complete cyclic change in the direction of strain path in the vols space in drained
tests (Kuwano, 1999); and (d) change in the slope of the excess pore
loading (unloading and reloading) shows full re- pressurevertical effective stress in undrained triaxial compression
covery of strains and therefore the zone is called test (Kuwano, 1999).
rig
Table 11.7 Elastic Limit Strain for Various Geomaterials from Triaxial Tests
Material Elastic Limit Axial Strain Soil Description

Dogs Bay sand 1 105 Uniform, angular biogenetic carbonate sand
py
Leighton Buzzard sand 2 105 Uniform, subround, quzartz sand

Kaolinite 2 105 Reconstituted clay
Berthieville clay 2 105 Soft silty clay
Bothkennar clay 2 105 3 105 Soft marine clay
2 105
Co
Queenborough clay Soft silty clay

Osaka Bay clay 1 105 Overconsolidated marine clay
London clay 2 105 Stiff overconsolidated, ssured clay
Vallericca clay 1 104 Weakly cemented overconsolidated clay
Calcarenite 1 104 Weak rock, carbonate sand cemented with calcite
Sandstone 2 104 Weak rock, quartz grain weakly bonded bny iron oxide
High-density chalk 5 105 Dry density 1.94 g/cm3
Low-density chalk 2 105 4 104 Dry density 1.35 g/cm3
Cement-treated sandy soil 1 104 Hard soil/weak rock
Samamihara mudstone 2 104 Weak rock
After Matthews et al. (2000).

LINEAR ELASTIC STIFFNESS 447
3. Zone 3 (Preyield Plastic Region) As the stress envelope as illustrated in Figs. 11.112c and 11.112d.
state approaches the yield envelope (Y3 enve- If a stress state is probed in a certain direction within
lope), the ratio of plastic to total strain increases, zone 2, the Y1 envelope is dragged with the stress state.
approaching values close to 1.0 at the yield en- When the stress path is reversed inside the Y1 envelope,
velope. This state is illustrated as state B in Figs. the soil behaves as truly elastic. Once the stress state
11.112a and 11.112c. Soil particles slide relative reaches the other side of the Y1 envelope, the Y1 en-
to one another, with strong force chains breaking velope is again dragged with the stress state. When the
and reforming continuously to accommodate the stress state is in zone 3, both Y1 and Y2 envelopes are
changing stress conditions. dragged with the stress state. The movement of these
4. Zone 4 (Full Plastic Region) Once the stress surfaces is therefore kinematic. The stiffness and its
state reaches the Y3 yield envelope, there is a dis- degradation are controlled by the new stress path di-
l
tinct kink in the stressstrain relationship and rection in relation to the previous stress path direction
ria
plastic strains develop fully. This state is illus- (Atkinson et al., 1990). If the soil is allowed to age at
trated as state C in Figs. 11.112a and 11.112d. a xed effective stress point, the Y1 and Y2 envelopes
The yield envelope expands or shrinks depending may grow in size.
on the plastic increments; in general, the yield
envelope expands if positive plastic volumetric
ate
strain (contraction) develops, whereas it shrinks 11.18 LINEAR ELASTIC STIFFNESS
if negative plastic volumetric strain (dilation)
develops. The sizes of Y1 and Y2 surfaces may Knowledge of soil stiffness in the linear elastic region
change with the enlargement or shrinkage of Y3 is important for evaluating soil response under dy-
surface. If the stress state reaches the critical
dM namic loadings such as earthquakes, mechanical vibra-
state, the soil is considered to have reached fail- tion, and vehicle vibration. It also provides indirect
ure. information regarding the state and natural soil struc-
ture, and, therefore, stiffness values can be used to as-
Examples of experimentally determined boundaries sess the quality of soil samples (i.e., the degree of soil
are shown in Fig. 11.12b for Bothkennar clay and Fig. disturbance). The linear elastic stiffness of soils is eval-
11.113 for Ham River sand. These zones are not xed uated from measurements of elastic wave velocities or
in space when the stress state moves inside the Y3 yield use of local displacement transducers. Theoretical
hte
analysis of elastic waves in a particulate assembly is

outside the scope of this book, but details can be found
in Richart et al. (1970) and Santamarina et al. (2001),
0.3
among others.
Y3 Envelope The small strain shear modulus (Gmax) depends on
the applied conning pressure and packing conditions
rig
0.2 of soil particles. The following empirical equation

(Hardin and Black, 1966) is often used for isotropic
Initial Stress stress conditions24:
State Y1 Envelope
0.1
Gmax AF(e)pn
py
(11.64)
q = a r
Stress Path to Y2 Envelope

0.0
Initial State where F(e) is a void ratio function, p is the mean
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 effective stress, and A and n are material constants. An
example of the tting was shown in Fig. 11.11, and
Co
p = (a + 2r )/3

Table 11.8 summarizes some experimental data for dif-
-0.1
ferent types of soils.
Equation (11.64) is dimensionally inconsistent, ex-
Y3 Envelope cept when n 1. Various theoretical solutions such as
-0.2 the HertzMindlin contact theory are available to re-
-0.3 24
In practice, Gmax and pare often normalized by pa (reference pres-
sure such as atmospheric pressure) so that the equation appears to
Figure 11.113 Y1, Y2, and Y3 envelopes for Ham River sand be dimensionally consistent. However, there is no physical meaning
(Jardine et al., 2001). to this.

Table 11.8 Coefcients Used in Eq. (11.64)
Void Ratio Test

Soil Type A F(e) n Range Method a Reference
Sand
Round-grain Ottawa 6,900 (2.174 e)2 0.5 0.30.8 RC Hardin and Richart
sand 1e (1963)
Angular-grain crushed 3,270 (2.973 e)2 0.5 0.61.3 RC Hardin and Richart
quartz 1e (1963)
l
Several sands 9,000 (2.17 e)2 0.4 0.60.9 RC Iwasaki et al. (1978)
ria
1e
Toyoura sand 8,000 (2.17 e)2 0.5 0.60.8 Cyclic TX Kokusho (1980)
1e
ate
Several cohesionless 4,500 1 0.5 NA RC Hardin and Blandford
and cohesive soils 140,000 0.3 0.7e2 (1989)
Ticino sand 7,100 (2.27 e)2 0.43 0.60.9 RC and Lo Presi et al. (1993)
dM 1e TS
Clays
Reconstituted NC 3,270 (2.973 e)2 0.5 0.51.5 RC Hardin and Black
kaoline 1e (1968)
Several undisturbed 3,270 (2.973 e)2 0.5 0.51.7 RC Hardin and Black
NC clays 1e (1968)
hte
Reconstituted NC 4,500 (2.973 e)2 0.5 1.11.3 RC Marcuson and Wahls

kaolin 1e (1972)
Reconstituted NC 450 (4.4 e)2 0.5 1.62.5 RC Marcuson and Wahls

bentonite 1e (1972)
rig
Several undisturbed 8931,726 (2.973 e)2 0.460.61 0.41.1 RC Kim and Novak
silts and clays 1e (1981)
Undisturbed NC clay 90 (7.32 e)2 0.6 1.73.8 Cyclic TX Kokusho et al.

py
1e (1982)
Undisturbed Italian 4,4008,100 e1.3(average 0.400.58 0.61.8 RC and Jamiolkowski et al.
clays from ex: x BE (1995)b
1.111.43)
Co
Several soft clays 5,000 e1.5 0.5 15 SCPT Shibuya and Tanaka
(1996)c
Several soft clays 18,000 1 0.5 16 SCPT Shibuya et al. (1997)c
30,000 (1 e)2.4
a
RC: resonant column test, TX: triaxial test, TS: torsional shear test, BE: bender element test, SCPT: seismic cone test.
b
From anisotropic stress condition.
c
Using v instead of p.
After Yimsiri (2001).

Table 11.9 Some Analytical Solutions for Shear Modulus Under Isotropic Loading of p
Coordination
Packing Number Shear Modulus
Simple cubic 6 Gmax
Gg

3
2 1/3
(1 g)1 / 3 p
2 g Gg 1/3
Body-centered cubic 8 Gmax

Gg
9
1
6 1/3
(1 g)1 / 3 p
6 5g Gg 1/3
l
Face-centered cubic 12 Gmax 1 3
1/3
(4 3g) p
1/3
ria

Gg 2 2 (2 g)(1 g)2/3
Gg
Random packing Cn Gmax 1

Gg

3cn
5 2(1 e) 2/3
(5 4g) p
(2 g)(1 g)2 / 3 Gg 1/3
ate
After Santamarina and Cascante (1996).
late the global elastic stiffness to microscopic proper- F(e). Several expressions are available for the void ra-
ties such as particle stiffness and Poissons ratio, tio function as listed in Table 11.8. These functions are
dM
number of contacts, void ratio, and contact force di- empirical and apply for specic ranges of void ratios
rections (see Table 11.9). These solutions suggest that and, therefore, should be used with caution.
the pressure p and Gmax could be normalized by the Equation (11.64) is derived assuming isotropic stress
shear modulus of the particle itself (Gg). conditions. Anisotropic stress conditions as well as an-
It is noted from Table 11.8 that the values of the isotropic soil fabric give stiffness values that depend
exponent n range from 0.4 to 0.6. As shown in Table on the direction of loading. The shear modulus is a
hte
11.9, however, classical contact mechanics solutions function of the principal effective stresses in the direc-
using the HertzMindlin contact theory predict n tions of wave propagation and particle motion and is
13 . This is because the soil particles are assumed to be relatively independent of the out-of-plane principal
smooth elastic spheres. If the contacts are considered stress. This is shown in Fig. 11.114, in which the var-
to be an interaction of rough surfaces, the modication iations of measured shear wave velocities propagating
of theory leads to increases in the exponent to values in three different directions (Vsxy, Vsyz, and Vszx) are
rig
that are closer to the experimental observations given shown as the vertical effective stress z was increased
in Table 11.8 (Yimsiri and Soga, 2000).
By comparing Eq. (11.64) with the micromechanical
model listed at the bottom of Table 11.9, it is possible
z Change in Vertical Effective Stress
to relate the void ratio function F(e) to number of con-
py
tacts per particle (i.e., coordination number) and A to 400 Direction of Wave Propagation
Vs-zx
S-wave Velocity, Vs (m/s)
the elastic properties of particle itself. From the anal- Particle Motion
ysis of uniform grain fabrics, the coordination number Vs-xy
Cn can be related to the porosity n by Eq. (5.1) or to
Co
Vs-xy
the void ratio e by the following equation. (Chang et Vs-yz
300
al., 1991).
Vs-yz
Vs-zx
Cn 13.28 8e (11.65)
By varying compaction effort, sand samples can be 200

20 40 60 80 100 200 300
prepared to different densities for a given applied con-
Vertical Effective Stress, z (kPa)
ning stress. In this case, a smaller void ratio implies
that the number of particle contacts is larger, and, Figure 11.114 Variation of shear wave velocities in different
therefore, the small strain stiffness increases. This ef- directions as a function of anisotropic stresses (Stokoe et al.,
fect is taken into account in the void ratio function 1995).

with the horizontal effective stresses x and y being z Change in Vertical Effective Stress
held constant (Stokoe et al., 1995). The shear wave 600 Direction of Wave Propagation
Vp-zz
Vsxy, which propagates and has the particle motion in
P-wave Velocity, Vp (m/s)

Particle Motion
the out-of-plane directions, shows no change in its ve- Vp-zz
Vp-xx Vp-xx
locity. This leads to the following empirical equation 500
Vp-yy
for stiffness under anisotropic stress conditions (Roes-
ler, 1979; Yu and Richart, 1984; Stokoe et al., 1985, 400 Vp-yy
1991; Hardin and Blandford, 1989):
Gij(max) AGFGi rGj sG OCRk (11.66) 300

20 40 60 80 100 200 300
Vertical Effective Stress, z (kPa)
l
where i is the effective normal stress in the direction
ria
Figure 11.115 Variation of P-wave velocities in different di-
of wave propagation, j is the effective normal stress
rections as a function of anisotropic stresses (Stokoe et al.,
in the direction of particle motion, and AG, rG, sG, and 1995).
k are material constants. Experimental evidence sug-
gests that rG sG. Hence, an alternative equation that
ate
relates the stiffness to the mean state of stress on the and Tatsuoka, 1998). This leads to the following em-
plane of particle motion is also available: pirical equation for small strain Youngs modulus:
Gij(max) AGFG
dM i j
2 nG
OCRk (11.67)
Ei(max) AEF(e)i nE (11.69)
where AE and nE are material constants. Micro-

Equations (11.66) and (11.67) include the effect of mechanics analysis by Yimsiri and Soga (2000) sup-
overconsolidation ratio (OCR). Hardin and Black ports this relation when the change in contact fabric
(1968) found that k is a function of plasticity index (k anisotropy with applied stress is considered.
increasing from 0 to 0.5 as PI increases from 0 to more Limited data are available with respect to Poissons
than 100). Viggiani and Atkinson (1995) report k ratio, and it is often assumed to be a constant value.
0.3 for reconstituted kaolin and k 0.35 for reconsti- The data by Hoque and Tatsuoka (1998) shown in Fig.
hte
tuted and undisturbed London clay. It can be argued 11.117 indicate that Poissons ratio vh (i.e., horizontal
that the void ratio function is a redundant factor since expansion by vertical load) increases with vertical ef-
the void ratio is a unique function of present effective fective stress and decreases with increase in horizontal
stress, stress history (OCR), and soil compressibility. stress. The following empirical equations are proposed
However, this argument should be restricted to recon- by Horque and Tatsuoka (1998) for Poissons ratios:
stituted clays and not applied to natural clays.
rig
vh AvhF(e)(v / h)nvh (11.70)

Similar empirical equations are proposed for other
elastic constants. P-wave velocity is a function only of
hv AhvF(e)(h / v)nhv (11.71)
the effective stress in the coaxial direction as shown in
Fig. 11.115 (Stokoe et al., 1995). Hence, the small
where Avh, Ahv, nvh, and nhv are material constants.
py
strain constrained modulus Mi(max) in the i direction can

Hoque and Tatsuoka (1998) report the values of nvh
be expressed as
and nhv can be assumed to be half of nE given in Eq.
(11.69).
Mi(max) AMF(e)inM (11.68) Small strain stiffness anisotropy originates from (i)
Co
anisotropic stress conditions and (ii) anisotropic soil

where AM and nM are material constants. fabric. The former is considered in Eqs. (11.66) to
Similarly to the constrained modulus, the small (11.71). For the latter, the material constant A should
strain Youngs modulus Ei(max) in the i direction (e.g., be directionally dependent reecting a given aniso-
vertical or horizontal) is a function of the effective tropic fabric. The effect of soil fabric on small strain
stress in the coaxial direction (i direction) only. The stiffness of reconstituted London clay specimens is
increase in Youngs modulus with stress in the coaxial shown in Fig. 11.118 where the shear wave velocities
direction is shown in Fig. 11.116a, whereas no change in different directions are measured under the same
in the modulus with the increase in the stresses in or- conning pressures, and three different values of stiff-
thogonal direction is shown in Fig. 11.116b (Hoque ness (Gvh, Ghv, and Ghh) are obtained. Results indicate

5000
Ev SLB Sand Ev Toyoura Sand
Eh SLB Sand E
Ehv Toyoura
Toyoura sand
Sand
Ev/(F(e)Pa) or Eh/(F(e)Pa)
4000
3000
l
2000
ria
For Ev (or Eh) measurement, v/Pa (or h/Pa) is
varied between 1.0 and 2.0 at each v (or h)
1000
1.0 1.5 2.0 Figure 11.117 Poissions ratio as a function of anisotropic
v/Pa or h/Pa stresses (Hoque and Tatsuoka, 1998).
ate
(a) Ev versus v and Eh versus h
Eh SLB Sand Eh Toyoura Sand
1.2
dM
Ev/(AEF(e)v)
1.0
0.8
hte
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

h/P a
(b) E v versus h
rig
Figure 11.116 Vertical and horizontal Youngs modulus as Figure 11.118 Stiffness anisotropy of undisturbed London
a function of anisotropic stresses for Toyoura sand (Hoque clay under isotropic stress conditions (Jovicic and Coop,
and Tatsuoka, 1998). 1998).
py
For sands, most studies show that the ratio Ghh /Gvh
that, for a given conning pressure, the values of Ghh is greater than 1 (e.g., Lo Presti and ONeill, 1991;
are larger than those of Gvh Ghv. Hence, the soil is Stokoe et al., 1991; Bellotti et al., 1996). However,
inherently stiffer horizontally than vertically due to its reported values for the ratio of Ev /Eh are inconclusive;
Co
soil fabric. some sands are stiffer in the vertical direction (Hoque
The reported data on clay under isotropic stress con- and Tatsuoka, 1998), whereas the others are stiffer in
ditions consistently show that Ghh is approximately 50 the horizontal direction (Stokoe et al., 1991). Aniso-
percent larger than Gvh, indicating inherent anisotropic tropic properties are related to fabric (contact) aniso-
characteristics caused by orientation of platy clays tropy, and therefore the mixed results obtained may be
(Pennington et al., 1997; Jovicic and Coop, 1998). The due to the differences in sample preparation proce-
ratios of Ghh /Gvh for six Italian clays measured in one- dures.
dimensional consolidation tests were between 1.3 and The experimental data show that the small strain
2.0, and the ratio increased with overconsolidation ra- stiffness is rather insensitive to the strain rate and num-
tio (Jamiolkowski et al., 1995). ber of loading cycles as long as the loading is within

the true elastic range but that the elastic limit strain analysis. For instance, assume that the true elastic axial
increases with strain rate (Shibuya et al., 1992; Tat- stiffness of a soil is 100 MPa. Considering that the
suoka et al., 1997). Resonant column tests on clays and elastic threshold axial strain is of the order of 105,
sands show that the small strain shear modulus is in- the axial stress increment required to reach to this
dependent of frequency in the range of 0.05 to 2500 strain level is only 1 kPa. Hence, errors in stiffness of
Hz (e.g., Hardin and Richart, 1963; Hardin and Drnev- 100 percent result in small differences in the asso-
ich, 1972; Stokoe et al., 1995). ciated stress increments (a few kilopascals). Typical
Although conservation of energy may be an issue strain levels under working loads are usually in an in-
for true elastic response, experimental evidence indi- termediate level between linear elastic and plastic de-
cates that energy is dissipated even at this strain level formation, and, therefore, the knowledge of nonlinear
and damping values are typically 0.35 to 1 percent for (zone 2) and irreversible (zone 3) deformation char-
l
sands and 1.0 to 1.5 percent for clays. Similar to the acteristics is more important for evaluating ground
ria
small strain stiffness, the damping at very small strain movements accurately.
also depends on conning pressure and the following Stiffness degradation from small strains to interme-
empirical form is proposed (Hardin, 1965): diate strains has been recognized in resonant column
testing since the 1960s when the soil was subjected to
Bpm (11.72) cyclic loading (Hardin and Drnevich, 1972). Nowa-
ate
days, detailed characterization of deformation proper-
where B and m are material constants. The reported ties at intermediate strain levels is possible with the
values of the exponent m range from 0.05 to 0.22 use of local strain measurement systems, as described
(Santamarina and Cascante, 1996; Stokoe et al., 1999). previously.
Although the particles in contact are not moving rel- The shear modulus decreases and the damping in-
ative to each other, some microscopic proportion of the
dM
contact area can slide or slip, which is known as the
creases as the shear strain increases because of struc-
tural breakdown that results in a decreasing proportion
stickslip frictional contact loss. Micromechanical of elastic deformation and an increasing proportion of
analysis considering the energy dissipation by this plastic strain with increasing shear strain. The shear
behavior gives m 23 . Santamarina and Cascante modulus degradation curves of Ticino sand, obtained
(1996) attribute the difference to other attenuation by monotonic and cyclic loadings using various testing
mechanisms available in soils. These include chemical apparatus (triaxial compression, torsional shear, and
interaction of adsorbed layers at contacts, wave scat-
hte
resonant column) are shown in Fig. 11.119 (Tastuoka

tering, thermal relaxation, and other forms of energy et al., 1997). The small strain stiffness is nearly inde-
coupling (e.g., mechanoelectromagnetic, mechano-
pendent of the test type, but at larger strains, the cyclic
acoustic). The damping is also affected by loading fre-
loading gives consistently larger shear modulus com-
quency, which is further described in Chapter 12.
It has been argued that the use of the empirical equa-
rig
tions presented above may produce nonconservative

Monotonic Triaxial
elastic response in terms of energy conservation 100 Monotonic Torsional Shear
(i.e., it may generate energy during a closed stress
Secant Shear Modulus G G
Cyclic Triaxial
loop) (Zytynski et al., 1978). To be thermomechani- Cyclic Torsional shear
cally consistent, theoretical models for the pressure- 80
py
Resonant Column
dependent stiffness of soils are available (e.g.,
Houlsby, 1985; Hueckel et al., 1992; Borja et al., 1997; 60
Einav and Puzrin, 2004). They show that, if both shear
and bulk moduli are to be mean pressure dependent,
Co
the stiffness needs to be anisotropic and stress induced. 40

This is important in deformation analysis since the an- Ticino Sand
isotropic stiffness in turn leads to cross dependence 20 0 = 49 kPa
between shear behavior and volumetric behavior (Gra- e = 0.640
ham and Houlsby, 1983).
0
10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100
11.19 TRANSITION FROM ELASTIC TO Shear Strain (%)
PLASTIC STATES
Figure 11.119 Stiffness degradation of Ticino sand obtained
In some cases, accurate evaluation of stiffness values by monotonic and cyclic loadings using various testing ap-
at very small strains may not be crucial in geotechnical paratus (Tatsuoka et al., 1997).

TRANSITION FROM ELASTIC TO PLASTIC STATES 453
pared to the monotonic loading at a given strain level. cause the specimens had different stress path histories
This is because the soil densies during cyclic loading prior to shearing (AO, BO, CO, and DO) [termed re-
and the number of loading cycles has an effect on stiff- cent stress history by Atkinson et al. (1990)], and
ness. As noted earlier, the shear strain level that gives stiffer response was obtained when the stress path was
an onset of permanent volumetric strain in drained con- reversed (D O X). The use of the multisurface
ditions or residual excess pore pressures in undrained concept described in Section 11.17 conveniently ex-
conditions after unloading is called the volumetric plains this complex deformation behavior.
threshold strain. Since the small strain elastic stiffness is also inu-
The stiffness degradation curve is inuenced by enced by the same factors, the stiffness degradation
many factors such as stress state, stress path, soil type, curves are sometimes normalized by the small strain
and soil fabric (i.e., anisotropy). For example, Fig. stiffness; G/Gmax versus log or E/Emax versus log a.
l
11.10 shows the stiffness degradation of sands and A summary of normalized shear modulus degradation
ria
clays subjected to increase in shear stress at different curves for a variety of soils are shown in Fig. 11.121
conning pressures. The effect of stress path directions (Kokusho, 1987). The curve for modulus degradation
on the stiffness degradation curve is shown in Fig. with increasing strain may be somewhat atter for
11.120 (Atkinson et al., 1990). Triaxial tests were per- gravels than that for sands and clays. The curves tend
formed on reconstituted overconsolidated London clay to move to the right as the conning pressure in-
ate
specimens in such a way as to maintain a constant creases; it is possible that the degradation curve at very
mean pressure. Different stiffness degradation curves high conning pressure (in the megapascal range) may
were obtained even though they were sheared along lie beyond the bands given in Fig. 11.121 (Laird and
the same stress path (OX in Fig. 11.120a). This is be- Stokoe, 1993).
dM Sands and Gravels
The following relationship can be used for the dynamic
shear modulus of sands and gravels at different strain
Deviator stress q (kPa)
X
levels (Seed et al., 1984):
100 D
0
C O A
G
pa
22.1K2
p
pa 1/2
(11.73)
hte
100 200 400

-100 B where p is the mean effective principle stress, pa is
the atmospheric pressure, and K2 is a coefcient that
(a) depends primarily on grain size, relative density, and
shear strain. The coefcient K2 is generally greater by
rig
40
a factor from about 1.35 to 2.5 for gravels than for
sands. Values of K2 vary with relative density and shear
(D)OX
30
Shear Modulus G (MPa)
py
(A)OX
1.0
Shear Modulus Ratio G/Gmax
20
Co
(C)OX
10 Clay, 100 kPa
0.5
(B)OX Sand, 50 kPa
0 Gravel, 50 ~ 830 kPa

10-2 10-1 100 101
Deviator strain (%) 0.0
(b) 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100
Shear Strain (%)
Figure 11.120 Recent stress history effect on stiffness deg-
radation: (a) stress paths and (b) stiffness degradation on OX Figure 11.121 Normalized stiffness degradation curves of
stress path (from Atkinson et al., 1990). various types of soils (Kokusho, 1987).

strain approximately as shown in Fig. 11.122 and with Dobry (1991) based on the results of a review of avail-
void ratio and shear strain as shown in Fig. 11.123. able cyclic load data from 16 different studies. The
Equation (11.73) assumes that the exponent is 12 . Ex- inuences of various compositional and environmental
perimental evidence suggests that the exponent in- factors on shear modulus and damping ratio of nor-
creases with strain level as shown in Fig. 11.124 and mally consolidated and moderately overconsolidated
reaches 0.8 to 0.9 at a strain level of 1 percent (Jovicic clays are listed in Table 11.10.
and Coop, 1998; Yamashita et al., 2000). Vucetic and Dobry (1991) hypothesized that increas-
Values of the damping ratio for sands and gravels ing plasticity inuences the degradation curves in the
are about the same, and they are only slightly inu- following manner. Increasing plasticity index reects
enced by grain size and density. The ranges of values decreasing particle size and increasing specic surface
as a function of cyclic shear strain are shown in Fig. area. The number of interparticle contacts becomes
l
11.125. The damping value decreases with increasing large, and interparticle electrical and chemical bonding
ria
number of loading cycles and conning pressure, and and repulsive forces become large relative to the par-
much of the decrease occurs in the rst 10 cycles (Sto- ticle weights in comparison with sands. The many
koe et al., 1999). bonds within the microstructure act as a system of rel-
atively exible linear springs that can resist larger
ate
Clays shear strains (up to 0.1 percent before they are broken)
Although the variation of shear moduli and damping than is the case for sands, wherein particle elasticity is
ratio with shear strain is relatively independent of com- practically the only source of linear behavior, and in-
position for sands and gravels, the same is not the case terparticle sliding at contacts may start at strains as low
for cohesive soils. Curves of the type shown in Figs. as percent with the onset of plastic deformations.
11.121 and 11.125 are displaced to the right for clays
dM To these ideas might be added the fact that the thin,
with increasing plasticity, as shown by Fig. 11.126. platy morphology of most clay particles make them
These relationships were developed by Vucetic and able to deform elastically to considerably greater levels
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 11.122 Shear modulus factor K2 for sands as a function of relative density and shear
strain (Seed et al., 1984).

TRANSITION FROM ELASTIC TO PLASTIC STATES 455
l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 11.123 Shear modulus factor K2 for sands as a function of void ratio and shear strain
(Seed et al., 1984).
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 11.124 Variation of the shear modulus n exponent

value with strains on Dogs Bay sand (Jovicic and Coop, Figure 11.125 Damping ratios for sands and gravels (Seed
1997). et al., 1984).

fully plastic state is obtained when the stress state

reaches the yield envelope as discussed in Section
11.17. As long as the stress state during and after geo-
technical construction is within the yield envelope, the
strain generated is elastic dominated. Hence, in order
to control ground deformation in overconsolidated
clays, it is useful to keep the construction-induced
stress paths within the yield envelope.
Once the stress state reaches the yield envelope, the
generated strain will be plastic dominated. Generation
of plastic strains is often unavoidable in normally and
l
lightly overconsolidated clays because the initial stress
ria
state is either already on or near the yield envelope.
The most important mechanical feature of soil in the
plastic state is dilatancy, in which there is coupling
between shear and volumetric deformations. That is,
dense sands and heavily overconsolidated clays exhibit
ate
volume dilation in drained conditions and negative ex-
cess pore pressure generation in undrained conditions,
whereas loose sands and normally consolidated and
lightly overconsolidated clays exhibit volume contrac-
dM tion in drained conditions and positive excess pore
pressure generation in undrained conditions. The rule
that governs the generation of plastic volumetric strain
associated with plastic deviator strain is called the di-
latancy (or ow) rule. Some examples of this for dense
sands were already presented in Eqs. (11.34) and
(11.35), in which the degree of dilatancy [dy/dx in Eq.
(11.34) and in Eq. (11.35)] is related to the applied
hte
Figure 11.126 Normalized modulus and damping ratio as a principal stress ratio (or the mobilized friction angle)
function of cyclic shear strain showing the inuence of soil and the internal friction angle. These observations are
composition as measured by plasticity index (from Vucetic important because the incorporation of stressdilatancy
and Dobry, 1991). Reprinted with permission of ASCE. into plasticity theory can lead to a useful form of con-
stitutive modeling for soils.
The development of plastic strains is often charac-
rig
terized by the following three aspects of soil behavior:

of strain than is possible for the bulky, stiff granular (a) yield envelope, (b) dilatancy rule, and (c) hardening
particles. Furthermore, the several orders-of-magnitude rule, which relates the change in the size of yield en-
smaller size and greater number of interparticle con- velope to plastic strain increments. By assigning math-
tacts per unit volume for the cohesive materials mean
py
ematical functions to these three aspects of soil

that even minute elastic distortions at interparticle con- behavior, a plastic constitutive model can be devel-
tacts can give a cumulative strain that is large. For a oped. Detailed review and development of all recent
cohesionless soil to develop such large shear defor- plasticity theories and proposed constitutive soil mod-
mations would require much greater displacements at els are beyond the scope of this book. However, some
Co
intergrain contacts than could be accommodated with- essential aspects of soil behavior observed during plas-
out sliding. tic deformation are summarized here.
Yield Envelope and Hardening

11.20 PLASTIC DEFORMATION
The yield envelope denes the stress state when there
Irrecoverable plastic strain initiates at a shear strain is full development of plastic strains. Typical yield en-
level of approximately 102 percent, and the amount velopes measured for a natural clay consolidated at
of plastic strain increases with further deformation. A different conning pressures are shown in Fig. 11.127.

PLASTIC DEFORMATION 457
Table 11.10 Effect of Various Compositional and Environmental Factors on Maximum Shear Modulus Gmax,
Modulus Ratio G /Gmax, and Damping Ratio of Normally Consolidated and Moderately Overconsolidated Clays
Increasing Factor Gmax G/ Gmax

(1) (2) (3) (4)
Conning pressure, 0 Increases with 0 Stays constant or Stays constant or
(or vc) increases with 0 decreases with 0
Void ratio, e Decreases with e Increases with e Decreases with e
Geologic age, tg Increases with tg May increase with tg Decreases with tg
Cementation, c Increases with c May increase with c May decrease with c
l
Overconsolidation, Increases with OCR Not affected Not affected
ria
OCR
Plasticity index, PI Increases with PI if Increases with PI Decreases with PI
OCR 1; stays
about constant if
OCR 1
ate
Cyclic strain, c Decreases with c Increases with c
Strain rate, Increases with G increases with ; Stays constant or may
(frequency of cyclic G/ Gmax probably not increase with
loading) affected if G and
Gmax are measured at
same
Number of loading
dM Decreases after N Decreases after N cycles Not signicant for
cycles, N cycles of large c but of large c (Gmax moderate c and N
recovers later with measured before N
time cycles)
From Dobry and Vucetic (1987).
hte
Some observations can be made from this gure as

follows:
1. The yield envelope is a function of stress and its

rig
size is controlled by stress history variables such

as preconsolidation pressure. This is often ex-
pressed mathematically as
py
F(, pc, ) 0 (11.74)
where is the effective stresses, pc is the pre-

consolidation pressure, and is the rotation angle
Co
of the yield envelope with respect to the mean

pressure axis. The yield envelopes of intact sam-
ples are larger than those of remolded (or de-
structured) samples; geological aging processes
and cementation produce large yield envelopes
for intact clays as shown in Fig. 11.128. When
the cementation bonding breaks down and the
Figure 11.127 Yield surfaces of Winnipeg clay at different soil becomes destructured, the yield envelope can
conning pressures (Graham et al., 1983b). become smaller.

tions [i.e., (a) triaxial compression, (b) isotropic,

0.6 Intact State and (c) triaxial extension]. A mathematical form
that describes the change in with generation of
Destructured State
plastic strains is called the rotational hardening
(a r)/2p
0.4 rule.
Magnitude of Plastic Strains and StressDilatancy

0.2
Once the stress state is on the yield envelope, the soil
is in the fully plastic state. The arrows in Fig. 11.129
show the vector magnitude of plastic strains measured
0
for a given stress increment. The vertical component
l
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
of the arrows is the deviator plastic strain increment
ria
(a+ r)/2p
d ps (or d p), whereas the horizontal component is the
(a) volumetric plastic strain increment dpv.25 Similarly, the
plastic strain vectors measured in Winnipeg clay are
0.6 Intact State shown in Fig. 11.130 (Graham et al., 1983b). The vec-
ate
tor of the plastic strain increment appears to be a func-
Destructured State
tion of the current stress state. This observation leads
(a r)/2p
0.4 to the concept of stressdilatancy.

Dilatancy during plastic deformation can be ex-
pressed as the ratio of plastic volumetric strain incre-
0.2 dM ment dpv to plastic deviatoric increment dsp; D
dpv /dsp. For clays, the value of D can be expressed as
a function of stress ratio and material constants. For
0 instance, the following stressdilatancy equation can
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
be proposed based on Taylors equation (11.34)26:
(a+r)/2p
(b) dpv q
M 0 (11.75)
ds
p
p
hte
Figure 11.128 Yield surfaces of intact and destructured soft

clays: (a) Saint Alban clay and (b) Backebol clay (Leroueil
and Vaughan, 1990).
where 0 is the initial anisotropy (e.g., Sekiguchi and
Ohta, 1977). When 0 0, the equation becomes the
stressdilatancy rule used in the Cam-clay model (Ros-
coe and Schoeld, 1963). Soil exhibits contractive be-
rig
2. The yield envelope increases in size with increas- havior when the dilation angle is negative and q/p is
ing preconsolidation pressure pc, which is often less than M 0, whereas the soil exhibits dilative
associated with the generation of plastic volu- behavior when the dilation angle is positive and q/p
metric strain. The size increases as the soil is is more than M 0. Figure 11.131 shows the stress
more densely packed along the normal consoli- dilatancy relationship for the data presented in Fig.
py
dation line. A mathematical form that describes 11.130. The data follow a similar trend to Eq. (11.75).
the change in pc with generation of plastic strains Other stressdilatancy rules that are used to derive
is called the hardening rule. constitutive models for clays are available.
3. The shape of the yield envelope is often an in- Experimental evidence suggests that the stress
Co
clined ellipse in the p q plane. The inclination dilatancy relationship for sand depends on conning
is related to the anisotropic consolidation history pressure and density as well as soil fabric, compared
as well as the anisotropic fabrics. Some yield en- to a simpler form used in clays such as Eq. (11.75).
velopes of sands are shown in Fig. 11.129 (Yas- Rowe (1962) derived the following stressdilatancy
ufuku et al., 1991). The yield envelopes were
determined by applying different stress paths and
connecting the stress state when the plastic 25
In triaxial condition, dpv dpa 2drp, dsp (23 )(dpa dpr ), and
strains initiate for a given stress path. The shape d p dpa dpr , where dpa is the axial plastic strain and dpr is the
of the yield envelopes resembles a tear drop, and radial plastic strain.
26
Note that Taylors expression was for the peak state only. This
the inclinations of the yield envelopes are clearly equation is applied to all stress state conditions under plastic defor-
affected by the initial anisotropic stress condi- mation for both loose and dense cases.

PLASTIC DEFORMATION 459
q q q
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
0.8 0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6 0.6

Initial Initial
0.4 State 0.4 0.4
State
0.2 0.2 Initial 0.2
(MPa) State (MPa) (MPa)
0.0 0.0 0.0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 p 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 p 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 p
-0.2 -0.2 -0.2
l
-0.4 -0.4 -0.4
ria
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 11.129 Yield surfaces of sands with different initial stress histories. Initial states (a)
compression, (b) isotropic, and (c) extension (Yasufuku et al., 1991).
ate
d p Cam-clay
1.4
(Roscoe and Schofield, 1963)
dsp
d pv/d ps = M - q/p
dM 1.2
d vp Modified Cam-clay
Stress Ratio q/p'
(Roscoe and Burland, 1968)

0.6 d pv/d ps = [M2 - (q/p)2]/ 2(q/p) 1
Data from Graham et al. (1983).
0.8 See Fig 11.130
0.4
Modified Cam-clay
q/p
0.6
0.4
0.2
hte
0.2
Cam-clay
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
p
Plastic Strain Ratio (-d pv/d s)
p/p
rig
Figure 11.130 Plastic strain vectors at yielding of natural Figure 11.131 Stress dilatancy relations of natural Winnipeg
Winnipeg clay (Graham et al., 1983b). clay (Wood, 1991).
py
rule for sand in triaxial loading based on his experi- respectively. Equations (11.76) and (11.77) have a sim-
mental data as well as theoretical analysis: ilar form to Eq. (11.75), in which the dilation depends
on stress ratio and material constants.27 However,
a
r

2dpr
da
tan2
c
Rowe (1962) noted that the material constant c used
in Eqs. (11.76) and (11.77) is inuenced by the density.
Co
p
4 2
Different initial anisotropic stress states give different
in triaxial compression (11.76)
r
a

dap
2drp
tan2
c
4

2 27
Equations (11.76) and (11.77) can be rewritten in terms of p, q,
d pv, and d p (Pradhan and Tatsuoka, 1989):
in triaxial extension (11.77)

q

3 (2K 1)(d pv / d p) 2(K 1)
p 2 (K 1)(d vp / d p) (K 2) for d pa 0
where dpa and dpr are the axial and radial strain
increments, c is the characteristic friction angle
q

3 (K 2)(d pv / d p) 2(K 1)
p 2 (1 K)(d vp / d p) (2K 1) for d pa 0
and a and r are the axial and radial effective stresses, where K (1 sin c) / (1 sin c).

stressdilatancy curves as shown in Fig. 11.132. The 11.21 TEMPERATURE EFFECTS

curves were derived from the data presented in Fig.
11.129 and are presented in terms of stress ratio q/p The average ground temperature varies between 7 and
and plastic strain increment ratio d pv /d p. Hence, the 10, whereas laboratory conditions are between 18 and
stressdilatancy relationship of a sand depends not 23. In some situations, the soil can undergo large tem-
only on stress ratio but also on density, conning pres- perature change, for example, ground freezing, heating
sure and initial anisotropic stress conditions. of nuclear waste repositories, underground storage res-
As noted in Eqs. (11.75) to (11.77) and Figs. 11.131 ervoirs, and the like. It can be important to recog-
and 11.132, the development of plastic increments is nize the signicance of temperature when evaluating
governed by the current stress state. This is in contrast strength and model parameters. In general, increase in
to elastic deformation, which is related directly to temperature will result in thermal expansion of soil
l
stress increments. For example, for an isotropic elastic grains as well as pore uid. The particle contact prop-
ria
model, erties will also be modied. A change in temperature,
therefore, causes either a change in void ratio or a
change in effective stress (or a combination of both)
dev dp G in a saturated clay, as described in Section 10.12. In
3 (11.78)
dse
dq K this section some effects of temperature on shear re-
ate
sistance of soils are considered.
A change in temperature can cause a strength in-
where G is the shear modulus, K is the bulk modulus crease or a strength decrease depending on the circum-
and dev and dse are the elastic volumetric and devia- stances (e.g., temperature variation during initial
toric strains, respectively. consolidation or during shearing in drained or un-
The physical mechanisms of elastic deformation and drained conditions), as illustrated by Fig. 11.133.
dM
plastic deformation are fundamentally different, that is,
stress increment dependent versus stress dependent.
The higher the consolidation temperature, the
greater the shear strength at any given test temperature
Because of this, the same stress increment may give because of the greater decrease in void ratio at the
very different strain increments. Careful selection of higher consolidation temperatures.28 In Fig. 11.133, Tc
elastic and/or plastic models is therefore necessary in represents the temperature at consolidation and Ts the
ground deformation analysis. temperature of shear for consolidated undrained direct
hte
shear tests on highly plastic alluvial clay. For a given

consolidation temperature Tc, the undrained strength
decreases in a regular manner with the increasing test
Stress Ratio q/p temperature. From tests such as these, it has been es-
Case (a)
tablished that for given initial conditions the undrained
2.0 strength of normally consolidated saturated clay may
rig
Case (b)
decrease by about 10 percent for a temperature in-
Case (c)
1.5 crease from 0 to 40C. For overconsolidated clays, the
in Fig.11.129 undrained shear strength is less inuenced by temper-
1.0 ature (Marques et al., 2004). The relative insensitivity
Compression
of overconsolidated clay to temperature may be due to
py
the compensating effects of increase stiffness and soft-

0.5 ening of soil structure by volume expansion as de-
scribed in Section 10.12.
Similar to the strain rate effect, the preconsolidation
Co
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
? pressure, and hence the size of the yield envelope, de-
Strain Increment
ratio -dvp/d p
creases with increase in temperature, as illustrated in
-0.5
Fig. 10.46 and Fig. 11.134 for natural clay specimens
?
tested between 10 and 50. Hence, the weakening of
Extension
-1.0
Figure 11.132 Stress dilatancy relations of sands with dif- 28

For all tests, Ts Tc to prevent further consolidation under a higher
ferent initial anisotropic stress conditions (Yasufuku et al., temperature, which would result in the strength being about the same
1991). as if it had been consolidated under the higher temperature initially.

TEMPERATURE EFFECTS 461
l
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ate
Figure 11.133 Effect of consolidation and test temperatures on the strength of alluvial clay
in direct shear (Noble and Demirel, 1969).
dM
hte
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py
Figure 11.134 Inuence of temperature on yield surface of a St-Roch-de-lAchigan clay,

Quebec (Marques et al., 2004).
Co
soil structure by increase in temperature is apparent. sion of soil volume because thermal expansion of wa-
On the other hand, the critical state friction angle is ter is much larger than that of soil particles. This
found to be independent of temperature (Hueckel and results in generation of positive excess pore pressure
Baldi, 1990; Graham et al., 2001; Marques et al., and, as a consequence, undrained stiffness and shear
2004). strength decrease as shown in Fig. 11.16.
Drainage conditions during heating prior to shear are If drainage is allowed, the expanding water is free
important, as illustrated in Fig. 11.133. If drainage is to drain and hence the volume change of the soil is
prevented, the expansion of water controls the expan- governed by the expansion of soil particles and the

change in particle contact conditions. Normally con- a dense state (below critical state) can only be achieved
solidated clays often result in decrease in void ratio, by unloading, and, therefore, the preconsolidation pres-
and hence the initial stiffness generally increases with sure can be used to characterize the peak strength and
temperature. However, it has been reported that the de- deformation. For sands, on the other hand, the differ-
crease in void ratio in normally consolidated clays can- ence in strength and deformation behavior of normally
not be solely accounted for the increase in stiffness consolidated dense sand and overconsolidated sand is
(Tsuchida et al., 1991; Kuntiwattanakul et al., 1995). noted even when they are at the same void ratio and
This observation is similar to the aging effect discussed conning pressure. This is because of possible differ-
in Chapter 12. Hence, it can be considered that tem- ent soil fabrics. The critical friction angle of cohesion-
perature is one of the driving forces in time-dependent less soils contains contributions from particle crushing,
deformation of soils, and the rate process theory de- particle rearrangement by rolling, as well as from in-
l
scribed in the next chapter conveniently explains much terparticle sliding. The critical state concept can be
ria
of the observed temperaturetimeeffective stress be- used to characterize the density effect on peak strength
havior of soils. for normally consolidated sand. Rearrangement and
rolling are unimportant when the clay content is high
enough to prevent granular particle interference. Ide-
ally, the critical state strength or friction angle should
ate
be used for design of simple geotechnical structures.
Limit equilibrium and plasticity analyses, as done, for Otherwise, a careful selection of safety factor is needed
example, in studies of slope stability, lateral pressure, when the peak strength or peak friction angle is used.
and bearing capacity, depend on accurate representa- However, whether it is possible to nd the true critical
tion of soil strength. So also does soil resistance
dM state from conventional triaxial and torsional shear
against failure due to earthquakes or other cyclic load- tests is questionable, especially for sands.
ings. The stresses and deformations under subfailure Because of the great diversity of soil types and the
loading conditions depend on stressstrain properties. range of environmental conditions to which they may
The factors responsible for and inuencing strength be subjected, evaluations of deformation and strength,
have been identied and analyzed. their characterization for analyses, and prediction of
The strength of most uncemented soils is provided future behavior will continue as major components of
by interparticle sliding, dilatancy, particle rearrange- any project. In the majority of geotechnical engineer-
hte
ments, particle crushing, and true cohesion. Frictional ing projects and problems, correct site characterization
resistance is developed by adhesion between contact- and property evaluation are the two most critical ele-
ing asperities on opposing particle surfaces. Values of ments. If they are not done reasonably and reliably,
true friction angle () range from less than 4 for then there cannot be understanding or condence from
sodium montmorillonite to more than 30 for feldspar subsequent soil mechanics analyses, no matter how so-
and calcite. In the absence of cementation, true cohe- phisticated they may be or how powerful the computer
rig
sion in soils is small. Results from discrete particle that provides the numerical solutions.
simulations indicate that the deviatoric load applied to
a particle assembly is transferred exclusively by the
normal contact forces in the strong force networks. The
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
interparticle friction therefore acts as a kinematic con-
py
straint of the strong force network and not as the direct 1. Based on the descriptions given in Section 11.3
source of macroscopic resistance to shear. and 11.6, summarize microscopic interpretation of
The residual friction angle depends on gradation, overconsolidation, compaction, dilation, peak fric-
mineralogical composition, and effective stress. The tion angle, and critical state friction angle.
Co
value of residual friction angle for clay may decrease

by several degrees for increases in effective stress on 2. A clay has liquid and plastic limits of 80 and 25,
the shear surface from 0 to 400 kPa (0 to 60 psi). The respectively. For the following conditions, nd
shear displacements in one direction required to de- possible plastic failure mechanisms at different
velop residual strength may be several tens of milli- conning pressures using Eq. (11.30) and Fig.
meters. These factors should be taken into account 11.46. Discuss any practical implications.
when analyzing stability problems. a. The clay is consolidated to a water content of
Loose sands behave like normally consolidated 65 percent.
clays. The behavior of dense sand appears to be similar b. The clay is heavy compacted to a water content
to that of overconsolidated clays. However, for clays, of 25 percent.

3. A quartz sand has minimum and maximum void d. The clay at state (c) is sheared in undrained
ratios of 0.35 and 0.75, respectively. The critical conditions to the critical state. Also, sketch a
state friction angle is 35. possible stressstrain relationship.
a. Using Eqs. (11.31) and (11.32), plot the critical e. Repeat parts (c) and (d) for other OCR condi-
state line on the p q plane and on the elog tions. Comment on the results.
p plane.
6. The virgin compression curve of a clay was found
b. Find the undrained shear strengths at critical to be e 1.3 0.6 log v from one-dimensional
state when the void ratios are 0.4 and 0.7. Does consolidation tests. The swelling index Cs was 0.1.
the initial effective stress state matter to the The clay was preconsolidated to v 100 kPa
computed values? How about the values of ex- prior to shearing.
cess pore pressure generated during undrained
l
a. Using the Hvorslev parameters of hc 0.1 and
tests?
ria
e 15, plot the failure envelope on the
c. Draw the effective stress path of a drained tri- plane.
axial compression test on the p q plane. The b. Plot shear strength f / v as a function of OCR
initial effective isotropic conning pressure is and compare the results to the data shown in
100 kPa. Find the drained strength and void ra- Fig. 11.65.
ate
tio at critical state.
d. Sketch possible stressaxial strain and axial 7. Why does a sample with shear bands give different
strainvoid ratio curves of the drained triaxial strengths depending on sample size?
compression test considered in part (c). Con- 8. Find a case study that describes the importance of
sider two different initial void ratios: (i) e knowing the residual friction angle of clay. Ex-
0.4 and (ii) e 0.7. Comment on the results.
dM
e. Repeat the calculations of parts (c) and (d)
plain (a) the geologic and hydrogeologic condi-
tions, (b) the possible peak, critical, and residual
when the initial conning pressure is 1 MPa. friction angles, and (c) microscopic interpretation
Comment on the results. of decrease in friction angle at residual state.
4. Using the critical state of the sand dened in 9. Consider two saturated samples of the same soil
Question 3, plot void ratio versus peak friction an- having exactly the same water content, density,
gle at three different conning pressures: (i) 5 kPa, temperature, and structure are initially at equilib-
hte
(ii) 500 kPa, and (iii) 5 MPa. To develop the plot, rium under the same effective stress states. Com-
try (i) Eq. (11.37) or (ii) Fig. 11.56. Comment on pare and explain differences in strength, if any,
the results by discussing the relative importance of that you would expect if
conning pressure and void ratio on friction angle a. One is loaded in triaxial compression and the
of soils. other in plane strain.
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5. A clay was isotropically normally consolidated b. One is tested in triaxial compression and the
and the isotropic compression line was found to other is tested in plane stress.
be e 1.5 0.35 ln p. The clay was then un- c. One is tested as is and the other is tested after
loaded isotropically and the slope of unloading heating with (i) no drainage allowed and (ii)
py
line on a eln p diagram was found to be ! full drainage is allowed.

0.05. A series of undrained triaxial compression d. One is tested in triaxial compression and the
tests were performed on the clay, and the critical other is tested in triaxial extension.
state was found to be q 0.8p and ecs 1.3
10. An embankment is to be constructed on a soft clay,
0.35 ln p. Plot the stress and state paths on the
Co
and a potential failure surface is shown in the g-

p q plane and the eln p plane for the following
ure below. The clay possesses anisotropic fabric.
conditions:
Considering the intermediate stress effect and an-
a. The clay is isotropically consolidated to 400 isotropy effects described in Section 11.12, con-
kPa along the isotropic compression line. sider possible stress paths from the stress before
b. The clay at state (a) is sheared in undrained the construction and discuss what strength values
conditions to the critical state. Also, sketch a should be used in design for the following loca-
possible stressstrain relationship. tions in the clay: (i) location A, which is located
c. The clay at state (a) is unloaded isotropically underneath the embankment, (ii) location B, which
to 200 kPa (OCR 2). is at some depth near the toe of the embankment,

and (iii) location C, which is located some dis- at a depth of 20 m. Consider both fracturing in (i)
tance away from the embankment. undrained conditions assuming that the injected
uid has not permeated into the ground and (ii)
drained conditions assuming the injection is in a
steady state seepage state.
14. Convert some of the stiffness degradation curves
plotted in Figs. 11.10 and 11.119 to shear stress
versus logarithm of strain. Identify the shear
stresses required to reach the boundaries of differ-
ent zones described in Section 11.17. Discuss
which zones are important for what type of geo-
l
technical activities.
ria
11. Find a paper that describes the effects of soil fabric
on liquefaction resistance of sands. Give the mi- 15. Give physical microscopic explanations of differ-
croscopic interpretation of why a sample with a ent stiffness degradation curves presented in Fig.
certain soil fabric generates more excess pore pres- 11.120. Why can the multisurface concept pre-
sures than others. sented in Section 11.17 be used to model this com-
ate
12. Provide physical explanations of how and why the plex behavior?
following factors can affect the cyclic resistance 16. Discuss the differences between elastic and plastic
ratio (CRR) of sands: deformations of soils as microscopic behavior and
a. Conning pressure macroscopic behavior.
b. Initial K0 stress condition
dM
c. Static shear stress along the sloping ground
17. The data showing volume reduction with increas-
ing temperature at a given pressure were presented
d. Shear modes (triaxial compression and exten- in Fig. 10.44 (Campanella and Mitchell, 1968). If
sion, simple shear, etc.) we consider the normal compression curve at
e. Sample preparation and soil fabric 76.5F to be the reference state, the compression
f. Silt nes and clay nes curves at the other temperatures can be interpreted
to have exhibited temperature-induced creep be-
hte
13. Water is injected into overconsolidated clay with havior and hence reached the quasioverconsoli-
an OCR of approximately 3. Using the correlations dated state. Can the data presented in Fig. 11.133
and data presented throughout the book, estimate be explained in such a way using the Hvoslev
the injection pressure required to fracture the clay strength concept for overconsolidated clays?
rig
py
Co

CHAPTER 12
Time Effects on Strength and
l
Deformation
ria
ate
12.1 INTRODUCTION dM Time-dependent deformations and stress relaxation
are important in geotechnical problems wherein long-
Virtually every soil lives in that all of its properties term behavior is of interest. These include long-term
undergo changes with timesome insignicant, but settlement of structures on compressible ground, de-
others very important. Time-dependent chemical, formations of earth structures, movements of natural
geomicrobiological, and mechanical processes may and excavated slopes, squeezing of soft ground around
result in compositional and structural changes that tunnels, and time- and stress-dependent changes in soil
lead to softening, stiffening, strength loss, strength properties. The time-dependent deformation response
hte
gain, or altered conductivity properties. The need to of a soil may assume a variety of forms owing to the
predict what the properties and behavior will be complex interplays among soil structure, stress history,
months to hundreds or thousands of years from now drainage conditions, and changes in temperature, pres-
based on what we know today is a major challenge in sure, and biochemical environment with time. Time-
geoengineering. Some time-dependent changes and dependent deformations and stress relaxations usually
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their effects as they relate to soil formation, composi- follow logical and often predictable patterns, at least
tion, weathering, postdepositional changes in sedi- for simple stress and deformation states such as uni-
ments, the evolution of soil structure, and the like are axial and triaxial compression, and they are described
considered in earlier chapters of this book. Emphasis in this chapter. Incorporation of the observed behav-
in this chapter is on how time under stress changes the ior into simple constitutive models for analytical de-
py
structural, deformation, and strength properties of scription of time-dependent deformations and stress
soils, what can be learned from knowledge of these changes is also considered.
changes, and their quantication for predictive pur- Time-dependent deformation and stress phenomena
poses. in soils are important not only because of the imme-
Co
When soil is subjected to a constant load, it deforms diate direct application of the results to analyses of
over time, and this is usually called creep. The inverse practical problems, but also because the results can be
phenomenon, usually termed stress relaxation, is a used to obtain fundamental information about soil
drop in stress over time after a soil is subjected to a structure, interparticle bonding, and the mechanisms
particular constant strain level. Creep and relaxation controlling the strength and deformation behavior.
are two consequences of the same phenomenon, that Both microscale and macroscale phenomena are dis-
is, time-dependent changes in structure. The rate and cussed because understanding of microscale processes
magnitude of these time-dependent deformations are can provide a rational basis for prediction of macro-
determined by these changes. scale responses.
465

466 12 TIME EFFECTS ON STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION
12.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS of the soil. The most active clays usually exhibit
the greatest time-dependent responses (i.e.,
1. As noted in the previous section soils exhibit smectite illite kaolinite). This is because
both creep1 and stress relaxation (Fig. 12.1). the smaller the particle size, the greater is the
Creep is the development of time-dependent specic surface, and the greater the water ad-
shear and/or volumetric strains that proceed sorption. Thus, under a given consolidation
at a rate controlled by the viscouslike resistance stress or deviatoric stress, the more active and
of soil structure. Stress relaxation is a time- plastic clays (smectites) will be at higher water
dependent decrease in stress at constant defor- content and lower density than the inactive clays
mation. The relationship between creep strain (kaolinites). Normally consolidated soils exhibit
and the logarithm of time may be linear, con- larger magnitude of creep than overconsolidated
l
cave upward, or concave downward as shown soils. However, the basic form of behavior is
ria
by the examples in Fig. 12.2. essentially the same for all soils, that is, undis-
2. The magnitude of these effects increases with turbed and remolded clay, wet clay, dry clay,
increasing plasticity, activity, and water content normally and overconsolidated soil, and wet and
dry sand.
ate
3. An increase in deviatoric stress level results in
an increased rate of creep as shown in Fig. 12.1.
Some soils may fail under a sustained creep
stress signicantly less (as little as 50 percent)
than the peak stress measured in a shear test,
dM wherein a sample is loaded to failure in a few
minutes or hours. This is termed creep rupture,
and an early illustration of its importance was
the development of slope failures in the Cucar-
acha clay shale, which began some years after
the excavation of the Panama Canal (Casa-
grande and Wilson, 1951).
4. The creep response shown by the upper curve
hte
in Fig. 12.1 is often divided into three stages.

Following application of a stress, there is rst a
period of transient creep during which the strain
rate decreases with time, followed by creep at
nearly a constant rate for some period. For ma-
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terials susceptible to creep rupture, the creep

rate then accelerates leading to failure. These
three stages are termed primary, secondary, and
tertiary creep.
5. An example of strain rates as a function of stress
py
for undrained creep of remolded illite is shown

in Fig. 12.3. At low deviator stress, creep rates
are very small and of little practical importance.
Figure 12.1 Creep and stress relaxation: (a) Creep under The curve shapes for deviator stresses up to
Co
constant stress and (b) stress relaxation under constant strain. about 1.0 kg/cm2 are compatible with the pre-
dictions of rate process theory, discussed in Sec-
tion 12.4. At deviator stress approaching the
1
The term creep is used herein to refer to time-dependent shear strength of the material, the strain rates become
strains and / or volumetric strains that develop at a rate controlled by
the viscous resistance of the soil structure. Secondary compression very large and signal the onset of failure.
refers to the special case of volumetric strain that follows primary 6. A characteristic relationship between strain rate
consolidation. The rate of secondary compression is controlled by and time exists for most soils, as shown, for
the viscous resistance of the soil structure, whereas, the rate of pri-
mary consolidation is controlled by hydrodynamic lag, that is, how example, in Fig. 12.4 for drained triaxial com-
fast water can escape from the soil. pression creep of London clay (Bishop, 1966)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 467
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ate
dM
hte
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py
Figure 12.2 Sustained stress creep curves illustrating different forms of strain vs. logarithm
Co
of time behavior.
and Fig. 12.5 for undrained triaxial compression logarithm of time. The slope of this relationship
creep of soft Osaka clay (Murayama and Shi- is essentially independent of the creep stress;
bata, 1958). At any stress level (shown as a per- increases in stress level shift the line vertically
centage of the strength before creep in Fig. 12.4 upward. The slope of the log strain rate versus
and in kg/cm2 in Fig. 12.5), the logarithm of the log time line for drained creep is approximately
strain rate decreases linearly with increase in the 1. Undrained creep often results in a slope be-

l
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ate
dM
hte
rig
Figure 12.3 Variation of creep strain rate with deviator stress for undrained creep of re-
molded illite.
tween 0.8 and 1 for this relationship. The ditions are also susceptible to creep rupture due
py
onset of failure under higher stresses is signaled to softening associated with the increase in wa-
by a reversal in slope, as shown by the topmost ter content by dilation and swelling.
curve in Fig. 12.5. 8. Although stress relaxation has been less studied
7. Pore pressure may increase, decrease, or remain than creep, it appears that equally regular pat-
Co
constant during creep, depending on the volume terns of deformation behavior are observed, for
change tendencies of the soil structure and example, Larcerda and Houston (1973).
whether or not drainage occurs during the de- 9. Deformation under sustained stress ordinarily
formation process. In general, saturated soft produces an increase in stiffness under the ac-
sensitive clays under undrained conditions are tion of subsequent stress increase, as shown
most susceptible to strength loss during creep schematically in Fig. 12.6. This reects the
due to reduction in effective stress caused by time-dependent structural readjustment or ag-
increase in pore water pressure with time. Heav- ing that follows changes in stress state. It is
ily overconsolidated clays under drained con- analogous to the quasi-preconsolidation effect

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 469
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ate
dM
Figure 12.4 Strain rate vs. time relationships during drained creep of London clay (data
from Bishop, 1966).
hte
due to secondary compression discussed in Sec-

tion 8.11; however, it may develop under un-
drained as well as drained conditions.
p
p(ref)

1
1(ref)
Ce / (CcCr)

1
1(ref)

(12.1)
10. As shown in Fig. 12.7, the locations of both the

rig
virgin compression line and the value of the pre- where Cc is the virgin compression index, Cr is
consolidation pressure, p, determined in the the recompression index and p(ref) is the pre-
laboratory are inuenced by the rate of loading consolidation pressure at a reference strain rate
during one-dimensional consolidation (Graham 1(ref). In this equation, the rate effect increases
et al., 1983a; Leroueil et al., 1985). Thus, esti- with the value of Ce /(Cc Cr). The var-
py
mations of the overconsolidation ratio of clay iation of preconsolidation pressure with strain
deposits in the eld are dependent on the load- rate is shown in Fig. 12.8 (Soga and Mitchell,
ing rates and paths used in laboratory tests for 1996). The data dene straight lines, and the
determination of the preconsolidation pressure. slope of the lines gives the parameter . In gen-
Co
If it is assumed that the relationship between eral, the value of ranges between 0.011 and
strain and logarithm of time during compression 0.094. Leroueil and Marques (1996) report val-
is linear over the time ranges of interest and that ues between 0.029 and 0.059 for inorganic
the secondary compression index Ce is constant clays.
regardless of load, the rate-dependent precon- 11. The undrained strength of saturated clay in-
solidation pressure p at 1 can be related to the creases with increase in rate of strain, as shown
axial strain rate as follows (Silvestri et al, 1986; in Figs. 12.9 and 12.10. The magnitude of the
Soga and Mitchell, 1996; Leroueil and Marques, effect is about 10 percent for each order of mag-
1996): nitude increase in the strain rate. The strain rate

l
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ate
dM
Figure 12.5 Strain rate vs. time relationships during undrained creep of Osaka alluvial clay
(Murayama and Shibata, 1958).
effect is considerably smaller for sands. In a

manner similar to Eq. (12.1), a rate parameter
hte
can be dened as the slope of a loglog plot

of deviator stress at failure q at a particular
strain rate 1 relative to q(ref), the strength at a
reference strain rate 1(ref), versus strain rate.
This gives the following equation:
rig
q
q(ref)

1
1(ref)

(12.2)
The value of ranges between 0.018 and 0.087,

py
similar to the rate parameter values used to

dene the rate effect on consolidation pressure
in Eq. (12.1). Higher values of are associated
with more metastable soil structures (Soga and
Co
Mitchell, 1996). Rate dependency decreases

with increasing sample disturbance, which is
consistent with this nding.
12.3 TIME-DEPENDENT
DEFORMATIONSTRUCTURE INTERACTION
Figure 12.6 Effect of sustained loading on (a) stressstrain In reality, completely smooth curves of the type shown
and strength behavior and (b) one-dimensional compression in the preceding gures for strain and strain rate as a
behavior. function of time may not exist at all. Rather, as dis-

TIME-DEPENDENT DEFORMATIONSTRUCTURE INTERACTION 471
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dM
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py
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Figure 12.7 Rate dependency on one-dimensional compression characteristics of Batiscan

clay: (a) compression curves and (b) preconsolidation pressure (Leroueil et al., 1985).

l
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Figure 12.8 Strain rate dependence on preconsolidation pressure determined from one-
dimensional constant strain rate tests (Soga and Mitchell, 1996).
dM
hte
rig
py
Figure 12.9 Effect of strain rate on undrained strength (Kulhawy and Mayne 1990). Re-
printed with permission from EPRI.
Co
cussed by Ter-Stepanian (1992), a jump-like structure surmounting energy barriers, (2) mutual displacement
reorganization may occur, reecting a stochastic char- of particles as a result of bond failures, but without
acter for the deformation, as shown in Fig. 12.11 for rearrangement, (3) the structural level of soil defor-
creep of an undisturbed diatomaceous, lacustrine, ov- mation involving mutual rearrangements of particles,
erconsolidated clay. Ter-Stepanian (1992) suggests that and (4) deformation at the aggregate level. Behavior at
there are four levels of deformation: (1) the molecular levels 3 and 4 is discussed below; that at levels 1 and
level, which consists of displacement of ow units by 2 is treated in more detail in Section 12.4.

l
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Figure 12.10 Strain rate dependence on undrained shear strength determined using constant
strain rate CU tests (Soga and Mitchell, 1996).
dM the somewhat irregular sequence of data points shown

in Fig. 12.11.
Microscopically, creep is likely to occur in the weak
clusters discussed in Section 11.6 because the contacts
in them are at limiting frictional equilibrium. Any
small perturbation in applied load at the contacts or
time-dependent loss in material strength can lead to
hte
sliding, breakage or yield at asperities. As particles

slip, propped strong-force network columns are dis-
turbed, and these buckle via particle rolling as dis-
cussed in Section 11.6.
To examine the effects of particle rearrangement,
Figure 12.11 Nonuniformity of creep in an undisturbed, di- Kuhn (1987) developed a discrete element model that
rig
atomaceous, lacustrine, overconsolidated clay (from Ter- considers sliding at interparticle contacts to be visco-
Stepanian, 1992). frictional. The rate at which sliding of two particles
relative to each other occurs depends on the ratio of
shear to normal force at their contact. The relationship
between rate and force is formulated in terms of rate
py
Time-Dependent Process of Particle Rearrangement process theory (see Section 12.4), and the mechanistic
Creep can lead to rearrangement of particles into more representations of the contact normal and shear forces
stable congurations. Forces at interparticle contacts are shown in Fig. 12.12. The time-dependent compo-
have both normal and tangential components, even if nent in the tangential forces model is given as a sinh-
Co
the macroscopic applied stress is isotropic. If, during dashpot.2 The average magnitudes of both normal and
the creep process, there is an increase in the proportion
of applied deviator stress that is carried by interparticle 2
Kuhn (1987) used the following equation for rate of sliding at a
normal forces relative to interparticle tangential forces, contact:
then the creep rate will decrease. Hence, the rate at
which deformation level 3 occurs need not be uniform X
2kT
h
exp
F
RT
sinh
t
2kTn1 n
owing to the particulate nature of soils. Instead it will
where n1 is the number of bonds per unit of normal force, t is the
reect a series of structural readjustments as particles tangential force and n is the normal force. The others are parameters
move up, over, and around each other, thus leading to related to rate process theory as described in Section 12.4.

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 12.12 Normal and tangential interparticle force mod-
els according to Kuhn (1987).
tangential forces at individual contacts can change dur-

hte
ing deformation even though the applied boundary

stresses are constant. Small changes in the tangential
and normal force ratio at a contact can have a very
large inuence on the sliding rate at that contact. These
changes, when summed over all contacts in the shear
zone, result in a decrease or increase in the overall
rig
creep rate.
A numerical analysis of an irregular packing of cir-
cular disks using the sinh-dashpot representation gives
creep behavior comparable to that of many soils as
shown in Fig. 12.13 (Kuhn and Mitchell, 1993). The
py
creep rate slows if the average ratio of tangential to

normal force decreases, whereas it accelerates and may
ultimately lead to failure if the ratio increases. In some
cases, the structural changes that are responsible for
Co
the decreasing strain rate and increased stiffness may

Figure 12.13 Creep curves developed by numerical analysis
cause the overall soil structure to become more meta- of an irregular packing of circular disks (from Kuhn and
stable. Then, after the strain reaches some limiting Mitchell, 1993).
value, the process of contact force transfer from de-
creasing tangential to increasing normal force reverses.
This marks the onset of creep rupture as the structure
begins to collapse. A similar result was obtained by Particle Breakage During Creep
Rothenburg (1992) who performed discrete particle Particle breakage can contribute to time-dependent de-
simulations in which smooth elliptical particles were formation of sands (Leung et al., 1996; Takei et al.,
cemented with a model exhibiting viscous character- 2001; McDowell, 2003). Leung et al. (1996) performed
istics in both normal and tangential directions. one-dimensional compression tests on sands, and Fig.

100

Additional insight into the structural changes ac-
companying the aging of clays is provided by the re-
sults of studies by Anderson and Stokoe (1978) and
80
Nakagawa et al. (1995). Figure 12.16 shows changes
Dry sand in shear modulus with time under a constant conning
RD = 75% pressure for kaolinite clay during consolidation (An-
Pressure = 15.4 MPa derson and Stokoe, 1978). Two distinct phases of shear
Percentage Passing (%)
60
modulustime response are evident. During primary
consolidation, values of the shear modulus increase
rapidly at the beginning and begin to level off as the
40
excess pore pressure dissipates. After the end of pri-
l
mary consolidation, the modulus increases linearly
ria
with the logarithm of time during secondary compres-
20
After
sion.
5 days After The expected change in shear modulus due to void
Before

290 s Test

ratio change during secondary compression can be es-
0
timated using the following empirical formula for
ate

0 100 200 300 400
Sieve Size (m) shear modulus as a function of void ratio and conning
pressure (Hardin and Black, 1968):
Figure 12.14 Changes in particle size distribution of sand
before loading and after two different load durations (from (2.97 e)2 0.5
Leung, et al., 1996). GA p (12.3)
dM 1e
where A is a unit dependant material constant, e is the

12.14 shows the particle size distribution curves for void ratio, and p is the mean effective stress. The
samples before loading and after two different load du- dashed line in Fig. 12.16 shows the calculated in-
rations. The amount of particle breakage increased creases in the shear modulus due to void ratio decrease
with load duration. Microscopic observations revealed using Eq. (12.3). It is evident that the change in void
that angular protrusions of the grains were ground off, ratio alone does not provide an explanation for the sec-
hte
producing nes. The nes ll the voids between larger ondary time-dependent increase in shear modulus. This
particles and crushed particles progressively rear- aging effect has been recorded for a variety of mate-
ranged themselves with time. rials, ranging from clean sands to natural clays (A
and Richart, 1973; Kokusho, 1987; Mesri et al., 1990,
AgingTime-Dependent Strengthening of Soil and many others). Further discussion of aging phenom-
rig
Structure ena is given in Section 12.11.

The structural changes that occur during creep that is
continuing at a decreasing rate cause an increase in Time-Dependent Changes in Soil Fabric
soil stiffness when the soil is subjected to further stress Changes in soil fabric with time under stress inuence
increase as shown in Fig. 12.6. Leonards and Alt- the stability of soil structure. Changes in sand fabric
py
schaef (1964) showed that this increase in preconso- with time after load application in one-dimensional
lidation pressure cannot be accounted for in terms of compression were measured by Bowman and Soga
the void ratio decrease during the sustained compres- (2003). Resin was used to x sand particles after var-
sion period. Time-dependent changes of these types are ious loading times. Pluviation of the sand produced a
Co
a consequence of aging effects, which alter the horizontal preferred particle orientation of soil grains,
structural state of the soil. The fabric obtained by creep and increased vertical loading resulted in a greater ori-
may be different from that caused by increase in stress, entation of particle long axes parallel to the horizontal,
even though both samples arrive at the same void ratio. which is in agreement with the ndings of Oda (1972a,
Leroueil et al. (1996) report a similar result for an ar- b, c), Mitchell et al. (1976), and Jang and Frost (1998).
ticially sedimented clay from Quebec, as shown in Over time, however, the loading of sand caused parti-
Fig. 12.15a. They also measured the shear wave ve- cle long axes to rotate toward the vertical direction
locities after different times during the tests using (i.e., more isotropic fabric).
bender elements and computed the small strain elastic Experimental evidence (Bowman and Soga, 2003)
shear modulus. Figure 12.15b shows the change in showed that large voids became larger, whereas small
shear modulus with void ratio. voids became smaller, and particles group or cluster

A A
2.6 Normal
Consolidation Line Stiffness Change
During the Primary
Consolidation
Between B and C
2.4 B B
Quasi-
preconsolidation
Void Ratio e
Pressure
l
2.2 C C
ria
Creep for
120 days
D D
Increase in Stiffness
2.0 Destructuring E during Creep (C-D) E
ate
State
F F
1.8
4 6 8 10 20 0.5 1 2 5
dM Vertical Effective Stress v (kPa) Small-strain Stiffness G0 (MPa)
(a ) (b )
Figure 12.15 (a) Compression curve and (b) variation of the maximum shear modulus G0
with void ratio for articially sedimented Jonquiere clay (from Leroueil et al., 1996).
together with time. Based on these particulate level a strengthening of physicochemical bonds between
hte
ndings, it appears that the movements of particles particles. To illustrate this, Nakagawa et al. (1995) ex-
lead to interlocking zones of greater local density. The amined the physicochemical interactions between clays
interlocked state may be regarded as the nal state of and pore uid using a special consolidometer in which
any one particle under a particular applied load, due to the sample resistivity and pore uid conductivity could
kinematic restraint. The result, with time, is a stiffer, be measured. Shear wave velocities were obtained us-
rig
more efcient, load-bearing structure, with areas of rel- ing bender elements to determine changes in the stiff-
atively large voids and neighboring areas of tightly ness characteristics of the clay during consolidation.
packed particles. The increase in stiffness is achieved Kaolinite clay mixed with saltwater was used for the
by shear connections obtained by the clustering. Then, experiment, and changes in shear wave velocities and
when load is applied, the increased stiffness and electrical properties were monitored during the tests.
py
strength of the granular structure provides greater re- The test results showed that the pore uid compo-
sistance to the load and the observed aging effect is sition and ion mobility changed with time. At each
seen. The numerical analysis in Kuhn and Mitchell load increment, as the effective stress increased with
(1993) led to a similar hypothesis for how a more pore pressure dissipation, the shear wave velocities,
Co
braced structure develops with time. For load appli- and therefore the shear modulus, generally increased
cation in a direction different to that during the aging with time as shown in Fig. 12.17. It may be seen, how-
period, however, the strengthening effect of aging may ever, that in some cases, the shear wave velocities at
be less, as the load-bearing particle column direction the beginning of primary consolidation decreased
differs from the load direction. slightly from the velocities obtained immediately be-
fore application of the incremental load, probably as a
Time-Dependent Changes in Physicochemical result of soil structure breakdown. During the subse-
Interaction of Clay and Pore Fluid quent secondary compression stage, the shear wave ve-
A portion of the shear modulus increase during sec- locity again increased. As was the case for the results
ondary compression of clays is believed to result from in Fig.12.16, the increases in shear wave velocity dur-

Shear Modulus of less than = 10-3% (MPa)
50 Ball Kaolinite
40
IG = G per log time
= 6.2 MPa
30 Possible Change in G
by Void Ratio Decrease
Only Estimated Using
20 Eq. (12.3)
10
l
Primary Consolidation Secondary Compression
ria
0
10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4
Time (min)
Sample Height Change (mm)
0.5
ate
1.0
1.5 dM
Initial Consolidation Pressure = 70 kPa
Initial Void Ratio e 0 = 1.1
2.0
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4
Time (min)
Figure 12.16 Modulus and height changes as a function of

time under constant conning pressure for kaolinite: (a) shear
hte
modulus and (b) height change (from Anderson and Stokoe,

1978).
Figure 12.17 Changes in shear wave velocity during pri-
mary consolidation and secondary compression of kaolinite.
Consolidation pressures: (a) 11.8 kPa and (b) 190 kPa (from
Nakagawa et al., 1995).
rig
ing secondary compression are greater than can be ac-

counted for by increase in density.
The electrical conductivity of the sample measured
by lter electrodes increased during the early stages of
consolidation, but then decreased continuously there- cipitation of salts from the pore water and/or other
py
after as shown in Fig. 12.18. The electrical conductiv- processes.

ity is dominated by ow through the electrolyte Primary consolidation can be considered a result of
solution in the pores. During the initial compression, a drainage of pore water uid from the macropores,
breakdown of structure releases ions into the pore wa- whereas secondary compression is related to the de-
Co
ter, increasing the electrical conductivity. With time, layed deformation of micropores in the clay aggregates
the conductivity decreased, suggesting that the released (Berry and Poskitt, 1972; Matsuo and Kamon, 1977;
ions are accumulating near particle surfaces. Some of Sills, 1995). The mobility of water in the micropores
these released ions are expelled from the specimen as is restricted due to small pore size and physicochem-
consolidation progressed as shown in Fig. 12.18b. A ical interactions close to the clay particle surfaces. Ak-
slow equilibrium under a new state of effective stress agi (1994) did compression tests on specially prepared
is hypothesized to develop that involves both small clay containing primarily Ca in the micropores and Na
particle rearrangements, associated with decrease in in the macropores. Concentrations of the two ions in
void ratio during secondary compression, and devel- the expelled water at different times after the start of
opment of increased contact strength as a result of preconsolidation were consistent with this hypothesis.

sen and Wu (1964), Mitchell (1964), Mitchell et al.

(1968, 1969), Murayama and Shibata (1958, 1961,
1964), Noble and Demirel (1969), Wu et al. (1966),
Keedwell (1984), Feda (1989, 1992), and Kuhn and
Mitchell (1993).
Concept of Activation
The basis of rate process theory is that atoms, mole-
cules, and/or particles participating in a time-
dependent ow or deformation process, termed ow
units, are constrained from movement relative to each
l
other by energy barriers separating adjacent equilib-
ria
rium positions, as shown schematically by Fig. 12.19.
The displacement of ow units to new positions re-
quires the acquisition of an activation energy F of
sufcient magnitude to surmount the barrier. The po-
ate
tential energy of a ow unit may be the same following
the activation process, or higher or lower than it was
initially. These conditions are shown by analogy with
the rotation of three blocks in Fig. 12.20. In each case,
an energy barrier must be crossed. The assumption of
dM a steady-state condition is implicit in most applications
to soils concerning the at-rest barrier height between
successive equilibrium positions.
The magnitude of the activation energy depends on
the material and the type of process. For example, val-
ues of F for viscous ow of water, chemical reac-
tions, and solid-state diffusion of atoms in silicates are
about 12 to 17, 40 to 400, and 100 to 150 kJ/mol of
hte
ow units, respectively.
Figure 12.18 Changes in electrical conductivity of the pore
water during primary consolidation and secondary compres- Activation Frequency
sion of kaolinite. Consolidation pressures: (a) 95 kPa and (b) The energy to enable a ow unit to cross a barrier may
190 kPa (from Nakagawa et al., 1995).
be provided by thermal energy and by various applied
rig
potentials. For a material at rest, the potential energy

displacement relationship is represented by curve A in
12.4 SOIL DEFORMATION AS A RATE Fig. 12.21. From statistical mechanics it is known that
PROCESS
py
Deformation and shear failure of soil involve time-

dependent rearrangement of matter. As such, these
phenomena are amenable for study as rate processes
through application of the theory of absolute reaction
Co
rates (Glasstone et al., 1941). This theory provides

both insights into the fundamental nature of soil
strength and functional forms for the inuences of sev-
eral factors on soil behavior.
Detailed development of the theory, which is based
on statistical mechanics, may be found in Eyring
(1936), Glasstone et al. (1941), and elsewhere in the
physical chemistry literature. Adaptations to the study
of soil behavior include those by Abdel-Hady and Her-
rin (1966), Andersland and Douglas (1970), Christen- Figure 12.19 Energy barriers and activation energy.

SOIL DEFORMATION AS A RATE PROCESS 479
l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 12.20 Examples of activated processes: (a) steady-state, (b) increased stability, and
(c) decreased stability.
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.21 Effect of a shear force on energy barriers.

the average thermal energy per ow unit is kT, where The net frequency of activation in the direction of
k is Boltzmanns constant (1.38 1023 J K1) and T the force then becomes

is the absolute temperature (K). Even in a material at
rest, thermal vibrations occur at a frequency given by kT F
kT/h, where h is Plancks constant (6.624 1034 J ( ) ( ) 2 exp sinh
h RT 2kT
s1). The actual thermal energies are divided among
the ow units according to a Boltzmann distribution. (12.8)
It may be shown that the probability of a given unit
becoming activated, or the proportion of ow units that
are activated during any one oscillation is given by Strain Rate Equation
At any instant, some of the activated ow units may
l
F successfully cross the barrier; others may fall back into
ria
p( F) exp (12.4) their original positions. For each unit that is successful
NkT
in crossing the barrier, there will be a displacement .
The component of in a given direction times the
where N is Avogadros number (6.02 1023), and Nk
number of successful jumps per unit time gives the rate
is equal to R, the universal gas constant (8.3144 J K1
of movement per unit time. If this rate of movement
ate
mol1). The frequency of activation then is
is expressed on a per unit length basis, then the strain

rate is obtained.
kT F Let X F (proportion of successful barrier cross-
exp (12.5)
h NkT ings and ) such that
dM
In the absence of directional potentials, energy bar-
riers are crossed with equal frequency in all directions,
X[( ) ( )] (12.9)
and no consequences of thermal activations are ob- Then from Eq. (12.8)
served unless the temperature is sufciently high that
softening, melting, or evaporation occurs. If, however,
a directed potential, such as a shear stress, is applied,
then the barrier heights become distorted as shown by
2X
kT
h
exp
F
RT
sinh

2kT
(12.10)
hte
curve B in Fig. 12.21. If represents the force acting The parameter X may be both time and structure de-
on a ow unit, then the barrier height is reduced by an pendent.
amount ( /2) in the direction of the force and in- If ( /2kT) 1, then sinh( /2kT) ( /2kT), and
creased by a like amount in the opposite direction, the rate is directly proportional to . This is the case
where represents the distance between successive for ordinary Newtonian uid ow and diffusion where
equilibrium positions.3 Minimums in the energy curve
rig
are displaced a distance from their original positions, 1

representing an elastic distortion of the material struc- (12.11)

ture.
The reduced barrier height in the direction of force where is the shear strain rate, is dynamic viscosity,
py
increases the activation frequency in that direction to and is shear stress.

For most solid deformation problems, however,
kT F/N /2 ( /2kT) 1 (Mitchell et al., 1968), so
exp (12.6)
h kT

Co
1
sinh exp (12.12)
and in the opposite direction, the increased barrier 2kT 2 2kT
height decreases the activation frequency to
and

kT
h
exp
kT
F/N /2
(12.7)
X
kT

exp
F
exp
N
(12.13)
h RT 2RT
Equation (12.13) applies except for very small stress

3
Work ( / 2) done by the force as the ow unit drops from the
peak of the energy barrier to a new equilibrium position is assumed intensities, where the exponential approximation of the
to be given up as heat. hyperbolic sine is not justied. Equations (12.10) and

BONDING, EFFECTIVE STRESSES, AND STRENGTH 481
(12.13) or comparable forms have been used to obtain 12.5 BONDING, EFFECTIVE STRESSES, AND
dashpot coefcients for rheological models, to obtain STRENGTH
functional forms for the inuences of different factors
on strength and deformation rate, and to study defor- Using rate process theory, the results of time-
mation rates in soils. For example, Kuhn and Mitchell dependent stressdeformation measurements in soils
(1993) used this form as part of the particle contact can be used to obtain fundamental information about
law in discrete element modeling as described in the soil structure, interparticle bonding, and the mecha-
previous section. Puzrin and Houlsby (2003) used it as nisms controlling strength and deformation behavior.
an internal function of a thermomechanical-based
model and derived a rate-dependent constitutive model Deformation Parameters from Creep Test Data
for soils. If the shear stress on a material is and it is distributed
l
uniformly among S ow units per unit area, then
ria
Soil Deformation as a Rate Process
Although there does not yet appear to be a rigorous
(12.17)
proof of the correctness of the detailed statistical me- S
chanics formulation of rate process theory, even for
ate
simple chemical reactions, the real behavior of many Displacement of a ow unit requires that interatomic
systems has been substantially in accord with it. Dif- or intermolecular forces be overcome so that it can be
ferent parts of Eq. (12.13) have been tested separately moved. Let it be assumed that the number of ow units
(Mitchell et al., 1968). It was found that the tempera- and the number of interparticle bonds are equal.
ture dependence of creep rate and the stress depend- If D represents the deviator stress under triaxial
ence of the experimental activation energy [Eq.
dM stress conditions, the value of on the plane of max-
(12.14)] were in accord with predictions. These results imum shear stress is
do not prove the correctness of the theory; they do,
however, support the concept that soil deformation is D
(12.18)
a thermally activated process. 2S
Arrhenius Equation so Eq. (12.13) becomes

hte
Equation (12.13) may be written

kT F D
X exp

exp (12.19)
kT E h RT 4SkT
X exp (12.14)
h RT
This equation describes creep as a steady-state
process. Soils do not creep at constant rate, however,
where
rig
because of continued structural changes during de-

formation as described in Section 12.3, except for
N the special case of large deformations after mobiliza-
E F (12.15)
2 tion of full strength. Thus, care must be taken in ap-
plication of Eq. (12.19) to ensure that comparisons of
py
is termed the experimental activation energy. For all creep rates and evaluations of the inuences of differ-
conditions constant except T, and assuming that ent factors are made under conditions of equal struc-
X(kT/h) constant A, ture. The time dependency of creep rate and the

possible time dependencies of the parameters in Eq.
Co
E (12.19) are considered in Section 12.8.

A exp (12.16)
RT Determination of Activation Energy From Eq.
(12.14)
Equation (12.16) is the same as the well-known em-
pirical equation proposed by Arrhenius around 1900 ln( /T) E
(12.20)
to describe the temperature dependence of chemical (1/T) R
reaction rates. It has been found suitable also for
characterization of the temperature dependence of provided strain rates are considered under conditions
processes such as creep, stress relaxation, secondary of unchanged soil structure. Thus, the value of E can
compression, thixotropic strength gain, diffusion, and be determined from the slope of a plot of ln( /T) ver-
uid ow. sus (1/T). Procedures for evaluation of strain rates for

soils at different temperatures but at the same structure known, /S is calculated as a measure of the number
are given by Mitchell et al. (1968, 1969). of interparticle bonds.4
Determination of Number of Bonds For stresses
large enough to justify approximating the hyperbolic Activation Energies for Soil Creep
sine function by a simple exponential in the creep rate Activation energies for the creep of several soils and
equation and small enough to avoid tertiary creep, the other materials are given in Table 12.1. The free energy
logarithm of strain rate varies directly with the deviator of activation for creep of soils is in the range of about
stress. For this case, Eq. (12.19) can be written 80 to 180 kJ/mol. Four features of the values for soils
in Table 12.1 are signicant:
K(t) exp(D) (12.21)
1. The activation energies are relatively large, much
l
higher than for viscous ow of water.
where
ria
2. Variations in water content (including complete

drying), adsorbed cation type, consolidation pres-
kT F sure, void ratio, and pore uid have no signicant
K(t) X exp (12.22)
h RT effect on the required activation energy.
3. The values for sand and clay are about the same.
ate

(12.23) 4. Clays in suspension with insufcient solids to
4SkT
form a continuous structure deform with an ac-
tivation energy equal to that of water.
Parameter is a constant for a given value of ef-
fective consolidation pressure and is given by the slope
dM
of the relationship between log strain rate and stress. 4
A procedure for evaluation of from the results of a test at a
It is evaluated using strain rates at the same time after succession of stress levels on a single sample is given by Mitchell
the start of creep tests at several stress intensities. With et al. (1969).
Table 12.1 Activation Energies for Creep of Several Materials

hte
Activation Energy
Material (kJ/ mol)a Reference
1. Remolded illite, saturated, water contents of 105165 Mitchell, et al. (1969)
30 to 43%
2. Dried illite: samples air-dried from 155 Mitchell, et al. (1969)
rig
saturation, then evacuated

3. San Francisco Bay mud, undisturbed 105135 Mitchell, et al. (1969)
4. Dry Sacramento River sand 105 Mitchell, et al. (1969)
5. Water 1621 Glasstone, et al. (1941)
py
6. Plastics 3060 Ree and Eyring (1958)

7. Montmorillonitewater paste, dilute 84109 Ripple and Day (1966)
8. Soil asphalt 113 Abdel-Hady and Herrin (1966)
9. Lake clay, undisturbed and remolded 96113 Christensen and Wu (1964)
Co
10. Osaka clay, overconsolidated 120134 Murayama and Shibata (1961)

11. Concrete 226 Polivka and Best (1960)
12. Metals 210 Finnie and Heller (1959)
13. Frozen soils 393 Andersland and Akili (1967)
14. Sault Ste. Marie clay, suspensions, Same as Andersland and Douglas (1970)
discontinuous structures water
15. Sault Ste. Marie clay, Li, Na, K forms, 117 Andersland and Douglas (1970)
in H2O and CCl4, consolidated
a
The rst four values are experimental activation energies, E. Whether the remainder are values of F or E is not
always clear in the references cited.

Number of Interparticle Bonds 50 kPa, and then remolded at constant water content.
Evaluation of S requires knowledge of , the separation The effective consolidation pressure dropped to 25 kPa
distance between successive equilibrium positions in as a result of the remolding. The drop in effective
the interparticle contact structure. A value of 0.28 nm stress was accompanied by a corresponding decrease
(2.8 A ) has been assumed because it is the same as the in the number of interparticle bonds. Tests on remolded
distance separating atomic valleys in the surface of a illite gave comparable results. A continuous inverse re-
silicate mineral. It is hypothesized that deformation in- lationship between the number of bonds and water
volves the displacement of oxygen atoms along con- content over a range of water contents from more than
tacting particle surfaces, as well as periodic rupture of 40 percent to air-dried and vacuum-desiccated clay is
bonds at interparticle contacts. Figure 12.22 shows this shown in Fig. 12.24. The dried material had a water
interpretation for schematically. If the above as- content of 1 percent on the usual oven-dried basis. The
l
sumption for is incorrect, calculated values of S will very large number of bonds developed by drying is
ria
still be in the same correct relative proportion as long responsible for the high dry strength of clay.
as remains constant during deformation. Overconsolidated Clay Samples of undisturbed
Normally Consolidated Clay Results of creep tests San Francisco Bay mud were prepared to overcon-
at different stress intensities for different consolidation solidation ratios of 1, 2, 4, and 8 following the stress
ate
pressures enable computation of S as a function of con- paths shown in the upper part of Fig. 12.25. The sam-
solidation pressure. Values obtained for undisturbed ple represented by the triangular data point was re-
San Francisco Bay mud are shown in Fig. 12.23. The molded after consolidation and unloading to point d,
open point is for remolded bay mud. An undisturbed where it had a water content of 52.3 percent. The un-
specimen was consolidated to 400 kPa, rebounded to drained compressive strength as a function of consol-
dM idation pressure is shown in the middle section of Fig.
12.25, and the number of bonds, deduced from the
creep tests, is shown in the lower part of the gure.
The effect of overconsolidation is to increase the num-
ber of interparticle bonds over the values for normally
consolidated clay. Some of the bonds formed during
consolidation are retained after removal of much of the
consolidation pressure.
hte
Values of compressive strength and numbers of

bonds from Fig. 12.25 are replotted versus each other
in Fig. 12.26. The resulting relationship suggests that
strength depends only on the number of bonds and is
independent of whether the clay is undisturbed, re-
rig
molded, normally consolidated, or overconsolidated.

Dry Sand Creep tests on oven-dried sand yielded
results of the same type as obtained for clay, as shown
in Fig. 12.27, suggesting that the strength-generating
and creep-controlling mechanisms may be similar for
py
both types of material.

Composite Strength-Bonding Relationship Values
of S and strength for many soils are combined in Fig.
12.28. The same proportionality exists for all the ma-
Co
terials, which may seem surprising, but which in reality

should be expected, as discussed further later.
Signicance of Activation Energy and Bond Number

Values
The following aspects of activation energies and num-
bers of interparticle bonds are important in the under-
Figure 12.22 Interpretation of in terms of silicate mineral standing of the deformation and strength behavior of
surface structure. uncemented soils.

l
ria
ate
Figure 12.23 Number of interparticle bonds as a function of consolidation pressure for
normally consolidated San Francisco Bay mud.
dM 1. The values of activation energy for deformation

of soils are high in comparison with other ma-
terials and indicate breaking of strong bonds.
2. Similar creep behavior for wet and dry clay and
for wet and dry sand indicates that deformation
is not controlled by viscous ow of water.
hte
3. Comparable values of activation energy for wet

and dry soil indicate that water is not respon-
sible for bonding.
4. Comparable values of activation energy for clay
and sand support the concept that interparticle
bond strengths are the same for both types of
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material. This is supported also by the unique-

ness of the strength versus number of bonds re-
lationship for all soils.
5. The activation energy and presumably, there-
py
fore, the bonding type are independent of con-

solidation pressure, void ratio, and water
content.
6. The number of bonds is directly proportional to
effective consolidation pressure for normally
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consolidated clays.
7. Overconsolidation leads to more bonds than in
normally consolidated clay at the same effective
consolidation pressure.
8. Strength depends only on the number of bonds.
9. Remolding at constant water content causes a
decrease in the effective consolidation pressure,
which means also a decrease in the number of
bonds.
Figure 12.24 Number of bonds as a function of water con- 10. There are about 100 times as many bonds in dry
tent for illite. clay as in wet clay.

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dM
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Figure 12.25 Consolidation pressure, strength, and bond numbers for San Francisco Bay
mud.
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Although it may be possible to explain these results up to four hydrogen bonds with its neighbors. If the
in more than one way, the following interpretation ac- single-bond interpretation is also correct for soils, then
counts well for them. The energy F activates a mole consistency in Eq. (12.10) requires that shear force
of ow units. The movement of each ow unit may pertain to the force per bond. On this basis, parameter
involve rupture of single bonds or the simultaneous S indicates the number of single bonds per unit area.
rupture of several bonds. Shear of dilute montmoril- In the event activation of a ow unit requires simul-
lonitewater pastes involves breaking single bonds taneous rupture of n bonds, then S represents 1/nth of
(Ripple and Day, 1966). For viscous ow of water, the the total bonds in the system.
activation energy is approximately that for a single hy- That the activation energy for deformation of soil is
drogen bond rupture per ow unit displacement, even well into the chemical reaction range (40 to 400 kJ/
though each water molecule may form simultaneously mol) does not prove that bonding is of the primary

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Figure 12.26 Strength as a function of number of bonds for
San Francisco Bay mud.
Figure 12.28 Composite relationship between shear strength
dM and number of interparticle bonds (from Matsui and Ito,
1977). Reprinted with permission from The Japanese Society
valence type because simultaneous rupture of several of SMFE.
weaker bonds could yield values of the magnitude ob-
served. On the other hand, the facts that (1) the acti-
vation energy is much greater than for ow of water,
(2) it is the same for wet and dry soils, and (3) it is
essentially the same for different adsorbed cations and
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py
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Figure 12.27 Strength as a function of number of bonds for dry Antioch River sand.

pore uids (Andersland and Douglas, 1970) suggest ever, for equal numbers of contacts per particle, the
that bonding is through solid interparticle contacts. number per unit volume should vary inversely with the
Physical evidence for the existence of solid-to-solid cube of particle size. Thus, the number of clay particles
contact between clay particles has been obtained in the of 1-m particle size should be some nine orders of
form of photomicrographs of particle surfaces that magnitude greater than for a sand of 1-mm average
were scratched during shear (Matsui et al., 1977, 1980) particle size. Each contact between sand particles
and acoustic emissions (Koerner et al., 1977). would involve many bonds; in clay, the much greater
Activation energy values of 125 to 190 kJ/mol are number of contacts would mean fewer bonds per par-
of the same order as those for solid-state diffusion of ticle.
oxygen in silicate minerals. This supports the concept The contact area required to develop bonds in the
that creep movements of individual particles could re- numbers indicted in Figs. 12.23 to 12.27 is very small.
l
sult from slow diffusion of oxygen ions in and around For example, for a compressive strength of 3 kg/cm2
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interparticle contacts. The important minerals in both ( 300 kPa) there are 8 1010 bonds/cm2 of shear
sand and clay are silicates, and their surface layers surface. Oxygen atoms on the surface of a silicate min-
consist of oxygen atoms held together by silicon at- eral have a diameter of 0.28 nm. Allowing an area 0.30
oms. Water in some form is adsorbed onto these sur- nm on a side for each oxygen gives 0.09 nm2, or 9
1016 cm2, per bonded oxygen for a total area of 9
ate
faces. The water structure consists of oxygens held
together by hydrogen. It is not too different from that 1016 8 1010 7.2 105 cm2 /cm2 of soil cross
of the silicate layer in minerals. Thus, a distinct bound- section.
ary between particle surface and water may not be dis-
cernable. Under these conditions, a more or less Hypothesis for Bonding, Effective Stress, and
continuous solid structure containing water molecules
dM Strength
that propagates through interparticle contacts can be Normal effective stresses and shear stresses can be
visualized. transmitted only at interparticle contacts in most soils.5
An individual ow unit could be an atom, a group The predominant effects of the long-range physico-
of atoms or molecules, or a particle. The preceding chemical forces of interaction are to control the initial
arguments are based on the interpretation that individ- soil fabric and to alter the forces transmitted at contact
ual atoms are the ow units. This is consistent with points from what they would be due to applied stresses
both the relative and actual values of S that have been alone.
hte
determined for different soils. Furthermore, by using a Interparticle contacts are effectively solid, and it is
formulation of the rate process equation that enabled likely that both adsorbed water and cations in the con-
calculation of the ow unit volume from creep test tact zone participate in the structure. An interparticle
data, Andersland and Douglas (1970) obtained a value contact may contain many bonds that may be strong,
of about 1.7 A 3, which is of the same order as that of approaching the primary valence type. The number of
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individual atoms. On the other hand, Keedwell (1984) bonds at any contact depends on the compressive force
dened ow units between quartz sand particles as transmitted at the contact, and the TerzaghiBowden
consisting of six O2 ions and six Si4 ions and be- and Tabor adhesion theory of friction presented in Sec-
tween two montmorillonite clay particles as consisting tion 11.4, can account for strength. The macroscopic
of four H2O molecules. strength is directly proportional to the number of
py
If particles were the ow units, not only would it be bonds.

difcult to visualize their thermal vibrations, but then For normally consolidated soils the number of bonds
S would relate to the number of interparticle contacts. is directly proportional to the effective stress. As a re-
It is then difcult to conceive how simply drying a clay sult of particle rearrangements and contacts formed
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could give a 100-fold increase in the number of inter- during virgin compression, an overconsolidated soil at
particle contacts, as would have to be the case accord- a given effective stress has a greater number of bonds
ing to Fig. 12.27. A more plausible interpretation is and higher strength than a normally consolidated soil.
that drying, while causing some increase in the number This effect is more pronounced in clays than in sands
of interparticle contacts during shrinkage, causes because the larger and bulky sand grains tend to re-
mainly an increase in the number of bonds per contact
because of increased effective stress.
5
At any value of effective stress, the value of S is Pure sodium montmorillonite may be an exception since a part of
the normal stress can be carried by physicochemical forces of inter-
about the same for both sand and clay. The number of action. The true effective stress may be less than the apparent effec-
interparticle contacts should be vastly different; how- tive stress by R A as discussed in Chapter 7.

cover their original shapes when unloaded, thus rup- From the relationships in Section 12.5, the following
turing most of the bonds in excess of those needed to relationship between bonds per unit area and effective
resist the lower stress. The strength of the interparticle stress is suggested.
contacts can vary over a wide range, depending on the
number of bonds per contact. S a b (12.28)
The unique relationship between strength and num-
ber of bonds for all soils, as indicted by Fig. 12.28, where a and b are constants and is the effective
reects the fact that the minerals comprising most soils normal stress on the shear plane. Thus, Eq. (12.27)
are silicates, and they all have similar surface struc- becomes
tures.
In the absence of chemical cementation, interparticle

2a F 2akT
ln
2b F 2bkT

l
bonds may form in response to interparticle contact ln
N B N B
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forces generated by either applied stresses, physico-
chemical forces of interaction, or both. Any bonds ex- (12.29)
isting in the absence of applied effective stress, that is,
when 0, are responsible for true cohesion. There Equation (12.29) is of the same form as the Cou-
should be no difference between friction and cohesion lomb equation for strength:
ate
in terms of the shearing process. Complete failure in
shear involves simultaneous rupture or slipping of all c tan (12.30)
bonds along the shear plane.
By analogy,
2a F 2akT
dM
12.6 SHEARING RESISTANCE AS A RATE
PROCESS
c
N

ln
B
(12.31)
2b F 2bkT
Deformation at large strain can approach a steady-state tan ln (12.32)
N B
condition where there is little further structural change
with time (such as at critical state). In this case, Eq.
These equations state that both cohesion and friction
(12.19) can be used to describe the shearing resistance
hte
depend on the number of bonds times the bond

as a function of strain rate and temperature. If the max-
strength, as reected by the activation energy, and that
imum shear stress is substituted for the deviator stress
the values of c and should depend on the rate of
D, then
deformation and the temperature.
1 3 Strain Rate Effects

(12.24)
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2 All other factors being equal, the shearing resistance

should increase linearly with the logarithm of the rate
and of strain. This is shown to be the case in Fig. 12.9,
which contains data for 26 clays. Additional data for

py
kT F several clays are shown in Fig. 12.29, where shearing

X exp exp (12.25) resistance as a function of the speed of vane rotation
h RT 2SkT
in a vane shear test is plotted. Analysis of the relation-
ship between shearing stress and angular rate of vane
Taking logarithms of both sides of Eq. (12.25) gives rotation " shows that / log " decreases with an
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increase in water content. This follows directly from
kT F Eq. (12.29) because
ln ln X (12.26)
h RT 2SkT
d 2akT 2bkT 2kT
(a b)
By assuming X(kT/h) is a constant equal to B d ln( /B)
(Mitchell, 1964), Eq. (12.26) can be rearranged to give (12.33)

2S
N
F
2SkT

ln

B (12.27) that is, d /d ln ( /B) is proportional to the number of
bonds, which decreases with increasing water content.

CREEP AND STRESS RELAXATION 489
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dM
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Figure 12.29 Effect of rate of shear on shearing resistance of remolded clays as determined
by the laboratory vane apparatus (prepared from the data of Karlsson, 1963).
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This interpretation of the data in Figs. 12.9 and 12.29 12.7 CREEP AND STRESS RELAXATION
assumes that the effective stress was unaffected by
changes in the strain rate, which may not necessarily Although the designation of a part of the strain versus
time relationship as steady state or secondary creep
py
be true in all cases.

may be convenient for some analysis purposes, a true
steady state can exist only for conditions of constant
Effect of Temperature structure and stress. Such a set of conditions is likely
Assumptions of reasonable values for parameters show only for a fully destructured soil, and a fully destruc-
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that the term ( /B) is less than one (Mitchell, 1964). tured state is likely to persist only during deformation
Thus the quantity ln( /B) in Eq. (12.29) is negative, at a constant rate, that is, at failure. This state is often
and an increase in temperature should give a decrease called steady state, in which the soil is deforming
in strength, all other factors being constant. That this continuously at constant volume under constant shear
is the case is demonstrated by Fig. 12.30, which shows and conning stresses (Castro, 1975; Castro and
deviator stress as a function of temperature for samples Poulos, 1977).
of San Francisco Bay mud compared under conditions Otherwise, bond making and bond breaking occur
of equal mean effective stress and structure. Other ex- at different rates as a result of different internal time-
amples of the inuence of temperature on strength are and strain-dependent phenomena, which might include
shown in Figs. 11.6 and 11.133. thixotropic hardening, viscous ows of water and ad-

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Figure 12.30 Inuence of temperature on the shearing re-
sistance of San Francisco Bay mud. Comparison is for sam-
ples at equal mean effective stress and at the same structure.
dM
sorbed lms, chemical, and biological transformations,
and the like. Furthermore, distortions of the soil struc-
ture and relative movements between particles cause
changes in the ratio of tangential to normal forces at
interparticle contacts that may be responsible for large
changes in creep rate. Because of these time depend-
encies some of the parameters in Eq. (12.19) may be
hte
time dependent. For example, Feda (1989) accounted

for the time dependency of creep rate by taking
Figure 12.31 Variation of creep strain rate with deviator
changes in the number of structural bonds into account. stress for drained creep of London clay (data from Bishop,
Therefore, application of Eq. (12.19) for the determi- 1966).
nation of the bonding and effective stress relationships
discussed in Section 12.5 required comparison of creep
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rates under conditions of comparable time and struc-

ture.
The inuence of creep stress magnitude on the creep and Fig. 12.32 for undrained tests on undisturbed San
rate at a given time after the application of the stress Francisco Bay mud. Only values for the midrange of
to identical samples of a soil was shown in Fig. 12.3. stresses are shown in Figs. 12.31 and 12.32.
py
At low stresses the creep rates are small and of little

practical importance. The curve shape is compatible
with the hyperbolic sine function predicted by rate Effect of Composition
process theory, as given by Eq. (12.10). In the mid- In general, the higher the clay content and the more
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range of stresses, a nearly linear relationship is found active the clay, the more important are stress relaxation
between logarithm of strain rate and stress, also as pre- and creep, as illustrated by Figs. 4.22 and 4.23, where
dicted by Eq. (12.10) for the case where the argument creep rates, approximated by steady-state values, are
of the hyperbolic sine is greater than 1. At stresses related to clay type, clay content, and plasticity. Time-
approaching the strength of the material, the strain rate dependent deformations are more important at high
becomes very large and signals the onset of failure. water contents than at low. Deviatoric creep and sec-
Other examples of the relationships between logarithm ondary compression are greater in normally consoli-
of strain rate and creep stress corresponding to differ- dated than overconsolidated soils.
ent times after the application of the creep stress are Although the magnitude of creep strains and strain
given in Fig. 12.31 for drained tests on London clay rates may be small in sand or dry soil, the form of the

creep tests on sands. The conicting evidence may be
due to the presence or absence of impurities that may
lubricate or cement the soil in the presence of water
(Human, 1992; Bowman, 2003).
Volume Change and Pore Pressures

Due to the known coupling effects between shearing
and volumetric plastic deformations in soils, an in-
crease in either mean pressure or deviator stress can
generate both types of deformations. Creep behavior is
no exception. Time-dependent shear deformations are
l
usually referred to as deviatoric creep or shear creep.
ria
Time-dependent deformations under constant stress re-
ferred to as volumetric creep. Secondary compression
is a special case of volumetric creep.
Deviatoric creep is often accompanied by volumetric
ate
creep. The ratio of volumetric to deviatoric creep fol-
Drained Triaxial Test E

1 2820 min
dM Confining Pressure 3 = 414 kPa
0.8 1450 min
Volumetric Strain (%)
Deviator Stress from 344 to 377 kPa
0.6
D
0.4 90 min
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0.2 20 min
C
2 min
Figure 12.32 Variation of creep strain rate with deviator 0
stress for undrained creep of normally consolidated San Fran- A B 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
cisco Bay mud. Deviator strain (%)
(a)
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behavior conforms with the patterns described and il- 1.0

lustrated above. This is to be expected, as the basic
creep mechanism is the same in all inorganic soils.6 0.8
Stress ratio q/p
Water may lubricate the particles and possibly in-

py
crease the creep rate even though the basic mechanism 0.6
of creep is the same for dry and wet materials (Losert
et al., 2000). Takei et al. (2001) showed that the de- 0.4
velopment of creep strains due to time-dependent
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breakage of talc specimens increased more for satu- 0.2

rated specimens than dry ones. However, a negligible
effect of water on creep rate was reported by Ahn-Dan 0
0 1 2 3 4
et al. (2001) who performed creep tests on unsaturated
Strain increment ratio dv/ds during creep
and saturated crushed gravel and by Leung et al.
(1996) who performed one-dimensional compression (b)
Figure 12.33 Dilatancy relationship obtained from drained

6
Volumetric creep and secondary compression of organic soils, peat, creep tests on kaolinite: (a) development of volumetric and
and municipal waste lls can develop also as a result of decompo- deviatoric strains with time and (b) effect of stress ratio on
sition of organic matter. strain increment ratio d / ds (from Walker, 1969).

lows a plastic dilatancy rule. Walker (1969) inves- history, with some samples contracting or dilating
tigated the time-dependent change of these two com- (Lade and Liu, 1998; Ahn-Dan et al., 2001). Some
ponents from incremental drained triaxial creep tests dense sand samples contract initially but then dilate
on normally consolidated kaolinite. The increase in with time (Bowman and Soga, 2003). Further discus-
shear strains with increase in volumetric strains at dif- sion of the creep behavior of sands in relation to me-
ferent times is shown in Fig. 12.33a. At the beginning chanical aging phenomena is given in Section 12.11.
of the triaxial test, the deviator stress was instantane- The fundamental process of creep strain develop-
ously increased from 344 to 377 kPa and kept constant. ment is therefore similar to that of time-independent
After an immediate increase in shear strains at constant plastic strains, and the same framework of soil plastic-
volume (AB in Fig. 12.33a), section BD corresponds ity can possibly be used. It can be argued whether
to primary consolidation that is controlled by the dis- it is necessary to separate the deformation into
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sipation of pore pressures. After point D, creep oc- time-dependent and independent components. Rate-
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curred, and the ratio of volumetric to deviatoric strains independent behavior can be considered as the limiting
was independent of time. This ratio decreased with in- case of rate-dependent behavior at a very slow rate of
creasing stress ratio as shown in Fig. 12.33b. This ob- loading.
Volumetric-deviatoric creep coupling implies that
servation led to the time-dependent ow rule, which is
rapid application of a stress or a strain invariably re-
ate
similar to the dilatancy rule described in Section 11.20.
sults in rapid change of pore water pressures in a sat-
Sand deforms with time in a similar manner. Under urated soil under undrained conditions. For a constant
progressive deviatoric creep, the volumetric creep re- total minor principal stress, the magnitude of the pore
sponse is highly dependent on density, the stress level, pressure change depends on the volume change ten-
and the stress path before creep. The rate of both vol- dencies of the soil when subjected to shear distortions.
umetric and deviatoric creep increases with conning
dM These tendencies are, in turn, controlled by the void
pressure, particularly after particle crushing becomes ratio, structure, and effective stress, and can be quan-
important at high stresses (Yamamuro and Lade, 1993). tied in terms of the pore pressure parameter A as dis-
For dense sand under high deviator stress, dilative cussed in Chapters 8 and 10. An example showing pore
creep is observed (Murayama et al., 1984; Mejia et al., pressure increase with time for consolidated undrained
1988). The volumetric response of dense sand and creep tests on illite at several stress intensities is shown
gravel with time is a highly complex function of stress in Fig. 12.34. Figure 12.35 shows a slow decrease in
hte
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Figure 12.34 Pore pressure development with time during undrained creep of illite.

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Figure 12.35 Normalized pore pressure vs. time relationships during creep of kaolinite.
pore pressure during the sustained loading of kaolinite.

dM Although the general form of the stressstraintime
Similar behavior was demonstrated in the measured and stressstrain ratetime relationships are similar to
stress paths of undrained creep test on San Francisco those shown above for triaxial loading conditions, the
Bay mud (Arulanandan et al., 1971). As shown in Fig. actual values may differ considerably.
12.36, the effective stress states shifted toward the fail- For example, undisturbed Haney clay, a gray silty
ure line. At higher stress levels, the specimens even- clay from British Columbia, with a sensitivity in the
tually underwent creep rupture. However, soil strength range of 6 to 10, was tested both in triaxial compres-
in terms of effective stresses does not change unless sion and plane strain (Campanella and Vaid, 1974).
hte
there are chemical, biological, or mineralogical Samples were normally consolidated both isotropically
changes during the creep period. This is illustrated by and under K0 conditions to the same vertical effective
the stress paths shown schematically in Fig. 12.37, stress. Samples consolidated isotropically were tested
where the pre- and postcreep strengths fall on the same in triaxial compression. Coefcient K0 consolidation
failure envelope. was used for both K0 triaxial and plane strain tests.
The results shown in Fig. 12.40 indicate that the pre-
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Effects of Temperature creep stress history had a signicant effect on the

An increase in temperature decreases effective stress, deformations. The plane strain and K0 consolidated
increases pore pressure, and weakens the soil structure. triaxial samples gave about the same creep behavior
Creep rates ordinarily increase and the relaxation under the same deviatoric stress, which suggests that
py
stresses corresponding to specic values of strain de- preventing strain in one horizontal direction and/or the
crease at higher temperature. These effects are illus- intermediate principal stress were not factors of major
trated by the data shown in Figs. 12.38 and 12.39. importance for this soil under the test conditions used.
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Effects of Test Type, Stress System, and Stress Path Interaction Between Consolidation and Creep
Most measurements of time-dependent deformation Experimental evidence suggests that creep occurs dur-
and stress relaxation in soils have been done on sam- ing primary consolidation (Leroueil et al., 1985; Imai
ples consolidated isotropically and tested in triaxial and Tang, 1992). Following the initial large change
compression or by measurement of secondary com- following load application, the pore pressure may ei-
pression in oedometer tests. However, most soils in ther dissipate, with accompanying volume change if
nature have been subjected to an anisotropic stress his- drainage is allowed, or change slowly during creep or
tory, and deformation conditions conform more to stress relaxation, if drainage is prevented. The devel-
plane strain than triaxial compression in many cases. opment of complete effective stress and void ratio
Some investigations of these factors have been made. equilibrium may take a long time. One illustration of

Normal Undrained Triaxial

50 Compression Test: Effective
Stress Path
Possible Critical Total Stress Path of
State Line 3 Triaxial Compression Test
40
1
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30
Effective Stress State
After 1,000 min Creep
20
ate
Effective Stress Path
10 of Undrained Creep
0
dM 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
(a)
Normal Undrained Triaxial

Compression Test: Effective
Stress Path
hte
400
Total Stress Path of
Possible Critical
Triaxial Compression Test
State Line
320 3
1
rig
240
Effective Stress State
160
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Effective Stress Path

80 of Undrained Creep
0
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0 80 160 240 320 400 480 560 640

(b)
Figure 12.36 Measured stress paths of undrained creep tests of San Francisco Bay mud.
Initial conning pressure: (a) 49 kPa and (b) 392 kPa (from Arulanandan et al., 1971).

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Figure 12.37 Effects of undrained creep on the strength of normally consolidated clay.
dM
hte
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Figure 12.38 Creep curves for Osaka clay tested at different temperaturesundrained tri-
axial compression (Murayama, 1969).
py
this is given by Fig. 10.5, where it is shown that the of the other tests was inuenced by a pore pressure
relationship between void ratio and effective stress is that contained a contribution from the prior consoli-
dependent on the time for compression under any dation history.
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given stress. Another is given by Fig. 12.41, which The magnitude and rate of pore pressure develop-
shows pore pressures during undrained creep of San ment if drainage is prevented following primary con-
Francisco Bay mud. In each sample, consolidation un- solidation depend on the time allowed for secondary
der an effective conning pressure of 100 kPa was al- compression prior to the prevention of further drain-
lowed for 1800 min prior to the cessation of drainage age. This is illustrated by the data in Fig. 12.42, which
and the start of a creep test. The consolidation period show pore pressure as a function of time for samples
was greater than that required for 100 percent primary that have undergone different amounts of secondary
consolidation. The curve marked 0 percent stress level compression.
refers to a specimen maintained undrained but not sub- In summary, creep deformation depends on the ef-
ject to a deviator stress. This curve indicates that each fective stress path followed and any changes in stress

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Figure 12.39 Inuence of temperature on the initial and nal stresses in stress relaxation
tests on Osaka clayundrained triaxial compression (Murayama, 1969).
dM
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py
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Figure 12.40 Creep curves for isotropically and K0-consolidated samples of undisturbed
Haney clay tested in triaxial and plane strain compression (from Campanella and Vaid, 1974).
Reproduced with permission from the National Research Council of Canada.

RATE EFFECTS ON STRESSSTRAIN RELATIONSHIPS 497
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Figure 12.41 Pore pressure development during undrained creep of San Francisco Bay mud
ate
after consolidation at 100 kPa for 1800 min (from Holzer et al., 1973). Reproduced with
permission from the National Research Council of Canada.
dM
hte
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Figure 12.42 Pore pressure development under undrained conditions following different
periods of secondary compression (from Holzer et al., 1973). Reproduced with permission
from the National Research Council of Canada.
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with time. Furthermore, time-dependent volumetric re- is necessary to reconcile the time-dependent deforma-
sponse is governed both by the rate of volumetric creep tions observed in the eld and laboratory.
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and by the rate of consolidation. The latter is a com-

plex function of drainage conditions and material prop-
erties, especially the permeability and compressibility. 12.8 RATE EFFECTS ON STRESSSTRAIN
Because the effective stress path is controlled by the RELATIONSHIPS
rate of loading and drainage conditions, the separation
of consolidation and creep deformations can be dif- An increase in strain rate during soil compression is
cult in the early stage of time-dependent deformation manifested by increased stiffness, as was noted in Sec-
as given by section BD in Fig. 12.33a. In some cases, tion 12.3. In essence, the state of the soil jumps to the
a fully coupled analysis of soilpore uid interaction stressstrain curve that corresponds to the new strain
with an appropriate time-dependent constitutive model rate. Commonly, this rate-dependent stressstrain

curve, noted by Suklje (1957), is the same as if the

soil had been loaded from the beginning at the new 0.6
strain rate. This phenomenon is often observed in 5% /h
clays. Examples are given in Fig. 12.43a for undrained R
triaxial compression tests of Belfast and Winnipeg 0.5
clays (Graham et al., 1983a) and Fig. 12.43b for one- R
dimensional compression tests of Batiscan clay (Ler-
oueil et al., 1985). 0.5% /h
0.4
0.05% /h
Yield and Strength Envelopes of Clays
(1 3)/21c
Belfast Clay 4 m
l
The undrained shear strength and apparent precon- 1c = v0
ria
solidation pressure of soils decrease with decreasing 0.3
R
strain rate or increasing duration of testing. Preconsol-
idation pressures obtained from one-dimensional con-
solidation tests and undrained shear strengths obtained 16%/h
from triaxial tests are just two points on a soils yield 0.2
ate
1%/h
envelope in stress space. For a given metastable soil 0.25%/h
structure, the degree of rate dependency of preconsol-
idation pressure is similar to that of undrained shear Winnipeg Clay 11.5 m
0.1 1c > v0
strength (Soga and Mitchell, 1996). If the apparent pre-
consolidation pressure depends on the strain rate at
dM CAU Triaxial Compression Tests
which the soil is deforming, then the same analogy can Relaxation Tests (R)
be expanded to the assumption that the size of the en- 0
0 4 8 12 16 20
tire yield envelope is also strain rate dependent (Tav-
enas and Leroueil, 1977). Figure 12.44 shows a family Axial Strain
of strength envelopes corresponding to constant strain Effective Stress v (kPa)
rates7 obtained from drained and undrained creep tests 0 50 100 150 200 250
on stiff plastic Mascouche clay from Quebec (Leroueil 0
. .
hte
and Marques, 1996). v2 v1

The effective stress failure line of soil is uniquely
dened regardless of the magnitude of the strain rate 5 . .
v2 v1
applied in undrained compression. Figure 12.45a
shows the failure line of Haney clay (Vaid and Cam-
panella, 1977). The line represents the stress conditions 10 . .
Strain v (%)
v2
rig
v1
at the maximum ratio of 1 / 3. The data were obtained
by various undrained tests, and a unique failure line
can be observed. Figure 12.45b shows the undrained 15 .
v1
stress paths and the critical state line of reconstituted
.
py
mixtures of sand and clay with plasticity indices rang- SP1 test v2
ing from 10 to 30 (Nakase and Kamei, 1986). A unique 20 SP2 test .
v3
critical state line can be observed although the rates of .
v1 = 2.70 & 106 s1
. .
v1
shearing are different. The change in undrained shear v2 = 1.05 & 107 s1 .
.
v3 = 1.34 & 105 s1 v1
strength with strain rate results from a difference in 25
Co
generation of excess pore pressures. A decrease in

strain rate leads to larger excess pore pressures at fail-
ure due to creep deformation. 30
Figure 12.43 Rate-dependent stressstrain relations of

clays: (a) undrained triaxial compression tests of Belfast
and Winnipeg clay (Graham et al., 1983a) and (b) one-
7
The strain rate is dened as vs 2v s2, where v is the volu-
metric strain rate and s is the deviator strain rate (Leroueil and Mar- dimensional compression tests of Batiscan clay (Leroueil et
ques, 1996). Whether the use of this strain rate measure is appropriate al., 1985).
or not remains to be investigated.

l
ria
ate
dM
Figure 12.44 Inuence of strain rate on the yield surface of Masouche clay (from Leroueil
and Marques, 1996).
hte
Excess Pore Pressure Generation in Normally stress relaxation tests in which the axial strain is kept
Consolidated Clays constant.
Excess pore pressure development depends primarily
on the collapse of soil structure. Accordingly, strain is Overconsolidated Clays
rig
the primary factor controlling pore pressure generation. Rate dependency of undrained shear strength decreases
This is shown in Fig. 12.46 by the undrained stress with increasing overconsolidation, since there is no
strainpore pressure response of normally consolidated contraction or collapse tendency observed during creep
natural Olga clay (Lefebvre and LeBouef, 1987). The of heavily overconsolidated clays. Sheahan et al.
natural clay specimens were normally consolidated un- (1996) prepared reconstituted specimens of Boston
py
der consolidation pressures larger than the eld over- blue clay at different overconsolidation ratios and
burden pressure and then sheared at different strain sheared them at different strain rates in undrained con-
rates. Although the deviator stress at any strain in- ditions. Figure 12.47 shows that the undrained stress
creases with increasing strain rate, the pore pressure path and the strength were much more strain rate de-
Co
versus strain curves are about the same at all strain pendent for lightly overconsolidated clay (OCR 1
rates. At a given deviator stress, the pore pressure gen- and 2) than for more heavily overconsolidated clay
eration was larger at slower strain rates as a result of (OCR 4 and 8). The results also show that the
more creep under slow loading. This is consistent with strength failure envelope is independent of strain rate
the observation made in connection with undrained as discussed earlier.
creep of clays as discussed in Section 12.7. Strain- The strain rate effects on stressstrainpore pressure
driven pore pressure generation was also suggested by response of overconsolidated structured Olga clays are
Larcerda and Houston (1973) who showed that pore shown in Fig. 12.48 (Lefebvre and LeBouef, 1987).
pressure does not change signicantly during triaxial The natural samples were reconsolidated to the eld

0.4
Const. Stress Creep
Const. Rate of Strain Shear
Const. Rate of Loading Shear
0.3
Aged Samples
Const. Load Creep
(1 3)/21c
Step Creep
0.2 Thixotropic Hardened
l
0.1
ria
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
(1 + 3)/21c
ate
(a)
1.0 1.0
0.8 dM 0.8
e
e
Lin
Lin
0.6 0.6
ate
ate
St
St
e
al-
in
al-
M-15. e
-L in M-10
itic
itic
0.4 0.4 -L .
K0 (%/min) (%/min)
Cr
Cr
. K0
7&10-1: . 1 .
q/vc
q/vc
7&10-1: . 1
0.2 7&10 : 2
-2 0.2 7&10-2: 2
. .
hte
7&10-3: 3 7&10-3: 3
0 0
Cr
Cr
0.2 0.2
itic
itic
al-
al-
St
St
ate
ate
rig
0.4 0.4
Lin
Lin
e
0.6 0.6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
p/vc p/vc
py
M15 Soil (Plasticity Index = 15) (b) M10 Soil (Plasticity Index = 10)
Figure 12.45 Strain rate independent failure line: (a) Haney clay (from Vaid and Campa-
nella, 1977) and (b) reconstituted mixtures of sand and clay (from Nakase and Kamei, 1986).
Co
overburden pressure. The deformation is brittle, with generation becomes rate dependent. This is due to local
strain softening indicating development of localized drainage within the specimens as the deformation be-
shear failure planes. Up to the peak stress, the response comes localized. As the time to failure increased, there
follows what has been described previously, that is the is more opportunity for local drainage toward the di-
stressstrain response is rate dependent and the pore lating shear band and the measured pore pressure may
pressure generation is strain dependent but indepen- not represent the overall behavior of the specimens.
dent of rate. However, after the peak, the pore pressure The difference in softening due to swelling at the fail-

Overconsolidated Olga Clay

Normally Consolidated Olga Clay Undrained Triaxial Compression Tests
Undrained Triaxial Compression Tests 70 Initial Isotropic Confining Pressure = 17.6 kPa
120 Initial Isotropic Confining Pressure =137 kPa

60
100 50
40
80
30
Axial Strain Rate
60 0.1 %/hr
20 0.5 %/hr
Axial Strain Rate 2.5 %/hr
l
40 0.1 %/hr 10 12.3 %/hr
Excess Pore Pressure u (kPa)
ria
0.5 %/hr
2.6 %/hr 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
20 12.3 %/hr Axial Strain (%)
20
Excess Pore Pressure u (kPa)
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
ate
Axial Strain Rate
140 Axial Strain (%) 0.1 %/hr
120 10 0.5 %/hr
2.6 %/hr
100 12.3 %/hr
80 Axial Strain Rate
0.1 %/hr 0
60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0.5 %/hr Axial Strain (%)
40
20
dM 2.6 %/hr
12.3 %/hr Figure 12.48 Stressstrain and pore pressurestrain curves
0 for overconsolidated Olga clay (from Lefebvre and LeBouef,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Axial Strain (%) 1987).
Figure 12.46 Stressstrain and pore pressurestrain curves

for normally consolidated Olga clay (from Lefebvre and
LeBouef, 1987).
hte
ure plane results in apparent rate dependency at large

strains. Similar observations were made by Atkinson
and Richardson (1987) who examined local drainage
effects by measuring the angles of intersection of shear
bands with very different times of failure.
rig
Effective Stress State at Peak for Initial K0 Consolidation State

Axial Strain Rate = 0.051 %/hr Effective Stress Path for Axial Rate Effects on Sands
Axial Strain Rate = 0.50 %/hr Strain Rate = 0.50 %/hr
(a r)/2vm
0.4
Axial Strain Rate = 5.0 %/hr Similar rate-dependent stressstrain behavior is ob-
Axial Strain Rate = 49 %/hr
served in sands (Lade et al., 1997), but the effects are
OCR=1
quite small in many cases (Tatsuoka et al., 1997; Di
py
0.3 Large
OCR=8 OCR=4
OCR=2
Rate
Effect
Benedetto et al., 2002). An example of time depend-
Negligible OCR=1 ency observed for drained plane strain compression
0.2 Rate Effect
tests of Hostun sand is shown in Fig. 12.49 (Matsushita
et al., 1999). The stressstrain curves for three differ-
Co
0.1
OCR=2
ent strain rates (1.25 101, 1.25 102, and 1.25
OCR=4
103 %/min) are very similar, indicating very small
0.0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
rate effects when the specimens are sheared at a con-
OCR=8 (a + r)/2vm stant strain rate. On the other hand, the change from
one rate to another temporarily increases or decreases
-0.1
the resistance to shear. The inuence of acceleration
Figure 12.47 Rate dependency stress path and strength of rather than the rate is reected by the signicant creep
overconsolidated Boston blue clay (from Sheahan et al., deformation and stress relaxation of this rate-
1996). insensitive material as shown the gure. This is differ-

Variation of Stress-strain curve by Constant Esec = q/a, Eeq = (q)SA / (a)SA

Strain Rate Tests at Axial Strain Rates = 0.125, 300
0.0125 and 0.00125 %/min. A Very Small Rate NSF-Clay
Effect Is Observed for Continuous Loading. Isotropically
6.0
Young's Modulus, Esec or Eeq (MPa)

CRS at Consolidated
0.00125%/min Emax = 239 MPa p0 = 300 kPa
5.5 Creep
CRS at
Stress Ratio a /r
CRS at
0.125%/min
0.125%/min
200
5.0
Creep Stress Relaxation
4.5 CRS at 0.00125%/min
Creep
4.0
CRS at 0.125%/min 100
l
3.5 Creep
ria
Accidental Pressure Drop Followed
CRS at 0.125%/min by Relaxation Stage
3.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Shear Strain = a r (%) 0
10-3 10-2 10-1 100
Axial Strain, a or
ate
Figure 12.49 Creep and stress relaxation of Hostun sand Single Amplitude of Cyclic Axial Strain, (a)SA (%)
(from Matsushita et al., 1999).
Figure 12.50 Clay stiffness degradation curves at three
strain rates (from Shibuya et al., 1996).
ent from the observations made for clays as shown in
dM
Fig. 12.43 in which a unique stressstrainstrain rate
relationship was observed. Hence, the modeling of
stressstrainrate behavior of sands appears to be
more complicated than that of clays, and further in-
vestigation is needed, as time-dependent behavior of
sands can be of signicance in geotechnical construc-
tion as discussed further in Section 12.10.
hte
Stiffness at Small and Intermediate Strains

Although the magnitude is small, the strain rate de-
pendency of the stressstrain relationship is observed
even at small strain levels for clays. The stiffness in-
rig
creases less than 6 percent per 10-fold increase in

strain rate (Leroueil and Marques, 1996). The rate de-
pendency on stiffness degradation curves measured by
monotonic loading of a reconstituted clay is shown in
Coefficient of Strain Rate, ()
Fig. 12.50 (Shibuya et al., 1996). At different strain

py
levels, the increase in the secant shear modulus with

shear strain rate is often expressed by the following
equation (Akai et al., 1975; Isenhower and Stokoe,
1981; Lo Presti et al., 1996; Tatsuoka et al., 1997):
Co
G
G( ) (12.34)
log G( , ref)
where G is the increase in secant shear modulus with

increase in log strain rate log , and G( , ref) is the
secant shear modulus at strain and reference strain
rate ref. The magnitude is large in clays, considerably Shear Strain, (%)
less in silty and clayey sands, and small in clean sands
(Lo Presti et al., 1996; Stokoe et al., 1999). The vari- Figure 12.51 Strain rate parameter G and strain level for
ation of G with strain is shown in Fig. 12.51 for dif- several clays (from Lo Presti et al., 1996).

MODELING OF STRESSSTRAINTIME BEHAVIOR 503
ferent plasticity clays (Lo Presti et al., 1996). The where is the frequency and c is the cyclic shear
magnitude of rate dependency increases with strain strain amplitude. Using Eq. (12.35), Matesic and Vu-
level, especially for strain levels larger than 0.01 per- cetic (2003) report values of G of 2 to 11 percent for
cent, which is within the preplastic region zone 3 de- clays and 0.2 to 6 percent for sands as the strain rate
scribed in Section 11.17. increases 10-fold. The values of G in general de-
creased when the applied cyclic shear strain increased
Rate Effects During Cyclic Loading from 5 104 percent to 1 102 percent. It should
The frequencies of cyclic loading to which a soil is be noted that the strain range examined is within the
subjected can vary widely. For example, the frequency non-linear elastic range (zone 1 to zone 2 in Section
of sea and ocean waves is in the range of 102 to 101 11.17). The monotonic loading data presented in Fig.
Hz, earthquakes are in the range of 0.1 to a few hertz, 12.51 show that the rate effect becomes more pro-
l
and machine foundations are in the range of 10 to 100 nounced at larger strain, that is, as plastic deformations
ria
Hz. Similarly to monotonic loading, the effect of load- become more signicant. Hence, it is possible that the
ing frequency on shear modulus degradation is small fundamental mechanisms of rate dependency are dif-
in clean, coarse-grained soils (Bolton and Wilson, ferent at small elastic strain levels than at larger plastic
1989; Stokoe et al., 1995), but the effect becomes more strains.
Small strain damping shows more complex fre-
ate
signicant in ne-grained soils (Stokoe et al., 1995;
dOnofrio et al., 1999; Matesic and Vucetic, 2003; quency dependency, as shown in Fig. 12.53 (Shibuya
Meng and Rix, 2004). An example of frequency effects et al., 1995; Meng and Rix, 2004). At a frequency of
on a shear modulus degradation curve for a clay ob- more than 10 Hz, the damping ratio increases with
tained from cyclic loading is shown in Fig. 12.50 along increased frequency, possibly due to pore uid viscos-
with the monotonic data. Figure 12.52 shows the effect
dM ity effects. As the applied frequency decreases, the
of frequency on shear modulus of several soils at very damping ratio decreases. However, at a frequency less
small shear strains (less than 103 percent) measured than 0.1 Hz, the damping ratio starts to increase with
by torsional shear and resonant column apparatuses decreasing frequency. This may result from creep of
(Meng and Rix, 2004). The effect is 10 percent in- the soil (Shibuya et al., 1995).
crease per log cycle at most.
At a given frequency of cyclic loading, the strain
12.9 MODELING OF STRESSSTRAINTIME
rate applied to a soil increases with applied shear strain
hte
BEHAVIOR
as shown by the equation below:
Constitutive models are needed for the solution of geo-
4 c (12.35) technical problems requiring the determination of de-
rig
250
Vallencca Clay
200
Shear Modulus G (MPa)
py
Sandy Elastic Silt

150
Co
100
Kaolin
Kaolin
Sandy Lean Clay
50 Sandy Silty Clay

Kaolin Subgrade
Fat Clay
0
10-2 10-1 100 101 102
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 12.52 Rate dependency of cyclic small strain stiffness of a sandy elastic silt (from
Meng and Rix, 2004).

6
Clayey Subgrades
5
Augusta Clay
4 Sandy Lean Clay
Damping (%)
Pisa Clay
Vallencca Clay Fat Clay
3
Sandy Silty Clay
2
l
1 Sandy Elastic Silt
ria
Kaolin
10-2 10-1 100 101 102

Frequency (Hz)
ate
Figure 12.53 Effect of strain rate of damping ratio of soils (from Shibuya et al., 1995 and
Meng and Rix, 2004).
formations, displacements, and strength and stability

changes that occur over time periods of different
dM
lengths. Various approaches have been used, including
ln ln (t1,D) m ln t
t1
(12.37)
empirical curve tting, extensions of rate process

where (t1,D) is the axial strain rate at unit time and
theory, rheological models, and advanced theories
is a function of stress intensity D, m is the absolute
of viscoelasticity and viscoplasticity. Owing to the
complexity of stress states, the many factors that inu- value of the slope of the straight line on the log strain
ence the creep and stress relaxation properties of a soil, rate versus log time plot, and t1 is a reference time, for
and the difculty of accounting for concurrent volu- example, 1 min. Values of m generally fall in the range
hte
metric and deviatoric deformations in systems that are of 0.7 to 1.3 for triaxial creep tests; lower values are
many times undergoing consolidation as well as sec- reported for undrained conditions than for drained con-
ondary compression or creep, it is not surprising that ditions. For the development shown here, the stress
development of general models that can be readily im- intensity D is taken as the deviator stress (1 3). A
plemented in engineering practice is a challenging un- shear stress or stress level could also be used.
dertaking. The same data plotted in the form of Figs. 12.3,
rig
Nonetheless, some progress has been made in estab- 12.31, and 12.32 can be expressed by
lishing functional forms and relationships that can be
applied for simple analyses and comparisons, and one
of these is developed in this section. A complete re-
view and development of all recent theories and pro-
ln
(t,D0)
D (12.38)
py
posed relationships for creep and stress relaxation is

beyond the scope of this book. Comprehensive reviews or
of many models for representation of the time-
dependent plastic response of soils are given in Adachi ln ln (t,D0) D (12.39)
Co
et al. (1996).
in which (t,D0) is a ctitious value of strain rate at
General StressStrainTime Function
D 0, a function of time after start of creep, and
Strain Rate Relationships between axial strain rate is the slope of the linear part of the log strain rate
and time t of the type shown in Figs. 12.4 and 12.5 versus stress plot. From Eqs. (12.37) and (12.39)
can be expressed by
ln

(t1,D)
m ln t
t1
(12.36) ln (t1,D) m ln t
t1
ln (t,D0) D (12.40)
or For D 0,

ln (t,D0) ln (t1,D0) m ln t
t1
(12.41)
vided the variation of strength with water content is
known. Since normal strength tests are considerably
simpler and less time consuming than creep tests, the
in which (t1,D0) is the value of strain rate obtained by uniqueness of the quantity Dmax can be useful because
projecting the straight-line portion of the relationship the results of a limited number of tests can be used to
between log strain rate and deviator stress at unit time predict behavior over a range of conditions. A further
to a value of D 0. Designation of this value by A generalization of Eq. (12.43) then is

and substitution of Eq. (12.41) into Eq. (12.39) gives m
t

A exp(D) 1 (12.44)
t t
ln ln A D m ln (12.42)
t1
l
where
ria
which may be written
D
m Dmax D (12.45)
D
t1 Dmax
Ae (12.43)
t
Strain A general relationship between strain and
ate
This simple three-parameter equation has been time is obtained by integration of Eq. (12.43). Two
found suitable for the description of the creep rate be- solutions are obtained, depending on the value of m.
havior of a wide variety of soils. The parameter A is If 1 at t t1 1, then
shown in Fig. 12.54. Since it reects an order of mag-
nitude for the creep rate under a given set of condi- A
1 exp (D)(t1m 1) when m 1
dM
tions, it is in a sense a soil property. A minimum of
two creep tests are needed to establish the values of A,
1m
(12.46)
, and m for a soil. If identical specimens are tested
using different creep stress intensities, a plot of log and
strain rate versus log time yields the value of m, and
a plot of log strain rate versus stress for different values 1 A exp (D)ln t when m 1 (12.47)
of time can be used to nd and A from the slope
hte
and the intercept at unit time, respectively. Creep curve shapes corresponding to these relation-
The parameter has units of reciprocal stress. If ships are shown in Fig. 12.55. These curves encompass
stress is expressed as the ratio of creep stress to the variety of shapes shown in Fig. 12.2. A similar
strength at the beginning of creep, D/Dmax, then the equation to Eq. (12.46) was developed by Mesri et al.
dimensionless quantity Dmax should be used. For a (1981) from Eq. (12.43). The initial time-independent
rig
given soil and test type, values of Dmax do not vary strain was neglected, and the resulting equation is
greatly for different water contents, as the change in
with water content is compensated by a change in
Dmax. Thus the strain rate versus time behavior for any
stress at any water content can be predicted from the

1m
At1
exp(D)
t
t1 1m
(12.48)
py
results of creep tests at any other water content, pro- It may be seen in Fig. 12.56 that this equation de-
scribes the uniaxial creep behavior of three clays very
well. Data for both drained and undrained creep are
shown.
Co
Stress Relaxation Stress decay during stress relax-

ation is approximately linear with logarithm of time
until it levels off at some residual stress after a long
time. There is equivalency between creep and stress
relaxation in that a general phenomenological model
that predicts one can be used to predict the other, as
shown by Akai et al. (1975), Lacerda (1976), Borja
(1992), and others. For example, Eq. (12.44) takes the
following form when stress relaxation is started after
Figure 12.54 Inuence of creep stress magnitude on the deformation at constant rate of strain (Lacerda and
creep rate at a given time after stress application. Houston, 1973):

l
ria
ate
Figure 12.55 Creep curve shapes predicted by the general stressstraintime function of
Eqs. (12.46) and (12.47).
D

D
D0 D0
dM
1 s log
t
t0
(t t0) (12.49) t0
h0

(12.52)
where s is the slope of the stress relaxation curve, and where h0 is the strain rate to give a delay time of t0
the zero subscript refers to conditions at the start of 1 min before stresses begin to relax. The data presented
stress relaxation. Also by Lacerda and Houston (1973) indicate that the values
of # and h0 increase with increasing plasticity of the
hte
# soil.
s (12.50)
D
Constitutive Models
where Different rheological models have been proposed for
the mathematical description of the stressstraintime
rig
2.3(1 m) behavior of soils that are made up of combinations of

# (12.51)
linear springs, viscous dashpots, and sliders. In the
Murayama and Shibata (1958), Christensen and Wu
The validity of this equation has been established (1964), and Abdel-Hady and Herrin (1966) models, the
for m 1.0. Pore pressures decrease slightly during dashpots are nonlinear, with stressow rate response
py
undrained stress relaxation. governed by rate process theory. Rheological models

Stresses may not begin to relax immediately after are useful conceptually to aid in recognition of elastic
the strain rate is reduced to zero. The time t0 between and plastic components of deformation. They are help-
the time that the strain rate is reduced to zero and the ful for visualization by analogy of viscous ow that
Co
beginning of relaxation is a variable that depends on accompanies time-dependent change of structure to a

the soil type and the prior strain rate. This is shown more stable state. Mathematical relationships can be
schematically in Fig. 12.57. The greater the initial rate developed in a straightforward manner for the descrip-
of strain to a given deformation, the more quickly re- tion of creep, stress relaxation, steady-state deforma-
laxation begins. This is a direct reection of the relation, and the like in terms of the model constants. In
tive differences in equilibrium soil structures during most cases, these relationships are complex and neces-
and after deformation. Values of t0 as a function of sitate the evaluation of several parameters that may not
prior strain rate are shown in Fig. 12.58 for several be valid for different stress intensities or soil states.
soils. These curves can be described empirically by Only one-dimensional stresses and deformations are

l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.56 Correspondence between creep strain predicted by Eq. (12.48) and measured
values. Diagrams are from Mesri et al. (1981), which were based on analyses by Semple
(1973).

12.10 CREEP RUPTURE

As discussed in Section 12.2 and shown in Fig. 12.6,
the strength of a soil and the stressstrain curve may
be changed as a result of creep. In some cases, such
as the drained creep of a compressive soil, the strength
may be increased. Changes in strength may be as much
as 50 percent or more of the strength measured in nor-
mal undrained tests prior to creep.
Causes of Strength Loss During Creep
l
ria
Figure 12.57 Inuence of prior strain rate on stress relaxa- Loss of strength during creep is particularly important
tion. in soft clays deformed under undrained conditions and
heavily overconsolidated clays in drained shear. Both
of these conditions are pertinent to certain types of
engineering problems: the former in connection with
ate
stability of soft clays immediately after construction,
and the latter in connection with problems of long-term
stability.
The loss of strength as a result of creep may be
explained in terms of the following principles of be-
havior:
dM
1. If a signicant portion of the strength of a soil is
due to cementation, and creep deformations
cause failure of cemented bonds, then strength
will be lost.
2. In the absence of chemical or mineralogical
hte
changes the strength depends on effective

stresses. If creep causes changes in effective
Figure 12.58 Inuence of prior strain rate on the time to stress, then strength changes will also occur.
start of stress relaxation (adapted from Lacerda and Houston, 3. In almost all soils, shear causes changes in pore
1973). pressure during undrained deformation and
changes in water content during drained defor-
rig
mation.
considered. None appears to exist that has the gener- 4. Water content changes cause strength changes.
ality and simplicity of the three-parameter creep Eqs.
(12.43), (12.46), and (12.47). These processes are illustrated by the stress paths
Both plasticity and creep are controlled by the mo- and effective stress envelope shown schematically in
py
tion of dislocations or breakage among soil particles, Fig. 12.37.

so it may be physically more correct to predict both Strength loss in saturated, heavily overconsolidated
plastic and creep deformations with one equation. Two clays tested under undrained conditions has also been
particularly promising approaches are based on an ex- reported, for example, Casagrande and Wilson (1951),
Co
tension of the Cam-clay model to take into account Goldstein and Ter-Stepanian (1957), and Vialov and
time-dependent volumetric and deviatoric deforma- Skibitsky (1957). This may be explained as follows.
tions (Kavazanjian and Mitchell, 1980; Borja and Ka- Shear deformations cause dilation and the development
vazanjian, 1985; Kaliakin and Dafalias, 1990; Borja, of negative pore pressures, which do not develop uni-
1992; Al-Shamrani and Sture, 1998; Hashiguchi and formly throughout the sample but concentrate along
Okayasu, 2000) and on an elasto-viscoplastic equation planes where the greatest shearing stresses and strains
developed using ow surface theory (Sekiguchi, 1977, develop. With time during sustained loading, water mi-
1984; Matsui and Abe, 1985, 1986, 1988; Matsui et grates into zones of high negative pore pressures lead-
al., 1989; Yin and Graham, 1999) and overstress theory ing to softening and strength decrease relative to the
(Adachi and Oka, 1982; Katona, 1984: Kutter and strength in normal undrained strength tests. This
Sathialingham, 1992; Rocchi et al., 2003). leads to shear band formation.

CREEP RUPTURE 509
This process is shown in Fig. 12.59 with reference in turn, a function of deformation rates, the hydraulic
to an effective stress failure envelope for a heavily ov- conductivity, and the surrounding water pressure and
erconsolidated clay. The effective stress path is repre- drainage conditions. The time to failure of heavily ov-
sented by AB, and AC represents the total stress path erconsolidated clays in which negative pore water pres-
in a conventional consolidated-undrained (CU) test. sures develop as a result of unloading is best estimated
The negative pore pressure at failure is CB. If a creep on the basis of drained strengths, effective stresses, and
stress DE is applied to the same clay, a negative pore consideration of the rate of swelling that is possible
pressure EF is induced. This negative pore pressure for the particular clay and ambient stress and ground-
dissipates during creep, and the clay in the shear zone water conditions. An exception would be when
swells. At the end of the creep period, the effective strength loss results from the time-dependent rupture
stress will be as represented by point E. Further shear of cementing bonds. In this case, sustained load creep
l
starting from these conditions leads to strength G, tests in the laboratory may allow establishment of a
ria
which is less than the original value at B. It is evident stress level versus time-to-failure relationship.
also that if the negative pore water pressure is large For soils subject to failure during undrained creep,
enough, and the sustained load is applied long enough, the time to failure is usually a negative exponential
then point E could reach the failure envelope. This function of the stress, for stresses greater than some
appears to have been the conditions that developed in limiting value below which no failure develops even
ate
several cuts in heavily overconsolidated brown London after very long times.8 The relationship between devi-
clay, which failed some 40 to 70 years after excava- ator stress, normalized to the pretest major principal
tions were made (Skempton, 1977). effective stress, and time to failure for Haney clay is
shown in Fig. 12.60. These and similar data dene cer-
Time to Failure dM
The time to failure of soils susceptible to strength loss
under sustained stresses depends on the rates at which 8
This critical stress below which creep rupture does not occur has
pore pressures develop and at which water can migrate been termed the upper yield, the lower yield being the stress below
into or out of the critical shear zone. These rates are, which deformations are elastic (Murayama and Shibata 1958, 1964).
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.59 Stress paths for normal undrained shear and drained creep of heavily over-
consolidated clay.

tain principles relating to the probability of creep rup-

ture and the time to failure:
1. Values of the parameter m less than 1.0 in Eqs.

(12.43) through (12.46) are indicative of a high
potential strength loss during creep and eventual
failure (Singh and Mitchell, 1969).
2. The minimum strain rate min prior to the onset
of creep rupture decreases, and the time to failure
increases, as the stress intensity decreases, as
shown in Fig. 12.61 for Haney clay. The rela-
l
tionship is unique, as may be seen in Fig. 12.62,
ria
which shows that
C
t (12.53)
min
ate
Figure 12.60 Time to rupture as a function of creep stress Values of the constant C accurate to about 0.2
for Haney clay (Campanella and Vaid, 1972). log cycles are given in Table 12.2.
3. The strain at failure is a constant independent of
stress level, as shown in Fig. 12.63. The failure
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.61 Creep rate behavior of K0-consolidated, undisturbed Haney clay under axi-
symmetric loading (Campanella and Vaid, 1972).

SAND AGING EFFECTS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE 511
1 C
constant mint (12.56)
1m 1m
Thus, the constant in Eq. (12.53) is dened by
C (1 m) (12.57)
Values of for Haney clay tested in three ways are

shown in Fig. 12.63, and values of C and m are in
Table 12.3. The agreement between predicted and mea-
sured values of C is reasonable.
l
Predictions of the time to failure under a given stress
ria
may be made in the following way. Strain at failure
can be determined by either a creep rupture test or by
a normal shear or compression test. If a normal
strength test is used, then the rate of strain must be
ate
slow enough to allow pore pressure equalization or
drainage, depending on the conditions of interest, and
the stress history and stress system should simulate
those in the eld. Parameter m can be established from
Figure 12.62 Relationship between time to failure and min-
a creep test, and then C can be computed from Eq.
imum creep rate (from Campanella and Vaid, 1974). Repro-
dM
duced with permission from the National Research Council (12.57). Values of A and are established from creep
of Canada. tests at two stress intensities. Then, for t1 1,
C mint A exp(D)t1m
(12.58)
strain is taken as the strain corresponding to the and corresponding values of D and t can be calculated
minimum strain rate. For the case of undrained using Eq. (12.58) rewritten as
hte
creep rupture, this is consistent with the concept

that pore pressure development is uniquely re-
lated to strain and independent of the rate at
which it accumulates (Lo, 1969a, 1969b).
ln t
1
1m
ln
C
A
D (12.59)
Other constitutive models are available to model the

The relationship expressed by Eq. (12.53) results di- complex time-dependent behavior under various load-
rig
rectly from the fact that the strain at the point of mining conditions. For example, Sekiguchi (1977) de-
imum strain rate is a constant independent of stress or veloped a viscoplastic model that gives excellent
strain rate. The general stressstrain ratetime function representations of strain rate effects on undrained
[see Eq. (12.43)] describes the strain ratetime behav- stressstrain behavior, stress relaxation, and creep rup-
ior until min is reached. For t1 1 and 0 at t
py
ture of normally consolidated clays. Other models

0, the corresponding straintime equation is listed in Section 12.9 are able to simulate time-
dependent behavior in a similar manner.
A
exp(D)t1m (12.54)
1m
Co
12.11 SAND AGING EFFECTS AND THEIR

SIGNIFICANCE
By setting 0 at t 0, the assumption is made
that there is no instantaneous deformation. Substitution Over geological time, lithication and chemical reac-
for A exp(D) in Eq. (12.54) gives tions can change sand into sandstone or clay into mud-
stone or shale. However, even over engineering time,
1 behavior of soils can alter as stresses redistribute after
t mt1m (12.55) construction (Fookes et al., 1988). As discussed in the
1m
previous sections, it is well established that ne-
grained soils and clays have properties and behavior
which at the point of minimum strain rate becomes that change over time as a result of consolidation,

Table 12.2 Creep Rupture Parameters for Several Clays
Creep
Rate C (min t)
Test Parameter, (0.2 log
Soil Typea m cycles)
Undisturbed Haney ICU 0.7 1.2
clay, N.C.b
Undisturbed Haney ACU 0.4 0.2
clay, N.C.b
l
Undisturbed Haney ACU-PS 0.5 0.3
ria
clay, N.C.b
Undisturbed Seattle ICU 0.5 0.6
clay, O.C.c
Undisturbed U 0.8 1.6
Tonegawa loamc
ate
Undisturbed ICU 0.75 2.8
Redwood City
clay, N.C.c
Undisturbed Bangkok ICU 0.70 1.4
mudc
Undisturbed Osaka 1.0 0.07
dM
clayc
a
ICU, isotropic consolidated, undrained triaxial; ACU, K0 consoli-
dated, undrained triaxial; ACU-PS, K0 consolidated, plane strain; and
U, compression test.
b
Data from Campanella and Vaid (1974).
c
Data from Singh and Mitchell (1969).
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.63 Axial strain at minimum strain rate as a function of creep stress for undis-
turbed Haney clay (from Campanella and Vaid, 1974). Reproduced with permission from
the National Research Council of Canada.

Table 12.3 Predicted and Measured Values of C for idation, t2 is some time of interest thereafter, G is the
Haney Clay change in small strain shear modulus from t1 to t2,
G1000 is the shear modulus measured after 1000 min of
Creep Rate constant conning pressure, which must be after com-
Parameter C pletion of primary consolidation, and NG is the nor-
m (from (from Predicted malized shear modulus increase with time. Large
Test Table Fig. by Eq. C increase in stiffness due to aging is represented by
Condition 12.2) 12.63) (12.57) Measured large values of IG or NG. In general, the measured NG
value for clays ranges between 0.05 and 0.25. The ag-
ICUa 0.7 2.8 0.84 1.2 ing effect also increases with an increasing plasticity
ACUb 0.4 0.3 0.18 0.20 index as shown in Fig. 12.64 (Kokusho, 1987). The
l
ACU-PSc 0.5 0.5 0.25 0.30 data in the gure have been supplemented by values
ria
a
Isotropic consolidated, undrained triaxial. of G/G for several sands compiled by Jamiolkowski
b
Anisotropic, consolidated, undrained triaxial. (1996). Mesri et al. (1990) report that NG for sands
c
Anisotropic consolidated, undrained, plane strain. varies between 0.01 and 0.03 and increases as the soil
Data from Campanella and Vaid (1974). becomes ner. Jamiolkowski and Manassero (1995)
give values of 0.01 to 0.03 for silica sands, 0.039 for
ate
sand with 50 percent mica, and 0.05 to 0.12 for car-
bonate sand. Experimental results show that the rate of
shear, swelling, chemical and biological changes, and increase in stiffness with time for very loose carbonate
the like. Until recently it has not been appreciated that sand increases as the stress level increases (Howie et
cohesionless soils exhibit this behavior as well. Much al., 2002). Isotropic stress state resulted in a slower
recent eld evidence of the changing properties of
dM
granular soils over time is now available and these data
rate of increase in stiffness.
There is only limited eld data that shows evidence
suggest that recently disturbed or deposited granular of aging effects on stiffness. Troncoso and Garces
soils gain stiffness and strength over time at constant (2000) measured shear wave velocities using downhole
effective stressa phenomenon called aging. The ev-
idence includes the time-dependent increase in stiff-
ness and strength of densied sands as measured by G : Modulus Increase in Every 10-fold Time Increase
0.30
hte
cone penetration resistance (Mitchell and Solymer, G1000 : Modulus at 1,000 min
1984; Thomann and Hryciw, 1992; Ng et al., 1998)
G/G1000 = 0.03PI 0.5
and the setup of displacement piles in granular mate-
rials (Astedt et al., 1992; York et al., 1994; Chow et 0.25
al., 1998; Jardine and Standing, 1999; Axelsson,
Modulus Increase Ratio G/G1000
2000). Hypotheses to explain this phenomenon include

rig
both creep processes and chemical and biological ce-

0.20
mentation processes. The discussion in this section is
focused primarily on granular soils as the relevant as- Clay
pects for clays are treated in detail throughout other Marcuson et al. (1972)
Afifi et al. (1973)
sections of the book.
py
0.15 Trudeau et al. (1973)

Anderson et al. (1973)
f
Increase in Shear Modulus with Time Zen et al. (1978)
Kokusho et al. (1982)
As discussed in Section 12.3, the shear modulus at 0.10 Umehara et al. (1985)
small strain is known to increase with time under a
Co
Sand
Jamiolkowski (1996)
conning stress, and this is considered to be the con- a = Ticino Sand (Silica)
sequence of aging. This behavior can be quantied by e b = Hokksund Sand (Silica)
0.05 c = Messina Sand and Gravel (Silica)
a coefcient of shear modulus increase with time using d d = Glauconite Sand
the following formula (Anderson and Stokoe, 1978): c (Quartz/Glauconite)
e = Quiou Sand (Carbonate)
a, b f = Kenya Sand (Carbonate)
IG G/log(t2 /t1) (12.60) 0.00
0 20 40 60 80 100
Plasticity Index PI
NG IG /G1000 (12.61)
Figure 12.64 Modulus increase ratio for clays (from Ko-
where IG is the coefcient of shear modulus increase kusho, 1987), supplemented by the data for sands (from
with time, t1 is a reference time after primary consol- Jamiolkowski, 1996).

wave propagation tests in low-plasticity silts with nes and seepage blanket. Due to large depths of the loose
contents from 50 to 99 percent at four abandoned tail- sand deposit requiring densication, a two-stage den-
ing dams in Chile. The shear modulus normalized by sication program was performed. The upper 25 m of
the vertical effective stress is plotted against the age sand (and a 5- to 10-m-thick sand pad placed by hy-
of the deposit in Fig. 12.65. The age of the deposits is draulic lling of the river) was densied using vibro-
expressed as the time since deposition. Although the compaction. Deposits between depths of 25 to 40 m
soil properties vary to some degree at the four sites,9 were densied by deep blasting.
very signicant increase in stiffness at small strains can During the blasting operations, it was observed that
be observed after 10 to 40 years of aging. The degree the sand exhibited both sensitivitythat is, strength
to which secondary compression could have contrib- loss on disturbanceand aging effects. A typical ex-
uted to this increase is not known. ample of the initial decrease in penetration resistance
l
after blasting densication and subsequent increase
ria
Time-Dependent Behavior after Ground with time is shown in Fig. 12.66. Initially after im-
Improvement provement, there was in some cases a decrease in pen-
Stiffness and strength of sand increase with time after etration resistance, despite the fact that surface
disturbance and densication by mechanical processes settlements ranging from 0.3 to 1.1 m were measured.
With time (measured up to 124 days after improve-
ate
such as blasting and vibrocompaction. Up to 50 per-
cent or more increase in strength has been observed ment), however, the cone penetration resistance was
over 6 months (Mitchell and Solymer, 1984; Thomann
and Hryciw, 1992; Charlie et al., 1992; Ng et al., 1998;
Ashford, et al., 2004) as measured by cone penetration
testing. dM
The Jebba Dam project on the Niger River, Nigeria,
was an early well-documented eld case where aging
effects in sands were both signicant and widespread
(Mitchell and Solymer, 1984). The project involved the
treatment of foundation soils beneath a 42-m-high dam
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.65 Normalized shear modulus as function of ag-

ing of tailings (from Troncoso and Garces, 2000).
9
The four sites identied by Troncoso and Garces (2000) are called
Barahona, Cauquenes, La Cocinera, and Veta del Agua and the aging
times between abandonment and testing were 28, 19, 5, and 2 years,
respectively. The tailing deposits at Barahona had a liquid limit of
41 percent and a plastic limit of 14 percent, whereas those at the Figure 12.66 Effect of time on the cone penetration resis-
other three sites had liquid limits of 23 to 29 percent and plastic tance of sand following blast densication at the Jebba Dam
limits of 2 to 6 percent. site.

found to increase by approximately 50 to 100 percent
of the original values. Similar behavior was found fol-
lowing blast densication of hydraulic ll sand that
had been placed for construction of Treasure Island in
San Francisco Bay more than 60 years previously
(Ashford et al., 2004).
Aging effects were also observed after placement of
hydraulic ll working platforms in the river at the
Jebba Dam site and after densication by vibrocom-
paction as shown in Figs. 12.67 and 12.68. In the case
of vibrocompaction, however, there was considerable
l
variability in the magnitude of aging effects throughout
ria
the site. Because of the greater density increase caused
by vibrocompaction than by blast densication, no in-
itial decrease in the penetration resistance was ob-
served at the end of the compaction process.
Charlie et al. (1992) found a greater rate of aging
ate
after densication by blasting for sands in hotter cli-
mates than in cooler climates and suggested a corre-
lation between the rate of aging and mean annual air Figure 12.68 Effect of time on the cone penetration resis-
temperature for available eld data as shown in Fig. tance of hydraulic ll sand after placement at the Jebba Dam
12.69. In the gure, the increase in the CPT tip resis-
dM site.
tance (qc) with time is expressed by the following
equation:
qc (N weeks)
1 K log N (12.62)
qc (1 week) 1.0 Mitchell and
Solymer (1984)
Empirical Constant K
where N is the number of weeks since disturbance and

hte
K expresses the rate of increase in tip resistance in Schmertmann (1987) and

logarithmic time. Fordham et al. (1991)
0.1 Charlie et al. (1992)

rig
Jefferies et al. (1988)

0.02
-10 0 10 20 30 40
Temperature (C)
py
Figure 12.69 Rate of increase of normalized CPT tip resis-

tance against temperature for different cases of reported ag-
ing effects after blasting (by Charlie et al., 1992).
Co
Schmertmann (1991) postulated that a complicated

soil structure is present in freshly deposited soil. The
structure then becomes more stable by drained dis-
persive movements of soil particles. He suggests that
stresses would arch from softer, weaker areas to stiffer
Figure 12.67 Effect of time on the cone penetration resis- zones with time, leading to an increase in K0 with time.
tance of sand following vibrocompaction densication at the Mitchell and Solymar (1984) suggested that the ce-
Jebba Dam site. mentation of particles may be the mechanism of aging

of sands, similar to diagenesis in locked sands and with time (Axelsson, 2000). Evidence suggests that
young rocks (Dusseault and Morgenstern, 1979; Bar- piles in silts and nd sands set up more than those in
ton, 1993) in which grain overgrowth has been ob- coarse sands and gravels (York et al., 1994). Both
served. However, others have questioned whether driven and jacked piles exhibit setup, whereas bored
signicant chemical reactions can occur over the short piles do not. Hence, the stressstrain state achieved
time of observations. In addition, there is some evi- during the construction processes of pile driving have
dence of aging in dry sands wherein chemical proc- an inuence on this time-dependent behavior and var-
esses would be anticipated to be very slow. ious mechanisms have been suggested to explain this
(Astedt et al., 1992; Chow et al., 1998; Bowman,
Setup of Displacement Piles 2002). Unfortunately, at present, there is no conclusive
evidence to conrm any of the proposed hypotheses.
l
Much eld data indicates that the load-carrying capac- Despite the many eld examples and laboratory
ria
ity of a pile driven into sand may increase dramatically studies on aging effects, there is still uncertainty about
over several months, long after pore pressures have the mechanism(s) responsible for the phenomenon.
dissipated (e.g., Chow et al., 1998; Jardine and Stand- Understanding the mechanism(s) that cause aging is of
ing, 1999). The amount of increase is highly variable, direct practical importance in the design and evaluation
ranging from 20 to 170 percent per log cycle of time of ground improvement, driven pile capacity, and sta-
ate
as shown in Fig. 12.70 (Chow et al., 1998; Bowman, bility problems where strength and deformation prop-
2002). Most of the increase in capacity occurs along erties and their potential changes with time are
the shaft of the pile as the radial stress at rest increases important. Mechanical, chemical, and biological fac-
tors have been hypothesized for the cause of aging.
dM Biological processes have so far been little studied;
however, mechanical and chemical phenomena have
been investigated in more detail, and some current un-
derstanding is summarized below.
12.12 MECHANICAL PROCESSES OF AGING

hte
Creep is hypothesized as the dominant mechanism of

aging of granular systems on an engineering timescale
by Mesri et al. (1990) and Schmertmann (1991). In-
creased strength and stiffness does not occur solely
from the change in density that occurs during second-
ary compression. Rather, it is due to a continued re-
rig
arrangement of particles resulting in the increased

macrointerlocking of particles and the increased mi-
crointerlocking of surface roughness. This is supported
by the existence of locked sands (Barton, 1993; Rich-
ards and Barton, 1999), which exhibit a tensile strength
py
even without the presence of binding cement. Some

micromechanical explanations of the process are given
in Section 12.3.
Although no increase in stiffness was detected when
Co
glass balls were loaded isotropically (Losert et al.,

2000), sand has been found to increase in strength and
stiffness under isotropic stress conditions (Daramola,
1980; Human, 1992). These increases develop even un-
der isotropic connement because the angular particles
can lock together in an anisotropic fabric. It has been
Figure 12.70 Increase in total and shaft capacity with time shown that more angular particles produce materials
for displacement piles in sand (from Chow et al., 1998 and more susceptible to creep deformations (Mejia et al.,
Bowman, 2003). 1988, Human, 1992, Leung et al., 1996). Isotropic

CHEMICAL PROCESSES OF AGING 517
compression tests by Kuwano (1999) showed that ra-
Stress State at Creep: p = 600 kPa and q = 800 kPa
dial creep strains were greater than axial strains in soils
All Samples Were Prepared With Relative Density of
with angular particles than in soils with rounded par-
Approximately 70%.
ticles due to a more anisotropic initial fabric. Angular
particles can result in longer duration of creep and a 0.25
greater aging effect since they have a larger range of
Deviatoric Strain (%)

stable contacts and the particles can interlock. As 0.20
spherical particles rearrange more easily than elon- Montpellier
gated ones (Oda, 1972a), rounder particles initially Natural Sand
0.15
creep at a higher rate before settling into a stable state. Glass Ball
Hence, any aging effect on rounded particles tends to 0.10
l
disappear quickly when the soil is subjected to new
ria
stress state. 0.05 Leighton Buzzard
Uniform Silica Sand
When a constant shear stress is applied to loose
sand, large creep accompanied by volumetric contrac- 0.00
tion is observed (Bopp and Lade, 1997). Higher con- 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5
tact forces due to loose assemblies contribute to
ate
0.05 Montpellier Natural Sand
increased particle crushing, contributing to contraction
behavior. Hence, decrease in volume by soil crushing 0.00
Volumetric Strain (%)

leads to increase in stiffness and strength.
-0.05
Field data suggest that displacement piles in
Dilation
medium-dense to dense sands set up more than those -0.10
Glass Ball
dM
in loose sand (York et al., 1994). Dense granular ma-
terials may dilate with time depending on the applied
-0.15
Leighton Buzzard
stress level during creep as shown in Fig. 12.71 (Bow- -0.20
Uniform Silica Sand
man and Soga, 2003). Initially, the soil contracts with
-0.25
time, but then at some point the creep vector rotates
and the dilation follows. Similar observations were -0.30
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5
made by Murayama et al. (1984) and Lade and Lui
hte
(1998). This implies that sands at a high relative den- Time (s)
sity will set up more as more interlock between par-
Figure 12.71 Dilative creep observed in triaxial creep tests
ticles may occur (Bowman, 2002). The laboratory
of dense ne sand (by Bowman and Soga, 2003).
observation of initial contraction followed by dilation
conveniently explains the eld data of dynamic com-
paction where the greater initial losses and eventual
rig
gains in stiffness and strength of sands are found close ing. Terzaghi originally referred to a bond strength
to the point of application where larger shear stresses in connection with the presence of a quasi-
are applied to give dilation (Dowding and Hryciw, preconsolidation pressure in the eld (Schmertmann,
1986; Thomann and Hryciw, 1992; Charlie et al., 1991). Generally, this mechanism has been thought of
as type of cementation, which would increase the co-
py
1992).
Increased strength and stiffness due to mechanical hesion of a soil without affecting its friction angle.
aging occurs predominantly in the direction of previ- Denisov and Reltov (1961) showed that quartz sand
ously applied stress during creep (Howie et al., 2002). grains adhered to a glass plate over time. They placed
No increase was observed when the sand was loaded individual sand grains on a vibrating quartz or glass
Co
in a direction orthogonal to that of the applied shear plate and measured the force necessary to move the
stress during creep (Losert et al., 2000). grains as shown in Fig. 12.72. The dry grains were
allowed to sit on the plate for varying times and then
the plate was submerged, also for varying times, before
12.13 CHEMICAL PROCESSES OF AGING vibrating began. It was found that the force required
to move the sand grains continued to increase up to
Chemical processes are a possible cause of aging. His- about 15 days of immersion in water. The cementating
torically, the most widespread theory used to explain agent was thought to be silica-acid gel, which has an
aging effects in sand has involved interparticle bond- amorphous structure and would form a precipitate at

(1) Glass or Quartz Plate

(2) To the Oscillation Generator
particle contacts (Mitchell and Solymer, 1984). The in-
creased strength is derived from crystal overgrowths
2
caused by pressure solution and compaction.
Strong evidence of a chemical mechanism being re-
sponsible for some aging was obtained by Joshi et al.
(1995). A laboratory study was made of the effect of
time on penetration resistance of specimens prepared
1 with different sands (river sand and sea sand) and pore
uid compositions (air, distilled water, and seawater).
After loading under a vertical stress of 100 kPa, the
values of penetration resistance were obtained after
l
different times up to 2 years. Strength and stiffness
ria
increases were observed in all cases, and a typical plot
of loaddisplacement curves at various times is shown
f
3.0 in Fig. 12.73. The effects of aging were greater for the
f0 (1) Without Soaking
(2) 42-hour Soaking submerged sand than for the dry specimens. Scanning
electron micrographs of the aged specimens in distilled
ate
(3) 6-day Soaking
(4) 14-day Soaking

water and seawater showed precipitates on and in be-
2.0
4 tween sand grains. For the river sand in distilled water,
&
3

the precipitates were composed of calcium (the soluble
fraction of the sand) and possibly silica. For the river
1.0 & sand in seawater, the precipitates were composed of
2
&
dM 1
& sodium chloride.
However, there are several reported cases in which
cementation was an unlikely mechanism of aging, at
0 least in the short term. For example, dry granular soils
10 min 2h 20h
Time can show an increase in stiffness and strength with
time (Human, 1992; Joshi et al., 1995; Losert et al.,
Figure 12.72 Results of vibrating plate experiment from 2000). Cementation in dry sand is unlikely, as moisture
hte
Denisov and Reltov (1961). Term / 0 is a measure of the

is required to drive solution and precipitation reactions
bonding force between sand and glass or quartz plate.
involving silica or other cementation agents.
Mesri et al. (1990) used the triaxial test data from
Daramola (1980) to argue against a chemical mecha-
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.73 Effect of aging on the penetration resistance of River sand (from Joshi et al.,
1995).

CHEMICAL PROCESSES OF AGING 519
nism responsible for aging effects in sands. Figure application in denser materials. It is also associated
12.74 shows the effects of aging on both the stiffness with the microinterlocking occurring during the gen-
and shear strength of Ham River sand. Four consoli- eration of creep strain. The increase in stiffness and
dated drained triaxial tests were performed on samples strength is observed in the direction of the applied
with the same relative density and conning pressure stresses, but the aging effect disappears rather quickly
(400 kPa) but consolidated for different periods of time when loads are applied in other directions. Chemical
(0, 10, 30, and 152 days) prior to the start of the tri- aging can also occur within days depending on such
axial tests. The results showed that the stiffness in- factors as chemical environment and temperature.
creased and the strain to failure decreased with Some conditions in natural deposits are not repli-
increasing time of consolidation. Although increased cated in small-scale laboratory testing. Most laboratory
values of modulus were observed, the strain at failure tests are done using clean granular materials, whereas
l
is approximately 3 percent. Mesri et al. (1990) argue in the eld there will be impurities, biological activity,
ria
that this large strain would destroy any cementation, and heterogeneity of void ratio and fabric. Further-
and therefore another less brittle mechanism must be more, the introduction of air and other gases during
responsible for the increase in stiffness. ground improvement may have consequences that have
In summary, experimental evidence indicates that so far not been fully evaluated. Arching associated
mechanical aging behavior is enhanced by shear stress with dissipation of blast gases and the redistribution of
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Co
Figure 12.74 Effect of aging on stressstrain relationship of Ham River sand (from Dara-
mola, 1980).

stresses through the soil skeleton may also play a role analyses and predictions can be made for large and
(Baxter and Mitchell, 2004). The boundary conditions complex geotechnical structures.
associated with penetration testing in rigid-wall cylin-
ders in the laboratory may prevent detection of time-
dependent increases in penetration resistance that are QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
measured under the free-eld conditions in the eld.
1. Find an article about a problem, project, or issue
that involves some aspect of the long-term behavior
of a soil as an important component. The article
may be from a technical journal or magazine or
12.14 CONCLUDING COMMENTS elsewhere. The only requirement is that it involves
l
With exception of settlement rate predictions, most soil consideration of time-dependent ground behavior in
ria
mechanics analyses used in geotechnical engineering some way.
assume limit equilibrium and are based on the as- a. Prepare a one-page informative abstract of the
sumption of time-independent properties and defor- article.
mations. In reality, time-dependent deformations and b. Summarize the important geotechnical issues in
ate
stress changes that result from the time-dependent or the article and write down what you believe you
viscous rearrangement of the soil structure may be re- would need to know to understand them well
sponsible for a signicant part of the total ground re- enough to solve the problem, resolve the issue,
sponse. advise a client, and so forth. Do not exceed two
Rate process theory has proven a particularly fruitful pages.
approach for the study of time-dependent phenomena
dM c. Identify topics, gures, equations, and other ma-
in soils at consistencies of most interest in engineering terial in Chapter 12, if any, that might be useful
problems, that is, at water contents from about the in addressing the problems.
plastic limit to the liquid limit. From an analysis of the
inuences of stress and temperature on deformation 2. The gure below shows relationships between (1)
number of interparticle bonds and effective consol-
rates and other evidence, it has been possible to deduce
idation pressure and (2) compressive strength and
that interparticle contacts are essentially solid and that
number of interparticle bonds for three soils as de-
clay strength derives from interatomic bonding in these
hte
termined using rate process theory. Determine the

contacts. The strength depends on the number of bonds
angle of internal friction in terms of effective
per unit area, and the constant of proportionality be-
stresses (as determined from CU tests with pore
tween number of bonds and strength is essentially the
pressure measurements), for each soil. Assume A
same for all silicate minerals, probably because of their
0, 0.3, and 0.3 for the sand, illite, and Bay mud,
similar surface structures.
respectively, in the range 0 (1 3) 500
rig
Recognition of the fact that any macroscopic stress

kPa, where A is the ratio of pore pressure at failure
applied to a soil mass induces both tangential and nor-
to the deviator stress at failure (1 3).
mal forces at the interparticle contacts is essential to
the understanding of rheological behavior. The results
40
of discrete particle simulations show that changes in
py
creep rate with time can be explained by changes in

the tangential and normal force ratio at interparticle
Number of Bonds - 1010 cm-2
contacts that result from particle rearrangement during 30

deformation. The change in microfabric in relation to Sand
Co
strong particle networks and weak clusters leads to

possible explanation of the mechanical aging process. 20
Time-dependent deformations and stress relaxation
Illite
follow predictable patterns that are essentially the same
for all soil types. Simple constitutive equations can rea- 10
Bay Mud
sonably describe time-dependent behavior under lim-
ited conditions. Much remains to be learned, however,
about the inuences of combined stress states, stress 0
history and transient drainage conditions on creep, 0 100 200 300 400 500
stress relaxation, and creep rupture before reliable c = Effective Consolidation Pressure (kPa)

0 5 10 15 20 25 90
1000
-2
Number of Bonds - 1010 cm
80
800
70
Water Content (%)

(1 3)max(kPa)
600
60
Sand, Illite, Bay Mud
400 50
l
ria
40
200
30
ate
20 40 80 100 200 400
0 Compressive Strength (kPa)
3. Equation (12.43) is a simple three-parameter equa- intensities are shown below, as is the variation of
tion for strain rate during constant stress creep of compressive strength with water content. A tem-
soils.
dM porary excavation is planned that will create a slope
with an average factor of safety of 1.5. The average
a. Show the meaning of , D, and m on a clearly water content of the clay in the vicinity of the cut
labeled sketch. is 50 percent. The excavation is planned to remain
b. Modify Eq. (12.43) and indicate the information open for a period of 4 months. Prepare a plot of
needed to permit prediction of creep rates for a strain rate versus time for an element of clay and
given soil at any value of water content and assess the probability of a creep rupture failure oc-
stress intensity from a knowledge of creep rates curring during this period.
hte
at a single water content corresponding to dif-

ferent stress intensities. 5. Given that
c. Develop a relationship between stress intensity a. The creep rate of a soil, for times up to the onset
and time to failure for a soil subject to strength of failure, can be expressed by Eq. (12.43), in
loss under the application of a sustained stress. which D is the deviator stress, and
b. The time to failure by creep rupture, t, can be
rig
4. The results of triaxial compression creep tests on taken as the time corresponding to minimum
samples of overconsolidated Bay mud at three stress strain rate, min, prior to acceleration of defor-
mation and failure, and tests have shown that
py
XRupture
mint constant
50
If a test embankment designed at a factor of
Water Content = 60% D = 100 kPa
40 safety of 1.05 based on shear strength deter-
Axial Strain (%)
Co
Dmax = 125 kPa

mined in a short-term test fails in creep rupture
30 after 3 months, how long should it be before
D = 85 kPa failure of a prototype embankment having a fac-
20
tor of safety of 1.3? From a plot of deformation
rate versus time for the test embankment, it has
D = 68 kPa been found that m 0.75. The results of short-
term creep tests have shown also that Dmax
0 6.0. The factor of safety is dened as the
1 10 100 1000 10,000 strength available divided by the strength that
Time (min) must be mobilized for stability.

6. Would you expect that creep and stress relaxation tration tests) can increase signicantly over time pe-
will be signicant contributors to the stress riods as short as weeks or months following depo-
deformation and long-term strength of soils on the sition and/or densication. Outline a test program
Moon? Why? that might be done to test the validity of one of
these causes.
7. List possible causes of sand aging wherein the stiff-
ness and strength (usually as determined by pene-
l
ria
ate
dM
hte
rig
py
Co

List of Symbols
l
ria
ate
a area As specic surface area per unit weight of
a coefcient for harmonics solids
a cross-sectional area of a tube
A Angstrom unit 1 1010 m
a crystallographic axis direction or distance b coefcient of harmonics
a effective cluster contact area b crystallographic axis direction or distance
a volumetric air content
dM b intermediate stress parameter
a thermal diffusivity B parameter in rate process equation
ac effective area of interparticle contact X(kT/h)
am coefcient of compressibility with respect B Bishops pore water pressure coefcient
to changes in water content Bq grain breakage parameter
at coefcient of compressibility with respect Br Hardins relative breakage parameter
to changes in ( ua) c cohesion
av coefcient of compressibility in one di- c cohesion intercept in total stress
hte
mensional compression c concentration

A activity c molar concentration
A area c crystallographic axis direction or distance
A creep rate parameter c undrained shear strength
A cross section area normal to the direction c velocity of light
rig
of ow c cohesion intercept in effective stress

A Hamaker constant c0 equilibrium solution concentration, bulk
A long-range interparticle attractions solution concentration
A Skemptons pore pressure parameter c0 cation equilibrium solution concentration
A thermal diffusivity c0 anion equilibrium solution concentration
py
A van der Waals constant ca mid-plane anion concentration

A short-range attractive stress ce, ce Hvorslevs cohesion parameter
A pore pressure parameter u/ cec cation exchange capacity
(1 3) cic, cc mid-plane cation concentration
Co
A0 concentration of charges on pore wall ci 0 equilibrium solution concentration

A0 surface charge density per unit pore vol- cm mid-plane concentration
ume cm mid-plane anion concentration
Ac solid contact area cu undrained shear strength
A area of ow passages cv coefcient of consolidation
A pore pressure parameter at failure cw concentration of water
Ah Hamaker constant C capacitance
Ai state parameter in disturbed state C chemical concentration
Ai total surface area of the ith grain C clay content by weight
A0i state parameter at equilibrium C composition
523

524 LIST OF SYMBOLS
C electrical capacitance ecs void ratio at critical state

C short-range repulsive force between con- e void ratio at failure
tacting particles eg, eG void ratio of the granular phase, granular
C soil compressibility void ratio
C speed of light in vacuum or in air, 3 eini initial void ratio
108 m/sec eL void ratio at liquid limit
C volumetric heat emax maximum void ratio
C volumetric heat capacity emin minimum void ratio
Cc compression index ep intercluster void ratio
C*
c intrinsic compression index eT total void ratio
Cl compressibility of pore uid E experimental activation energy
l
Cn coordination number E potential energy
ria
CR compression ratio E Youngs modulus
CRR cyclic resistance ratio E voltage, electrical potential
Cs compressibility of a solid E50 secant modulus at 50 percent of peak
Cs shape coefcient strength
Cs swelling index
ate
Emax small strain Youngs modulus
Cu coefcient of uniformity Er rebound modulus
Cu compressibility of soil skeleton by pore ESP exchangeable sodium percentage
pressure change E( ) distribution function for interparticle con-
CW compressibility of water tact plane normals
C, Ce coefcient of secondary compression
dM force acting on a ow unit
d diameter frequency
d distance i fraction of particles between two sizes
d10 sieve size that 10% of the particles by n normal force
weight pass through t tangential force
d60 sieve size that 60% of the particles by F force of electrostatic attraction
weight pass through
F formation factor
dx incremental horizontal displacement at
F free energy
hte
peak
F freezing index
dy incremental vertical displacement at peak
F pressure-temperature parameter
D diameter of particle
F tensile strength
D dielectric constant, relative permittivity
D diffusion coefcient F, F0 Faraday constant 96,500 coulombs
D deviator stress F partial molar free energy on adsorption
rig
D stress level D/Dmax Fd free energy of the double layer per unit
D0 molecular diffusivity of water vapor in air area at a plate spacing of 2d
D0 self-diffusion coefcient F free energy of activation
D50 sieve size that 50% of the particles by FE electrical force per unit length
FH hydraulic seepage force per unit length
py
weight pass through

De effective diameter causing ow
DeV isothermal vapor diffusivity FI fabric index
Dmax strength at the beginning of creep F free energy of a single non-interacting
DR, Dr relative density double layer
Co
Ds characteristic grain size g acceleration due to gravity

DTV thermal vapor diffusivity G shear modulus
D* effective diffusion coefcient G source-sink
e electronic charge 4.8029 1010 esu G1000 shear modulus measured after 1000
1.60206 1010 minutes of constant conning pressure
coulomb Gg shear modulus of grains
e void ratio Gmax small strain shear modulus
e0 initial void ratio Gs secant shear modulus
e*100 intrinsic void ratio under effective vertical Gs specic gravity of soil solids
stress of 100 kPa GSC specic gravity of clay particles
ec intracluster void ratio GSG specic gravity of the granular particles

LIST OF SYMBOLS 525
h head or head loss K double-layer parameter
h relative humidity of air in pores (8n0e2v2 /DRT)1 / 2
h Plancks constant 6.624 1027 erg sec K pore shape factor
hm matrix or capillary head K rate of increase in tip resistance in loga-
hs osmotic or solute head rithmic time
H maximum distance to drainage boundary K0 coefcient of lateral earth pressure at rest
H stress history Ka coefcient of active earth pressure
H thickness Kc principal stress ratio
H total head Kc principal stress ratio during consolidation
H water transport by ion hydration Kd distribution coefcient
H partial molar heat content Kp coefcient of passive earth pressure
l
i gradient Kso stress-optical material constant
ria
i unit vector K wavelengths of monochromatic radiation
ic chemical gradient l length
ie electrical gradient l material thickness
ih hydraulic gradient l total number of pore classes
ate
it thermal gradient L latent heat of fusion
I electrical current L length
I intensity Lij coupling coefcient or conductivity coef-
I1, I2, I3 stress invariants cient
IG coefcient of shear modulus increase with LI liquidity index
time dM LIeq equivalent liquidity index
IR dilatancy index LL liquid limit
Iv void index Ls latent heat of fusion of water
Jc chemical ow rate m slope of relationship between log creep
JD chemical ow rate strain rate and log time
Ji ux of constituent i m total mass per unit total volume
Ji value of property i in clay-water system m total number of pore classes
Js ow rate of salt relative to xed soil layer mc mass of clay
hte
Jv volume ow rate of solution ms compressibility of mineral solids under

Jw ow rate of water hydrostatic pressure
J 0i value of property i in pure water ms compressibility of mineral solids under
k Boltzmanns constant 1.38045 concentrated loadings
1023 J/ K mv compressibility
rig
k hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic perme- mw compressibility of water

ability mw mass of water
k mean coordination number of a grain M constrained modulus or coefcient of vol-
k selectivity coefcient ume change
k thermal conductivity M metal cations
py
k true cohesion in a solid M monovalent cation concentration

k0 pore shape factor n concentration, ions per unit volume
kc osmotic conductivity n harmonic number
ke electro-osmotic conductivity n integer
Co
kh hydraulic conductivity n number of grains in an ideal breakage

ki constant characteristic of a property plane
kr relative permeability n porosity
ks saturated conductivity n total number of pore classes
k(S) saturation dependent hydraulic conductiv- n unspecied atomic ratio
ity n0 concentration in external solution
kt thermal conductivity n1 number of bonds per unit of normal force
k unsaturated hydraulic conductivity ne effective porosity
K absolute permeability or intrinsic perme- ni Refractive index in i direction
ability N Avogadros number 6.0232 1023
K bulk modulus mole1

526 LIST OF SYMBOLS
N coordination number q degree of connectivity between water-

N monovalent cation concentration conducting pores
N normal load or force q deviator stress
N number of moles of hydration water per q ow rate
mole of ion q hydraulic ow rate
N number of particles per cluster in a cluster qc CPT tip resistance
structure qcs deviator stress at critical state
N number of weeks since disturbance q deviator stress at failure
N total number of harmonics qh hydraulic ow rate
N1 number of load cycles to cause liquefac- qhc osmotic ow rate
tion qhe electro-osmotic ow rate
l
Ne number of load cycles qi concentration of solids
ria
NG normalized shear modulus increase with qt heat ow rate
time qvap vapor ux density
Ns moles of water per unit volume of sedi- qw water ow rate
ment Q electrical charge
ate
Nw moles of salt per unit volume of sediment Q quantity of heat
OCR overconsolidation ratio r pore radius
p constant that accounts for the interaction r radius
of pores of various sizes rk ratio of horizontal to vertical hydraulic
p hydrostatic pressure conductivities
p matrix or osmotic pressure
dM rp pore size
p pressure rp tube radius
p partial pressure of water vapor in pore R coefcient of roundness
space R electrical resistance
p vertical consolidation pressure R gas constant 1.98726 cal/ K-mole
p mean effective pressure 8.31470 joules/ K-mole
po present overburden pressure 82.0597 cm3 atm/ K-mole
pa atmospheric pressure R long-range repulsion pressure
hte
pc preconsolidation pressure R ratio of cations and anions

pcs mean effective pressure at critical state R source or sink mass transfer term
ps osmotic or solute pressure R sphere radius
pz gravitational pressure R tube radius
P area Rd retardation factor
rig
P bond strength per contact zone RH hydraulic radius

P concentration of divalent cations Rp average particle radius
P power consumption R() radius at angle
P total gas pressure in pore space s slope of stress relaxation curve
P total pressure su undrained shear strength
py
P wetted perimeter S entropy

Pc capillary pressure S fraction of molecules striking a surface
P c capillary pressure at air entry that stick to it
P injection pressure that causes clay to frac- S number of ow units per unit area
Co
ture S partial molar entropy

PI plasticity index S saturation
Pinj injection pressure S specic surface area per unit volume of
PL plastic limit solids
PN probability distribution of normal contact S structure
force S swell
PR peak ratio S partial molar entropy
Ps swelling pressure S0 specic surface per unit volume of soil
PT probability distribution of tangential con- particles
tact force SAR sodium adsorption ratio

LIST OF SYMBOLS 527
St sensitivity V volume
Su undrained shear strength V0 initial volume
Sw water saturation ratio VA attractive energy
Sx, Sy, Sz projected areas of interparticle contact VDR volume of water drained
surfaces VGS volume of granular solids
t average thickness Vm total volume of soil mass
t tetrahedral coordinations Vp compression wave velocity
t time VR repulsive energy
t transport number Vs shear wave velocity
t1 reference time Vs volume of solids
t time to failure Vw partial molar volume of water
l
tm time for adsorption of a monolayer Vw volume of water
ria
T intercluster tortuosity w water content
T shear force wL, wl liquid limit
T temperature wP, wp plastic limit
T time factor W water content
ate
T0 initial temperature W width
Tc intracluster tortuosity W uid volume
Tc temperature at consolidation W water transport
TFP freezing temperature W weight
Ts surface temperature x distance from the clay surface
Ts temperature of shear for consolidated un-
dM X distance
drained direct shear tests X friction coefcient
TV time factor Xi driving force
u excess pore pressure y potential function ve /kT
u ionic mobility z direction of gravity
u midplane potential function z distance from drainage surface
u pore water pressure z electrolyte
u pore water pressure in the interparticle z ionic valence
hte
zone Z elevation or elevation head

u pressure Z number of molecules per second striking
u thermal energy a surface
u* effective ionic mobility Z potential function 'e0 /kT
u0 initial pore pressure angle between b and c crystallographic
rig
u0 pore water pressure remote from the in- axes

terparticle zone directional parameter
U pore pressure at failure disturbance factor
U average degree of consolidation geometrical packing parameter
v ow velocity inclination of failure plane to horizontal
py
v frequency of activation plane

v ionic valance slope of the relationship between loga-
v settling velocity rithm of creep rate and creep stress
v specic volume 1 e thermal ratio
Co
vave average ow velocity tortuosity factor

vc0 specic volume of the pure clay G normalized strain rate parameter
vcs specic volume at critical state s thermal expansion coefcient of soil sol-
vh apparent water ow velocity ids
V area ST thermal expansion coefcient of soil
V difference in self-potentials structure
V electrical potential w thermal expansion coefcient of water
V speed angle between a and c crystallographic
V valence axes
V voltage birefringence ratio

528 LIST OF SYMBOLS
disturbance factor shear strain rate

geometrical packing parameter c applied shear strain or cyclic shear strain
rotation angle of yield envelope amplitude
0, i constant characteristic of the property and d dry unit weight
the clay % double layer charge
Bishops unsaturated effective stress pa- % specic volume intercept at unit pressure
rameter dynamic viscosity
clay plate thickness measured between fraction of pore pressure that gives effec-
centers of surface layer atoms tive stress
deformation parameter in Hertz theory 0 initial anisotropy
displacement, distance ! swelling index
l
solid fraction of a contact area ! real relative permittivity
ria
relative retardation ! polarization loss, imaginary relative per-
p particle eccentricity distance mittivity
dielectric constant, permittivity compression index
porosity correction coefcient for frost depth pre-

ate
strain diction equation
strain rate damping ratio
0 permittivity of vacuum, 8.85 decay constant
1012 C2 /(Nm2) pore size distribution index
1 axial strain separation distance between successive
a vertical strain rate in one dimensional
dM positions in a structure
consolidation wave length of X ray
strain at failure wave length of light
min minimum strain rate cs critical state compression index
rd volumetric strain that would occur if chemical potential
drainage were permitted coefcient of friction
s deviator strain dipole moment
s deviator strain rate fusion parameter
hte
v volumetric strain Poissons ratio

v volumetric strain rate viscosity
E energy dissipated per cycle per unit vol- ( critical state stress ratio
ume Poissons ratio
friction angle b Poissons ratio of soil skeleton

rig
local electrical potential osmotic or swelling pressure

friction angle in effective stress angle of bedding plane relative to the
b angle dening the rate of increase in shear maximum principal stress direction
strength with respect to soil suction contact angle
c characteristic friction angle geometrical packing parameter
py
crit
friction angle at critical state liquid-to-solid contact angle
e, e Hvorslev friction parameter orientation angle
friction angle corrected for the work of volumetric water content
dilation m volumetric water content at full saturation
Co
m peak mobilized friction angle r residual water content

r residual friction angle s volumetric water content at full saturation
repose angle of repose bulk dry density
v apparent specic volume of the water in charge density
a clay/water system of volume V mass density
, intergrain sliding friction angle d bulk dry density
# dissipation function T resistivity of saturated soil
activity coefcient w density of water
angle between a and b crystallographic W resistivity of soil water
axes area occupied per absorbed molecule on
unit weight a surface

LIST OF SYMBOLS 529
double-layer charge v vertical stress
electrical conductivity v vertical effective stress
entropy production v0 overburden vertical effective stress
normal stress v0 overburden effective stress
surface tension of water vm maximum past overburden effective stress
surface charge density vp vertical preconsolidation stress
total stress W electrical conductivity of pore water
effective stress ws interfacial tension between water and
0 initial effective conning pressure solid
1 major principal total stress y yield strength
1 tensile strength of the interface bond circumferential stress
l
1 major principal effective stress shear strength
ria
1c major principal stress during consolida- shear stress
tion surface tension
1 major principal stress at failure swelling pressure or matric suction
1 major principal effective stress at failure undrained shear strength
2 intermediate principal effective stress a apparent tortuosity factor
ate
3 minor principal total stress c applied shear stress
3 minor principal effective stress c contaminant lm strength
3c minor principal stress during consolida- cy undrained cyclic shear stress
tion d drained shear strength
3 minor principal effective stress at failure
dM shear stress at failure on failure plane
a axial effective stress i shear strength
ac axial consolidation stress i shear strength of contact
as interfacial tension between air and solid m shear strength of solid material in yielded
aw interfacial tension between air and water zone
c crushing strength of particles peak applied shear stress at peak
c tensile strength of cement initial static shear stress
e electrical conductivity ' mass ow factor
hte
e equivalent consolidation pressure ' cation valence

e effective AC conductivity distance function Kx, double-layer the-
partial stress increment for uid phase ory
effective normal stress on shear plane ratio of average temperature gradient in
normal total stress on failure plane air lled pores to overall temperature gra-
normal effective stress on failure plane dient
rig
h electrical conductivity due to hydraulic dilation angle

ow electrical potential
h0 initial horizontal effective stress intrinsic friction angle
i effective stress in the i-direction matric suction
i
py
intergranular stress 0 surface potential of double layer

i isotropic consolidation d displacement pressure
iso isotropic total stress electrical potential
max maximum principal stress state parameter
min minimum principal stress total potential of soil water
Co
n effective normal stress 0 electrical potential at the surface

p preconsolidation pressure s gravitational potential
r radial total stress m matrix or capillary potential
r radial effective stress p gas pressure potential
rc radial consolidation stress s osmotic or solute potential
s conductivity of soil surface " angular velocity
s partial stress increment for solid phase " frequency
s tensile strength of the sphere " osmotic efciency
T electrical conductivity of saturated soil true electroosmotic ow
T , t tensile strength of cemented soil zeta potential

18.J.K.mitchell&amp;K.soga - Fundamentals of Soil Behaviour

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Fundamentals of

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.

technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department

electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Printed in the United States of America

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

CHAPTER 2 SOIL FORMATION 5

2.10 Concluding Comments 32

CHAPTER 3 SOIL MINERALOGY 35

3.6 Crystal Notation 42

3.10 Gravel, Sand, and Silt Particles 48

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

3.20 Summary of Clay Mineral Characteristics 65

CHAPTER 4 SOIL COMPOSITION AND ENGINEERING PROPERTIES 83

5.7 Sample Acquisition and Preparation for Fabric Analysis 123

CHAPTER 6 SOILWATERCHEMICAL INTERACTIONS 143

6.3 Inuence of Dissolved Ions on Water 145

6.8 Elements of Double-Layer Theory 154

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

CHAPTER 7 EFFECTIVE, INTERGRANULAR, AND TOTAL STRESS 173

CHAPTER 8 SOIL DEPOSITSTHEIR FORMATION, STRUCTURE,

8.9 Fabric, Structure, and Property Relationships: General

8.14 Dispersive Clays 239

Questions and Problems 247

CHAPTER 9 CONDUCTION PHENOMENA 251

9.1 Introduction 251

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

9.11 Simultaneous Flows of Water, Current, and Chemicals 279

CHAPTER 10 VOLUME CHANGE BEHAVIOR 325

10.13 Concluding Comments 365

CHAPTER 11 STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR 369

11.2 General Characteristics of Strength and Deformation 370

11.7 Critical State: A Useful Reference Condition 400

11.11 Residual State and Residual Strength 417

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

CHAPTER 12 TIME EFFECTS ON STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION 465

List of Symbols 523

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porated into this new edition.

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Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

is not the case; in fact, it is for these very reasons that

anisotropic. position, structure, and behavior of soils as engineering

mechanics and geotechnical engineering.

forces of cohesion, as is the case for many other

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

applied mechanics and soil mechanics, as well as a

Engineers, Geotechnique, The Canadian Geotechnical

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

as it is not always clear whether they should be treated

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

Other <1% Other <1%

iment formation, and regional subsidence are generally

esses that proceed in a never-ending cycle, as indi-

wind abrasion, and overland ows such as rivers and

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

in Chapter 3. The greatest electrochemical stability of

23 olivine crystallizes from igneous rock magma at high

Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from: www.knovel.com

Physical Processes of Weathering

18.J.K.mitchell&K.soga - Fundamentals of Soil Behaviour

18.J.K.mitchell&K.soga - Fundamentals of Soil Behaviour