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Soil Classification
Outline
1.
2
2.
3.
4.
Purpose
Cl ifi i S
Classification
Systems
The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)
American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials System (AASHTO)
5. Suggested Homework
1. Purpose
Classifying soils into groups with similar behavior, in terms
of simple indices, can provide geotechnical engineers a
generall guidance
id
about
b t engineering
i
i
properties
ti off the
th soils
il
through the accumulated experience.
Communicate
between
engineers
Simple indices
GSD, LL, PI
Classification
system
(Language)
Estimate
engineering
properties
Achieve
engineering
purposes
Use the
accumulated
experience
2. Classification Systems
Two commonly used systems:
Unified Soil Classification System (USCS).
American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) System
Gravel
Silt and
Sand
Boulders Cobbles
Clay
Coarse
300 mm
Fine
Coarse
Medium
Fine
No.200
No.4
75 mm
4.75 mm
19 mm
No.10
No.40
2.0 mm
0.425 mm
00.075
075
mm
Fine-grained soils:
Gravel
Silt
50%
Sand
NO. 4
4.75 mm
Clay
NO.200
0.075
mm
PL, LL
Cu
Plasticity chart
LL>50
LL <50
Cc
Required tests: Sieve analysis
Atterberg limit
7
3.3 Symbols
Soil symbols:
G: Gravel
S: Sand
M: Silt
C: Clay
O: Organic
Pt: Peat
Example: SW, Well-graded sand
SC, Clayey sand
SM, Silty sand,
PI
LL
Fine-grained
material
LL, PI
Highly
10
11
12
13
14
3.6 Example
LL= 33
PI= 12
Highly
15
16
Fine-grained soils
Soil
18
6. References
Main References:
Holtz, R.D. and Kovacs, W.D. (1981). An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering,
Prentice Hall. (Chapter 3)
Das, B.M. (1998). Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, 4th edition, PWS Publishing
Company. (Chapter 3)
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