Total Volume and Weight of Soil Mass in Geotechnical Engineering

Total volume (V) of the soil and Total Weight (W) of a soil is a common parameter used widely in the index properties determination and most of the fundamental relationships on geotechnical engineering. The definition of the total volume of soil and total weight of the soil can be easily studied by understanding the basic structure of a soil.

Structure of a Soil

Soil Mass consists of soil granules and air voids. The voids present in the soil can be either filled with air or filled with water. If so, we can say:

1. Total Volume of Voids (Vv) = Volume of air (Va) + Volume of water (Vw)
2. Total Volume of Soil Granules = Vs

Volume of Soil Mass (V)

Then

Total Volume of Soil Mass = Volume of air + Volume of Water + Volume of Soil Granules

                                            = ( Volume of Voids ) + Volume of soil Granules

                                       

Total Volume of Soil Mass (V) = Vv + Vs

Weight of Soil Mass (W)

If,

1. Weight of Soil Solids (Ws)
2. Weight of Voids (Wv) = Weight of water (Ww) + Weight of air (Wa)

Weight of air (Wa) = 0;

Then,

Total Weight of Solids (W) = Ws + Ww + Wa;