Chapter 1: Soil Voids

Chapter 1 Introduction Background Soil is a common material used as the foundation or foundation of all buildings and must first be compacted. This is because there are many voids in the soil being used. When air exists between soil particles, air bubbles are generated. High porosity in the soil lowers soil strength and this soil is classified as loose soil. To remove the voids, mechanical energy is necessary and indirectly also causes a change in moisture content.

Compression can generally be defined as densifying the soil by removing air and rearranging the soil particles by applying mechanical energy. The added energy is forced by the pressure to fill the soil with available voids and further friction between the soil particles improves the mechanical properties of the soil. Because of the wide range of particles required to fill all available voids, sloping soils tend to be more compressive than sloped soils.

The soil is a particulate matter and is not as cohesive as concrete or steel. Natural soil consisting of three principal components is water and air present in the space between solid particles and particles. The ratio of water to air in soil varies depending on location, environment, climatic conditions. (Singh, n.d.) Criag (2004) describes a correlation indicating that the soil can have a two-phase or three-phase composition. Regarding saturation and soil composition, he further explained that the completely dry or unsaturated soil consists of two stages, solid particles and pore air. Even though it is fully saturated like a completely dry soil, it is in two stages but there is pore water instead of interstitial air

Typical soils are about 50% solids (45% mineral and 5% organic matter), 50% voids (or pores), half of which are water and half of which are occupied by gas. The proportion of soil mineral and organic matter can be treated as a constant (in the short term), but on the one hand the proportion of moisture and gas content of the soil is considered to be very variable, It is well-balanced. The pore space allows air and water to permeate and move. Both are important for the life that exists in the soil. Compression is a common problem of soil, which reduces this space and can prevent air and water from entering the plant's roots and soil organisms.