2.7: Nomenclature

Gs	Specific gravity	-
ρs	Density of the soil	kg/m^3
ρw	Density of water	kg/m^3
g	Gravitational constant (9.81 m/s^2)	m/s^2
Mt	Mass of the soil, total mass	kg
Ms	Mass of the solids	kg
Mw	Mass of the water	kg
Ma	Mass of the air	kg
Vt	Volume of the soil, total volume	m^3
Vs	Volume of the solids	m^3
Vw	Volume of the water	m^3
Va	Volume of the air	m^3
ρt	Density of the soil	kg/m^3
\(\gamma_{ \mathrm{t}}\)	Unit weight of the soil	N/m^3
g	Gravitational constant (9.81 m/s^2)	m/s^2
Dr	Relative density	-
e	Current void ratio of the soil in-situ	-
emax	Void ratio of the soil at its loosest condition	-
emin	Void ratio of the soil at its densest condition	-
n	Porosity of the soil in-situ	-
nmax	Porosity of the soil at its loosest condition	-
nmin	Porosity of the soil in its densest condition	-
Vv	Volume of the voids/pores	m^3
Vs	Volume of the solids/grains/particles	m^3
n	Porosity	-
e	Void ratio	-
Ct	Sorting coefficient	-
C	Sorting coefficient	-
K	Hydraulic conductivity	m^2
k	Permeability	m/s
f(n)	porosity function	-
C	sorting coefficient
de	effective grain diameter	mm
d10	Grain diameter where 10% is smaller	mm
d60	Grain diameter where 60% is smaller	mm
U	Grain uniformity coefficient	-
\(\ v\)	kinematic viscosity
μ	Dynamic viscosity	Pa.s
ρw	Water density	kg/m^3
\(\ \gamma_{ \mathrm{w}}\)	Unit weight of water	N/m^3
Q	units of volume per time	m^3/s
K	intrinsic permeability	m^2
k	permeability	m/s
A	cross sectional area	m^2
L	Length	m
ua	Start excess pore pressure	Pa
ub	End excess pore pressure	Pa
μ	dynamic viscosity of the fluid	Pa.s
c	Cohesion	kPa
UCS	Unconfined Compressive Strength	kPa
V	The total volume of soil	m^3
ni	Initial porosity	-
ncv	Porosity at constant volume	-
ε	Dilatation	-
σc	Unconfined Compressive Strength	kPa
F	Maximum Failure Load	kN
A	Cross-sectional area of the core sample	m^2
E	Deformation modulus	N/m^2
W	Specific work of failure	J/m^3
σT	Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS)	kPa
D	Diameter of the core sample	m
F	Maximum Failure Load	kN
L	Length of the core sample	m
IS	Point load index	kPa
F	Failure load	kN
De	Distance between platen tips	m
De^2	= D^2 for diametrical test	m^2
De^2	= 4A/π = for axial, block and lump test	m^2
A	= W.D = minimum cross-sectional area of a plane through the platen contact points	m^2
ρw	Density of water	kg/m^3
zw	Depth below the water table	m
u	Hydrostatic pressure	kPa
g	Gravitational constant	m/s^2
σ1	the major principal stress	kPa
σ3	the minor principal stress	kPa
\(\ \tau\)	the shear strength \(\ \tau\) = Su (or somtimes cu)	kPa
Su	the undrained strength	kPa
σ'	(σ - u) the effective stress	kPa
σ	Total stress applied normal to the shear plane	kPa
u	Pore water pressure acting on the same plane	kPa
φ	Effective stress friction angle or the angle of internal friction after Coulomb friction	deg
c'	Cohesion	kPa
\(\ \tau\)	The shear strength \(\ \tau\) = Su (or sometimes cu)	kPa