Soil friction angle
Geotechdata.info - Updated 14.12.2013
Soil friction angle is a shear strength parameter of soils. Its definition is derived from the MohrCoulomb failure criterion and it is used to describe the friction shear resistance of soils together with
the normal effective stress.
In the stress plane of Shear stress-effective normal stress, the soil friction angle is the angle of
inclination with respect to the horizontal axis of the Mohr-Coulomb shear resistance line.
Typical values of soil friction angle for different soils according to USCS
Some typical values of soil friction angle are given below for different USCS soil types at normally
consolidated condition unless otherwise stated. These values should be used only as guidline for
geotechnical problems; however, specific conition of each engineering problem often needs to be
considered for an appropriate choice of geotechnical parameters.
Soil friction angle []
Description
USCS
Well graded gravel, sandy gravel, with little or no
fines
Specific Reference
value
min
max
GW
33
40
[1],[2],
Poorly graded gravel, sandy gravel, with little or
no fines
GP
32
44
[1],
Sandy gravels - Loose
(GW, GP)
35
[3 cited in 6]
Sandy gravels - Dense
(GW, GP)
50
[3 cited in 6]
Silty gravels, silty sandy gravels
GM
30
40
[1],
Clayey gravels, clayey sandy gravels
GC
28
35
[1],
Well graded sands, gravelly sands, with little or no
SW
fines
33
43
[1],
Well-graded clean sand, gravelly sands Compacted
SW
Well-graded sand, angular grains - Loose
38
[3 cited in 6]
(SW)
33
[3 cited in 6]
Well-graded sand, angular grains - Dense
(SW)
45
[3 cited in 6]
Poorly graded sands, gravelly sands, with little or
SP
30
39
[1], [2],
no fines
Poorly-garded clean sand - Compacted
SP
Uniform sand, round grains - Loose
37
[3 cited in 6]
(SP)
27
[3 cited in 6]
Uniform sand, round grains - Dense
(SP)
34
[3 cited in 6]
Sand
SW, SP
37
38
[7],
Loose sand
(SW, SP)
29
30
[5 cited in 6]
Medium sand
(SW, SP)
30
36
[5 cited in 6]
Dense sand
(SW, SP)
36
41
[5 cited in 6]
Silty sands
SM
32
35
[1],
Silty clays, sand-silt mix - Compacted
SM
Silty sand - Loose
SM
27
33
[3 cited in 6]
Silty sand - Dense
SM
30
34
[3 cited in 6]
Clayey sands
SC
30
40
[1],
Calyey sands, sandy-clay mix - compacted
SC
Loamy sand, sandy clay Loam
SM, SC
31
34
[7],
Inorganic silts, silty or clayey fine sands, with
slight plasticity
ML
27
41
[1],
Inorganic silt - Loose
ML
27
30
[3 cited in 6]
Inorganic silt - Dense
ML
30
35
[3 cited in 6]
Inorganic clays, silty clays, sandy clays of low
plasticity
CL
27
35
[1],
Clays of low plasticity - compacted
CL
Organic silts and organic silty clays of low
plasticity
OL
22
32
[1],
Inorganic silts of high plasticity
MH
23
33
[1],
Clayey silts - compacted
MH
25
[3 cited in 6]
Silts and clayey silts - compacted
ML
32
[3 cited in 6]
Inorganic clays of high plasticity
CH
Clays of high plasticity - compacted
CH
Organic clays of high plasticity
OH
17
35
[1],
Loam
ML, OL,
MH, OH
28
32
[7],
Silt Loam
ML, OL,
MH, OH
25
32
[7],
34
31
28
17
31
[3 cited in 6]
[3 cited in 6]
[3 cited in 6]
[1],
19
[3 cited in 6]
Clay Loam, Silty Clay Loam
ML, OL,
CL, MH,
OH, CH
18
32
[7],
Silty clay
OL, CL,
OH, CH
18
32
[7],
Clay
CL, CH,
OH, OL
18
28
[7],
Peat and other highly organic soils
Pt
10
[2],
Correlation between SPT-N value, friction angle, and relative density
Correlation between SPT-N value and friction angle and Relative density (Meyerhoff 1956)
SPT N3
[Blows/0.3 m - 1 ft]
Soi packing
Relative Density
[%]
Friction angle
[]
<4
Very loose
< 20
< 30
4 -10
Loose
20 - 40
30 - 35
10 - 30
Compact
40 - 60
35 - 40
30 - 50
Dense
60 - 80
40 - 45
> 50
Very Dense
> 80
> 45
