Default soil types
Contents
Standard soil types
The Soil Model Wizard includes a number of standard soil types with specified properties. The standard soil types are based upon the different types mentioned in NEN 9997-1¹. Five soil types are given: Gravel, Sand, Loam, Clay and Peat. Each soil type can be divided in several subtypes.
Properties of standard soil types
Soil name |
NEN 9997-1: Main soil type name;admixture;consistency (f.e.: Clay; slightly sandy; firm) |
Soil type |
NEN 9997-1: One of five specified main soil types: Gravel, sand, loam, clay and peat |
Soil subtype |
NEN 9997-1: Sand admixture: Clean, slightly silty, highly silty |
Colour |
Not NEN specified: Identity colour used in graphical representations of the Soil Model Wizard |
(Mean) volume weight |
Averaged NEN 9997-1, in conformance with NEN 36507: Low and high representative values of volume weight with natural humidity |
Volume weight (saturated) |
Averaged NEN 9997-1, in conformance with NEN 36507: Low and high representative values of volume weight of saturated soil |
Angle of internal friction |
Averaged NEN 9997-1, in conformance with NEN 36507: Low and high representative angles of internal friction |
Angle of pipe-soil friction |
NEN 3650²: Angle of pipe-soil friction for sand: 20° Not NEN specified: Angle of pipe-soil friction for loam/gravel: 20° (same as for sand), clay: 2/3 * Angle of internal friction, peat: 0° |
Drained cohesion |
Averaged NEN 9997-1, in conformance with NEN 36507: Low and high representative values of drained cohesion |
Undrained cohesion |
Averaged NEN 9997-1, in conformance with NEN 36507: Low and high representative values of undrained cohesion, not applicable for sand/gravel |
Packing factor |
NEN 3650³: Value of 0.3 for reasonably loosely packed soil is used. |
Shrinkage pressure |
Averaged NEN 36506: Value of shrinkage pressure for peat/weak clay: 0.4, firm clay: 0.8, moderate sand: 2.4 and firm sand: 5.5 Not NEN specified: Values of shrinkage pressure for loam: 1.6 (2/3 * shrinkage factor for moderate sand) and gravel: 2.4 (same as sand) |
Shrinkage percentage |
NEN 36504: Values of shrinkage percentage uncompressed. Values for Loam are averaged between normal sand and stiff clay |
Shrinkage percentage compressed |
NEN 36504: Values of shrinkage percentage compressed. Values for Loam are averaged between normal sand and stiff clay |
Shear modulus |
Not NEN specified: Averaged based upon typical values for Poisson's ratio as given in Foundation Analysis and Design8 |
Ultimate friction |
NEN 36505: Averaged value of 2 mm for firm sand, 4 mm for moderate sand and 6.5 mm for loose sand (not NEN specified: likewise for gravel and loam). Averaged value of 3 mm for firm clay, 5 mm for moderate clay and 8 mm for weak clay. Averaged value of 8 mm for moderate peat and 12.5 mm for weak peat |
Young's modulus (100 kPa) |
Averaged NEN 9997-1, in conformance with NEN 36507: Low and high representative values of elasticity modulus as normalised for an effective vertical pressure of 100 kPa |
Information and requirements of the different soil properties can be found here.
NEN 9997-1+C2:2017 |
table 2b, pages 54-55 |
|
NEN 3650-1:2020 |
C.4.5.4.2, page 156 |
|
NEN 3650-1:2020 |
C.4.2.4.2, page 139 |
|
NEN 3650-1:2020 |
C.4.2.3, page 136 |
|
NEN 3650-1:2020 |
C.4.5.1, page 153 |
|
NEN 3650-1992 |
C2: 4.3.3, page 153 |
|
NEN 3650-1:2020 |
B.4.1, page 117 |
|
Foundation Analysis and Design, 5th edition, J.E. Bowles, Mc Graw-Hill, New York, 1996 |
table 2-7, page 123 |
Standard_soil_types (last modified: Aug 11, 2025)