KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering (2017) 21(2):546-553 Design Optimization and Applications in Civil Engineering

Copyright ⓒ2017 Korean Society of Civil Engineers

DOI 10.1007/s12205-017-1580-z pISSN 1226-7988, eISSN 1976-3808
www.springer.com/12205
TECHNICAL NOTE

Experimental Investigation on Compaction and Atterberg Limits Characteristics

of Soils: Aspects of Clay Content using Artificial Mixtures
Zhang Kunyong* and Charkley Nai Frederick**
Received September 11, 2016/Revised 1st: October 12, 2016, 2nd: November 2, 2016/Accepted November 3, 2016

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Abstract
The influence of different proportions of clay minerals on the moisture density relationship and index properties of clay soils are
not clearly understood because of the different factors that come into play in natural soil formation. This study used 11 different
remolded samples prepared by combining double mixtures of commercially available powdered kaolinite, montmorillonite and
quartz in proportions of 30%, 50%, 70% and 100% based on dry unit weight to investigate the relationship between different
proportions of clay minerals with index properties and compaction characteristics of clay soils. The results described the influence of
different proportions of clay minerals on the liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index measured using the fall cone penetration
test. Also, the variation of maximum dry density and optimum moisture content with different clay mineral proportions has been
analyzed. In addition, equations are presented with significant correlations to show the relationship between Atterberg limits,
compaction parameters and the proportion of clay minerals. Knowledge on the effect of the different clay minerals on the moisture
density relationship and index properties can be used to predict the behavior of compacted clay soils encountered in engineering
practices and reduce the time and effort needed for assessing the suitability of clay soils and clay liners for engineering use.
Keywords: clay, atterberg limit, maximum dry density, optimum moisture content
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1. Introduction
The evaluation of basic engineering properties of soils through
laboratory testing is very important in understanding and interpreting
how soils will behave in the field. Atterberg limits and laboratory
compaction have been found to be very reliable in characterizing,
predicting and explaining the behavior of fine grained soils for
engineering use (Wesley, 2003; Ramesh et al., 2010; Calik and
Sadaglu, 2014). These two tests are internationally relied on
because they depend on the same factors such as type and
proportion of clay mineral, shape and grain size distribution
(Korfiatis and Manikopolous, 1982; Mitchell, 1993), which vary
in space and time depending on different natural soil formations.
In literature, a number of studies have been undertaken to relate
Atterbeg limits and compaction parameters with a combination
of all the various factors that influence their plasticity. Jumikis
(1946) was among the early researchers to propose methods to
estimate optimum dry density and maximum dry density from
Atterberg limits. Using a number of compaction tests, Joslin
(1959) was able to develop 26 different compaction curves based
on which a soils’ compaction curve could be wholly plotted from
a single proctor test using dry unit weight and water content.
Terzaghi and Peck (1967) suggested correlations between
compression index and liquid limit for a variety of clay soils.
Other authors (Pandian et al., 1997, Blotz et al., 1998; Gurtug
and Sridharan, 2002; Sharma and Bora, 2003; Sridharan and
Nagaraj, 2005; Sivrikaya et al., 2008; Di Matteo et al., 2009;
Noor et al., 2011) have also showed strong associations between
compaction parameters and index properties. For example,
Pandian et al. (1997) in a study on compaction characteristics of
3 soils observed that the shape of the soil compaction curve
could be predicted by determining the liquid limit, the water
content, and the coarse fraction. He came to the conclusion that
for a practical range of liquid limit-water contents, the entire path
of compaction behavior can be determined using discrete dry
density-water content data and the liquid limit value. Blotz et al.
(1998) described an empirical method for estimating optimum
moisture content and maximum dry density using 22 clay soils at
any rational compaction energy. He concluded that variations
employing the liquid limit and the logarithm of compaction
energy were more precise. Gurtug and Sridharan (2002) on the
other hand proposed correlations based on plastic limit to
determine optimum moisture content and maximum dry density
at varying compaction energy. Maximum dry density was 0.98
times the dry unit weight at plastic limit and optimum moisture
content was 0.92 times the plastic limit. Sridharan and Nagaraj

*Associate Professor, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, Nanjing, 210098, China; Geotechnical
Research Institute, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu P.R. China 210098 (E-mail: ky_zhang@hhu.edu.cn)
**Ph.D. Student, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, Nanjing, 210098, China; Geotechnical
Research Institute, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu P.R. China 210098 (Corresponding Author, E-mail: fredioz@yahoo.com)

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 Experimental Investigation on Compaction and Atterberg Limits Characteristics of Soils: Aspects of Clay Content using Artificial Mixtures

(2005) carried out detailed investigation using standard proctor 2. Materials and Methods
compaction to determine which index property correlated well
with compaction parameters. Based on his result and results 2.1 Materials
gathered from about 54 sources, he predicted that the plastic For this study, commercially processed powdered sodium
limit bears good correlation with compaction parameters better montmorillonite (SD1090B) supplied by Zhejiang Sanding
than liquid limit and plasticity index. The work of Noor et al. Technology Company, spheswhite kaolin from Shanghai IMERYS
(2011) on 106 fine grain soils from India also suggested Mineral Company and fine quartz from Anhui Shengli quartz
correlations for predicting compaction parameters from specific factory were used. The general properties of the kaolin and
gravity, plasticity and plastic limit. More recently, Nagaraj et al. montmorillonite are summarized in Table 1. Specific gravity
(2015) used the concept of predicting compaction characteristics determined from water pycnometer method gave values of 2.65
from varied proportions of fines less than 425 μm to correlate for quartz, 2.6 for kaolin and 2.69 for montmorillonite. Particle
compaction parameters of natural soils with modified plastic size analysis was performed using BT9300H laser particle size
limits and Farooq et al. (2015) proposed predictive curves for analyzer. The results of particle size distribution curves for
quick estimation of maximum dry density and optimum kaolin, montmorillonite and quartz are shown in Fig. 1.
moisture content based on liquid limit, plasticity index and The curve shows that all three minerals contained appreciable
compaction energy without performing laboratory compaction quantities of fines. About 90% of both kaolin and montmorillonite
tests. contained clay size particles (particles smaller than 0.005 mm).
The previous studies in literature have showed that researchers However, majority of the quartz fell within the silt range (0.005
focused on correlating the compaction parameters as a function mm and 0.075 mm).
of Atterberg limits for fine grained soils, particularly natural
soils, whilst limited publications mentioned the impact of the 2.2 Methods
clay mineralogy. And for the few literature that attempted to In order to obtain clay soils of different properties, reconstituted
study the influence of clay content, the results of their study soil mixtures were prepared base on dry unit weight from
were not always in agreement (Polidori, 2007). This is because varying combinations of kaolinite, montmorillonite and quartz.
external factors have strong influence on the Atterberg limits Sivapullaiah and Sridharan (1985), Pandian et al. (1995), Ziegler
and compaction characteristics depending on the type and et al. (1998) and Tiwari and Ajmera (2012) used such mixes to
proportion of clay minerals. For instance, as the concentration of obtain a wide range of correlations between the properties of fine
salt increases, the liquid limit of montmorillonite decreases soils. The double mixture proportions used in this study were
sharply, while the liquid limit of kaolinite is not significantly
affected (Di Maio and Fenelli, 1994). It is thought that the Table 1. General Properties of Kaolin and Montmorillonite Used in
presence of clay minerals even in small quantities can alter the the Present Study
behavior of the whole soil mass (Holtz and Kovacs, 1981). The Values
Physical properties
influence of clay soils on compaction and consistency limits goes a Kaolin Montmorillonite
long way to affect the capacity of foundations, slope stability of Principal mineral Kaolinite
Sodium
embankments and design of earth retaining structures as Montmorillonite
highlighted in literature (Lupine et al., 1981; Georgiannou, Specific gravity 2.6 2.56
1988; Yin, 1999). However, the role of different clay minerals Liquid limit 55 328.2
on the fundamental properties such as moisture density Plastic limit 27 33.5
Plasticity index 28 294.7
relationship and index properties is not clearly understood
Clay (< 0.005 mm) 90% 90%
because of the different environmental factors that come into
Maximum dry unit weight (g/cm3) 1.38 1.2
play. In light of this and the fact that compaction and Atterberg
Optimum moisture content (%) 32.6 38.3
limits require a lot of time and energy to obtain in the laboratory,
the present study investigated the relationship between clay
mineralogy, index properties (liquid limit, plastic limit,
plasticity) and compaction characteristics (optimum moisture
content, maximum dry density) using 11 artificially remoulded
clay mixtures. By using artificial soils, the effect of spatial
variability that occurs in natural clay soils is reduced and the
influence of only the clay minerals can be investigated. The aim
was to establish empirical correlations for compaction
parameters and Atterberg limits based on various proportions
and types of clay minerals. Knowledge of this will reduce the
time and effort needed for assessing the suitability of clay soils
and artificial clay liners for engineering use. Fig. 1. Grain Size Distribution of Kaolin, Montmorillonite and Quartz

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 Zhang Kunyong and Charkley Nai Frederick

Table 2. Summary of Atterberg Limit Results 2 mm respectively. The plasticity index was determined from the
Samples
Plastic limit Liquid limit Plasticity
Soil Type
numerical difference between the liquid limit and plastic limit.
(%) (%) (%)
K30Q70 19.7 30.5 11 CL (lean clay) 2.2.2 Compaction Test
K50Q50 21.1 36.0 15 CL(lean clay) The standard compaction test method was used to estimate the
K70Q30 27.0 48.1 21 CL(lean clay) relationship between the optimum moisture content and maximum
K100 27.4 55.3 28 CH(lean clay)
dry unit weight of the mixtures. Approximately 2.3 kg of each
M30Q70 22.8 103.1 80 CH (fat clay)
sample with the appropriate designated mineral composition by
M50Q50 24.2 167.5 143 CH(fat clay)
weight was measured. The two minerals were thoroughly mixed in
M70Q30 29.5 238.8 209 CH(fat clay)
the dry state by hand until a fairly even distribution of the particles
M100 33.5 328.2 294 CH(fat clay)
was obtained. A minimum of 5 specimens were prepared at
M30K70 26.8 114.8 88 CH(fat clay)
predetermined water content for each sample by adding distilled
M50K50 33.1 176.1 143 CH(fat clay)
water while continuously stirring by hand. The amount of water to
M70K30 33.1 238.5 205 CH(fat clay)
be added was computed from Eq. (1). Based on visual observation
and the satisfaction that all clogged particles have been crushed, the
specimens were put in plastic bags and kept in air tight containers
30%, 50%, 70% and 100% by dry weight. Table 2 shows the for 24 hours to allow for uniform distribution of the water before
basic index properties of the 11 different samples obtained from the commencement of the compaction process.
laboratory tests conducted in accordance to procedures outlined mwater = msoil × ( mf – mi ) (1)
in Chinese standard GB/T 50123 (1999). The initial letters K, M
and Q represent kaolin, montmorillonite and quartz respectively Where mf = Final water content desired and
whiles the proceeding numbers denote the percentage of that mi = Initial water content of soil
mineral in the mixture. From the Atterberg limits results msoil = Total mass of soil (in grams);
presented in Table 2, the soil mixtures were all classified based mwater = Mass of water to be added (in grams)
on the China Classification System for liquid limit values read at After curing, the samples were compacted into a 102 mm
17 mm penetration. All the mixtures were classifed as CH (fat diameter proctor mould layer by layer for a total of three layers.
clay) with the exception of K30Q70, K50Q50 and K70Q30 Each layer received 25 blows by dropping a 24.4N rammer from
which fell in the class of CL (lean clay). a height of 305 mm. The detailed procedure can be found in the
To carry out this study, double mixtures of the various minerals Chinese standard GB/T 50123 (1999) for soil compaction. After
were subjected to Atterberg limit tests and standard proctor each test, the specimen was carefully extracted from the mould
compaction test. The Atterberg limits investigated were liquid using a jacking apparatus.
limit and plastic limit using fall cone penetration. Maximum dry
density and optimum moisture content were obtained from 3. Results and Discussion
compaction by preparing a minimum of five samples for each
mineral mixture at different water contents. 3.1 Atterberg Limits Characteristics

2.2.1 Atterberg Limit Test 3.1.1 Liquid Limit

The liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index was used in
this study in an attempt to define the water content behavior
relationship of different clay minerals. Atterberg limits test were
conducted on particles passing the 0.5 mm diameter sieve.
Instead of the regular Cassagrande method, the fall cone penetration
was adopted on the basis that it produces consistent and more
reliable results (Ladeira and Oliveira, 1995; Leroueil and Le
Bihan, 1996). The fall cone penetration test was conducted in
accordance with the procedures outlined in Chinese standard
GB/T 50123 for determination of liquid limit and plastic limits.
Firstly, dried samples of the minerals were mixed with water and
stored in plastic bags for 24 hours to ensure uniform distribution
of moisture. After homogenization, distilled water was gradually
added to determine the penetrations at 3-4 mm, 7-9 mm and 15-
17 mm and their corresponding moisture contents. A curve of
penetration against the water content was plotted. The liquid
limit and plastic limit correspond to penetrations at 17 mm and
A graph of the liquid limit verses the proportion of montmorillonite
or kaolin (i.e. 30, 50, 70, and 100 %) is presented in Fig. 2. The
liquid limit of montmorillonite and kaolin were 328 and 55
respectively. The results generally indicate that as the proportion
of montmorillonite and kaolin increases, the liquid limit also
increases in all soil mixtures. This confirms the assertion that the
liquid limit of a soil is primarily controlled by its clay content
(Seed et al., 1964) and is in agreement with the trend of liquid
limits results reported by Tiwari and Ajmera (2011) using similar
minerals. That notwithstanding, it was also observed that the
increase in liquid limit in montmorillonite dominated soil
(montmorillonite-quartz and montmorillonite-kaolin mixtures)
was more significant than in the kaolin dominated soil (kaolin-
quartz mixture). The high affinity for water can be attributed to
the high specific surface area of montmorillonite clay minerals
compared to kaolin (Young, 2012). Therefore an increase in
montmorillonite content increases the water holding capacity of

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 Experimental Investigation on Compaction and Atterberg Limits Characteristics of Soils: Aspects of Clay Content using Artificial Mixtures
Fig. 2. Variation of Liquid Limit with Percentage of Montmorillonite
or Kaolin
the resulting mixture more rapidly and hence liquid limit
increases. Thus, a relationship between the Liquid Limit (LL)
and proportion of clay minerals for the montmorillonite dominated
soils and kaolin dominated soils used in this study were
investigated and given as:
LL = 3.1614α + 14.632
LL = 0.37β + 19.353
In which LL is the liquid limit, α is the proportion of
montmorillonite by weight in percentage and β is the proportion
of kaolinite by weight in percentage. Eq. (2) can estimate the
liquid limit of montmorillonite dominated soils and Eq. (3) can
be used to estimate the liquid limit of kaolin dominated mixtures.
To know if the correlation was good and reliable, the study
checked the correlation coefficient. Values of R2 for Eqs. (2) and
(3) were 0.99 and 0.97 respectively.
3.1.2 Plasticity Index
The plot of plasticity index with varying proportions of
montmorillonite and kaolin is displayed in Fig. 3 to further prove
the influence of clay minerals on Atterberg limits.
The trend is similar to observations made by Tiwari and
Ajmera (2011). The experiment result showed that as the
quantity of montmorillonite is increased in the montmorillonite
dominated mixtures, the liquid limit increased considerably;
however the plastic limit increased very slightly (see Table 2).
Fig. 3. Variation of Plasticity Index with Percentage of Montmoril-
lonite or Kaolin
Vol. 21, No. 2 / February 2017
Therefore the plasticity index, which is the numerical difference
between the liquid limit and the plastic limit, also increased
drastically with increase in montmorillonite content. The increase in
the kaolin-quartz mixture was quite slight. De Magistris et al.
(1998) also reported similar results. The relationship between the
Plasticity Index (PI) and proportion of clay minerals for
montmorillonite dominated soils and kaolin dominated soils
related to this study are shown by Eqs. (4) and (5) respectively.
An R2 value of 0.99 was obtained for both Eq. (4) and (5) which
is a reasonably confirmation in geotechnical engineering that the
linear relationship is good.
PI = 3.0319α – 6.9834 (4)
PI = 0.2474β + 3.2112 (5)
Regarding plasticity, Table 2 generally revealed that with the
decrease in quartz in both montmorillonite-quartz and kaolinite-
quartz mixtures, the plasticity increases. This can also be
explained by the increase in intermolecular attraction force as
(2) clay content increases and quartz decreases. Nath and Dalal
(2004) observed similar trend in plasticity and associated it with
(3)
the increase in liquid limit as clay content increases.
3.2 Compaction Characteristics
The compaction test was conducted to obtain the optimum
moisture content and dry density relationship of the mixtures.
The relationship between the parameters has been illustrated in
Fig. 4 for all three mixture groups. The results depict typical
curve characteristics for all compaction tests. For all mixtures,
the dry density increased with increase in moisture content until
optimum, and then began to decrease with any further increase in
moisture. It can be observed that as the proportion of
montmorillonite and kaolin were increased in the
montmorillonite dominated mixtures (montmorillonite-quartz
and montmorillonite kaolin mixtures) and kaolin dominated
mixtures (kaolin-quartz) respectively, the maximum dry density
decreased and optimum moisture content increased. In the
montmorillonite-quartz mixture, the dry density decreased from
1.56 g/cm3 to 1.2 g/cm3 and the optimum moisture content
increased from 22.1% to 38.3%. The maximum dry density in
the kaolin-quartz mixture decreased from 1.68 g/cm3 to 1.38 g/
cm3 and the optimum moisture content increased from 17.4 g/
cm3 to 32.6 g/cm3. A similar trend was observed in the
montmorillonite-kaolin mixture. The reduction in density may
be attributed to the decrease in the proportion of quartz (silt
particles) which possesses a higher density. Furthermore, as the
clay content increases, it occupies the pore spaces and interferes
with the inter-particle bondage of the silt particles thus reducing
the density. Also, with the addition of more fine clay particles,
the specific surface area is increased and a lot of water is required
to reach the maximum dry unit weight (Holtz and Kovacs,
1981). The high water content separates the high density quartz
particles from each other and as a result the maximum dry
density decreases. The correlation between maximum dry
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 Zhang Kunyong and Charkley Nai Frederick

Fig. 4. Relationship between Dry Density and Moisture Content: (a) Kaolinite-quartz Mixure, (b) Montmorillonite-quartz Mixture, (c)
Montmorillonite-kaolin Mixture

dominated mixtures is below the line of best fit for kaolinite

dominated mixtures. This is because montmorillonite has a
relatively higher specific surface area than kaolinite.
From Fig. 5, it is also clear that there is a high correlation
between maximum dry density and optimum moisture content
for both kaolin and montmorillonite dominated soils. The
evidence of this is the high correlation coefficient (R2) obtained
for the linear regression plots. The relationship between Maximum
Dry Density (MDD) and Optimumum Moisture Content (OMC)
can be expressed by regression Eqs. (6) and (7) for kaolin
Fig. 5. Relationship between Maximum Dry Density and Optimum
Moisture Content
domintaed soils and montmorillonite dominiated soils used in
this study respectively.
MDD = – 0.0194 ( OMC ) + 2.0125 (6)
density and optimum moisture content is depicted in Fig. 5. It
can be observed that the line of best fit for montmorillonite MDD = – 0.0191 ( OMC ) + 1.947 (7)

Fig. 6. Relationship between Compaction Parameters and Plastic Limit: (a) Maximum Dry Density, (b) Optimum Moisture Content

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 Experimental Investigation on Compaction and Atterberg Limits Characteristics of Soils: Aspects of Clay Content using Artificial Mixtures
Fig. 7. Relationship between Compaction Parameters and Liquid Limit: (a) Maximum Dry Density, (b) Optimum Moisture Content
Fig. 8. Relationship between Compaction Parameters and Proportion of Clay Minerals: (a) Maximum Dry Density and Clay Content, (b)
Optimum Moisture Content and Clay Content
3.3 Correlation between Compaction Parameters, Attter-
beg Limits and Clay Proportions
In order to develop correlations, the experimental data was
quantitatively analysed by various combinations of maximum
dry density, optimum moisture content, Atterberg limits and
proportion of clay minerals.
Figure 6 and Fig. 7 represent the relationship between compaction
parameters (maximum dry density and optimum moisture content)
and Atterberg limits (plastic limit and liquid limit). In Fig. 6 the
correlation coefficient was 0.91 for maximum dry density with
plastic limit and 0.86 for optimum moisture content with plastic
limit. With regards to the correlation between optimum moisture
content and plastic limit, Leroueil et al. (1992) suggested that
optimum moisture content was approximately equal to the plastic
limit for clay soils which is consistent with the almost 1:1
correlations presented in this study. The correlation of several
published data results between optimum moisture content and
plastic limit and between maximum dry density and plastic limit as
presented by Howell et al. (1997) and Nagaraj (2015) respectively,
further endorses the relationship obtained in this study.
In Fig. 7 the correlation coefficient was 0.62 for maximum dry
density with liquid limit and 0.45 for optimum moisture content
and liquid limit. The plots reveal that, even though there is
somewhat correlation between compaction parameters and
liquid limit in Fig. 7, the R2 values are relatively small compared
with the R2 values obtained for correlations with plastic limit in
Vol. 21, No. 2 / February 2017
Fig. 6. Therefore, the parameter that best predicts the maximum
dry density and optimum moisture content is the plastic limit for
compacted clay soils and given by Eqs. (8) and (9). This
observation confirms that plastic limit bears better correlation
with compaction parameters than liquid limit and plasticity index
(Sridharan and Nagaraj, 2005).
OMC = 1.4497 ( PL ) – 10.094 (8)
MDD = −0.0322(PL) + 2.2826 (9)
As Atterberg limits can be used to predict compaction
parameters and it has been shown that the proportion of clay
minerals bears good correlation with Atterberg limit, then there
must exist, a relationship between the compaction parameters
and the proportion of clay minerals. Fig. 8 shows the relationship
between maximum dry density, optimum moisture content and
the proportion of clay minerals.
It is evident in Fig. 8(a) that the addition of montmorillonite
and kaolin steadily decreases the maximum dry density. This
implies that the high density of the quartz is compromised by the
addition of kaolinite and montmorillonite. Fig. 8(a) also shows
that the average maximum dry density values of kaolin quartz
mixtures are higher than the corresponding values in
montomorillonite-quartz mixtures. This can be explained by the
high specific gravity of the kaolinite minerals compared with the
montmorillonite. Also, montmorilonite has high water absorption
capacity than kaolin, enabling it to store more water and reduce
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 Zhang Kunyong and Charkley Nai Frederick
the inter particle locking and friction in the quartz. The trend in
maximum dry density versus the proportion of clay in Fig. 8(a) is
consistent with the results of sand clay mixtures by Howell et al
(1997), who reported an increase in optimum moisture content
and decrease in maximum dry density as the amount of clay
increases beyond 20% clay content for one day curing period.
The conclusion is also somewhat consistent with the findings
presented by Kenney et al. (1992) for bentonite content beyond
16%:they reported an increase in maximum dry density up to
16% bentonite content and afterwards a decrease in maximum
dry density with increasing bentonite content which is similar to
the range of clay proportions considered in this study.
In Fig. 8(b), there is a steady increase in optimum moisture
content with the addition of kaolin and montmorillonite. The
linear relationships produced significant correlation coefficient
that can be used to predict compaction parameters from the
proportion of the dominant clay minerals. Eqs. (10a, 10b), (11a,
11b) and (12a, 12b) could be used for predicting the maximum
dry density (g/cm3) and optimum moisture content for kaolin-
quartz, montmorillonite-quartz and montomorrilnite-kaolin mixtures
respectively as related to this study.
MDD = – 0.0043β + 1.8064 (10a)
OMC = 0.2193β + 10.647 (10b)
MDD = −0.0053α + 1.7264 (11a)
OMC = 0.2365α + 13.541 (11b)
MDD = −0.0025α+ 1.3783 (12a)
OMC = 0.2365α + 13.541 (12b)
4. Conclusions
The present study was carried out to determine the influence of
clay minerals on the Atterberg limit and compaction characteristics
of clay soils using artificial clay mixtures. The key findings are
very important in making quick decisions for the suitability of
the related clay soils in design and construction of civil engineering
works but not limited to foundations, landfill liners and dams.
The findings from this study suggests that:
1. Atterberg limits generally increases with increase in the pro-
portion of clay minerals but the increase is more significant
in montmorillonite dominated mixtures.
2. Maximum dry density decreases with increase in montmo-
rillonite and kaolin in both montmorillonite and kaolin dom-
inated soils respectively. The average maximum dry density
values of kaolin quartz mixtures are higher than the corre-
sponding values in montomorillonite-quartz mixtures. This
can be explained by the high specific gravity of the kaolinite
minerals compared with the montmorillonite.
3. Optimum moisture content increases with increasing clay
content in both montmorillonite and kaolin dominated soils
respectively. The lines of best fit for montmorillonite domi-
nated mixtures are higher than kaolin dominated mixtures
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because of the high specific surface area of montmorillonite.
4. Maximum dry density and optimum moisture content are
better predicted with plastic limit than liquid limit.
5. Compaction parameters and Atterberg limits can be pre-
dicted from the proportion and type of clay minerals present
to reduce the time and effort spent on accessing the suitabil-
ity of soils for engineering use.
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the financial support provided by the
National Science Foundation of China (No.51578214) and
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.
2015B17714).
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