EXPERIMENT NO.

STANDARD AND MODIFIED COMPACTION TEST

Aim
To familiarize students with moisture- density relationship of soil using Standard
and modified tests.

Object
To determine Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and Maximum Dry Density (MDD)
of soil.

Apparatus
Standard proctor mould, balance, tray, rammer of 2.5Kg (5.5 lb) and 4.54Kg
(10lb), moisture container, oven, sample extruder, sieve 3/4 inch and 3/8 inch and
straight edge.

Procedure
The procedure for the practical is as follows:-

a. If the soil sample is damp, dry it in air or in an oven. Then, thoroughly break
up the aggregations. Sieve an adequate quantity of the representative soil
over the sieve 19 mm (3/4-inch). Discard the retained material on 19 mm
(3/4 inch) sieve and weigh. Then sieve more soil on 9.5mm (3/8-inch) sieve
and take the retained soil on 3/8-inch sieve equal to the weight of soil
retained on 19 mm (3/4-inch) sieve. Select a representative sample,
weighing approximately 3kg or more of the prepared soil.

b. Mix the selected sample with 2 to 3% water to the sample weight to dampen
it to approximately four to six percent points below optimum moisture
content.

c. Compact the sample in 4 inch mould (with collar attached) in three equal
layers for Standard Compaction Test and five layers for Modified
Compaction Test. Compact each layer by 25 distributed blows with rammer
dropping free from a height of 30.5 Cm (12 inch) for Standard Compaction
Test or 42.7 Cm (18 inch) for Modified Compaction Test.

d. After compaction, remove the extension collar, trim the compacted soil by
means of a straight edge and weigh. Remove the material from the mould
and weigh the empty mould.

e. Take a representative sample of the material for moisture content. The

moisture sample shall weight not be less than 100 gm.

f. Thoroughly break up the same sample and add more water and repeat the
procedure for each increment of water added. Continue this procedure until
 there is either a decrease or no change in wet weight of the compacted soil.

g. Observation and Data Collection:-

 Internal dia of proctor mould = 10.16 Cm (4”)

 Height of proctor mould = 11.64 Cm (4.584”)
 Volume of proctor mould = 943 Cm3 (0.033 cft)
 Standard rammer fall = 30.5 Cm (12”)
 Standard rammer weight = 2.5Kg (5.5 lb)
 Number of layers in standard compaction = 3
 Modified rammer fall = 42.7 Cm (18”)
 Modified rammer weight = 4.54Kg (10 lb)
 Number of layers in Modified compaction= 5

Density Trial No
Observation 1 2 3 4 5
Wt of mould+Compacted soil (gm) W1

Wt of mould (gm) W2

Wt of compacted soil (gm) W3

Volume of mould (gm) V=943 Cm3

Wet density of soil, wet (gm/Cc) W3/V

Dry density of soil, dry (gm/Cc) wet/(1+mc/100)

Moisture Content
Observation 1 2 3 4 5
Wt of container + Wet soil (gm) W1

Wt of container + Dry soil (gm) W2

Wt of container (gm) W3

Wt of water (gm) Ww

Wt of dry soil (gm) Ws

Moisture content (M.C) % Ww/Wsx100

Computations and Interpretation of Results

The computations after the test are as fol:-

a. Find out wet = W3/V gm/Cc (lbs/cft).
b. Find out dry = wet/(1+mc/100).
c. Find out MC= (Ww/Ws)x100.
d. Draw graph between Dry density and moisture content.
e. Find out OMC and MDD.
M.C %

Dry density (lbs/cft or kg/cm3)

MDD= (lbs/cft or kg/cm3
OMC= (M.C)