In this experiment we are adopting the Cone Penetrometer Method rather than

Casagrande Method due to the accuracy. The evidence is raised by a major

changes which introduced by the 1975 British Standard (BS 1377) was that the
preferred method of liquid limit testing became the Cone Penetrometer. This
preference is reinforced in the revised 1990 British Standard which refers to the
Cone Penetrometer as the ‘definitive method’. The Cone Penetrometer is considered
a more satisfactory method than the alternative because it is essentially a static test
which relies on the shear strength of the soil, whereas the alternative Casagrande

method introduces dynamic effects. 

Objective

Determination of Liquid Limit and Plastic Limit through Cone Penetrometer Method

Sample preparation

1) 500 ± g of air-dried soil is pulverised and passed the sieve size 425µm.
2) 80 ± ml of water is added to the soil and mixed as thoroughly as possible.

Apparatus

 A flat glass plate, of which a convenient size is 10mm thick and about 500
mm square, on which the soil is mixed.
 Two palette knives or spatulas.
 A Penetrometer as used in bituminous material testing complying to BS2000:
Part 49.
 A cone of stainless steel or duralumin (see figure 1).
 One or more metal cups
 Apparatus for the moisture content determination of fine-graded soils.
 A wash bottle or beaker, containing distilled water.
 A metal straightedge about 100mm long
 A stopclock or stopwatch readable to 1s.