MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila

CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Telephone Number: (02) 516-7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

Review MODULE – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (Atterberg Limits)

CONSISTENCY LIMITS/ ATTERBERG LIMITS

Table 1. Soil Index

Volume
Index Definition
Plasticity PI = LL - PL
LI = ωPL
Liquidity
LLPL
LL  w
Consistency CI 
LIQUID LL  PI
STATE
PLASTIC Shrinkage SI = PL – SL
SEMISOLID STATE Flow FI = slope of the flowline
SOLID
STATE
STATE PI
Toughness TI =
SL PL LL Increasing FI
Shrinkage Plastic Liquid Moisture
Limit Limit Limit
Content

Table 2. Description of soil based on plasticity index

A. LIQUID LIMIT, LL
Category Soil PI (%) Degree of Plasticity
– moisture content required to close a distance along the bottom of the groove Sand or silt 0 Non plastic
at 25 blows using the Liquid Limit device or Casagrande apparatus Traces of clay 1–5 Slight plasticity
I Little clay 5 – 10 Low Plasticity
II Clay loam 10 – 20 Medium plasticity
III Silty Clay 20 – 40 High plasticity
Clay >40 Very high plasticity

SITUATION. Given the laboratory results of the Atterberg Limits Test in Table 3.
Determine the following. The water content versus the number of blows is shown
in Figure 2.

1. Determine the nearest value of the Liquid Limit of soil.

2. Determine the nearest value of the Plastic Limit of soil.
3. Determine the nearest value of the Liquidity Index of soil.
4. Determine the nearest value of the Consistency Index of soil.
5. What is the characteristic of the soil?

Table 3. Lab Results

(Figure 1) A. Liquid Limit
Test Number → 1 2 3 4
Number of Blows 35 21 16 11
– the moisture content at which a standard cone of apex of 30 o and weight of Weight of Wet Soil +
0.78N will penetrate a distance d = 20mm in 5 seconds when allowed to drop 22.45 21.30 21.30 26.10
Container, g
from a position of point of contact with the soil surface by Cone Penetration
Weight of Dry Soil +
Test. 19.45 18.75 18.75 22.10
Container, g
Weight of Container, g
Weight of Water, g
Weight of Dry Soil , g
Water Content , %
B. Plastic Limit and Natural Water Content
Plastic Limit Natural Water
Content
Test Number → 1 2 1 2
Weight of Wet Soil +
22.10 21.77 17.95 17.40
Container, g
Weight of Dry Soil +
(Figure 2) 20.40 20.20 14.85 14.35
Container, g
Weight of Container, g
B. PLASTIC LIMIT, PL Weight of Water, g
Weight of Dry Soil , g
– the moisture content wherein a soil starts to crumble when rolled into 1/8 in
Water Content , %
 thread. Average , %

(Figure 3)
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516-7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

SHRINKAGE RATIO, SR
𝑚2
𝑆𝑅 =
𝑉2 𝜌𝑤

m2 = mass of oven – dried soil ρω = density of water

V2 = volume of oven – dried soil

SPECIFIC GRAVITY, GS

1
𝐺𝑠 =
1 𝑆𝐿
−
𝑆𝑅 100

SL = shrinkage limit in percentage

Or

𝑆𝑅
𝐺𝑠 =
Figure 2 1 − 𝑆𝑅𝑆𝐿

SL = shrinkage limit in fraction

SITUATION. The liquid limit is determined from a soil sample using a cone
penetrometer. The plastic limit is also obtained. The results are tabulated below.
6. Determine the Liquid Limit (LL) of the soil. SITUATION. Using the plasticity chart shown with a given soil having the following
7. Determine the Plastic Limit (PL) of soil. properties: Liquid limit = 65%, Plasticity index = 20%.
8. Determine the Plasticity Index of soil. 13. Find the shrinkage limit of soil.
9. Indicate the activity classification when the particles smaller than 0.002 mm
is 40%.
PLASTICITY CHART
Table 4. Liquid Limit Test
Water content Cone penetration
(mm)
42.5 16.0
47.5 17.5
58.1 22.8
60.1 16.1

Table 5. Plastic limit Test

Weight of Moist Soil Weight of Oven
(g) Dried Soil (g)
128.5 115.5
115.2 103.7
125.5 112.5
122.8 110.2
123.4 110.5

C. SHRINKAGE LIMIT, SL

– Soil shrinks as moisture is gradually lost from it. With continuing loss of
moisture, a stage of equilibrium is reached at which more loss of moisture will
result no further volume change. The moisture content, in percent, at which
the volume of the soil mass ceases to change, defined as the shrinkage limit.

𝑚1 − 𝑚2 (𝑉1 − 𝑉2 )𝜌𝑤
𝑆𝐿 = −
𝑚2 𝑚2

m1 = mass of saturated soil V1 = volume of saturated soil

m2 = mass of oven – dried soil V2 = volume of oven – dried soil
ρω = density of water

SITUATION. During an experiment for shrinkage limit determination of a clay, the

following laboratory data were obtained.
Mass of dish coated with petroleum jelly = 11.30 g
Mass of dish coated with petroleum jelly + wet soil = 38.51 g
Mass of dish coated with petroleum jelly + oven-dried soil = 32.80 g
Volume of shrinkage dish = 15.25 cc
Volume of oven-dried soil pat = 12.85 cc

10.Determine the shrinkage limit of soil.

11.Determine shrinkage ratio.
12.Determine the specific gravity of soil solids.