University of Benghazi

Faculty of Engineering

Civil Engineering Department

Soil Mechanics Lab (CE331)

Experiment 4 – Soil Compaction Test

Students Name : Heba Jamal Mosbah Mohammed

ID Number : 27537

Supervisor : Ghassan aljehani

Spring 2021
 Soil Compaction Test
1. Objective:

The objective of the experiment is to determine the water content at which the dry
density of soil reach its max density after compacting.

2. Summary:

The experiment was conducted during the laboratory period. The experiment was
carried on by students with supervisions.

The experiment was based on D-698(ASTM, 1999) standards. The test was
conducted four times each time with different water concentration. Data were
tabulated, graphs are drawn and results are discussed

3. Introduction:

In the construction of highway embankment, earth damns, and many other

engineering structures, loose soil must be compacted to increase their unit weights.

Compaction increases the strength characteristics of soils, which increases the

bearing capacity of foundations constructed over them. Compaction also decreases
the amount of undesirable settlement of structures. Usually to compact a soil in
field there are different types of rollers for this procedure like smooth-wheel
rollers, sheepsfoot rollers, rubber-tired rollers and vibratory rollers. In labs the
standard proctor test is used as well as the modified proctor test.

Figure 1. Loose and Compacted Soil

 4. Theory:

Compaction is the densification of soil by removal of air, which requires

mechanical energy. The degree of compaction of a soil is measured in terms of its
dry density. To get the best dry density with less energy used water is added to the
specimen which acts as a softening agent on the soil particles. After adding water
and start compacting the particles start to slip over each other and move into a
densely packed position. Too little moisture means inadequate compaction - the
particles cannot move past each other to achieve density.  Too much moisture
leaves water-filled voids and subsequently weakens the load-bearing ability.  The
highest density for most soils is at a certain water content for a given compaction
effort.  The drier the soil, the more resistant it is to compaction.
In a standard proctor test a hammer of weight 2.5 kilograms is dropped 25 drop
from a height of 30.5cm for 3 times (3 layers) as said in ASTM standards. In
modified proctor test a the same volume of soil in standard proctor test is
compacted in 5 layers with a hammer of weight 4.45kilograms with 25 drops and
45.7cm drop height.

From the weight of hammer, height of drop and number of layers we can conclude
that the amount of work used per meter cubic in Standard proctor test is much less
than the work used in the modified proctor test but the advantage of the modified
proctor test is that it gives a higher optimum dry density than the optimum dry
density in standard proctor test.

5. APPARATUS (Equipment):

1) Standard hammer of 2.5Kgm weight

2) Compaction mold.
3) Weighing Machine.
4) Cans for water content determination.

In ASTM D-698 standards the mold is to be 101.6mm internal diameter,

116.43mm height and a total volume of 944cm3. The mold is attached to a base
plate at the bottom and to an extension at the top. This extension is to make sure
that the compacted soil doesn’t get compacted to height less than the mold height.
The mold should be designed strong enough to resist any drop of the hammer on it
due to some mistakes might happen during test. The mold should be able to open
when the compacting is finished so that the compacted soil can be removed easily.
The hammer weight is 2.5Kgm, and has a drop height of 30.5cm. The diameter of
the hammer is 50.8mm at the part where it hits the soil. The hammer should be
designed to resist dynamic forces resulted from hitting the soil specimen during
test.

In figure 2 the apparatus of the test is shown.

Handle

Weighing
machine
30.5mm

101.6mm

Extension
2.5Kgm
Hammer
116.43mm

50.8mm
Base plate

Figure 2. Experiment Apparatus

6. Procedure :
1) Measure the dimensions of the mold, calculate its volume and then weigh
it.
2) Weigh 3Kgm of soil that has been passed through ASTM sieve 19.4mm.
 3) Put water with an amount of 7% of soil weight and mix well.
4) Put the first soil layer in the mold and compact it with the compacting
hammer 25 times over the soil layer surface by moving the hammer each
time.
5) Repeat step 4 for the next 2 layers.
6) Remove the top extension of the mold and remove any extra soil and
weigh the soil with the mold together.
7) Remove the soil from the mold and take a specimen from the center of
the compacted soil, put it in a can and weigh it and then put it in the oven
for 24hours to determine the water content.
8) Add 3% of water to the soil and mix it again and repeat the same
previous steps.

7. Data and results

7.1 Table(1) water content dwtermination

Moisture can 57 34 18 29 102

number
w.t can + wet 125.4 156.5 139 135.3 136.1
soil (gr)
w.t can +dry 118.2 145.1 126.1 119.8 119.0
soil (gr)
w.t of water 7.2 114 12.9 15.5 17.1
(gr)
w.t of can 21.4 21.2 21.1 20.8 21.2
(gr)
w.t of dry 96.8 123.9 123.9 99 97.8
soil (g)
Water 7.43% 9.2% 12.29 15.65% 17.84%
content %
 7.2 Table (2) density determination

Assumed WC 6 8 11 13 16
%
WC (mc)% 7.43 9.2 15.65 17.48 17.48
Wt of soil + 8.492 8.597 8.712 8.772 8.729
mold
Wt of mold 6.748 6.748 6.748 6.748 6.748
Wt of soil on 1.744 1.849 1.946 2.024 1.981
mold
Wet density 17.89 18.97 20.15 20.76 20.23
(kn/m³)
Dry density 16.65 17.37 17.42 16.07 17.219
(kn/m³)

Figure 3. Soil Compaction Curve

27537 ‫هبة جمال مصباح محمد‬
18.000

17.500

17.000
Dry density (kn/m³)

16.500

16.000

15.500

15.000
7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00 16.00 17.00 18.00 19.00

Water content (%)

 8. Calculations :

Weight of compacted soil=weight of soil and mold weight of mold

weight of can and wet soil- weight of can and dry soil
Actual water content =
weight of can and dry soil- weight of can
weight of compacted moisture soil
ρm=
Mold volume
ρm
ρd =
1+w
where :
w : is the actual water content

The principle of drawing saturation lines:

GS . ρm
ρd =
GS.w
1+
S
where :
Air content ( a /c )
S=1−
100
and w values are by assumption

9. Discussions :

From the soil compaction curve by plotting it's assumed that the water content to
get the optimum density is 11% when using the standard proctor compaction
method and the maximum density is 17.55 kn/m3.
At the beginning the dry density was increasing when the water content increases
as the water was acting like a softening agent to make the soil particles slide into
voids, but after the moisture content reached 11% the dry density started to
decrease when the moisture increases and that’s because the water started to push
out the soil particles and takes its place.
10. Conclusion :

The moisture content to get an optimum dry density is 11% and the maximum dry
density could be reached in standard proctor compaction test is 17.55kn/m3.