Experiment No.

3a
PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION: SIEVE ANALYSIS OF SOIL

Scope

This method describes a procedure for the quantitative determination of the distribution of
particle sizes in soil by means of standard sieves.

Apparatus

1. Set of sieves (U.S. Standard)

2. Balance, sensitive to 0.1 gram
3. Oven with temperature control
4. Brush
5. Pans

Procedure

Drying and Weighing

1. Place in an oven approximately 500 grams of soil sample and dry to constant weight. If the
soil to be tested has many particles coarser than the openings in a No. 4 sieve, a larger weight
of soil should be used.
2. After drying, allow the sample to cool, weigh accurately to 0.1 gram and record the weight
obtained as oven-dried weight.

Washing and Drying

(This procedure may be omitted to the total amount of material finer than the openings of the No.
200 are not required or when the accuracy requirements for the sieve analysis do not require
washing of the particles).

1. Place the sample in the container or pan containing water and agitate with the hand
vigorously to assure as thorough separation of the particles.
2. Pour the wash water over a No. 200 sieve and return the soil retained on the sieve to the pan
and enough water taking care not to allow the water to overflow the pan.
3. Repeat the agitating and pouring of the wash samples over the No. 200 sieve until all the
particles finer than No. 200 sieve are removed from the soil sample. This can be noted when
the water appears to be clean.
4. Remove from the pan, containing the wash soil sample, all the excess water very carefully so
as not to spill any soil from pan.
5. Dry the washed sample in the oven to constant weight and allow to cool after drying.
6. After cooling, weigh accurately the cooled sample and record the weight obtained as wash
oven-dried weight. The difference between this weight and the oven-dried weight in Step 2
(Drying and Weighing) shall be recorded as “wash”.
Sieving Procedure

1. Arrange the selected set of sieves by nesting one over the other with the coarser sieve on top
of the next smaller sieve, and place the sieve pan at the bottom where the No. 200 sieve is
resting. (The selection of sieves to be used for a given test will depend on the soil to be
tested, e.g., the coarser the soil, the larger the top sieve should be. A good selection is to have
a nest composed of each sieve having an opening approximately one-half that of the coarser
sieve above it in the nest.)
2. Pour the dried wash sample into the uppermost sieve and perform the sieving operation by
hand shaking using a horizontal motion of rotation and constant vertical motion,
accompanied by occasional jarring action so as to keep the sample moving continuously over
the surface of the sieves. Sieving may be accomplished with a mechanical sieve shaker, if
available. At least 10 minutes of hand sieving is desirable for soils with small particles.
3. Dismantle the sieve arrangement and weigh all particles retained on each sieve including that
retained in the sieve pan. Record all the weight obtained opposite each corresponding sieves
on the worksheet.

FIGURE 2 Motorized Sieve Shaker and Set of Sieves

Calculation

Cumulative Mass Retained (CMR) = Sum of Mass Retained on all Coarser Sieves
Cumulative Mass Passing (CMP) = Total Mass Retained (TM) - Cumulative Mass Retained
(CMR)
Percent Passing (%P) = (CMP/TM) x 100 %
Percent Retained (%R) = 100% - %P
Questions
1. What is the purpose of grain size analysis?
2. What is a grading curve?
3. Under what conditions should you use wet sieving instead of dry sieving?
4. On which basis do you select the number and opening of sieves for the sieve analysis of a
given soil?
5. A mass of volcanic ashes with highly crushable grains is brought to the laboratory. What
precaution do you take to determine its grain size distribution?
6. On what range of particle size does the sieve analysis apply?
7. Is it possible to carry out sieve analysis on a sample of clay?

TABLE 2 U.S. Standard Sieves Sizes

Sieve no. Opening (mm) Sieve no. Opening (mm)
4 4.750 50 0.300
6 3.350 60 0.250
8 2.360 80 0.180
10 2.000 100 0.150
16 1.180 140 0.106
20 0.850 170 0.088
30 0.600 200 0.075
40 0.425 270 0.053

Example:
An air-dry soil sample weighing 500 grams was brought to the soil’s laboratory for
mechanical grain-size analysis. The laboratory data were as follows:

Mass Cumulative Cumulative Percent Percent

Sieve No. Retained Mass Retained Mass Passing Passing Retained
(grams) (grams) (grams) (%) (%)
3/8 51.4 51.4 441.6 89.57 10.43
4 71.0 122.4 370.6 75.17 24.83
8 81.6 204.0 289.0 58.62 41.38
16 90.3 294.3 198.7 40.30 59.70
30 78.0 372.3 120.7 24.48 75.52
50 27.5 399.8 93.2 18.90 81.10
100 31.1 430.9 62.1 12.60 87.40
200 42.5 473.4 19.6 3.98 96.02
PAN 19.6 493.0 0 0 100
TOTAL 493
 PRELIMINARY DATA SHEET

Name: Group No.

Course/Section: Date:

Experiment No. 3a
SIEVE ANALYSIS OF SOIL

Sieve Cumulative Cumulative

Mass Percent Percent
Mass Mass
Opening Retained Passing Retained
No Retained Passing
Size (grams) (%) (%)
(grams) (grams)
3/8”
4
8
10
16
30
40
50
60
80
100
200
PAN -
TOTAL

Student’s Signature Instructor’s Signature

PRELIMINARY GRAPHICAL SOLUTION
 FINAL DATA SHEET

Name: Group No.

Course/Section: Date:

Experiment No. 3a
SIEVE ANALYSIS OF SOIL

Sieve Cumulative Cumulative

Mass Percent Percent
Mass Mass
Opening Retained Passing Retained
No Retained Passing
Size (grams) (%) (%)
(grams) (grams)
3/8”
4
8
10
16
30
40
50
60
80
100
200
PAN -
TOTAL

Student’s Signature
FINAL GRAPHICAL SOLUTION
Sample Computations
Answers to Question
1. What is the purpose of grain size analysis?
- Grain size analysis is a method of analysis that is commonly used in geoscience and is
carried out as a standard laboratory investigation. Other fields make extensive use of it.
It is a subsurface investigation performed to measure the size of the various particles
that make up a specific undistributed geological deposit, sedimentary rock, ancient
locus, or soil unit. The primary purpose of this approach is to deduce the environment
type and activities associated with the transport mechanism at the time of deposition
from the sizes and distributions of the sediment particles studied.

2. What is a grading curve?

- It depicts particle size (on a horizontal logarithmic scale) with collected percentages
(vertical arithmetic scale). The percentage by weight of particles smaller than the grain
size at each point on the curve is shown by the point on the curve.

3. Under what conditions should you use wet sieving instead of dry sieving?
- Wet sieving is a technique for determining the particle size distribution or gradation of
coarse aggregates. It is also used to prepare granular materials for particle size analysis
by eliminating fines that could obstruct the separation process. Dry sieve analysis is
used for coarse-grained soils like sand, gravel, pebbles, and cobbles, and wet sieve
analysis is used for fine-grained soils like clay, silt, and ultrafine clay.

4. On which basis do you select the number and opening of sieves for the sieve
analysis of a given soil?
- The basis of the selection of the number and opening of sieves depends on the
engineer's discretion. It will depend upon the nature of the experiment to determine the
number and opening of sieves. Each test requires a certain sieve size to be effective in
gathering data which is why it is important to understand the purpose of the
experiment.

5. A mass of volcanic ashes with highly crushable grains is brought to the

laboratory. What precaution do you take to determine its grain size distribution?
- First, the ash samples should be dried in an oven for 24 hours at no more than 40˚C,
then it should be sieved at an interval down to 63 µm.

6. On what range of particle size does the sieve analysis apply?

- A technique called sieve analysis is employed to ascertain the grain size distribution of
soils with a diameter greater than 0.075 mm. Although it is frequently used for sand
and gravel, it cannot be the only technique for figuring out the distribution of grain
sizes in finer soil. For size ranges between 0.04 mm and 125 mm, dry sieving is the
best technique. The sample's characteristics, such as its propensity to aggregate,
density, or electrostatic charging, however, place a restriction on the measuring
window.

7. Is it possible to carry out sieve analysis on a sample of clay?

- It is impractical to determine the particle size distribution by sieve analysis because clay has a
particle size of less than 75 micrometers. The diameter of clay particles is less than 0.002 mm.
Photos and Documentation