DETERMINATION OF WATER CONTENT: PURPOSE: APPARATUS: 1. Container 2.Balance 3.Oven 4.

Desiccator

The quantities of soil specimen recommended for general laboratory use: Size of Particles More Than 90 Percent Passing 425m IS Sieve 2-mm IS Sieve 4.75-mm IS Sieve 9.50-mm IS Sieve 19-mm IS Sieve 37.5-mm IS Sieve Minimum Quantity of Soil Specimen to be taken for test Mass in g 25 50 200 300 500 1000

PROCEDURE: Clean the container with lid, dry and weigh (W1). Take the required quantity of the soil specimen in the container crumbled and placed loosely, and weigh with lid (W2). Then keep it in an oven with the lid removed, and maintain the temperature of the oven at 110 5C. Dry the specimen in the oven for 24 h. Every time the container is taken out for weighing. Replace the lid on the container and cool the container in desiccators. Record the final mass (W3) of the container with lid with dried soil sample. Water Content: w=W2-W3 W3-W1

w = water content percent, W2 = mass of container with lid with wet soil in g, W3 = mass of container with lid with dry soil in g, and W1 = mass of container with lid in g.

DETERMINATION OF SPECIFFIC GRAVITY: PURPOSE: APPARATUS: 1. Two 50cc density bottle or 500cc pycnometer 2.A water bath 3.A vacuum desiccators. 4. Oven 5.Balance 6. Spatula

PROCEDURE: 1. First the weight of the empty pycnometer is determined (W1) in dry condition. 2. Then the sample of oven dried soil, cooled in desiccators, is placed in the pycnometer and its weight with the soil is determined (W2).The remaining volume of the pycnometer is the gradually filled with distilled water or kerosene.

3. The weight of the pycnometer, soil and water is obtained (W3) carefully. 4. Lastly the bottle is emptied, thoroughly cleaned and filled with distilled water or kerosene, and its weight taken (W4).

The grain specific gravity then determined by the equation: ( ) (W4-W1)-(W3-W2)

G=

W1=Weight of empty Pycnometer W2=Weight of pycnometer+ oven dried sample W3= Weight of pycnometer+soil sample+water W4= Weight of pycnometer+ water

DETERMINATION OF LIQUID LIMIT: PURPOSE: APPARATUS: 1.Mechanical Liquid Limit Device 2.Grooving tool 3.Porcelain Evaporating Dish 4.Flat Glass Plate 5.Spatula 6.Palette 7.Knices 8.Balance 9.Oven 10.Wash Bottle or Beaker 11.Containers PROCEDURE: 1. About 120 g soil sample, passing 425 micron IS Sieve shall be mixed with distilled water in evaporating dish to form uniform paste. 2. A portion of the Paste shall be placed above the cup and spread it by spatula. 3. The soil in the cup shall be decided by firm strokes of the grooving tool along the diameter through the centre line of the cam follower so that a clean, sharp groove of the proper dimensions is formed. 4. The cup shall be fitted and dropped by turning the crank at the rate of two revolutions per second until the two halves of the soil cake come in contact with bottom of the groove along a distance of about 12 mm. This length shall be measured with the end of the grooving tool or a ruler. The number of drops required to cause the groove close for the length of 12 mm shall be recorded. 5. A little extra of the soil mixture shall be added to the cup and mixed with the soil in the cup. The pat shall be made in the cup and the test repeated. In no case shall dried soil be added to the thoroughly mixed soil that is being tested. The procedure given shall be repeated until two consecutive runs give the same under of drops for closure of the groove. 6. The operation shall be repeated for at least 3 trials.

7. In each case the number of blows shall be recorded and the moisture content determined. The specimens shall be of such consistency that the number of drops required to close the groove shall be not less than 15 or more than 35 and the points on the flow curve are evenly distributed in this range. 8. A flow curve shall be plotted on a semi logarithmic graph representing water content on the arithmetical scale and the number of drops on the logarithmic scale. The flow curve is a straight line drawn as nearly as possible through the four or more plotted points. 9. The moisture content corresponding to 25 drops as read from the curve shall be rounded off to the nearest whole number and reported as the liquid limit of the soil.

DETERMINATION OF PLASTIC LIMIT: PURPOSE: APPARATUS: 1. Porcelain Evaporating Dish 2.Flat Glass Plate 3.Spatula 4.Palette 5.Knives 6.Surface for Rolling Containers 7.Balance 8.Oven 9.Rod PROCEDURE: 1.A sample weighing about 20 g from the thoroughly mixed portion of the material passing 425micron IS Sieve shall be taken. 2.The soil sample shall be mixed thoroughly with distilled water in an evaporating dish or on the flat glass plate till the soil mass becomes plastic enough to be easily moulded with fingers. Jn the case of clayey soils the plastic soil mass shall be left to stand for a sufficient time (24 hours ) to ensure uniform distribution of moisture throughout the soil. 3.A ball shall be formed with about 8 g of this plastic soil mass and rolled between the fingers and the glass plate with just sufficient pressure to roll the mass into a thread of uniform diameter throughout its length. The rate of rolling shall be between 80 and 90 strokes/min counting a stroke as one complete motion of the hand forward and back to the starting position again.

4.The rolling shall be done till the threads are of 3 mm diameter. The soil shall then be kneaded together to a uniform mass and rolled again. This process of alternate rolling and kneading shall be continued until the thread crumbles under the pressure required for rolling and the soil can no longer be rolled into a thread. The crumbling may occur when the thread has a diameter greater than 3 mm. 5.This shall be considered a satisfactory end point, provided the soil has been rolled into a thread 3 mm in diameter immediately before. At no time shall an attempt be made to produce failure at exactly 3 mm diameter by allowing the thread to reach 3 mm, then reducing the rate of rolling or pressure or both, and continuing the rolling without further deformation until the thread falls apart. The pieces of crumbled soil thread shall be collected in an air-tight container and the moisture content determined. This moisture content is called plastic limit of the soil.

DETERMINATION OF SHRINKAGE LIMIT: PURPOSE: APPARATUS: 1.Evaporating Dish 2.Spatula 3.Shrinkage Dish, Straight Edge 3.Glass Cup 4.Glass Plates 5.Oven 6.Sieve 7.Balances, 8.Mercury, Desiccators. PROCEDURE: 1. Take a sample weighing about 100 g from the thoroughly mixed portion of the material passing the 425-micron IS Sieve 2. Place about 30 g of the soil sample obtained in 4.1 in the evaporating dish and thoroughly mix with distilled water in an amount sufficient 3. The Volume of the shrinkage dish is first determined by filling it with mercury. Removing the excess by pressing a flat glass Plate over the top and then weighing the dish filled with mercury. The weight of the mercury divided by its unit weight (13.6 gm/cm3) gives the volume of the dish which is also the initial volume of the wet soil pet (Vi).The inside of the dish is coated with a thin layer of Vaseline. The dish is then filled with the prepared soil paste in instalments.Gentle tapping is given to the hard surface eliminate entrapped air. The excess soil is removed with the aid of a straight edge and any soil adhering to the outside of the dish is wiped off. The weight of the wet soil of known volume is found (Wi).The dish is then placed in an oven and the soil pat is allowed to dry up. The dry soil pat can be found by weighing (Wd). The glass cup is filled with mercury and excess is removed by pressing the glass plate with three prongs firmly over the top. The dry soil pat is placed on the surface of the mercury in the cup and carefully pressed by means of te glass plate with prongs.The weight of the displaced mercury is found and divided by its unit weight to get the of the dry soil pat(Vd).The shrinkage limit may then be obtained by ( Ws=[Wi-) x 100%

Proforma for Test and calculation IS No. with year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details of soil sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Natural water content . . . .. Room Temperature . . . .................. History of soil sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Period of soaking of soil sample before test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Liquid Limit 2 3 4 Plastic Limit 2 3 4

Determination no. Number of Drops Container number Weight of container+wet soil g Weight ofcontainer+ovendry soil g Weight of water,g Weight of container,g Weight of oven dry soil,g Moisture content

Shrinkage Limit (Remoulded Soil) Project: Name of work: Laboratory number of sample: Description of soil sample: Soil fraction taken for the test:

Location: Bore/Trial: 1. .Determination No. 2. Shrinkage dish No. 3. Weight of shrinkage dish in g 4. Weight of shrinkage dish + wet soil pat in g 5. Weight. of shrinkage dish + dry soil pat in g 6. Weight of oven-dry soil pat (W0) in g 7. Weight of water in g 8. Moisture content (w ) of soil pat, percent 9. Evaporating dish No. (dish into which mercury filling shrinkage dish is transferred for weighing) in g 10. Weight of mercury filling shrinkage dish + weight of evaporating dish 11. Weight of evaporating dish Weight of mercury filling shrinkage dish in g Volume of wet soil pat ( V) in ml Evaporating dish No. . Weight of mercury displaced by the dry soil pat + weight of evaporating dish in g Weight ofevaporating dish in g Weight of mercury displaced by the dry soil pat in g Volume of dry soil pat ( V, ) in ml

Pit No:

Depth:

Test No:

100 Shrinkage limit ( remoulded soil ) uI*= (w--q) 100 Shrinkzge ratio R -7 Given moisture content, percent ( WI -w, )

Volumetric shrinkage V,= ( W1-zau, ) R