FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

STANDARD PROCTOR TEST

BY: MWANGI EDWIN MURIMI

BP12/00234/22

UNIT: CEEN 222

SOIL MECHANICS

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. PETER W.

SIGNATURE………….
MAR 2024
 STANDARD PROCTOR TEST EXPERIMENT

OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between moisture content and soil density under a standard method of
compaction.

THEORY
Conduction od Proctor’s compaction test is based on the assessment of water content and dry density
relationship of a soil for a specified compactive effort. The mechanical process of densification
through reduction of air voids in the soil mass is called compaction. The amount of mechanical
energy which is applied to the soil mass is the compactive effort. There are many methods to
compact soil in the field, and some examples include tamping, kneading, vibration and static load
compaction. This test will employ the tamping or impact compaction method using the type of
equipment & methodology developed by R. R. Proctor in 1933, hence, the test is also known as the
Proctor test.
Usually, two types of test are performed:
1. The Standard Proctor test and
2. The Modified Proctor tests.
Our main concern is the Standard Proctor Test, the soil is compacted by a 2.495kg rammer falling at
a distance of 300mm into a soil filled mould. The mould is filled with three layers of soil and each
layer is subjected to 25 blows of rammer.
The bulk density in g/ml of each compacted specimen shall be calculated from the equation:

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥

𝒘𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚(𝜸𝒘) =
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥

The dry density in g/ml of each compacted specimen shall be calculated from the equation:

𝛄
Alternatively, 𝜸𝒅 = where; 𝛾𝑑 → 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝟏+𝐰
γ → 𝑤𝑒𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
w → water content
APPARATUS

a. Compaction mould of 1000cc volume and collar

b. A rammer 2.495kg with a 300mm drop (falling distance)
c. Weighing balance sensitive to 0.1g
d. Electric oven
e. Straight edge
f. 200mm BS sieve
g. Mixing sand trays
h. Sample extruder
i. Moisture cans
j. Measuring cylinder

PROCEDURE

a) A representative sample was dried and passed through a 20mm sieve and 2.5kg of the passing
material retained.
b) The mould and base plate were weighed without the collar and internal dimensions taken for
volume computation.
c) The collar was then fixed and the mould placed on an even solid base.
d) A small amount of water was added to the soil sample and mixed in the sand trays. A quantity of
that soil was placed in the mould such that when compacted it occupies a little over one third of the
height of the mould body.
e) 25 blows were applied by a rammer falling from 300mm above the soil. They were distributed
uniformly over the surface ensuring the rammer falls freely without obstruction.
f) A second quantity of moist soil was placed in the mould such that when compacted, it occupies a
little over two thirds of the height of the mould.
g) The above procedure was repeated until the mould body was filled with soil.
h) The extension was removed and excess soil stroke off using a straight edge then weighed together
with the base plate.
i) The compacted soil in the tray was extruded on the metal tray and a representative sample of it was
taken for moisture content determination.
j) The remainder of soil was broken down and mixed with the remainder of the prepared test sample.
Suitable water amount was added to the soil tray and the soil mixed thoroughly.
k) The above steps were repeated to ensure at least 5 values.
RESULTS / CALCULATIONS

S Mass of Mass of can + Mass of can + Mass of soil Mass of pore Water
No. empty mass of moist dry soil solids (Ms)g water (Mw)g content W%
can (Mc)g soil (McMs)g (McDs)g

1 60 150 145 85 5 5.88

2 60 160 144 84 6 7.14

3 75 185 169 94 16 17.02

4 45 100 99 54 1 1.85

5 60 180 146 86 34 39.53

S Actual Mass of Mass of Wet mass Wet Dry density Dry density
No. average compacted mold (g) of soil in density (ρ) (ρd) kg/m3 (ρd) g/cm3
water soil and mold (g) kg/m3
content mold (g)
1 5.88 5470 4285 1185 1185 172.24 0.17224

2 7.14 5610 4285 1325 1325 182.78 0.18278

3 17.02 5635 4285 1350 1350 190.92 0.19092

4 1.85 5945 4285 1660 1660 - -

5 39.53 5920 4285 1635 1635 111.34 0.11134

Volume of mold → 1000cm3 = 0.001m3

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥
𝒘𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚(𝜸𝒘) =
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥

1.185
𝜸𝒘 = = 𝟏𝟏𝟖𝟓𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
0.001
1.325
𝜸𝒘 = = 𝟏𝟑𝟐𝟓𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
0.001
1.35
𝜸𝒘 = = 𝟏𝟑𝟓𝟎𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
0.001
1.66
𝜸𝒘 = = 𝟏𝟔𝟔𝟎𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
0.001
 1.635
𝜸𝒘 = = 𝟏𝟔𝟑𝟓𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
0.001

5.47 − 4.285
𝛾𝑑 = = 𝟏𝟕𝟐. 𝟐𝟒𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
(1 + 5.88) × 0.001

𝛄
Alternatively, 𝜸𝒅 =
𝟏+𝐰

1185
𝛾𝑑 = = 𝟏𝟕𝟐. 𝟐𝟑𝟖𝒌𝒈/𝒎ᵌ
1+5.88

A COMPACTION CURVE
250

200

150
Dry density

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Water content

The (MDD) maximum dry density → 195 𝐤𝐠/𝐦ᵌ

The (OMC) Optimum moisture content → 15%
 CONCLUSIONS & DISCUSSIONS
The Standard Proctor Test is a crucial experiment in soil mechanics, used to determine the optimal
moisture content at which a soil type will reach its maximum dry density. Here’s a conclusion and
discussion for an experiment with a maximum dry density of 195kg/m³ and an optimum moisture
content of 15%.
The experiment indicates that at 15% moisture content, the soil achieves its maximum compaction
density of 195kg/m³. This suggests that the soil particles rearrange and pack together more efficiently
at this moisture level, reducing air voids and increasing the soil’s load-bearing capacity.

SOURCES OF ERRORS
 Inconsistent compaction resulting to varying densities throughout the sample.
 Incomplete compaction resulting to air voids in the sample thus lower densities.
 Variations in composition and particle size distribution of the soil leading to non-uniform
compaction.

REFERENCES
i. Hirebelaguly Shivaprakash, S., & Sridharan, A. (2021). Correlation of compaction characteristics
of standard and reduced Proctor tests. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-
Geotechnical Engineering, 174(2), 170-180.
ii. Hussain, A., & Atalar, C. (2020, March). Estimation of compaction characteristics of soils using
Atterberg limits. In IOP Conference series: Materials science and engineering (Vol. 800, No. 1, p.
012024). IOP Publishing.
iii. Mujtaba, H., Farooq, K., Sivakugan, N., & Das, B. M. (2020). Laboratory and field investigations
in granular soils to correlate relative density, relative compaction and grain size. Journal of the
South african institution of civil engineering, 62(2), 12-21.