Mohammed Ashraf Shaker A21EA0193 Soil mechanics assignment

Factors affecting compaction of soil

The process of increasing the dry density of soil by lowering air content or air gaps in the soil
is known as compaction. Because it reinforces the soil, this procedure is an essential element
of constructing any type of structures. Soil compaction is affected by several factors, starting
with the moisture content which has a major effect on soil compaction. When there is a lack
of water in the soil, it becomes rigid and resistant to compaction, meanwhile, when the water
content in the soil is raised, the soil becomes lubricated which makes working with soil
easier. This effect is based on the Liquid Limit (LL) of the soil, resulting in a change in the
shape of the compaction curve and leads to 3 variations in the curve. The 1 st type of curves
will have single peak value in a bell-shaped curve at a liquid limit between 30% and 70%.
The 2nd type of curve shapes will have no definite peak value due to its liquid limit being
more than 70% and finally the 3rd variation will show multiple peaks, having a liquid limit
less than 30%. Moreover, soil type has a significant role in affecting the compaction of soil.
The compaction of the soil is heavily influenced by its kind. Fine-grained soils can be
compacted to a greater dry density than coarse-grained soils. If the quantity of fines is raised
above what is required to fill voids in coarse-grained soils, the maximum dry density drops.
As a result, a well-graded soil has a significantly higher dry density than a badly graded soil.
Based on grain size, shape, specific gravity and type of clay, compaction of soil is
determined. Cohesive soils, such as heavy clays, clays, and silts, are more resistant to
compaction because their maximum dry density is lower, meanwhile Soils with little
cohesion, such as sandy soils and coarse-grained or gravelly soils, are likely to be compacted
easily. Finally, the compaction effort is a major contributor to the compaction of soil, as the
difference in energy used on the mass of compacted soil for each volume differs from one
compaction procedure to another. An example to that is a comparison between standard
proctor and modified proctor; where the later has 5 layers which is 2 more layers than the
standard proctor and as the procedure states, each layer gets 25 blows and the hammer weight
being even heavier for modified proctor compared to standard proctor, this leads to a major
increment in compaction effort for modified proctor compared to standard proctor. This can
be reflected on the compaction curve too as no. of blows increase, MDD increases while
OMC decreases to support the effect made by compaction effort on compaction of soil. As
compaction effort increases, compaction of soil increases.

References: https://civildigital.com/factors-affecting-compaction-of-soil/
And Lecturer slides