SEMINAR ON LABORATORY

EXPERIMENTS ON SOIL

SUBMITTED BY:JAGSEER SINGH

GE-1310/1312123
M-Tech (Geotechnical engineering)

INTRODUCTION: An Experiment is an orderly procedure carried out with the goal of

verifying, refuting or establishing the validity of hypothesis.
Controlled experiment provide insight into cause-and-effect by
demonstrating what outcome occur when a particular factor is
manipulated.
Experiment is also used to test existing theories or new hypothesis in
order to support them or disapprove them.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF LABORATORY

TESTS IN GEOTECH ENGINEERING
Experiments:1) To determine moisture content by oven drying method.
2) To conduct the sieve analysis on a given coarse-grained
soil sample.
3) To determine Liquid limit.
4) To determine Plastic limit.
5) To determine the specific gravity of a soil sample using a
pycnometer.
6) To
determine the optimum moisture content and
maximum dry density of soil by proctor test.
Continued..

7) To determine the Permeability by variable head method.

8) To determine the Permeability by Constant head method.
9) To determine unconfined compressive strength.

Experiment:-To determine moisture content

by oven drying method.
Procedure:1) Clean, dry and weigh the container with
lid.
2) Take the required quantity of the soil
specimen in the container and weigh
with lid.
3) Maintain the temperature of the oven
between 105C and 110C for normal
soil and 60C to 80C for soil having
loosely bound hydration water or /and
organic matter.
4) Dry the sample in the oven till its mass
becomes constant. In normal conditions
the sample is kept in the oven for not
more than 24 hours.
5) After drying remove the container from
the oven replace the lid and cool in the
desiccators.
6) Weigh the dry soil in the container in
the lid.

Continued..

Observation and Calculations:The moisture content is calculated as follows:-

W=Ww/ Ws= [(W2- W3)/(W3- W1)]*100

W1 =Mass of container with lid.
W2 =Mass of container with lid + wet soil.
W3 =Mass of container with lid +dry soil.
Ww =Weight of water.
Ws =Weight of solid.

Experiment:- To conduct the sieve analysis on

a given coarse-grained soil sample.
Procedure:1)
2)
3)

4)

5)
6)

Take 500 gm of soil and dry it in oven at

150C to 110C for 24 hours.
Take this oven-dried sample.
Set the different size of sieves 4.75mm,
2.36mm, 1.18mm, 600, 300, 150,
75 and pan.
Sieve the soil through I.S. sieves
mechanically or by using the mechanical
shaker for 5 min to 10 min.
Weigh the material retained on each
sieve.
The sum of retained soil must check
against the original mass of soil.
Continued..

Observation table:Sieve No.

(1)

Mass of soil
retained.
(2)

% of weight
retained.
=[(2)/Total]*100
(3)

Cumulative
% of soil
retained.

% finer.
(5)
N=100-(4)

(4)

4.75mm

X1

[X1/Total]*100=Y1

Y1

2.36mm

X2

[X2/Total]*100=Y2

Y1+Y2

1.18mm

X3

[X3/Total]*100=Y3

Y2+Y3

600

X4

[X4/Total]*100=Y4

Y3+Y4

300

X5

[X5/Total]*100=Y5

Y4+Y5

150

X6

[X6/Total]*100=Y6

Y5+Y6

75

X7

[X7/Total]*100=Y7

Y6+Y7

Pan

X8

[X8/Total]*100=Y8

Y7+Y8

Total
Continued..

Grading of soils:-

Experiment:- To determine Liquid limit.

Procedure:1)

The liquid limit device is adjusted to have a free fall of cup of 1cm this is
done with the help of adjusting screw provided near the cup hinge.
2) Take 100gm of soil sample after passing from 425 IS sieve.
3) Add 15% water in soil by weight of soil.
4) Mix it thoroughly to make uniform paste.
5) Put wet soil in cup and leveled it at lowest spot and squeezed down with
spatula to have a uniform space.
6) Then with the help of casegrandes tool , divided into two parts by
grooving up to bottom surface of cup.
7) Rotate handle at the rate of 2 no. per second and cup will start process of
up and down.
8) Count the rotation of handle until the bottom surface of groove is
connected .
9) Then add water as 3% of soil and mix thoroughly and repeat process.
10) The process of adding water is contained until connecting of groove is
completely in 25 blows.
11) Then get the result of Liquid limit.
Continued..

APPARATUS:-

Experiment:- To determine Plastic limit.

Procedure:1)

2)

3)
4)

5)
6)
7)

Take 30 gm soil sample passing 425 IS

sieve in a evaporating dish .
Add 15% of water in soil and mix it
thoroughly so that mixture can be easily
mauled by finger.
Prepare a wall out of this soil.
Place the wall on glass plate and in roll it
until it becomes a 3mm dia. thread, if
not again a repeat process.
Add 3% more water and mixed
thoroughly.
Start to make thread after gaining the
3mm dia. of soil.
Note down the quantity of water added
to make 3mm thread.
Continued..

Plasticity chart:-

Plastic Index = Liquid Limit Plastic Limit

Continued..

In the plasticity char following symbols are used:CL =Clay of low compressibility.
CI=Clay of medium compressibility.
CH=Clay of high compressibility.
ML=Silt of low compressibility.
MI=Silt of medium compressibility.
MH=Silt of high compressibility.
OL=Organic soil of low compressibility.
OI=Organic soil of medium compressibility.
OH=Organic soil of high compressibility.
Plasticity index

Soil type

Degree of
Plasticity

Degree of
Cohesiveness

Sand

Non-plastic

Non cohesive

<7

Silt

Low-plastic

Partly cohesive

7-17

Silt clay

Med-plastic

Cohesive

> 17

Clay

High-plastic

Cohesive

Experiment:-To determine the specific gravity of

a soil sample using a pycnometer.
Procedure:1) Clean and dry the pycnometer, tightly screw
its cap and take its weight W1.
2) Mark the cap and pycnometer with the
vertical line parallel to the axis of
pycnometer to ensured that the cap is
screwed to the same mark each time.
3) Take 200gm dry soil sample passing from IS
475 sieve.
4) Put the soil sample in the pycnometer and
screwed the cap, now take its weight W2.
5) Unscrew the cap and add sufficient amount
of water to pycnometer shake it well to
remove entrapped air. Now fill it completely
with water and take its weight W3.
6) Empty the pycnometer. Clean it and wipe it
dry.
7) Fill the pycnometer with water only and
screw the cap, wipe it dry. Take its weight
W4. Repeat the process 3 times &
calculate average value.

Continued..

Observation and Calculations:The specific gravity of solids is determined using the relation:-

G=[(W2-W1)/{(W2-W1)- (W3-W4)}]
W1= Mass of empty pycnometer.
W1 = Mass of pycnometer and dry soil.
W1 = Mass of pycnometer, soil and water.
W1 = Mass of pycnometer and water.

Experiment:-To determine the optimum

moisture content and maximum dry density of
soil by proctor test.
Procedure:1)
2)
3)

4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

Take 2.5kg of soil sample passing through 4.75mm

sieve.
Add water to the sample and mix it properly.
The mould is cleaned and greased lightly the mould is
placed on a solid base and fill it with three equal layers
of soil. Each layer compacted by giving 25 blows of
rammer .
The collar is then removed an the soil is trimmed off
flush with the top of the mould.
The mass of mould, base plate with compacted soil is
taken and mass of compacted soil is determined.
The bulk density and dry density of compacted soil is
taken and mass of compacted soil is computed.
Repeat the above procedure with increased water
content.
A compaction curve between water content and dry
density is plotted and maximum dry density and
optimum moisture content is determined.
Continued..

Observation and Calculations:Bulk Density (t) = [M/V] gm/ml

M=Mass of compacted soil.

V=Volume of mould.
Dry Density (d) = [t /(1+w)] gm/ml
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

MDD

OMC

Dry density

w=Water content.

10

Moisture content (%)

15

20

Experiment:-To determine the Permeability

by variable head method.
Procedure:1) Remove the cove of the mould and apply a little
grease on the sides of the mould.
2) Weigh the mould with dummy plate.
3) Measure the internal diameter and effective
height of the mould, then attach the collar and
the base plate.
4) a) Compact the soil at given dry density and
moisture content by suitable static or dynamic
device for remolded samples.
b) For a undisturbed samples, trim off the
undisturbed specimen in the form of a cylinder
about 85mm in diameter and height equal to that
of mould. Place the specimen centrally over the
bottom porous disk and filter paper.
Fill the annular space between the mould and
the specimen with an impervious material such
as cement slurry or bentonite slurry to provide
sealing against leakage from the sides.
5) Remove the collar and base plate, trim off the
excess soil and level with the top of the mould.

Continued..

6) Clean the out side of the mould and dummy plate.

7) Weigh the mould with soil and dummy plate. Difference of this mass and
the mass taken in step 2 will give the mass of the soil used.
8) Apply grease around the porous stone and base plate, but the coarse stone
inside the base plate and filter paper on porous stone.
9) Remove the dummy plate and place the mould with washer on base plate.
10) Put the small quantity of the soil sample in drying oven to determine the
moisture content.
11) Clean the edges of the mould and the collar and apply grease in the
grooves around them.
12) Place a filter paper, porous stone and washer on the top of the soil sample
and fix up the collar again.
13) Connect the reservoir with water to the out let at the bottom of the mould
and allow the water to flow in. Wait till the water has been able to travel
up and saturate the sample. Allow about one cm depth of free water to
collect on the top of the sample.
14) Fill the remaining portion of the cylinder with deaired water without
disturbing the surface of the soil.
Continued..

15) Fix the cover plate over the collar and tighten the nuts in the rods.
16) Disconnect the reservoir from the out let at bottom and connect the sand
pipe to the inlet at the top plate fill the stand pipe with water.
17) Open the stop cock at the top and allow water to flow out so that all the air
in the cylinder is removed.
18) Fix the height h1 and h2 on the pipe from the center of the outlet such that
(h1-h2) is about 30cm to 40cm. Mark the level of h1.h2 from the center
of the outlet.
19) When all the air has escaped, close the stop cock and allow the water from
the pipe to flow through the soil and establish a speedy flow.
20) Record the time intervals for the head to fall from h1 to h1.h2 from
h1.h2 to h2. The time intervals should be same, otherwise steady flow
is established.
21) Change the height h1 and h2 and correct the time intervals.
22) Stop the flow of water disconnect all parts.
23) Take a small quantity of soil sample from the mould in the drying crucible
and put inside the drying oven for moisture content determination.
24) Measure the temperature of the water.
Continued..

Observation and calculation:Calculate the coefficient of permeability of soil using the

following eqn.

Kt=[(2.303.a.L)/(A.t)]*log10 (h1/h2)
Kt= Coefficient of permeability at test temperature TC.
a=X-sectional area of stand pipe.
L=effective length of sample.
A=X-sectional area of sample.
t= Time interval to fall the head from h1 to h2.

h1= Initial height of water in the pipe above the outlet.

h2= Final height of water in the pipe above the outlet.

Experiment:-To determine the Permeability

by Constant head method.
Procedure:1)
2)
3)

4)

5)

6)
7)

Take steps 1 to 16 as stated above.

Disconnect the reservoir from the out let as the
bottom and connect the inlet at the top plate.
Open stop cock at the cover and allow water to
flow out so that all the air in the cylinder is
removed.
When all the air has escaped, close the stop cock
and open the outlet. Allow the water to flow
through the soil and establish a steady flow.
When steady flow is reached collect the water in
a measuring flask for a convenient time interval.
Repeat this thrice quantity of water collected
must be same, otherwise observations are
repeated.
Repeated step (5) for at least two more different
time intervals.
Repeat steps (22), (23), and (24) as stated
above.
Continued..

Observation and calculation :Calculate the coefficient of permeability of soil using the
following eqn.

K=[QL/(A.H)]
K= Coefficient of permeability at test temperature TC.
A=X-sectional area of soil sample.
L= Length of soil sample.
Q= Quantity of water collected in time t.
H= Constant hydraulic head.

Experiment:-To determine unconfined

compressive strength.
Procedure:1)

Prepare the soil specimen at the desired water

content and density in the large mould.
2) Undisturbed-push the sampling tube into the clay
samples. Remove the sampling tube along with the
soil.
3) Saturate the soil sample in sampling tube by a
suitable method if possible.
4) Coat the inside of the spilt mould with a thin layer
of grease of oil to prevent adhesion of the soil.
5) Extrude the specimen from the sampling tube to the
split mould with the help of sample extractor and
knife.
6) Trim the two ends of the mould samples.
7) Weigh the soil sample and the mould.
8) Remove the sample from the mould by spliting it
in two parts.
9) Measure the length and the diameter of the
specimen.
10) Place the specimen on the bottom plate of the
compression machine.
Continued..

11) Raise the bottom plate of the machine to make contact of the specimen
with the upper plate.
12) Adjust the strain dial gauge and proving ring dial gauge to read zero.
13) Apply the compression load by raising the bottom of the machine to
produce axial strain at a rate of half to two percentage per minute.
14) Record the strain and proving ring dial gauges readings every 30 sec.
15) Compress the specimen till it fails or 20% vertical deformation is reached
whichever is earlier.
16) Note the least count of strain dial gauge in mm/division and load dial
gauge in kg/division.
17) Measure the failure angle from horizontal if possible specially if soil
sample is not fully saturated.
18) Determine the moisture content of the specimen.

qu= P/A [P=Axial load at failure

A=Corrected area]
s= qu/2 [s=Undrained shear strength]

References:1) Soil Mechanics and foundation engineering by

Dr. K.R.ARORA.
2) Engineering soil testing lab manual by Shamsher Prakash &
P.K.Jain.

THANK YOU