COMPACTION

• Compaction is the most common and important

method of soil improvement.
• The densification of soil by the expulsion of air and
rearrangement of particles, by the application of
mechanical energy is known as compaction.
• It is applied to improve the properties of an
existing soil or in the process of placing fill such as
in the construction of embankments, road bases,
runways, earth dams, and reinforced earth walls.
• Compaction is also used to prepare a level surface
during construction of buildings.
 OBJECTIVES OF COMPACTION

• To increase soil shear strength and therefore its stability and

bearing capacity.
• To reduce compressibility and permeability of the soil.
• To prevent detrimental settlements
• To control undesirable volume changes through swelling and
shrinkage.
• To increase the stability of slopes and embankments
• To reduce frost damage.
• To reduce erosion damage
• To increase the effective stress.
The degree of compaction of a soil is measured in terms of its
dry unit weight, i.e. the amount of soil solids that can be
packed in a unit volume of soil.
 LABORATORY METHODS OF COMPACTION

• A specified amount of compactive effort is applied to a

constant volume of soil mass.
• The compactive energy is reported in J/m3.
• Impact compaction is most commonly used.

• Indian Standard Light Compaction Test (similar to

Standard Proctor Test) – IS:2720 – 7 (1980)
• Indian Standard Heavy Compaction Test (similar to
Modified Proctor Test) – IS :2720 – 8 (1983)
Mould volume: 1000 cc/2250 cc
 IS LIGHT AND HEAVY COMPACTION
Passing 19 mm IS sieve
IS Light Compaction IS Heavy Compaction
Sample Size 6 kg 6 kg
Mould volume 1000 cc 1000 cc
No. of layers 3 5
Blows/Layer 25 25
Hammer weight 2.6 kg 4.9 kg
Free fall of 310 mm 450 mm
hammer
Soil containing coarse material up to 37.5 mm
Sample Size 6 kg 30 kg
Mould volume 2250 cc 2250 cc
No. of layers 3 5
Blows/Layer 55 55
Hammer weight 2.6 4.9
Free fall of 310 mm 450 mm
hammer

Initial water content

Sandy /Gravelly soil: 4 % to 6 %
Cohesive soil: 8 % to 10 % below the plastic limit
(plastic limit minus 10 to plastic limit minus 8)
 Mass of Dry
Water Container Bulk Dry Density at
Mass of
Trial Content + Density Density Zero Air
Soil (g)
(w%) Compacte (g/cc) (g/cc) Voids
d Soil (g) (g/cc)

1 7 6066 1936 1.90 1.77 2.21

2 10 6258 2128 2.08 1.89 2.07
3 13 6341 2211 2.17 1.92 1.95
4 16 6290 2160 2.12 1.82 1.84
5 19 6190 2060 2.02 1.70 1.75
Mass of Container (g) 4130
Volume of Container (cc) 1021.15
Grain Specific Gravity 2.62
na 0
Density of Water (g/cc) 1
 COMPACTION CURVE
2.60
2.50
2.40
2.30
Dry Density (g/cc)

2.20
2.10 OMC = 12%
2.00 MDD = 1.92 g/cc
1.92
1.90 1.89

1.82
1.80 1.77

1.70 1.70

1.60
1.50
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Water Content (%)

• Bell-shaped curve is typical of clayey soils.

• The compaction curve is unique for a given soil type, method of
compaction and compactive effort.
 FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION

Factors affecting compaction

Compaction is a function of the following factors:

• Water content
• Compactive effort (or amount of compaction)
• Type of soil
• Method of compaction
• Admixture
 FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION

EFFECT OF WATER CONTENT

Dry unit weight has a general tendency to first decrease as

moisture content increases, and then to increase to maximum
value with further increase in moisture.

At lower moisture contents, the capillary tension in the pore

water inhibits the tendency of the particles to move around
and be densely compacted.
 FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION
COMPACTION EFFORT
The compaction energy per unit volume is calculated as

For IS Light compaction test

For IS Heavy compaction test

EFFECT OF COMPACTION EFFORT
For a given type of compaction

The higher the compactive effort, the

higher the maximum dry unit weight
and lower the OMC.

As the moulding water content

increases, the influence of compaction
effort on dry unit weight tends to
diminish

Margin of increase becomes smaller

and smaller even on the dry side of the
OMC; while on the wet side there is
hardly any increase.

The degree of saturation at OMC

remains almost the same at all
compactive efforts.
 FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION

EFFECT OF TYPE OF SOIL

• Coarse grained soils, well graded, compact to high dry
unit weights, especially if they contain some fines.
However, if the quantity of fines is excessive, maximum
dry unit weight decreases.
• Poorly graded or uniform sands lead to the lowest dry
unit weight values.
• In clay soils, the maximum dry unit weight tends to
decrease as plasticity increases.
• Cohesive soils generally have high values of OMC.
• Heavy clay clays with high plasticity have low maximum
dry unit weight and very high OMC.
 FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION
EFFECT OF METHOD OF COMPACTION
• For the same amount of compactive effort, the dry unit
weight will depend upon whether the method
compaction utilizes kneading action, dynamic-impact
action or static action.
• Different methods of compaction give their own
compaction curves.
• Since the field compaction is essentially a kneading type
compaction or rolling type compaction and the laboratory
tests use the dynamic-impact type compaction, some
divergence in the OMC and MDD values must be expected
in the two cases.
 FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION

EFFECT OF ADMIXTURES

• The compaction characteristics of soils are improved

by the addition of admixtures.
• The most commonly used admixtures are lime, cement
and bitumen.
• The dry density achieved depends on the type and
amount of admixtures.
 COMPACTION OF COHESIONLESS SOILS
• The standard compaction tests are difficult to perform. 
• They can be compacted either in a dry state or in a saturated
state by flooding with water.
• In the dry state, application of vibrations is the most effective
method.
• The seepage force of water percolating through a
cohesionless soil makes the soil grains occupy a more stable
position.
 COMPACTION OF COHESIONLESS SOILS
RELATIVE DENSITY
For cohesionless soils, it is usual to specify a magnitude
of relative density (ID) that must be achieved. If e is the
current void ratio or d is the current dry density, the relative
density is usually defined in percentage as

Relative Density Classification

(%)
< 15 Very Loose
15 – 35 Loose
35 – 65 Medium
65 – 85 Dense
>85 Very Dense
ENGINEERING BEHAVIOUR OF COMPACTED SOILS

• The water content of a compacted soil is expressed with

reference to the OMC.
• Thus, soils are said to be compacted dry of
optimum or wet of optimum (i.e. on the dry side or wet
side of OMC). 
• The structure of a compacted soil is not similar on both
sides even when the dry density is the same, and this
difference has a strong influence on the engineering
characteristics.
ENGINEERING BEHAVIOUR OF COMPACTED SOILS

SOIL STRUCTURE – geometric arrangement of particles

Flocculent Structure Dispersed Structure

Net force: Attractive Net force: Repulsive
Light in weight Heavy in weight
High void Ratio Low void Ratio
Low compressibility High compressibility
High permeability Low permeability
High shear strength Low shear strength
 SOIL STRUCTURE – contd.

For a given compactive effort, the soil tends to have a

Flocculent structure on the dry of optimum
Dispersed structure on the wet of optimum

For a given moulding water content, if the compactive effort is

increased the soil tends to have a
Dispersed structure on the dry of optimum

Kneading action produces dispersed structure compared to

static or impact type of compaction
ENGINEERING BEHAVIOUR OF COMPACTED SOILS
SWELLING
A soil on the dry side of optimum has
• higher water deficiency
• partially developed water films
• imbibes more water and swells more
Compared to soil on the wet side of optimum

SHRINKAGE 
During drying, soils compacted in the wet side tend to
show more shrinkage than those compacted in the dry
side.

In the wet side, the more orderly, nearly parallel

orientation of particles allows them to pack more
efficiently.
 ENGINEERING BEHAVIOUR OF COMPACTED SOILS
CONSTRUCTION PORE WATER PRESSURE
Soils compacted on the wet of optimum will have higher pore
water pressures compared to soils compacted dry of optimum,
which have initially negative pore water pressure. 

PERMEABILITY
For a given compactive effort, the permeability decreases
sharply with increase in water content on the dry side of
optimum. The minimum permeability occurs at or slightly
above the OMC.

The randomly oriented soil in the dry side exhibits the same
permeability in all directions, whereas the dispersed soil in the
wet side is more permeable along particle orientation than
across particle orientation.
 ENGINEERING BEHAVIOUR OF COMPACTED SOILS
STRESS-STRAIN RELATIONSHIP

The stress-strain curve of the dry

compacted soil rises to a peak
and drops down when the
flocculated structure collapses. 

Soils compacted on the wet of

optimum have a flatter stress
strain curve.
COMPRESSIBILITY
At low applied stresses, the dry compacted soil is less
compressible on account of its truss-like arrangement of
particles whereas the wet compacted soil is more
compressible
 COMPARISON OF PROPERTIES OF COMPACTED SOILS

Property Dry of optimum Wet of optimum

Structure of compaction Flocculated Dispersed
Water deficiency More Less
Permeability More, isotropic Less, anisotropic (kH >
kV )
At low stress Low High
Compressibility At High stress High Low
Swelling High Low
Shrinkage Low High
Stress – Strain behavior Brittle; high peak Ductile: low peak
Higher elastic modulus Lower elastic modulus
Construction pore water Low High
pressures
Strength (undrained) as High Much lower
molded, after saturation Somewhat higher if Low
swelling prevented
 Project Compaction water Reason
content
Core of an earth Wet of optimum To reduce permeability and
dam prevent cracking in core
Homogenous earth Dry of optimum To have stronger soil and
dam prevent build up of high
pore water pressures
Subgrade of Wet of optimum To limit volume changes
pavement
 FIELD COMPACTION AND SPECIFICATIONS

END PRODUCT SPECIFICATION

During earthwork construction in the field, it is usual to specify
the degree of compaction(also known as the relative
compaction).

Field MDD: 90% to 95% of lab MDD

Field WC: ± 2% of the lab OMC

 FIELD COMPACTION AND SPECIFICATIONS

METHOD SPECIFICATION

For large projects, a procedure for the site is specified giving:

• Type and weight of compaction equipment

• Maximum soil layer thickness
• Number of passes for each layer
 FIELD COMPACTION EQUIPMENT
Equipment  Most suitable soils Least suitable soils
Smooth steel Well-graded sand-gravel, Uniform sands, silty
drum rollers(static or crushed rock, asphalt sands, soft clays
vibratory)
Pneumatic tyred Most coarse and fine soils Very soft clays
rollers 
Sheepsfoot rollers Fine grained soils, sands Uniform gravels, very
and gravels with > 20% coarse soils
fines
Grid rollers Weathered rock, well- Uniform materials,
graded coarse soils silty clays, clays
Vibrating plates  Coarse soils with 4 to 8%
fines
Tampers and rammers All soil types
FIELD COMPACTION EQUIPMENT - ROLLERS
FIELD COMPACTION EQUIPMENT – VIBRATORY PLATES