To assess the degree of compaction, it is necessary to use the dry unit weight, which is an

indicator of compactness of solid soil particles in a given volume. The laboratory testing is
meant to establish the maximum dry density that can be attained for a given soil with a
standard amount of compactive effort. In the test, the dry DENSITY (DRY UNIT WEIGHT)
cannot be determined directly, and as such the bulk density(MOIST UNIT WEIGHT) and
the moisture content are obtained first to calculate the dry density.
TYPE OF SOIL IS THE PRIMARY FACTOR AFFECTING MAXIMUM DRY UNIT WEIGHT AND
OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENT FOR A GIVEN COMPACTIVE EFFORT AND
COMPACTION METHOD. HIGHER OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENTS ARE GENERALLY
ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER DRY UNIT WEIGHTS. HIGHER DRY UNIT WEIGHTS ARE
ASSOCIATED WITH WELL-GRADED GRANULAR MATERIALS. UNIFORMLY GRADED
SAND, CLAYS OF HIGH PLASTICITY, AND ORGANIC SILTS AND CLAYS TYPICALLY
RESPOND POORLY TO COMPACTION.
THE SOIL SAMPLE AT A SELECTED WATER CONTENT IS PLACED IN THREE LAYERS
INTO A MOLD, WITH EACH LAYER, SOIL SPECIMEN IS COMPACTED BY 25 BLOWS OF A
RAMMER DROPPED FROM A DISTANCE OF MORE-OR-LESS-12 INCHES. THE
PROCEDURE IS REPEATED FOR A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF WATER CONTENTS TO
ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DRY UNIT WEIGHT AND THE WATER
CONTENT FOR THE SOIL. THESE DATA, WHEN PLOTTED, REPRESENT A CURVILINEAR
RELATIONSHIP KNOWN AS THE COMPACTION CURVE. THE VALUES OF OPTIMUM
WATER CONTENT AND STANDARRD MAXIMUM DRY UNIT WEIGHT ARE DETERMINED
FROM THE GRAPH.

THE DETERMINED OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENT IS 26% WHILE THE MAXIMUM DRY
UNIT WEIGHT HAS A VALUE OF 13 KN/M3 . AS DISCUSSED IN THE DISCUSSION OF
THEORY, LEE AND SUEDKAMP STUDIED COMPACTION CURVES AND CAME TO A
SUMMARY TABLE OF THE TYPE OF COMPACTION CURVES THUS, THE FORMED
COMPACTION CURVE FROM THE EXPERIMENT FALLS UNDER TYPE A, BELL SHAPED,
WHICH COMPLIMENTS THE PAST EXPERIMENT MADE WHEREIN THE SOIL TESTED
HAS LIQUID LIMIT OF 53%.
The compaction curve is a plot of dry unit weight versus water content resulting from a laboratory test in
which a soil is compacted in to a mould with a certain amount of compactive effort. The relation between

moisture content and dry unit weight for a saturated soil is the zero air-voids line. ZERO AIR-VOID
LINE IS SHOWN UNDER THE GRAPH WITH THE COMPACTION CURVE IN IT. WHEN THE CURVE
AND LINE COMBINED, COMPACTION CURVE SHOULD NOT LIE TO THE RIGHT OF THE ZERO AIRVOID LINE, AND IF NOTICED, WHEN THE CURVE AND LINE MADE IN THIS TEST ARE COMBINED,
THE COMPACTION CURVE IS LOCATED AT THE ZERO AIR-VOID LINES LOWER-LEFT.

THE USUAL PRACTICE IN A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IS TO PERFORM LABORATORY

COMPACTION TESTS ON REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES FROM THE CONSTRUCTION SITE
TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENT AND MAXIMUM DRY UNIT
WEIGHT. THE MAXIMUM DRY UNIT WEIGHT IS USED BY DESIGNERS IN SPECIFYING

DESIGN SHEAR STRENGTH, RESISTANCE TO FUTURE SETTLEMENT, AND

PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS. THE SOIL IS THE COMPACTED BY FIELD
COMPACTION METHODS TO ACHIVE THE LABORATORY MAXIMUM DRY UNIT WEIGHT .

27
25
23
21
19
17
15
13
11
9
0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

45.00

50.00