The liquidity index is the ratio of the difference in water content between the natural or in-situ water content of a soil and its plastic limit to its plasticity index. A description of soil stre! eth based on values of LI is given in Appendix A, Table A.3. Typical values for the Atterberg limits for soils are shown in Appendix A, Table A.4. "The Atterberg limits depend on the type of predominant mineral in the soil. If montmorillonite is the predominant mineral, the liquid limit can exceed 100%, because the bond between the layers in montmorillonite (smectite) is weak and large amounts of water can easily infiltrate the spaces between the layers. Sodium smectite can have liquid limits as high as 1100%, Inthe case of kaolinite, the layers are held relatively tightly and water cannot easily infiltrate between the layers in comparison with montmorillonite. Therefore, you can expect the Atterberg limits for kaolinite to be, in get eral, much lower than either montmorillonite or illite. ‘Skempton (1953) showed that for soils with a particular mineralogy. the plasticity index is linearly related to the amount of the clay fraction. He coined the term activity (A) to describe the importance of the clay factions on the plasticity index. The equation for A is PL 4 Gay fraction (%) (14) You should recall that the clay fraction is the amount of particles less than 2 microns. “The laboratory tests to determine the index properties are described in ASTM D4318 and ASTM D427. The key points are: 1. Fine-grained soils can exist in one of four states: solid, semisolid, plastic, and liquid. 2. Water is the agent that is responsible for changing the states of soils. 3. A soil gets weaker if its water content increases. “4. Three limits are defined based on the water content that causes a change of state. These are the liquid limit (the water content that caused the soil to change from a liquid to a plastic state); the plastic limit (the water content that caused the soil 10 change from a plastic to ‘a semisolid), and the shrinkage limit (the water content that caused the soil to change from ‘semisolid to a solid state). All of these limiting water contents are found from laboratory tests. 5. The plasticity index defines the range of water content for which the soil behaves like a plastic material. 6. The liquidity index gives a qualitative measure of strength. EXAMPLE 1.2 Calculation of Plasticity Index and Liquidity Index ‘Aterberg limit tests were conducted on a saturated clay of water content 36%. The liquid limit is 74% and the plastic limit 22%. Determine the plasticity index and the liquidity index, and describe the possible qualitative strength of the clay. IK Strategy Use the appropriate equations and Appendix A, Table A. Solution 1.2 ' Step 1: Calculate the plasticity index. S 0 a. PI=LL~PL=74