LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

OZAMIZ
Civil Engineering Department
Ci324(Cen412)

Name: _____________________________ Instructor: ______________________________

Date Performed: _____________________ Date Due: ______________________________
Group No.: _________________________ Grade: ________________________________

EXPERIMENT NO.___
DETERMINATION OF LIQUID LIMIT
(ASTM D4318)
Objective: ____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Discussion:
The liquid limit is defined as the lowest moisture content at which the soil will flow upon the
application of a very small shearing force. The liquid limit gives a certain measure of the shearing
resistance of a soil when mixed with water. It is a measure of the potential cohesion which in turn depends
upon the total size of the contact areas, of the fineness and shape of the grains. The finer and flatter the
grains. The greater will be the total contact area between the grains, and the higher the amount of water
that could be taken to coat the grains.
Apparatus:
1. Evaporating Dish
2. Spatula, having a blade about 75 mm length and 20 mm width
3. Liquid limit device
4. Grooving tool
5. Containers
6. Oven with temperature control
7. Balance, sensitive to 0.1 g
Procedure:
1. A sample weighing about 100g shall be taken from thoroughly mixed material passing the
0.425mm sieve which has been obtained in accordance with standard procedures in Preparation
of Disturbed Soil Sample for Test. Mix the sample with 15 to 20 ml of distilled water. Mix it
thoroughly by alternately stirring and kneading with spatula. Further addition of water shall be
made by 1 to 3 increments.
 2. Place a portion of the pair in brass cup of liquid device, level off the surface with a spatula to a
maximum depth of 10mm and divide the soil pat into two segments by means of the grooving
tool.
3. Mount the brass cup to the carriage such that it can be raised and allowed to drop sharply on the
base through a height of 10mm by rotating the crank at an approximate rate of two rotations per
second until the closure of the groove about 13mm from the bottom. The closure should be by
flow of the soil and not by slippage on the cup.
4. Take a slice of approximately the width of the spatula extending from edge to edge of the soil
cake at right angles to the groove. Place the sample in the drying can for moisture content
determination.
5. Repeat steps (2) to (4) with different moisture content of the soil in the range of 15 to 35 blows.
A total of 4 determinations should be made.
6. Plot moisture content against log number of blows and draw the flow curve.
Calculation:
1. Calculate the percentage moisture to the nearest whole percent
𝑤1 −𝑤2
Moisture = 𝑤2
× 100
W1= weight/mass of wet sample
W2= weight/mass of the oven-dried sample
2. Plot the percent moisture as ordinate on am arithmetic scale against the number of blows. Draw
a straight line connecting these points. The plot is called the “flow curve”
3. The liquid limit is expressed as the moisture content corresponding to 25 blows.
Illustration:

Observation: