Soil Mechanics

Group Members : Sec D

Sheheryar (14 D)
Irfan Jamil (13 D)
M.Hashim (11 D)
M.Idtees (12 D )

 Liquid Limit:
It is the minimum water content at
which 25 blows will close a groove of
standard dimensions for a distance of
half inch when the groove is made in
the soil paste placed in the liquid
limit device.

Observations & Calculations

S.No

Weight
of
Contain
er (gm.)

Weigh
t of
contai
ner +
wet
soil

Weigh
t of
contai
ner +
dry
soil

Weigh
t of
dry
soil

No of
Blows

Water
Conte
nt

1.

46

53.96

52.20

1.76

32

30

2.

46.21

58.48

55.68

2.78

19

29.86

3.

45.75

62.27

58.57

3.7

16

32.58

Graph b/w no of blows and water content

16.5

16

15.5

15

14.5

14

13.5

13
18

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

 To determine the plastic limit of a

given soil sample
Plastic Limit:
It is the minimum water
content at which the soil mass just
crumbles when rolled into a thread of
1/8 diameter.

Apparatus

Sieve # 40
Glass Plate
Balance
China Dish
Electric Oven
Spatula

Observations & Calculations

Weight of Container =M1=45.86
gram
Weight of container + wet
soil=M2=47.11 gram
Weight of container + dry soil
=M3=46.83 gm
Water Content = [(47.11-46.83)/
(46.83-45.86)]*100
Water Content = 28.86% which is
plastic limit.

Applications
Liquid Limit and Plastic limit of soil
are used to classify fine grained soil.
It is used to calculate flow index,
toughness index and plasticity index
of soil.
It also helps us in selecting a suitable
method of design construction and
maintenance of the structure.

TO DETERMINE WATER CONTENT OF

SOIL SAMPLE

WATER CONTENT:
The ratio of the weight of water
content present in the soil mass to
the weight of soil solids
NUMERICALLY:
Ww/Ws*100

APPARATUS:
Balance ,Oven, container and Tongs
OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS:
Weight of empty container=M1=139.43gm
Weight of container +wet soil=M2=1570.59gm
Weight of container +dry soil=M3=1403.48gm

WATER CONTENT

Water content=(M2-M3/M3-M1)*100
Water content= 13.2 percent

APPLICATIONS
Water content controls shear stress
It gives an idea about the
compressibility of the soil

To determine the Shrinkage Limilt

Of soil
APPARATUS :
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Evaporating Dish of Porcelain

Spatula
Balance
Shrinkage Dish
Circular Glass cup
Glass plates
Oven
Wash bottle containing distilled water
Graduated-Glass
Mercury

To determine the Shrinkage Limit Of

soil
General Procedure :

Take soil sample.

Find its water content and also weight of dry soil.
Now find weight of empty shrinkage dish (w)
Then find weight of shrinkage dish full of mercury (w 1) , so
the weight of mercury will be w m = w1 w
Now find volume of mercury as V m = wm/13.6
Put mercury in circular glass cup and place dry soil mass
over it and press it by means of glass plate.
Find out the weight of displaced mercury (w m) and then find
out its volume by same procedure, this volume will give the
volume of dry soil mass.

To determine the Shrinkage Limilt

Of soil

Now find the shrinkage limit by the formula

Shrinkage limit = Ws =[ w ( V-Vd )/ ws ] x 100

Result
w = 46.2
V = 24.6
Vd = 16.1
Ws = 30.1
Shrinkage limit = 17.96 %

Permeability

Permeability is a measure of the ease in which water can

flow through a soil volume. It is one of the most important
geotechnical parameters.
It directly affects the following:
Quantity of water that will flow toward an excavation.
To find seepage.
Design of the clay layer for a landfill liner.
NOTE : For fine grained soil Falling head permeability test
is done, whereas constant head
permeability test is done for the coarse grained soil.

Falling Head Permeability test

Apparatus :

Combination Permeameter assembly

Stop watch
Graduated cylinder
Balance sensitive to 0.01 lb
Drying oven

Procedure :
Put the soil in the mould and compact the soil in different layers,
using an appropriate tamping device.
Place the upper porous stone on the specimen and attach the
falling head burette to the support rod.
Position the burette as high as is possible for practicality.
Measure and record the length of the specimen.

Falling Head Permeability test

Pour water in the burette and allow it to flow through the soil
sample, permit water to flow for some time till steady state of
flow is reached.
Carefully note the initial head h 1 and final head h2 and also record
the time for the water level in the stand pipe to fall from h 1 to h2.
Formula :

k = [(a L ) ln (h1/h2)]/ A t
Where,
K = Coefficient of permeability
a = Area of the burette
L = Length of soil column
A = Area of the soil column
h1 = Initial height of water
h2 = Final height of water
t = Time required to get head drop of h

Falling Head Permeability

test
Result :
a = 506.707 mm2
H = 4.5 inch
D = 4 inch
d = 1 inch
L = 4.72 inch
A = 8107.31 mm2
k = 0.0352 mm/sec

Constant Head Permeability test

Equipments :

Constant head permeameter

Graduated flask
Sensitive balance
Stop watch

Test procedure :
The sand is filled in the apparatus.
Allow water to flow through the container until the water level in
the funnel is constant .
Open the bottom outlet, run water through the permeameter until
the sand is saturated and no air bubbles appear to flow out of the
discharge pipe .
Measure the head of water (h), distance between the water surface
in the container and the bottom outlet of the permeameter .

Constant Head Permeability test

Measure the discharge through the bottom outlet using stop

watch and graduated cylinder .
Repeat steps 3 to 4 times and calculate the average k by
using the formula
k=QL/Ah

Result :
Area A

Discharge
Q

10368 mm2 1.36 mL /

sec

Time Of
Collection
t
190 sec

Head
Difference
h

k=
QL/Ah

520.7
mm

2.8 x 10
mm/sec

-6

Standard Proctor Compaction Test.

Equipments :

Proctor mould with a detachable collar assembly and base plate.

Manual rammer weighing 5.5 lb, height of drop 12 inch.
A sensitive balance.
Straight edge.
Squeeze bottle
Mixing tools such as mixing pan, spoon, trowel, spatula etc.
Oven

Test procedure :
Take some air-dried soil in the mixing pan, break all the lumps
so that it passes No. 4 sieve.
Add approximate amount of water to increase the moisture
content by about 3%
Determine the weight of empty proctor mould without the
collar. W1, (lb)

Standard Proctor Compaction Test.

Fix the collar and fill up the mould step by step in three
layers, compacting each layer by giving 25 blows to each
layer.
Detach the collar carefully without disturbing the compacted
soil inside the mould and using a straight edge level the
surface of soil
Determine the weight of the mould with the moist soil W 2, and
then find the water content of that sample.
Break the rest of the compacted soil with hand and repeat the
experiment at least 4 times, by adding 3% more water in the
soil for each experiment.
Calculate the dry density of each sample and draw a curve
between dry density and water content, and find OMC and
max dry density.

Standard Proctor Compaction Test

Calculation :
Test
Moisture content: w(%)
Dry unit weight of
compaction:
d

Result :
Max dry density = 1795 lb/ft3
OMC = 17 %

1
12 %
1524.84

2
14 %

17 %

20 %

1625.34

1645.65
1795.76

Standard Proctor Compaction

Test
Graph :

Hydrometer Analysis of Fine

Grain Soil
TESTING OBJECTIVE:
To determine the particle-size distribution of a given soil sample for the
fraction that is finer than No. 200 sieve size (0.075 mm). The lower limit of
the particle-size determined by this procedure is about 0.001 mm.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:
ASTM 152-H hydrometer
Mixer
1000-ml graduated cylinders
Thermometer
Constant temperature bath
Deflocculating agent (4% solution of sodium hexa
metaphosphate)
Spatula
Beaker
Balance
Plastic squeeze bottle
Distilled water
No. 12 rubber stopper

Hydrometer Analysis of Fine

Grain Soil
Basic Background and General Procedure :

In hydrometer analysis, a soil specimen is dispersed in water.

In dispersed state in the water, the soil particles will settle at
different velocities over time.
The hydrometer will measure the specific gravity of the soilwater suspension.
Hydrometer readings will be taken at specific time intervals
to measure the percentage of soil still in suspension at time t.
From this data the percentage of soil by weight finer and the
diameters (D) of the soil particles at their respective time
readings can be calculated.
A graph of the diameter (D) vs. percent finer can be plotted
to develop a particle-size distribution curve.

Hydrometer Analysis of Fine

Grain Soil
Time
(min)

Hyd
readin
g

L (cm)

19.5

12.8

0.0064

0.0130
6

27.7%

12.5

16.2

0.0030

0.0130
6

29.8%

15

16.25

0.0018

0.0130
6

31.2%

30

6.5

16.4

0.0012

0.0130
6

31.8%

60

5.5

16.48

0.0009

0.0130
6

32%

250

16.5

0.0004

0.0130
6

32.24%

percen
t
finer

Hydrometer Analysis of Fine Grain

Soil
0.01

0.01

0.01

0
% finer
0

Linear ()

0
10

100
Diameter