Lab 6

INTRO

Consistency is the term used to describe the ability of the soil to resist rupture and
deformation. It is commonly describe as soft, stiff or firm, and hard. Water content greatly
affects the engineering behavior of fine-grained soils. In the order of increasing moisture
content, a dry soil will exist into four distinct states: from solid state, to semisolid state, to
plastic state, and to liquid state. The water contents at the boundary of these states are known
as Atterberg limits. Between the solid and semisolid states is shrinkage limit, between
semisolid and plastic states is plastic limit, and between plastic and liquid states is liquid limit.
Atterberg limits, then, are water contents at critical stages of soil behavior. They, together
with natural water content, are essential descriptions of fine-grained soils. The liquidity index
(LI) is used for scaling the natural water content of a soil sample to the limits. It can be
calculated as a ratio of difference between natural water content, plastic limit, and liquid limit.
The liquid limit is defined as the arbitrary limit of water content at which the soil is just about
to pass from the plastic state into to liquid state. At this limit, the soil possesses a small value
of shear strength, losing its ability to flow as a liquid. In other words, the liquid limit is the
moisture content at which the soil tends to flow as a liquid.

DISCUSSION

The liquid limit determination is done using casagrande apparatus. In this test a soil paste is
formed using soil sample passing no. 40 sieve and water. This paste is then placed in the cup of
casagrande device. The soil pat is then divided into two halves by making a groove. Then the
cup is dropped by turning the crank until two halves of the soil cake come in contact with each
other. The test is repeated by adding different amount of water with the soil. We performed
five trials consisting 7g, 6g, 16g, 10g, and 9g of soil sample respectively. Each trial was applied
with the same number of blows creating distances of 5mm, 8mm, 17mm, 20mm, and 10mm
respectively. The result of water content of these trials based on the data expressed as
percentage are said to be 40%, 50%, 45.5%, 25%, and 50% in the order given. Therefore, the
fifth trial we conducted obtained a 10mm distance between soil cakes.

The liquid limit of a soil is the moisture content, expressed as a percentage of the weight of
the oven-dried soil, at the boundary between the liquid and plastic states of consistency. It is
the minimum water content at which the soil is still in the liquid state, but has a small shearing
strength against flow. Determination of liquid limit can be obtained with proper use of
apparatuses and carefully following of procedures listed on the manual.
Lab 7

INTRO

The term Consistency is used to describe the ability of the soil to resist rupture and
deformation. It is commonly describe as soft, stiff or firm, and hard. Water content greatly
affects the engineering behavior of fine-grained soils. In the order of increasing moisture
content, a dry soil will exist into four distinct states: from solid state, to semisolid state, to
plastic state, and to liquid state. The water contents at the boundary of these states are known
as Atterberg limits. Between the solid and semisolid states is shrinkage limit, between
semisolid and plastic states is plastic limit, and between plastic and liquid states is liquid limit.
Atterberg limits, then, are water contents at critical stages of soil behavior. They, together
with natural water content, are essential descriptions of fine-grained soils. The plasticity index
(PI) is a measure of the plasticity of a soil. The plasticity index is the size of the range of water
contents where the soil exhibits plastic properties. The PI is the difference between the liquid
limit and the plastic limit. Plastic limit is the water content in which the soil will pass from
plastic state to semi-solid state. Soil can no longer behave as plastic; any change in shape will
cause the soil to show visible cracks.

DISCUSSION

The determination of the plastic limit is based on the test we performed as we try to roll the
soil sample to a thread of 3.2 mm then breaks it into 8 pieces and squeeze it between thumb
and fingers of both hands. We roughly rolled again the soil under a pressure required for
rolling. When the sample is about to break up, then the water content of the soil sample is
exactly on the plastic limit, so the plastic limit can be determined by the calculation of the
moisture content of this thread. Therefore, Plastic limit is the water content at which soil
starts to transform from plastic to rigid condition, in other words from kneadable to brittle. It
also signifies the percentage of moisture at which the soil changes, with decreasing wetness,
from a plastic to a semi-solid state, or with increasing wetness, from the semisolid to the
plastic state. It is the moisture content at which a thread of soil can be rolled without breaking
until it is only 3 mm in diameter, when it just begins to crumble under pressure exerted by the
hand. A small increase in moisture above the PL will destroy cohesion and shear strength of
the soil.
Lab 8

INTRO

The ability of the soil to resist rupture and deformation is called the consistency of the soil. It is
commonly describe as soft, stiff or firm, and hard. Water content greatly affects the
engineering behavior of fine-grained soils. In the order of increasing moisture content, a dry
soil will exist into four distinct states: from solid state, to semisolid state, to plastic state, and
to liquid state. The water contents at the boundary of these states are known as Atterberg
limits. Between the solid and semisolid states is shrinkage limit, between semisolid and plastic
states is plastic limit, and between plastic and liquid states is liquid limit. Shrinkage limit is the
limiting moisture content, expressed as a percentage of the dry weight of the soil, at which a
further reduction in the moisture will not cause any further decrease in the volume of the soil
mass but at which an increase in the moisture content will cause an increase in the volume of
the soil mass. Evaporation of water causes shrinkage in a soil up to a certain degree beyond
which decrease in volume does not occur; at this stage the soil has reached its shrinkage limit.
The SL represents the moisture content at the point at which the soil passes from the semi-
solid to the solid state and is a means of describing the pore space present in a soil after it has
been allowed to compact itself to the maximum density obtainable by shrinkage.

DISCUSSION

As the soil loses moisture, it changes from liquid state to plastic state to semi-solid state and
then to solid state. The volume is also reduced by the decrease in water content. But, at a
particular limit the moisture reduction causes no further volume change. A shrinkage limit test
gives a quantitative indication of how much moisture can change before any significant
volume change and to also indication of change in volume. The SL considered in relation to the
natural moisture content of soil in the field indicates whether or not further shrinkage will take
place if the soil is allowed to dry out. The lower the SL of the soil, the greater is the possible
volume change corresponding to a given variation in the moisture content of the soil.
Therefore, the shrinkage limit is the water content of the soil when the water is just sufficient
to fill all the pores of the soil and the soil is just saturated. The volume of the soil does not
decrease when the water content is reduced below the shrinkage limit.