CEE 346L – Geotechnical Engineering I Lab

Title: Particle Size Analysis via Mechanical Sieve

Date of Test: 9/12/18

Report Prepared By: Abhishek Ray
Report Number: 1
Report Submission Date: 9/19/18
 CEE 346L – Geotechnical Engineering I Lab

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Procedures ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Data, Calculations, and Results..................................................................................................................... 3
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... 5

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 CEE 346L – Geotechnical Engineering I Lab

Introduction
Every soil type needs to be characterized before use in construction. Its classification is dependent on its
grain size distribution measured by their weight. For other properties such as soils strength, compressibility
and hydraulic properties, this information is imperative.

To extrapolate the field conditions, the sample collected to be tested must be representative thus utmost
care must be taken while sampling. It should be well mixed before collecting and split for appropriate
amount to be used for experiments.

Since it is practically impossible to determine actual particle sizes, the sieve sizes that “trap” particles
between them can tell us about the proportion.

Equipment
 A “nest” of several stacked ASTM approved sieves with decreasing sieve opening sizes in
following order No. 4, 8, 16, 30, 40, 80, 100, 200 and the pan at the bottom.
 A large container
 A stiff wire brush
 Soft brush
 A small container
 Electronic weighing scale

Lab Procedures
1. Take the oven dried sample and mix it thoroughly with a spatula.
2. Take about 300g to 400g in the tare pan and record that weight.
3. Make sure you have the sieves in the following order No. 4, 8, 16, 30, 40, 80, 100, 200 and a pan
the very bottom. Note the sieve opening sizes in the data sheet.
4. Pour all the soil into the top of the nest and make sure to use the soft brush to get all the fines out
of the tare pan into the set of sieves.
5. Place the cap firmly and put the set of sieves in the mechanical shaker for 5 minutes.
6. After 5 minutes, remove the sieves from the shaker and start measuring the weight of the material
in each sieve without re taring the scale. Record the cumulative weight. Use the stiff wire brush to
remove particles stuck in gaps.
7. For the sieves that are finer than #40 use a soft brush

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 CEE 346L – Geotechnical Engineering I Lab

Data
Tare Weight= 262.14 g

Dry Soil+ tare=662.21 g

Dry Soil Weight=400.07 g

Sieve Sieve Mass Cum

no. size Retained % Retained weight Cum. % retained % Finer
4 4.75 98.19 24.8764916 98.19 24.8764916 75.1235084
8 2.36 52.31 13.2527679 150.5 38.12925946 61.87074054
16 1.18 57.89 14.666464 208.39 52.79572344 47.20427656
30 0.6 57.28 14.5119201 265.67 67.30764359 32.69235641
40 0.425 30.69 7.77532872 296.36 75.08297231 24.91702769
80 0.18 61.81 15.6595982 358.17 90.74257049 9.257429505
100 0.15 6.52 1.65184566 364.69 92.39441615 7.605583846
200 0.075 4.42 1.11980948 369.11 93.51422563 6.485774366
Pan 25.6 6.48577437 394.71 100 0
Total 394.71 100 % Error 1.337659097

Calculations

Gradation Curve
80

70

60
Percent Passing %

50

40

30

20

10

0
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00
Grain sizes (mm)

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 CEE 346L – Geotechnical Engineering I Lab

2
D60 D30
Cu  C 
D10 ,
c
D10  D60 
2 0.5^2
Cu= = 10 , Cu= = 0.625
0.2 (2∗0.2)

Discussion

Conclusions

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 CEE 346L – Geotechnical Engineering I Lab

Appendix

0.40

0.35
y = 0.0061x - 0.0539
R² = 0.6318
0.30

0.25
Axis Title (units)

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Axis Title (units)

Figure 2 - XYXYXYXYXYX

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