A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Objective:
¾ To measure the liquid and plastic limits for a soil sample.

General discussion:
Atterberg limits:

In 1911 A.Atterberg suggested the concept of boundaries to the four

states in which a soil may exist, namely the liquid limit, the boundary
between the liquid and the plastic state; the plastic limit, the boundary
between the plastic and the semi-solid state and the shrinkage limit, the
boundary between the semi-solid and the solid state.

The liquid, plastic and shrinkage limits are applied only to fine grained
soils in which the water content affects the physical properties, changing
a clay soil from solid to liquid or slurry.

There are two more Atterberg limits which are not used in the civil
engineering field;
• The Cohesion limit:
water content at which soil crumbs just stick together.

• The Sticky limit:

water content at which soil just sticks to metal surfaces such
as spatula blade.

This paper reports methods used for measuring the liquid and the plastic
limits.
The liquid and plastic limits of a soil are determined on the soil fraction
passing the #40 sieve. In order to obtain this soil fraction, one must use
one of the two methods:

• Washing the soil through #40 sieve, collect the passing, and
use it for testing.

• Air dry the soil, pulverize it and then sieve it through the #40
sieve.

After obtaining the soil, it is mixed with distilled water till it becomes
homogenous and left at least for 4 hours.

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Measuring the liquid limit:

There are two main methods for measuring the liquid limit, Cone
Pentrometer Method and the Casagrande Method. The first of these the
Cone Pentrometer Method is the preferred method as the results are more
easily reproducible and it is easier to perform. The second the Casagrande
Method is an older test that uses a dynamic method and hence reduces
reproducibility between operators.
The Casagrande method was used in the lab and is described below.
It was standardized that the liquid limit is measured placing the soil in the
brass cup of the described device, and cutting it be a standard groove and
then dropped from a specified height at a specified rate (See the Table 1
below for the standard amounts).
The water content at which the groove closes 12.7mm (0.5") (see Figure
1) after 25 drops is called the liquid limit. Note that this standard method
is specified arbitrarily.

Table 1, Standard values related to measuring the liquid limit

Rate of dropping 120 drops/min (2 drops/sec)

10mm (measured from the points of

Height of drop
collision)

Closure distance 12.7mm (0.5")

Figure 1, Closure Distance

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Standard Grooving tools:

There are two types of standardized grooving tools used for this test.
The first one is the casagrande grooving tool shown in Figure 2, and it is
required by the ASTM.

Figure 2, Casagrande grooving tool

The second type is the wedge grooving tool shown in Figure 3, and it is
required by AASHTO and may be preferred in cases where the sample is
difficult to groove without tearing the soil pat.

Figure 3, Wedge grooving tool

As it is difficult to obtain the water content at groove closure of 12.7mm

after 25 blows, the flow curve is drawn. The flow curve is drawn on a
semi log scale with the abscissa representing "N" (Number of blows) and
the ordinate representing the "w" (water content). The graph should at
least cove a range of 15 to 35 of blows, and from the obtained result the
liquid limit is determined by taking the value of water content that meets
25 blows on the graph.

Single point liquid limit:

Some times when large number of specimens is to be tested for their

liquid limits and there is limited time to do so, a method called one point
liquid limit is applied.

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

In this method the Casagrande method of measuring the liquid limit is

applied but only one trial is done, and then the following formula is
applied;
*

This method is used as an approximation for the liquid limit, and as N

approaches to 25 this formula becomes more accurate.

Measuring the Plastic limit:

This limit is defined arbitrarily as the water content at which soil thread
just crumbles when it is rolled to a diameter of 3mm.
This method is based on the fact that water evaporates continuously
during threading the soil, hence the water content is reduced till the soil is
out of the plastic region and breaks at the solid region. A wire of 3mm in
diameter is used as a comparison to the clay thread.

Sample identification:
¾ Brown clay sample, homogenous, passing from sieve #40.

Equipments:
• Liquid Limit device (Figure 4)
a mechanical device consisting of a brass cup suspended
from a carriage designed to control its drop onto a hard
rubber base. The design of the device may vary provided that
the essential functions are preserved. The device may be
operated either by a hand crank or by an electric motor.

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Figure 4, Liquid limit device

• Grooving tools.
• Empty cans.
• Weighing device

Procedures:

A. The determination of Liquid limit.

1. Check the casagrande device for excessive play in the

hinge assembly; adjust the height of the plate to 1cm
using the 1cm block on the grooving device. The plate
shall be clean and dry.

2. Add water to the specimen and mix it thoroughly till it

is homogenous, and fill the plate with soil to 3
quarters of its capacity.

3. Using the grooving tool, the sample was grooved at

the center.

4. The arm of the device was rotated at a rate of 2 blows

per second; the number of blows when the groove

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

closes 12.5mm was recorded.

5. The specimen is move to a container and it weight was

recorded.

6. After dissembling the plate, washing and drying it

well and then reassembling it again, the past four steps
are repeated for many trials with adding more water
before each trial and mixing the sample till it is
homogenous.

7. The specimens in the container were then place in the

oven for 24 hours and the weighed again.

B. The plastic limit measurement

1. The sample was separated into many small pieces.

2. The sample is balled in the hand till it is air dried.

3. The spherical sample is then rolled on the bench to

form thin thread, till it fell apart.

4. The sample was collected then, and the weight was

recorded.

5. The sample is placed then into the oven and dried for
24 hours, and its weight was recorded.

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Calculations:

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A H M 531 Atterberg limits By: Ahmed Essam Mansour

Discussion and results:

It was obvious that when we increased the water content the number of
blows decreased, due to faster closure of the groove.
In the single liquid limit test, it was seen that the closer the number of
blows is to 25 the closer the value of the liquid limit to that estimated
from the four trials test.

Sources of error:
1. Natural tendency of operator to reduce the rate as the groove
begins to close causing an increase in the number of blows.

2. Errors related to the approximation of the 12.5mm closure in

the groove.
3. Errors related to the visual detection to a 3mm diameter
thread.

The test could have been improved by using the counter attached to
casagrande device to count the number of blows, beside that the use of
automated rotating device could have reduce the error resulted from
decreasing the rate of rotation

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