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Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

LIQUID LIMIT
Application
Liquid limits are used to classify soil, correlate various soil properties with strength,
estimate swelling potential of soil, and hundreds of similar uses in geotechnical
engineering.

Equipment
Casagrande Liquid Limit Device
Grooving tool
Moisture cans
US No. 40 sieve
Distilled water
Plastic squeeze bottle
Scale
Ceramic soil mixing bowl
Oven
Frosting knife/spatula

Procedure
1. Determine mass of the moisture can (W1).
2. Put about 300 g of air dry soil, passed through No. 40 sieve into a ceramic bowl
and add distilled water from plastic squeeze bottle. Mix the soil for some time
to form a uniform paste. (It is worthy to soak the sample with water for 48
hours before the test, but we don’t have enough time in our lab to do so).
3. Place a portion of the paste in the brass cup of the liquid limit device. Smooth
the surface of the soil in the cup with spatula (keep maximum depth of soil in
the cup to about 8 mm).
4. Cut a groove along the center line of the soil pat in the cup.
5. Turn the crank of the liquid limit device at the rate of about 2 revolutions per
second. Drop height should be exactly 1.0 cm – check it. Closely observe the
groove.
6. Count the number of blows (N) to close the grove over a length of 0.5 inches.
7. If N is more than 35, add some water into the soil, mix it and repeat the
procedure. If N is between 25 and 35, note the value of N and transfer a
portion of the paste to a moisture can and weigh (W2).
8. Clear the soil from the cup, wipe out the cup, and mix the soil with water. Repeat
the procedure until the grove is closed at 20-25 blows/cranks. Transfer the soil
to the moisture can and weigh. Repeat the procedure again to get the grove
closed at 15-20 blows. Although 3 tests are enough to get the desired value, it is
advisable to conduct 5 different tests to give N ranging from 12-35.
9. Put all moisture cans into the oven and dry them to a constant mass. Weigh the
mass of dry soil plus the can (W3) after 24 hours.

EGCE 324L (Soil Mechanics Laboratory) Spring 2008

Instructor: Binod Tiwari, PhD Date: 2/11/2008
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Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

Calculations
1. Calculate the moisture content of the soil.
W2 − W3
Moisture content (w%) = × 100
W3 − W1

2. Plot a graph for moisture content at Y-axis and Number of blows (in log scale)
at X-axis. The points will end up with a straight line with negative slope. This line
is called a flow line. Calculate the magnitude of the slope of the flow line. This
slope is called flow index.
3. Using the equation of flow index, calculate the moisture content for 25 blows.
4. Liquid limit is the value of w% at 25 blows.

Note:
™ The slope of the flow line will give Log (N), and we need to convert it to N while
calculating the values. Or you can use ‘excel spreadsheet’ to plot the result and
derive the value of N.

EGCE 324L (Soil Mechanics Laboratory) Spring 2008

Instructor: Binod Tiwari, PhD Date: 2/11/2008
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Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

Liquid Limit Test Results

Tested by: Tested Date:

Lab Partners/Organizations:

Client: CSUF CEED Project: EGCE 324L

Boring No.: N/A Recovery Date: N/A

Soil description:

Oven temperature: Drying time:

Precision of scale: Note:

Table 1 Measurement data for the water content of the particular test and corresponding N

Test No. 1 2 3 4 5

Can No.

Mass of can, W1 (g)

Mass of can + moist soil, W2 (g)

Mass of can + dry soil, W3 (g)

Moisture content, w%

Number of blows, N

Flow Index:

Liquid Limit:

EGCE 324L (Soil Mechanics Laboratory) Spring 2008

Instructor: Binod Tiwari, PhD Date: 2/11/2008
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Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

50
Moisture Content, w (%)
40

30

20

10

03 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 3 4 5
10
Number of Cranks
Figure 1 Graph to plot number of blows and corresponding moisture content.

EGCE 324L (Soil Mechanics Laboratory) Spring 2008

Instructor: Binod Tiwari, PhD Date: 2/11/2008