SOIL

COMPACTION
 SOIL COMPACTION
•densification of soil by
removal of air, which
requires mechanical energy
 ADVANTAGES OF SOIL
COMPACTION:

• increases the strength characteristics of soils

• increases the bearing capacity of foundation
• decreases the amount of undesirable settlement of
structures
• increases the stability of slopes of embankments
The degree of compaction of a soil is measured
in terms of its dry unit weight. When water is
added to the soil during compaction, it acts as a
softening agent on the soil particles. The soil
particles slip over each other and move into a
densely packed position. The dry unit weight
after compaction first increases as the moisture
content increases.
SOIL COMPACTION
OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENT

• the moisture
content at which
the maximum dry
unit weight is
attained
 PROCTOR COMPACTION TEST

• laboratory test generally used to obtain

the maximum dry unit weight of
compaction and the moisture content
• it is also known as the standard proctor
test
 STANDARD PROCTOR TEST
• The soil is placed in a mold that has a volume of 944 cm3.
The diameter of the mold is 101.60 mm. During the
laboratory test, the mold is attached to a baseplate at the
bottom and to an extension at the top. The soil is mixed
with varying amounts of water and then compacted in three
equal layers by a hammer that delivers 25 blows to each
layer. The hammer has a mass of 2.5 kg and has a drop of
30.5 mm.
STANDARD PROCTOR TEST
 STANDARD PROCTOR TEST
For each test, the moist unit weight of compaction, γ, can
be calculated as

𝑾
𝜸=
𝑽𝒎

𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑾 → 𝒘𝒆𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐

𝟏
𝑽 𝒎 → 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒅 ( 𝟗𝟒𝟒 𝒄𝒎𝟑 𝒇𝒕𝟑
𝟑𝟎
 STANDARD PROCTOR TEST

The dry unit weight is calculated as

𝜸
𝜸𝒅 =
𝒘(%)
𝟏+
𝟏𝟎𝟎
 STANDARD PROCTOR TEST

Zero Air void Unit Weight

𝑮𝒔 𝜸𝒘 𝜸𝒘
𝜸𝒛𝒂𝒗 = =
𝟏 + 𝝎𝑮𝒔 𝟏
𝝎+
𝑮𝒔
 STANDARD PROCTOR TEST
FACTORS AFFECTING COMPACTION
• soil type
• compaction effort, E
𝒉𝒕.
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒙 𝒐𝒇 𝒙 𝒐𝒇 𝒙 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑
𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇
𝑬= 𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒅
 FIELD COMPACTION
EQUIPMENTS
• smooth-wheel rollers
• sheep’s foot rollers
• pneumatic rubber-tired rollers
• vibratory rollers
 FIELD COMPACTION EQUIPMENTS

smooth-wheel rollers sheep’s foot rollers

• Suitable for proof rolling subgrades • drums with large number of
and for finishing operation of fills projections and are effective in
with sandy and clayey soils. compacting clayey soils
 FIELD COMPACTION EQUIPMENTS

pneumatic rubber-tired rollers vibratory rollers

• can be used for sandy and clayey
soil compaction and compaction is • extremely efficient in compacting
achieved by a combination of granular soils
pressure and kneading action
 RELATIVE COMPACTION FORMULA
𝜸𝒅(𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅)
• 𝑹 % = 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎 For Granular soils:
𝜸𝒅(𝒎𝒂𝒙−𝒍𝒂𝒃)
𝜸𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏
• 𝑹 = 𝟖𝟎 + 𝟎. 𝟐𝟎𝑫𝒓
• 𝑹𝒐 = 𝜸𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒙

𝑹𝒐
• 𝑹= 𝟏 − 𝑫 𝒓 𝟏 − 𝑹𝒐
𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝒆
𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆: 𝑫𝒓 =
𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏
STANDARD PROCEDURES FOR
DETERMINING THE FIELD UNIT
WEIGHT OF COMPACTION:

• sand cone method

• rubber balloon method
• nuclear method
 STEPS IN CONDUCTING THE SAND
CONE METHOD:
1. Weigh the jar, the cone, and the sand filling and record as W1.
2. In the field, a small hole is excavated in the area where the soil has been
compacted. Weigh the moist soil from the excavated hole and record as W2 and
if the moisture content of the excavated soil is known, the dry unit weight (W3)
can be obtained as
𝑾𝟐
𝑾𝟑 =
𝒘(%)
𝟏+
𝟏𝟎𝟎
 STEPS IN CONDUCTING THE SAND
CONE METHOD:
3. After excavation of the hole, the cone with the sand-filled jar
attached to it is inverted and placed over the hole.
4. Sand is allowed to flow out of the jar to fill the hole and the cone.
5. After that, the combined weight of the jar, the cone, and the
remaining sand in the jar is determined (W4).
6. Compute the weight of the sand to fill the hole and cone by
W5 = W1 – W4
 STEPS IN CONDUCTING THE SAND
CONE METHOD:
7. The volume of the excavated hole is determined as:
𝑾𝟓 − 𝑾𝒄
𝑽=
𝜸𝒅(𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅)
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑊𝑐 → 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦
𝛾𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 → 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑤𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑
8. Computing for the dry unit weigh of the soil:
𝑾𝟑
𝜸𝒅 =
𝑽
 Rubber Balloon Method
The procedure for the rubber balloon method is similar to
that for the sand cone method; a test hole is made and the
moist weight of soil removed from the hole and its
moisture content re determined. However, the volume of
the hole is determined by introducing into it a rubber
balloon filled with water from calibrated vessel, from
which the volume can be read directly.
 Nuclear Method
• Nuclear density meters are often used for determining the compacted
dry unit weight of soil. The density meters operate either in drilled
holes or from the ground surface. It uses a radioactive isotope source.
The isotope gives off Gamma rays that radiate back to the meter’s
detector. Dense soil absorbs more radiation than loose soil. The
instrument measures the weight of wet soil per unit volume and the
weight of water present in a unit volume of soil. The dry unit weight
of compacted soil can be determined by subtracting the weight of
water from the moist unit weight of soil.
Nuclear Method
SOIL COMPACTION
EXAMPLES
1. The laboratory test results of a standard proctor test are given in the
following table,
VOLUME OF MOLD WEIGHT OF MOIST MOISTURE
(ft³) SOIL IN MOLD (lb) COTENT, w (%)
1/30 3.78 10
1/30 4.01 12
1/30 4.14 14
1/30 4.12 16
1/30 4.01 18
1/30 3.90 20

a. Determine the maximum dry unit weight of compaction and the optimum
moisture content.
2. Specifications on a job required a fill using borrow soil
to be compacted at 95% of its standard proctor
maximum dry density. Tests indicate that this maximum
is 19.5 KN/m³ with 12% moisture. The borrow material
has a void ratio of 0.60 and a solid specific gravity of
2.65. Compute the following:
a.The dry unit weight of the soil sample
b.The wet unit weight of compacted soil
c.The minimum volume of borrow soil required to fill
one cu. m.
 ASSIGNMENT

An undisturbed sample of material taken from a

borrow pit has a void ratio of 0.70. Results of the
proctor compaction test indicate that the material as
compacted on the roadway will have a void ratio of
0.48. What shrinkage factor should be used in
computing borrow and embankment quantities?