4 Introduction to soil mechanics laboratory testing Figure 3.1 Optical microscope images of sand, silt, and clays. * D217, “Standard Practice for Wet Preparation of Soil Samples for Particle-Size Analysis and Determination of Soil Constants” * 2487, “Standard Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System)” + D3282, “Standard Practice for Classification of Soils and Soil-Aggregate Mixtures for Highway Construction Purposes” + D4318, “Standard Test Methods for Liquid Limit, Plastic Limit, and Plasticity Index of Soils” + 14427, “Standard Classification of Peat Samples by Laboratory Testing” * 5519, “Standard Test Method for Particle Size Analysis of Natural ‘and Man-Made Riprap Materials” 3.1 Sieve analysis of soils 3.1.1 Introduction ‘To be able to characterize the great range of soil particle sizes, two different experimental tests are used. Sieve analysis is used to characterize soil particles larger than 75 um. Soil particles smaller than 75 ym are characterized using the hydrometer test. Both tests are described in ASTM standard D422, “Stan dard Test Method for Particle-Size Analysis of Soils.” The results from these analyses are used in the classification of soils (specifically for sand and gravel) and in the estimation of engineeririg characteristics of these types of soils. This section presents the sieve analysis of soils. The hydrometer test is presented in Section 3.2, and the combined analysis of sieve analysis and hydrometer test is presented in Section 3:3Chapter 3: Soil classification 5 3.1.2 Test description The sieve analysis test consists of mechanically separating different soil particle ranges by using a stack of standard metal sieve meshes. The sieves have square openings that retain particles with dimensions larger than the sieve opening. For the interpretation of the results, a particle diameter equal to the size of the square opening is assigned to the retained soil fraction. Equipment See Figure 3.2a through Figure 3.2c. + Typical sieve series: Sieve No. 4, 10, 20, 40, 60, 100, and 200; a bottom pan; and a lid. (If soil particles are observed with diameters larger than 4.75 mm — sieve No. 4 — larger sieves may be added to the top of the sieve stack.) * Sieve shaker (to facilitate the separation of soil particles into different sizes). Figure 3.2 Equipment for sieve analysis: (2) soil sieves; (b) sieve shaker; and ()balance, mortar and pestle, and air-dry soil,6 Introduction to soil mechanics laboratory testing ‘+ Mass balance (sensitivity: 0.1 g). ‘Soft wire brush. * Mortar and pestle (ASTM standard D421, “Standard Practice for Dry Preparation of Soil Samples for Particle-Size Analysis and Determi- nation of Soil Constants,” recommends the use of a rubber-covered pestle for breaking up soil conglomerates but not individual soil particles). Specimen * Airdry soil sample Procedure ‘The procedure for the sieve analysis test is outlined in ASTM standard D422, “Standard Test Method for Particle-Size Analysis, 6f Soils.” In this test, a series of wire screen sieves with different mesh sizes are stacked on top of one another, with the coarsest mesh on top of the stack and the finest mesh on the bottom. A“pan” is placed beneath the last sieve in the stack to catch any soil that passes through all sieves. A lid is also used to prevent Joss of soil during the shaking process. The following sieves are commonly used in this test: 4, 10, 20, 40, 60, 100, and 200 (the sieve number indicates the number of openings per linear 254mm or 1 in). Particles retained in sieve No. 4 are gravels, while par- ticles passing sieve No. 200 are silts and clays. Particles passing sieve No, 4 and retained on sieve No. 200 are sands, Figure 3.2b shows a complete sieve stack placed in the shaker and ready to start the test. Step-by-Step Procedure 1 Obtain at least 115 g of air-dry sandy soil specimen or 65 g of air-dry clayey soil as recommended by ASTM standard D421. Break the aggregation of the soil specimen with the mortar and rubber-covered pestle. Record the mass of the soil specimen on the data sheet as M. Record the mass of each sieve: Myy, Myg, Mya and so forth. Stack the sieves with the smallest sieve number on the top and the largest number on the bottom. Place a “pan” at the bottom of the sieve stack. Place the soil specimen on top of the upper sieve in the set of sieves. PPlace the lid on the upper sieve, put the stack of sieves in the mechan- ical sieve shaker, and shake the sieves for about 5 min. ASTM standard