LAB REPORT

CEG 453
(GEOTECHNIC LAB)

LECTURER: PROF MADYA DR. DAMANHURI BIN JAMALLUDIN

GROUP: A1

TITLE: ATTERBERG LIMIT TEST: PLASTIC AND LIQUID LIMIT TESTS

No. STUDENT ID NAME TOTAL MARKS

1 2018695326 MOHAMAD HAZIM NAQIUDDIN BIN MOHAMAD
KAMIL
2 2018659764 MUHAMAD NORMAN HAKIM BIN MAT DARUS
3 2018448528 MUHAMMAD FARIS NAJMI BIN SHUKRI
Table of Contents

Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3

Objectives............................................................................................................................................3

Problem statement.............................................................................................................................3

Apparatus.............................................................................................................................................4

Procedure............................................................................................................................................5

Discussion............................................................................................................................................7

Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................8

References...........................................................................................................................................8
Introduction

Plasticity is an important characteristic in the case of fine-grained soils. The term ‘plasticity’
describes the ability of a soil to undergo irrecoverable deformation without cracking or
crumbling.

The soil has reached its plastic limit when there is sufficient water present to allow the
particles to slide past each other without developing internal cracks (i.e. 'crumbling').

The soil has reached its liquid limit when the water content is raised to a point where the
suction has been reduced to almost nothing and the mixture behaves like a liquid (i.e. flows
freely under its own weight)

Objectives

1. to determine the liquid limit of a soil using Cone penetration test and Casagrande test
2. to determine the plastic limit of a soil using rolling method
3. to determine the plasticity index of a soil

Problem statement

General situation:

Determining reliable values for soil parameters usually requires that laboratory tests
such as triaxial or oedometer tests be performed on undisturbed samples of soil.

Specific condition:

However, in order to obtain good quality undisturbed samples are usually expensive and
frequently difficult. Furthermore, those tests require time and skill, and are also
expensive.

Why it is necessary to conduct:

Therefore, it is necessary to characterize or classify soils with quicker, less- sophisticated

tests which do not require undisturbed samples of the soils
Apparatus

Casagrande test

1. Casagrande test unit

2. Flat mirror glass
3. 2 spatulas
4. 5 containers
5. Steel bowl
6. Oven
7. Electronic balance

Cone Penetration Test

1. Container

2. Spatula

3. Cone penetrometer

4. Oven

5. Hand gloves

6. Electronic balance

Rolling Method

1. Ground Glass Plate

2. Spatula
3. Drying Oven
4. Water Content Containers
5. Electronic balance
Procedure

Casagrande test

1. Measure 250g of soil and put it in a steel bowl.

2. Pour the soil on a flat glass mirror.
3. By using 2 spatulas, mix the soil with distilled water until the soil is about smooth
enough.
4. Remove the Casagrande cup and put thin layer of soil in it.
5. Make a groove in the middle of the soil by using Casagrande grooving tool.
6. Attach the cup back and start the blow until the groove is closer for about 7mm.
7. Measure the mass of a container and label it for reference.
8. By using a spatula, put the soil from the Casagrande test in the container after the test
have been done.
9. Measure the mass container + wet soil.
10. Repeat step 4 to 9 by using a difference container for 4 times more.
11. Put all of the five containers into the oven for a day.
12. Measure the mass container + dry soil for all of the containers.

Cone Penetration
1. Take a sample of about 300 g from the soil which passing 425 µ m sieve.
2. Place the soil sample on the glass plate and mix well with distilled water using spatulas
until it become paste form.
3. Push a portion of the mixed soil into the cup with spatula taking care not to trap air.
Strike off excess soil with straightedge to give a smooth level surface.
4. With the penetration cone locked in the raised position lower the supporting assembly
so that the tip of the cone just touches the surface of the soil. When the cone is in the
correct position a slight movement of the cup will just mark the soil surface. Lower the
stem of the dial gauge to contact the cone shaft and record the reading on the dial
gauge to the nearest 0.1 mm.
5. Release the cone to let it penetrate into the soil sample for a time of exactly 5 second by
continuous pressing on the penetration knob for such durations.
6. Release the knob to relock the cone and record the penetration reading on the dial
gauge.
7. Repeat step 4 to 6 on the sample for at least three times to get average penetration.
8. Take part of the sample from the cup and put into empty container and take a weight.
After that, keep in oven for water content determination.
9. Repeat the procedure of steps 3 to 8 on the same sample but on at least of five different
stages of water contents that can be made by either more water or leaving the soil paste
to dry for same time.
10. Plot the graph of moisture content versus penetration.
Rolling Method
1. Select a 20-g or more portion of soil from the material prepared for the liquid limit test.

2. Reduce the water content of the soil to a consistency at which it can be rolled without

sticking to the hands by spreading or mixing continuously on the glass plate or in the

mixing or storage dish

3. The drying process may be accelerated by exposing the soil to the air current from an

electric fan.

4. Select a 1.5 to 2.0 g from the plastic-limit specimen and form the selected portion into
an ellipsoidal mass.

5. Roll the mass between the palm or fingers and the ground-glass plate with just sufficient
pressure to roll the mass into a thread of uniform diameter throughout its length. The
thread shall be further deformed on each stroke so that its diameter reaches 3.2 mm,
taking no more than 2 min.

6. When the diameter of the thread becomes 3.2 mm, break the thread into several pieces.
Squeeze the pieces together, knead between the thumb and first finger of each hand,
reform into an ellipsoidal mass, and re-roll. Continue this alternate rolling to a thread 3.2
mm in diameter, gathering together, kneading and re-rolling, until the thread crumbles
under the pressure required for rolling and the soil can no longer be rolled into a 3.2-
mm diameter thread.

7. Gather the portions of the crumbled thread together and place in a container of known
mass. Immediately cover the container.

8. Select another 1.5 to 2.0-g portion of soil from the plastic limit specimen and repeat step
1 and 2 until the container has at least 6 g of soil.

9. Repeat step 1 to 5 to make another container that contains at least 6 g of soil.

10. Determine the water content of the soil contained.

Discussion

This testing method is used as an integral part of several engineering classifications systems
to characterize the fine-grained fractions of soils and to specify the fine-grained fraction of
construction materials. The liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index of soils are also used
extensively, either individually or together, with other soil properties to correlate with
engineering behaviour such as compressibility, permeability, compatibility, shrink-swell and
shear strength. The importance of the liquid limit test is to classify soils. Different soils have
varying liquid limits. The liquid limit from the Casagrande test experiment that we get are
65% while from the cone penetration test is. This liquid limit we get after plot the graph. For
plastic limit, we get 54.32 by adding all 3 moisture content from the rolling method and
divide by 3. Basically, it is an average. From those informations, we can get plasticity index
which is for Casagrande test is 10.68. Also, we have determined that the soil classification is
high silt (MH) based on the BS plasticity chart.

 
Conclusion

The conclusion is, another method for measuring the liquid limit is the fall cone test. It is
based on the measurement of penetration into the soil of a standardized cone of specific
mass. The importance of the liquid limit test is to classify soils. Different soils have varying
liquid limits. Also, to find the plasticity index of a soil you need to know the liquid limit and
the plastic limit.

References

1. Davison, D. L. (18 July, 2008). Soil Classification. Retrieved from environment.uwe:

http://environment.uwe.ac.uk/geocal/SoilMech/classification/default.htm

2. Jamala, H. (23 March, 2017). Atterberg's Limits of Soil Classification - Atterberg Test.
Retrieved from aboutcivil.com: https://www.aboutcivil.org/atterberg-limits.html

3. Mishra, G. (7 March, 2010). Determine Liquid Limit of Soil Specimen by Casagrande

Method. Retrieved from theconstructor: https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/the-
liquid-limit-of-soil-test/2877/