STUDENT CODE OF ETHIC

(SCE)
DEPT.OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

I, hereby confess that I have prepared this report on my own effort. I also admit not
to receive or give any help during the preparation of this report and pledge
that everything mentioned in the report is true.

_________________
Student Signature

Name : …………………………………………

Matric No. : …………………………………………

Date : …………………………………………
 GEOTECHNICS LAB

GROUP REPORT
Code of Subject BFC 31901
Code of Experiment
Title of Experiment
Date of Experiment
Session/ Group No.
Name of Group Leader
Members of Group 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Lecturer/Instructor/Tutor
Date of Submission
Criteria 1 2 3 4 5 SCR WT TSCR (%)

 Report is not  Report is lacks  Good representation  Accurate  Accurate

well precision of the report using representation of representation of the
represented tables and/or graphs the report using report using tables
 Precision of report is tables and/or and/or graphs
acceptable graphs  Graphs and tables are
Report  Report is fairly labeled and titled
precise  Report is precise
6

 Trends/  Trends/  Trends/patterns are  Trends/ patterns are  Trends/ patterns are
patterns are patterns are not logically analyzed for logically analyzed logically analyzed
not analyzed analyzed the most part  Questions are  Questions are
 Questions are  Answers to  Questions are answered in answered thoroughly
Analysis questions are answered in complete sentences and in complete
not answered
6
 Analysis is not incomplete complete sentences  Analysis is sentences
relevant  Analysis is  Analysis is general thoughtful  Analysis is insightful
inconsistent

 No discussion  A discussion  A discussion  Accurate discussion  Accurate discussion

and conclusion statement and statement and statement and statement and
were included conclusion of conclusion of the conclusion of the conclusion of the
or showed little the results is results of the results of the results of the
effort and incomplete with experiment indicates experiment experiment indicates
reflection on little reflection whether results indicates whether whether results
Discussion & the experiment on the support the results support the support the
Conclusion 8
experiment hypothesis hypothesis hypothesis
 Possible sources of  Possible sources of
error identified error identified and
lesson learnt from
the experiment was
discussed and
concluded

Name of Accessor: Signature: Date: Total Score

/100

Comment by Assessor Acknowledgement of Receive

 FACULTY: CIVIL ENG. & BUILT ENVIRONNMENTAL PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
DEPARTMENT: CIVIL ENGINEERING
REVIEW NO.:
TEST TITLE : FIELD DENSITY - SAND EFFECTIVE 14/05/20
REPLACEMENT METHOD DATE:
AMENDMENT 14/05/20
DATE:

1.0 OBJECTIVE
Determine the in situ density of natural or compacted soils using sand pouring cylinders.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of this experiment, students are able to:

 Understand the relationship between compaction effort and the density of soil on site.

 Obtain the in situ density of natural soil and compacted soil.

3.0 THEORY

Sometimes it is important to know the density of in-situ for design purpose. This can be done by mean
of the sand replacement method. Determining the in situ density of natural or compacted soils using
sand pouring cylinders requires a simple method of analysis. The in situ density of natural soil is needed
for the determination of bearing capacity of soils, for the purpose of stability analysis of slopes, for the
determination of pressures on the underlying strata for the calculation of settlement and the design of
underground structures. This along with the Core Cutter is one of the older, more labor intensive
methods of determining density. It is used on boulder clays and granular fills.

FIGURE 1 Sand Cone Replacement Equipments

4.0 TEST EQUIPMENTS

1. Sand pouring cylinder of 3 litre/16.5 litre capacity, mounted above a pouring cone and
separated by a shutter cover plate.

2. Tools for excavating holes; suitable tools such as scraper tool to make a level surface.

3. Cylindrical calibrating container with an internal diameter of 100 mm/200 mm and an internal
depth of 150 mm/250 mm fitted with a flange 50 mm/75 mm wide and about 5 mm thick
surrounding the open end.

4. Balance to weigh into an accuracy of 1 g.

5. Metal containers to collect excavated soil.

6. Metal tray with 300 mm/450 mm square and 40 mm/50 mm deep with a 100 mm/200 mm
diameter hole in the centre.

7. Suitable non-corrodible airtight containers.

8. Thermostatically controlled oven with interior on non-corroding material to maintain the

temperature between 105°C to 110°C.

9. Glass plate about 450 mm/600 mm square and 10mm thick.

10. MATERIAL: Clean, uniformly graded natural sand passing through 1.00 mm IS. Sieve and
retained on the 600 micron IS sieve. It shall be free from organic matter and shall have been
oven dried and exposed to atmospheric humidity.

11. A desiccator with any desiccating agent other than sulfuric acid.
5.0 PROCEDURES

(I) Calibration of the cylinder:

1. Measure the internal dimensions of the calibrating container and find its volume.

2. Fill the clean, uniformly graded standard sand in the sand pouring cylinder up to a height of 1cm
below the top with the shutter closed. Find out the initial mass of the sand, (M 0). This mass
should be maintained constant throughout the test for which the calibration is used.

3. Allow the sand of volume equal to that of the calibrating container to run out of the cylinder by
opening the shutter. Close the shutter.

4. Place the sand cone-pouring cylinder on a paper placed on a horizontal table. Open the shutter
again and allow the sand to flow and fill the cone.

5. Close the shutter. Find the mass of sand on paper, (M)

6. Repeat steps 2-4 at least thrice and find the mean mass, (Mi).

(II) Determination of bulk density of sand:

1. Place the sand-pouring cylinder concentrically on the top of the calibrating container with the
shutter closed, making sure that a constant mass (M 0) is maintained.

2. Open the shutter of the cylinder and allow the sand to move into the container. When no further
movement is seen, close the shutter and find the mass of sand left in the cylinder, (M 2).

3. Repeat steps 2-3 at least thrice and find the mean mass (M 2).

(III) Determination of field density of soil

1. Level surface of the soil in the open field.

2. Place a metal tray on the surface haring a circular hole of 10 cm diameter at the centre. Dig a
hole of this diameter up to about 15 cm depth. Collect all the excavated soil in a tray and find the
mass of excavated soil, (M).

3. Remove the tray and place the sand-purring cylinder concentrically on the hole.
Open the shutter and allow the sand to run into the hole till no further movement of sand is
noticed. Close the shutter and determine mass of sand which is left in the cylinder, (M 3).

4. The representative sample is taken from the excavated soil for determination of
water content.

6.0 DEMONSTRATION

A detailed procedure of the consolidation test can be seen in this video. Click this link to watch
the related video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C10dklH12W0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Z2l9RFumo
6.0 RESULT AND CALCULATIONS

A) Determination of Mass of sand in the cone

1 .Volume of calibrating container (Vc) (m3)

2. Mass of sand in the cylinder before pouring (M0) (g.)

3. Mean mass of sand in cone (Mi) (g.)

B) Determination of bulk density of sand

1. The mean mass of sand left in the cylinder after pouring (M 2)

(g)
2. Mass of sand filling calibrating container, Mc=M0-Mi-M2 (g.)

3. Bulk density of sand p s =MC/VC (g/cm3)

C) Bulk density and unit weight of soil

1 .Mass of wet soil from the hole (M) (g)

2. Mass of sand in the cylinder after pouring into the hole (M 3)

(g)
3. Mass of sand in the hole MS=M0- MI - M3 (g)

M
ρ= ×ρ
4. Bulk density of soil,
Ms s (g/cm3)
ρ
ρd =
5. Dry density of soil 1+w (g/cm3)

C) Moisture content (w)

Weight of wet soil (g)

Weight of dry soil (g)
Weight of container (g)

7.0 QUESTIONS

1. Field engineers are often found talking of optimum moisture content (OMC) conditions while
constructing of road sub-grade. Define and explain this term, bringing out clearly the importance it
possess and the methods by which it is controlled.

2. Discuss the method of compaction of (a) cohesion less soil (b) cohesive soils.
8.0 APPENDIX

Series of the result of the sand replacement test

A) Determination of Mass of sand in the cone

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6

1 .Volume of calibrating container (Vc)
1.178 x 1.78 x 1.178 x 1.178 x 1.178 x 1.178 x
(m3)
10-3 10-3 10-3 10-3 10-3 10-3
2. Mass of sand in the cylinder before
pouring (M0) (g) 7000 7000 7000 7000 7000 7000

3. Mean mass of sand in cone (Mi)

(g) 350 350 350 350 350 350

B) Determination of bulk density of sand

1. The mean mass of sand left in

the cylinder after pouring (M2) 1281 5200 5150 5200 5150 2700
(g)
2. Mass of sand filling calibrating
container, Mc=M0-Mi-M2 (g.)

3. Bulk density of sand p s =MC/VC

(g/cm3)

C) Bulk density and unit weight of soil

1 .Mass of wet soil from the hole (M)

(g) 2749 2900 2200 3000 2200 1350

2. Mass of sand in the cylinder after

pouring into the hole (M3) 4032 5150 4900 5800 4900 5550
(g)
3. Mass of sand in the hole MS=M0-
MI - M3 (g)
4. Bulk density of soil,
M
ρ= ×ρ
Ms s (g/cm3)
ρ
ρd =
5. Dry density of soil 1+w
(g/cm3)

C) Moisture content (w)

Group 1 2 3 4 5 6
Weight of wet soil (g) 60 49 45 58 45 30
Weight of dry soil (g) 52 45 42 50 41 20
Weight of container (g) 37 33 30 32 29 10