Job #4: Determination Of Atterberg Limits

Significance:
Knowledge of the range of moisture content over which a soil will exhibit a certain consistency
is often beneficial because the behavior of soil is often related to the amount of water contained
in the soil mass. Therefore, and knowledge of soil consistency, or the relative ease with which
the soil can be deformed, is important in identifying or classifying a soil type or predicting how
the soil might perform when used as a construction material.

Discussion:
A fine-grained soil exists with its particles surrounded by water. the amount of water in the soil
determines its state or consistency. If we can determine the state of the soil while it is in its
natural or in-situ condition, we can obtain an idea of how the soil might be expected to perform
when used as a highway subgrade, for example, or how the soil might respond two changes, such
as changes in stress or changes in moisture content.
Early in the 20th century a Swedish soil scientist, Albert Atterberg, proposed a set of six Rather
arbitrary states of soil moisture content to assist agriculturists in determining field agricultural
conditions. He termed the divisions between the six states as limits. The methods he suggested to
determine the limiting moisture content were highly empirical and, consequently, were not very
applicable to engineering. In 1932 Arthur Casagrande revised the original agricultural limit
definitions, that the procedure could be adopted for engineering application.
Casagrande illuminated the two lower limits (cohesion and sticky) originally proposed by
Atterberg. He retained the solid, semi-solid, plastic and liquid states as shown in the figure below
which was separated by, respectively, the shrinkage limit, the plastic limit, and the liquid limit.
Definitions of Atterberg Limits:
1. Cohesion Limit
The moisture content at which soil crumbs (small fragments) just stick together is called
cohesion limit.
2. Sticky Limit
The moisture content at which soil just sticks to a metal surface such as a spatula is called
sticky limit.
3. Shrinkage Limit
It is defined as the moisture content at which soil transforms from semi-solid to solid
state and beyond this limit soil ceases to decrease in volume
OR
It can be defined as the moisture content at which no further volume change occurs with
further reduction of moisture content
OR
It can also be defined as the maximum moisture content at which a reduction in water
content will not cause a decrease in the volume of the soil mass. It is the lowest moisture
content at which a soil can still be completely saturated.
4. Plastic Limit
It is the moisture content at which soil transforms from plastic to semi-solid state.
OR
The moisture content at which a thread of soil just begins to crack and crumble when
rolled to a diameter of 1/8in (3mm).
5. Liquid Limit
It is the moisture content at which soil transforms from liquid to plastic state.
OR
The moisture content at which a 2mm wide groove in the soil pat will close for a distance
of 1/2in (13mm), when dropped 25 times in a standard brass cup, falling 1cm height each
time at a rate of 2 drops per second, while in a standard liquid limit device.
Plasticity Index:
The plasticity index is expressed in percent of the dry weight of the soil sample. It shows the size
of the range of the moisture contents at which the soil remains plastic. In general, the plasticity
index depends only on the amount of clay present. It indicates the fineness of the soil and its
capacity to change shape without altering its volume. A high PI indicates an excess of clay or
colloids in the soil. Numerically, it is the difference between the values of the Liquid Limit and
Plastic Limit.

Requirements of Soil Sample for Atterberg Limit Determination:

Unlike the finer soil particles, gravels and sands do not possess the required cohesiveness which
permits the Atterberg limit tests to be performed. However, the finer sands and silts often contain
sufficient clay sizes to permit the test to be successfully completed. Thus, Casagrande required
the tests to be performed using only soil that would pass through U.S No. 40 Sieve. Passing the
soil through this particular sieve, the further advantage of removing the large particles that might
cause the soil thread to break prematurely before reaching the required 1/8in diameter is
achieved.
It is difficult to pass wet soil through a No. 40 sieve. therefore, it is accepted practice to
sometimes air dry the soil, and then break up the resulting soil lamps before attempting to sieve
it. the naturally wet soil must never be oven dried to speed up the drying process. Drying the soil
in the oven has often been found to result in limit values lower than those obtained on the same
soil which had never been a oven dried. Air drying the soil before performing the test also
produces limit values slightly lower than the never been right soil if distilled water is mixed with
the air dried soil and the mixture allowed to ‘cure’ for 24 to 48 hours period before performing
the test. Attempting to cure oven dried soil has not been found to be successful. The reason for
the failure of of oven dried soil to cure is believed to be due to some of the “bound H2O” layers
being removed by the elevated oven temperatures and the dried soil is subsequently unable to
replace this special water layer during the curing process .

Applications of Atterberg Limits:

The Atterberg Limits are used for four general applications.
1. To obtain general information about a soil and its strength, compressibility, permeability,
and shrink-swell properties.
2. To estimate consolidation settlement.
3. For soil classification.
4. In construction specifications.

Approximate Method of Liquid Limit Determination:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found from an investigation conducted with 767 liquid limit
determinations that the liquid limit of a soil could be reliably obtained by conducting only one
trial and using the following correlation equation:
0.121
N
L . L=wn ( )
25
N: Number of blows required to close the standard groove for distance of 1/2in.
wn: Moisture content of the soil which closed in N blows.

Apparatus for Liquid Limit:

1. Liquid limit device with grooving tool.
2. U.S No. 40 Sieve
3. Moisture content determination equipment.
4. Equipment for breaking soil lumps and for soil mixing (pulverizer, porcelain dish,
spatula, plastic squeeze bottle to add controlled amount of water).
5. Spatula
The liquid limit is determined in the laboratory with the help of the standard liquid limit
apparatus designed by Casagrande. The apparatus consists of a hard rubber base (of B.S hardness
21.25) over which a brass cup drops through a desired height. The brass cup can be raised and
lowered to fall on the rubber base with the help of a cam operated by handle. The height of fall
of the cup can be adjusted with the help of adjusting screws. The height of fall of the cup can be
adjusted with the help of adjusting screws. Before starting the test, the height of fall of the cup is
adjusted to 1cm. Two types of grooving tools are used:
i. The Casagrande Tool:
The Casagrande Tool cuts a groove of size 2mm wide at the bottom, 11mm wide at the
top and 8mm high.
ii. The ASTM Tool:
The ASTM Tool cuts a groove 2mm wide at the bottom, 13.6mm at the top and 10mm
deep. The ASTM Tool is used only for more sandy soils, where Casagrande tool tends to
tear the sides of the groove.

Procedure:
1. Pulverize a sufficient quantity of air-dried soil to obtain about 250g of representative
sample passing through No. 40 sieve.
2. Adjust the height of fall of liquid limit device to exactly 1cm. Use the 1cm calibration
block at the end of the grooving tool for making this adjustment.
3. Place about 250g of soil in a glass plate (or container). Add distilled water very slowly
and using spatula mix the soil thoroughly until it becomes a thick, homogenous paste. Be
careful not to add too much water. (Add approximately that much water in the soil to
make it such consistency that a blow count of 30 to 40 blows to close the standard groove
of 1/2in is obtained.
4. Place a portion of the soil paste in the brass cup of liquid limit device and, by means of
spatula, level and smooth the surface of the soil pat.
5. Cut a clean, straight groove in the soil pat by drawing the grooving tool along the
diameter through the center of the hinge which separates the soil pat into two parts. The
depth of the soil in the deepest part of the pat should be jut even with the top of the
ASTM tool.
6. Turn the crank of the liquid limit device at the rate of two revolutions per second and
count the number of blows (drops) until the two parts of the soil come into contact at the
bottom of the groove along a distance of 1/2in.
7. Take about 20-40g sample of soil pat from the closed part of the groove for subsequent
water content determination and put it in a pre-weighed moisture content container.
Remove the remaining soil from the brass cup and return it to the container. Wash and
dry the cup.
8. Repeat steps 4, 5, 6 and 7 at least four times using the same soil sample to which further
increments of distilled water have been added. The amount of water added must be such
that the blow counts will range between 50 and 10.
 9. The test should always proceed from the drier to wetter conditions. If it should occur that
too much water Was added to the soil, the soil must never be “dried” by adding
additional dry soil. The procedure is to thinly spread the wet soil on the glass plate and let
it air dry to the desired consistency. Continuous mixing and fanning of the wet soil is
permitted to expedite the drying process.
10. Weigh the moisture containers and place them in the oven to dry overnight.

Calculations and Results:

Plot the flow curve with water content as the ordinate and log of number of blows as the
abscissa. The water content corresponding to 25 blows is taken as the liquid limit of the soil.
Liquid Limit Determination
Can No.
Wt. of empty can (g)
Wt. of wet soil + can (g)
Wt. of dry soil + can (g)
Wt. of dry soil (g)
Wt. of moisture (g)
Moisture Content (%)
No. of Blows, N
Liquid Limit from graph= %
0.121
N
Liquid Limit using one-point method: L . L=wn ( )
25
=

Apparatus for Plastic Limit:

1. Glass Plate
2. 1/8in diameter brass rod
3. Moisture content determination equipment.

Procedure:
1. Take about 20g of air dried soil from the thoroughly mixed portion of the material
passing No. 40 sieve. Mix in on a glass plate with sufficient distilled water to make it
plastic enough to be shaped into a ball. Leave the plastic soil mass for some time to
mature.
2. Take about 8g of the plastic soil, make a ball of it, and roll it between the fingers and the
glass plate with just sufficient pressure to roll the mass into a thread of uniform diameter
throughout its length. When the diameter of the thread has decreased to 1/8in (3mm), the
specimen is kneaded together and rolled out again. Continue the process until the thread
just crumbles at 1/8in diameter.
3. Collect the crumbled soil thread in the container for moisture content determination
4. Repeat the test for three to four times and take average value of these readings.
Plastic Limit Determination
Can No.
Wt. of empty can (g)
Wt. of wet soil + can (g)
Wt. of dry soil + can (g)
Wt. of dry soil (g)
Wt. of moisture (g)
Moisture Content (%)