Atterberg limit

laboratory test

By:

Dr. Amizatulhani Abdullah

Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology
amizatulhani@ump.edu.my
Course Synopsis
01 Three phase soil diagram and soil’s basic properties

02 Introduction to soil plasticity and indices

TOPIC
OUTLINE 03
Laboratory test to determine the Atterberg limit
value
Course Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Use science and mathematical knowledge to

determine soil’s basic properties and the
classification.
Lesson Outcomes
At the end of this notes, students should be able to:

• Identify the consistency of the soil and the method to

obtain the soil consistency limit.
Atterberg limit
• Consists of four different states of consistencies (degree of firmness)
• Solid
• Semisolid
• Plastic
• Liquid
• Each time the soil passes from one state to another state, it will pass
through certain limit
• Shrinkage limit
• Plastic limit
• Liquid limit
Fluid soil-water mixture

LI  1 Liquid State
Increasing water
LI = 1 Liquid Limit, LL
0  LI  1
content
Plastic State
LI = 0 Plastic Limit, PL
Semisolid State
LI  0 Shrinkage Limit, SL
Solid State
Dry Soil
Laboratory tests

Plastic limit

Liquid limit Shrinkage limit

Laboratory test to determine
the liquid limit of soil
(ASTM D4318-95a, BS1377: Part 2:1990:5.3)

 Cone penetration test method

 Casagrande test method
Cone penetration test method
• moist soil is placed inside a brass cup and the cup
is put under a standard cone of apex angle 30
with weight of 0.78N.
• the cone is allowed to penetrate the soil in 5
seconds and the corresponding penetration
depth is recorded.
• small amount of soil is scrapped from the brass
cup to determine the moisture content.
Data analysis
• A graph of moisture content
vs penetration depth need to
be plotted.
• Liquid limit value is taken at
20 mm penetration depth.
Casagrande test method
• moist soil is placed inside a brass cup which is
attached to a hard rubber base box.
• a groove is cut at the center of the soil by using a
standard grooving tool.
• the cup is lifted and dropped from a certain
height several times.
• the number of blow required to close the groove
is recorded.
• small amount of soil is scrapped from the brass
cup to determine the moisture content.
Closing distance = 12.7mm
Data analysis
• A graph of moisture content vs number of blow need to be
plotted.
• Liquid limit value is taken at 25 number of blow.
Laboratory test to determine
the plastic limit of soil
(ASTM D4318-95a, BS1377: Part 2:1990:5.3)
Plastic limit

• is conducted by rolling a moist soil into a thread of 3.2mm in diameter.

• the thread is observed to find any sign of crumbles. If there is no sign of crumbles,
the process of rolling is repeated.
• once the soil starts to crumble, the moisture content need to be determine.
• the plastic limit PL is defined as the water content at which a soil thread with 3.2
mm diameter just crumbles.
Laboratory test to determine
the shrinkage limit of soil
(ASTM D4318-95a, BS1377: Part 2:1990:5.3)
Shrinkage limit
• A porcelain dish which is filled with moist soil is
kept in the oven for drying.
• Details such as mass and volume of the
porcelain dish and the soil before and after the
drying is recorded.

Soil volume: Vi
Soil mass: Mi

Soil volume: Vf
Soil mass: Mf
Data analysis
• Shrinkage limit value can be calculated by using the
following equation.

𝑀𝑖 − 𝑀𝑓 𝑉𝑖 − 𝑉𝑓
𝑆𝐿 = 100 − 𝜌𝑤 100
𝑀𝑓 𝑀𝑓
 Volume starts to increase
The water content
at which the soil
volume ceases to LL
change is defined as
the shrinkage limit.
PL

SL

No changes in
volume

SL PL LL

Water content is increasing

THANK YOU