Transportation Laboratory

Fourth Year
2020-2021

Classification of Soil Test

Test No. 1
Test Purpose
1. Soil Classification
2. To estimate the strength of a subgrade
soil.
Atterberg limits
• The Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the critical
water contents of a fine-grained soil : its shrinkage
limit, plastic limit, and liquid limit.
• Depending on its water content, a soil may appear in one
of four states: solid, semi-solid, plastic and liquid.
• The Atterberg limits can be used to distinguish
between silt and clay.
• These tests are mainly used on clayey or silty soils since
these are the soils that expand and shrink when the
moisture content varies. Clays and silts interact with water
and thus change sizes and have varying shear strengths.
Shrinkage Limit
• The shrinkage limit (SL) is the water content
where further loss of moisture will not result in
more volume reduction. The test to determine
the shrinkage limit is ASTM International
D4943. The shrinkage limit is much less
commonly used than the liquid and plastic limits.
Plastic Limit
• The plastic limit (PL) is determined by rolling out a
thread of the fine portion of a soil on a flat, non-
porous surface. The procedure is defined in ASTM
Standard D 4318. If the soil is at a moisture content
where its behavior is plastic, this thread will retain its
shape down to a very narrow diameter. The sample
can then be remolded and the test repeated. As the
moisture content falls due to evaporation, the thread
will begin to break apart at larger diameters.
• The plastic limit is defined as
the gravimetric moisture content where the thread
breaks apart at a diameter of 3.2 mm (about 1/8
inch). A soil is considered non-plastic if a thread
cannot be rolled out down to 3.2 mm at any
moisture possible.
Apparatus and Tools
1. Soil Sample passing sieve No. 4.
2. Water
3. Smooth glass plate
4. Containers
5. Spatula
6. Electric balance
7. Oven (Put the soil sample for 24 hrs. at 60 °C)
Test Procedures
Threads
Calculations
Containers NO. 1 2 3
Weight empty container, W1, gm
Weight(container + wet soil), W2, gm
Weight(container + dry soil), W3, gm
Weight(dry soil), W4= W3-W1, gm
Weight Water, W5= W2-W3, gm
Water Content, W=(W5/W4)*100, % W1%= W2%= W3%=
Average Water Content (Plastic Limit PL), W, %,
=(W1+W2+W3)/3
 Liquid Limit
• The liquid limit (LL) is conceptually
defined as the water content at which the
behavior of a clayey soil changes from
the plastic state to the liquid state.
However, the transition from plastic to
liquid behavior is gradual over a range of
water contents. The precise definition of
the liquid limit is based on standard test
procedures described below.
 Apparatus and Tools
1. Soil Sample passing sieve No. 4.
2. Casagrande device
3. Groove tool
4. Water
5. Smooth glass plate
6. Containers
7. Spatula
8. Electric balance
9. Oven (Put the soil sample for 24 hrs. at 60 °C)
Casagrande's method
• Atterberg's original liquid limit test involved mixing a pat of clay in a
round-bottomed porcelain bowl of 10–12 cm diameter. A groove was
cut through the pat of clay with a spatula, and the bowl was then
struck many times against the palm of one hand. Casagrande
subsequently standardized the apparatus and the procedures to make
the measurement more repeatable. Soil is placed into the metal cup
(Casagrande cup) portion of the device and a groove is made down at
its center with a standardized tool of 2 mm (0.079 in) width. The cup
is repeatedly dropped 10 mm onto a hard rubber base at a rate of 120
blows per minute, during which the groove closes up gradually as a
result of the impact. The number of blows for the groove to close is
recorded. The moisture content at which it takes 25 drops of the cup
to cause the groove to close over a distance of 12.7 mm (0.50 in) is
defined as the liquid limit. The test is normally run at several moisture
contents, and the moisture content which requires 25 blows to close
the groove is interpolated from the test results. The liquid limit test is
defined by ASTM standard test method D 4318. The test method
also allows running the test at one moisture content where 10 to 40
blows are required to close the groove.
Casagrande Device
Groove Tools
Soil Sample
Calculations
Containers NO. 1 2 3
Weight empty container, W1, gm
Weight(container + wet soil), W2, gm
Weight(container + dry soil), W3, gm
Weight(dry soil), W4= W3-W1 gm
Weight Water, W5= W2-W3, gm
Water Content, W=(W5/W4)*100, % W1%= W2%= W3%=
No. of Blows, N
Example of Liquid Limit Data Plot

Log Scale
Plasticity Index (PI)
The plasticity index (PI) is a measure of the plasticity of a soil.
The plasticity index is the size of the range of water contents
where the soil exhibits plastic properties. The PI is the difference
between the liquid limit and the plastic limit (PI = LL-PL). Soils
with a high PI tend to be clay, those with a lower PI tend to be
silt, and those with a PI of 0 (non-plastic) tend to have little or no
silt or clay.
Soil descriptions based on PI:
• (0) – Non-plastic
• (<7) – Slightly plastic
• (7-17) – Medium plastic
• (>17) – Highly plastic
Percentage Passing Sieve No. 200 (F200)
Material and Tools
1. Soil Sample Passing sieve No. 4 (100-150 gm)
2. Sieve No. 200
3. Balance
4. Water
5. Pan
6. Drying Oven(Put the soil sample for 24 hrs. at 60 °C)
Test Procedures
Calculation
125−𝑊1
• Passing = *100
𝑊2
Passing = F200=%
W1= W4-W3 = Weight of dry soil
W2= Weight of Soil Sample (125 gm)
W3= Weight of Empty Dry Sieve
W4= Weight of (dry soil + sieve)
Group Index GI
Example: F200 =70 %, L.L= 28, P.L= 16, P.I= 12, GI=6/ Soil Type = Clayey Soils A-6
Thank You