Geotechnical Engineering-I

Lab
CE 209L
Spring 2020

Engr. Aamir Raza

CED UET Peshawar
Determination of Plastic Limit of
Soils

Referenced Document: ASTM D4318

Lecture 7
Determination of Liquid Limit of Soils

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Contents
• Introduction • Graph
• ASTM D4318 • Example
• Significance and Use • General Comments
• Summary of test
• Apparatus
• Procedure
• Calculations

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Introduction
• When clay minerals are present in fine-grained soil, the soil can be
remolded in the presence of some moisture without crumbling. This
cohesive nature is caused by the adsorbed water surrounding the clay
particles.
• In the early 1900s, a Swedish scientist named Atterberg developed a
method to describe the consistency (degree of firmness, the relative
ease with which a soil can be deformed) of fine-grained soils with
varying moisture contents.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Introduction
• At a very low moisture content, soil behaves more like a solid. When
the moisture content is very high, the soil and water may flow like a
liquid.
• Hence, depending on the moisture content, the behavior of soil can
be divided into four basic states—solid, semisolid, plastic, and liquid—
as shown in Figure 4.1.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Introduction

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Introduction
• The moisture content, in percent, at which the transition from solid to
semisolid state takes place is defined as the shrinkage limit.
• The moisture content at the point of transition from semisolid to
plastic state is the plastic limit, and from plastic to liquid state is the
liquid limit.
• These parameters are also known as Atterberg limits.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Introduction
• Plastic soil—a soil which has a range of water content over which it exhibits
plasticity and which will retain its shape on drying.
• plasticity index, PI—in cohesive soils, the range of water content over
which a soil behaves plastically. Numerically, it is the difference between
the liquid limit and the plastic limit.
• Liquidity index, IL—in cohesive soils, the ratio of: (1) the water content of a
soil at a given condition/state minus its plastic limit, to (2) its plasticity
index.
• Activity number, A—in cohesive soils, the ratio of (1) the plasticity index of
a soil to (2) the percent by mass of particles having an equivalent diameter
smaller than 2 μm.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Introduction
• In the laboratory, the plastic limit
is defined as the moisture content
(%) at which a thread of soil will
just crumble when rolled to a
diameter of 1/8-in. (3.18 mm).
• As in the case of liquid limit
determination, the fall cone method
can be used to obtain the plastic
limit.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Determination of Liquid Limit of Soils

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Summary of Test Method
• The specimen is processed to remove any material retained on a 425-
μm (No. 40) sieve.
• The liquid limit is determined by performing trials in which a portion
of the specimen is spread in a brass cup, divided in two by a grooving
tool, and then allowed to flow together from the shocks caused by
repeatedly dropping the cup in a standard mechanical device—
following either Liquid Limit Method A (Multipoint Method), or Liquid
Limit Method B (One-Point Method).

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Summary of Test Method
• The plastic limit is determined by alternately pressing together and
rolling into a 3.2-mm (1⁄8-in.) diameter thread a small portion of
plastic soil until its water content is reduced to a point at which the
thread crumbles and can no longer be pressed together and re-rolled.
The water content of the soil at this point is reported as the plastic
limit.
• The plasticity index is calculated as the difference between the liquid
limit and the plastic limit.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Significance and Use
• These test methods are used as an integral part of several engineering
classification systems to characterize the fine-grained fractions of soils
(D2487 and D3282) and to specify the fine-grained fraction of
construction materials (Specification D1241).
• 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 behavior such as compressibility,
hydraulic conductivity (permeability), compactibility, shrink-swell, and
shear strength.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Significance and Use
• The liquid and plastic limits of a soil and its water content can be used
to express its relative consistency or liquidity index. In addition, the
plasticity index and the percentage finer than 2-μm particle size can
be used to determine its activity number.
• The liquid limit of a soil containing substantial amounts of organic
matter decreases dramatically when the soil is oven-dried before
testing. Comparison of the liquid limit of a sample before and after
oven-drying can therefore be used as a qualitative measure of organic
matter content of a soil (Practice D2487).

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Apparatus
• Evaporating dish
• Spatula
• Plastic squeeze bottle with water
• Moisture can
• 5. Ground glass plate
• 6. Balance sensitive up to 0.01 g

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Procedure
1. Put approximately 20 grams of a representative, air-dry soil sample,
passed through No. 40 sieve, into an evaporating dish.
2. Add water from the plastic squeeze bottle to the soil and mix
thoroughly.
3. Determine the mass of a moisture can in grams and record it on the
data sheet (W1).
4. From the moist soil prepared in Step 2, prepare several ellipsoidal-
shaped soil masses by squeezing the soil with your fingers.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Procedure
5. Take one of the ellipsoidal-shaped soil
masses (Step 4) and roll it on a ground
glass plate using the palm of your hand
(Fig). The rolling should be done at the
rate of about 80 strokes per minute.
Note that one complete backward and
one complete forward motion of the
palm constitute a stroke.
6. When the thread is being rolled in Step
5 reaches 1/8-in. (3.18 mm) in
diameter, break it up into several small
pieces and squeeze it with your fingers
to form an ellipsoidal mass again.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Procedure
7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 until the
thread crumbles into several pieces
when it reaches a diameter of 1/8-
in. (3.18 mm). It is possible that a
thread may crumble at a diameter
larger than 1/8-in. (3.18 mm) during
a given rolling process, whereas it
did not crumble at the same
diameter during the immediately
previous rolling.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Procedure
8. Collect the small crumbled pieces in the moisture can put the cover
on the can.
9. Take the other ellipsoidal soil masses formed in Step 4 and repeat
Steps 5 through 8.
10. Determine the mass of the moisture can plus the wet soil (W2) in
grams. Remove the cap from the top of the can and place the can in
the oven (with the cap at the bottom of the can).
11. After about 24 hours, remove the can from the oven and determine
the mass of the can plus the dry soil (W3) in grams.
CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020
Calculation
• Determine the moisture content for each of the trials as:

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Calculation
• The results may be presented in a tabular form as shown in Table 7-1.
• If the liquid limit of the soil is known, calculate the plasticity index, PI,
as PI=LL - PL

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

 Example
No. A B

Weight of can (g) 33.1 37.2

Weight of can + wet soil
40.3 44.1
(g)
Weight of can + dry soil (g) 39 42.8

Moisture content,w (%) 22.03 23.21

Plastic Limit 22.6

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 Example
Container No. A B C Liquid Limit Test
40
Number of Blows 34 25 15 38

Water Content (%)

Weight of can (g) 44.5 46.1 45.9 36

34
Weight of can + wet soil (g) 73.5 72.3 70.6
32

Weight of can + dry soil (g) 66.2 65.4 63.8 30

Moisture content,w (%) 33.64 35.75 37.99 28

10 100
No. of Blows

LL = 36
PL = 23
PI = LL – PL = 36-23 = 13

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• The plasticity index (PI) is the difference between the liquid limit and
the plastic limit of a soil, PI = LL – PL.
• Qualitative classification of the plasticity index:

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• The plasticity index is important in classifying fine-grained soils. It is
fundamental to the Casagrande plasticity chart, which is currently the
basis for the Unified Soil Classification System.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• plasticity index can be correlated to the flow index as obtained from
the liquid limit tests.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• The slope of the flow line is defined as the flow index and may be
written as;

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• Plasticity Chart:
• Liquid and plastic limits are determined by relatively simple
laboratory tests that provide information about the nature of
cohesive soils.
• Engineers have used the tests extensively for the correlation of
several physical soil parameters as well as for soil identification.
• Casagrande (1932) studied the relationship of the plasticity index to
the liquid limit of a wide variety of natural soils. On the basis of the
test results, he proposed a plasticity chart as shown in Figure 4.21.
CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020
Comments
• Plasticity Chart:

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• The important feature of this chart is the empirical A-line that is given by
the equation: PI = 0.73(LL - 20).
• An A-line separates the inorganic clays from the inorganic silts. Inorganic
clay values lie above the A-line, and values for inorganic silts lie below the
A-line. Organic silts plot in the same region (below the A-line and with LL
ranging from 30 to 50) as the inorganic silts of medium compressibility.
Organic clays plot in the same region as inorganic silts of high
compressibility (below the A-line and LL greater than 50).
• Note that a line called the U-line lies above the A-line. The U-line is
approximately the upper limit of the relationship of the plasticity index to
the liquid limit for any currently known soil. The equation for the U-line can
be given as: PI = 0.9(LL - 8)

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• The information provided in the plasticity chart is of great value and is
the basis for the classification of fine-grained soils in the Unified Soil
Classification System.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• The liquid limit and the plasticity index of cohesive soils are important
parameters for classification purposes.
• The plasticity index is also used to determine the activity, A, of a
clayey soil which is defined as;

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Comments
• Table 4.3 gives the ranges of liquid limit, plastic limit, and activity of
some clay minerals.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

General Comments
• Liquidity Index: The relative consistency of a cohesive soil in the natural
state can be defined by a ratio called the liquidity index, which is given by:

• where “w” = in situ moisture content of soil.

• The in situ moisture content for a sensitive clay may be greater than the
liquid limit. In this case, LI > 1 (Figure 4.16). These soils, when remolded,
can be transformed into a viscous form to flow like a liquid.
• Soil deposits that are heavily over-consolidated may have a natural
moisture content less than the plastic limit. In this case (Figure 4.16), LI < 0.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

General Comments
• Another index that is commonly used for engineering purposes is the
consistency index (CI), which may be defined as:

• where w = in situ moisture content. If w is equal to the liquid limit,

the consistency index is zero. Again, if w = PL, then CI = 1. Table 4.4
gives an approximate correlation between CI and the unconfined
compression strength of clay.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

General Comments

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

General Comments
• Activity: Because the plasticity of soil is caused by the adsorbed water
that surrounds the clay particles, we can expect that the type of clay
minerals and their proportional amounts in a soil will affect the liquid
and plastic limits.
• The plasticity index of a soil increases linearly with the percentage of
clay-size fraction (% finer than 2 um by weight) (Figure 4.18).
• The correlations of PI with the clay-size fractions for different clays
plot separate lines. This difference is due to the diverse plasticity
characteristics of the various types of clay minerals.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

General Comments
• The slope of the line correlating PI and % finer than 2 um is called
activity. This activity may be expressed as:

• where A = activity.
• C’ is a constant for a given soil.
• Activity is used as an index for identifying the swelling potential of
clay soils.

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

General Comments

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 THANKS

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Assignment # 1

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020

Assignment # 1

CE 209L Engr. Aamir Raza Spring 2020