Module 1

Laboratory and field identification of soils –

Consistency Limits
 Shrinkage Limit

If a saturated soil sample is taken (with water content, a little

over the liquid limit) and allowed to dry up gradually, its volume
will go on decreasing till a stage will come after which the
reduction in the water content will not result in further reduction
in the total volume of the sample; the water content
corresponding to this stage is known as the shrinkage limit.
 Test for Shrinkage Limit
Apparatus:

Porcelain evaporating dish of about 12 cm diameter with float

bottom, a shrinkage dish of stainless steel with flat bottom, 45
mm in diameter and 15 mm high, two glass plates, each 75
mm × 75 mm, 3 mm thick—one plain glass, and the other with
three metal prongs, glass cup 50 mm in diameter and 25 mm
high, with its top rim ground smooth and level, straight edge,
spatula, oven, mercury desiccator, balances and sieves
(IS: 2720, Part VI–1972).
Preparation of soil paste
1. Take about 100 gm of soil sample from a thoroughly mixed
portion of the material passing through 425-mm I.S. sieve.

2. Place about 30 gm the above soil sample in the evaporating

dish and thoroughly mixed with distilled water and make a creamy
paste. (Use water content slightly higher than the liquid limit.)

Filling the shrinkage dish

3. Coat the inside of the shrinkage dish with a thin layer of
Vaseline to prevent the soil sticking to the dish.

4. Fill the dish in three layers by placing approximately 1/3 rd of

the amount of wet soil with the help of spatula. Tap the dish gently
on a firm base until the soil flows over the edges and no apparent
air bubbles exist. Repeat this process for 2nd and 3rd layers also
till the dish is completely filled with the wet soil. Strike off the
excess soil and make the top of the dish smooth. Wipe off all the
soil adhering to the outside of the dish.
4. Weigh immediately, the dish with wet soil and record the weight.

5. Air- dry the wet soil cake for 6 to 8 hrs, until the colour of the pat
turns from dark to light. Then oven-dry the cake at 1050C to
1100C say about 12 to 16 hrs.

6. Remove the dried disk of the soil from oven. Cool it in a

desiccator. Then obtain the weight of the dish with dry sample.

7. Determine the weight of the empty dish and record.

8. Determine the volume of shrinkage dish which is evidently

equal to volume of the wet soil as follows. Place the shrinkage
dish in an evaporating dish and fill the dish with mercury till it
overflows slightly. Press it with plain glass plate firmly on its top
to remove excess mercury. Pour the mercury from the shrinkage
dish into a measuring jar and find the shrinkage dish volume
directly. Record this volume as the volume of wet soil pat ( or
weight/unit weight 0.136 N/cm2).
Volume of the Dry Soil Pat

9. Determine the volume of dry soil pat by removing the pat

from the shrinkage dish and immersing it in the glass cup full of
mercury in the following manner.

� Place the glass cup in a larger one and fill the glass cup to
overflowing with mercury. Remove the excess mercury by
covering the cup with glass plate with prongs and pressing it.
See that no air bubbles are entrapped. Wipe out the outside of
the glass cup to remove the adhering mercury. Then, place it in
another larger dish, which is, clean and empty carefully.

� Place the dry soil pat on the mercury. It floats- submerge it

with the pronged glass plate which is again made flush with top
of the cup. The mercury spills over into the larger plate. Pour the
mercury that is displayed by the soil pat into the measuring jar
and find the volume of the soil pat directly.
Approximate Value of G from Shrinkage Limit

If the shrinkage limit is already determined

 Shrinkage Ratio (R)

‘Shrinkageratio’ (R) is defined as the ratio of the volume change

expressed as per cent of the dry volume to the corresponding
change in moisture content from the initial value to the shrinkage
limit:
Volumetric Shrinkage (Vs )

The ‘Volumetric Shrinkage’ (or Volumetric change Vs ) is defined

as the decrease in the volume of a soil mass, expressed as a
percentage of the dry volume of the soil mass, when the water
content is reduced from an initial value to the shrinkage limit:
Degree of Shrinkage (Sr)

‘Degree of Shrinkage’ (Sr ) is expressed as the ratio of the

difference between initial volume and final volume of the soil
sample to its initial volume.
UNCONFINED COMPRESSION STRENGTH
AND SENSITIVITY OF CLAYS

The unconfined compression strength of a clay soil is obtained by

subjecting an unsupported cylindrical clay sample to axial
compressive load, and conducting the test until the sample fails in
shear. The compressive stress at failure, giving due allowance to
the reduction in area of cross-section, is termed the ‘unconfined
compression strength’ (qu).
If the original structure is altered by reworking or remoulding or
chemical changes, resulting in changes in the orientation and
arrangement of the particles, the strength or the clay gets
decreased, even without alteration in the water content.

It is known that the strength of a remoulded clay soil is affected by

water content.

‘Sensitivity (St )’ of a clay is defined as the ratio of the its

unconfined compression strength in the natural or undisturbed
state to that in the remoulded state, without any change in the
water content:
Classification based on sensitivity
THIXOTROPY OF CLAYS
When clays with a flocculent structure are used in construction, these
may lose some strength as a result of remoulding. With passage of
time, however, the strength increases, though not back to the original
value.

This phenomenon of strength loss-strength gain, with no change in

volume or water content, is called ‘Thixotropy’.

The loss of strength on remoulding is partly due to the permanent

destruction of the structure in the in-situ condition, and partly due to
the reorientation of the molecules in the adsorbed layers.

The strength loss due to destruction of structure cannot be recouped

with time.

The gain in strength is due to the rehabilitation of the molecular

structure of the soil.
DENSITY INDEX/RELATIVE DENSITY

Density Index or relative(ID, indicates the relative compactness of

the soil mass.

This is used in relation to coarse-grained soils or sands.

In a dense condition, the void ratio is low whereas in a loose

condition, the void ratio is high.

Density index/Relative density

Problems:

The Atterberg limits of a clay soil are: Liquid limit = 75%; Plastic
limit = 45%; and Shrinkage limit = 25%. If a sample of this soil has
a volume of 30 cm3 at the liquid limit and a volume 16.6 cm3 at the
shrinkage limit, determine the specific gravity of solids, shrinkage
ratio, and volumetric shrinkage.

Hint:
Solutions:
Problems:

The mass specific gravity of a saturated specimen of clay is

1.84 when the water content is 38%. On oven drying the mass
specific gravity falls to 1.70. Determine the specific gravity of
solids and shrinkage limit of the clay.
Solutions:
Problems:

The dry unit weight of a sand sample in the loosest state is

13.34 kN/m3 and in the densest state, it is 21.19 kN/m3.
Determine the density index of this sand when it has a
porosity of 33%. Assume the grain specific gravity as 2.68.
Solution:
Thank You