FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

PERMATANG PAUH

TITLE: MINI PROJECT

1) INTRODUCTION.
The compaction test is generally performed to obtain the values of compaction test
parameters, namely the optimum moisture content and the maximum dry unit weight,
which are required for achieving maximum densification of the soil in field with a given
compaction energy per unit volume of the soil. Soil placed as engineering fill is compacted to
a dense state to obtain satisfactory engineering properties such as, shear strength,
compressibility, or permeability. In addition, foundation soils are often compacted to
improve their engineering properties. Laboratory compaction tests provide the basis for
determining the percent compaction and moulding water content needed to achieve the
required engineering properties, and for controlling construction to assure that the required
compaction and water contents are achieved.

Determination of field density of cohesion less soil is not possible by core cutter
method, because it is not possible to obtain a core sample. In such situation, the sand
replacement method is employed to determine the unit weight. In sand replacement
method, a small cylindrical pit is excavated and the weight of the soil excavated from the pit
is measured. Sand whose density is known is filled into the pit. By measuring the weight of
sand required to fill the pit and knowing its density the volume of pit is calculated. Knowing
the weight of soil excavated from the pit and the volume of pit, the density of soil is
calculated. Therefore, in this experiment there are two stages, namely:

1. Calibration of sand density.

2. Measurement of soil density.

The California Bearing Ratio Test (CBR Test) is a penetration test developed by California
State Highway Department (U.S.A.) for evaluating the bearing capacity of subgrade soil
for design of flexible pavement. The results obtained by CBR test are used with the empirical
curves to determine the thickness of different layers of flexible pavement like subgrade, sub
base and base courses. This is the most widely used method for the design of flexible
pavement. CBR value is used to quantify the response of the pavement foundation and
subgrade to loading. CBR does not provide any data regarding the properties of the soil
except as to compare its resistance to penetration to the base crushed rock’s resistance to
penetration. Although CBR test is empirical and has some limitations but it is still used
around the world due to its low equipment requirement, ease of performance prediction
and history of use. The two empirical methods for pavement design used now days are CBR
method and Group Index Method. In CBR method beside many other steps one step is to
determine the CBR value. This test allows the Engineer to design the Capping Layer and the
sub-base layer by determining the strength of the underlying soil.
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

OBJECTIVE.
1. To determine the compaction parameters of the soil in laboratory
2. To determine the field density test of the soil and find out the relative compaction
of the site.
3. To conduct an empirical test for estimating the bearing value of the road bases

2) SUMMARY OF PROCEDURE.

A) Compaction test
All experiments was conducted according to standard procedure BS1377-4:1990.
This experiment was carried out as listed in the flowchart:

All the required apparatus such as a standard proctor mould, hammer,

balanced weight, measuring cylinder and tray

The mould and base plate are cleaned. Then, the mould and base plate are
weight and recorded as W1.

About 3 kg of dried soil is taken into a tray. The dried soil is poured with
distilled water of 5% from the total weight of dried soil and then the dried soil
is mixed.

The mixed soil is filled into mould that attached with the collar by 3 layer. Each
layer is compacted using the hammer with 27 blows. The collar is separated
from the mould and the excess soil at the top of mould is cut with straight
edge. The mould with compacted soil is weighed and recorded as W2.
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

The compacted soil is taken from the mould by using extruder. A small of soil
specimen is kept into the oven for water content determination.

The steps of the procedure is repeated by adding the distilled water of 8%,
11%, 14%, 17% and 20% from the total weight of dried soil.

B) Field Test: Sand Replacement Method

All experiments was conducted according to standard procedure is IS 2720-Part-
28-1974.This experiment was carried out as listed in the flowchart:

Part 1

All the required apparatus such as Sand pouring cylinder, Calibrating can,
Place back the W2 amount of sand into the SPC, so that its weight
Metal tray with a central
becomes hole, Dry to
equal sandW1.(passing
The SPC through 600 micron
concentrically aresieve),
place on top of the
Balance, Moisture content bins,can.
calibrating Metal
Thetray,
slit Scraper tool
are open to sets was
allow thecollected.
sand to The
run down until the
dimensions of the sand
calibrating
flow can
stopsarebymeasured
itself. Theandslititsare
internal
close volume are weighed with
again and
computed. remaining sand as W3
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

The sand pouring cylinder (SPC) is filled with sand with 1 cm top clearance and
are weighed as W1

The SPC is placed on a glass plate, the slit above the cone is opened by
operating valve and allowed the sand to run down. The sand freely run down
and the conical portion is filled. The slit is closed when there is no further
downward movement of sand in SPC. The weight of sand required to fill the
cone are weight as W2

The W2 amount of sand is placed into the SPC, so that its weight becomes
equal to W1. The SPC is concentrically placed on top of the calibrating can. The
slit is opened to allow the sand to run down until the sand flow stops by itself.
Then the slit is closed again and weighed with remaining sand as W3
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

Part 2

The ground surface where the field density is determined, cleaned and
levelled.

The tray with a central hole was placed over the portion of the soil had tested .

Through the hole in the plate, a pit is excavated into the ground 15 cm
deep.

The excavated soil is collected into the tray and weighed as (W)

The moisture of the excavated soil is determined.

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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

The SPC had the latest weight of W1 is placed over the pit so that the base
of the cylinder covered the pit concentrically

The slit of the SPC is opened to allow the sand to run into the pit freely until
there is no downward movement of sand level in the SPC and then the slit
is closed.

The SPC with the remaining sand is weighed as (W4)

C) The California Bearing Ratio Test (CBR Test)

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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

3) ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA.

A) Compaction Test

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Percentage water 5 8 11 14 17 20
added (%)
MC = Empty can (kg) 0.014 0.014 0.014 0.015 0.015 0.015
MCMS = Can + Moist 0.043 0.069 0.041 0.060 0.045 0.070
soil (kg)
MCDS = Can + dry soil 0.041 0.065 0.040 0.050 0.040 0.060
(kg)
MS = Mass of Soil 0.027 0.051 0.027 0.035 0.025 0.045
Solid (kg)
MW = Mass of pore 0.002 0.004 0.0003 0.005 0.005 0.010
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water (kg)
W = Water content 6 8 11 14 20 22
(%)

Mass of soil solids, MS = (Mass of can + dry soil, MCDS) - Mass of empty can, MC
Mass of pore water, MW = (Mass of can + moist soil, MCMS) - (Mass of can + dry
soil, MCDS)

Water content, W = Mass of pore water, MW x 100

Mass of soil solids, MS

Diameter of mould, d = 0.1 m

Length of mould, L = 0.11m
Mass of empty mould, M1 = 4.29 kg

Volume of mould = PI x r2 x h
= PI x 0.052 x 0.11
= 8.64 x 10-4 m3

Added water = 17 %
Mass of mould + Compacted soil, M2 = 6.325 kg
Water content = 20 %

ρ b = M2 – M1
V
= 6.325 – 4.29
8.64 x 10-4
= 2401.62 kg/m3

ρd = ρb
(1 + W)
= 2401.62
(1+ 0.2)
= 2001.35 kg/m3
= 2 Mg/m3

Added water = 20 %
Mass of mould + Compacted soil, M2 = 6.285 kg
Water content = 22 %
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
PERMATANG PAUH

ρ b = M2 – M1
V
= 6.285 – 4.29
8.64 x 10-4
=2309.03 kg/m3

ρd = ρb
(1 + W)
= 2309.03
(1+ 0.22)
= 1892.65 kg/m3
= 1.89 Mg/m3

B) Field Test: Sand Replacement Method

Part 1

W1 = weight of empty sand pouring cylinder

= 5.325 kg

W2 = weight of sand pouring cylinder and sand filled up to 10mm from top
edge
= 9.301 kg

W3 = weight of cylinder and sand after pouring into the calibration

container.
= 7.4832 kg

The weight of sand of sand filling the calibrating container only

= WA = W3 – W1
= 7.4832 – 5.325
= 2.1582 kg

Diameter of calibrating cylinder, d = 0.1 m

Height of calibrating cylinder, h = 0.15 m

(i) Volume of calibrating cylinder, VA =

= PI x 0.052 x 0.15
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= 1.178 x 10-3 m3

(ii) Bulk Density of sand, ρ b sand = WA

VA
= 2.1582
1.178 x 10-3
= 1832.09 kg/m3

Part 2

Weight of sand filling in the excavated hole, WB = 1.1016 kg

Weight of the soil from the excavated hole, W = 1.284 kg

Soil sample for determination of moisture content:

(i) Volume of sand filling the excavated hole, V = WB
ρ b sand
= 1.1016
1832.09
= 6.013 x 10-4 m3

(ii) In-situ bulk density of the wet excavated soil, ρ b soil = W

V
= 1.284
6.013 x 10-4
= 2135.37 kg/m3

(iii) Soil sample for determination of moisture content:

Sample A
MC = Empty can (kg) 0.015
MCMS = Can + Moist soil (kg) 0.047
MCDS = Can + dry soil (kg) 0.043
MS = Mass of soil solid (kg) 0.028
MW = Mass of pore water 0.004
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
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(kg)
W = Water content (%) 14.3

(iv) In-situ dry bulk density of the excavated soil , ρ d soil = ρ b soil
(1 + W)
= 2135.37
(1 + 0.143)
= 1868.22 kg/m3

C) The California Bearing Ratio Test (CBR Test)

Sr. No Load (div) Load (mm) Penetration (mm)

1. 20 0.5 4
2. 40 1.0 6
3. 60 1.5 8
4. 80 2.0 10
5. 90 2.5 12
6. 100 3.0 15
7. 120 3.5 18
8. 140 4.0 20
9. 160 4.5 23
10. 180 5.0 26
11. 200 5.5 28
12. 240 6.0 32
13. 260 6.5 35
14. 280 7.0 37
15. 300 7.5 42
16. 320 8.0 45
17. 340 8.5 49
18. 360 9.0 52
19. 380 9.5 56
20. 400 10.0 59
21. 420 10.5 63
22. 440 11.0 67
23. 460 11.5 70
24. 480 12.0 73
25. 500 12.5 74
26. 520 13.0 80
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27. 540 13.5 84

28. 560 14.0 86
29. 580 14.5 90
30. 600 15.0 92
31. 620 15.5 95
32. 640 16.0 98
33. 660 16.5 101
34. 680 17.0 103
35. 700 17.5 106
36. 720 18.0 109
37. 740 18.5 112
38. 760 19.0 115
39. 780 19.5 119
40. 800 20.0 121
41. 820 20.5 124
42. 840 21.0 127
43. 860 21.5 130
44. 880 22.0 133
45. 900 22.5 136
46. 920 23.0 139
47. 940 23.5 141
48. 960 24.0 146
49. 980 24.5 148
50. 1000 25.0 151
51. 1020 25.5 154
52. 1040 26.0 156
53. 1060 26.5 158
54. 1080 27.0 159
55. 1100 27.5 161
56. 1120 28.0 163
57. 1140 28.5 165
58. 1160 29.0 167
59. 1180 29.5 168
60. 1200 30.0 170
61. 1220 30.5 172
62. 1240 31.0 174
63. 1260 31.5 175
64. 1280 32.0 177
65. 1300 32.5 179
66. 1320 33.0 180
67. 1340 33.5 182
68. 1360 34.0 184
69. 1380 34.5 186
70. 1400 35.0 188
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71. 1420 35.5 190

72. 1440 36.0 192
73. 1460 36.5 193
74. 1480 37.0 195
75. 1500 37.5 198
76. 1520 38.0 199
77. 1540 38.5 201
78. 1560 39.0 203
79. 1580 39.5 204
80. 1600 40.0 206
81. 1620 40.5 208
82. 1640 41.0 210
83. 1660 41.5 211
84. 1680 42.0 213
85. 1700 42.5 215
86. 1720 43.0 217
87. 1740 43.5 218

Diameter of mould, d = 0.141 m

Length of mould, L = 0.14 m
Mass of empty mould, M1 = 7.085 kg

Volume of mould =
= PI x 0.07052 x 0.07
= 1.09 x 10-3 m3

Added water = 600 ml

Mass of mould + Compacted soil, M2 = 12.035 kg

ρ b = M2 – M1
V
= 12.035 – 7.085
1.09 x 10-3
= 4541.28 kg/m3

ρd = ρb
(1 + W)
= 4541.28
(1+ 0.6)
= 2838.3 kg/m3
= 2.8 Mg/m3

Sample No. Moisture Content (%) Dry Density (kg/m3)

1 60 2838.3
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4) DISCUSSION.

5) CONCLUSION.

6) REFERENCES.

1. Laboratory manual for geotechnical engineering

2. ROY WHITLOW. 2004. Basic Soil Mechanics (Fourth edition.) Pearson
Education South Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore.