1.

0 OBJECTIVE
To Determine the Liquid Limits of Soil Using Cone Penetrometer Methods.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME
At the end of this experiment, student are able to:
Conduct the liquid limit experiment.
Determine the liquid limit value for soil.
Identify the importance and application of liquid limit test.

3.0 THEORY
The properties of fine grains soils are largely dependent on their consistency, which is itself
related to the moister content of a dry sample of such a soil is increased is its state gradually
changes from that of a solid, through semi-solid, through plastic and finally into a liquid
form. The arbitrary boundaries between these phases are called the "consistency limits" and
the Atterberg limits provide a means of measuring and describing the plasticity range in
numerical terms. If sufficient water is mixed with clay, it can be made into slurry, which
behaves as a viscous liquid. This is known as the liquid state. If the moisture content is
gradually reduced by allowing it to dry out slowly, the clay eventually begins to hold
together and to offer some resistance to deformation; this is the plastic state. With further
loss of water the clay shrinks and the stiffness increases until there is little plasticity left, and
the clay becomes brittle; this is the semi-solid state. As drying continues, the clay continues
to shrink in proportion to the amount of water lost, until it reaches the minimum volume
attainable by this process. Beyond that point further drying results in no further decrease in
volume, and this is called the solid state.
These four states, or phases, are shown diagrammatically in Figure 1.1. The change from one
phase to the next is not observable as a precise boundary, but takes place as a gradual
transition. Nevertheless three arbitrary but specific boundaries have been established
empirically, as indicated in Figure 1.1, and are universally recognised. The moisture contents
at these boundaries are known as the:
Liquid limit (LL) (symbol wL)
Plastic limit (PL) (symbol wp) The Atterberg limits or consistency limits
Shrinkage limit (SL) (symbol w5)


The "liquid limit" (LL) is the minimum moisture content at which a soil is assumed to flow
under its own weight, which corresponds to 25 blows in the Casagrande test or 20 mm
penetration in the Penetrometer test The "shrinkage limit" (SL) is the water content at
which further decrease in moisture does not cause a decrease in volume of the soil.

The "plasticity index" (P1) is the range of moisture content over which the soil is plastic and
is given by the expression,
PI = LL PL
The moisture content range between the PL and LL is known as the plasticity index (P1)
(symbol Ip), and is a measure of the plasticity of the clay. Cohesionless soils have no
plasticity phase, so their PT is zero.
The tests to determine the Atterberg limits are carried out only on the fraction of soil which
passes a 425 pm sieve. For soils that contain particles coarser than that size, the particles
retained on the 425 pm sieve must be removed as part of the sample preparation procedure.
The relationship between the consistency limits and the volume of a soil sample is shown in
Figure 1.2.



Figure 1.1 : Phases of soil and the Atterberg limit



Figure 1.2 : Consistency limits/volume relationship of a cohesive soil

4.0 EQUIPMENTS
I. Penetrometer apparatus complying with the requirements of BS 1377 : Part 2: 1990.
II. Cone for the penetrometer, the main features of which are as follows;
stainless steel or duralumin,
smooth and polished surface,
length approximately 35 mm and cone angle 30
sharp point and mass of cone and sliding shaft 80 g 0.1 g
III. Sharpness gauge for cone, consisting of a small steel plate 1.75 mm 0.1 mm thick with a
1.5 mm 0.02 mm diameter hole accurately drilled and reamed.
IV. Flat glass plate, about 500mm square and 10mm thick, with bevelled edges and rounded
corners.
V. Metal cups, of brass or aluminium alloy, 55m diameter and 40mm deep. The rim must be
parallel to the base, which must be flat.
VI. Wash bottle containing distilled or de-ionised water.
VII. Metal straight-edge, about 100 mm long
VIII. Palette knives or spatulas ( two 200 mm long x 30 mm, one 150 mm long x 25mm, one
100mm long x 20mm)
IX. Moisture content apparatus .




Figure 1.3 : Apparatus for cone penetrometer liquid test















5.0 PROCEDURES

1. Selection and preparation of sample
(a) Place a sample an about 300 gram soil passing 425 m test sieve on the glass plate.
(b) Use the natural material if possible; if not use the wet preparation method.
(c) If the plastic limit test is also to be done, set aside a small portion in a sealed bag or container
before adding too much water, and while the soil is still firm.
(d)

Figure 1.4 : Selection and preparation of sample

2. Checking apparatus
(a) The cone designed specially for testing soils must be fitted.
(b) Mass of cone and stem 800.1 g. This is most important. The stem is hollow, so that Lead -
shot can be inserted to bring the cone and stem assembly to the specified mass.
(c) Sharpness of the cone point can be checked by pushing the tip into the hole of the sharpness
gauge plate. If the point cannot be felt when brushed lightly with the tip of the finger, the cone
should be replaced.
(d) The cone must fall freely when the release button is pushed, and the sliding shaft must be
clean and dry.
(e) The penetration dial indicator should be calibrated by inserting gauge blocks between the stem
of the indicator and the top of the cone sliding shaft. Alternatively calibrated vernier calipers
could be used.
(f) The apparatus must stand on a firm level bench.
(g) If the apparatus is fitted with an automatic timing device, this should automatically lock the cone
shaft assembly 5 seconds after pressing the button which releases it.
(h) This time interval should be verified against a reference timer.

3. Mixing and working
(a) Mix the soil paste on the glass plate with the spatulas for at least10 minutes.
(b) Some soils, especially heavy clays, may need a longer mixing time, up to 4 minutes.
(c) If necessary add more distilled or de-ionised water to give a cone penetration of about 15mm,
and mix well in. It is essential to obtain a uniform distribution of water throughout the sample.
(d) Keep the soil together near the middle of the glass plate, to minimise drying out due to exposure
to air.


Figure 1.5 : Process to mixing the soil
4. Placing in cup
(a) Press the soil paste against the side of the cup, to avoid trapping air.
(b) Press more paste well into the bottom of the cup, without creating an air-pocket,
(c) Fill the middle and press well down. The small spatula is convenient for these operations,
(d) The top surface is finally smoothed off level with the rim using the straight-edge.



Figure 1.6 : Placing soil in a cup

5. Adjustment of cone
(a) Lock the cone and shaft unit near the upper end of its travel and lower the supporting assembly
carefully.
(b) Make sure that the tip of the cone is within a few millimeters from the surface of the soil in the cup.
(c) Hold the cone, press the release button and adjust the height of the cone so that the tip just
touches the soil surface.
(d) A small sideways movement of the cup should just mark the surface.



Figure 1.7 : Adjustment of cone

(6) Adjustment of dial gauge
(a) Lower the stem of the dial gauge to make contact with the top of the cone shaft.
(b) Record the reading of the dial gauge to the nearest 0.1 mm (R
1
).
(c) Alternatively, if the pointer is mounted on a friction sleeve, adjust the pointer to read zero (i.e. R
1
=
0).


Figure 1.8 : Adjustment of dial gauge

(7) Measuring cone penetration
(a) Allow the cone to fall by pressing the button, which must be held in the pressed position for 5
seconds, timed with a seconds timer or watch.
(b) If an auto-timer is used it is necessary only to press the button and release it immediately.
(c) Automatic re-locking of the stem is indicated by a click. Record the dial reading to the nearest
0.1 mm (R
2
).
(d) Record the difference between R
1
and R
2
as the cone penetration.
(e) If the pointer was initially set to read zero, the reading R
2
gives the cone penetration directly.
(f) A range of penetration values from about 15mm to 25mm should be covered, fairly uniformly
distributed.



Figure 1.9 : Press the button to fall the cone and take a reading

(8) Repeat penetration
(a) Lift out the cone and clean it carefully.
(b) Avoid touching the sliding stem.
Add a little more wet soil to the cup, without entrapping air, smooth off, and repeat stages (5), (6) and (7).
(9) Moisture content measurement
This is placed in a numbered moisture content container, which is weighed, oven dried and weighed as in
the standard moisture content procedure according to BS 1377 : Part 2: 1990.
(a) Weight the empty moisture content container
(b) Take a moisture content sample of about 10 g from the area penetrated by the cone, using the tip
of a small spatula.
(c) Weight the wet sample
(d) Dry in the oven for about 24 hours (overnight)
(e) Weight the dry sample


(a) (b) (c)


(d) (e)
Figure 1.10 : Process to take a moisture content.



















6.0 RESULT AND CALCULATION

DATA SHEET
Location : FKAAS Loc. No. : U1
Soil description: Silty CLAY Sample No. :
Sample type : Undisturbed Depth of Sample : 1.5 m
Operator: Group 12 Date Started : 14/9/2014

Test Number Units 1 2 3 4
Dial Gauge Reading (Start) mm 0 0 0 0
Dial Gauge Reading (End) mm 15.7 15.2 17.0 16.6 18.3 21.5 24.1 24.3
Cone penetration mm 15.7 15.2 17.0 16.6 18.3 21.5 24.1 24.3
Average penetration mm 15.45 16.80 19.90 24.20

Can Number 1 2 3 4
Mass of can + moist soil (M
cws
) gram 19 16 15 31
Mass of can + dry soil (M
cs
) gram 17.3 14.5 13.7 24.7
Mass of can (M
c
) gram 10 10 10 10
Mass of dry soil (M
s
) gram 7.3 4.5 3.7 14.7
Mass of water (M
w
) gram 1.7 1.5 1.3 6.3
Water content % 23.29 33.33 35.14 42.86











Liquid Limit (LL) = 35 %


7.0 CALCULATIONS

a) To determine the value of mass of dry soil (M
S
)

Mass of dry soil (M
s
) = [Mass of can + dry soil (M
CS
)] [Mass of can (M
C
)]
i) Mass of dry soil (M
s
) = 17.3 - 10.0 = 7.3g
ii) Mass of dry soil (M
s
) = 14.5 - 10.0 = 4.5 g
iii) Mass of dry soil (M
s
) = 13.7 - 10.0 = 3.7 g
iv) Mass of dry soil (M
s
) = 24.7 10.0 = 14.7 g




0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 10 20 30 40 50

p
e
n
e
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

c
o
n
e


Moisture Content
Penetration of Cone (mm) vs
Moisture Content (%)
Test Number Units 1 2 3 4
Can Number 1 2 3 4
Mass of can + dry soil (M
cs
) gram 17.3 14.5 13.7 24.7
Mass of can (M
c
) gram 10 10 10 10
b) To determine the value of mass of water (M
W
)

Test Number Units 1 2 3 4
Can Number 1 2 3 4
Mass of can + moist soil (M
cws
) gram 19 16 15 31
Mass of can + dry soil (M
cs
) gram 17.3 14.5 13.7 24.7

Mass of water (M
W
) = [Mass of can + moist soil] [Mass of can + dry soil ]
i) Mass of water (M
W
) = 19.0 - 17.30 = 1.7 g
ii) Mass of water (M
W
) = 19.0 14.50 = 1.5 g
iii) Mass of water (M
W
) = 19.0 13.70 = 1.3 g
iv) Mass of water (M
W
) = 19.0 24.7 = 6.3 g

c) To determine the value of water content, %

Test Number Units 1 2 3 4
Can Number 1 2 3 4
Mass of dry soil (M
s
) gram 7.3 4.5 3.7 14.7
Mass of water (M
w
) gram 1.7 1.5 1.3 6.3

Water content, w = x 100%
i) Water content, w = 1.7 X 100 = 23.29%
7.3
ii) Water content, w = 1.5 X 100 = 33.33%
4.5
iii) Water content, w = 1.3 X 100 = 35.14%
3.7
iv) Water content, w = 6.3 X 100 = 43.86%
14.7

8.0 DISCUSSIONS





9.0 CONCLUSION













10.0 QUESTIONS 1]
11.0
(a) What are the definitions of liquid and plastic limit?

The plastic limits is the water content, in percent, of a soil at the boundary
between the plastic and semi- solid states.

The liquid limit (LL) is the water content, in percent, of a soil at the arbitrarily
defined boundary between the semi-liquid and plastic states.












(b) A sample of wet clay and its container weigh 102g. After oven drying the sample and
the container weigh 60 g. What is the water content?

clay soil + container = 102 g
Dry soil + container = 60 g
Container = 10 g
So, dry soil, M
2
= 60 10 = 50 g
And wet soil, M
1
= 102 10 50 = 42 g
% 16 % 100
50
50 42
% 100
2
2 1

M
M M
w
Therefore, plastic limit for the soil is 16%
QUESTIONS 2
(a) What are alternatives methods to define liquid limit and give brief explanation?
The liquid limit

is determined through the use of Casagrande deviceThrough the first method we
determine the liquid limit when a sampleof soil with a horizontal and smooth surface
placed in the bowl of thedevice and divided by a grooving tool into two parts which
need 25hits of the bowl to the base to close the gap between them in a lengthof 12.5+-
0.5 mm namely at a rate of 2 hits per second.

(b) Briefly explain why the reading is taken after 5 second?
To allow the cone fall until get the max liquid limit.