FACULTY : ENGINEERING

EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY GEOTECHNIC LABORATORY

(MAKMAL TEKNOLOGI KEJURUTERAAN GEOTEKNIK)

LABORATORY INSTRUCTION SHEETS

COURSE CODE AND NAMA
BNP 20903 / SOIL MECHANIC AND FOUNDATION
KOD DAN NAMA KURSUS
EXPERIMENT NO.
EXP 5(b)
NO. UJIKAJI
EXPERIMENT TITLE
FIELD DENSITY (SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD)
TAJUK UJIKAJI
DATE OF EXPERIMENT
TARIKH UJIKAJI
NAME MATRIX NO.
NAMA NO. MATRIK
1.

GROUP NO. 2.
NO. KUMPULAN
3.

4.

5.

LECTURER / INSTRUCTOR 1.
PENSYARAH / INSTRUKTOR 2.

RECEIVED DATE AND STAMP

TOTAL MARK (FROM RUBRIC

ASSESSMENT)
JUMLAH MARKAH (DARI
RUBRIK PENILAIAN)
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

STUDENT CODE OF ETHICS

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

I hereby declare that I have prepared this report with my own efforts. I also admit to

not accept or provide any assistance in preparing this report and anything that is in it

is true.

1) Group Leader __________________________________ (Signature)

Name : __________________________________
Matrix No. : __________________________________

2) Group Member 1 ___________________________________ (Signature)

Name : ___________________________________
Matrix No : ___________________________________

3) Group Member 2 __________________________________ (Signature)

Name : __________________________________
Matrix No. : __________________________________

4) Group Member 3 __________________________________ (Signature)

Name : __________________________________
Matrix No. : __________________________________
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

1.0 OBJECTIVE
Determine the in situ density of natural or compacted soils using sand pouring cylinders.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of this experiment, students are able to:
 Understand the relationship between compaction effort and the density of soil on site.
 Obtain the in situ density of natural soil and compacted soil.

3.0 THEORY
Sometimes it is important to know the density of in-situ for design purpose. This can be done by mean
of sand replacement method. Determining the in situ density of natural or compacted soils using sand
pouring cylinders requires simple method of analysis. The in situ density of natural soil is needed for the
determination of bearing capacity of soils, for the purpose of stability analysis of slopes, for the
determination of pressures on underlying strata for the calculation of settlement and the design of
underground structures. It is a very important quality control test, where compaction is required, in the
cases like embankment, earthdam and pavement construction. This along with the Core Cutter is one
of the older, more labor intensive methods of determining density. It is used on boulder clays and
granular fills.

FIGURE 1 Sand Cone Equipment

 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

4.0 TEST EQUIPMENTS

Test equipment Picture

Sand pouring cylinder of 3 litre/16.5 litre capacity,
mounted above a pouring cone and separated by a
shutter cover plate.

Cylindrical calibrating container with an internal

diameter of 100mm/200 mm and an internal depth
of 150 mm/250 mm fitted with a flange 50 mm/75
mm wide and about 5 mm thick surrounding the
open end.

Balance, sensitive up to 0.01g.

 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Tools for excavating holes; suitable tools such as

scraper tool to make a level surface.

Metal tray (300 mm/450 mm square and 40 mm/50

mm deep with a 100 mm/200 mm diameter hole in
the centre).

Oven - 105°C to110°C.

 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Clean, uniformly graded natural sand passing

through 1.00 mm sieve and retained on the
600micron sieve. It shall be free from organic
matter and shall have been oven dried and
exposed to atmospheric humidity.

5.0 MATERIAL
Material PICTURE
Clean, uniformly graded natural sand passing
through 1.00 mm sieve and retained on the
600micron sieve. It shall be free from organic
matter and shall have been oven dried and
exposed to atmospheric humidity.

PROCEDURES

Calibration of the cylinder:

Procedure Picture
Measure the internal dimensions (internal diameter, D
and height, H) of the calibrating container and find its
volume.

Determine mass of empty sand pouring cylinder (M o)

accurately to 0.1g.
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Fill the clean uniformly graded standard sand in the

sand pouring cylinder up to a height of 1cm from the top
with the shutter closed.

Determine mass of cylinder + sand before pouring, (M 1)

and this mass should be maintained constant
throughout the test for which the calibration is used.

Allow the sand of volume equal to that of the calibrating

container to run out of the cylinder by opening the
shutter. When no further movement is seen, close the
shutter, close the shutter and determine the mass of
cylinder + sand after pouring, M2.
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Place the sand cone-pouring cylinder on a paper placed

on a horizontal table. Open the shutter again and allow
the sand to flow and fill the cone.

Close the shutter. Find the mass of sand on paper as a

mass of sand in cone, (M3).

Repeat steps 3-7 at least thrice and find the mean

mass, (Mi).

Determination of bulk density of sand:

Procedure Picture
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Place the sand-pouring cylinder concentrically on the top

of the calibrating container with the shutter closed making
sure that constant mass is maintained.

Open the shutter of cylinder and allow the sand to move

into the container. When no further movement is seen,
close the shutter and find the mass of sand left in the
cylinder, (M5).

Determine mass of sand in a calibrating container, Mc.

Repeat steps 2 – 3 at least thrice and find the mean mass

(Mii)
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
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TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Determination of field density of soil

Procedure Picture
Level surface of the soil in the open field.

Place metal tray on the surface haring a circular hole of 10

cm diameter at the center. Dig a hole of this diameter up
to about 15 cm depth. Collect all the excavated soil in a
tray and find the mass of excavated soil, (M A).

Determine mass of sand before pouring, M6.

 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

Remove the tray and place the sand-purring cylinder

concentrically on the hole. Open the shutter and allow the
sand to run into hole till no further movement of sand is
noticed. Close the shutter and determine mass of sand
which is left in the cylinder, (M7).

The representative sample is taken from the excavated

soil for determination of water content.
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

DATA SHEET

1) Determination of Mass of sand in the cone

1. Volume of calibrating container (Vc) (ml)

2. Mass of cylinder, Mo (g)
3. Mass of cylinder + sand before pouring, M1 (g)
4. Mass of cylinder + sand after pouring, M2 (g)
5. Mass of sand in cone, M3 (g)

B) Determination of bulk density of sand

1. Mass of sand in cylinder before pouring, M 4 = M1 – Mo (g)

2. Mass of sand left in cylinder after pouring, M5 = M2 – M0 (g)
3. Mass of sand to filling calibrating containers, Mc = M4 – M5 – M3
(g)
4. Bulk density of sand, ps = Mc / VC (g/cm3)

C) Bulk density and unit weight of soil

1. Mass of excavated soil, MA (g)

2. Mass of sand in cylinder before pouring, M 6 (g.)

2. Mass of sand in cylinder after pouring in the hole, M7 (g.)

3. Mass of sand in the hole, MS = M6 – M7 – M0 (g)

M
4. Bulk density of soil,    s (g/cm3)
Ms

5. Dry density of soil  d  (g/cm 3)
1 w
 FACULTY : ENGINEERING
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
REVISION NO.:
LABORATORY: GEOTECHNIC
EXPERIMENT : DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE:
FIELD DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE
AMENDMENT DATE:
SAND REPLACEMENT METHOD

8.0 DATA ANALYSIS (result and calculation)

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9.0 DISCUSSION (discuss the results obtained from this testing and compare with results obtained from
sand replacement method, and contains a comprehensive discussion of error or confounding variables
and what can be done to improve the accuracy of the lab)
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10.0 QUESTIONS

a. What is the significance of in-situ density of soil?

b. Field engineers are often found talking of optimum moisture content (OMC) conditions while
constructing of road sub-grade. Define and explain this term, bringing out clearly the importance it
posses and the methods by which it is controlled.
c. Discuss the method of compaction of (a) cohesion less soil (b) cohesive soils

Prepared by/Disediakan oleh : Approved by/Disahkan oleh :

Signature/Tandatangan : Signature/Tandatangan :
Name/Nama : DR. TUAN NOOR HASANAH BT Name/Nama : ASSOC. PROF DR.
TUAN ISMAIL SURAYA HANI ADNAN

Date/Tarikh : FEBRUARY 2018 Date/ Date/Tarikh : FEBRUARY 2018