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ESCUELA DE POSGRADO
GO
Plasticity Index of Soils
A. Overview
soil texture
degree of plasticity (Atterberg Limits)
Soil Texture Wentworth
Scale
Remove
Cobbles and
Boulders from
Analysis (>75mm)
Gravel
75-2 mm
Sand
2-0.075 mm
In percentage
8
(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)
C. Liquid Limit
Soil is practically a liquid
Shows minimal shear strength
Defined as the moisture content required
to close a distance of 0.5 inch along
the bottom of a groove after 25 blows
of the liquid limit device.
animation
C: Liquid Limit-LL
Casagrande Method
(ASTM D4318-95a)
Professor Casagrande standardized the test and developed the
liquid limit device.
C: Liquid Limit-LL
D. Plastic Limit
Water content at which the soil is a plastic
Less water content than liquid limit
Wide range of shear strengths at plastic limit
Defined as the moisture content % at which the
soil begins to crumble when rolled into 1/8
diameter threads
animation
D: Plastic Limit-PL
The plastic limit PL is defined as the water content at which a soil thread
with 3.2 mm diameter just crumbles.
ASTM D4318-95a, BS1377: Part 2:1990:5.3
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E. Plasticity Index (PI)
In general.
PI Degree of Plasticity
0 Nonplastic
1-5 Slightly plastic
5-10 Low plasticity
10-20 Medium plasticity
20-40 High plasticity
40+ Very high plasticity
(from Burmister, 1949)
Atterberg Limits
Particle size is not that useful for fine grained soils
SL - Shrinkage Limit
PL - Plastic Limit
LL - Liquid limit
Atterberg Limits
SL - Shrinkage Limit
PL - Plastic Limit
LL - Liquid limit
mass of water
Moisture content
mass of solids
Plasticity Index = LL - PL = PI or Ip
Shrinkage Limit-SL
Definition of
shrinkage limit:
The water content at
which the soil volume
ceases to change is
defined as the
SL shrinkage limit.
(Das, 1998)
Shrinkage Limit-SL (Cont.)
Soil volume: Vi
Soil mass: M1
Soil volume: Vf
Soil mass: M2
(Das, 1998)
SL w i (%) w (%)
M1 M 2 Vi Vf
(100) ( w )(100)
M2 M2
Plasticity Chart
L H
The A-line generally
separates the more
claylike materials
from silty materials,
PI
and the organics
from the inorganics.
The U-line indicates
the upper bound for
general soils.
LL
#200
#40
Procedure for AASHTO
Classification
Determine the percentage of soil passing
the #200 sieve
Determine the subgroups
For fine-grained soils (silt & clay), determine
the liquid limit and plasticity index
Determine soil group or subgroup from Table
9.2
AASHTO Classification for Soils
Determine the group index
Determine the Group Index (usually reflects the
relative strength of the material, where low values
have the greatest shear strength)
Determine the group index
fine
{e.g.: A-7-5(9)}
Example Problem
A-7-6(10)
Unified Soil Classification System
(USCS)
Origin of USCS:
This system was first developed by Professor A. Casagrande (1948) for
the purpose of airfield construction during World War II. Afterwards, it
was modified by Professor Casagrande, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enable the system to be
applicable to dams, foundations, and other construction (Holtz and Kovacs, 1981).
Atterberg limit
Symbols
Soil symbols: Liquid limit symbols:
G: Gravel H: High LL (LL>50)
S: Sand L: Low LL (LL<50)
M: Silt Gradation symbols:
C: Clay W: Well-graded
O: Organic P: Poorly-graded
Pt: Peat Well graded soil
1 Cc 3 and C u 4
Example: SW, Well-graded sand
(for gravels )
SC, Clayey sand 1 Cc 3 and C u 6
SM, Silty sand, (for sands )
MH, Elastic silt
Unified Soil Classification
To determine if W or P, calculate Cu and Cc
D60
Cu
D10 x% of the soil has particles
D302 smaller than Dx
Cc
(D60D10 )
Unified Soil Classification
To determine W or P, calculate Cu and Cc
D60
Cu
D10 x% of the soil has particles
D302 smaller than Dx
Cc
(D60D10 )
100
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
Example
100
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
D302
Cc
(D60D10 )
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
Grading curves
100
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
Grading curves
100
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
Grading curves
100
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
C Well graded with some clay
Grading curves
100
80
% Finer
60
40
20
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)
W Well graded
U Uniform
P Poorly graded
C Well graded with some clay
F Well graded with an excess of fines
Plasticity Chart
L H
The A-line generally
separates the more
claylike materials
from silty materials,
PI
and the organics
from the inorganics.
The U-line indicates
the upper bound for
general soils.
Fine-grained
material
LL, PI
Highly
LL= 33
PI= 12
Passing No.200 sieve 30 % LL= 33
Example Passing No.4 sieve 70 % PI= 12
LL= 33
PI= 12
PI= 0.73(LL-20), A-line
PI=0.73(33-20)=9.49
SC
(15% gravel)
Clayey sand with Highly
gravel
53
(Santamarina et al., 2001)
Organic Soils
Highly organic soils- Peat (Group symbol PT)
A sample composed primarily of vegetable tissue in various
stages of decomposition and has a fibrous to amorphous
texture, a dark-brown to black color, and an organic odor
should be designated as a highly organic soil and shall be
classified as peat, PT.
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