FACULTY OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

DEPT.OF GEOTECHNICAL AND TRANSPORTATION

ENGINEERING
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

REPORT
SUBJECT CODE
TEST CODE & TITLE
COURSE CODE
TESTING DATE
STUDENT NAME
GROUP
1.
2.
GROUP MEMBER NAMES

3.
4.
5.

LECTURER/ INSTRUCTOR/ TUTOR

NAME
REPORT RECEIVED DATE
MARKS

EXAMINER COMMENT

ATTENDANCE/ DISCIPLINE
& INVOLVEMENT

/15%

DATA ANALYSIS

/20%

RESULT

/20%

DISCUSSION

/25%

CONCLUSION

/20%

TOTAL

/100%
RECEIVED STAMP

STUDENT CODE OF ETHIC

(SCE)
DEPT. OF GEOTECHNICAL AND TRANSPOTATION ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

I, hereby confess that I have prepared this report on my own effort. I also admit not
to receive or give any help during the preparation of this report and pledge
that everything mentioned in the report is true.

_________________
Student Signature

Name

Matric No. :
Date

FACULT : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPT. : GEOTECHNICAL AND
TRANSPORTATION ENG.
TEST TITLE : DETERMINATION OF FIELD
DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE CORE
CUTTER METHOD

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

1/3

5/12/07
5/12/07

1.0 OBJECTIVE
To determine in-situ density of fine-Grained natural or compacted soils free form aggregate using a core
cutter.
2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME
At the end of this experiment, students are able to:

3.0 THEORY OF THE EXPERIMENT

Core cutter method is used for finding field density of cohesive/clayey soils placed as fill. It is rapid method
conducted on field. It can not be applied to coarse grained soil as the penetration of core cutter becomes
difficult due to increased resistance at the tip of core cutter leading to damage to core cutter.
4.0 TEST EQUIPMENTS
1) Cylindrical core cutter seamless steep tube, 130mm long 10cm internal diameter with wall thickness of
3mm, bevelled at one end; giving a volume of 1000cm 3.
2) Steel dolly, 2.5cm high and 10cm internal diameter with wall tickness of 7.5mm with a lip to enable it to
be fitted on top the core-cutter.
3) Steel rammer with solid mild steel foot 14cm diameter and 7.5cm height with a concentrically screwed
2.5cm diameter solid mild steel staff
4) Balance.
5) Palette knife having balde approx. 20cm long and 3cm wide
6) Steel rule.
7) Container for determination of water content.
8) Soil sample = Fine grained soil where 90% of soil passes through 4.75mm I.S Sieve

5.0 PREPARATION OF SAMPLE

1)
2)
3)
4)

Calculate the internal volume of core cutter

Weight the empty core cutter and record its weight
Apply oil on inner surface of core cutter
Place the core on a freshly prepared plain ground with dolly on it; and gently hammer it so that the cutter
will get pushed in the soil completely
5) Remove the side material and take out the field up core cutter gently and properly trim the top and
bottom surface and weight it
The soil core shall be removed from the cutter and a representative sample must be placed in an air tight
container to determine water content.
FACULT : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.
PAGE NO.:
2/3
EDITION:
DEPT. : GEOTECHNICAL AND
TRANSPORTATION ENG.
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
5/12/07
DATE:
TEST TITLE : DETERMINATION OF FIELD
DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE CORE
AMENDMENT
CUTTER METHOD
5/12/07
DATE:

6.0 OBSERVATION TABLE

a)

Determination of bulk and dry density of soil

Determination No.

Mass of empty core-cutter (M1)

Mass of core cutter + wet soil (M2)

Mass of wet soil (M2 - M1)

Volume of core-cutter (V)

cm3

Bulk density b =

6
b)

M 2 M1
V

Dry density of soil d

g/ cm3
g/ cm3

1 w

Determination of water content of soil

Container No.
Mass of empty container with lid

(M 1)

Mass of container with lid and wet soil

(M2)

Mass of container with lid and dry soil

(M3)

Mw M2 M3

x100
Md
M 3 M1

Water content,

FACULT : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPT. : GEOTECHNICAL AND
TRANSPORTATION ENG.
TEST TITLE : DETERMINATION OF FIELD
DENSITY OF SOILS BY THE CORE
CUTTER METHOD

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

3/3

5/12/07
5/12/07

7.0 COMPUTATION AND RESULTS

8.0 CONCLUSION