TITTLE: CONSISTANCY LIMITS TEST

SCOPE: TO DETERMINE THE PLASTICITY INDEX OF FINE GRAINED SOILS THAT

THAT IS THE NUMERICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ITS LIQUID AND

PLASTIC LIMITS.

APPARATUS:

For Liquid limit test,

 A mortar and rubber covered pestle (pulverizing apparatus).

 Drying oven.

 A 425µm sieve with pan.

 Evaporation dishes (about 100mm).

 Spatula.

 Casagrande liquid limit apparatus.

 Grooving tool.

 A glass plate or piece of smooth unglazed paper used for rolling plastic limit
determinations.

 Containers with covers.

 A balance sensitive to 0.01g.

For Plastic limit test,

 A flat glass plate.

 Two palette knives or spatulas.

 Apparatus for the moisture content determination.

 A length of rod, 3mm in diameter and about 100mm long.

PROCEDURE:

Sample preparation,

The soil sample was dried thoroughly in the air. Then, the aggregations were broken up in the
mortar with rubber covered pestle. For the liquid limit test, material passing the number 40
(425µm) sieve is required and sample should be over 100g.

Liquid Limit Determination;

-The liquid limit devices were adjusted by means of the adjustment plate on the device and
the gauge on the handle of the grooving tool. And also the centre of the wear point on the
bottom cup of cup was lifted exactly 1cm above the base.

-The prepared soil (about 300g) was placed on a glass plate and adds sufficient water and
thoroughly mixes to form a uniform mass of stiff. The entrapment of air bubbles were
prevented within the mass.

-Then, the sample was cured 25 hours for absorb water each and every soil particles.

-A portion of soil mixture was placed in the cup above the spot where the cup rests on the
base. Spread it into a flat position with as few strokes of the spatula as possible. Care was
taken to prevent trapping air bubbles within the soil.

-The crank was turned to raised and the cup is dropped twice per second (2 rev/s) until the
two sides of the grooved sample come in contact at the bottom of the groove for a distance of
13mm.

-The number of blows was recorded. Any trials requiring less than 15 drops or more than 35
drops of the cup were recorded.

-The cup of the liquid limit device was cleaned after each trial test.

-The sample of container oven was dried to determine the moisture content of sample.

-The above test procedure was repeated for five trials.

-then, the graph was plotted between moisture content and number of blows (flow curve).

-the liquid limit was defined as the moisture content at the 25 drop conditions of the graph.
Plastic limit determination;

-The prepared soil sample (about 20g) was placed in evaporating dish thoroughly mix with
water until the mass becomes plastic enough to be shaped into a ball.

-The moistened soil was taken and forms into a uniform mass roughly elliptical in shape.
Each sample was divided into 4 roughly equal parts.

-Each soil sample was rolled by hand on the rolling surface with just enough pressure to
reduce the diameter of tread to about 3mm.

-This procedure was repeated until the tread shears both longitudinally and transversely when
it had rolled to about 3mm diameter. The piece of soil is doesn’t gathered together after they
have crumbled, in order to reform a thread and to continue rolling.

-The process was repeated for other 3 portions of soil.

CALCULATION:

From the flow curve, Liquid limit (WLL) is moisture content at the 25 drop.

No. Of blows 37 32 22 18 10

Moisture Content 32.5 33.1 34.5 34.7 37.0

Plastic limit (WPL) is average moisture content of the test.

Plasticity Index (IP) = liquid limit (WLL) - Plastic limit (WPL)

From observation sheet,

Plasticity Index (IP) =34 -22 =12

DISCUSSION:

The strength and behaviour the soil varies considerably with water content of the soil. Water
is the agent that is responsible for changing the states of soils. The physical and mechanical
behaviour of soil is linked to four distinct states that are solid, semisolid, plastic and liquid in
order of increasing the water content. If plot a diagram o f volume versus water content as
shown in graph 01.

Solid Semisolid Plastic Liquid

WPL

Graph 01

The water content at which the soil change from a plastic to semisolid is known as the plastic
limit (WPL). The soil becomes so stiff that it can no longer flow as a liquid. The boundary
water content at point A is called liquid limit.

The limits depend on the type predominant mineral in the soil and also there are many
shortcomings when determining the liquid limit using Casagrande cup method such as the
tendency of soils of low plasticity to slide and liquefy with shock in the cup rather than to
flow plastically, sensitivity to operator and small differences in apparatus.

When construct the new road usually transverses long distances where a variety of soils are
encountered. The liquid limit test helps classify these soils and these data used in the planning
and designing.
 Sieving Sample for PL test Sample for LL test

DISCUSSION:
The strength and behaviour the soil varies considerably with water content of the soil. Water
is the agent that is responsible for changing the states of soils. The physical and mechanical
behaviour of soil is linked to four distinct states that are solid, semisolid, plastic and liquid in
order of increasing the water content. If plot a diagram o f volume versus water content as
shown in graph 01.

Solid Semisolid Plastic Liquid

WPL

Graph 01

If there is enough water in soil mass then it will have no shear strength but if the water
content is slowly reduced, the volume will decrease and at the same point it will just start
possessing shear strength. The moisture content at this stage is known as liquid limit. The soil
enters into plastic state at this stage. With further decrease in moisture content, there will be
further reduction in soil volume but increase in shear strength which will continue up to
plastic limit. This limit is the boundary between plastic and semi solid state with further
decrease in moisture, a stage will come when there will be no further decrease in volume
even with decrease in moisture. This is known as shrinkage limit. Shrinkage limit is the upper
limit of semisolid state.

Liquid limit is the minimum water content at which the soil can flow under its own weight. It
is defined as the moisture content at which 25 blows in the standardized liquid limit
determination device. Plastic limit is the minimum water content at which the soil can be
rolled into a thread 3mm in diameter without breaking.

The limits depend on the type predominant mineral in the soil and also there are many
shortcomings when determining the liquid limit using Casagrande cup method such as the
tendency of soils of low plasticity to slide and liquefy with shock in the cup rather than to
flow plastically, sensitivity to operator and small differences in apparatus.

In carry out these tests, tap water must not be used for mixing the soil paste. Always use
distilled water, otherwise there is the possibility that ion exchange will take place between
soil and impurities in the water, which could affect the plasticity of the soil.

The wet samples collected for moisture content determination during both liquid limit and
plastic limit tests should be placed in the moisture container and the lid securely placed
immediately before weighing. Delay in closing the moisture container and in weighing the
wet soil sample of soil will cause considerable loss in moisture content of the small quantity
of the soil sample, especially during dry weather. Once of the main causes for inconsistent
results during the liquid limit and plastic limit tests is the error in the determination of
moisture content values caused by evaporation before weighing.

When construct the new road usually transverses long distances where a variety of soils are
encountered. The liquid limit test helps classify these soils and these data used in the planning
and designing.

And also the liquid limit of clay indicates its compressibility. Higher the liquid limit, higher
the compressibility. The compression index of normally consolidated clay is found to be
dependent on the liquid limit. The liquid limit of a soil depends both on the amount and type
of clay mineral in the soil. Plasticity index gives an idea about the clay content in a soil.
Plasticity index increases with clay content.

According to new SSCM, for embankments less than 6m, the soil used should have a LL less
than 70 and PI less than 45. If the embankment is higher than 6m, it is desirable to use
material having LL less than 50 and PI less than 25 for the lower layers below 6m.

REFERENCE:

Highway Material testing.

By- Dr. S.K. Khanna and Dr. C.E.G. Justo.