II - Physical States And Index

Properties Of Fine-Grained Soils

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Illustration:
Soil Volume

Liquid
Semi- Plastic
Solid State
solid State
State State
Moisture
SL PL LL
Terms:
1. Liquid Limit (LL, ASTM D 4318):
- refers to the moisture which represents the boundary
between the liquid and plastic state behavior of soil.
2. Plastic Limit (PL, ASTM D 4318):
- refers to the moisture which represents the boundary
between the plastic and semi-solid state behavior of soil.
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3. Shrinkage Limit (SL, ASTM D4943):
- refers to the moisture which represents the boundary
between the semi-solid and solid state behavior of soils.

4. Plasticity Index (PI):

- the range of moisture content at which the soil behaves
plastically, which is equal to the difference in liquid and
plastic limit.

PI = LL - PL

5. Liquidity Index (LI):

- an index that describes the behavior/characteristic of soil
in the natural state. It is a measure of soil strength.

w - PL
LI =
LL - PL
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Characteristics/descriptions of soil strength based on LI:
when: LI > 1 → soil is at liquid state
1 > LI > 0 → soil is at plastic state
LI < 0 → soil is at solid state
Also: when LI = 1, soil is at liquid limit
when LI = 0, soil is at plastic limit

Additional info:
Skempton (1953) showed that for soils with a particular
mineralogy, PI is linearly related to the amount of clay
fraction. He coined a term called activity (A) to describe
the importance of the clay fractions on PI.

Plasticity Index,PI
A= % of clay fraction less than 0.002mm

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 Criteria for Rate of Volume Change Potential
when: LL > 60 & and PI > 35 → Very high
LL between 50 to 60 and PI between
25 to 35 → Medium
LL < 50 and PI < 25 → Low

w - PL
LI = LL - PL Consistency Index (CI):

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note: LL and PL are called Atterberg’s limits named
after Swedish soil scientist, A. Atterberg (1911).

Laboratory Tests For LL, PL, and SL:

A. Casagrande Cup Method For LL:
The liquid limit is determined
from an apparatus that consists
of a brass cup that is repeatedly
dropped onto a hard rubber soil cam
base from a height of 10 mm by Hard rubber base
a cam- operated mechanism.
The apparatus was developed 11mm groove
by A. Casagrande (1932) and
the procedure for the test is
called Casagrande cup method.
2mm
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Principle: The liquid limit is defined as the water content at
which the groove cut into the soil will closed over a
distance of 12.5 mm following 25 blows.
note: Four or more tests at different water contents are
required ranging from 10-40 blows. The results are
presented in a plot of water content (ordinate,
arithmetic scale) versus terminal blows (abscissa,
logarithmic scale).
60
55
Water content (w,%)

Liquid state line

50
LL = 46.8%
45
40
35
10 20 25 30 40 50 100
Number of blows (N) - logarithmic
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B. Plastic Limit Test:
The plastic limit is determined by rolling a small clay
sample into threads and finding the water content at which
threads approximately 3 mm in diameter will just start to
crumble. Two or more determinations are made and the
average water content is the required PL.

C. Fall Cone Method For LL and PL:

A fall cone test, popular in Europe
and Asia, appears to offer more
accurate method of determining both
LL and PL. In this method, a cone
with an apex angle of 30O and total
mass of 80 grams is suspended 35 mm
above, but just in contact with, the 40 mm 55 mm
soil sample. The cone is permitted to
fall freely for a period of 5 seconds
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Principle: The water content corresponding to a cone
penetration of 20 mm defines the liquid limit.
note: Four or more tests at different water contents are
required because of the difficulty of achieving LL
from a single test. The results are presented in a
plot of water content (ordinate, arithmetic scale)
versus penetration (abscissa, logarithmic scale).
60
80-gram cone
55 240-gram cone
Water content (w,%)

Liquid state line

50
45
LL = 40% Δw
40
35
10 20 30 40 50 100
Cone penetration (mm) - logarithmic
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 Also, the plastic limit is found by repeating the test with a
cone of similar geometry, but with a mass of 240 grams. The
penetration depth in the soil for the bigger cone mass at a
given water content will be larger than the smaller cone mass
of 80 grams. Thus, the liquid state line for the 240- gram cone
will be below the liquid state line for the 80-gram cone. The
plastic limit is given as
2Δw
PL = LL - log(M /M ) = LL – 4.2 Δw
2 1

where: Δw = vertical separation in terms of water content

between the two liquid state lines
M1 = mass of 80-gram cone
M2 = mass of 240-gram cone

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D. Shrinkage Limit Test:
The shrinkage limit (SL) is determined as follows, a
mass of wet soil (m1) is placed in a porcelain dish 44.5 mm
in diameter and 12.5 mm high and then oven-dried. The
volume of oven-dried soil is determined by using Hg to
occupy the vacant spaces caused by the shrinkage. The
mass of the Hg is determined and the volume decrease
caused by shrinkage can be calculated from the known
density of Hg (sp.gr.=13.6). The SL is calculated by the
equation:
m1 – m2 (V1 – V2)ρW
SL = – (100%)
m2 m2

where: m1, m2 = mass of wet and dry soil, respectively

V1, V2 = volume of wet and dry soil, respectively
ρW = density of water (1 gm/cc)
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Semi-log Scale for Casagrande Method

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Semi-log Scale for Fall Cone Method

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CE –BOARD, MAY ‘07
Given the liquid limit of soil equal to 58% and its
plastic limit is 8%.
1. What are these soil properties?
a. shrinkage limit b. moisture content
c. elasticity of soil d. consistency index
2. Determine the plasticity index.
3. What is the liquidity index if the water content is
30%?

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CE –Board, May 2010
From the given table shows the liquid limits and plastic limits
of soils “X” and “Y”.

Property “X” “Y”

Liquid Limit 75% 85%
Plastic Limit 43% 63%

1. What is the plasticity index of soil “X”? (ans. 32%)

2. What is the plasticity index of soil “Y”? (ans. 25%)
3. What do the percentages for these limits values
represents? (choices: shrinkage limits, liquidity, water
content, plasticity)

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CE –Board, May 2014
From the given table shows the liquid limits and plastic limits
of soils “X” and “Y”.

Property “X” “Y”

Liquid Limit 75% 85%
Plastic Limit 43% 63%

1. What is the plasticity index of soil “X”? (ans. 32%)

2. What is the plasticity index of soil “Y”? (ans. 25%)
3. What do the percentages for these limits values
represents? (choices: shrinkage limits, liquidity, water
content, plasticity)

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