Jordan University Of Science and

Technology

Civil Engineering Department

Instructor : Eng. Nisreen Al-Daoud

Geotechnical Engineering Lab

exp # 6

Name : Sara Saleem Lotfee Al-awad

ID : 20110023043
Date : 25 -11 -2013
Group # 1
section (2)

: Name Of experiment
field unit weight of compaction by sand cone method

Summary :
In the field during earth compaction work, it is necessary
from time to time to check the compacted dry unit weight
of soil and compare it with the specification drawn up for
the construction .
and the sand cone method conceder as one of the
simplest method of determining the field unit weight .

Objective :
To check the compacted dry unit of soil and compare it
with the specification drawn up for the construction .

Apparatus :
1- Sand cone apparatus.
2- Base plate.
3- One gallon can with cap.
4- Tools to dig a small hole in the field.
5- Balance.
6- 20-30 Ottawa sand.
7- Steel straight edge
8- proctor compaction mold without attached
extension .

procedure :
* laboratory work :
1. Determine the dry unit weight of the Ottawa sand that will be
used in the field. This can be done by taking a proctor
compaction mold and using a spoon, when the mold is full
strike off the top of the mold with the steel straight edge.
determine the weight of sand in the mold (W1).
d (sand) = W1\V1
V1 = volume of proctor hammer(1/30) cf
2. Calibrate the cone. That is we need to determine the weight of
Ottawa sand that is required to fill the cone to do this fill the
gallon with Ottawa sand determine the weight of the bottle +
cone + sand (W2) then determine the weight of the sand in
the cone (W3)
Wc = W2 W3
3. determine the weight of the gallon can without the cap (W4)
4. before proceeding to the field , fill the one gallon bottle ,
determine the weight of the bottle + cone + sand (W5) "
before using
5. But the gallon can with the moist soil in the oven to dry a
constant weight and determine the weight of the can plus
oven dry soil.

*field work :
5 - after proceeding to the field place the base plate on a level
ground in the field under the center hole of the base plate , dig the

hole in the ground using digging tools . the volume should be

smaller than the volume of the sand in the bottle minus the volume
of the cone .
6 - Remove all the loose soil from the hall and put it in the gallon
can
7 - turn the gallon bottle filled with sand with cone attached to it
upside down and place it on the center of the base plate . open the
valve of the cone sand will flow from the bottle to fill the hole in the
ground and the cone , When the flow of the sand from the bottle
stops , close the valve of the cone and remove it .
8 - Determine the weight of ( the gallon + moist soil ) W6 , Also
determine the weight of the ( bottle + can + sand ) " after using "
W7
9 - put the gallon can with the moist soil in the oven to dry to a
constant weight , Determine the weight of ( can + oven dry soil ) .

Results :
*moisture content = weight of present water in soil

weight of dry soil

W2- W3

( 128.07

-118.51 )
= * 100% = *
100%
W3-W1

( 118.51 -

20.55 )
moisture content = 9.728
moisture content ( W ) ,
%
Moist unit weight ,
(g/cm^3)
Dry unit weight , ( g/
cm^3)
Relative compaction (R) ,
%

%
9.728
1.427
1.3
83.87%

Wt f sand in hole = W1- W2-W3 = 6239 - 2626 -1400 =2213

Weight of Ottawa sand
Volume for hole ( V) =
Unit weight for Ottawa sand
2213
V = =1639.259 cm ^3
1.35
Wt of moist soil
2339
Unit weight for soil () = = = 1.427
g/cm^3
V
1639.259

dry =
1 + (W/100)
feild
R field =
lab -max

1.427
= =
1.09728
* 100%

1.3 g/cm ^3
1.3
= * 100 %= 83.87 %
1.55

Discussion :
in this experiment we intend to check the compacted dry
unit of soil and compare it with the specification drawn up
for the construction after that we calculate the relative
density percentage.
in the specification the relative density (%) can be accept
if it's fall between ( 90- 95)% in our results the relative
density was 83.87% So we reject the compaction .
errors can come from :
1. human errors
2. error in balancing
3. looses of soil during weighing
if the soil was compacted correctly we will notice when we
digging the hole it will be hard for us to extract the soil .

we use in this experiment the Ottawa sand to determine

the volume of the hall because it's have a well graded and
similar grain size which will give us an accurate volume .

Conclusion :
compaction of soil is very important because it's increase
the strength of soil , so it's important for construction of
. highways , airports and other structures
the sand cone method consider as an easy and simple
method of determining the field unit weight of the
compaction . However , there also another two method for
determining field unit weight the first one is the rubber
balloon method and the second one is Nuclear density
. meters
the good compacted soil will have at least a relative
. compaction (%) about a 90%