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CHAPTER-I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL:

Soil is a natural material with mechanical properties that allows it to be

handled by construction equipment designed for handling soil. While that appears to
be a circular definition, it is fundamentally true. The purpose of soil mechanics in
civil engineering is to allow the use of this material in construction for foundations,
fill, or other civil engineering purpose in a manner in which its behaviour can be
characterized for design purposes. This differentiates it from rock, an alternate natural
material, which cannot generally be handled by equipment designed for soil, requiring
blasting or special procedures. The geologic mechanisms by which this soil forms are
varied, and may be very relevant to engineering issues. However, ultimately it is the
desire to build something or modify the ground surface for engineering purposes that
determines what a civil engineer considers soil.

Whether a material is classified as soil or rock for engineering depends on what

is required to handle it and may vary with equipment available. Some weathered rock
may be rippable by a dozer tooth and the result compacted as soil or may have to be
handled as rock for excavation or placement as fill. You may also encounter
interlayered or laterally varying materials that alternate between soil and rock-like
materials due to variable cementation or weathering that may require special
approaches or segregation of portions of the excavated materials, such as boulders in
some marine clays.

Geo environmental engineering or environmental geo technics is a subject

matter that deals mainly with soils and its interaction with chemicals or waste. Its
importance grew rapidly within the last two decades due to pressure from waste
management industries. Intensive growth in industrialisation and development has
resulted in the generation of waste that has multiplied many folds over the past few
years. However, waste disposal technology, sites and matters related to engineered
landfills could not be reciprocally advanced economically.
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Many important components of disposal sites or landfills such as liners and

caps are soil related and require the services of geo environmental engineers. In
addition there are many avenues in which contamination of land could occur and also
need the services of geo environmental engineers for its characterization, protection,
clean up and litigation. Soil contamination may originate from un-engineered disposal
of waste, underground storage tanks, mining activities, accidents, and seepage from
old dump sites, cemeteries and salt intrusion from the sea (Taha, 2000) .Thus the
relevance of knowledge related to geo environment is highly justified.

Much has been learnt of soil contamination problems from the Love Canal and
famed Woburn (from which a book and Hollywood film „A Civil Action‟ is based on)
incidents in the USA. They depicted serious health related matters when people lived
on or near contaminated sites. Similarly a court case in Malaysia, i.e. Woon Tan Kan
&7YL vs. Asian Rare Earth Materials Sdn Bhd (Buang 1993) served to notice that
problems and civic awareness are gaining ground in this part of the world. In another
legal battle, the authors were involved in a court case whereby a company sued
another which was located upstream in an industrial estate. The plaintiff submitted to
the court that waste water flowing out of the premise of the defendant had infiltrated
their ground causing significant reduction in the carrying capacity of the piles of their
building structure. They claimed that as a result, the building suffered from serious
cracking throughout its entire structure. This case warrants the services of engineers
particularly those specialised in soils and its interaction and fate with chemicals/waste
for both plaintiff and the defendant. Thus engineers need to be knowledgeable and
updated in this matter to better serve the public in an informed and professional
manner.

Other than humans, other forms of life such as animals and plants are also
affected from soil contamination. Plants can suck up contaminants, then in turn being
eaten by goats and cows and contamination may easily move further up the food
chain, again endangering human health. In addition, structures such as concrete and
steel can deteriorate when attacked by chemicals reducing its structural carrying
capacity. These construction materials are of interest to geotechnical engineers as
these are the main materials forming he structures of foundations, i.e. piles, pad and
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mat foundation, pile caps etc. Soils could also lose its cohesion when exposed to
many organics resulting in loss of adhesion and strength so much relied on for
stability.

On the other hand in many situations, soils in natural state do not present
adequate geotechnical properties to be used as road service layers, foundation layers
and as a construction material. In order to adjust their geotechnical parameters to meet
the requirements of technical specifications of construction industry, studying soil
stabilization is more emphasized.

Contaminant migration from landfills or contaminated sites depends on

different site specific conditions like-geology and hydrology of the site, climate, type
of waste material, type of contamination and type of liner system if any. There are
several of mechanisms through which individual contaminants affect the engineering
properties, including chemical reaction such as dissolutions or precipitation and
physicochemical phenomena affecting intermolecular forces in water solutions. The
compressive effective stress in liners, when applied during permeation may play a key
role in controlling the chemically induced changes in hydraulic conductivity and
compressibility.

Determining the geotechnical properties of clays in the regions contaminated

by chemical fluids has great importance in terms of understanding the behaviours of
soil on which many types of engineering constructions like industrial facilities, house
constructions, underwater structures and highways are going to be built. The
properties of the existing soil, like permeability at first then compression and strength,
change under the effects of chemical fluids. Therefore, the soil behaves considerably
more differently than its initial behaviour. Hence it becomes necessary to study the
soil-waste interaction and its effect on geotechnical properties of soils.

Properties of natural soils get significantly altered due to interaction with

pollutants either disposed of or accidentally released on the land. The spawning of
industrial projects and poor waste disposal practices necessitate a better understanding
of soil behaviour under changed and extreme environmental conditions. Though the

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soil-pollutant interaction affects all properties of soil, swelling behaviour of soil in

particular can cause serious damage to foundations and super structures built on it.
Mal‟tsev et. al., has provided useful insight into the effects of infiltration of
aggressive solutions (acids and alkalis) of various concentrations into the beds of their
production structures. The production structures become unserviceable as a result of
the deformation of their foundation structures and superstructures due to marked
changes in soil properties. A number of researchers in the past few decades have
reported several case studies on the effect of pollutants (acids and alkalis) on heaving
of clayey soils. The researchers mentioned above have identified several important
factors, such as chemical composition and concentration of the pore fluid, pH of the
medium, type and degree of electrolyte dissociation, chemicomineralogical
composition and exchange capacity etc. which may affect swelling in soils. Further, it
was also established that changes in soil volume is not only due to moisture variation,
but also due to active decomposition under highly acidic and alkaline conditions
leading to new formations in pore space.

1.2 TYPES OF CONTAMINANTS:

There are basically two types of priority pollutants, i.e. organic compounds
and inorganic species(mainly metallic elements). All of these materials are either
toxic/mutagenic(causing slow or immediate death, for example by stopping oxygen
intake such as cyanide),carcinogenic(causing cancer, such as benzene and DDT) or
both. The organics include volatiles, base neutral extractable, acid extractable, and
pesticides (Domenico &Schwartz 1990).Examples of inorganic include arsenic,
asbestos, chromium, copper, cyanide, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, zinc, etc.

Other groups of chemicals that are injurious to health are radioactive

contaminants/waste (confined mainly to countries which derive their energy from
nuclear power stations) and agriculture nutrients or fertilizers such as nitrates (other
sources of similar contaminants are seepage from septic tanks, irrigated waste water,
and sewage treatment plant effluents).

1.3 TYPES OF SOIL STRUCTURES:

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The geometrical arrangement of the soil particles with respect to each other is
known as soil structure.

 Single grained structures

 Honey combed structures

 Flocculated structures

 Dispersed structures

 Coarse grained structures.

 Single grained structure:- Soil particles deposited due to force of

gravity, void ratio for loose and dense state will be 0.35-0.90.

Fig1.1: Single grained structure

 Honey combed structures:-These are formed by cohesive soils such

as fine sand of particle size 0.002 to 0.02mm, when deposited they
from particle to particle contact and bridges over large voids in the soil
mass.

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Fig1.2: Honey combed structure

 Flocculated structure:-It is present in clay particles which contains

larger surface area. These are charged particles which have positive
charge on the edges and negative charge on the face of the particle.

Fig1.3: Flocculated structure

 Dispersed structure:- These are formed by remoulding, which

converts edge-to-face orientation to face-to-face orientation.

Fig1.4: Dispersed structure

 Coarse grained structure:- Coarse-grained materials or systems have

fewer, larger discrete components than fine-grained materials or
systems. A coarse-grained description of a system regards large
subcomponents.

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Fig1.5: Coarse grained structure

Pore fluid interaction in waste/chemical environment also permits the

replacement of the diffuse double layer water and cat-ions on the particle surface with
organic cat-ions in water soluble organics. These organics have lower dielectric
constants than water .As a result the diffuse double layer will not be fully developed,
the particles will lose their cohesion and behave like a silt. Thus foundations
especially with design incorporating cohesion factors will be unsafe. This pore fluid
interaction is actually reversible and cyclic, i.e. organic cat-ions can flow in and out
causing clay liners to swell and shrink. Changes in strength and hydraulic
conductivity of soil will take place actively in this environment which is very difficult
to predict quantitatively.

1.4 ACID AND BASE:

The most challenging aspect is to estimate its properties such as density,

strength, deformation, etc. These characteristics are required for the design of
landfills. Mines waste have generated problems related to acidity, heavy metals and
contaminated sediments as a result of extraction and benefaction of metallic ores,
phosphate, uranium, oil shale, coal, etc. Industrial waste, e.g. phosphogypsum (waste
from the production of sulphuric acid), and combustion fly/bottom ash are abundant
in many countries in the form of waste piles, dams and even mountains Storage
batteries are used primarily in automobiles, trains and other motor vehicles, lead acid
batteries contain predominantly lead and sulphuric acid. The sources of acids and
alkalis are acid rain, industrial effluents, ground water contamination, leachate from

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landfills and chemical spillages. In this investigation sulphuric acid and sodium
hydroxide with 1Molarity is used.

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CHAPTER-II
LITERATURE REVIEW

Unexpected losses and infiltration of chemical reagents (acids, alkalis) into the
ground may lead to deformations of foundations. These chemical reagents get
released into soil from various industries. Acids, particularly sulphuric acid gets
released from many industries such as copper leaching, inorganic pigment production,
petroleum refining, paper production and industrial organic chemical production. In a
similar way, hydroxides, particularly sodium hydroxide is released into the soil from
various industries such as paint and dye industries, paper and pulp industries, cotton
mills and aluminium industries.

Kabanov (1977) highlighted that relative swelling depends on the type of soil,
concentration of the alkali solution and duration of the interaction. Further, the swell
process of clayey soils interacting with alkali solutions may be divided into three
periods. In the first period, the swell may be due to accumulation of osmotic and
adsorbed moisture in the soils. In the second period, which is characterized by relative
stabilization of soil, it may be due to chemical reaction between the clay fraction and
the alkali. In the third period, the swell may be due to rate of formation of new
compounds.

Bowders and Daniel (1987) studied Atterberg limits of soils, including

dominant clay minerals of kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite infiltrated with acetic
acid. They reported that in an acidic environment, kaolinite particles form a
flocculation with the dominant face-to-edge aggregation, which causes an increase in
the LL of kaolinitic soil. For montmorillonitic soils, high concentrations of H+ ions
(i.e., acidic environment) would diminish the thickness of the diffuse double layer
(DDL), leading to a lower value of LL. The DDL is an ionic structure that describes
the variation of electric potential near a charged surface, such as clay, and behaves as
a capacitor (McBride 1994). In contrast, the effects of pH on soil structure and
Atterberg limits for illitic soils were not well defined. They concluded that the effect
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of pH on the clay properties is complex and highly dependent on the mineralogy of

the particles.

Mal’tsev (1998) investigated the chemical heaving of various types of sandy

and sandy-clayey soils using aggressive chemical solutions (acids, alkalis) frequently
employed in industry and the results showed that (i) the chemical heaving of soils
depends primarily on their chemicomineralogical composition and dispersivity (ii)
heaving increases with increase in alumina content and the amount of clay particles in
the soils (iii) various types of soils follow the given order, sand < clayey loams<
clays, in terms of tendency to increase their chemical heaving (iv) the wetting
solutions can be arranged in the given sequence, water < alkali < acids, by order of
the strength of their effect on the various type of soils.

Imai et al. (2006) studied the clay from the Osaka Bay leached with hydrogen
chloride and showed that acidic solutions solved the calcium carbonate, and
subsequently, destroyed carbonatic bonds between clay particle. Besides, Gratchev
and Towhata (2016) indicated that LL and plasticity index (PI) of soils did indeed
increase at low pH, due to dissolution of calcium carbonates in acidic fluids. In Table
no. 1, some recent studies are shown and compared. The above-mentioned studies
show that the effect of pH on soil engineering properties could be variable, depending
on the complexity of mineral composition of natural soils and the chemical
composition of pore solution. This means that studying the mechanical behavior of
soils (especially natural soils) contaminated with acids and alkalines is very complex.
Owing to pH alterations of the surface and ground water resources in recent years,
detailed and quantitative investigations of mechanical behavior of contaminated
natural soils seem to be necessary. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to
evaluate the influence of pore water pH on the shear strength and Atterberg
consistency limits of a natural clay soil.

Mulyukov (2008) his investigation concluded that even 0.1N alkali solution
can promote activation of swelling in soils and any accidental spillage of alkali, when
it enters the underground sections of buildings, may lead to failure of the underground
technogenic sphere.

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Spagnoli et al. (2012) studied the influence of pH of pore fluids on undrained

shear strength of kaolinitic clay. It was found that the undrained shear strength of clay
increased significantly whether the pore fluid had a high or a low pH. In acidic pH, a
possible explanation could be related to the increased dissolution of Al3+, which can
increase the internal shear strength, while in alkaline pH, the increasing ionic strength
face-to-face association resulted in increased strength. Anandarajah and Zhao (2000)
conducted several experiments on kaolinite at different pore water qualities and
reported that the increase in soil strength was due to an increase in the net inter-
particle attractive forces (i.e., van der Waals attractive forces acting between the clay
particles) and subsequently caused greater flocculation that gave additional strength to
the soil structure.

Spagnoli et al. (2012), Effect of pH variations on underained shear strength

parameters of a kaolinitic clay, At high or a low pH, the undrained shear strength of
clay increases. In acidic pH, the dissolution of Al3+ can increase the internal shear
strength. In alkaline pH, the increasing ionic strength face-to-face association results
in increased strength.

Bakhshipour et al. (2016), influence of acid rain on the geotechnical

properties of residual soils. At low pH, soil strength and maximum dry density
decrease and the coefficient of permeability, liquid limit, and optimum moisture
content of the soil increase. Infiltration by artificial acid most of the minerals were
leached out from the soil, destroy the bonds between clay particles/aggregates, and
thus a significant change in mineral structure.

Chavali et al. (2017), they studied by swelling characteristics of soils in acidic

Environments. It concluded that mineralogical changes owing to cation exchange
reactions, and also the partial mineral dissolution, led to acid-induced swelling in the
montmorillonitic soils. The formation of flocculated face-to-edge associations and
mineralogical changes, along with partial mineral dissolution, result in acid-induced
swelling in kaolin clay. The type and concentration of acid and dominant cation
appeared to be a vital factor governing the swelling behaviour of the soil during the
acid contamination

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Bakhshipour et al. (2017), study on impact of acid rain on the

compressibility behavior of residual soils. They finally concluded, the compressibility
of residual soils increased at low pH value. Acid rain destroyed the bonds between
clay aggregates/particles resulting in significant changes in mineral structure owing to
the dissolution of alumina and silica from soils, and thus formation of „loose‟
structures with larger voids.

Chavali and Reddy (2018), they study on Volume change behavior of

phosphogypsum treated clayey soils contaminated with H2SO4 and H3PO4 solutions.
His conclusion was high swelling and low compressibility in acid contaminated soils.
The change in microstructure toward flocculated fabric and mineralogical
transformations result in the volume changes in soils.

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CHAPTER-III

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF PRESENT STUDY

3.1 SCOPE:

Previous chapter show that the effect of pH on soil engineering properties

could be variable, depending on the complexity of mineral composition of natural
soils and the chemical composition of pore solution.

We have to study the mechanical behavior of soils (especially black cotton

soils) contaminated with acids and alkaline is very complex.

3.2 OBJECTIVE:
i. Analyse the variations in the geotechnical properties of black cotton soils
under the presence of different pore fluids.
ii. To check the unconfined compression strength and cohesion for various
samples.
iii. To determine compression and swelling index for various samples.
iv. To laboratory studies to understand the long-term influence of strong
pollutants (acids and alkalis) on the swell behavior of natural soils were
seldom carried out.
v. To study was to evaluate the influence of pore water pH on the shear
strength and Atterberg consistency limits of a natural black cotton soil.
vi. To investigate the pore fluids (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) are added
individually to the expansive soil.
vii. The above percentages are obtained by dissolving the pore fluid in tap
water and mixed to the soil samples at different percentages in terms of the
dry weight of the soil.

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viii. To study swelling processes in soil because of acid and alkali solutions
and the development of control measures, investigation of swell
phenomenon needs to be carried out.

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CHAPTER-IV

MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

4.1 MATERIALS:

4.1.1. SOIL:

The soil used for this investigation is obtained from from Tiruchanur
region located in the Tirupathi Town, Chittoor District, India. The dried and pulverized
material passing through I.S.4.75 mm sieve is taken for the study. The properties of the
soil are given in Table No.1. The soil is classified as “CH” as per I.S. Classification (IS
1498:1970) indicating that it is clayey sand. It is highly expansive in nature as the
Differential Free Swell Index (DFSI) is about 150%.
4.1.2 PORE FLUIDS:

About 80% of the surface of the earth are covered by oceans; therefore, a large
number of structures are exposed to sea water with high salinity either directly, or
indirectly when winds carries sea water spray up to a few miles inland from the coast.
As a result, several coastal and offshore sea structures are exposed to the continuous
action of physical and chemical deterioration processes.

Distilled water with a pH of 6.5 was buffered by acetate and carbonate

bicarbonate to produce solutions with pH values in the range of 4 to 11. In order to
make the acetate buffer, acetic acid and sodium acetate solutions of 0.2M were diluted
to the desired concentrations with acidic pH values being in the range of 4 to 6. In
order to make carbonate bicarbonate buffer, a 0.2 M sodium bicarbonate solution with
dry sodium carbonate was dissolved in distilled water to the desired concentrations
with pH values being in the range of 9 to 11. All pH measurements were performed
by a pH-meter (Jenway 3510, accuracy ±0.01). Three reference solutions with pH
values of 4, 7, and 10 were used for calibrating the pH-meter.

4.2 METHODS:

Geotechnical properties of the soil were initially determined after wetting by

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distilled water. The Proctor compaction test was done to determine optimum water
content and maximum dry bulk density.

Particle size distribution test were done to determine the particle size
distribution of soil as per IS: 2720 (Part 4) – 1985. Atterberg limit test such as liquid
limit test and plastic limit test were performed on soil samples according to IS: 2720
(Part 5) – 1985. Standard Proctor compaction test were performed for determining
OMC and Maximum dry density of soil samples before and after stabilization with
fly ash by applying IS 2720 (Part 7) 1980. The consolidation test was carried out as
per IS 2720 (Part 15) – 1965 in the contaminated samples to find out compression
index. Sample is filled in the mould at its maximum dry density and optimum
moisture content. Before conducting the test, the sample is soaked in acid and base
solution for 7 days. Along with these test swell index test as per IS 2720 (Part 40)
1970, pH test as per IS 2720 (Part 26) 1987 and UCC test as per IS 2720 (Part 10)
1991 were done for soil samples with H2SO4 and NaOH.

Table No. 1 Physical properties of black cotton soil

Property Value

Specific gravity 2.65

Clay (%) 60

Liquid limit (%) 54

Plastic limit (%) 25

Plasticity index (%) 34

Free swell index (ml/g) 1.3

Optimum water content (%) 20.2

Max. dry unit weight (g/cc) 1.68

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4.3 AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS:

In this study, distilled water along with solutions of sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) of variable concentrations were used as pore fluid.
Sodium hydroxide solution of known concentrations (1N, 4N and 8N) was prepared
by dissolving required molecular weights (40g, 160g & 320g respectively) of
analytical grade sodium hydroxide pellets in distilled water to make 1 liter of solution.
Similarly, commercially available sulphuric acid by required volume (27.25ml,
108.69 and 217.98 ml, respectively) was diluted with distilled water to make one liter
of solution of desired concentrations (1N, 4N and 8N, respectively).

Atterberg consistency limits were measured on the specimens that had been
exposed to different acidic and alkaline pH values of 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11 and
distilled water with pH of 6.5 (as control sample) for 90 days. Then, the specimens
were dried, pulverized, and passed through a 425-μm sieve to ensure the homogeneity
of the specimens. Liquid limit (LL) and plastic limit (PL) were determined according
to ASTMD4318 (ASTM2010) with six replicates, and the average values were
considered.

4.4. TESTS CONDUCTED:

The following tests have been conducted in this investigation.

4.4.1 WET SIEVE ANALYSIS:

If the soil contains a substantial quantity (say more than 5%) of fine
particles, a wet sieve analysis is required. All lumps are broken into individual
particles. Take 200gm of oven dried soil sample and soaked with water. If
deflocculation is required, 2% calgon solution is used instead of water. The sample is
stirred and left for soaking period of at least 1 hour. The slurry is then sieved through
4.75 mm sieve and washed with a jet of water. The material retained on the sieve is
the gravel fraction, which should be dried in oven and weighed. The material passing
through 4.75 mm sieve is sieved through 75 micron sieve.

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Fig No. 4.1 Set of Sieves

The material is washed until the water filtered becomes clear. The soil retained
on 75 micron sieve is collected and dried in oven. It is then sieved through the sieve
shaker for ten minutes and retained material on each sieve is collected and weighed.
The material that would have been retained on pan is equal to the total mass of soil
minus the sum of the masses of material retained on all sieves. Draw the curve for the
soil in the semi-logarithmic graph in order to obtain grain size distribution curve.

4.4.2. PLASTICITY CHARACTERISTICS:

For the studying the plasticity characteristics, Liquid Limit and plastic
Limit tests have been carried out for the soil under treated and untreated conditions.

4.4.2.1. Liquid Limit:

The Liquid Limit (wL) is often conceptually defined as the water

content at which the behavior of a clayey soil changes from plastic to liquid. Liquid
limit tests are conducted at various percentages of pore fluids . About 120 g of an air-
dried sample passing through 425-μ I.S. sieve is taken in a dish and mixed with
certain amount of water to form a uniform paste. A portion of this paste is placed in
the cup of the liquid limit device and surface is smoothened and leveled with a spatula

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to a maximum depth of 10 mm. A groove is cut through the sample along the
symmetrical axis of the cup, preferably in one stoke, using a standard grooving tool.

Fig No. 4.2 Casagrande Apparatus

After the soil pat has been cut by a proper grooving tool, the handle is turned
at a rate of 2 revolutions per second until the two parts of the soil sample come into
contact at the bottom of the groove along a distance of 12mm .About 15g of soil near
the closed groove is taken for water content determination. The liquid limit is the
water content at which the soil is sufficient fluid to flow when the device is given 25
blows. As it is difficult to get exactly 25 blows for the sample to flow ,the test is
conducted at different water contents so as to get blows in the range of 10 to 40.The
soil in the cup is transferred to the dish containing the soil paste and mixed thoroughly
after adding more water. The soil sample is again taken in the cup of the liquid limit
device and the test is repeated.

4.4.2.2. Plastic Limit:

In this test that water content of soil is derived at which soil changes its
state from plastic state to Semi-solid state About 30g of soil, passing through 425-μ
I.S. Sieve, is taken in an evaporating dish. It is mixed thoroughly with water till it
becomes plastic, and can be easily moulded with fingers. About 10g of the plastic soil
mass is taken in one hand and a ball is formed.

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Fig No. 4.3 Plastic Limit Threads

The ball is rolled with fingers on a glass plate to form a soil thread of
uniform diameter. The rate of rolling is kept about 80 to 90 strokes per minute. If the
diameter of the thread becomes approximately 3mm and if it starts just crumbling that
water content is known as the plastic limit.

4.4.2.3. Plasticity Index

Plasticity index is the range of water content over which the soil
remains in the plastic state. It is equal to the numerical difference between the liquid
limit and the plastic limit.

4.4.3. SWELLING CHARACTERISTICS

4.4.3.1. Differential Free Swell Index (DFSI)

This test is conducted on the expansive soil treated with effluent in

varying percentages from 0% to 20% in increments of 5%. Two samples of the dried
soil weighing 10g each passing through 425-μ I.S. sieve are taken. One sample is put
slowly in a 100 ml graduated glass cylinder having kerosene (a non-polar liquid). The
other sample is similarly put in another 100 ml glass cylinder having distilled water.
Both the samples are left for 24 hours and then their volumes are noted. Differential

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Free Swell Index is calculated by the formula given below.

V1 = Soil volume in distilled water

V2 =Soil volume in kerosene

4.4.4. Compaction Tests:

Standard Proctor‟s compaction tests have been conducted on the soil. The soil
sample so prepared is then mixed with effluent of varying percentages. The pore fluid
percentage by weight varied from 0 to 25% in increment of 5% for the determination
of optimum pore fluid content and maximum dry unit weight.

4.4.4.1 Sample Preparation

Compaction test is carried out at optimum pore fluid content. By

pushing the sampling tube into the mould and the sampling tube filled with soil is
removed. The sample out of the sampling tube is extruded into the split mould, using
the sample extractor and the knife. Trimming is done at the two ends of the specimen
in the split mould. Specimen is carefully taken out from the split mould by splitting
the mould into two parts

4.4.4.2 Test Procedure:

The soil sample maintained at the desired pore fluid content is mixed
thoroughly with pore fluids and compacted in Proctor‟s mould (100mm dia. X 117
mm height). The soil is compacted in three layers giving 25 blows to each layer by
using the standard rammer. The weight of compacted soil along with the mould and
base plate is taken. Prior to that the weight of the empty mould along with base plate
is determined.

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Fig No. 4.4 Compaction Test Set Up

A representative sample is taken from the center of the compacted

specimen and kept for water content determination. Thus the bulk unit weight, pore
fluid content and the corresponding dry unit weight for the compacted soil is obtained.

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CHAPTER-V

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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