Index Properties

Atterberg’s Limits

Materials Research and Testing Centre

Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development
Addis Ababa University
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Contents
1. Soil States and Limits
2. Liquid Limit Test
a. Theoretical Background
b. Purpose of the Test
c. Testing Standards
d. Apparatus
e. Sample Preparation and Test Specimen
f. Test Procedures
g. Test data
h. Analysis

3. Plastic Limit Test

a. Theoretical Background
b. Purpose of the Test
c. Testing Standards
d. Apparatus
e. Sample Preparation and Test Specimen
f. Test Procedures
g. Test data
h. Analysis

4. Discussion 2
1. Soil States and Limits
• The behaviour of fine grained soil is significantly affected by the moisture content of the
soil.
• At very high moisture content soil tends to flow like a liquid and at very low to none
moisture the soil is very rigid and hard.
• In regards to soil mechanics soils exits in four different states

• Liquid State: where the soil has no shear strength

• Plastic State: where the soil may be moulded with ease and with out cracking
• Semi-Solid state: where the moulding of the soil can not be done with ease and cracks
• Solid state: where the soil is stiff and hard

• The change from one phase to the next is not observable as a precise boundary, but
takes place as a gradual transition.

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1. Soil States and Limits
• Nevertheless, three arbitrary but specific boundaries have been established empirically.
• The moisture contents at these boundaries are known collectively as the Atterberg
limits, after the Swedish scientist Dr A. Atterberg, who first defined them for the
classification of agricultural soils in 1911.
• Originally, they were determined by means of simple hand tests using an evaporating
dish. The procedures were defined more precisely for engineering purposes by Professor
A. Casagrande in 1932.
The three boundaries:
Liquid limit (LL): delineate the liquid state from the plastic state.
Plastic limit (PL): delineate the plastic state from the semi-solid state.
Shrinkage limit (SL) delineate the semi-solid state from the solid.

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1. Soil States and Limits

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 Experiment 5-1: Liquid Limit
a. Theoretical Background
• The Liquid Limit is the boundary between the liquid State and the Plastic State of a fine
grained soil.
• It’s determined as the moisture content at which the test specimen has the smallest
shear strength that can be determined in the laboratory.
b. Purpose of the Test
• The liquid limit, the Plastic Limit and plasticity index are a significant part of several
engineering soil classification systems,
• The liquid and plastic limits of a soil and its water content can be used to express its
relative consistency or liquidity index. In addition, the plasticity index and the
percentage finer than 2-µm particle size can be used to determine its activity number.
• The liquid limit, the plastic limit and the plasticity index are used individually or
together to correlate other engineering behaviours of the soil, such as, the use of the
plasticity index in swelling potential estimation by Anderson et. al. 6
 Experiment 5-1: Liquid Limit
c. Testing Standards: ASTM D4318
d. Apparatus

• Liquid Limit Device (Casagrande Apparatus): consisting of the base, rubber feet, brass cup, cam, carriage and
motor drive (the one used in this test is electrically powered)
• Grooving Tool: Flat grooving tool or Curved grooving tool, the flat grooving tool is used for this test, it is provided
with a height checking gauge at the other end of the tool.

• Soaking Dish: for allowing the water to properly percolate and reach each clay particle.
• Moisture Content Containers: for holding the specimen for oven drying
• Balance: Confirming to the appropriate standard for laboratory equipment
• Spatula: for mixing the soil specimen
• Flat Glass Plate: for mixing the soaked specimen on
• Drying Oven: Confirming to the appropriate standard for laboratory equipment
• Wash Bottle: for holding distilled or demineralized water
• Wash Pan: to clean the Casagrande apparatus after each trial test
• Distilled or Demineralized water 7
 Experiment 5-1: Liquid Limit
e. Sample preparation and test specimen
• A representative disturbed soil sample is used for this test.
• The soil sample is initially air dried then dried in an oven at 110 ± 5 0c for a maximum of
24hrs.
• Then the sample is pulverized to breakdown the sample aggregation using a rubber
pestle.
• sieve the sample in a 425μm sieve the fraction passing the sieve is used for the test.
• Take 220 gm the test specimen and soak over night at a consistency near the liquid limit.
(combined Liquid and plastic limit sample prep.)

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 Experiment 5-1: Liquid Limit
e. Procedure

1.Immediately before testing remove about 100g of the soaked specimen and place on the flat glass plate and toughly
remix with a spatula to attain a uniform consistency which results in about 25 to 35 blows of the liquid limit device
to close the groove.
2.Using a spatula, place portion of the prepared soil in the cup of the liquid limit device and use the spatula to form a
uniform horizontal surface, making sure that no air bubbles are trapped
3.Form a groove in the soil pat by drawing the grooving tool, through the soil on a line joining the highest point to the
lowest point on the rim of the cup
4.Start the machine or rotate the handles of the apparatus at a rate of 2 cycles per second.
5.Record the number of blows it took for the groove to close about 13mm at its base.
6.If the required number of blows is obtained, step (4), remove a slice of soil closed using a spatula by cutting from
edge to edge, and place this portion in a moisture can for moisture content determination.
7.Return the soil remaining in the cup to the plate. wash and dry the cup and grooving tool.
8.Remix the entire soil specimen in the dish adding distilled water to increase the water content of the soil and
decrease the number of blows required to close the groove to obtain the next trial as state above in (8).
9.Repeat step 5 to 11 until, a minimum of 3 trials are run, it is recommended one of the trials shall be for a closure
requiring 25 to 35 blows, one for closure between 20 and 30 blows, and one trial for a closure requiring 15 to 25
blows. 9
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 Experiment 5-1: Liquid Limit
f. Test Data and Analysis
Location: Addis Ababa, Lideta, EiABC Compound (near SECU model house)
Test Pit No: 1 Sample Depth: 1.50m

Test Number 1 2 3 4
Number of Blows 33 25 20 16
Container Number 162 124 132 172
Mass of Empty Container, Mc 33.4 33.6 33.0 33.5
Mass of Container + Wet Soil, Mcsw (g) 48.8 50.0 47.5 50.6
Mass of Container + Dry Soil, Mcs (g) 44.2 44.9 42.9 45.0
Mass of Dry Soil, Ms (g) 10.8 11.3 9.9 11.5
Mass of Water, Mw (g) 4.6 5.1 4.6 5.6
Water Content, w (%) 42.59 45.13 46.46 48.7

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 Experiment 5-1: Liquid Limit
f. Test Data and Analysis
50 Flow Curve
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R² = 0.99
Water Content (%)

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46
45
45
44
43
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10 100
Number of Blows

Regression Analysis
W @ N=25 Blows, (%) 44.92
Coefficient of Determination., R2 0.993
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 Experiment 5-2: Plastic Limit
a. Theoretical Background
• The Plastic Limit is the boundary between the Plastic State and the Semi-solid State of
a fine grained soil.
• The water content at this boundary is arbitrarily defined as the water content at which
soil begins to crumble when rolled into threads of specified size (3.2mm).
b. Purpose of the Test(*)
• The liquid limit, the Plastic Limit and plasticity index are a significant part of several
engineering soil classification systems,
• The liquid and plastic limits of a soil and its water content can be used to express its
relative consistency or liquidity index. In addition, the plasticity index and the
percentage finer than 2-µm particle size can be used to determine its activity number.
• The liquid limit, the plastic limit and the plasticity index are used individually or
together to correlate other engineering behaviours of the soil, such as, the use of the
plasticity index in swelling potential estimation by Anderson et. al. 13
 Experiment 5-2: Plastic Limit
c. Testing Standards: ASTM D4318
d. Apparatus

• Soaking Dish: for allowing the water to properly percolate and reach each clay particle.
• Moisture Content Containers: for holding the specimen for oven drying
• Balance: Confirming to the appropriate standard for laboratory equipment
• Spatula: for mixing the soil specimen
• Flat Glass Plate: for mixing the soaked specimen on
• Drying Oven: Confirming to the appropriate standard for laboratory equipment
• Wash Bottle: for holding distilled or demineralized water
• Wash Pan: to clean the Casagrande apparatus after each trial test
• Distilled or Demineralized water
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Experiment 5-2: Plastic Limit
e. Sample preparation and test specimen
• A representative disturbed soil sample is used for this test.
• The soil sample is initially air dried then dried in an oven at 110 ± 5 0c for a maximum of
24hrs.
• Then the sample is pulverized to breakdown the sample aggregation using a rubber
pestle.
• sieve the sample in a 425μm sieve the fraction passing the sieve is used for the test.
• Take 220 gm the test specimen and soak over night at a consistency near the liquid limit.
(combined Liquid and plastic limit sample prep.)

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 Experiment 5-2: Plastic Limit
e. Procedure
• Take approximately 1.0 to 2.0g of specimen from the remaining portion in the soaking dish. If the
moisture content of the specimen is high that the sample is much further away from its plastic limit
dry in air by mixing and letting it sit in a well-ventilated area.

• Once the specimen has reached an acceptable consistency for plastic limit testing form a ellipsoidal
shape in one’s hand and hand roll the ellipsoidal shaped specimen in to a thread of 3.2 mm
diameter, if the cracks form on the surface of the thread collect the thread and place in a moisture
can and cover lid.

• Repeat step (3) collecting thread with cracks in the moisture can until about 6g of soil is collected.

• Determine the moisture content of he collected specimen.

! Note: As this test is highly dependent on the operator, this test is conducted in two trials and the
average result was used. 16
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 Experiment 5-2: Plastic Limit
f. Test Data and Analysis
Location: Addis Ababa, Lideta, EiABC Compound (near SECU model house)

Test Pit No: 1 Sample Depth: 1.50m

Test Number 1 2
Container Number 168 136
Mass of Empty Container, Mc 32.9 33.8
Mass of Container + Wet Soil, Mcsw (g) 39.2 37.6
Mass of Container + Dry Soil, Mcs (g) 37.9 36.8
Mass of Dry Soil, Ms (g) 5 3
Mass of Water, Mw (g) 1.3 0.8
Water Content, w (%) 26.00 26.67

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 Experiment 5-2: Plastic Limit
f. Test Data and Analysis

Average Value
Avg. W, (%) 26.34

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Discussion
1. Plasticity Index
Is the range over which the soil is plastic
PI = LL- PL
Results at 1.50m
LL 45
PL 26
PI 19

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Discussion
2. Plasticity Chart and A-Line

• It has been observed (Casagrande 1932a) that many properties of clays and silts, such as
their dry strength, their compressibility, their reaction to the shaking test, and their
consistency near the plastic limit, can be correlated with the Atterberg limits by means of
the plasticity chart

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Discussion
3. Liquidity Index

The ratio, w  PL
Il 
PI

is called the liquidity Index of the soil.

It is a measure of the consistency of fine grained soils and an indicator of

shear Strength.
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Il
>1

0>

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THE END
Any Questions?

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