Compaction

In construction of highway embankments, earth dams and many other engineering structures,
loose soils must be compacted to improve their strength by increasing their unit weight;
Compaction - Densification of soil by removing air voids using mechanical equipment; the degree
of compaction is measured in terms of its dry unit weight.

1.15.1 Objectives for Compaction

Increasing the bearing capacity of foundations;

Decreasing the undesirable settlement of structures;

Control undesirable volume changes;

Reduction in hydraulic conductivity;

Increasing the stability of slopes.

In general, soil densification includes compaction and consolidation.

Compaction is one kind of densification that is realized by rearrangement of soil particles without
outflow of water. It is realized by application of mechanic energy. It does not involve fluid flow, but
with moisture changing altering.

Consolidation is another kind of densification with fluid flow away. Consolidation is primarily for
clayey soils. Water is squeezed out from its pores under load.

CONSOLIDATION COMPACTION

It is a gradual process of reduction It is a rapid of reduction of volume

of Volume under sustained, static mechanical mean such as rolling ,
loading. tamping , vibration.
It causes a reduction in volume of a In compaction, the volume of partially
saturated soil due to squeezing out saturated soil decreases of
of water from the soil.
air the voids at the unaltered water
content
Is a process which in nature when Is an artificial process which is done to
saturated soil deposits are subjected increase the density of the soil to
to static loads caused by the weight improve its properties before it is put to
of the building any use.
Compaction Effect

There are 4 control factors affecting the extent of compaction:

Compaction effort;

Soil type and gradation;

Moisture content; annd

Dry unit weight (dry density).

Effect of Water on Compaction

In soils, compaction is a funnction of water content

Water added to the soil during compaction acts as a softening agent on the soil particles

Consider 0% moisture - Only compact so much

Add a little water - compacts better

A little more water - a little better compaction

Even more water Soil begins to flow

What is better compactionn?

The dry unit weight (d) increases as the moisture content increases to a point

Beyond a certain moisture content, any increase in moisture content tends to reduce the dry unit
weight
Standard Proctor Compaction Test

The standard was originally developed to simulate field compaction in the lab

Purpose:

Find the optimum moisture content at which the maximum dry unit weight is attained ASTM D 698

Equipments;

Standard Proctor; 1/30 ft3 mold

5.5 lb hammer; 12 drop

3 layers of soil; 25 blows / layer

Compaction Effort is calculated with the following parameters

Mold volume = 1/30 cubic foot

Compact in 3 layers

25blows/layer

5.5 lb hammer

12" drop
Compaction Lab Equipment

Procedure

Obtain 10 lbs of soil passing No. 4 sieve

Record the weight of the Proctor mold without the base and the (collar) extension, the volume of
which is 1/30 ft3.

Assemble the compaction apparatus.

Place the soil in the mold in 3 layers and compact using 25 well distributed blows of the Proctor
hammer.

Detach the collar without disturbing the soil inside the mold

Remove the base and determine the weight of the mold and compacted soil.

Remove the compacted soil from the mold and take a sample (20-30 grams) of soil and find the
moisture content

Place the remainder of the molded soil into the pan, break it down, and thoroughly remix it with
the other soil, plus 100 additional grams of water.
Zero-air-void unit weight:

At certain water content, what is the unit weight to let no air in the voids

( z.a.v) = (zav)

It is clear that in the above equation, specific gravity of the solid and thewater density are
constant, the zero-air-void density is inversely proportional to water content w. For a given

soil and water content the best possible compaction is represented by the zero-air-voids

curve. The actual compaction curve will always be below. For dry soils the unit weight increases
as water is added to the soil because the water lubricates the particles making compaction
easier. As more water is added and the water content is larger than the optimum value, the void
spaces become filled with water so further compaction is not possible because water is a kind like
incompressible fluid. This is illustrated by the shape of the zero- air-voids curve which decreases
as water content increases.

Compaction Curve

Compaction curve plotted d vs. w.The peak of the curve is the Maximum Compaction (d

max) at Optimum Moisture Content (wopt )

Results

Plot of dry unit weight vs moisture content

Find d (max) and w and Plot Zero-Air-Void unit weight (only S=100%)
Effect of Compaction Energy

With the development of heavy rollers and their uses in field compaction, the Standard

Proctor Test was modified to better represent field compaction

As the compaction effort increases,

The maximum dry unit weight of compaction increase; the optimum moisture content decreases
to some extend Compaction energy per unit volume.

Compaction adopted in the field

Tampers.

A hand operated tamper consists of block iron, about 3 to 5 Kg mass, attached to a wooden

rod. The tamper is lifted for about 0.30m and dropped on the to be compressed.
soil

Mechanical Tampers operated by compressed air or gasoline power.

Rollers

smooth wheel rollers

pneumatic tyred rollers

Sheep- foot rollers.

Smooth wheel rollers

Smooth wheel rollers are useful finishing operations after compaction of fillers and for
compacting granular base causes of highways.

Pnumatic tyred rollers

Pneumatic tyred rollers use compressed air to develop the required inflation pressure.The

roller compactive the soil primarily by kneading action. These rollesrs are effecting for

compacting cohesive as well as cohesion less soils.

Sheep foot rollers

The sheep foot roller consists of a hollow drum with a large number of small projections (known
as feet) on its surface. The drums are mounted on a steel frame. The drum can fill with water or
ballast increases the mass. The contact pressure is generally between 700 to 4200 KN/m2.
CONSOLIDATION AND COMPRESSIBILITY OF SOILS

When a soil layer is subjected to vertical stress, volume change can take place
through rearrangement of soil grains, and some amount of grain fracture may
also take place. The volume of soil grains remains constant, so change in total
volume is due to change in volume of water. In saturated soils, this can happen
only if water is pushed out of the voids. The movement of water takes time and is
controlled by the permeability of the soil and the locations of free draining
boundary surfaces.

It is necessary to determine both the magnitude of volume change (or the

settlement) and the time required for the volume change to occur. The magnitude
of settlement is dependent on the magnitude of applied stress, thickness of the
soil layer, and the compressibility of the soil.

When soil is loaded undrained, the pore pressure increases. As the excess pore
pressure dissipates and water leaves the soil, settlement takes place. This
process takes time, and the rate of settlement decreases over time. In coarse
soils (sands and gravels), volume change occurs immediately as pore pressures
are dissipated rapidly due to high permeability. In fine soils (silts and clays), slow
seepage occurs due to low permeability.

Components of Total Settlement or stages of consolidation

The total settlement of a loaded soil has three components: Elastic settlement,
primary consolidation, and secondary compression.

Elastic settlement is on account of change in shape at constant volume, i.e. due

to vertical compression and lateral expansion. Primary consolidation (or
simply consolidation) is on account of flow of water from the voids, and is a
function of the permeability and compressibility of soil. Secondary compression is
on account of creep-like behaviour.

Primary consolidation is the major component and it can be reasonably

estimated. A general theory for consolidation, incorporating three-dimensional
flow is complicated and only applicable to a very limited range of problems in
geotechnical engineering. For the vast majority of practical settlement problems,
it is sufficient to consider that both seepage and strain take place in one direction
only, as one-dimensional consolidation in the vertical direction.

Soils are often subjected to uniform loading over large areas, such as from wide
foundations, fills or embankments. Under such conditions, the soil which is remote
from the edges of the loaded area undergoes vertical strain, but no horizontal
strain. Thus, the settlement occurs only in one-dimension.

The compressibility of soils under one-dimensional compression can be

described from the decrease in the volume of voids with the increase of effective
stress. This relation of void ratio and effective stress can be depicted either as
anarithmetic plot or a semi-log plot.
In the arithmetic plot as shown, as the soil compresses, for the same increase of
effective stress Ds', the void ratio reduces by a smaller magnitude, from De1 to De2.
This is on account of an increasingly denser packing of the soil particles as the
pore water is forced out. In fine soils, a much longer time is required for the pore
water to escape, as compared to coarse soils.

It can be said that the compressibility of a soil decreases as the effective stress increases. This can be
represented by the slope of the void ratio effective stress relation, which is called the coefficient of
compressibility, av.

For a small range of effective stress,

The -ve sign is introduced to make av a positive parameter.

If e0 is the initial void ratio of the consolidating layer, another useful parameter is
the coefficient of volume compressibility, mv, which is expressed as

It represents the compression of the soil, per unit original thickness, due to a unit
increase of pressure.