TITLE OF EXPERIMENT

Standard compaction test

 AIM OF EXPERIMENT
The objective of this experiment is to determine;
 The optimum moisture content of the soil
 The dry density of the soil
 To find the suitability of the given soil sample for filling in different
construction sites.
 MATERIAL USED
The material used are;
 3kg of soil sample
 Clean water
 APPARATUS AND DIAGRAM
Apparatus of the experiment are;
 Compaction mould
 Compaction rammer
 Moisture can
 Measuring cylinder
 Mixing pan
 Weighing balance
 Hand trowel
 Oven

Compaction mould and rammer measuring cylinder weighing balance

Drying oven moisture cans

 LITERATURE REVIEW
Compaction is the process of packing soil particles more closely
together by mechanical means thus increasing the dry density. This process
is achieved through the reduction of the air voids in the soil, with little or
no reduction in the water content.
The obvious effect of soil compaction therefore is densification, i.e an
increase in unit weight; and this lead to the collection of a soil mass with
controlled engineering properties.
Compaction is achieved by the following explanation:
 As the moisture content is increased, the additional water enables the
grains to be more easily compacted together. some of the air is displaced
and the dry density is increased.
 The addition of more water, up to a certain point, enables more air to be
expelled during compaction. At that point the soil grains become as closely
packed together as the can be under the application of a compactive effort
(note, dry density is at the maximum)
 When the amount of water exceeds that required to achieve this condition,
the excess water begins to push the particles apart, so that the dry density
is reduced. At higher moisture contents little or no more air is displaced by
compaction and the resulting dry density continues to decrease.
The moisture content at which the greatest value of dry density is
reached for the given amount of compaction is the optimum moisture
content, and the corresponding dry density is the maximum dry density.
The proctor compaction test is a laboratory geotechnical testing method
used to determine the soil compaction properties, specifically to determine
the optimal water content at which soil can reach its maximum dry density.
 PROCEDURE
 We obtained the soil sample and weighed out 3kg for the experiment
 We took the weight, diameter and volume of the mould
 We then poured the soil sample in the mixing pan and sprinkled 3%(90ml)
of water on it ,which was mixed thoroughly with the hand trowel.
 We poured part of the thoroughly mixed sand in the compaction mould in
three different layers with each layers receiving 27 blows of the compaction
rammer.
 After the blow, we then took the weight of the mould together with the
wet soil sample that had been compacted.
 We scooped a little quantity of the wet soil into the moisture cans the
turned the mould upside down to scoop from the bottom part.
 The moisture cans with the wet soil sample are weighed and kept in the
oven for drying.
 We poured the sand in the mould back to the mixing pan and added
additional 90ml of water to the soil.
 We carried out the process repeatedly till the soil attains full compaction
and further addition of water led to a decrease in the compactivity of the
soil sample.
 After sometimes, we retrieve the cans in the oven and then reweighed
 DATA AND CALCULATION
Weight of empty mould M = 2982g

Volume of mould = 0.3cm3

Moisture Weight of Moisture Moisture Weight Weight Weight

cans moisture cans + wet cans + dry of wet of dry of
cans (g) soil (g) soil (g) soil (g) soil (g) water

E7 24 120 115 96 91 5

H6 22 129 124 107 100 5

H3 24 131 122 107 98 9

4B 24 133 124 109 100 9

H4 24 129 116 105 92 13

E6 22 113 103 91 81 10

6B 25 145 129 120 104 16

J4 24 149 131 125 107 18

Test 1; (90ml of water)

Mould + wet soil M1 = 4774g

Test 2;(180ml of water)

Mould + wet soil M2= 4916g
Test 3; (270ml of water)
Mould + wet soil M3= 4998g
Test 4; (360ml of water)
Mould + wet soil M4 = 4912g
Determination of bulk density is done below;
 First test
M1–M 4774 – 2982
Bulk density (BD) = 1000 = 1000
= 1.792g/cm3
 Second test
M2–M 4916 – 2982
 Bulk density (BD) = 1000 = 1000
= 1.934g/cm3
 Third test
M3–M 4998 – 2982
 Bulk density (BD) = 1000 = 1000
= 2.016g/cm3
 Fourth test
M4–M 4912 – 2982
 Bulk density (BD) = 1000 = 1000
= 1.930g/cm3

The %moisture content of each can are as follows;

weight of water
%moisture content = weight of dry soil ×100

Test 1

5
% moisture content of E7 = 91 ×100 = 5.49%
5
%moisture content of H6 = 100 ×100 = 5%
5.49+5
Average moisture content = 2
= 5.25%

Test 2
9
% moisture content of H3 = 98 × 100 = 9.18%
9
% moisture content of 4B = 100 ×100 = 9%
9.18+9
Average moisture content = 2
= 9.09%

Test 3
 13
% moisture content of H4 = 92 ×100 = 14.13%
10
% moisture content of E6 = 81 ×100 = 12.35%
14.13+12.35
Average moisture content = 2
= 13.24%

Test 4
16
% moisture content of 6B = 104 × 100 = 15.38%
18
% moisture content of E6 = 81 ×100 = 16.82%
15.38+16.82
Average moisture content = 2
= 16.1%

The dry density for each test;

100
Dry density Dd = 100+w × B D

Test 1
100
Dry density Dd = Dry density Dd = 100+5.25 × 1.792 = 1.70g/cm3

Test 2
100
Dry density Dd = Dry density Dd = 100+9.09 × 1.934 = 1.77g/cm3

Test 3
100
Dry density Dd = Dry density Dd = 100+13.24 ×2.016 = 1.78g/cm3

Test 4
100
Dry density Dd = Dry density Dd = 100+16.1 ×1.930 = 1.66g/cm3
 OBSERVATION
From the above experiment, we observed that;
 As the volume of water added to the soil increases the density of the
soil increased and later reaches a point when the density started
failing as more volume of water as added.
 As its reaches the point of decrease in density, the soil becomes
difficult to compact.
 PRECAUTIONS
 We ensured that each layers in mould was compacted uniformly by
applying 27 blows from the rammer.
 We ensured that the rammer was extended to the required height before
releasing it on the soil in the mould.
 We ensured proper mixing of the soil after the water was added
 ERRORS
 Error due to parallax when using the measuring cylinder
 Human error when counting the number of blows
 CONCLUSION
After the completion of the experiment, we can conclude that;
 The soil sample given has an optimum moisture content of 11.5% and
maximum dry density of 1.8g/cm3