Dual-Weight Fall Cone Method for Simultaneous Liquid and Plastic Limit Determination
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 1
Abstract
Simultaneously assessing liquid limit and plastic limit using a single laboratory test procedure and comparing the results to the standard test methods has not been noted in the published literature. This paper describes an innovative empirical approach that yields Atterberg limit values utilizing a dual-weight fall cone procedure and compares the values with those obtained by traditional Atterberg limits tests.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Permission to publish this paper was granted by the Director, Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory. The views presented are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
References
ASTM. (2002). “Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (Unified Soil Classification System).” Designation D 2487-02, American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, Pa.
ASTM. (2005). “Standard test methods for liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of soils.” Designation D 4318-05, American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, Pa.
Atterberg, A. (1909). “Die Bestandteile der mineralboden, die analyse, klassifikation und haupteigenschaften der tonartigen boden.” Comptes Rendus de la Premiere Conference Internationale Agrogeologique, 289–301.
Atterberg, A. (1911). “Relation of clays to water, their degrees of plasticity and plastic limits.” Documents and Journal No. 2 of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Stockholm, 133–139.
Belviso, R., Ciampoli, S., Cotecchia, V., and Federico, A. (1985). “Use of the cone penetrometer to determine consistency limits.” Ground Eng., 18(5), 21–22.
British Standards Institution. (1990). “Methods of test for soils for civil engineering purposes: Classification tests.” BS 1377, Part 2.
Campbell, D. A., and Blackford, J. W. (1984). “Fall cone method used to determine the liquid limit of soil.” Rep. No. GR-84-11, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver.
Casagrande, A. (1932). “Research on the Atterberg limits of soils.” Public Roads, 13(8), 121–130.
Feng, T. (2000). “Fall-cone penetration and water content relationship of clays.” Geotechnique, 50(2), 181–187.
Feng, T. (2004). “Using a small ring and a fall-cone to determine the plastic limit.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 130(6), 630–635.
Hammitt, G. M., II. (1966). “Statistical analysis of data from a comparative laboratory test program sponsored by ACIL.” Miscellaneous Paper No. 4-785, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss.
Hansbo, S. (1957). “A new approach to the determination of the shear strength of clay by the fall-cone test.” Royal Swedish Geotechnical Institute Proc., No. 14, Stockholm.
Harison, J. A. (1988). “Using the BS cone penetrometer the determination of the plastic limits of soils.” Geotechnique, 38(3), 433–438.
International Organization for Standards (ISO). (2004). “Determination of Atterberg limits.” TS 17892-12:2004.
Karlsson, R. (1981). Consistency limits: A manual for the performance and interpretation of laboratory investigations, Part 6, Swedish Council of Building Research.
Kodikara, J. K., Seneviratne, H. N., and Wijayakulasooryia, C. V. (1986). “Evaluation of plastic limit and plasticity index by cone penetrometer.” Proc., Asian Regional Symp. on Geotechnical Problems and Practices in Foundation Engineering, Vol. 1, National Building Research Organisation, 229–233.
Kodikara, J. K., Seneviratne, H. N., and Wijayakulasooryia, C. V. (2006). “Discussion of ‘Using a small ring and a fall-cone to determine the plastic limit.’” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 132(2), 276–278.
Koester, J. P. (1992). “The influence of test procedures on correlation of Atterberg limits with liquefaction in fine-grained soils.” Geotech. Test. J., 15(4), 352–361.
Sharma, B., and Bora, P. K. (2003). “Plastic limit, liquid limit and undrained shear strength of soil—Reappraisal.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 129(8), 774–777.
Sherwood, P. T. (1970). “The reproducibility of the results of soil classification and compaction tests.” TRRL Crowthorne LR 339.
Sivapullaiah, P. V., and Sridharan, A. (1985). “Liquid limit of soil mixtures.” Geotech. Test. J., 8(3), 111–116.
Skempton, A. W., and Northey, R. D. (1953). “The sensitivity of clays.” Geotechnique, 3(1), 30–53.
Terzaghi, K. (1926). “Simplified soil tests for subgrades and their physical significance.” Public Roads, 7(12), 240–247.
Towner, G. D. (1973). “An examination of the fall-cone method for the determination of some strength properties of remoulded agricultural soils.” J. Soil Sci., 24(4), 470–479.
Wasti, Y. (1987). “Liquid and plastic limits as determined from the fall cone and the Casagrande methods.” Geotech. Test. J., 10(1), 26–30.
Wasti, Y., and Bezirci, M. H. (1986). “Determination of the consistency limits of soils by the fall cone test.” Can. Geotech. J., 23, 241–246.
WES. (1948). “Trafficability of soils: Development of testing instruments.” Technical Memorandum 3-240, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss.
WES. (1961). “Determination of liquid and plastic limits of soils by the cone penetration method.” Rep. No. 4, Misc. Paper 3-478, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss.
Whyte, I. L. (1982). “Soil plasticity and strength—A new approach using extrusion.” Ground Eng., 15(1), 16–24.
Wijeyakulasuriya, C. V. (1990). “Discussion of ‘Using the BS cone penetrometer for the determination of the plastic limit of soils.’” Geotechnique, 40(2), 311–315.
Wood, D. M., and Wroth, C. P. (1978). “The use of the cone penetrometer to determine the plastic limit of soils.” Ground Eng., 11(3), 37.
Wroth, C. P., and Wood, D. M. (1978). “The correlation of index properties with some basic engineering properties of soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 15(2), 137–145.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 1 • January 2009
Pages: 158 - 161
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 19, 2006
Accepted: May 29, 2008
Published online: Jan 1, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.