Lab Report #2:

Liquid Limit, Plastic Limit, and Plasticity Index of Soils

Abstract

Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the critical water contents of a fine-grained
soil, such as its shrinkage limit, plastic limit, and liquid limit. The group
performed standard practice in determining the liquid limit, plastic limit, and
plasticity index of a soil sample in accordance to ASTM D 4318. The calculated
liquid limit of the soil sample is 34, its plastic limit as 20, and plasticity index as
14. After analysis, the soil sample is recognized as clay of low plasticity based on
the USCS.

Submitted by: Nur-Ranji Jajurie

Group Mates:
Prince Charlie Intal
Vanessa Gale Marie Natividad
Carl Joshua Rebutiaco
Xerxes Tupag

Date Performed: February 23, 2016

Date Submitted: March 8, 2016

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 I. Objectives
 To determine the liquid limit, plastic limit, and the plasticity index of the soil
sample as prescribe by ASTM D4318: Standard Test Methods for Liquid
Limit, Plastic Limit, and Plasticity Index of Soils
 To produce data within the acceptable range of errors as required by the lab
instructor
 To analyze the sample using the results of the experiments and determine its
type based on the Unified Soil Classification System
II. Materials
a) Liquid Limit Test
 Liquid Limit Device (Casagrande Cup)
 Flat Grooving Tool
 Gauge
 Water Content Container
 Mixing and Storage Container
 Balance
b) Plastic Limit Test
 Sieves (Number 40)
 Glass Plate
 Drying Oven
 Containers with Lid

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III. Methodology

START

Mix a portion of the retained soil sample with distilled water until smooth consistency
Sieve sample in a 425µm (No. 40) sieve Prepare the materials
for liquid limit test as
stated in Section 2
NO
Calibrate Is the Casagrande Cup calibrated?
the
device

YES

Smoothen out the

surface and then tap Fill up the base of the cup
Reform the mixture in
the cup to eliminate with the soil water mixture
the cup and add more
the air bubbles inside until the surface is 10 mm
soil. If it becomes too dry,
the mixture away from the deepest point
add water

Form a groove in the soil by Lift and drop the cup at the rate Verify that the air bubbles
using the grooving tool. Ensure of two drops per second using did not caused any
that the separation between the crank of the device until the premature settlement by
soils is in the required two parts of the mixture come looking if the groove closed
dimensions. together at the distance of together at almost the
13mm. Make sure to count the
number of drops until it reaches
this stage.
NO Count the number of Drops

YES N
YES Did the grove
closed
Is the number of drops between 20
and 30? prematurely?
Record the number of drops

NO
NOof known mass, and then record the mass of wet soil and the containe
Secure half of sample in the cup on a container
Adjust the number of drops to close the gap by adding water to lessen the number and wi

YES Already have a

Is the number of drops between 25
and 35? data on this range?

NO
YES

Is the number of
drops between 15
YES Have complete
and 25? data for all trials? NO

YES
Proceed to Plastic limit Test

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 Add more soils to the soil-water mixture left until you can form the soil into a clay and it does not stick into your hands
Proceed to Plastic limit Test
Secure 2 grams
of sample from the
clay

Roll the ‘clay’ until

it forms into a
cylindrical rod with

If the rolled clay did

not break at 1/8”
diameter, add more NO
water to the clay
Did the clay break into pieces at exactly 1/8” diameter?
sample, else if it
breaks before 1/8”
diameter add more
YES

Seal the sample and YES Put the sample in

then get the mass of a container of
Does the container contain almost 6 g of soil sample?
the samples with the known mass
container. Leave it
inside the oven for 24
hours.
NO Get the clay and form
it into another ball
that does not stick in
Do you have 2 sets NO the hands
of container in the oven?

YES

Leave all of the

samples inside the
oven for 24 hours and END
then return the
following day to
calculate each

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IV. Data and Results
The data acquired for the liquid limit test it given in the table below:

Mass of wet Mass of soil +

Mass of Mass of Soil Mass of Soil
Trial No. of Drops soil + container
container (g) (wet) (g) (oven dried), g
container (g) (oven dried) (g)

1 33 10.5 25 14.5 21.5 11

2 21 9 23 14 19.5 10.5
3 18 9 29 20 23.5 14.5
Table 1. Data acquired for the liquid limit test

Moisture content is calculated using the equation:

𝑀w
w( % ) =
𝑀𝑠 × 100, [Equation 1]
where w stands for the moisture content in percentage, 𝑀w is the mass of the wet soil
sample, and 𝑀𝑠 is the mass of the wet sample. Using Trial 1 we then have:
𝑀w
w𝑡𝑟i𝑎𝑙 1 (%) = 14.5 g × 100 = 31. 81%.
𝑀𝑠 × 100 = 11.0 g

After repeating this computation for trials 2 and 3, the table below was generated:

Trial No. of Drops Water Content

1 33 31.82
2 21 33.33
3 18 37.93
Table 2. Number of drops and the corresponding water content for each trial

The relationship between the water content, w, and the corresponding number of
drops, N, of the cup was plotted on a semi-logarithmic graph with water content as the
ordinates and arithmetical scale, and the number of drops on the abscissas on a
logarithmic scale as shown in Graph 1. The best fit straight line through three trials
was plotted and the liquid limit of the soil sample is the water content at 25 blows.

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 Liquid Limit Analysis
50.00
45.00
Liquid Limit
40.00
Water Content

Sample Log. (Liquid

35.00
Limit Sample)
30.00
y = -8.563ln(x) + 61.281 R² = 0.7181
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
1 10 100
Number of Blows

Graph 1. Number of blows vs. water content (%)

We will use the equation of the line in order to find the exact value, that is:

w𝑛 = −8.563 ln(𝑁) + 61.281, [Equation 2]

where w𝑛 is the water content at N blows. Inputting the value of 𝑁 = 25, we get:

w25 = −8.563 ln(25) + 61.281 = 33.7177 ≈ 34 .

Hence, the reported liquid limit of the sample is 34.

The data acquired for the plastic limit test is given in the table below:

Mass of Mass of soil + Mass of

Mass of container + Mass of Soil Mass of Soil
Trial container, container (oven container (oven
soil (wet), g (wet), g (oven dried), g
g dried), g dried), g

1 10.5 16.5 6 14.5 9.5 5

2 9 15 6 13 8 5
Table 3. Data acquired for the plastic limit test of the soil sample

Using Equation 1, we get the corresponding water content in the two trials which are:

Mass of Mass of
Water
Trial Soil (wet), Soil (oven
Content (%)
g dried), g

1 6 5 20
2 6 5 20
Table 4. Simplified table of data acquired for the plastic limit
test along with corresponding water content

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 The plastic limit is the average of the water content for the two trials in which in the
given experiment is 20.

The plasticity index of the material is computed by finding the difference between the
liquid and plastic limit as shown in Equation 3.

𝑃𝐼 = 𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿 [Equation 3]

where 𝑃𝐼 is the plasticity index, 𝐿𝐿 is the liquid limit, and 𝑃𝐿 is the plastic limit. All
values that will be used are in whole numbers. Substituting the values calculated the
plasticity index is then:

𝑃𝐼 = 𝐿𝐿 − 𝑃𝐿 = 34 − 20 = 14.

The reported plasticity index of the soil is 14.

V. Analysis and Discussion

Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the nature of a fine-grained soil. Depending on
the water content of the soil, it may appear in four states: solid, semi-solid, plastic,
and liquid. In each state the consistency, behavior, and properties of the soil are
completely different. The boundary between these states can be defined using the
change in behavior of the soil. The Atterberg limits are commonly used to distinguish
between silts and clays, and also types of silts and clays. Atterberg limits like the
liquid limit, the plastic limit and the plasticity index of soils are also used widely,
either individually or together, with other soil properties to correlate with engineering
behavior such as compressibility, permeability, shrink swell, shear strength, and
compaction.
The liquid limit (LL) is defined as the water content at which the separation of soil in
a standard cup which is cut by a groove of standard dimensions will flow together at
the base of the groove for a distance of 13 mm when subjected to 25 drops of the
liquid limit device. In nature, this describes the change of state of a clayey soil from
plastic to liquid. Liquid limit of soil is a very important property of fine grained soil
or cohesive soil, its value is used to classify fine grained soil. It also gives information
regarding the state of consistency of soil on site. Liquid limit of soil can also be used
to predict the consolidation properties of soil while calculating allowable bearing
capacity and settlement of foundation. Also, liquid limit value of soil is also used to
calculate activity of clays and toughness index of soil.

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The plastic limit (PL) is determined by rolling out a thread of the fine portion of a soil
on a flat, non-porous surface. If the soil is at moisture content where its behavior is
plastic, this thread will retain its shape down to a very narrow diameter. The sample
can then be remolded and the test repeated. As the moisture content falls due to
evaporation, the thread will begin to break apart at larger diameters. The plastic limit
is defined as the moisture content where the thread breaks apart at a diameter of 3.2
mm. A soil is considered non-plastic if a thread cannot be rolled out down to 3.2 mm
at any moisture. Plastic limit is also the lower limit of the plastic state. Thus, a small
increase in moisture above the plastic limit destroys cohesion of the soil.
Table 5 shows the typical values of liquid and plastic limits of soils in the laboratory.

Soil type Liquid limit Plastic Limit

Sands 20 0
Silts 27 20
Clays 100 45
Colloidal clays 399 46
Table 5. Common values of liquid and plastic limits of common soils

Plasticity index is an important parameter that can be used to classify soil. Soils that
have high plasticity index are considered to tend to clay. Adding even modest
quantities of water to such soils may cause unusually large and frequent slope failures.
If this value is in lower range the soil tend to silt. In case of zero value, soil are
considered to have little or no clay and silt and called non-plastic soil. A low plasticity
index is indicative to have high organic matter in soil. Soil plasticity is also a field
indicator of slope stability. The engineering concept of soil plasticity has evolved to
explain why some soils are more failure prone than others. Graph 2 shows the
plasticity chart for USCS, in which will be used to classify the type of soil sample in
the experiment.

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 Graph 2. Plasticity Chart for USCS to identify the type of soil based on its Atterberg limits

Using the Atterberg limits of the soil sample found in the simplified Table 6, it can be
seen that the soil used in the experiment is classified under CL or clays with low
plasticity (lean clays).

Liquid Limit 34
Plastic Limit 20
Plasticity Index 14

Table 6. Simplified table for Atterberg limits of the soil sample

Clays are known to be the plastic fines. They have low resistance to deformation
when wet, but they dry to hard, cohesive masses. Clays are virtually impervious,
difficult to compact when wet, and impossible to drain by ordinary means. Large
expansion and contraction with changes in water content are characteristics of clays.
The small size, flat shape, and mineral composition of clay particles combine to
produce a material that is both compressible and plastic. Generally, the higher the
liquid limit of a clay, the more compressible it will be and at the same liquid limit, the
higher the plasticity index, the more cohesive the clay. The clay used in the
experiment probably contains high amount of silts that affects its plasticity and
making it not to compressible as compared to clays with high plasticity. Lean clays
easily turns into mud as compared to fat clays and hence the careful analysis in the
planting the foundations is more needed.

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 As can be seen in Table 5, the soil sample with liquid limit value of 34, almost
exhibits the same liquid limit as the silts although it was been classified as clay under
the USCS. As stated in the previous paragraph, soils with relatively low liquid limit
tend to destroy the cohesion with soil particles and become muddy upon addition of
little amount of water. Plasticity limit value of 20 is also similar to the most silt which
corresponds to low cohesiveness. Cohesion is the result of the magnetic-like attraction
of particles; it resists the shearing of a block of soil. Highly plastic clays have most
cohesive shear strength, however silty clay or clays with low plasticity exhibits both
fair cohesive and frictional strength. Permeability varies with the particle size but
because silty clays are composed of both silts and clays which vary in size, clays with
low plasticity tends to be impervious when compacted.
As a summary, Table 7 presents the quality of the clay with low plasticity as
discussed in this section:
Important Property Description

Shear Strength Fair

Compressibility Medium

Workability as
Good to
Construction Material Fair
Permeability when
Impervious
Compacted
Table 7. Important properties of the lean soil

VI. Conclusions and Recommendations

After thorough analysis of the Atterberg limits of the soil sample, it is concluded that
the soil is classified as clay with low plasticity under the Unifies Soil Classification
System. General description of this type of soil is summarized in Table 7.
In the experiment proper there has been error on the computation of the moisture
content because the container also gained moisture from cleaning and hence the total
mass after oven drying will include both deductions from the soil sample and the
container. It is also recommended to use a scale of higher accuracy especially when
measuring moisture contents of small mass such as 6 grams, the weighing scale that
was used is only accurate up to 0.5 grams which has caused errors in the calculated
moisture content.

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VII. References
1. American Society for Testing and Materials. D4318 -1: Standard Test Methods for Liquid
Limit, Plastic Limit, and Plasticity Index of Soils. E-book.
2. Prof. Krishna Reddy. Engineering Properties of Soils Based on Laboratory Testing:
Experiment 7 Atterberg Limits. E-book.
3. Hardy Bartle. “What is soil plasticity? How does it allow you to prevent slope failures?”.
Published by B.C.’s Watershed Restoration Technical Bulletin. E-book.
4. United States Department of Agriculture: Soil Conservation Service. Engineering Field
Manual. E-book.
5. CivilBlog.Org . “LIQUID LIMIT OF SOIL – WHAT, WHY & HOW?” Published March 8,
2015. Retrieved March 8, 2016 at civilblog.org/2015/03/07/liquid-limit-of-soil-what-why-
how/

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