Lec #9 (Atterberg Limits)

Geotechnical Engineering–I [CE-221]
BSc Civil Engineering – 4th Semester
Lecture # 9
21-Feb-2017
by
Dr. Muhammad Irfan
Assistant Professor
Civil Engg. Dept. – UET Lahore
Email: [email protected]
Lecture Handouts: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/geotech-i
1
SOIL CONSISTENCY
• Indicates the degree of firmness of
fine-grained soil.
• Generally expressed in terms of

very soft, soft, stiff, very stiff, and
hard.
Soil behave like:

• SOLID at very low moisture
content
• LIQUID at very high moisture
content
2
ATTERBERG/CONSISTENCY
LIMITS
Shrinkage Limit Plastic Limit Liquid Limit
SL PL LL
Soil volume, v or e
Plasticity
Index
Moisture content, w (%)

Solid Semi-Solid Plastic Viscous Liquid
3
LIQUID LIMIT (LL or wLL)
Liquid Limit (LL) is defined as the moisture content at which

soil begins to behave as a liquid material and begins to
flow.
(LL of a fine-grained soil gives the moisture content at which the shear
strength of the soil is approximately 2.5kN/m2)
4
LIQUID LIMIT DETERMINATION
Casagrande
Apparatus
ASTM D-4318
5
A) Three-Point Method
LL is the moisture content required to close a 2-mm wide

groove in a soil pat a distance of 12.7 mm (1/2”) along the
bottom of the groove after 25 blows.
6
B) One-Point Method
tan 
N
LL  wn  
 25 
N  number of blows
wn  correspond ing moisture content
tan   0.121
• Assumes a constant slope of the flow curve.

• The slope is a statistical result of 767 liquid limit tests (Norman, 1959).
Limitations:
• tan  is an empirical coefficient, so it is not always 0.121.
• Good results can be obtained only for the blow number between 20 to 30.
7
FLOW INDEX (IF)
w1=44
IF=28.39
w2=39
N1=20 N2=30
Flow Index • Larger the IF, smaller will

be shear strength of soil.
8
PLASTIC LIMIT (PL or wPL)
Plastic Limit (PL) is defined as the moisture content at which

soil begins to behave as a plastic material.
Plasticity Index (PI or IP) = LL - PL

9
PLASTIC LIMIT DETERMINATION
ASTM D-4318
Moisture content at which the soil when rolled into threads of

3.2mm (1/8 in) in diameter, will crumble.
PL = w% at 3.2 mm (1/8 in) dia.
10
SHRINKAGE LIMIT
Shrinkage Limit (SL) is defined as the moisture content at
which no further volume change occurs with further
reduction in moisture content.
11
SHRINKAGE LIMIT
Assignment: Prove this relationship

12
PLASTICITY/A-LINE CHART
13
High plasticity
Low plasticity
LL=50%
14
Cohesionless
Soils
High Plasticity
Silts
Silts
15
LIQUIDITY INDEX (IL)
wn  PL
IL 
LL  PL
where,
IL= Liquidity index
wn= Natural moisture content
PL= Plastic limit moisture content
LL= Liquid limit moisture content
0<IL<1 → Soil is in plastic state

IL < 0 → Soil is in semi-plastic or solid state
IL > 1 → Soil is in liquid state (quick clays or ultra sensitive clays)
16
TOUGHNESS INDEX (It)
Plasticity Index PI
It  
Flow Index IF
Soil Type It
Clayey soils 0-3
Soils which are friable at plastic <1
limit (e.g. Silts)
Toughness index (It) is useful to distinguish between soils of

different physical properties.
17
ACTIVITY, A
PI
A
% clay fraction smaller than  0.002mm
• Helpful to predict the dominant clay type/mineral in soil

sample.
• High activity signifies large volume change when wetted

and large shrinkage when dried.
Clay Type Activity

Inactive Clays < 0.75
Normal Clays 0.75 < A < 1.25
Active Clays > 1.25
18
Practice Problem#1
The following data were recorded from a LL test on a silty
clay;
No. of blows Water content (%)

35 41.1
29 41.8
21 43.5
15 44.9
If PL=23.4%, determine LL, flow index, and the toughness

index.
19
Practice Problem#1
48
47
46
45
w (%)
44
43LL=42.8%
42
41
40
1 10 N=25 100
No. of blows (N)
LL = 42.8%
PL = 23.4%
PI = 42.8-23.4
PI = 19.4%
20
Practice Problem#1
48
47
46
45
w (%)
44 w1=43.5%
43
42 w2=41.7%
41
40
N1=20 N2=30
1 10 100
No. of blows (N)
w1  w2 43.5  41.7
IF   It= IP/IF
 N2   30 
log  log  It=19.4/10.22
 N1   20 
It=1.898
IF= 10.22
21
Practice Problem#2
Four different types of soil were encountered in a big project.

Their LL, PL, and natural moisture content (NMC) are given
below;
Type of Soil Liquid Limit Plastic Limit NMC (%)
(%) (%)
1 120 40 150
2 64 32 34
3 60 30 30
4 65 32 25
Determine liquidity index and comment on the state of soil in
the field.
wn  PL
IL 
LL  PL
22
Practice Problem#3
A soil specimen has liquidity index of 0.2, liquid

limit of 56% and plasticity index of 20%.
Determine the natural moisture content of this soil
specimen.
23
Practice Problem#4
Liquid limit test carried out on two samples of clay resulted in

the following information.
Test # 1 2 3 4
Sample #1 w (%) 120 114 98 96
No. of blows 7 10 30 40
Sample #2 w (%) 96 74 45 30
No. of blows 9 15 32 46
PL for sample #1 is 40% and PL for sample is 32%.

Determine the flow index and toughness index for two
samples.
24
REFERENCE MATERIAL
An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering (2nd Edition)
By R. D. Holtz, W. D. Kovacs and T. C. Sheahan
Chapter #2
Principles of Geotechnical Engineering – (7th Edition)

Braja M. Das
Chapter #4
Norman, L. E. J. (1959). The one-point method of determining the value of

the liquid limit of a soil. Geotechnique, 9(1), 1-8.
CONCLUDED
25

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Geotechnical Engineering–I [CE-221]

BSc Civil Engineering – 4th Semester

• Generally expressed in terms of

Soil behave like:

Moisture content, w (%)

Liquid Limit (LL) is defined as the moisture content at which

LL is the moisture content required to close a 2-mm wide

• Assumes a constant slope of the flow curve.

Flow Index • Larger the IF, smaller will

Plastic Limit (PL) is defined as the moisture content at which

Plasticity Index (PI or IP) = LL - PL

Moisture content at which the soil when rolled into threads of

Assignment: Prove this relationship

0<IL<1 → Soil is in plastic state

Toughness index (It) is useful to distinguish between soils of

• Helpful to predict the dominant clay type/mineral in soil

• High activity signifies large volume change when wetted

Clay Type Activity

No. of blows Water content (%)

If PL=23.4%, determine LL, flow index, and the toughness

Four different types of soil were encountered in a big project.

A soil specimen has liquidity index of 0.2, liquid

Liquid limit test carried out on two samples of clay resulted in

PL for sample #1 is 40% and PL for sample is 32%.

Principles of Geotechnical Engineering – (7th Edition)

Norman, L. E. J. (1959). The one-point method of determining the value of

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