What meant by optimum moisture content?
Table of Contents
What meant by optimum moisture content?
The water content at which a soil can be compacted to the maximum dry unit weight by a given compactive effort. Also called optimum water content.
What is the optimum moisture content for soil?
Note: the optimum moisture content is usually 2-3 percent less than the plastic limit of the soil….10.2 Compaction characteristics.
| Soil | Optimum moisture content for compaction (range in \%) |
|---|---|
| Inorganic clay, highly plastic | 36 – 19 |
| Organic clay | 45 – 21 |
How is optimum moisture content determined?
The basic premise of this simple method to calculate OMC, optimum moisture content, is based on: One (1) cubic meter (m3) of soil/sand weighs about 1,800 kg. 200 grams of soil/sand is 1/9000th of one cubic meter of the soil/sand. ALL IS DONE BY WEIGHT and not by a percent of moisture.
Why do we need optimum moisture content?
Need for Determining Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) of the Soil. The soil at the construction site must be stable enough to carry the loads from the structures through footings without undergoing undesirable settlements during the construction process and during the service period.
Would you specify compaction dry or wet of optimum Why?
When the soil is compacted to dry of optimum, the soil is in need of water and it swells easily when contacted with water. When water is compacted to wet of optimum, the soil particles are oriented in a manner and swelling does not occur. So, to avoid swelling, soils should be compacted to wet of optimum.
What is FDD test?
The dry density of the compacted soil or pavement material is a common measure of the amount of the compaction achieved during the construction. Therefore field density test is importance as a field control test for the compaction of soil or any other pavement layer.
What will happen if the soil is not compacted at optimum moisture content?
Poor Compaction- When the soil is not at or close to optimum moisture, the soil’s maximum density is greatly impacted. When the soil is too dry, the soil is not lubricated enough to fill all of the voids in the soil needed to create an extremely dense surface.
What is the maximum dry density of soil?
The results of a set of standard Proctor compaction tests on a particular soil give a maximum dry density of 19.6 kN/m3 and an optimum moisture content of 12.5\%. The specific gravity of solids for the soil is 2.68.