How are Atterberg limits used in the classification of the fine-grained soils?

The Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the critical water contents of a fine-grained soil: its shrinkage limit, plastic limit, and liquid limit. The Atterberg limits can be used to distinguish between silt and clay, and to distinguish between different types of silts and clays.

What kind of soil is suitable for Atterberg limit test?

Defining Soil Types with Atterberg Limits Atterberg Limits are most commonly used to define a fine-grained soil as being either silt or clay, of either high or low plasticity. The most wellknown definition used is the Plasticity Chart as shown in Figure 2.

Which method is best suited for determination of permeability of coarse grained soil?

Constant-head permeability test
Coefficient of permeability for coarse grained soil is determined by means of Constant-head permeability test.

How coarse grained soils are classified as per IS?

Coarse grained soils are defined as those soils whose individual grains are retained on a No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve. Grains of this size can generally be seen with the naked eye, although a hand held magnifying glass may occasionally be needed to see the smallest of the grains. Gravel and sand are coarse grained soils.

What is the purpose of Atterberg limits?

The limits relate the determined moisture contents to empirically defined boundaries between states of consistency (liquid, plastic and solid) (Baver et al., 1972). The aim of the Atterberg limit tests is to obtain empirical information on the reaction of regolith to water.

What is the importance of determining the Atterberg limits?

Atterberg Limits play a crucial role in the early stages of structural design to ensure that the soil performs as expected. Excessive changes in volume caused by moisture swings may cause settling or heaving of the structure.

Which method is adopted for coarse grained soil?

Pycnometer method is suitable for coarse grained soil but if it is used for fine grained soil then instead of water kerosine should be used because kerosine has good wetting properties.

Which of the roller is best suited for compacting coarse grained soil?

∴ Vibratory roller is most suitable for proof rolling subgrades and for finishing operation of fills coarse grained soils.

What are the differences between coarse grained and fine grained soil?

The coarse-grained soil feels gritty when it is touched by the hand. The fine-grained soil feels smooth and sticky when touched by hand. The coarse-grained soil does not retain water and has more permeability. The fine-grained soil has very less permeability and it can retain water.

How are Atterberg limits related to soil composition?

Atterberg Limits are the water contents which define transitions between the solid, plastic, and liquid states of a given soil material. The tests are restricted to cohesive soils with appreciable silt or clay fraction, and cannot be conducted readily on either sands or silts with a high sand fraction.

What is the Atterberg test?

The Atterberg limits test is a classification test used to determine the moisture content at which fine-grained clay and silt soils transition between the different phases.