Fall cone tests considering water content, cone penetration index, and plasticity angle of fine-grained soils

Abstract

This paper analyzed the consistency of some parameters of soils in the literature and experimental results from fall cone test and its application to soil plasticity classification. Over 500 data from both literatures and experiments using fall cone and Casagrande methods were compiled to assess the relationships among specified water content, cone penetration index (β), and plasticity angle (α) of fine-grained soils. The results indicate that no unique correlation exists among β, liquid limit of the fall cone test (LLc) and α. The water content at 1 mm cone penetration (C0) correlates well with β, plasticity ratio (Rp) (i.e. the ratio of plastic limit to liquid limit), and α. Finally, the potential of using the β−tanα diagram to classify soil plasticity was also discussed.

Keywords

• Atterberg limits
• Fall cone test
• Plasticity angle
• Water content
• Cone penetration index
• Plasticity ratio