COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ATTERBERG’S LIMITS OF FINE-GRAINED SOIL DETERMINED BY VARIOUS METHODS

Abstract

Determination of the Atterberg’s limits is necessary for the classification of fine-grained soil. That limits can be determined according to the valid standard SRPS EN ISO 17892-12. Two methods are prescribed by the standard for determining the liquid limit: the Casagrande cup and the Fall Cone test, and one method for determining the plasticity limit: the thread-rolling method. In this paper the Fall Cone method was also used as an alternative method to determine the plastic limit. Ten samples of various fine-grained materials, originating from the wider area of the city of Niš, were tested. The classification of all samples was performed based on the results obtained by the methods prescribed by the standard and alternative methods. Comparative analysis shows that the results obtained by applying standard and alternative methods are close, but also that the scattering of results obtained by the Fall Cone method is significantly less, whereas the reproducibility is higher.

Keywords

• fine-grained soil
• liquid limit
• plastic limit
• plasticity index
• fall cone method