TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES

983 AURORA BOULEVARD CUBAO, QUEZON CITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

COLLEGE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CE 401
SOIL MECHANICS

UTILIZATION OF CRUSHED OYSTER SHELL AS A STABILIZER

MARTINEZ, ARIAN
MANIPOL, JAMES
NAVARRO, EUNICE
NIOG, NICAMAE
PARALLAG, JANSEN JONES

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. JENNIFER CAMINO
May 19, 2018
Compaction Test
Soil Compaction is generally the cheapest method of improving the engineering properties of the
soil. In compaction, the soil solids are forced to a tighter state in order to achieve a higher unit weight and
reduce the air voids.

The process of compaction is better understood by comprehension of the behavior of a soil mass
under compaction. In a dry condition, the frictional resistance of the soil would resist granular
rearrangement; therefore, the compacting force is not quite effective. Introduction of a lubricant such as a
predetermined amount of water is mixed, would then be absorbed by soil particles, forming minutely thin
and coherent water films around the particles. In this condition, the soil particles will readily move closer
together under the compacting pressure due to the lubricating effect of water and reduced frictional
resistance. When a certain amount of water, called the optimum, has been added, the compacting force
completely overcomes the frictional resistance and maximum density of the soil mass is attained.

Objectives:
The activity aims to introduce the concept of compaction and the relationship of moisture content to
the dry unit weight of the soil.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):

The students shall be able to:
• Connect the significance of compaction test in other properties of soil.
• determine the relative density of soils by compaction test.
• describe the use of water in relation to the dry density of the soil.

Resources:
1. Compaction mold and hammer
2. Moisture sprayer
3. No. 4 sieve
4. Rubbed tipped pestle
5. Scoop
6. Spatula
7. Large mixing pan
8. Balance
9. Drying oven

Procedure:

1) Weigh the empty mold.

2) Obtain a 6 lb. representative specimen of the soil sample to be tested. Break sample with the use
of rubber pestle and pass through No. 4 sieve.
3) Form a 2 to 3 inch layer using the soil passing though No. 4 sieve.
 4) Press soil until it is smooth and compact it with a specific number of evenly distributed blows of the
hammer, using a one foot drop. Rotate the hammer to ensure a uniform distribution of blows.
5) Repeat the same procedure for the second and third layers seeing to it that a uniform distribution of
blows.
6) After compaction of the third layer the soil should be slightly above the top rim of the mold.
7) Remove the collar and trim off the soil from the top of the mold. Tart trimming along the center and
work towards end of the mold.
8) After the soil has been made even with the top of the mold and all base soil cleaned from the
outside, weigh the cylinder sample to 10 lb.
9) Remove the soil from cylinder and obtain a representative sample of 50gm for a water content
determination. The water content sample should be made up with specimens from the top, middle
and bottom of the compacted soil.
10) Break up by hand then removed from the cylinder and remix with the original sample and raise its
water content by 3% by adding water to the sample with sprayer. Mix the soil thoroughly. By
weighing the sprayer before and after the spraying, the amount of water added is known.
11) Keep repeating the procedures for 5 to six times until soil is sticky. Use 3% approximate water
content.
12) Compute dry density of each sample and plot the compaction curve. Determine the Optimum
Moisture Content of the sample.

Determination of Optimum Moisture Content

Observation and Data:
Description Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5
Weight of mold (Wm) 6998g 7128g 7112g 6980g 7030g
Weight of mold + 10840g 11358g 10986g 10741g 10968g
compacted soil (Wm+s)
Weight of compacted 3842g 4230g 3874g 3761g 3938g
soil (Ws)
Volume of Mold 3242.27893cc 3242.27893cc 3242.27893cc 3242.27893cc 3242.27893cc
Wet Unit Weight (gwet) 1.18g/cc 1.30g/cc 1.19g/cc 1.16g/cc 1.21g/cc
Wt of tin cup (Wc) 28g 26g 27g 27g 28g
Wt. of tin cup + Wet 78g 76g 77g 77g 78g
Soil (Wc+ws)
Wt. of tin cup and dry 73g 72g 73g 72g 74g
soil (Wc+dc)
Wt. of water (Ww) 5g 4g 4g 5g 4g
Wt. of dry soil (Wds) 23g 22g 23g 22g 24g
Water Content (w) 21.74% 18.18% 17.39% 22.73% 16.67%
Dry unit weight (gdry) 0.97g/cc 1.10g/cc 1.01g/cc 0.95g/cc 1.04g/cc
Optimum Moisture 18.18%
Content (OMC)
GRAPH

Conclusion:
At the end of the each experiment, it can be conclusive to generalize the compaction of soil
increases shear strength, soil density, bearing capacity, but reduces the void ratio, porosity, permeability
and settlements. These parameters are essential in the stability of field problems like soil embankments.

After conducting series of experiment and tests, it was proven that the soil sample having 25%
crushed oyster shell and 75% soil sample is the most stable. It was shown in the tables that the crushed
oyster shell-powered soil behaved favorably in the direct shear machine. The sample also compacted well
in the compaction test. From here, it can also be concluded that the sample which has the most amount of
crushed oyster shell added into it is the most stable, as can be viewed and compared from the direct shear
graphs shown above.
CBR Test (California Bearing Ratio Test)

It is the ratio of force per unit area required to penetrate a soil mass with standard circular piston
at the rate of 1.25 mm/min. to that required for the corresponding penetration of a standard material. The
California Bearing Ratio Test (CBR Test) is a penetration test developed by California State Highway
Department (U.S.A.) for evaluating the bearing capacity of subgrade soil for design of flexible pavement.

Tests are carried out on natural or compacted soils in water soaked or un-soaked conditions and
the results so obtained are compared with the curves of standard test to have an idea of the soil strength of
the subgrade soil.

The CBR test is a measure of the shearing resistance of the soil under controlled density and
moisture conditions. Therefore the test cannot be considered as a classification test since the results are
not constant for given soils but dependent on such factors as density and moisture content as well as size
and shape of the grains.

The CBR value is expressed as a percentage of the unit load required to force a piston into the soil
divided by the unit load required to force the same piston to the same depth into a standard sample of
compacted, crushed stone.

CBR = test unit load x 100

Standard unit load

The standard unit load obtained from the average of a large number of tests on different crushed
stones and are as follows:

Penetration (in) mm Unit load (psi) MPa

(0.1) 2.5 (1000) 6.895

(0.2) 5.0 (1500) 10.342

(0.3)7.5 (1900) 13.100

(0.4) 10.0 (2300) 15.858

(0.5) 12.5 (2600) 17.926

Objectives:

The activity aims to introduce to the students the standard method of determining the strength of
base, sub base and sub grade material using the California Bearing Ratio.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):

The students shall be able to:

 Connect the CBR value in the determination of the thickness of sub grade soil for a specific wheel
load.
  Determine the California bearing ratio in a given soil sample.
 Describe the methods of how the California bearing test is performed.

Resources:

1. CBR Mold
2. Spacer disk
3. Apparatus for measuring expansions / Miscellaneous Apparatus
4. Dial indicators
5. Compaction Hammer
6. Surcharge weight
7. Penetration piston
8. Drying oven
9. Mortar and Pestle
10. Miscellaneous tools such as mixing pans
11. IS Sieves
12. Penetration Plunger
13. Loading Machine
14. Sample Soil
15. Sample Material
16. Specimen (Sieve No. 40 Sample Soil mix with Sample Material)

Procedure:

Note: ( ) SOAKED ( √ ) UNSOAKED

1) Crush the sample soil by using mortar and pestle. (If the specimen is wet try to use Drying Oven
and oven first within 30-60mins and set it to 150-200°F depends on how wet is your sample soil.)
2) Sieve the sample soil by using together with Sieve (No. 10, No. 20, No. 30, and No. 40)
3) Normally 5 specimens each of about minimum of 2.5 kg must be compacted. With a sample
material mix with the sample soil, per sample soil together with 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%
sample material mix.
4) Weigh of empty mold. ( W = 6969 g ~ 6.969 kg )
5) In each mold put the specimen by layer and compact it by the use of compacted hammer with
height of 42.4 mm. Supposedly 3 layer per specimen. (Compact it in three layer by giving 30 blows
per layer)
6) After compaction, remove the collar and level the surface.
7) Take sample for determination of moisture content.
8) Weight of mold + Compacted specimen.
9) Take other samples and apply different blows and repeat the whole process.
10) Measure the swell reading and find %age swell.
11) Then place the specimen under the penetration piston and place surcharge load of 10lb.
12) Apply the load and note the penetration load values.
13) Draw the graphs between the penetration (in) and penetration load (in) and find the value of CBR.
14) Draw the graph between the %age CBR and Dry Density, and find CBR at required degree of
compaction.
CBR Test Data – Observations and Calculations:

CBR TEST DATA

PENETRATION PROVING RING PISTON LOAD AREA OF PISTON PENETRATION

DIAL READING STRESS

inch mm lb kg in² mm² Psi MPa

0.000 0.00 0 0 0 3 1935.48 0 0
0.025 0.64 72.4 753.61 341.83 3 1935.48 251.20 1.73
0.050 1.27 97.75 1017.48 461.52 3 1935.48 339.16 2.33
0.075 1.91 126.35 1315.18 596.55 3 1935.48 438.39 3.02
0.100 2.54 156.21 1625.99 737.53 3 1935.48 541.99 3.73
0.120 3.18 175.95 1831.46 830.73 3 1935.48 610.48 4.20
0.150 3.81 187.55 1952.21 885.50 3 1935.48 650.73 4.48
0.175 4.45 197.75 2058.38 933.66 3 1935.48 686.12 4.73
0.200 5.08 206.85 2153.10 976.62 3 1935.48 717.7 4.94
0.300 7.62 228.85 2382.10 1080.50 3 1935.48 794.03 5.47
0.400 10.16 241.95 2518.46 1142.35 3 1935.48 839.48 5.78
0.500 12.7 260.35 2709.98 1229.22 3 1935.48 903.32 6.22
CBR TEST GRAPH
Conclusion:
The CBR Test (California Bearing Ratio Test) is needed for determining or knowing the type and the
strength of the soil that has been stabilized, if the strength of the soil increases or not.