DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, JORHAT ENGINEERING COLLEGE SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY DETERMINATION OF OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENT (OMC) AND MAXIMUM. DRY DENSITY FOR A SOIL BY STANDARD PROCTOR COMPACTION TEST THEORY: 4m geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which a stress applied to a Soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. It is an instantaneous process and always takes place in partially saturated soil (three phase system).the degree of compaction of a soil is measured in terms of its dry density. The degree of compaction mainly depends upon its moisture content during compaction, compaction energy and the type of For a given compaction energy, every soil attains the maximum dry density at a particular water content which is known as optimum moisture content. The standard proctor compaction test is a laboratory method of experimentally determining the optimum moisture content at which given soil type will become most dense and achieve its maximum dry density. APPARATUS REQUIRED: 1. Proctor mould having a capacity of 1000 cc, with an internal diameter of 10.2 em and a height of 11.6 cm. The mould shall have a detachable collar assembly and a detachable base plate. 2. Rammer: A mechanical operated metal rammer having a $ em diameter face and a weight of 2.6 kg. The rammer shall be equipped with a suitable arrangement to control the height of drop to a free fall of 31 cm, 3. Sample extruder 4. Mixing tools such as mixing pan, spoon, towel, and spatula. 5.A balance of 15 kg capacity 6. Sensitive balance 7. Straight edge 8. Graduated cylinder 9. Moisture tins 10. Thermostatically controlled oven~~ proCEDURE: 1. Measure the inside dimen: 2, Take a representative oven-dried sample, approximately 3 kg in the given pan passing through ns of the mould and find the volume and weight of the mould. 4,75 mm LS. sieve, Thoroughly mix the sample with sufficient water to dampen it with approximate water content of about 7 % for sand and 10% for clay of weight of the soil sample. Fix the collar and base plate. Place the soil in the Proctor mould and compact it in 3 layers giving 25 blows per layer with the 2.6 kg rammer falling through a height of 310 mm. The blows shall be distributed uniformly over the surface ofeach layer. 4, Remove the collar; trim the compacted soil even with the top of mould using a straight edge and weigh. 5. Find out the bulk density (y) and keep a small representative sample in the oven for water content determination. 6. Find out the moisture content and dry density. | 7. Add water in sufficient amounts to increase the moisture content of the soil sample by one or two percentage of water and repeat the above procedure for each increment of water added. Continue this series of determination until there is either a decrease or no change in the wet unit weight of the compacted soil Plot a curve of dry density as ordinate and water content as abscissa and fine out the optimum. moisture content and maximum dry density. ‘CALCULATIONS Length of the mould = Diameter of the mould = Volume of the mould = Empty weight of the mould =jelermination Wi [Bulk [Dry i ntent De Sk [Water [We of Water Cont a leone : i mould [Emeye |WLor | eat W% ate “ y = ; : i soi s 7 ) fovith fof container | container ene (mJ with [of : > | ence soil | container | + soil + dry soil et (gm) (gm) (gm) wi W Ws T 2 3 ai 3 Zero ait-voids tine (100%, degree of saturation), ee Zz 5 \ & OMG Water content j Figl: OMC vs MDD graph RESULTS: From graph, Optimum moisture content, OMC (%) = Maximum dry density, MDD (gm/ec) = PRECAUTION: 1 Ade ic in “ast Period (about 15 minutes for clay soils and $ minutes for sandy soils) i loved ‘ter mixing the water ad Before compact ng into the mould, 2. The bk i , | o's shoul! be uniformly distibuted over the surface of each layer. i3. Each layer of compacted soil is scored with spatula before placing the soil for the succeeding layer. QUESTIONS: is done? 1. What is compaction of soil? Why 2. Differentiate between compaction and consolidation of soil? 3. What is maximum dry density and optimum moisture content? What are the field applications of compaction test?