Some Recent Developments in the Determination of the Atterberg Limits

Vardanega, Paul J.; Haigh, Stuart

doi:10.1061/9780784478509.007

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Given its apparent limitations, various attempts have been made to develop alternative testing approaches to the standard hand-rolling PL RT method, targeting higher degrees of repeatability and reproducibility. Most suggestions in this context are essentially strengthbased methods, executed using FC or reverse-extrusion devices, which mainly work on the premise of associating the PL RT with a set value of undrained shear strength (a more detailed review of these methods is given in O'Kelly et al [34], Vardanega and Haigh [45] and O'Kelly [46,47]). However, several studies have demonstrated that when considering a range of different fine-grained soils, the PL RT (onset of brittleness) does not correspond to a fixed value of undrained shear strength [22,34,36,37,[48][49][50].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reappraisal of the ASTM/AASHTO Standard Rolling Device Method for Plastic Limit Determination of Fine-Grained Soils

Soltani

O’Kelly

2021

Geosciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Given its apparent limitations, various attempts have been made to develop alternative testing approaches to the standardized rolling-thread plastic limit (PLRT) method (for fine-grained soils), targeting higher degrees of repeatability and reproducibility. Among these, device-rolling techniques, including the method described in ASTM D4318/AASHTO T90 standards, based on original work by Bobrowski and Griekspoor (BG) and which follows the same basic principles as the standard thread-rolling (by hand) test, have been highly underrated by some researchers. To better understand the true potentials and/or limitations of the BG method for soil plasticity determination (i.e., PLBG), this paper presents a critical reappraisal of the PLRT–PLBG relationship using a comprehensive statistical analysis performed on a large and diverse database of 60 PLRT–PLBG test pairs. It is demonstrated that for a given fine-grained soil, the BG and RT methods produce essentially similar PL values. The 95% lower and upper (water content) statistical agreement limits between PLBG and PLRT were, respectively, obtained as −5.03% and +4.51%, and both deemed “statistically insignificant” when compared to the inductively-defined reference limit of ±8% (i.e., the highest possible difference in PLRT based on its repeatability, as reported in the literature). Furthermore, the likelihoods of PLBG underestimating and overestimating PLRT were 50% and 40%, respectively; debunking the notion presented by some researchers that the BG method generally tends to greatly underestimate PLRT. It is also shown that the degree of underestimation/overestimation does not systematically change with changes in basic soil properties; suggesting that the differences between PLBG and PLRT are most likely random in nature. Compared to PLRT, the likelihood of achieving consistent soil classifications employing PLBG (along with the liquid limit) was shown to be 98%, with the identified discrepancies being cases that plot relatively close to the A-Line. As such, PLBG can be used with confidence for soil classification purposes.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reappraisal of the ASTM/AASHTO Standard Rolling Device Method for Plastic Limit Determination of Fine-Grained Soils

Soltani

O’Kelly

2021

Geosciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Skempton, 1944Skempton, , 1954Skempton, , 1957Karlsson & Viberg, 1967;Stroud, 1974;Wroth, 1979;Carrier & Beckman, 1984;Larsson et al, 1987;Nakase et al, 1988;Wood, 1990;Tripathy & Mishra, 2011;Sørensen & Okkels, 2013;Farias & Llano-Serna, 2016). The liquidity index (I L ) parameter is used in codified design approaches for deep foundations in Russia (see Vardanega et al, 2012;Vardanega & Haigh, 2014a;Kolodiy et al, 2015) and in geomorphological research to characterise soils at a more regional level (e.g. Amir-Faryar et al, 2015;Stanchi et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of fall cones to determine Atterberg limits: a review

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reviews the percussion-cup liquid limit, thread-rolling plastic limit (PL) and various fall-cone and other approaches employed for consistency limit determinations on fine-grained soil, highlighting their use and misuse for soil classification purposes and in existing correlations. As the PL does not correspond to a unique value of remoulded undrained shear strength, there is no scientific reason why PL measurements obtained using the thread-rolling and shear-strength-based fall-cone or extrusion methods should coincide. Various correlations are established relating liquid limit values deduced using the percussion-cup and fall-cone approaches. The significance of differences in the strain-rate dependency on the mobilised fall-cone shear strength is reviewed. The paper concludes with recommendations on the standardisation of international codes and the wider use of the fall-cone approach for soft to medium-stiff clays in establishing the strength variability with changing water content and further index parameters.

show abstract

Soil Plasticity Variability and Its Effect on Soil Classification

Manafi¹

2018

Geotech. Test. J.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Some Recent Developments in the Determination of the Atterberg Limits

Abstract: ABSTRACT:The Atterberg Limits are the most common tests specified by practicing geotechnical and pavement engineers the world over.

Cited by 6 publications

References 21 publications

Reappraisal of the ASTM/AASHTO Standard Rolling Device Method for Plastic Limit Determination of Fine-Grained Soils

Reappraisal of the ASTM/AASHTO Standard Rolling Device Method for Plastic Limit Determination of Fine-Grained Soils

Use of fall cones to determine Atterberg limits: a review

Soil Plasticity Variability and Its Effect on Soil Classification

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About