Sieve analysis

INTRODUCTION Soil can be defined as naturally occurring soft or loose sediments forming the earth crust. Soil also formed as a result of the weathering of rocks or from the decomposition of plants. Soil is formed from different materials such as gravel sand, silt, clay or a mixture of these materials. Soil is normally classified based on its properties and characteristics. TYPES OF SOIL Soil type can be identified according to their characteristic such as group, properties and size of particles as shown in table below. Group Course-grained Soil properties Non-cohesive soil Soil size (mm) 0.06 2.0 2.0 60 Fine-grained Cohesive soil <2.0 0.002 0.06 Organic Organic soil <0.002 Soil types Sand Gravel Clay Silt Peat soil

Coarse-grained soil such as sand and gravels are rock sediments transported by weathering agents such as water, wind and others. The action of these agents causes the soil to be rounded. The particle of fine-grained soil such as clay and organic soil are flaky. Some shapes of soil particle are angular, prism, flaky and round.

APPARATUS

1. 2. 3. 4.

Sieve Sieve vibrator Weight balance Tray

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Sieve analysis

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Sieve analysis
PROPERTIES OF SOIL There are three properties of soil that is cohesive soil, non-cohesive soil and organic soil. 1. Cohesive soil Cohesive soil contains clay minerals and posses plasticity. Cohesive soil is formed from flaky fine particles with high cohesive force. In moist condition, the soil particles stick to each other due to this cohesive force. Cohesive soil has low permeability and has ability to retain water for longer time. In dry condition, the cohesive soil form hard solid particles. Some examples of cohesive soil are clay and silt. 2. Non-cohesive soil Non-cohesive means the soil has no shear strength if no confinement. Non-cohesive soil has particles which are rounded, angular or prismatic. The texture of the soil is hard and rough, and the bond between particles is loose. Its stability depends on the friction between the particles. The soil has high permeability and in rainy condition, water quickly seeps among soil particles. As a result, non-cohesive soil cannot retain water. Some examples of non-cohesive soil are sand and gravel. 3. Organic soil Organic soil is formed as a result of the decomposition of organic materials, plants and decaying organism. The soil is also formed from the formation of humus due to the reaction of bacteria and fungus which decay the organic waste. Humus is a biochemical element which causes organic soil to change color into grey and dark. Organic soil has low density and low bearing capacity because of its loose particle packing and brittle but is able to retain water with very high moisture content. The soil also has high plastic limit, liquid limit, acidic, soft and compressible. It is not suitable for supporting load. An example of organic soil is peat soil.

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Sieve analysis
Sieve analysis Sieve analysis is the process of determining the size of soil particles by passing the soil sample through a number of different sieves having different opening (hole sizes). Sieve analyses provide more accurate result for coarse-grained soil. Sieve analysis can be conducted by using dry or wet sieving. The aim of performing dry sieve analysis test is to determine the particle size of a sample of soil. Objectives: The Standard grain size analysis test determines the relative proportions of different grain sizes as they are distributed among certain size ranges. Aim: The grain size analysis is widely used in classification of soils. The data obtained from grain size distribution curves is used in the design of filters for earth dams and to determine suitability of soil for road construction, air field etc. Information obtained from grain size analysis can be used to predict soil water movement although permeability tests are more generally used. Materials and apparatus: 1) Set of sieve using British standard 2) Mortar and rubber pestle 3) Sieve brushes 4) Sieve shaker machine

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Sieve analysis
Procedures: 1) Crushed dry land of approximately 250g in mortar with rubber pestle until all the particles have been separated. 2) Sieve and pan weighing all accurate to 0.1g. Arrange a set of sieve to the pan and cover. 3) Weighing 200g soil sample accurate to 0.1g and sieve the soil through a sieve set using a machine vibrator for 5 minutes. 4) Weighing each sieve and the contents are accurate to 0.1g. Total the weight of soil remaining on each sieve and pan. Compare with the weight of 200g soil used. If the difference is greater than 0.1g, repeat this experiment. 5) Keep a transparent land sieve # 36 (all land below from sieve # 36) for use in experiments No. 4. Result:

Size sieve

Diameter (mm)

Mass of empty sieve (g)

1.18mm 600mic 425mic 300mic 212mic 150mic 75mic Pan

4.74 2.0 0.84 0.425 0.25 0.106 0.075 -

360 323 286 277 270 264 253 388

Mass of sieve + soil retained (g) 422 387 317 307 304 291 283 390

Mass of soil retained (g) 62 64 31 30 34 27 30 2

Total= Fi280

Percentages Percentage of retained of passing (%) 100 (%)

22.14 22.86 11.07 10.71 12.14 9.64 10.71 0.71

77.86 55.00 43.93 33.22 21.08 11.44 0.73 0.02

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Sieve analysis
Discussion: Sieve analysis is the process of dividing a sample of aggregate into fraction of the same size. The purpose of doing this analysis is to determine the grading or size distribution of the aggregate which is important to find out whether the aggregate pile we are studying is good for the mix or not. The grading of the aggregate usually affects on the workability of the fresh concrete. The aggregate of interest is thrown into a series of sieves nested in order with the smallest at the bottom, and after shaking the mass of retained aggregate in each sieve is calculated. The aggregate we use in our experiment should be representative to the pile we obtained it from, so we cant just take the mass we need for the experiment arbitrary because this arbitrary specimen might not contain a certain size of the aggregate. For that reason the Quartering Method is used, this method involves taking a big amount of aggregate from the pile of interest (more than the amount we need) and then divide them into quarters or halves till we gain the amount we need for the experiment.A sieve have square opening and are usually constructed of wire mesh. In this analysis certain sizes of sieves should be used to get a desired and accepted results, these sieves are determined by ASTM E 11 as mentioned in the specifications. The nested sieves we use every next sieve (starting from the smallest) is twice the size of sieve preceding it. After sieving the specimen, we calculate the retained mass in each sieve and a table is made and the grade curve is drawn. The table should contain the following columns: Sieve size, Mass retained, Percentage retained, Cumulative percentage passing and Cumulative percentage retained. The percentage retained can be gained by the following formula: mass retained \ total mass x 100% The grading curve is drawn by using the information of the table. The grading curve represents the relationship between the Sieve size (the abscissa) and the Cumulative percentage passing (the ordinates), we use the logarithmic scale to plot the graph. The standards usually give an Upper limit graph and a lower limit graph so that our graph should be between these 2 graph to be usable in mixes. The graph is drawn be drawing line segments between the points. Fineness Modulus is a measure to the grading of an aggregate pile, and it is used to compare aggregate that are gained from the same source. It can be defined as the sum of the Cumulative percentage retained on the sieves of the standard series divided by 100. The sieve analysis can be done in two methods, a wet method and a dry method, but as the wet method takes more time we have done the dry method. 6|Page

Sieve analysis
Conclusion: The aggregate we studied consists of coarse aggregate mainly; I noted that from the fineness modulus. From the Grading graph we note that the aggregate we have tested are not good for using in mixes, as the graph doesnt lie between the upper limit and the lower limit.

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