Determination of Field Unit Weight of Compaction by Sand Cone Method

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Introduction: In the field, during earth compaction work, it is necessary from time to check the compacted dry unit weight of soil and compare it with the specification drawn up for the construction. One of the simplest methods of determining the field unit weight of compaction is by the sand cone method which will be described in this chapter. Equipment: 1. Sand cone apparatus. This consists of a one-gallon glass or plastic bottle with a metal cone attached to it. 2. ase plate. !. " one-gallon can with a cap. #. Tools to dig a small hole in the field. $. alance. %. 2&-!& Ottawa sand. '. " proctor compaction mold without e(tension attached to it. ). " steel straight edge. *igure 1!-1 shows the assembly of the e+uipment necessary for determination of the field unit weight. !aboratory Wor" 1. ,etermine the dry unit weight of the 2&-!& Ottawa sand as will be used in the field. This can be done by taking a proctor compaction mold and filling it with Ottawa sand by a spoon. "-oid any -ibration and other means of compaction of the sand poured into the mold. .hen the mold is full, strike off the top of the mold with a steel straight edge. ,etermine the weight of the sand in the mold /. 10. The dry unit weight of the Ottawa sand can be gi-en as Procedure

where d / sand 0 = dry unit weight of Ottawa sand 1 ! 2. 1alibrate the cone. That is, we need to determine the V Ottawa = volume of 4r octor mold = ft weight of1 sand that is re+uired to fill the cone. !& This can be done as follows2
*ill the one-gallon bottle with Ottawa sand. ,etermine the weight of the bottle 3 cone 3 sand /.20. 1lose the -al-e of the cone which is attached to the bottle. 4lace the base plate on a flat surface. Turn the bottle with the cone attached to it upside down and place it on the center hole of the base plate /*ig. 1!-20. Open the -al-e of the cone. Sand will flow out

d / sand 0 =

w1 V1

of the bottle and gradually fill the cone. .hen the cone is filled with sand, the flow of sand from the bottle will stop. 1lose the -al-e of the cone. Take the bottle with the cone out and determine its weight c 2 to fill the ! cone /.!0. The weight of sand necessary can now be determined as.

W =W W

!. ,etermine the weight of the gallon can without the cap /.#0. #. efore proceeding to the field, fill the one-gallon bottle /with sand cone attached to it0 with sand. 1lose the -al-e of the cone. ,etermine the weight of the bottle 3 cone 3 sand /.$0. Procedure Field Wor" $. 5ow proceed to the field with the bottle with the cone attached to it /filled with Ottawa sand-Step#0, base plate, digging tools and the one-gallon can with its cap. %. 4lace the base plate on a le-el ground in the field. 6nder the center hole of the base plate, dig a hole in the ground using the digging tools. The -olume of the hole should be smaller than the -olume of the sand in the bottle minus the -olume of the cone. '. 7emo-e all the loose soil in the hole and put it in the gallon can. 1lose the cap tightly so as not to lose any moisture. e careful not to mo-e the base plate. ). Turn the gallon bottle filled with sand with cone attached to it upside

Calculation: 1. ,etermine the moisture content of the soil in the field as

w9 = W% W) (1&&) W) W #

2. ,etermine the moist unit weight of the soil in the field as follows

.eight of moist soil from the hole 8 .%-.#

weight of moist soil from the hole = volume of theWholeW W

Volume of the hole =
2

'

d /sand 0

( 1&&)

!. ,etermine the dry unit weight of soil in the field as

d / field 0 =

w/90 1+ 1&&