ISSN: 1945-7545
CODEN: GTJODJ
Published Online: 2 September 2008
Page Count: 4

Determination of Shrinkage Limit of Fine-Grained Soils by Wax Method

Prakash, K.
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore,

Sridharan, A.
Former Professor in Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,

Baba, J. Ananth
Former Undergraduate Students, Department of Civil Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore,

Thejas, H. K.
Former Undergraduate Students, Department of Civil Engineering, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore,

(Received 4 March 2008; accepted 3 July 2008)

Abstract

Shrinkage limit of fine-grained soils is one of the parameters that is used for predicting the volume stability of soils in the field. ASTM Standard D427-04 (2007) involves the use of mercury, a health hazardous substance. Many stringent precautionary safety and disposal measures have to be exercised before its use in the laboratory. The present technical note presents the wax method of determining the shrinkage limit of soil in the laboratory which does not require the use of mercury, and also to substantiate the method proposed by the ASTM standard. It involves the use of wax as a coating on the dry soil pat and the water displacement method for the determination of the dry volume of soil pat. The experimental results have shown that the values of shrinkage limit of soils determined by the wax method and by the mercury displacement method are within certain statistical bounds.

Keywords:
fine-grained soil, hazardous substance, mercury displacement, shrinkage limit, wax coating

Paper ID: GTJ101727
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ101727
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