ISSN: 1945-7545
Published Online: 26 May 2009
Page Count: 3

A Note on the Determination of Plastic Limit of Fine-Grained Soils

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

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

Prasanna, H. S.
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Engineering, Mysore,

(Received 20 June 2008; accepted 15 February 2009)

Abstract

Plastic limit of fine-grained soils is conventionally determined in the laboratory by the soil thread rolling method. Many adverse comments have been recorded in the geotechnical engineering literature on the method about its reproducibility and operator dependency. The present experimental study, which is based on a well-planned and meticulously executed experimental program, critically evaluates the effect of size of the rolled soil thread on the plastic limit of fine-grained soils and the operator dependency of the results. The results have shown that if the plastic limit tests are performed by a trained operator, then consistent results can be obtained and that the effect of size of the rolled soil thread on plastic limit is negligibly small.

Keywords:
fine-grained soils, fall cone method, plastic limit

Paper ID: GTJ101960
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ101960
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