1st Edition
Laboratory Manual for Geotechnical Characterization of Fine-Grained Soils
This manual presents procedures for performing advanced laboratory tests on fine-grained soils. It covers characterization tests, which determine soil composition and quantify the individual components of a soil, and behavioral tests, such as the Atterberg Limits tests that demonstrate how the fines fraction of a soil reacts when mixed with water and the Linear Shrinkage Test that demonstrates how much a soil shrinks.
The material goes beyond traditional evaluation of basic soil behavior by presenting more advanced laboratory tests to characterize soil in more detail. These tests provide detailed compositional characteristics which identify subtle changes in conditions and vertical variations in the soil, and which help to explain unusual behavior.
- A unique compilation of information on key soil tests
- Combines characterization tests with behavior tests
The book suits graduate students in geotechnical engineering, as well as practitioners and researchers.
1. Water Content
2. Phase Relationships of Soils – Determining Unit Weight and Calculating Voids Ratio, Porosity and Saturation.
3. Density of Solids (Specific Gravity)
4. Grain-Size Distribution
5. Organic Content
6. Carbonate Content
7. pH
8. Cation Exchange Capacity
9. Specific Surface Area
10. Methylene Blue Test
11. Pore Fluid Salinity
PART 2: Determination of Behavioral Characteristics
12. Consistency of Fine-Grained Soils – Determination of Atterberg Liquid and Plastic Limits
13. Shrinkage Limit
14. Linear Shrinkage
15. Shrink Test
16. Free-Swell Index Tests
17. Dispersion
18. Initial Consumption of Lime
19. Lime Fixation Point
20. Hygroscopic Water Content
21. Soil Suction Using Filter Paper
22. Thermal Conductivity
23. Electrical Resistivity
24. Strength Index Tests and Sensitivity
25. Thixotropic Behavior of Fine-Grained Soils
Biography
Alan J. Lutenegger is Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is author of Soils and Geotechnology in Construction and of In Situ Testing Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, both published by CRC Press.
