parison, J. A. (1988). Géotechnique 38, No. 3, 433-438 ECHNICAL NOTES the purpose of Technical Notes is to bring to the notice of readers topics which are current or recently Jmeloped. Articles should be original and concise, normally limited in length to 2000 words, and should ‘oncain only essential equations and illustrations. ‘The contents of Notes might include (a) details of new experimental techniques of direct interest to other workers (b) reports of novel geotechnical investigations that are insufficiently complete or extensive enough to warrant a full paper {@) examples of the application to geotechnical problems of ideas or techniques developed in other disci- plines. The Advisory Panel aims to publish Technical Notes as quickly as possible. Using the BS cone penetrometer for the determination of the plastic limit of soils J. A. HARISON* KEYWORDS: analysis; Atterberg limits; clays; shear strength, INTRODUCTION The fall-cone test has been extensively used in some parts of the world for the determination of the liquid limit of soils, especially in Europe. The British Standards Institute (BS 1377 (1975)) calls the fall-cone test the cone penetrometer test. This test is the British Standard preferred method for determining the liquid limit of soils (Head, 1980) since this test gives more consistent results than the conventional method. The cone penetrometer has been standardized by the BSI in BS 4671 and the method of test in BS 1377. This Note describes the use of the BS cone pen- etrometer test for the determination of the plastic limit of soils based on the relationship between water content and undrained shear strength. ‘As there are many versions of the cone pen- etrometer, in this Note it is referred to as the BS cone penetrometer. WATER CONTENT AND SHEAR STRENGTH The parameters of clay-like soils depend largely on their water content w. Generally, the higher the water content the lower the strength and vice Discussion on this Technical Note closes on 1 January 1989, For further details see p. ii. * Maranatha Christian University, Bandung, Indonesia. versa. Wroth & Wood (1978) gave a linear relationship betwen w and the logarithm (base 10) of undrained shear strength C, in the following equation w + A log C, = constant ) where A is a constant. The results obtained by Skepmton & Northey (1953) (Fig. 1) indicated that the relationship between the water content or liquidity index I, and C, is not a straight line on a semi- logarithmic plot but a curve. However, those results agreed with the Wroth & Wood sugges- tion that the shear strength of a soil at the plastic limit is 100 times that at its liquid limit. From Fig. 1, the average C, at the liquid limit is about 0-16 Ib/in? (1-1 kN/m*) and at the plastic limit is about 16 Ib/in? (110 kN/m?). The minimum radius (r) of the curves occurs at about C, = 032 Ib/in? (2-2 kN/m?) or twice that at the liquid limit. Assuming that the upper and lower portions of the curves from r are straight lines, Skempton & Northey’s results can be idealized as two straight lines intersecting at r, ie. a point at which C, is twice that at the liquid limit and where f, = 0-77 (see Fig. 2). CONE PENETROMETER AND SHEAR STRENGTH The result of the fall-cone test is the penetra- tion depth (d) after 5 seconds. Logically, the higher the value of d the lower the strength of the20r- 18h 2b oat 2b Liquid iit Plastic iit Clay uw ec | pt | P%ciay Horten 30 16 14 | 036 London 73 25 43 | 096 Shelhaven | 97 32 65 | 127 Gosport 80 30 50 | 089 -ogE OF Os 10 50 Shear strength: tin? Fig. 1. Relationship between shear strength and liquidity index of remoulded clays (after Skempton & Northey, 1953) Liquidity index 15 r Liquid iit 016 1 Shear strength: lovin? Fig. 2. Ideslization of relationship between liquidity index and shear strength 700 PlasticlimitBS CONE PENETROMETER 435 5p y= 20mm atti 1-00) Spous = 14mm (atl +077) on 2mm (atLi= 1-00) Liquid rit 10 2 na a o77| : ost z oo ee cs Gesu du LL Penetration d: mm Fig. 3. Relationship between liquidity index, water content and penetration material under test. Therefore, it may be assumed that C, is an inverse function of d or C, = A(d)~®, where A and B are positive constants. Intro- ducing this relationship into equation (1), the relation between w and d will be w—A'logd=C 2 where A’ and C are constants. Figure 3 shows the relationshi 1, and d. It is a modification of Fig. 2 and will be adopted as the model. For a cone weight W Hansbo (1957) gives the following equation Ca iW =k 3) where k is a constant. Figure 3 shows some important points, namely a point at the plastic limit (dp,), a point at the liquid limit (d,,), and a point (dj51;) at a value of C, equal to twice that at the liquid limit. For the BS cone penetrometer test, dy, is 20 mm. Using equation (3) the penetration depth at a C, of x times that at liquid limit (d,) can be obtained by dy = dy /(1/xXk,/k) i'd, = 20 mm and /k,/k = K, then @ where k, is k in equation (3) at d, The value of k depends mainly on the apex angle of the cone (Kumapley & Boakye, 1980) However, there are dynamic effects associated with penetration depth (Wroth & Wood, 1978). These effects will cause a slight difference between k and k,, but this difference will be insignificant for K = y(k,/k). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume K = | ‘According to Wroth & Wood (1978), C, at the plastic limit is 100 times C, at the liquid limit or x = 100. Thus, using equation (4) dy, can be cal- culated as 2mm, while, for x =2 (at C, twice that at the liquid limit), dogus is 14 mm. PLASTIC LIMIT DETERMINATION tis very difficult to prepare a soil sample in an experimentation cup that will give 2 mm of pen- etration depth. The relationship between w and d as given in Fig, 3 consists of two lines. The upper line is used for the liquid limit determination with a range of penetration values from about 14 mm to 25 mm, and the lower line for the plastic limit determination. Theoretically, based on the assumption that the point of intersection of the two lines is at das, = 14 mm, the lower line can be simply constructed by performing an addi- tional penetration test with d at, say 5mm, However, for accuracy, it is advisable to make two additional penetration tests, one with d at about 5 mm and the other with d at about 10 mm. From the lower line, the water content at dp, (ie. the plastic limit) can be determined. EXPERIMENTATION Following the procedures given in BS 1377 (1975) Test 2(A), some penetration tests on436 Water Contentw:% a YY | Sitwith iow cay traction 4 ¥ 3 HARISON Cayey sit ‘OH soi CHsoil Sity clay (MH sol) 8 016208 Penetration: mm Fig. 4. Experimental results of the relationship between water content and penetration 19} index 05 guia ool Ligyiatinit Plastictimit 3 101d —20-25 Penetration mm Fig. 5. Experimental results of the relationship between liquidity index and penetrationBS CONE PENETROMETER 437 pandung clays were performed. The penetration Malues range from about 5 mm to 25mm. The Jesults of the tests are given in Fig. 4 and from this, the water content at d = 2 mm (plastic limit) can be determined. Figure 4 also indicates that the lower lines and te upper lines of the w-d plot actually do inter- Sect at a point with d about 14 mm, which con- firms the earlier assumption. Fig. 5 shows the relationship between I, and d, the liquidity index (fy) values being determined from wp and 1, bttained ftom cone penetrometer tests. It can be seen that the shape of the graph obtained experi- mentally is similar to that of the model used in this analysis. The average value of d at J, = 0 (ie. at w») is 197 mm, at I, = 1 (ie. at w,) is 19-9 mm ‘and, at the point of intersection of the two lines, the average value of I, is 0-75 and d is 14 mm (see Table 1). These results are comparable with the assumptions used in this analysis, ic. d at 1, = 0 js? mm and at the point of intersection is 14 mm with [, = 0-77. ‘Table 1. Comparison between experimental results and ‘assumptions. Test values Experimental Assumptions results. (sec Fig. 3): (average): mm mm 197 2-00 19:90 20:00 intersection point (dau) 1400 1400 lat intersection point 0-75 0-77 ‘The comparison between the experimental results and the assumptions used are summarized in Table 1. COMPARISON WITH THE CONVENTIONAL METHOD The comparison between the plastic limits obtained from the BS cone penetrometer test and those for Bandung clays by the conventional method are given in Table 2. The soil samples are OH soils, CH soils, silty clays and clayey silts as well as silts with low clay fraction. Table 2 shows that the plastic limits obtained from the BS cone penetrometer tests are comparable with those of the conventional method, the average difference being about 1:5%. ‘Table 2. Comparison between the plastic limits obtained from the BS cone penetrometer and the con- ventional method for Bandung clays. Soil Plastic limit (%) Difference: samples % ‘Cone | Conventional 1 44 45 2 2 a3 2 2 3 38 38 0 4 a 4a 0 5 36 38 5 6 39 39 0 7 B 4 I 8 52 52 0 9 50 St 2 CONCLUSIONS The determination of the plastic limits of soils using the BS cone penetrometer has been described. The experimental results indicate that the assumptions used, which are based on the results of Skempton & Northey (1953) and the suggestion given by Wroth & Wood (1978) (as shown in Figs 2 and 3) agree closely with the experimental results for Bandung clays. By performing cone penetration tests with a range of penetration values from about 5 mm to 25 mm, the w-d plot can be constructed. The plot on a semi-logarithmic graph will produce two straight lines intersecting at a point with d about 14 mm. From the lower line of the w-d plot, the water content corresponding to a penetration value of 2 mm (ie. the plastic limit) can be ascer- tained. For Bandung clays, the plastic limits obtained by the BS cone penetrometer using the method described compare well with those found by the conventional method, with the average difference being about 1°5%. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Author wishes to thank the staff of the soil mechanics laboratory of the Department of Civil Engineering, Maranatha Christian University, Bandung, for their help in the laboratory work, REFERENCES BS 1377 (1975). Methods of testing of soils for civil engin- ‘ering purposes. London: British Standards Institu- tion, Hansbo, S. (1957). A new approach to the determination of the shear strength of clay by the fall-cone test438 HARISON Proc. No. 14. Stockholm: Royal Swedish Geotech- nical Institute. Head, K. H, (1980). Manual of soil laboratory testing, volume 1: soil classification and compaction tests, London: Pentech Press Kumapley, N. K. & Boakye, S. Y., (1980). The use of cone penetrometers for the determination of the liquid limits of soils of low plasticity. 7th African Regional Conf. Soil Mech. Fan Engng, Accra 1, 167- 170. Skempton, A. W. & Northey, R. D. (1953). The sensi tivity of clays. Géotechnique 3, No. 1, 30-53, Wroth, C. P. & Wood, D. M. (1978). The correlation of index properties ‘with some basic engineering properties of soils. Can. Geotech. J. 18, No. 2, 137. 148.