Estimating compaction behavior of fine-grained soils based on compaction energy

Abstract

For successful designs of geotechnical structures, rational determination of the engineering properties of soils is an important process. In this context, compaction parameters, maximum dry unit weight (γdmax), and optimum water content (wopt) are required to be determined at various compaction energies. This paper proposes correlation equations that relate γdmax and wopt obtained from standard Proctor (SP) and modified Proctor (MP) tests to the index properties. To develop accurate relations, the data collected from the literature and the authors’ own database have been used. It has been found that while wopt has the best correlation with plastic limit (wp), γdmax can be estimated more accurately from wopt than it can from wp. In addition, the empirical methods including compaction energy (E) are described for estimating wopt and γdmax of fine-grained soils. The variables of the developed models for wopt and γdmax are wp, E, and wopt. It has been shown that the proposed correlations including the compaction energy will be useful for a preliminary design of a project where there is a financial constraint and limited time.