Estimating compaction parameters of clayey soils from sediment volume test

Abstract Predicting the compaction parameters, in terms of maximum dry unit weight and optimum water content, from index properties of fine-grained soils has been of interest for the last few decades. Although various index properties, such as liquid limit, plastic limit and clay contents, have been used for the prediction, it was revealed that plastic limits of fine-grained soils correlate well with the compaction parameters. As an alternative method, this paper proposes sediment volume test to estimate the compaction parameters. In order to show its relevance, compaction and sediment volume tests were performed on nine fine-grained soils. The final sediment volumes (FSVs) of soils were determined from sediment volume tests. Then, the correlations between compaction parameters and FSVs were investigated. It is found from this experimental investigation that there is a good relationship between the compaction characteristics namely maximum dry unit weight (γdmax) and optimum water content (wopt) and the FSV, indicating that this method can be used as an alternate way of predicting the same.