Shear Strength and Dry Density of Compacted Sand

Abstract

The objective of this article studies the relation between dry density and shear strength of compacted sand. The compaction with the variation of compacted energy is performed to poorly graded sand samples, SP. The compaction method for this study conform to the Standard Proctor test. The variation of compaction energy ranged from 25 to 100 % of Proctor energy, is transferred to sand samples to obtain maximum dry density and optimum moisture content at each compaction energy. Compacted sand is then prepared in a shear box of direct shear test to determine the shear strength. The testing results reveal that maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of compacted poorly graded sand are not dominant to the compaction energy. After compaction, poorly graded sand still exhibits the stress-strain behavior of loose state sand. The application of compaction energy of more than 75 % of Standard Proctor energy results from the shear strength of sand conforming to Mohr-Coulomb theory.

Control testing of compacted poorly graded sand using dry density may not investigate the quality of compaction work. The internal of friction angle from compacted sand sampling are in between 18 to 37 degree which are not relate to maximum dry unit weight from testing at the same energy. For all cases of compaction energy in this study, the maximum dry density varies from 1628 to 1650 kilograms per cubic meter.