Abstract
In hydrometer analysis for soil grain size distribution, usually, the grains passing sieve No. 200 (, there are big differences between the values of soil grain diameters smoothed by Excel-2007 in comparison and the values measured by references. These differences generally decrease with decreasing soil grain size diameters. The statistical treatments also divulge whether the hydrometer results are accurate or not. Furthermore, a general equation has been derived to estimate values of K factor, which is used for calculating the grain diameters in hydrometer analysis. The equation can be applied for any specific gravity of soils and for wide range temperatures.
Highlights
Most soil mechanics laboratories run soil grain size analysis as a routine test
The distribution of particle sizes, which is larger than 0.074 mm, is determined by sieving method, while the distribution of particle sizes smaller than 0.074 mm is determined by a sedimentation process using hydrometer method
Lambe [1] stated that the hydrometer method is based on Stokes’ Equation for the velocity of a freely failing sphere; the definition of particle diameter of a sphere of the same density falls at the same velocity as the particle in equation
Summary
Most soil mechanics laboratories run soil grain size analysis as a routine test. The distribution of particle sizes, which is larger than 0.074 mm (retained on sieve No 200), is determined by sieving method, while the distribution of particle sizes smaller than 0.074 mm is determined by a sedimentation process using hydrometer method. The difficulty experienced by all soil mechanics laboratories is the large sizes of soil grains (greater than 0.074 mm) obtained from the hydrometer method, even though the soil grains pass sieve No 200 (
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