Determination of shrinkage limit of fine-grained soils by wax method

Abstract

Shrinkage limit of fine-grained soils is one of the parameters that is used for predicting the volume stability of soils in the field. ASTM Standard D427-04 (2007) involves the use of mercury, a health hazardous substance. Many stringent precautionary safety and disposal measures have to be exercised before its use in the laboratory. The present technical note presents the wax method of determining the shrinkage limit of soil in the laboratory which does not require the use of mercury, and also to substantiate the method proposed by the ASTM standard. It involves the use of wax as a coating on the dry soil pat and the water displacement method for the determination of the dry volume of soil pat. The experimental results have shown that the values of shrinkage limit of soils determined by the wax method and by the mercury displacement method are within certain statistical bounds.