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

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 (γ dmax ), and optimum water content (w opt ) are required to be determined at various compaction energies. This paper proposes correlation equations that relate γ dmax and w opt 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 w opt has the best correlation with plastic limit (w p ), γ dmax can be estimated more accurately from w opt than it can from w p . In addition, the empirical methods including compaction energy (E) are described for estimating w opt and γ dmax of fine-grained soils. The variables of the developed models for w opt and γ dmax are w p , E, and w opt. 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.