Quick and Reliable Procedure for Liquid Limit Determination of Fine-Grained Soils

This paper describes comparative results of liquid limits for fine-grained soils, determined by the percussion-cup standard procedure and alternative techniques with penetrating cones. Microwave oven drying is used as a complement to fall-cone tests. In this way, the liquid limit for a soil sample can be accurate and reliably obtained in about 45 min. The studied cones were the pioneer Swedish cone with 60° angle and 60 g mass, and the English cone with 30° and 80 g. Percussion liquid limits differ from those obtained with the cones; however, results of a comprehensive experimental program evince that there exist linear correlations between their liquid limits.