When soils are used during construction and engineering works, e.g. earth dams, embankments, pavements and foundations, (mechanical) stresses will be put upon the material. These stresses can results into a redistribution of soil particles and decrease of void volume within the material, so-called densification or compaction. This could lead to an increase of soil strength, a decrease in soil compressibility as well as a decrease in permeability. All crucial factors in engineering applications and therefore the suitability of the soil in these applications.
The degree of compaction is depending on the soil properties, water content and the type and amount of stresses provided by the compaction process; the compressibility of (dry) soil can increase as water is added, enabling the soil particles to slide relative to each other more easily. For every soil an optimum moisture content can result in its maximum compressions.
At Geolab Wiertsema several methods are employed to analyse the compaction of (coarse-grained) soil samples, i.e. the proctor test to determine optimum water content for maximum compaction and a minimum-maximum density test which can be used to determine the relative density.
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