TTE79

ABSTRACT

The liquid limit is the water content of a soil at the point of transition from plastic to liquid. This parameter is traditionally obtained with the Casagrande spoon test. However, there is another method called free fall cone penetrometer, which has certain advantages compared to the traditional test. One of the main advantages of the falling cone penetrometer is the little influence of the operator on the method procedure, which means that more accurate results are obtained and not so subjective that they vary depending on who performs the test, unlike the spoon. of Casagrande. In this work, the Casagrande spoon and fall cone penetrometer methodologies were carried out on a soil sample of volcanic origin from the Vilcún commune, where a comparison was made between the results obtained. The sample was tested in different states, such as initial moisture, air-drying, and oven-drying. Liquid limit results were obtained using both methodologies, plastic limit using the Casagrande method, plasticity index and USCS classification. With both methodologies, similar values of liquid limit were obtained, however, with the falling cone penetrometer, by canceling to a great extent the action of the operator, very satisfactory conclusions were obtained, which suggests that the methodology of the penetrometer can be considered as a method alternative for obtaining the liquid limit in Chile.

Keywords: Casagrande spoon, falling cone penetrometer, liquid limit.