Evaluation of Sand-Cone Method for Determination of Density of Soil

모래 치환법을 이용한 흙의 밀도 시험에 관한 고찰

A sand-cone method is commonly used to determine the density of the compacted soils. This method uses a calibration container to determine the bulk-density of the sand for use in the test. The density of the test or compacted soil is computed on the assumption that the calibration container has approximately the same size or volume and allows the sand to fall approximately the same height as a test hole in the field. However, in most cases the size or shape of test hole is not exactly the same as the calibration container. There is certain discrepancy between sand particle settlement or arrangement in the laboratory calibration and in the field testing, which may cause an erroneous determination of in-situ density. The sand filling process is simulated in the laboratory and its effect on the determination of density is investigated. Artificially-made holes with different heights and bottom shapes are prepared to simulate various shapes of the test hole in the field. The sands with different gradations are used in the testing to examine how sand grain size influences the determination of density in the field.