International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)
Determination of Compaction Characteristics of Maiduguri Soil
F. A. Adeniji1, B. G. Umara2, J. M. Dibal3, K. A. Otobo4
1,2,3
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri,
P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri. Borno State Nigeria
4
Graduate student
Abstract--Compaction is one of the efficient ways to
improve the strength and stiffness properties of soils, such as
elasticity modulus and shear modulus. Moreover, compaction
decreases soil settlement, improves bearing capacity and the
stability of sloped embankments. An optimum water content
is required to provide the best path to enter energy into soil
and compact it. A constant value of energy applied to a
particular type of soil, at optimum water content, leads to a
maximum dry unit weight. The aforementioned parameters
MDD , OMC) are not unique for various types of soils and
vary with the type of soils and the compaction energy. This
study was carried out to gain the understanding of the
relationship between moisture content and bulk density of
Maiduguri sandy loam soil, collected from the University
research farm. The particle size distribution analysis of the
soil was carried out using the dry sieving analysis method.
The soil was loaded in the cylinder and compacted at different
moisture contents and its dry bulk density determined. The
plot of bulk density versus moisture content was drawn to
obtain the soil’s compaction curve, yielding its optimum
moisture content and maximum dry density for the soil as
15% and 1645kg/rn3 respectively.
Keywords-- Maximum dry density, optimum moisture
content, sandy loam soil, Maiduguri, semi-arid environment
I. INTRODUCTION
Water logging and structural failure have been a
common social and environmental predicament confronting
Maiduguri and environs, particularly during the rainy
seasons. This is strongly attributed to the reaction of the
soil to variation in moisture contents under the weights of
the structures. A precise means of alleviating this dilemma
became one of the main concerns of structural engineers,
town planners, and environmentalists in Maiduguri and
environs. Also, farmers recorded depression in crop yields
as consequence of soil compaction by tractors. The soil in
the study area is predominantly used in crop production and
often as structural material, such as road and dam fill up;
and, most importantly as the base upon which buildings are
founded. Maximum dry density (MDD) is generally one of
the most important factors determining soil’s capacity to
bear a load, and the behavior of a soil mixture is influenced
more by its moisture content than by the other reasons [1].
478
Being the quantitative measure of wetness of a soil mass
the moisture content of the soil, it is an important property
that controls its compactive behavior and potential flooding
[2]. Significant improvement in structural failure and
environmental control could therefore be achieved when
the MDD and OMC of a soil are known and incorporated in
planning and construction, and in selection of tractors sizes
and the appropriate soil moisture contents to handle.
In geotechnical engineering, mechanical compaction is
one of the most common and cost effective means of
stabilizing soils. An extremely important task of
geotechnical engineers is the performance and analysis of
field control tests to assure that compacted fills are meeting
the prescribed design specifications. Design specifications
usually state the required density (as a percentage of the
“maximum” density measured in a standard laboratory
test), and the water content. In general, most engineering
properties, such as the strength, stiffness, resistance to
shrinkage, and imperviousness of the soil, will improve by
increasing the soil density.
The maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum
moisture content, as defined below, are determined by
establishing the moisture-density relationship of a material
when prepared and compacted with a hammer at different
moisture contents. The maximum density of a material for
a specific compactive effort is the highest density
obtainable when the compaction is carried out on the
material at varied moisture contents [3]. The optimum
moisture content (OMC) for a specific compactive effort is
the moisture content at which the maximum density is
obtained. It is the water content that results in the greatest
density for a specified compactive effort. Compacting a
material at water contents higher than (wet of) the OMC
results in a relatively soil structure that is weaker, more
ductile, less pervious, softer, more susceptible to shrinking;
and compacting dry soil (at moisture lower than the OMC)
does not achieve the specified degree of densification [4].
This explains why soils liquefy when their moisture
contents exceed their OMC, possibly due to flooding,
thereby loosing load carrying capacity. This illustrates the
significance of determining MDD and OMC of any
structural material.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)
Bulk density and total porosity are the most frequently
used physical quantities to characterize the state of soil
compaction [3]. Sridharan and Nagaraj [5] showed that
there exists a definite relationship between the soil
moisture content and the dry density of a compacted soil
and that, for a specific amount of compaction energy used,
and there is a particular moisture content at which a
particular soil attained its maximum dry density. Figure 1
shows a typical sketch of the relationship between moisture
content and dry density of a soil at particular compaction
energy.
On agricultural point of view, considerable research has
been conducted to gain an understanding and to quantify
the effects of soil compaction on crop growth [6; 7].
Emphasis has been placed on the importance of bulk
density because it is greatly related to soil organic matter,
air capacity, available water, and other properties that are
vital to survival of crop. Availability of data on MDD and
OMC will help in selecting tractor and machinery sizes to
be used on agricultural farms to guard against over
compacting agricultural soils to avert the loses in crop
yields. On the other hand, it is an essential tool in design of
structures, such dams. Therefore, it is desirable to obtain
the values of MDD and OMC of natural soils. Despite this
important feature, there have been little published data on
MDD and OMC of soils in Maiduguri and environs. The
objectives of the study were to determine the relationship
between bulk density and moisture content; and to
determine the optimum moisture content and maximum dry
density of Maiduguri sandy loam soil.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Site
The study was in conducted 2012 at the Agricultural and
Environmental Resources Engineering laboratory,
University of Maiduguri (13° 05E and 110 05E; and 345m
above mean sea level). Maiduguri and its immediate
environs is dry, within a semi-arid climate, savannah or
tropical grasslands vegetation, light annual rainfall of about
479
300-500 mm and the average daily temperature ranging
from 22 – 35 oC, with mean of the daily maximum
temperature exceeding 40oC [8]. It has mainly sandy loam
soils.
Soil Sample Collection
The soil samples were collected from the University
Research Farm (URF) in nylon bags at five different places
at a radius of 2-3 km and transported to the laboratory. A
specially constructed sieve was used to separate samples
from foreign materials such as plastics, bottles, plant
residues, and all other visible materials. The soil is locally
used for structural fills, road bases, as well as agriculture.
Experimental Procedure
The samples were then bulked and analyzed for particle
size distribution following the procedure of [9] to
determine the gradation of the soil.
The soil was then subjected to manual compaction using
a 16 kg rammer at a drop height of 1000 mm. The rammer
has a central hollow pipe of mass 7 kg and height 1500 m.
Each layer was compacted by giving 25 blows of freely
falling rammer. The geometric dimensions of the soil were
recorded before and after each compaction, from which the
bulk density was then computed. This procedure was
repeated at varying the moisture content in an ascending
order until the soil sample was too wet to be compacted.
Moisture Content was determined gravimetrically using
triplicate representative samples from the compacted soils.
III. RESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
Particle Size Analysis (PSA)
Bulk density was observed to have been increasing
steadily with moisture content until such a point where an
increase in moisture content does not result in an increase
in bulk density as in Figures 1 and 2. The Figure also
shows that (MDD) relates to OMC in quadratic function.
The coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.7732 indicates a
strong degree of agreement between MDD and OMC.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)

MAXIMUM DRY DENSITY 100% COMPACTION

DRY DENSITY

OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONTENT

MOISTURE CONTENT
Fig. 1: Sketch of the relationship between moisture content and dry density of a compacted soil

1800

1600
MAXIMUM DRY DENSITY (Kg/m3)

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
MOISTURE CONTENTS (%) (W/W)

Fig. 2. Relation between soil dry density and moisture content

But the negative value the first slope (-2.4253) and the
skewed nature of the curve on the left hand side means the
soil is only moderately graded and not fully well graded.
480
This implies some corrective measures need to be
applied to the soil in its present form before it can reliably
be used for any structural construction [3]. It also points
that the soil contains substantive percentage of organic
matters and many fine grained soils.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September
2013)
Table 1
Determination of Particle Size Distribution

Mass of sample collected = l00 g

S/N Sieve Mass retained Mass passing % %
diameter (g) (g) retained Passing
(mm)
1 4mm 1.56 98.44 1.56 98.44
2 2mm 3.20 95.24 3.20 95.24
3 1mm 2.78 92.46 2.78 92.46
4 850μm 1.22 91.24 1.22 91.24
5 710 0.85 90.39 0.85 90.39
6 500 2.57 87.82 2.57 87.82
7 425 0.84 86.98 0.84 86.98
8 300 1.19 85.79 1.19 85.79
9 250 7.53 78.26 7.53 78.26
10 150 24.31 53.95 24.31 53.95
11 63 36.81 17.14 36.81 17.14
12 Pan 15.90 1.24 15.90 1.24

Table 2
Bulk Density and Moisture Content Relationship with Compaction Under 5 Blows.

S/N Moisture Mass of Soil (kg) Thickness of Soil (m) Volume of Soil (m3) Difference Bulk Density (kg/rn3)
Content (m3)
(MC) (%) Wet Dry Before After Before After Wet Dry
Compaction Compaction Compaction Compaction
1 1.15 3.90 3.86 0.1550 0.1490 2.85 x10-3 2.74 x10-3 1.10 x10-4 1424.38 1409.77
2 2.90 3.90 3.79 0.1520 0.1410 2.79 x10-3 2.59 x10-3 2.00 xl0-4 1505.20 1462.74
3 5.48 3.90 3.69 0.1515 0.1335 2.78x10-3 2.45x10-3 3.30x10-4 1589.75 1504.15
4 9.59 3.90 3.53 0.1499 0.1219 2.75x10-3 2.24x10-3 5.l0xl0-4 1741,04 1575.86
5 10.40 3.90 3.49 0.1491 0.1190 2.74x10-3 2.19x10-3 5.50.x l0-4 1783.47 1595.97
6 15.04 3.90 3.31 0.1398 0.1094 2.57 x10-3 2.01 x10-3 5.60 x l0-4 1939.97 1646.49
7 17.76 3.90 3.21 0.1391 0.1121 2.56 x10-3 2.06 x10-3 5.00 x l0-4 1893.24 1558.29
8 20.11 3.90 3.12 0.1280 0.1260 2.35x10-3 2.32x10-3 3,00x l0-5 1684.39 1347.51

The soil is therefore better as an agricultural rather than IV. CONCLUSION

a structural material. Generally, from the results shows that
the Maiduguri sandy loam soil has dry bulk densities of
1409.77, 1462.74, 1504.15, 1575.86, 1595.97, 1646.46,
1558.29, and 1347.51 kg/m3 corresponding to moisture
contents of 1.15, 2.90, 5.48, 9.59, 10.40, 15.04, 17.76, and
20.11% (w/w) respectively. The maximum dry density
(MDD) of the soil is 1645kg/m3 and the optimum moisture
content (OMC) is 15.5 %.
Increasing moisture content of the sandy loam soil
studied, results in an increase in bulk density with
compaction up to the optimum moisture content of about
15.5 %, after which any increase in moisture content
resulted in a decrease in bulk density from the maximum of
1645kg/m3 at optimum moisture content. Overall,
however, the soil is better used for crop production than as
a structural material.

481
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)
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Corresponding author: J.M. Dibal. Jdibal@yahoo.com,
jibrinmd01@gmail.com